November 24–30: He “Has Sealed His Mission and His Works with His Own Blood”

Doctrine and Covenants 135–136The afternoon of June 27, 1844, found Joseph and Hyrum Smith in jail once again, accompanied by John Taylor and Willard Richards. They believed they were innocent of any crime, but they submitted to arrest, hoping to keep the Saints in Nauvoo safe. This wasn’t the first time that enemies of the Church had put the Prophet Joseph in prison, but this time he seemed to know that he would not return alive. He and his friends tried to comfort each other by reading from the Book of Mormon and singing hymns. Then gunshots were heard, and within a few minutes the mortal lives of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had come to an end.And yet it was not the end of the divine cause they had embraced. And it was not the end of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was more work to do and more revelation that would guide the Church forward. The end of the Prophet’s life was not the end of the work of God.See Saints, 1:521–52.