December 22

1836 – A conference was held in the Kirtland Temple to discuss the problem of the many poor families moving to Kirtland and there not being sufficient funds to care for them. It was decided to encourage the branches of the Church to care for their own poor and not send them to Kirtland as there was not available means to shelter and feed them. Also, that before anyone moves to Kirtland, they should first come and prepare a place for themselves before moving their families to the city. (History of the Church, 2:468-469)

1837 – Elder Brigham Young fled Kirtland, Ohio, after apostates of the Church threatened to kill him “because he would proclaim publicly and privately that he knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that I [Joseph Smith] had not transgressed and fallen as the apostates declared” (History of the Church, 2:529). The Prophet Joseph records that “Apostasy, persecution, confusion, and mobocracy strove hard to bear rule at Kirtland” as the year came to a close.

1841 – The first supplies of groceries arrived at the Prophets new store in Nauvoo. In the evening, the Prophet began to give instructions to his scribe on a proclamation to the kings of the earth that was commanded to be written by revelation on January 19, 1841. (History of the Church, 4:483)

      David Holman

1843 – The home of Church member David Holman near Ramas in a rural area of Hancock County, was burned to the ground while he and his family were away visiting. Mobocracy is increasing in the rural areas surrounding Nauvoo.

1918 – The Church holds a special fast to petition the Lord to end a worldwide influenza epidemic that had killed over twenty-one million people in four months.

1945 – Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is assigned by the First Presidency to go immediately to Europe to assess the spiritual and temporal needs of the thirty thousand members of the Church there. United States President Harry S. Truman had given the Church permission to send aid to the Saints in the war-torn area of Europe now that the war had ended.

1995 – Armenia grants registration status to the Church because of the humanitarian efforts of Elder David M. Horne, a Church-service missionary who operated a concrete plant built by LDS businessman, Jon Huntsman. Aside from operating the plant, Elder Horne managed shipments of food and supplies to help the Armenian people.