1836 – Church leaders met in counsel in the Kirtland Temple and approved the “rules and regulations’ that governed the House of the Lord. Several brethren were called to fill vacant offices and the Prophet Joseph taught that the Spirit “always makes manifest and demonstrates the truth to the understanding of all who are in possession of the Spirit’ (History of the Church, 2:370).
1838 – The families of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon arrived in Norton Township, Ohio, where the two Church leaders had fled for their lives two days previously. The reunited families prepared to travel to Far West, Missouri.
1841 – The First Presidency issues a proclamation to the Saints calling upon them to continue to gather to Nauvoo and help build up the city. They express gratitude to the Illinois state legislature for approving the charters for “The City of Nauvoo,’ the “Nauvoo Legion,’ and the “University of the City of Nauvoo.’ They write that the Saints who gather to Nauvoo “must not expect perfection, or that all will be harmony, peace, and love’ because of the many differences of the people gathering from all over the nation and different lands. They write of the building of the Temple and invite all who desire to gather with the Saints to come to Nauvoo.
1844 – About 200 brethren met in the woods near Nauvoo, Illinois, and began to chop wood which 30 to 40 teams began to haul to the Prophet Joseph’s house. The problems the Prophet Joseph was having with Francis M. Higbee began to escalate with threats being made against the Prophet for speaking against him.
1846 – Word reaches the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that Samuel Brannan had chartered the ship Brooklyn to take the Saints in New York by sea to San Francisco, which was at that time part of Mexico.
1867 – The Deseret telegraph line opens in St. George, Utah. It connected the Saints in southern Utah to Salt Lake City, Utah.
1877 – After a partial dedication of the St. George Utah Temple and in preparation for the formal dedication in April, President Brigham Young begins the process of writing down for the first time the endowment ceremony as he received it from the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois.
1887 – The anti-Mormon “test oath’ law in Arizona was repealed. The law had barred most Arizona Latter-day Saints from voting by requiring them to swear they did not believe in or practice polygamy.
1959 – BYU Studies begins publication. The scholarly journal publishes faith-promoting works, including articles, essays, and poetry on various gospel topics.
1998 – The First Presidency renews the call for all Church members to be active in volunteer service and political, governmental, and community leadership.
2000 – Gaston Flosse, President of the Territory of French Polynesia, the vice president and fifteen government ministers, attended a dinner at the LDS mission home in Papeete, Tahiti, that was hosted by the mission, stake, and district presidents in Tahiti.
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