January 31

1821 – Zina Diantha Huntington, third General President of the Relief Society from 1888-1901, is born in Watertown, New York.

      Liberty Jail

1836 – The Prophet Joseph attended Sunday meetings in the school house where he “arranged the several quorums of the authorities of the Church, appointed doorkeepers to keep order about the door, because of the crowd, and to prevent the house from being excessively crowded.’  The High Council of Zion spoke in the morning about the difficulties in Missouri and in the afternoon, Sidney Rigdon spoke and they “attended to the breaking of bread.’  Joseph spent a quiet evening at home. 1839 – January ends with the Prophet Joseph still in Jail at Liberty, Missouri, as the Saints continue to leave the state of Missouri for safety in Illinois and Iowa.

1844 – The Prophet Joseph asked Benjamin Winchester to go to Warsaw, Illinois, to preach the gospel.  Warsaw was the center of anti-Mormon feelings in Illinois.  The Prophet records that there was an increase and revival in the desire to learn more of the things of God throughout Nauvoo.

1845 – The Nauvoo Mercantile and Mechanical Association is organized in a meeting held at the Seventies’ Hall in Nauvoo, Illinois.  John Taylor was elected chairman and Daniel Garn, Samuel Bent, Shadrach Roundy, Charles C. Rich, John D. Lee, L. N. Scovil, Joseph Worthen, Joseph Horn, Hosea Stout, Edward Hunter, Gustavus Williams, and Charles A. Davis, were made trustees.

1846 – Brigham Young receives a revelation dealing with succession in the Church Presidency.  Although never canonized, the revelation is one of a number of inspired written documents Brigham Young receives as the senior Apostle of the Church during the period between Joseph Smith’s death and the beginning of his own tenure as President of the Church.

1852 – The first group of Scandinavian convert emigrants sail from Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United States.

1886 – The first meeting is held in the newly erected chapel in what would later become Colonia Juarez, Mexico.  It is the first meeting house in Mexico.

1907 – The first issue of the Elders’ Messenger is published by the New Zealand Mission.  It was a semimonthly periodical in both English and Maori.

1960 – Church member, Vernon Law, is named the best pitcher in professional baseball and wins the Cy Young Award.

1964 – United States President Lyndon B. Johnson visits with President David O. McKay.  During their meeting he asks for advice from President McKay and states that he has felt inspired during his visits with President McKay.