1835 – After breakfast, the Prophet Joseph told Robert Matthias, who was going by the name “Joshua, the Jewish Minister” and who was staying in the Prophet’s home, that “my God told me, that his god was the devil, and I could not keep him any longer, and he must depart. And so I, for once, cast out the devil in bodily shape, and I believe a murderer” (History of the Church, 2:307).
1838 – It was during this time of imprisonment in Richmond, Missouri, that Parley P. Pratt records in his Autobiography the Prophet Joseph’s rebuke of the guards. Brother Pratt writes that the seven men, chained together, tried to get to sleep while the guards “recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the ‘Mormons’ while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women, and children. I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or anyone else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as nearly as I can recollect, the following words: ‘Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I will die this instant!’ He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. . . . dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight in a dungeon, in an obscure village in Missouri” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 228-230).
Also, General Clark informed the Prophet Joseph that he, and the others held in custody, would be turned over to the civil authorities for trial. Fifty-three brethren were brought before Judge Austin A. King in Richmond, Missouri, and charged with crimes of high treason against the state, murder, burglary, arson, robbery, and larceny.
1919 – The Church owned Deseret News wrote in a headline above the front page fold, “Glory to God in the Highest and On Earth PEACE” in big, bold letters in celebration of the end of the “Great War” (World War I). There were great celebrations on the streets of Salt Lake City and it seemed Utah was finally accepted as part of the rest of the country.
1948 – Belle Smith Spafford, General President of the Relief Society, begins service as the Vice President of the National Council of Women (NCW) and later served as its President.
St. George Utah Temple
1975 – The remodeled St. George Utah Temple is rededicated by President Spencer W. Kimball.
1979 – The first stake in Panama is organized in Panama City with Nelson L. Altamirano as president.
1994 – Music and Values, a Church-produced public affairs radio program, wins the 1994 Gabriel Award in the national-religious category.
2001 – The first meetinghouse built by the Church in the Czech Republic was dedicated.
2010 – Elder Dirk Smibert, an Area Seventy, arrives in Daru, Papua New Guinea, and learns of a cholera outbreak. The next day the Church would begin humanitarian and medical relief with the Church sending 25 tons of emergency food and medical supplies to the region. A medical envoy from Australia helped bring relief to the people. More than 300 people, including 76 Latter-day Saints, would die during the outbreak.
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