Without Disclosing My True Identity
(^39) “Now, when April 6, 1830, had come, we had then established three branches of the
‘Church of Christ,’ in which three branches were about seventy members: One branch was at Fayette,
N. Y.; one at Manchester, N. Y., and one at Colesville, Pa. It is all a mistake about the church being
organized on April 6, 1830, as I will show. We were as fully organized—spiritually—before April 6th as
we were on that day. The reason why we met on that day was this; the world had been telling us that
we were not a regularly organized church, and we had no right to officiate in the ordinance of
marriage, hold church property, etc., and that we should organize according to the laws of the land.
On this account we met at my father’s house in Fayette, N. Y., on April 6, 1830, to attend to this
matter of organizing according to the laws of the land; you can see this from Sec. 17, [now Sec. 20]
Doctrine and Covenants: the church was organized on April 6th ‘agreeable to the laws of our country.’ It
says after this, ‘by the will and commandments of God;’ but this revelation came through Bro. Joseph as
‘mouthpiece.’ Now brethren, how can it be that the church was any more organized—spiritually—on
April 6th, than it was before that time? There were six elders and about seventy members before
April 6th, and the same number of elders and members after that day.” (Whitmer, 33.)
(^40) There are more than 100 references to “my people” in the D&C. Compare D&C, 3:16 and
10:52 to D&C, 20:1 and 1:1 (which was given in Nov 1831).
“There’s a clue given by Mormon that confirms that there was no actual ‘church’ or religion,
and that the term was used to denote a group of people who followed Christ rather than an
organization consistent with modern religions. Mormon first writes that the people were ‘called the
church of Christ’; then later, he writes that ‘there [were] disputations among the people concerning’ what
they should call their church. (See Appendix 1.)
(^41) Matthew 12:50.
(^42) BOM, Mosiah 25:21–2, emphasis added.
(^43) SNS, 87.
(^44) DHC, 1:80.
(^45) DHC, 1:83.
(^46) HR, 7:41.
(^47) DHC, 1:83.
(^48) BOM, 3 Nephi 7:22. See also 1 Nephi 13:13; 17:52.
(^49) DHC, 1:82–3. See also D&C, 84:67.
(^50) HR, 15:25.
(^51) “According to later reminiscences of those present at the meeting, Young appeared to be
transfigured into the form and the stature of Smith, who was much taller, and some reported that
Young’s voice began to resemble Smith’s; to many of Young’s followers, this was later referred to as a
sign from God that the prophetic mantle of Smith had fallen on Young as he spoke to the
congregation.[8] These recollections indicate an experience of some kind that persuaded them that
the Quorum of the Twe[lv]e Apostles was to lead the church with Young as the Quorum’s President.”
(“Brigham Young,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 18 May 2011, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 24 May
2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young.)
Footnote [8] of same Wiki reference above: “Quinn, D. Michael (1994). The Mormon Hierarchy:
Origins of Power. Signature Books. p. 166. ISBN 1560850566.; Harper 1996; Lynne Watkins Jorgensen,
‘The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Smith Passes to Brother Brigham: One Hundred Twenty-one
Testimonies of a Collective Spiritual Witness’ in John W. Welch (ed.), 2005. Opening the Heavens:
Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820– 1844 , Provo, Utah: BYU Press, pp. 374-480; Eugene English,
‘George Laub Nauvoo Diary,’ BYU Studies, 18 [Winter 1978]: 167 (‘Now when President Young arose
to address the congregation his voice was the voice of Bro[ther] Joseph and his face appeared as
Joseph’s face & should I have not seen his face but heard his voice I should have declared that it was
Joseph’); William Burton Diary, May 1845. LDS Church Archives (‘But their [Joseph Smith and
Hyrum Smith’s] places were filed [sic] by others much better than I once supposed they could have
been, the spirit of Joseph appeared to rest upon Brigham’); Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review