Introduction(^138) William W. Phelps was already a member of the Council of Fifty. He later accompanied
Parley P. Pratt on the Southern Utah expedition, served in the Utah Territorial Legislature, and
served on the Board of Regents for the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah). He is best
known for authoring a number of LDS hymns. (See “William W. Phelps.” Mormonwiki. 20 Aug. 2010.
More Good Foundation. 29 Nov. 2010 http://www.mormonwiki.com/William_W._Phelps.)
Dr. John Bernhisel was also already a member of the Council of Fifty. He continued to
practice medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah; was Utah’s first delegate to Congress; spent ten years in
Washington, D.C. in the Thirty-second through Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-seventh Congresses; and
served as a Regent of the University of Utah. See “John Milton Bernhisel,” Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia, 14 Dec. 2010, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 13 Dec. 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton_Bernhisel; and
Gwynn W. Barrett, “Dr. John M. Bernhisel: Mormon Elder in Congress,” Utah Historical
Quarterly 36:2 (Spring 1968): 143–67.
(^139) This occurred on September 8, 1844. For details see Fred C. Collier, “The Trial of Sidney
Rigdon, First Counselor to the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Doctrine of the Priesthood, 7:12 (Dec. 1990).
(^140) Earlier, on March 27, 1836, at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith had asked
the members of the church to accept the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve as
“prophets, seers, and revelators.” See DHC, 2:417. See also Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate 2 (Mar.
1836): 277.
(^141) F. Mark McKierman, The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious
Reformer (Lawrence: Coronado Press, 1972) 56.
(^142) See e.g., Larry W. Gibbons, “Guided by Modern Revelation,” Ensign, Oct. 2009: 9–11.
(^143) At this conference of August 8, 1844, Brigham Young also addressed the issue of
revelation. More specifically, did revelations cease with Smith’s death, or, if not, who would receive
and publish them? He indicated his own uncertainty concerning the subject, concluding, “Every
member has the right of receiving revelations for themselves, both male and female.” Then he
elaborated: “If you don’t know whose right it is to give revelations, I will tell you. It is I.” (“October
Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons 5 [15 Oct. 1844]: 682–3.)
(^144) “When I go astray and give wrong counsel and lead this people astray, then is time
enough to pull me down, and then God will remove me as he has done all others who have turned
from the faith.” (Brigham Young, “16 Feb. 1847,” as quoted in Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal: 1833–1898 Typescript, 9 vols., ed. Scott G. Kenny [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1984] 4:130.)
“I say to Israel, the Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of
the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God.” (Wilford
Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, ed. G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946]
212–13.) See also Matthias F. Cowley, ed., Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints: History of His Life and Labors as Recorded in His Daily Journals (Salt Lake City:
Deseret News, 1909) 572. See also Wilford Woodruff, Doctrine and Covenants, Official Declaration 1.
(^145) “Prophets,” True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference (Salt Lake City: LDS Church, 2004) 129–30.
(^146) BOM, Alma 12:9–10.
(^147) See Christopher, Sacred, not Secret.
(^148) BOM, 3 Nephi 18:19.
(^149) D&C, 38:32.
(^150) D&C, 107:18–19.
(^151) Devery Scott Anderson and Gary James Bergera, eds., Joseph Smith’s Quorum of the
Anointed, 1842–1945: A Documentary History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2nd printing, 2005) 2.
(^152) The most drastic changes took place in 1990, with other procedural changes made at
various times throughout the years. For changes in text, see Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Evolution of the
Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1842– 1990 (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse™ Ministry, 2005). For
developmental changes, see David John Buerger, “The Development of the Mormon Temple