The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
As the Church is divided into stakes, so the stakes are divided into
wards, each presided over by a bishop and two counselors. And the world
at large, not included in the boundaries of the organized stakes, is
divided into missions, each presided over by a president. The missions
in turn are divided into conferences, presided over by conference
presidents, and the conferences are divided into branches, likewise
presided over by branch presidents.
The Church grew rapidly to such dimensions, however, that it needed
even more assistance than these organizations and divisions could
render. There has grown up in the Church, therefore, a number of
auxiliary associations. The Relief Society, an organization of women,
was organized under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1842.
The Sunday School was organized under the patronage of Brigham Young in
1849. The Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association was organized
as a retrenchment society, under the supervision of President Brigham
Young in 1869. A similar organization of the young men was effected in
1875, though there had been such an organization in Nauvoo. The Primary
Association for children was organized in 1878. The Religion Class was
organized in 1890. All these auxiliary organizations serve to lighten
the labors of the priesthood, and of the home, in instructing the
children of the saints.
Gradually, then, another act in the great drama of the Restoration was
accomplished--an act of many scenes. But the achievements of the act
have aroused, and continue to arouse, the wonder and the admiration
of the civilized world. In the Church organization every point is
carefully wrought out, from the highest and most important office
to the lowest and least. Indeed, the perfection of the institution
precludes the thought that it was devised by man alone. Not another so
nearly perfect organization is to be found in the history of the world.
XII.
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
Less than a month after the organization of the Church in 1830,
there happened at Colesville, New York, one of the most remarkable
manifestations in the history of the modern world. Joseph Smith had
gone to Colesville to visit at the home of Joseph Knight. The Knights
were Universalists. They were interested, however, in the message
of the young prophet. One of them, particularly--a son named Newel
Knight--seemed to be much affected by the Prophet's teachings. Says the
Prophet in his simple narrative:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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