Tonight I am just going to tell you about this picture. It is called Saving the Book of Commandments. We talked about this in our study class a few days ago. It also helps that I am reading the D & C right now. It is such easy reading and goes very fast and is so modern compared to the other scriptures. I am already on Section 59 and it has only been a few days. I finished the Book of Mormon in the first 60 days that the mission was asked to do. It only took seven pages a day and usually about 25 minutes to read that much. When you think of it in that way, it is like, why don't I have 25 minutes a day to read the scriptures?!
Anyway, back to Saving the Book of Commandments. This is a pic that should be in your ward library.
Fifteen-year-old Mary Elizabeth Rollins and her thirteen-year-old sister, Caroline, lived in Independence, Missouri, when the persecutions against the Mormons began in 1833. (Right close to where we are.)
The year began peacefully. The settlement was growing as new converts moved in, land was cleared for farms, houses were built. The girls' uncle, Algernon Gilbert, owned a successful store. William Phelps had a printshop on the upper floor of his home. He published The Evening and The Morning Star for the Saints. He also printed revelations Joseph Smith had received and was going to bind them into a book called The Book Of Commandments.
By July, the non-Mormon settlers were angry about the growing number of Mormons. People had been trying to get the Mormons to move away from Jackson County. A town meeting was held and the Mormons were ordered to leave their new homes or they would be killed. Phelps and Gilbert requested three months so they could talk to the Prophet, who was in Kirtland, Ohio. It was denied. Ten days was also refused and they were told they had fifteen minutes to move out of the county.
Before fifteen minutes had passed, the mob broke into the home of Brother Phelps. Sister Phelps was alone and quickly grabbed her sick baby and hurried with the other children to the safety of the woods close by. Mary Elizabeth and Caroline watched with horror as angry men threw the family's things into the street. Upstairs they found the valuable press and hurled it out the window to the street below. They then dumped the huge sheets of printed pages onto the pile of trash in the street. Mary Elizabeth decided to try to save the revelations. Caroline thought they would be killed, but she agreed to help.
The mob turned their backs and the girls ran into the street and filled their arms with the big pages. They were turning away when some of the mob spotted them. Squeezing through a gap in the fence, the girls were in a cornfield, hidden, by thick rows of corn stalks five to six feet high. The men searched through the corn but could not find the girls. The girls had placed the precious printed sheets on the ground and covered them with their bodies.
When they felt it safe to leave, they gathered the papers in their arms but they were lost. Mary Elizabeth was able to lead her sister to safety by looking at the tops of trees. They found Sister Phelps carrying branches to pile up to make beds for the night.
The girls gave the pages to Sister Phelps because Brother Phelps would know what to do with them. They were sad that they did not have time to read even one of the pages that they had risked their lives to save.
The pages they saved and others that were gathered were made into a book by Oliver Cowdery and he gave a copy of the book to Mary Elizabeth. The sacred writings were not lost and today are part of the Doctrine and Covenants.
It is a bit hard to realize that these things happened right here in Independence. There are a lot of people who do not like the Mormons to this day. But we are coming back! Oh, the early Saints were so brave and courageous and had such faith.
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