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New Directions 1839-1856
These views represent two new beginnings in this period of Mormon history.
Top: The engraving of a peaceful Nauvoo about 1848-1850 is by Hermann J. Meyer, and
Bottom: The engraving of Great Salt Lake City in 1853 is by Frederick Piercy. The major building on the left of Salt Lake's Main Street is the Deseret Store and Tithing Office. (Church Archives)
The exodus from Missouri was a sorrowful time for the Saints, but it opened an era of renewed vitality in the Church and provided a catalyst for the reorientation of Latter-day Saint economic, political, and religious life. At Nauvoo and again later in Utah the Saints built impressive communities based on the ideals of industry, cooperation, and self-sufficiency. The law of consecration was still the ideal, but practical realities made it impossible to maintain. For the first time the Saints negotiated with the federal government, although they received little cooperation until the Mexican War of 1846. In religious life, the Saints received many new insights concerning man's eternal destiny, expanded their organization, and adopted important new practices. Thus, in ways besides geographical displacement, the exodus of 1839 and the one that followed seven years later symbolized important new directions for the Church.
By this time even some of the language being used by the Latter-day Saints had special religious symbolism-a symbolism not fully understood by non-Mormons but resonant with meaning for the Saints themselves. They spoke of themselves not just as members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ but as modern Israel-partakers of all the blessings and promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At least two Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah, were part of the restoration process as they bestowed certain "keys" and blessings upon the modern prophet in the Kirtland Temple. Like Israel of old, the Saints also referred to themselves as a "covenant people," and often concluded correspondence with phrases such as "yours in the everlasting covenant." In thinking of themselves as Israel, they began to refer to non-Mormons as "gentiles," not in derision but as a symbol of their own special status. "I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world," the Lord told them in 1831, "to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek it." (D&C 45:9.) The term Zion also had a unique meaning for the Saints, and in the next five years even more distinctive concepts and word usage would be introduced among them.
At Nauvoo Joseph Smith reached the zenith of both his temporal and spiritual influence. As a secular leader he became mayor of one of the two largest cities in Illinois, editor of its newspaper, a leading entrepreneur, and a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. As a spiritual leader he announced important new doctrinal ideas, began the erection of a magnificent temple, introduced a sacred temple ceremony that helped increase brotherhood and spirituality among the Saints, and laid the foundation for expanding the gospel kingdom worldwide. His tragic martyrdom in 1844 became a rallying point for a greater spiritual unity among the Saints and strengthened the kingdom instead of destroying it as his antagonists had hoped.