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Saints Moved South

Saints Moved South
Mormon History Related

"The wicked spirit, which had inspired Governor Boggs of Missouri to issue the order to exterminate the Saints and broods forever and always over the work of the Lord, had followed them west."President Young had said when they entered the Valley: 'If they let us alone ten years we would ask no odds of them' (Journal of Discourses, 5:226; 14:108). Ten years to the day a messenger arrived with word that Johnston's army was marching west with orders to 'settle the Mormon question.'"President Young told the Saints: '[We] have been driven from place to place; . . . we have been scattered and peeled. . . ." 'We have transgressed no law, . . . neither do we intend to; but as for any nation's coming to destroy this people, God Almighty being my helper, they cannot come here.' "The settlements were evacuated, and the Saints moved south. Every stone was cleared away from Temple Square. The foundation, which after seven years' work was nearing ground level, was covered over and the block was plowed."Later, when the foundation was uncovered, they found a few cracks. It was torn out and replaced."Sixteen large, inverted granite arches were built into the new foundation. There is no record as to why they did that. That manner of construction was unknown in this country then. If someday perchance there be a massive force wanting to lift the temple from beneath, then we shall know why they are there."Construction inched upward. A young married couple might have visited the construction site and returned with teenage grandchildren to the yet unfinished temple."

Boyd K. Packer, "The Temple, the Priesthood," Ensign, May 1993, 19

Topics: Opposition

Source: Church History Gems

Saints Moved South

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