Brigham Young
Brigham Young was the second president of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon
Church, as it is commonly known.
Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801 in Whittingham, Vermont. He was
brought up with strict moral training and his mother, who died when he
was 14, "taught her children to honor the name of the Father and the
Son, and to reverence the Bible; she said, 'Read it, observe its
precepts, and apply them to your lives as far as you can; do everything
that is good; do nothing that is evil; and if you see any person in
distress, administer to their wants.'"1
After marrying Miriam Works in 1824, Brigham Young and his wife
joined the Methodist Church but Brigham Young still "sought a church
organized after the pattern Jesus had established with a system of
ordinances and all the gifts of the gospel."2
After listening to the LDS
missionaries
Brigham Young struggled to decide if he could sacrifice everything for
the Mormon Church. Then as a missionary bore testimony Brigham Young
said, "that the Holy Ghost illuminated his understanding"3 and he knew the Mormon Church was true.
Shortly after joining the Mormon Church and being baptized, in 1832,
Brigham Young's wife died leaving him with two young daughters. Two
years later he married Mary Ann Angell.
After meeting Joseph
Smith,
Brigham Young knew that Joseph was a prophet of God. Brigham Young then
devoted himself to the Lord's work serving a number of missions in the
United States and Great Britain. Teaching many people about the Mormon
Church and the restored gospel of Christ. In 1835 he was selected to be
a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
After the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, as the head of the Quorum of
Twelve Apostles, the full responsibility of the Mormon Church fell upon
the shoulders of Brigham Young. At the age of 43, Brigham Young assumed
the daunting task of relocating a large population of Latter-day
Saints. He told the Mormons gathered at Nauvoo, "Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has laid the foundation for a great work, and we will build upon it."4
In the winter of 1847, suffering extreme persecution, Brigham Young
led the Mormon saints across the Mississippi River to Winter Quarters,
Iowa. There the Saints began preparations for the journey to Utah.
Brigham Young led the first exodus of Mormon
pioneers
and arrived at the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. As Brigham Young
looked out over the valley he said, "This is the right place."5
The gathering of Mormons continued for decades and under the
direction of Brigham Young eighty thousand Latter-day Saints made the
journey westward in wagon train and handcart companies. They came in
response to the prophet Brigham Young's declaration that God had called
the Saints "together from the uttermost parts of the earth… to become
of one heart and of one mind in all our operations and endeavors to
establish Christ's spiritual and temporal kingdom upon earth."6
After the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake City Brigham Young sent many of
them to colonize about 400 settlements throughout the west.
Brigham
Young
served as the Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints for 33 years. At his death on August 29, 1877 one of
the apostles serving with President Brigham Young said, " During the
thirty-three years that he has presided over the Church… his knees have
never trembled, his hands have never shook; he has never faltered or
quailed. However threatening the surroundings or prospects may have
been, he has never been dismayed; but at those times he has exhibited
such serene confidence and faith, and uttered such words of
encouragements, as to comfort and sustain all the people, and to call
forth their love and admiration. The Lord, however, not only blessed
him with valor, but He endowed him with great wisdom. His counsels,
when obeyed, have been attended with salvation, and as an organizer and
administrator he has no superior."7
References:
(1) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 1
(2) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 2
(3) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 3
(4) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 7
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Salt_Lake_City
(6) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 9
(7) Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young, pg 12
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