As Joseph Smith
left Nauvoo for Carthage, Illinois, his earthly
ministry nearing its end, he looked back at the
half-finished temple and at the homes and farms. "This
is the loveliest place and the best people under the
heavens," he said. He had worked with them,
encouraged and taught them, mourned for their losses,
and felt their jubilation.
The Lord had
revealed much through His first prophet of the Restoration
to help guide the people in His ways. "If you wish to go
where God is," Joseph had earlier admonished, "you
must be like God. . . . For if we are not drawing
towards God in principle, we are going from
Him."
Through Joseph's ministry, tens of thousands living on the
American frontier, the East Coast, Canada, and the
British Isles had come to the knowledge of the truth,
had taken the name of Jesus Christ upon them, and had
received the Holy Ghost.
Now, with Joseph
gone, the building of the kingdom of God fell on the
Saints' shoulders. They had the earlier assurance of
Joseph, "By the help of the Almighty, we shall go on
from victory to victory."
Carthage
Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered by a mob on June 27, 1844, at the jail in Carthage, Illinois, United States of America (see D&C 135; The Guide to the Scriptures, "Carthage Jail," 38).
kingdom of God
The kingdom of God on earth is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see D&C 65). The purpose of the Church is to prepare its members to live forever in the celestial kingdom or kingdom of heaven (The Guide to the Scriptures, "Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven," 142).
