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[Music]
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it's october 1830 in amherst ohio
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and parley p pratt on his first mission
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is unlawfully arrested on a false charge
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while preaching to simeon carter
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an honest seeker of truth after a night
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in jail
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parley asks to step outside with the
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guard parley wrote
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mr peabody are you good at a race no but
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my big bulldog
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is and he will take any man down at my
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bidding
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well mr peabody you have given me an
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opportunity to preach sing
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and have entertained me with lodging and
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breakfast i must now go on my journey
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if you're good at a race you can
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accompany me i thank you for all your
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kindness
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good day sir
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[Music]
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i then started on my journey while he
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stood amazed
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and did not awake from his astonishment
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till i had gained perhaps 200 yards
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he now came hallowing after me shouting
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to his dog to seize me
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the dog being one of the largest i ever
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saw
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came close on my footsteps with all his
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fury the officer behind
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still in pursuit clapping his hands and
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hallowing stupor
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stewboy take him the dog was fast
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overtaking me
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when quick as lightning the thought
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struck me to assist the officer
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stewboy stewboy take him the dog
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hastened past me with redoubled speed
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being urged on by the officer
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and myself now get him
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i soon lost sight of the officer and dog
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and have not seen them since
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shortly thereafter elder pratt rejoins
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his mission companions
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a few miles down the road
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[Music]
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parley oliver cowdery peter whitmer and
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zyba peterson
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are called on a mission to the lamanites
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on the missouri frontier
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where andrew jackson's outrageous indian
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removal act had just put them
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these young missionaries are stoked to
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teach the descendants of a people
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they've read about in the book of mormon
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still this mission means leaving in
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october
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and walking over 1200 miles into the
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frozen frontier
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in what would come to be known as the
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winter of the deep snow
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fortunately they aren't alone in this
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massive undertaking as the lord assures
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them that he would be with them
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and go in their midst now while passing
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through northeastern ohio
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parley felt impressed to visit his
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former friend and pastor
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sidney rigdon sydney's large
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congregation was actively trying to
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become
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just like the church christ formed with
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his apostles
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so parley bore powerful testimony to
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sydney
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that he'd actually found christ's
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restored church
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for real he begged sidney to read the
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book of mormon
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and asked to preach to his congregation
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the rigdans and their six kids lived in
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a home given them by their congregation
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and would lose it along with sydney's
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job if they converted to this new faith
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however sydney and his wife phoebe
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prayed and found peace
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that it was the right decision i have
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counted the cost
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it is my desire to do the will of god
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come life
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or come death sydney was like
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a modern-day john the baptist he'd
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prepared his group for the greater truth
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to come
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sydney's entire congregation recognized
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the truth
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and most were baptized one night the
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missionaries taught a large group of
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sydney's congregation
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late into the evening at the morley home
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and 17 people were baptized
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in the middle of winter these
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conversions led to more
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and more people flocking to hear this
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new message and oliver had to write
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joseph
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requesting tons more copies of the book
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of mormon
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amazingly four men in four weeks
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with god more than doubled the church
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membership
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clearly the lord was helping them
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the missionaries loved teaching in ohio
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but they knew their mission call was to
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teach the lamanites
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so after establishing some branches in
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ohio and ordaining men to be their
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leaders
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they set off into the wilderness they
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walk
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for days on end in snow above their
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knees
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without seeing anyone or finding a barn
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or shelter to sleep in
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they even once try traveling by boat but
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the water is too frozen
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on top of that they have no waterproof
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clothing and carry all their
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food sleeping bags and of course as many
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copies of the book of mormon as they can
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manage
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talk about a tough mission wow
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after weeks of intense struggle they
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arrive in independence missouri
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a few miles east of the indian territory
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and begin preaching to the delaware
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indians under chief kick the wienend
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yeah say that three times fast wanting
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to learn more
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the chief says we will meet together and
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you shall read
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and teach us more concerning the book of
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our fathers
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so the missionaries eagerly begin
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teaching large groups from his tribe
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but then a government agent threatens to
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arrest them for preaching without
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permits
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what permits who knew
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so the elders are forced to leave oh
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total bummer parley's attempt to get the
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proper paperwork is unsuccessful
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and they may have felt their mission
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among the lamanites was a failure
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but was it really well though no native
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americans were baptized
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numerous church branches were
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established including in kirtland and
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independence
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and remember parley and stewboy yeah
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even that fiasco led to the organization
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of a branch with 60 members
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because of a book of mormon parley left
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with simeon carter
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this crazy difficult mission more than
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doubled church membership to over a
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thousand members
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you know what sometimes the journey is
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as important as the destination
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next time the growing church gets a
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bombshell of an announcement
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[Applause]
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