Doctrine and Covenants 110
D&C 110—Visions
manifested to
Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery in
the Kirtland
Temple, April 3,
1836
What is significant about that date?
D&C 110—Visions
manifested to
Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery in
the Kirtland
Temple, April 3,
1836
That weekend was the Jewish Passover. For centuries Jewish
families have left an empty chair at their Passover feasts,
anticipating Elijah’s return. Elijah has returned—not to a
Passover feast, but to the Lord’s temple in Kirtland.
“On that very day Elijah did
enter – not in the home of the
Jews to partake of the Passover
with them – but he appeared in
the house of the Lord in Kirtland,
and there bestowed his keys to
bring to pass the very things for
which these Jews, assembled in
their homes, were seeking”
(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:100-01).
Doctrine and Covenants 110:1-3
Like Joseph and Oliver, John Murdock also saw the Lord. He
recorded:
“The visions of my mind were opened, and the eyes of my
understanding were enlightened, and I saw the form of a man,
most lovely! The visage of his face was sound and fair as the
sun. his hair, a bright silver gray, curled in most majestic form,
His eyes, a keen penetrating blue, and the skin of his neck a
most beautiful white, and He was covered from the neck to the
feet with a loose garment, pure white, whiter than any garment
I have ever before seen. His countenance was most
penetrating, and yet most lovely! And while I was endeavoring
to comprehend the whole personage, from head to feet, it
slipped from me, and the Vision was closed up. But it left on
my mind the impression of love, for months, that I never before
felt, to that degree” (quoted in Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland, 109-
Moses
D&C 110:11
Priesthood
keys
restored
What
these keys
direct
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Moses
D&C 110:11
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
What
these keys
direct
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Moses
D&C 110:11
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
What
these keys
direct
Missionary work
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
“Missionary work is crucial to
the gathering of Israel. … In
many nations our
missionaries have searched
for those of scattered Israel”
(“The Gathering of Scattered Israel,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 81).
Moses
D&C 110:11
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
What
these keys
direct
Missionary work
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Moses
D&C 110:11
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
What
these keys
direct
Missionary work
Elias
D&C 110:12
The
dispensation
of the gospel
of Abraham
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Moses
D&C 110:11
Elias
D&C 110:12
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
The
dispensation
of the gospel
of Abraham
What
these keys
direct
Celestial
marriage and
eternal
posterity
Missionary work
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
“Elias brings back ‘the gospel of
Abraham,’ the great Abrahamic
covenant whereby the faithful receive
promises of eternal increase,
promises that through celestial
marriage their eternal posterity shall
be as numerous as the sands upon
the seashore or as the stars in heaven
for multitude—that in their seed all
generations shall be blessed.” (“The Keys of
the Kingdom,” Ensign, May 1983, 22).
Moses
D&C 110:11
Elias
D&C 110:12
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
The
dispensation
of the gospel
of Abraham
What
these keys
direct
Celestial
marriage and
eternal
posterity
Missionary work
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Moses
D&C 110:11
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
The
dispensation
of the gospel
of Abraham
The keys of this
dispensation
What
these keys
direct
Celestial
marriage and
eternal
posterity
Missionary work
Moses
D&C 110:11
Elias
D&C 110:12
Elijah
D&C 110:13–16
Priesthood
The keys of the
keys
gathering of Israel
restored
The
dispensation
of the gospel
of Abraham
The keys of this
dispensation
What
these keys
direct
Celestial
marriage and
eternal
posterity
Sealing power,
including temple and
family history work
Missionary work
“As members of Christ’s restored
Church, we have the covenant
responsibility to search out our
ancestors and provide for them the
saving ordinances of the gospel. … For
these reasons we do family history
research, build temples, and perform
vicarious ordinances. For these reasons
Elijah was sent to restore the sealing
authority that binds on earth and in
heaven” (“The Hearts of the Children Shall
Turn,” Ensign orLiahona, Nov. 2011, 25–26).
The keys of missionary work,
eternal families, and temple
work help us to …
Read Doctrine and Covenants 110:11–16 to complete this
principle.
(1) How does missionary work prepare people for the
Lord’s Second Coming?
(2) How does the promise of eternal marriage and
families prepare people for the Lord’s Second Coming?
(3) How does temple work prepare people for the Lord’s
Second Coming?
Journal:
 1) What are you doing to prepare for
missionary work?
 (2) What are you doing to prepare for your
eternal marriage and family?
 (3) How are you participating in temple
work?
VIDEO: Endowed With Power
Endowed with Power
A dramatization of President Brigham
Young speaking about the Saints receiving
temple ordinances before leaving Nauvoo.
President Howard W. Hunter and others
speak of the blessing of participating in
temple ordinances. (12:17)
Doctrine and Covenants 110