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Hi everyone, I'm Dave Butler. I'm Emily Freeman. Welcome to Don't Miss This, another special episode.

Even though we've just recently had another one here in Nauvoo, we are back for this fantastic section, number 135, that just has to do with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, this beautiful, fantastic section that makes us just reflect on his entire life and ministry.

And maybe we should let you know right now, these two sections, 135 and 136 are two of our very most favorite sections and they are together for you there in one week.

And we just, we tried to marry them together and then we couldn't. So this is what you're getting from us. You are getting 135, all about Joseph and Hyrum and Carthage.

And we just want to take a minute and just celebrate that moment in history and look back at it and learn from it. And then 136, which is going to talk about the Saints going across the plains, we really want to take you to where the Saints cross the plains.

So we are going to have a special edition at Martin's Cove where you're going to be able to watch that whole experience.

And it's going to be awesome. We're going to have the Nashville Tribute Band with us. There's going to be a lot of music. There's going to be a lot of stories, a lot of teaching. So be watching for that as well.

Yeah, we had to divide them. So there you go. I know that we kind of make a lot of fuss about Joseph Smith in our church. And those of you who have spent time with people of other faiths will sometimes hear them say things like, is Joseph your Jesus?

And we don't like, we don't, we're not surprised by that because we really do make a big fuss. I mean, there's a giant statue of them right here behind us. And we are both deeply Jesus people. Very, very much so.

And so we can understand that a little bit why somebody might say, like, why are you focusing so much on Joseph when we should be focusing so much on Jesus? In fact, I mean, we have a hymn about Joseph that we sing sometimes in church.

And every time that hymn gets chosen, by the way, I think Joseph wins us a little bit. And he's just like, oh, listen, do not sing that song, especially in church. And he is having it out with W.W. Phelps right now.

Who wrote that song for Joseph's funeral as a way to honor their friendship and what W.W. Phelps felt that Joseph had brought into his life. But every time we sing that song, it says, praise to the man who communed with Jehovah.

I feel like I can see Joseph racing his hand and saying, can we please change that song to praise to Jehovah who communed with the man? That was the focus of his ministry to point us there.

John Taylor in this section calls him the Seer of the Lord, the prophet of the Lord. And that's where I think he would feel most comfortably standing is with a hand pointed to heaven, a hand pointed toward him.

But you know, just like everybody has, I've got a priesthood line of authority. I've got the priesthood from my dad, I've got it from my grandpa, I think everybody has a faith line also that they could trace back.

Who planted in you your witness of Christ? And who planted it in them? And I think in restored Christianity, all of our lines would filter through Joseph. And maybe that's why there is that focus on him.

This section 135 was written by a dear friend of Joseph, an eyewitness to the martyrdom and a future president of the church, someone who would have to follow in his footsteps eventually. Maybe he had no clue at that time.

John Taylor, we like calling this section both a eulogy and an indictment. There is a verse at the very end where John Taylor says, hey, innocent blood was spilt and that ought to be answered for and not brushed under a rug.

But most of it is a eulogy for the mission and ministry and contributions of Joseph and his brother, Hyrum. So as we kind of go through today, what we want to do is tell the story and the sermons.

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