I CANNOT ARGUE WITH ANY OF THE LOGIC HERE.
GETTING SET FOR A POSSIBLE MODERN DAY REPEAT OF HAUN’S MILL
We all know the tragic story of Haun’s mill.
Joseph Smith had counseled all of the Church members living around Far West to drop
everything and come into Far West for safety. It wasn’t a commandment...it was simply a
request and counsel. Almost all the members of the Church immediately followed the counsel of
the prophet. However, brother Jacob Haun, upon hearing this counsel, came and argued with the
Prophet about the counsel at least 3 times during one day. Brother Haun’s point was that he did
not see the reason for it and he felt that he and his people could defend themselves if necessary.
According to John Lee who was present for the conversations, on 26 October 1838 The Prophet
said,
"Move in, by all means, if you wish to save your lives." Haun replied that if the
settlers left their homes all of their property would be lost and the Gentiles would
burn their houses and other buildings. Joseph replied, “You had better lose your
property than your lives, but there is no danger of losing either if you will do as
you are commanded."
Again, brother Haun thought he and his neighbors could protect and defend themselves, and
Smith finally gave them permission to remain, and is recorded as saying;
“they would consider him a tyrant if he forced them to leave and abandon their
property and come to Far West.”
Years later, on 8 June 1867 John Lee reaffirmed in his diary that;
"Jos. permitted Haun to gather the Brethren and defend their Mill but stated at
the same time that they would be massacred & sure enough it was done."1
Four years later after the incident Joseph himself recounted:
“Up to this day God had given me wisdom to save the people who took Council.
None had ever been killed who abode by my Council. At Haun’s Mill the brethren
went contrary to my Council; if they had not, their lives would have been spared.”
2
The lesson here for us to learn from is that brother Haun, the righteous local leader of a group of
good saints...felt he knew better than to obey all of the counsel of the living prophet. After all,
Joseph hadn’t made it an enforced commandment...he phrased it as counsel and advice. In fact,
it is important to note that Joseph REFUSED to make it a COMMANDMENT and force the
people to gather, even though he knew it would save their lives. Many of the good and righteous
people who trusted in their own wisdom and their local leader and refused to give full heed to the
1 Regional Studies, Missouri, Benson—Haun's Mill, p.107
2Ehat & Cook, Words, Manuscript History of the Church: 29 August 1842 (Monday Morning), p.127–129
words of the prophet, sadly, paid the terrible price four days later. That they were good people
who were righteous and had great faith is not disputed as some of them performed miracles later
even in the very day of their distress. But it was to help alleviate some of the suffering their
disobedient actions had brought down upon them. The problem was they thought it was a little
more important to try and save their material positions in the world, than to obey the suggestions
of a living prophet. This brings up another point of discussion.
LABORING UNDER A FALSE DOCTRINE
Does personal spiritual righteousness and gospel zeal guarantee the temporal protection of the
Lord and excuse an individual from obeying counsel of the Prophets and Apostles?
On the face of it the answer would seem obvious...absolutely not. We must obey all of the
counsel of the Lord’s anointed...all of the time. We can’t pick and choose without facing the
resulting consequences. But throughout history and even today many of the saints and their local
leaders believe, work under and teach this false doctrine in an important aspect of their lives.
Let me rephrase this question in another way. Can a member or a leader be trying so hard in so
many areas and be doing a tremendous amount of good while yet at the same time ignore counsel
given again and again by prophets...and then suffer terrible consequences because of his lack of
obedience in something very small he personally did not see the benefit of?
The answer is of course...yes. Let me use one more famous historical example of this very issue.
The Martin and Willey handcart experience is again, like Haun’s mill, a story of a group of good,
righteous individuals and their local leaders ignoring counsel from Prophets and Apostles and
suffering the consequences. They specifically, and falsely, applied the idea that their personal
righteousness would protect them in their disregard for following the counsel of the Apostles. In
fact they actually used as an excuse their gospel enthusiasm, zeal, faith and obedience as some of
the primary reasons in their arguments to disobey the advice of the brethren.3 After all, it wasn’t
a commandment that was enforced...it was just counsel. Again, history proved them to be
tragically wrong.
“The decision to send out the Willie and Martin companies so late in the season
was extremely reckless and based upon false doctrine. That decision cost the lives
of nearly one-fourth of the entire group; about 220 people died before the rescue
party sent by President Young could reach them.” 4
Of course we have the story of those who survived the Willie and Martin experience who drew
closer to the Lord. But, according to Brigham Young, it wasn’t what the Lord wanted:
“In mid-November President Brigham Young angrily reproved those who had
authorized the late start or who had not ordered the several parties back to
Florence when they still had the opportunity, charging "ignorance,"
3 See B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol.4, Ch.98, p.91
4Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.2, HANDCART COMPANIES
"mismanagement," and "misconduct." Though terrible, the suffering could have
been far worse. Had the rescue effort not been launched immediately—well
before the storm struck—the handcart companies would probably have been
totally destroyed.”5
SETTING UP A MODERN DAY REPEAT
Are too many of us as members and local leaders setting ourselves up for another Haun’s Mill
and Willie and Martin handcart disaster...only on a tremendously much larger scale?
I can’t tell you how many times I have talked with people who are wonderful, faithful members
of the Church, some even who are ward and stake leaders, who don’t have enough food storage
to last more than a week or so. Often this is because they have been well blessed in material
possessions and income. In our discussions about how the counsel for food storage has been
repeated by every prophet for over 60 years they commonly respond that with all of the other
issues that they are dealing with, it just isn’t very high on the priority list. Temple work, family
history, missionary work are all much more important than food storage. However, some
explain that if the Prophet made it a commandment, like they did with the Word of Wisdom by
including it on the temple recommend interview, instead of just counsel, then they would move
it up on the priority list.
These people, and I am convinced they represent a very large portion of the membership of the
Church, believe the very same false doctrines as did the members of the two ill fated groups
mentioned above. First, they falsely believe that their personal righteousness will save them.
After all, they are busy going to the temple, fulfilling Church callings, sending missionaries out,
etc. in other words...doing the works of the righteous. Surely, the Lord will be merciful to them
and take care of them despite their lack of attention to this small item. They discount what
president Benson taught on this point:
“Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church—and the need
for that cleansing seems to be increasing—a famine in this land of one year's
duration could wipe out a large percentage of slothful members, including
some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned.”6
Additionally, they commonly believe and have heard it actually taught over the pulpit by others
that those terrible things that have been prophesied won’t happen to the righteous and so they
need not prepare for them. Many prophets, including President Lee and President Kimball
addressed this terribly false notion, but President Benson said it best in his “Rue The Day”
statement:
5Ibid
6Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.265
“Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the
ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here.
Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord,
or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not
happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the
Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion. The Lord
has warned and forewarned us against a day of great tribulation and given us
counsel, through His servants, on how we can be prepared for these difficult
times. Have we heeded His counsel?7
It is hard for me to understand why or how so many good and wonderful people can discount
what the prophets have said, again, and again, and again, and again concerning what will
suddenly happen to the world in the future. President Benson said:
“The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our
temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of
Noah.”8
It is important to note that the people who didn’t get on the ark, suffered and died by the very
calamity that for 300 years had been prophesied would come upon them. People, including
members of the Church, have always had a habit of believing that things won’t change
drastically, or that terrible things could happen to them. It is a part of human nature.
However, the scriptures are very clear that these terrible cataclysmic events, some perhaps 20-30
years prior to the actual return of the Savior in power and great glory, will come suddenly upon
the heart of the Church, and then be poured out upon the rest of the world.
“Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of
wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of
lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith
the Lord.
“And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith
the Lord;
“First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my
name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my
house, saith the Lord.”9
It is noteworthy that President Hinckley quoted from this scripture in his famous Sunday
morning talk given in General conference following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and
7Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.706
8 (CR October 1980, Ensign 10 [November 1980]: 33.) Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.266
9 D&C 112:24-26
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