PRIMARY 5 LESSON 28 ZION’S CAMP MARCHES TO MISSOURI
Display on the board D&C 105:18
“But inasmuch as there are those who have hearkened unto my words, I have
Prepared a blessing and an endowment for them, if they continue faithful."
OPENING ACTIVITY IDEA
Test idea from the manual
Why are we given tests in school? To see if we are learning what we need to learn
What are some other tests we have in life? To see if we’ll get angry with our sibling, to see if we’ll obey our parents, to see if we can be quiet and reverent
One of the reasons we were sent to earth is to have our faith in our Savior tested.
We are here to prove that even with a lot of trials and tests and difficulties, we can still follow the commandments and endure to the end.
What happens when we don’t pass the “test” that day? We can repent and change to doing what is right.
Today we’re going to learn about something really hard that the early Church members went through!
It was a big test.
LESSON
Remember what we learned about last week? Have them say what they remember, then fill in the details
They are still in the middle of that situation where we start off today.
Remember they were driven out of their homes by the mobs?
This was in the winter! What’s winter like here? How do you think winter would be further north closer to the north pole? A lot colder, right?
This was in Missouri, which is further north than us. Very cold! They didn’t have much protection from the cold winter weather. They also didn’t have a lot of food.
The governor promised to help them.
Who is a Governor?
Is he the leader of a city, of a county, of a state? State
We actually have a governor of our state too. They are elected to keep our state running well.
This governor, Daniel Dunklin, promised they would get their land and homes back if they organized a group of men to protect themselves from the mob. That sounds fair, right?
So the Church leaders in Missouri sent Parley P. Pratt and Lyman Wight to Kirtland, Ohio to get help and talk to Joseph Smith and figure out what they were going to do.
The Prophet received a revelation (103) to get a group of men together in Ohio and to march from Ohio to Missouri to help them. This group would be called Zion’s Camp.
They were going to take food, clothing, and money to the Missouri Church members and help them!
The Lord told Joseph Smith to get 500 men! But if that wasn’t possible, then at least 100.
Some men started to gather into a group, but it was just about 200.
They ranged in age from 16 to 79.
Who is 16 in our ward?
Who is probably about 79 in our ward?
Some women and children also came along.
They brought 25 wagons with them, but the wagons were filled with supplies. So the men had to walk.
Before they started out, Joseph organized the men into groups. Each group had a captain.
Each captain set the rules for their group.
On May 5th, 1834, they started the journey from Kirtland Ohio to Missouri
Guess how many miles it was? 1,000!
How many miles away is 1,000 miles from here?
They prayed every morning and every evening, and met together on Sundays to basically have church. They took the sacrament and they listened to talks.
Do you guys think that took a lot of faith? That means they stopped their march, even though it was really cold, and they took the time to worship the Lord.
They also prepared for the battle they might have by doing “mock” battles and drills. They needed to prepare for mobs attacking them, so it was a good idea to see how they would act before it happened.
The Prophet said: “God was with us, and His angels went before us, and the faith of our little band was unwavering. We know that angels were our companions, for we saw them.”
The long march was difficult! They experienced many trials:
The weather was hot and humid
The roads were bad
Their feet became sore and blistered, and often bled!
They had a hard time getting food and water and often had to eat food that had gone bad, and had to get insects out of their water before drinking.
Because life was so hard, people got grumpy and angry with each other. Do you guys feel extra grumpy when you’re hot? Or when you’re hungry?
They were even sometimes blaming Joseph Smith.
One evening there was an argument between Sylvester Smith and some of the other men.
They asked Joseph Smith to settle the argument.
Because Sylvester and some of the other men were being rebellious, the Prophet told them they would have more problems before they left there.
The next morning, almost every horse in camp was sick!
Joseph told them if they repented and humbled themselves, their horses would get better!
They men did repent.
By Noon, all of the horses were better except Sylvester’s! His horse actually died!
When Zion’s Camp reached Missouri, Joseph sent Parley P Pratt and Orson Hyde to the capital to meet with Governor Dunklin.
They came back and reported bad news.
The governor had changed his mind and was now refusing to help the Saints!
Instead of helping them get their homes and property back, he told them the Saints should just give up all their property and leave Missouri.
Zion’s Camp still continued towards Jackson County.
Some of the mobs started to come out.
One leader named James Campbell decided they were going to try to get Joseph and other church leaders.
They tried to cross the Missouri River, but their boat sank in the middle and many of them died including James!
One night, Zion’s Camp stopped at a river. They were setting up camp when five mob guys armed with guns rode into camp.
They threatened them and said a mob would attack them.
Some of Zion’s Camp wanted to fight, but Joseph told them to trust the Lord would protect them.
Soon a big storm came! Rain and hail, lightning and thunder all came.
The ammunition the mob had got soaked, the horses got scared and ran away, even some guns were broken. The mob couldn’t cross the river to get to them because the rain caused the river’s level to rise so much!
At the end of June 1834, Joseph received a revelation telling the men of Zion’s Camp not to fight against the mobs. Some of them left and went back to be a missionary where they had been, some went back to their homes in Ohio, and some stayed in Missouri.
So Zion’s Camp didn’t end up fighting or getting the land back.
But it was still an important test of faith for those men.
They had to learn to follow the prophet without complaining.
They had shown faith and felt closer to the Lord.
Some of those men later became leaders in the early Church, and they felt their experience with Zion's Camp was very important and helpful for them to lead God's Church!
WOOD ROUGH & SMOOTH
Get out a small piece of rough wood (see idea for this down in the Take Home section) and a piece of sandpaper cut into the # of pieces as there are kids in the class.
What were some of the problems faced by Zion’s Camp? Fighting, bad attitudes, bad food, unsafe water, sore feet, persecution
As problems are named, pass the rough wood around and have everyone feel the roughness. Compare the wood to those in Zion’s Camp before they went through the trials and difficulties.
What are some of the tests we face in life? Write their thoughts on the board and add ones like not wanting to obey parents, having a hard time in school, not knowing how to handle anger or sadness, having to move, friends moving away, grandparents or relatives passing away
How can we pass those tests? Sand the wood with sandpaper as this is discussed (praying, finding the positives, having faith, talking with people for advice) until part is smooth
As we face our problems and overcome them, we become “smoothed out” and better.
Pass the wood around and have them feel the difference.
ZION’S CAMP VIDEO
Show portions of https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-090-zions-camp
Find sections that you want to highlight that your class will enjoy and show those portions (video is likely too long to show the whole thing, plus it may not hold their attention depending on their age)
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS WITH PIONEER CLOTHING
Everyone take turns reading letters from Joseph to Emma from Zion’s Camp and have them wear a pioneer paper bonnets* (for those acting as Emma back home) or paper necktie or suspenders (boys) while reading.
Highlight the sections of the letters you wish to have them read
Letter 1
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-emma-smith-4-june-1834/1#full-transcript
Letter 2
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-emma-smith-18-may-1834/1#full-transcript
For fun, show them images of his actual letters in his handwriting from this site:
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/
*https://www.skiptomylou.org/how-to-make-a-pilgrim-bonnet-out-of-paper/
OUR OWN ZION’S CAMP
What can we do as a class to help members of our ward? Visit someone? Participate in a ward activity? Invite someone to come to church?
Discuss ideas and commit to one that's realistic for your class.
TESTIMONY/TAKE HOME
Give them a small piece of rough wood and sand paper for them to practice.
Perhaps have the piece of wood they take home be a small wood cut-out from a craft store that they have sanded in class as part of the object lesson.
