What I Learned from the Illinois Revelations: November 2025

Illinois was a place of rebuilding and hope for Latter-day Saints. After enduring violence in Missouri, they inherited a new home and began building a city named Nauvoo. During this resurgence, Joseph Smith taught sublime truths about the nature of God and life after death, and he connected those truths to practical actions we can take today. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants written in Illinois:

1. Relationships matter.

There are many things we can accomplish on our own, but God gathers us with other people for important reasons. One reason is because perfect joy is relational: we can be happier together than alone. Another is because relationships can continue in the next life and have eternal significance. In particular, as the Creator of eternal things, God can help us establish eternal marriages.

God helps us establish communities by inviting us to make covenants with Him. These covenants are outward-facing. God’s covenant with Abraham has blessed innumerable people, including his descendants and those they love and serve. Our covenants with God likewise connect us with other people.

2. God will help us find joy in high-priority activities.

Like Joseph Smith, we can “live great” (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3), because the Savior has promised to help us live “more abundantly” (John 10:10).

One key is to focus on our highest priorities and not be distracted by lesser ones. We can overcome significant roadblocks, resistance, and even personal failures when we know that we are building something important. And as we serve God diligently, He accepts our offerings, even when circumstances prevent us from fully achieving our goals.

As we follow His guidance, we experience the companionship of the Holy Ghost, which assures us that we are on the right path. We can therefore visualize the Final Judgment as a joyful and triumphant reunion with God, not as an event to be feared.

3. God does His work in an orderly way.

We each receive unique and personalized opportunities to contribute to God’s work. For example, prophets proclaim divine messages to the world. Patriarchs provide personalized guidance and instruction to individuals. God gives priesthood keys to some people, which open doors that would have remained locked otherwise.

As we fulfill those responsibilities, we keep appropriate records of our activities, including journals.

4. Holy places enable us to receive and share God’s light.

In Nauvoo, the Lord commanded the construction of two important buildings: the temple and the Nauvoo House.

The temple would be a “most holy place” where God could reveal “things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:40-41).

The Nauvoo House was a boarding house to show hospitality to visitors. The Lord called it “a healthful habitation … and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:23-24, 60).

We can receive revelation from God in His house and establish our homes as places of nourishment, healing, and growth for our families and for guests and visitors.