The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has purchased the Kirtland Temple — the first temple built in this dispensation — in addition to several significant buildings in Nauvoo, Illinois, from the Community of Christ church, leaders of both faiths announced Tuesday, March 5.
Following is a timeline of the Church in Kirtland from the Church History Department:
Early 1831: The Lord commands Latter-day Saints to go to Ohio, where they would receive His law, be endowed with power from on high and prepare to share His gospel among all nations (see Doctrine and Covenants 38:32–33).
February 1831: Joseph Smith arrives at Newel K. Whitney’s store after receiving revelation for members of the Church to gather to Ohio (Doctrine and Covenants 37).
June 1831: First high priests in this dispensation are ordained on Isaac Morley’s farm, near Kirtland.
Sept. 12, 1832: Joseph and his family move into the Whitney store.
Dec. 27 and 28, 1832, and Jan. 3, 1833: The Lord instructs the Saints to establish a house of God (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:119).
Feb. 27, 1833: The Lord reveals the Word of Wisdom (Doctrine and Covenants 89) at the Whitney store.
June 1, 1833: The Lord chastens the Saints “for their failure to build the house of the Lord” and reveals the design of the Kirtland Temple (Doctrine and Covenants 95).
June 6, 1833: Construction begins on the Kirtland Temple.
July 23, 1833: The First Presidency — Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams — preside at a cornerstone-laying ceremony.
Aug. 2, 1833: Joseph Smith receives a revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 94:1 regarding Church buildings in Kirtland, including the temple.
Fall 1833: Church members build a sawmill on Stoney Brook in Kirtland — to hasten temple construction.
Dec. 18, 1833: Joseph Smith gives the first patriarchal blessings of this dispensation at the Johnson Inn in Kirtland.
Feb. 17, 1834: The Church’s first stake is organized in Kirtland.
May 5, 1834: Zion’s Camp begins.
November 1834: The School of the Elders is organized in Kirtland.
Feb. 14, 1835: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is organized in Kirtland.
Feb. 28, 1835: The First Quorum of the Seventy is organized in Kirtland.
Aug. 17, 1835: The Doctrine and Covenants is accepted as a standard work of the Church. Copies are ready for distribution the following month.
Jan. 21, 1836: Joseph Smith experiences a vision of celestial glory, recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 137.
March 27, 1836: Joseph Smith dedicates the temple. His dedicatory prayer is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 109.
April 3, 1836: Jesus Christ appears in the temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and accepts the Kirtland Temple as His house; Moses and Elias each appear and commit their keys and dispensations; Elijah appears and commits the keys of his dispensation as promised by Malachi (Doctrine and Covenants 110).
June 13, 1837: Heber C. Kimball and others leave Kirtland on a mission to England.
Jan. 12, 1838: Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon flee from Kirtland, taking their families to Missouri.
Source: history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org
