Keep a Regular History

Behold, it is expedient in me that my servant John should write and keep a regular history. Doctrine & Covenants 47:1

In 1831 the Lord called John Whitmer, one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates, to write the history of the Church. The Lord told him “that he shall continue in writing and making a history of all the important things which he shall observe and know concerning my church” (D&C 69:3). Before this call, he had served as a scribe to the Prophet Joseph in Fayette, New York. Although he later became disaffected from the Church, he remained true to his testimony of the Book of Mormon plates until his death in 1878. His early history of the Church is a significant treasure today. Record-keeping has always been commanded by the Lord. When the Church was organized in this dispensation, the Lord commanded that a record be kept of people and events, doctrines and covenants (D&C 21:1). We are also to keep individual and family records. These records and journals will be among our most precious possessions for us and for generations yet unborn. (Robert L. Millet and Lloyd D. Newell. Draw Near Unto Me: Daily Reflections on the Doctrine and Covenants. 127)