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February 27, 1832

Lincoln Haskins joined the restored Church of Jesus Christ on February 21, 1832. A farmer by trade, Lincoln brought with his conversion a strong faith and a sense of enthusiasm for the restored Gospel.[1] He was thrilled when he heard about the vision Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received on February 16, 1832 (now canonized as section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants), just days prior his conversion—excitedly reporting to the Prophet’s brother Samuel H. Smith that Joseph and Sidney had “seen great and marvelous things.”[2]

Little wonder, then, that Lincoln would receive a mission call promptly after his conversion and ordination as an elder. This call came as a revelation to Joseph Smith on February 27, 1832. In his call, Lincoln was instructed to preach the gospel and to take copies of the Prophet’s revelations with him into “the congregations of the wicked,” with the promise that God would prosper his labors should he remain faithful. Unlike other revelations received at the same time as Lincoln’s calling elders on missions (e.g., Doctrine and Covenants 79 and 80, the calls of Jared Carter and Stephen Burnett in March 1832), for reasons unknown this revelation went uncanonized in Joseph Smith’s lifetime. A large “X” in the revelation manuscript book signals this text’s deliberate exclusion from early printed compilations of the Prophet’s revelations.[3]

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Behold, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, that I have chosen Lincoln Haskins to be a servant unto me. Wherefore, verily, I say unto you, let him be ordained and receive the articles and covenants which I have given unto you, and some of the commandments, that he may go forth and proclaim my gospel whithersoever I will send him in the congregations of the wicked. And inasmuch as he is faithful, I will prosper him. Even so. Amen.

Notes

[1] Orson Hyde, Journal, March 21, 1832, MS 1386, CHL. “21 [March] went on to Bro. Haskins an Elder in the Church of Christ verry much rejoiced to see him found him strong in faith.”

[2] Samuel H. Smith, Diary, March 21, 1832, MS 4213, CHL; see also Matthew McBride, “‘The Vision,’” in Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Matthew McBride and James Goldberg (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016), 148­–54.

[3] JSP, D2:192–93.