A Party divided

Currently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not support any political party, nor do they encourage the Church members to vote one way or another, however, was it always like this?

 

a.      Yes

b.      No

Yesterday’s answer:

 

(C)   Prayer circles

 

Of central importance to the Winter Quarters story was the compassionate role women played, particularly during peak times of disease and distress. Though the Women’s Relief Society had been formally dissolved in Nauvoo in the months after the death of Joseph Smith, the lack of a formal female religious organization at Winter Quarters did not deter women from taking an extremely active individual and collective role in comforting, nursing, and even healing the sick. Led by a coterie of the most prominent women—those whose husbands held high ecclesiastical rank and whose men were away in the Battalion—they organized visiting rounds to help the sick and the pregnant, held prayer circles, and conducted healing sessions with the laying on of hands. Helen Mar’s mother-in-law—Vilate Kimball, wife of Heber C. Kimball—was most active in the process; others like Patty Sessions, Louisa Barnes Pratt, Eliza R. Snow, Mary Richards, and even Helen Mar [Whitney] herself were all active participants. Although Brigham Young halted some of these activities upon his return from the Great Basin in the fall of 1847, the statement of female faith, compassion, and religious service played a vital role in the history of Winter Quarters.

 

History of the Saints, Harley, William G., ed. (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2012), 63.