NOM

This lesson spends a lot of time on Emma Smith and D&C 25, which is the section where Emma is called "an elect lady" and also called to prepare a hymn book.

D&C 25 has some short, but interesting additions to it. In 1831 (Manuscript Book 1) and 1833 (Book of Commandments) the Lord tells Emma "And thou needest not fear, for thy husband shall support thee from the church" from 1835 on it reads "And thou needest not fear, for thy husband shall support thee in the church." (D&C 25:9)
It would be instructive to have the question asked "what does this change in the revelation tell us......?" but no such question is asked in the manual.

Well just when I think I have the will power to keep my mouth shut, the topic of Emma Smith is just too damn juicy to let go. The teacher was trying to express very apologetic reasons for Emma staying behind. Things like "she didn't want to move her house again" blah blah blah. I didn't punt the "against polygamy" football in their face, but I did bring up that Emma and Brigham didn't agree on succession authority and that Emma was instrumental in her son Joseph III's rise to prophethood in the RLDS movement. I so wished polygamy would have arisen naturally, but I just didn't have the heart to drop that bomb.

Another interesting anecdote about Emma. If you search for "emma" in the general conference corpus database you get a lot of general conference talks in the 1850's disparaging Emma over her objections to polygamy and decision not to go with the Utah saints. Kind of sad that they would speak evil of the poor woman who did so much for the movement.