Don't Miss This Study

Episode: ALL IS WELL
Hosts: Emily Freeman & David Butler (with Grace Freeman & Dan Jones)
Date: November 24, 2025

Overview

In this episode of the "Don't Miss This Study" podcast, Emily Freeman, David Butler, Grace Freeman, and Dan Jones explore themes of hope, faith, and resilience found in Doctrine and Covenants sections 136, 137, and 138, focusing especially on stories of the early Latter-day Saint pioneers. Recorded on location at significant historical sites like Nauvoo and Martin’s Cove, the hosts share personal insights, real-life pioneer stories, and powerful doctrinal principles about loss, deliverance, and the process of becoming acquainted with God.
The episode weaves together scriptural exegesis, pioneer journal entries, missionary experiences, and personal memories to deliver a message about how God's promises and the power of rescue can carry us through life's harshest journeys.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Revelations of Hope: Doctrine & Covenants 137 & 138

• Perspective on Death & Afterlife:
  Both sections deal with the fate of the dead and offer comfort in the face of loss. The hosts discuss the universality of facing death and the hope these revelations provide (04:00).

  "[Section] 138 is an answer...in its most beautiful form...an answer to the whole church, and not just the whole church, but to everybody who lives on Earth, because God's commissioned us to take the message of the restoration to the world."
  — Dave Butler (03:50)

• Personal Application & Grief:
  Grace shares about her recently deceased grandfather, relating the verse about "declaring liberty to the captives" (D&C 138:18) to his life of service (08:50).

  "There's nothing that my grandpa loved more in this life than declaring liberty unto the captives...how great is it to know that God called him to that on this earth so that he wouldn't have to stop doing that for the rest of eternity."
  — Grace Freeman (08:50)

• Healing Through Revelation:
  The group notes how Joseph F. Smith's vision in 1918 (after losing many close loved ones) exemplifies God’s readiness to heal our hearts in times of sorrow (12:36).

  "God's ready and willing to heal our hearts. And that revelation comes out of our sadness..."
  — Dave Butler (12:36)

• Universal Need for Consolation:
  They emphasize that pondering the atonement opens us up to heavenly consolation (13:00) and invite listeners to reflect on how revelation can grow out of grief.

2. Doctrine & Covenants 137: Comfort for Grieving Families

• Setting: The Browning Family Home (Nauvoo):
  The revelation in section 137 promises celestial glory for children who die young—brought to life by describing the Browning family's loss of a young daughter, Lizzie (16:18).
• Symbolic Dual Views:
  The poignancy of standing at the Browning's back door, able to see both Lizzie's grave and the temple, represents both loss and hope (16:28).
• Carrying Promises on the Trek:
  The only thing families could carry west, besides their meager belongings, were the promises revealed through revelation and temple ordinances (17:18).

3. Doctrine & Covenants 138: The Spirit World & Ongoing Redemption

• Historical Context:
  President Joseph F. Smith received the revelation during the devastation of World War I and the Spanish Flu, and after many personal losses (17:34).
• Reflection as a Source of Revelation:
  Reflecting on Christ’s atonement and God’s love opened up a vision of hope for all humanity (18:00).
• Doctrine: No One Forgotten:
  All people, "small and great," will eventually hear the message of redemption (10:41, referencing D&C 138:35).
• Personal Witness:
  "None of your people have been forgotten. Small and great, God has organized his forces on this side of the veil and on the other side…to make sure all people…get to hear this great grand message of hope."
  — Dave Butler (10:41)
• Vision as Answer to Grief:
  The section is presented as a balm for collective sorrows, showing the Lord's empathy and infinite planning for His children (12:34).

4. The Pioneer Experience: Stories from Martin’s Cove

The Encampment at Martin’s Cove (Wyoming Segment)

• Historical Hardships:
  Hosts describe walking the ground where the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies were stranded, noting lessons from both easy and arduous pioneer journeys (22:06).
• Amy Loder: A Mother's Encouragement:
  When her daughters couldn’t bring themselves to continue, Amy danced by the fire, using humor and love to rally her family (24:38).
• Faith Gained through Adversity:

  "Some people lost their faith on this trip, and some people gained faith on this trip."
  — Dave Butler (25:27)

• Francis Webster's Testimony:
  A powerful, elderly survivor rebukes armchair critics, describing literal angelic help during the journey (28:31).

  "I've gone on to that sand, and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I knew then that the angels of God were there...The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay."
  — Francis Webster (quoted by David Butler, 28:31)

Miraculous Provisions and Divine Preparation

• Geological Coincidence or God’s Providence?:
  A non-LDS geologist remarks that Martin’s Cove is one of only three places in the world with its distinct wind break, formed thousands of years earlier—evidence to the saints of God’s forethought (30:06).
• Albert Jones’s Reflection:
  Despite suffering, these experiences made the pioneers more able to discern God's hand in their lives (32:48).
• Challenge to Listeners:
  Where is your "cove"? Where has God prepared deliverance and safety ahead of your own storms? (33:39)

5. The Story of the Rescuers

• Brigham Young’s Call to Rescue:
  The famous October 1856 conference is recounted—Brigham Young issues an urgent call for volunteers (34:21).

• Dan Jones: Reluctant Yet Faithful:
  When asked to stay for months as a guard with only 20 days of rations, Dan Jones prays, "I want to do exactly what is best, but I don't know a thing about it." (39:05)

  • Lesson: Look for "footprints in the snow"—evidence of people in need. Rescuers rarely feel fully prepared, but miracles follow willingness.

• Principle of Human Rescue:
  Ephraim Hanks is "ready now" when called and sums up the divine/human partnership:

  "The Lord does do strange things, but I notice he always counts on human folk to help him out." (41:18)

6. Crossing the Sweetwater & Rocky Ridge: Iconic Faith Moments

• The Blue Angel:
  Joseph Young rides in, seen as an "angel" in a blue coat by those he rescues (43:43).

  • Presence alone can be an act of rescue and comfort.

• Heroic Carrying:
  Teenage boys from the Valley carry handcart pioneers across the freezing Sweetwater River—“these saviors…became exactly what they needed in that moment” (46:31).

• Rocky Ridge:
  The most grueling part of the trail. Pioneers climb, exhausted, through snow and wind, kept moving only by “miraculous power and strength from God” and their love for each other (49:26).

  “This is a picture of what the two great commandments look like. To love God and to look forward to his promises, but also to love each other and look out for each other.”
  — David Butler (50:27)

7. Transformation Through Hardness

• Susanna Stone Lloyd’s Journey:
  She trades her mirror for food; years later, seeing her face, barely recognizes herself—profoundly changed inside and out by the journey (57:09, 58:58).
• Application:
  Do our own hard journeys change us, and can we let the lessons learned make us better rescuers?

8. Doctrine & Covenants 136: The Modern House of Israel

• Organization of the Journey:
  As the pioneers organized for the westward trek, the hosts read D&C 136's command to move forward with faith, joy, and covenantal unity (60:44).
• Modern Parallels:
  God leads all his “covenant people” through wildernesses, both literal and figurative—"it's the same God with the same purposes in mind" (61:46).
• Encouragement to All:
  "Go to with your might," be merry, be stewards, fear not—God will guide and bless those on His errand.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Grief and Consolation:

  "Contemplate on the love of the Father and the Son. Contemplate on this great act of redemption. Because I think in moments of that pondering and contemplation, our consolation, our comfort can come more easily from heaven…"
  — Dave Butler (13:00)

• Divine Preparation:

  "What has God already planned for you in your life? Where is your cove? Where is the place that he has prepared for your deliverance and for your rescue and for your safe keeping? Because he will do that for all of us."
  — Emily Freeman (30:06)

• On Becoming a Rescuer:

  "Just approach the Lord and say, I want to do what is best, but I don't know a thing about it. And then trust the Lord will tell you how to participate in that rescue...miracles will come."
  — Dan Jones (39:58–40:15)

• On Transformation:

  "...being so changed by an experience that you're changed both on the inside and the outside."
  — Dan Jones (58:58)

• On Hope & Promise:

  "Whatever your journey is, you can expect that God knows what to do, and He will guide you as He did the people of the past."
  — David Butler (63:32)

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• [08:50] Grace Freeman’s story about her grandfather's mission in juvenile detention—life and eternal impact.
• [28:31] Francis Webster’s tearful rebuke of armchair critics and testimony of angelic help.
• [30:06] The geologist at Martin’s Cove, illustrating God’s preparations for deliverance.
• [43:43–45:00] Joseph Young arrives as the blue angel; rescued saints’ overwhelming gratitude.
• [50:27] Rocky Ridge as a real-life portrait of the two great commandments (“love God, love your neighbor”).
• [57:09, 58:58] Susanna Stone Lloyd’s transformation—“I couldn’t even recognize myself”—the outward and inward change from the journey.

Lessons & Takeaways

• The Power of Covenant Promises:
  Families endured loss and hardship by clinging to promises received through revelation and ordinances.
• God Prepares Ways of Deliverance:
  Both in miraculous acts and in physical geography centuries in advance, God makes space for rescue.
• All of Us Need Rescue—and Can Be Rescuers:
  We are both the ones in need and the ones called to help, sometimes in ways we feel unprepared for.
• Transformation through Trial:
  Life’s hardest journeys change us, but “the best things here will be the best things there.”
• Extravagant Hope:
  God’s redemptive plan means that “no one is forgotten,” and “earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal” (13:00).
• Modern Application:
  Like the pioneers, we are modern Israel—God continues to lead, organize, and rescue His people.

Suggested Listening by Segment

• 00:23–04:00: Introduction to themes; reflection on why D&C 137–138 matter to all.
• 07:45–10:41: Personal and scriptural stories of loss, mercy, and hope.
• 15:51–17:34: The Browning home, Lizzie’s grave, and the comfort of temple revelations.
• 22:06–34:21: Pioneer trek stories at Martin’s Cove—ordinary heroism and divine rescue.
• 34:21–47:51: Rescuer tales—Brigham Young’s call, Dan Jones, Ephraim Hanks, the Sweetwater crossing.
• 48:03–52:05: The ascent of Rocky Ridge—physical and spiritual lessons.
• 52:05–59:01: Transformation, gratitude, and the desire to become better through hardship.
• 59:11–63:51: Wrapping up at Six Crossings and reflection on D&C 136 as a manual for modern journeys.

Closing Thought

"The Lord will be with us in our Rocky Ridge moments. And there are blessings waiting on the other side."
— Dan Jones (52:05)

This episode is a heartfelt exploration of hope in hardship, inspired by scriptures and the lived experiences of pioneers—inviting listeners to claim for themselves the healing, rescue, and promised blessings available through faith in Christ and covenant living.