Come Follow Me Study of the Doctrine and Covenants

     I have found myself somewhat puzzled in the Church’s scriptural study this year regarding the Doctrine and Covenants.  Perhaps I have never studied this scripture as a whole before.  And there are magnificent and meaningful sections and passages.  Yet as a whole the sections seems somewhat fragmented and incomplete.  We continually get hints and pieces of doctrine, instructions and direction, but the whole picture doesn’t seem present in any one place.  Much of the content, especially in the beginning portions, seems to be a sort of spiritual coaching of the initial Church leaders at a quite specific and elemental level.  Perhaps this is not entirely applicable in our day having a more mature Church and leaders drawing upon many years of experience.
    It is fascinating however, to understand how these pieces coalesced by the time of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom to form the foundation for the unified, world-wide Church of Jesus Christ in our day.  It seems to me that there were two components in this development:
     1. The keys, authority and organizational patterns and structures needed to grow, operate, and  maintain a unified Church of Jesus Christ across the entire earth.
     2.  The gospel doctrines, practices, keys, and ordinances encompassing the entire range of needed earthly spiritual development for disciples of the Savior.
    These preparations came together in 1844 as Joseph instructed the Twelve Apostles and the Church as a whole, how succession in the Presidency would operate should he be taken, and also with the initiation of the higher ordinances of the Gospel in the Nauvoo (upper room of the Red Brick Store and Nauvoo Temple).