About this episode
We begin the episode with Richard recounting a personal spiritual experience at a sacrament meeting in Fruita, Colorado… home of Mike the Headless Chicken. We then answer a litner’s question: Was Hyrum Smith an apostle? We discuss Hyrum’s unique role in the Church, drawing from Doctrine & Covenants 124 and the Council of Fifty minutes. Gerrit walks through the complexity of 19th-century Church leadership structure, why modern categories like “apostle” don’t always cleanly map to early Church roles, and why Hyrum’s spiritual authority was second only to Joseph’s. Finally, Gerrit shares a powerful, little-known sermon from Hyrum Smith delivered just months before his death, where Hyrum tells the Council of Fifty to stop worrying about how God’s work will be done, and start believing that He will do it. Mike the Headless Chicken: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34198390 Kristy’s KorneЯ (Last Minute Lesson Prep): The Lord chastens Richard (D&C 58:4 and D&C 3:1) Standard of Truth Tour dates for the summer of 2026: https://standardoftruth.com/tours/ Missouri/Nauvoo – June 14th through June 20th – 3 spots left Sign up for our free monthly email (almost never monthly): https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com