On April 7, 1844, Joseph Smith gave a sermon in Nauvoo, Illinois, at a general conference of the Church. In attendance were nearly 20,000 Church members. A few weeks earlier, on March 9, a Church member and close friend of Joseph named King Follett was killed in an accident. This well-known event in Nauvoo led Joseph Smith to comment specifically on Follett's death and to address what Joseph called "the subject of the dead." For this reason, Joseph's...