Editing David Whitmer (section)

===Church offices===
Whitmer had been ordained an [[Elder (Latter Day Saints)|elder]] of the church by June 9, 1830, and he was ordained to the office of [[High Priest (Latter Day Saints)|high priest]] by Cowdery on October 5, 1831. Soon after the organization of the church, Smith specified [[Jackson County, Missouri]], as a "gathering place" for Latter Day Saints. According to Smith, the area would be the "center place" of the [[Zion (Latter Day Saints)|City of Zion]], the [[New Jerusalem]]. On July 7, 1834, Smith ordained Whitmer to be the president of the church in Missouri and his own successor, should Smith "not live to God".

<blockquote>
By virtue of his position as President of the High Council in Zion, David Whitmer was sustained as "the president of the church in Zion," not merely as a Stake President. Since the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Quorum of the Seventy had not yet been organized, this meant that there was a short period of time—from July 3, 1834, until February 14, 1835—when the High Council in Zion stood in an administrative position next to the First Presidency. It also meant that from July 3, 1834, until December 5, 1834, at which time Oliver Cowdery was made the Associate President of the Church, David Whitmer, as President of the High Council in Zion, was the Prophet's rightful successor."<ref>Hyrum L. Andrus, ''Doctrines of the Kingdom'', Bookcraft, 1973, p. 195.</ref>
</blockquote>

Cowdery and Whitmer were also called to "search out" twelve "disciples", who would become the [[Quorum of the Twelve]].<ref>Doctrine and Covenants, {{sourcetext|source=The Doctrine and Covenants|book=Section 18|verse=27,37}}</ref>