On the morning of the , notwithstanding the threats of our enemies that the revelation which was to be

On the , myself and George A. Smith were ordained to the Apostleship, on the Temple cor- ner at Far West, Missouri. The same year I crossed the Atlantic ocean in company with John Taylor, to Eng- land, spending the next year there with the Twelve Apostles. First I went to Staffordshire and organized three branches. Then I went to Hereford- shire, Worcestershire and Gloucester- shire, where, in eight months, I brought 1,800 souls into the Church, including 600 of the United Brethren, who had broken off from the Wes- leyan Methodists, with forty-five preachers, baptizing all of that sect but one member. I established three conferences and fifty-eight preaching places, and organized forty-seven branches of the Church. I then went to London with Heber C. Kimball and George A. Smith. We organized the first branch of the Church in that city, consisting of eighty-five members.

next on the building spot of my Home saith the Lord, Let my servant John Taylor and also my servant John E Page and also my servant Wilford Woodruff and also my servant Willard patriarch be appointed to fill the places of those who have fallen and be officially notified of their Appointment. [Doctrine and Covenants 118:5-6] It will be observed that different from nearly all other revelations in the instant a day & date was given and place was given for the commencment of this Mission and when this revelation was given all was peace & quiet And in Missouri & at Far West but before the time being for the fulfillment of that revelation The Saints of God had been driven out of the State of Missouri into Illinois under

still in prison On the morning of the 26 April 1839, Notwithstanding the threats of our Enemies that the revelation that was to be fulfilled this day should not be and Notwithstanding that ten thousands of the saints had been driven out of the state by the edict of the Governor

was ordained one of the 12, on corner stone of Temple at Far West, BY being mouth. Geo A. Smith ordained at same time.

speedily to Far West, and, on the 26th of April next, take your leave of the Saints here and depart for other climes across the mighty deep." The substance of this letter had been revealed to me several weeks before, but I had not named it to any person. The time having now come for me to prepare for leaving the islands, I had a desire to take with me all the Saints I could get to go to Zion. There had al- ready been a line drawn upon the islands between the Saints and those who had rejected the gospel, and the enemies were very bitter against me and the work of God I had labored to establish. They threatened my life, but the Saints were willing to stand by me. I spent four days with the Saints visit- ing them, holding meetings and encour- aging them, while the devil was raging upon every hand. I had baptized and organized into the Church nearly one hundred persons while upon the islands, and there seemed a prospect of gathering about half of them with me, but the devil raged to such an extent that quite a number were terri- fied. The inhabitants of the islands had but little acquaintance with the management of horses or wagons; in fact, most of them knew more about handling a shark than a horse. However, in company with Nathanial Thomas, who had sold his property and had money, I went to the mainland and purchased ten new wagons, ten sets of harness and twenty horses. When I got everything prepared for the company to start, I left the affairs with Brother Thomas, and went on ahead of the company to Scarboro, to prepare my own family for the journey. The outfit which I purchased for the company cost about two thousand dollars. Before leaving Brother Thomas, I coun- selled him in regard to the course to pur- sue, and charged him not to be later than the 1st of September in starting from the mainland.

Saints in the city Far West, on the 26th day of April next, on the building spot of my house, saith the Lord. Let my servant John Taylor, and also my ser- vant John E. Page, and also my servant Wilford Woodruff, and also my servant Willard Richards, be appointed to fill the places of those who have fallen, and be officially notified of their appoint- ment." [Doctrine and Covenants 118:5-6] It will be observed that this differs from nearly all other revelations in this respect: a fixed day and a stated place were given for the commencement of the mission. When the revelation was given, all was peace and quietude in Far West, Missouri, the city where most of the Latter day Saints dwelt; but before the time came for its fulfillment, the Saints of God had been driven out of the State of Missouri into the State of Illinois, under the edict of Governor Boggs; and the Missourians had sworn that if all the other revelations of Joseph Smith were fulfilled, that should not be. It stated the day and the place where the Twelve Apostles should take leave of the Saints, to go on their missions across the great waters, and the mobocrats of Mis- souri had declared that they would see that it should not be fulfilled. It seemed as though the Lord, having a foreknowledge of what would take place, had given the revelation in this manner to see whether the Apostles would obey it at the risk of their lives. When the time drew near for the ful- fillment of this commandment of the Lord, Brigham Young was the President of the Twelve Apostles; Thomas B. Marsh, who was the senior Apostle, had fallen. Brother Brigham called together those of the Twelve who were then at Quincy, Illinois, to see what their minds would be about going to Far West, to fulfill the revelation. The Prophet Jos- eph and his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rig- don, Lyman Wight and Parley P. Pratt were in prison in Missouri at the time; but Father Joseph Smith, the Patriarch, was at Quincy, Illinois. He and others who were present did not think it wis- dom for us to attempt the journey, as our lives would be in great jeopardy. They thought the Lord would take the will for the deed. But when President Young asked the Twelve what our feel- ings were upon the subject, we all of us, as the voice of one man, said the Lord God had spoken, and it was for us to obey. It was the Lord's business to take care of His servants, and we would ful- fill the commandment, or die trying. To fully understand the risk the Twelve ran in making this journey, my readers should remember that Lilburn W. Boggs, governor of the State of Mis- souri, had issued a proclamation, in which all the Latter-day Saints were re- quired to leave that State or be exter- minated. Far West had been captured by the militia, who were really only an organized mob; the citizens had been compelled to give up their arms; all the leading men who could be got hold of had been taken prisoners; the rest of the Saints—men, women and children— had to flee as best they could out of the State to save their lives, leaving all their houses, lands and other property which they could not carry with them to be taken by the mob. In fact they shot down the cattle and hogs of the Saints wherever they could find them, and robbed them of nearly everything they could lay their hands upon. Latter-day Saints were treated with merciless cruelty and had to endure the most outrageous abuses. It was with the greatest diffi- culty that many of them got out of the State, especially the prominent men; for there were many men of that State at that time, who acted as though they thought it no more harm to shoot a Mormon than a mad dog. From this brief explanation you will be able to un- derstand why some of the brethren thought we were not required to go back to Far West to start from there upon our mission across the ocean to Europe. Having determined to carry out the

On the morning of the 26th of April, 1839, notwithstanding the threats of our enemies that the revelation which was to be fulfilled this day should not be, and notwithstanding that ten thousand of the Saints had been driven out of the State by the edict of the governor, and though the Prophet Joseph and his brother, Hy- rum Smith, with other leading men were in the hands of our enemies, in chains and in prison, we moved on to the tem- ple grounds in the city of Far West, and held a council, and fulfilled the revela- tion and commandment given unto us, and we performed many other things at this council. We excommunicated from the Church thirty-one persons, who had apostatized and become its enemies. The "Mission of the Twelve" was sung, and we then repaired to the south- east corner of the temple ground, and, with the assistance of Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the building committee, laid the southeast chief corner stone of the temple, accord- ing to revelation. There were present of the Twelve Apostles: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, who proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith to the Apostleship. The Twelve then took their leave of, and gave the parting hand to the follow- ing Saints, agreeable to revelation: A. Butler, Elias Smith, Norman Shearer, William Burton, Stepen Markham, Shad- rach Roundy, William O. Clark, John W. Clark, Hezekiah Peck, Darwin Chase, Richard Howard, Mary Ann Peck, Artimesia Granger, Martha Peck, Sarah Granger, Theodore Turley, Hi- ram Clark, and Daniel Shearer. Bidding good-by to the small remnant of the Saints who remained on the temple ground to see us fulfill the revelation and commandments of God, we turned our backs on Far West and Missouri, and returned to Illinois. We had accom- plished the mission without a dog moving his tongue at us, or any man saying, "Why do you do so?" We crossed the Mississippi river on the

attended the conference on the Temple Block on the where I was ordained as one of the Twelve Apostles on the corner stone of the Temple under the hands of the Twelve ^Elder^ Brigham Young being mouth. Elder G. A. Smith was also ordained ^at the same time^ to the same office. We

on the and their take the parting hand of the Saints to go to the nations of the earth But persecution had arisen to such an height that about ten thousand souls of the Saints had been driven from the State and the city of Far West almost made desolate and waste. At the same time the Prophet Joseph and his council with other Elders were in prison and had been under the sentence of death several times because of their religion and they would have been put to death had not the Lord preserved them their lives were in His hands and not at this time in the hands of their enemies. Yet there were about thirty five of the Church killed at this time among whom was David W. Patten of the Twelve Apostles. These were the circumstances of that time and moreover the Missourians had sworn that the revelation above alluded to should not be fulfilled. Yet in spite of all this we were now moving forthward to the building spot of the House of the Lord in the city of Far West. The sacred spot was reached the Council held the revelation fulfilled and after taking leave of the Saints we returned thirty two miles and camped for the night. It being a matter of historical importance I will here give from my journal of the day the minutes of The Council at Far West; (Held April 26th 1839) Of The Twelve High Priests Elders and Priests. Present of The Twelve: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page and John Taylor.

Temple block on the , where I was or- dained one of the Twelve Apostles, on the corner stone of the Temple, under the hands of the Twelve, Elder Brigham Young being mouth. Elder G. A. Smith was also ordained at the same time. We returned to Quincy on

where I was ordained one of the Twelve Apostles, on the corner stone of the Temple, under the hands of the Twelve, Elder Brigham Young being mouth. Elder Geo. A. Smith was also ordained at the same time.