PREPARING FOR OUR JOURNEY AND MISSION--THE BLESSING OF THE PROPHET
JOSEPH UPON OUR HEADS, AND HIS PROMISES UNTO US--THE POWER OF THE DEVIL
MANIFESTED TO HINDER US UN THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR JOURNEY.
On the first of July, 1839, Joseph Smith and his counselors, Sidney
Rigdon and Hyrum Smith, crossed the river to Montrose, to spend the day
with the Twelve, and set them apart and bless them, before they started
upon their missions. There were twelve of us who met there, and we all
dined in my house.
After dinner, we assembled at Brother Brigham Young's house for our
meeting.
Brother Hyrum Smith opened by prayer; after which the Presidency laid
their hands upon our heads and gave each of us a blessing.
President Rigdon was mouth in blessing me, and also blessed Sisters
Young, Taylor and Woodruff.
The Prophet Joseph promised us if we would be faithful, we should be
blessed upon our mission, have many souls as seals of our ministry, and
return again in peace and safety to our families and friends; all of
which was fulfilled.
Brother Hyrum advised me to preach the first principles of the gospel;
he thought that was about as much as this generation could endure.
Then Joseph arose and preached some precious things of the Kingdom of
God unto us, in the power of the Holy Ghost; some of which I here copy
from my journal:
"Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy, and be ready to forgive
our brethren on the first intimation of their repentance and desire
for forgiveness; for our Heavenly Father will be equally as merciful
unto us. We also ought to be willing to repent of and confess our sins,
and keep nothing back. Let the Twelve be humble and not be exalted,
and beware of pride and not seek to excel one another, but act for
each other's good, and honorably make mention of each other's names in
prayer before the Lord and before your fellow-men. Do not backbite or
devour a brother. The Elders of Israel should seek to learn by precept
and example in this late age of the world and not be obliged to learn
everything we know by sad experience. I trust the remainder of the
Twelve will learn wisdom and not follow the example of those who have
fallen. When the Twelve, or any other witnesses of Jesus Christ, stand
before the congregations of the earth, and they preach in the power
and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and the people are astonished and
confounded at the doctrine, and say, 'That man has preached a powerful
sermon,' then let that man or those men take care that they do not
ascribe the glory unto themselves, but be careful that they are humble,
and ascribe the glory to God and the Lamb; for it is by the power of
the Holy Priesthood and the Holy Ghost that they have power thus to
speak.
"Who art thou, O man, but dust! and from whom dost thou receive thy
power and blessings, but from God?
"Then let the Twelve Apostles and Elders of Israel observe this key,
and be wise: _Ye are not sent out to be taught, but to teach_.
"Let every man be sober, be vigilant, and let all his words be seasoned
with grace, and keep in mind it is a day of warning, and not of many
words.
"Act honestly before God and man; beware of sophistry, such as bowing
and scraping unto men in whom you have no confidence. Be honest, open,
and frank in all your intercourse with mankind.
"I wish to say to the Twelve and all the Saints, to profit by this
important key, that in all your trials, troubles, temptations,
afflictions, bonds, imprisonments and deaths, see to it that you do not
betray Jesus Christ, that you do not betray the revelations of God,
whether in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants, or any
of the words of God.
"Yea, in all your troubles, see that you do not this thing, lest
innocent blood be found upon your skirts, and ye go down to hell.
"We may ever know by this sign that there is danger of our being led to
a fall and apostasy when we give way to the devil, so as to neglect the
first known duty; but whatever you do, do not betray your friend."
The foregoing are some of the instructions given to the Twelve by the
Prophet Joseph, before they started upon their missions.
Inasmuch as the devil had been in a measure thwarted by the Twelve
going to Far West, and returning without harm, it seemed as though the
destroyer was determined to make some other attempt upon us to hinder
us from performing our missions; for it seemed that as soon as any one
of the Apostles began to prepare for starting, he was smitten with
chills and fever or sickness of some kind.
Nearly all of the quorum of the Twelve or their families began to be
sick, so it still required the exercise of a good deal of faith and
perseverance to start off on a mission.
On the 25th of July, for the first time in my life, I was attacked
with chills and fever; and this I had every other day, and, whenever
attacked, I was laid prostrate.
My wife, Phoebe, was also soon taken down with the chills and fever, as
were quite a number of the Twelve.
I passed thirteen days in Montrose with my family, after I was taken
sick, before I started on my mission.
The 7th of August was the last day I spent at home in Montrose, and
although sick with the chills and fever the most of the day, I made
what preparations I could to start on the morrow on a mission of four
thousand miles, to preach the gospel to the nations of the earth, and
this, too, without purse or scrip, with disease resting upon me, and a
stroke of fever and ague once every two days.
Yet I did this freely, for Christ's sake, trusting in Him for the
recompense or reward. My prayer was: "May the Lord give me grace
according to my day and souls for my hire, and a safe return to my
family and friends, which favor I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen."