Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate/Volume 2/Number 1/Letter from the twelve

Kirtland, Ohio, October, 1835.

Dear Brother,

Through the Medium of the Messenger and Advocate, we wish to lay before your readers, our friends and brethren, certain items relative to our mission the past summer. We were chosen pursuant to a commandment of the Lord, which was received through him whom he had appointed by the voice of the angel of God, and acknowledged by the Latter Day Saints, in that appointment, given June 1829, which may be found on page 173, in the book of covenants, published in Kirtland, Ohio—which reads as follows:—

"And now behold, there are others who are called to declare my gospel, both unto Gentile and unto Jew, yea, even twelve: and the twelve shall be my disciples, and they shall take upon them my name: and the twelve are they who shall desire to take upon them my name, with full purpose of heart: and if they desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart, they are called to go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature: and they are they who are ordained of me to baptize in my name, according to that which is written; and you have that which is written before you: wherefore you must perform it according to the words which are written. And now I speak unto the twelve: Behold my grace is sufficient for you: You must walk uprightly before me and sin not. And behold you are they who are ordained of me to ordain priests and teachers to declare my gospel, according to the power of the Holy Ghost which is in you, and according to the callings and gifts of God unto men: and I Jesus Christ, your Lord and Your God, have spoken it. These words are not of men, nor of man, but of me; wherefore you shall testify they are of me, and not of man; for it is my voice which speaketh them unto you: for they are given by my Spirit unto you: and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power, you could not have them: wherefore you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.

And now behold I give unto you, Oliver Cowdery, and also unto David Whitmer, that you shall search out the twelve who shall have the desire of which I have spoken: and by their desires and their works, you shall know them: and when you have found them you shall show these things unto them. And you shall fall down and worship the Father in my name: and you must preach unto the world saying, you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ: for all men must repent and be baptized: and not only men, but women and children, who have arriven to the years of accountability.

And now, after that you have received this, you must keep my commandments in all things: and by your hands I will work a marvelous work among the children of men, unto the convincing of many of their sins, that they may come unto repentance: and that they may come unto the kingdom of my Father: wherefore the blessings which I give unto you, are above all things. And after that you have received this, if you keep not my commandments, you cannot be saved in the kingdom of my Father. Behold I Jesus Christ your Lord and your God, and your Redeemer, by the power of my Spirit, have spoken it. Amen.”

After being set apart to this holy and responsible office by those whom God had appointed for that purpose, it was thought advisable that we should take our first tour from this place easterly; consequently we made appointments for conferences in the vicinity of the several branches of the church between this and the Atlantic, as was published in the March No. of your paper. In order to fulfill these appointments, we, on the 4th of May, left the pleasant and agreeable society of our brethren in Kirtland with whom we had enjoyed many cheering and interesting seasons, and proceeded to fill our mission. Your readers will perceive from the preceding quotation, from the book of Covenants, the important relation which we sustain to this generation.—Feeling as we did the importance of the great cause of our Redeemer, the welfare of the human family, and the salvation of our own souls, we could say with one of old, "We conferred not with flesh and blood," but counted all earthly things as dross, so that we might do the will of God, & thro' Christ save the souls of the children of men.

Our first labors, were in the State of New York, in which we continued about two months, and attended four conferences. Our exertions were crowned with as good success as we could reasonable expect, considering the prejudices of the people, created by false and ridiculous statements, put in circulation by those who were first favored with the proclamation of the fulness of the everlasting gospel, contained in the book of Mormon: we had good reason to believe, that all the candid enquirers after truth, realized the force of the Savior's expression "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country." By our teaching and exhortations, the several branches of the church were strengthened and members were added; and of such, too, we hope, as will be saved.

Thence we passed into Upper Canada and attended a conference on the 29th of June, not far from the source of the majestic St. Lawrence. Notwithstanding we had passed from the happy institution of our free republic into another realm, yet we could with propriety adopt the words of the presiding apostle and say, "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him:" for here we found a branch of the Saints who not only received us cordially, but also received our teachings with joy of heart. Some were added here also, by baptism, whom we expect to meet on the glorious morn of that day, when the dead in Christ shall rise and live.—May God grant that they may all be preserved, gathered to Zion and saved in the celestial kingdom.

After testifying to many people in these regions, of those things which we know and most assuredly believe, we left the brethren much encouraged and pursued our course easterly, calling upon the inhabitants publicly, and from house to house, to repent and prepare for the day of wrath, which will overtake this generation as a thief in the night; and for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is nigh at hand.

Our next conference was held in St. Johnsbury, the north eastern part of Vermont, where we found many of the Saints, with whom we had a pleasant season of rejoicing, and whose memory is fixed indelibly upon our heart, because of their firm faith, and also their liberality in the support of the gospel. Our public meeting was attended by a multitude of various classes, and orders, who generally gave good attention to the proclamation of the everlasting gospel of the Son of God. Intense anxiety seemed to seize the minds of all the candid and honest in heart, and the Lord gave us souls who were added to the number of the Saints, as seals of our ministry.

Before the benign influence of the principles, held by the Latter Day Saints, prejudice, prepossessed opinions, and priestcraft seemed to vanish—like the misty vapors of the morning fog before the refulgent beams of the meridian sun. We are well aware that we as a people have been much misrepresented, the vile tongue of calumny has been busily employed in pouring out her filth upon us, ever since we have had an existence; from east to west the sound has gone forth, ''"delusion!" "delusion!" '' and here, wo[e]ful to adopt the language, in part, of a writer of Illinois, and say, "that even New England with all the flood of light, pouring from the schools, and numerous literary institutions, is not a bulwark sufficient to withstand the predominating influence of the power of truth, when the Lord himself sends forth his servants at the eleventh hour, to prune his vineyard for the last time." Nay, verily New England has produced her scores of Latter Day Saints,—the work is still progressing, and shall continue until her wheat is all secured in the granary and store—house of the Lord, while the tares are left to be bound in bundles, by priestcraft and superstition, to await that gloomy evening, when the Lord shall call to all the fowls of heaven, and all the beasts of the earth, to gather together to partake of the great supper of God Almighty.

At the close of our meeting here, the twelve separated, traveling in various directions, lifting up the standard of truth, and proclaiming salvation to both old and young, rich and poor, until we arrived in Bradford, Mss. where we held our next conference. There were but few brethren in this region, yet we found them seeking to become liberated from their temporal encumbrances, that when the Lord shall say, "to your tents O Israel!" they might have nothing to impede their course in gathering with the Saints to the place of deliverance, which has been pointed out by the finger of God. We also found some in this place, who had not united themselves to the church, who entertained us very kindly, and "bade us God speed." And we assure them that they are not forgotten by us, and may the Lord, who is rich in mercy, bestow his choicest blessings upon this little society, on account of their generosity towards his servants.

From this place some of our number visited the city of Boston, and held forth to that people this important truth, that the Son of Man will appear in this generation, calling upon them to repent and prepare for the day, when the Lord shall cause the foundations of the earth to shake, and his glory eclipse all the bright luminaries of day and night. Here we found a few disciples whose hearts were noble indeed, and who were not ashamed to own the truth in the midst of the opulence and splendor of that city—''the queen of the east. ''

Our next was held in Saco, Me.—where we found many Saints striving to live according to the law of the celestial kingdom, and this they manifested by their works, which are had in remembrance before the Lord and by those who visited them.

Our last conference was held in Farmington, Maine. In this place, as well as in all others, where we had labored, we failed not to instruct the Saints in plainness, in all those matters relative to their present and eternal well—being. May the Lord enable them to remember our words and forget them not, and not only remember them, but hasten to put them in practice, and may the Lord richly reward those who assisted us with means to return to the west; and also the saints and friends in whose hospitality we have shared so freely.—We say brethren, you have our grateful acknowledgements with the assurance that you are remembered in our prayers, at the throne of grace.

The nature of our mission to the east was peculiar, and required us to spend most of our time among the various branches of the church; however, as we had opportunity we proclaimed the gospel in every place where there was an opening, and truly there is an effectual door opened for good and faithful laborers among the intelligent and liberal people of the east.

To close, we would say to our brethren and friends that our journey to this place was prosperous, we arrived in health and found general health prevailing in this section, and also found that the house of the Lord, now in building here, had prospered beyond our expectation, for all which blessings before named, we render to our heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, our sincere and hearty thanks, earnestly praying that we may all meet, if not before, in that glorious morning of the resurrection of the just.

By order of the twelve.

ORSON HYDE, }

Wm. E. MCLELLIN, }Clerks

To J. WHITMER Esq.