History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day...

March 18.Great joy and satisfaction continually beamed in the countenances of the School of the Prophets, and the Saints, on account of the things revealed, and our progress in the knowledge of God. The High Priests assembled in the school room of the Prophets, and were organized according to revelation; prayer by Sidney Rigdon.

"Doctor" Hurlburt was ordained an Elder; after which Elder Rigdon expressed a desire that himself and Brother Frederick G. Williams should be ordained to the offices to which they had been called, viz., those of Presidents of the High Priesthood, and to be equal in holding the keys of the kingdom with Brother Joseph Smith, Jun., according to the revelation given on the 8th of March, 1833. Accordingly I laid my hands on Brothers Sidney and Frederick, and ordained them to take part with me in holding the keys of this last kingdom, and to assist in the Presidency of the High Priesthood, as my Counselors; after which I exhorted the brethren to faithfulness and diligence in keeping the commandments of God, and gave much instruction for the benefit of the Saints, with a promise that the pure in heart should see a heavenly vision; and after remaining a short time in secret prayer, the promise was verified; for many present had the eyes of their understanding opened by the Spirit of God, so as to behold many things. I then blessed the {335} bread and wine, and distributed a portion to each. Many of the brethren saw a heavenly vision of the Savior, and concourses of angels, and many other things, of which each one has a record of what he saw.

March 23.A council was called for the purpose of appointing a committee to purchase land in Kirtland, upon which the Saints might build a Stake of Zion. Brother Joseph Coe and Moses Dailey were appointed to ascertain the terms of sale of certain farms; and Brother Ezra Thayre to ascertain the price of Peter French's farm. The brethren agreed to continue in prayer and fasting for the ultimate success of their mission. After an absence of about three hours Brothers Coe and Dailey returned and reported that Elijah Smith's farm could be obtained for four thousand dollars; and Mr. Morley's for twenty-one hundred; and Brother Thayre reported that Peter French would sell his farm for five thousand dollars. The council decided to purchase the farms, and appointed Ezra Thayre and Joseph Coe to superintend the purchase; and they were ordained under the hands of Sidney Rigdon, and set apart as general agents of the Church for that purpose.

On the 26th of March a council of High Priests, twenty-one in number, convened for the general welfare of the Church, in what was then called Zion, in Jackson county, Missouri. On account of a revelation, my letter, and an epistle from the Church in Kirtland, a solemn assembly had been called, and a sincere and humble repentance manifested, insomuch that on the 26th of February, one month previous, a general epistle had been written in conference, which was satisfactory to the Presidency and Church at Kirtland. At the sitting of the council of the 26th of March, according to the plan taught at the solemn assembly, which was, that the seven High Priests who were sent from Kirtland to build up Zion, viz.Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps, John Whitmer, Algernon {336} Sidney Gilbert, Bishop Partridge and his two counselorsshould stand at the head of affairs relating to the Church, in that section of the Lord's vineyard; and these seven men, with the common consent of the branches comprising the Church were to appoint presiding Elders, to take the watch-care of the several branches, as they were appointed: now, therefore, as many of the High Priests and Elderswhose calling was to travel and preach to the worldwent up to Zion, and commenced regulating and setting the branches in order, and claiming for themselves as much power by the authority of their Priesthood, and gift of the Holy Ghost, as those set apart and appointed to preside over the branches, it became necessary to call the council now spoken of, to set in order the Elders of Israel.

After a long discussion, it was decided from the revelations, that the order taught in the solemn assembly was correct; and that the Elders, when they arrived at Zion, were bound by the authorities set in the Church, to be submissive to the powers that be; their labors and callings being more particularly to push the people together from the ends of the earth to the places the Lord had appointed. This decision in council gave general satisfaction, and the Elders soon saw the beauty of every man standing in his place.

April 2.F. G. Williams was appointed by a council of High Priests, an agent to superintend and employ men to labor in the brick-yard on the French farm, also to rent the farm. The French farm was purchased on account of the facilities found there for making brick, which was essential to the building up of the city. The council also instructed Brother Ezra Thayre to purchase the tannery of Arnold Mason, in Kirtland.

On the 6th of April, in the land of Zion, about eighty officials, together with some unofficial members of the Church, met for instruction and the service of God, at the Ferry on Big Blue river near {337} the western limits of Jackson county, which is the boundary line of the state of Missouri and also of the United States. It was an early spring, and the leaves and blossoms enlivened and gratified the soul of man like a glimpse of Paradise. The day was spent in a very agreeable manner, in giving and receiving knowledge which appertained to this last kingdomit being just 1800 years since the Savior laid down His life that men might have everlasting life, and only three years since the Church had come out of the wilderness, preparatory for the last dispensation. The Saints had great reason to rejoice: they thought upon the time when this world came into existence, and the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy; they thought of the time when Israel ate the "Passover," as wailing came up for the loss of the firstborn of Egypt; they felt like the shepherds who watched their flocks by night, when the angelic choir sweetly sang the electrifying strain, "Peace on earth, good will to man;" and the solemnities of eternity rested upon them. This was the first attempt made by the Church to celebrate the anniversary of her birthday, and those who professed not our faith talked about it as a strange thing.

While the Church was thus rejoicing, the news from abroad was, that 30,000 out of a population of 100,000 had died of starvation, in consequence of the famine produced by three years' drouth, followed by a flood, in the Cape Verde Islands; that sixteen shocks of earthquake had been felt the previous February, at St. Kitts and Nevis, in the West India Islands; that the Polish Jews were about to visit Jerusalem; that war was raging between Turkey and Egypt; that a great fire had occurred in Liverpool; that volcanic eruptions, wars and rumors of wars, were prevailing in different sections of the earth, and fire-balls and fearful signs were seen in the heavens, with many other alarming appearances, which caused the hearts of {338} the wicked to tremble, none of which was more awful than the continued spread of the Asiatic cholera in Europe, which had already swept from the earth, in the short space of fifteen years, about sixty millions of inhabitants.[1]