As soon as the churches scattered abroad learned that the Lord had revealed the place where the city of Zion was to be built, preparations to purchase inheritances absorbed the minds of the faithful; and money was sent to The Church agent from all quarters to buy lands. Edward Partridge had been appointed the bishop in Zion, and it was made his duty to divide unto the saints their inheritances.[B] As early as February, 1831, the Lord had said that those who loved him would remember the poor, and consecrate of their property to sustain them, for inasmuch as they did it to the poor, they did it unto him; and that which was consecrated to the poor, should be imparted to them with a deed and a covenant that could not be broken. Moreover every man was to be made a steward over his own property.[C]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 57:7.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42:29-35.]
This law of consecration and stewardship was as follows: Every man was to consecrate his property to the bishop of The Church without reserve, with a covenant that could not be broken; and then from this consecrated property receive an inheritance from the bishop—sharing equally with his brethren, according to his family and circumstances—this inheritance being deeded [D] to him by the bishop; which inheritance then became his stewardship, upon which he was to improve according to the measure of wisdom he possessed. Every man is to be independent in the management of his stewardship. By every man consecrating his property to the bishop, and then receiving back as his stewardship only sufficient for his support, there was a surplus left in the hands of the bishop to be placed in the Lord's storehouse. Then if in the management of his stewardship a man obtained more than was needful for his support, it, too, was put into the Lord's storehouse, and that, as well as the surplus first named, was to be used in giving inheritances to the poor; and in assisting the brethren in the improvement of their respective stewardships, as should be appointed by the high council of The Church, and the bishop and his counselors.[E] And thus the saints were to be made equal in temporal things as well as in things that are spiritual.[F]
[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 51:4.]
[Footnote E: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42:33, 53-55.]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 78.]
The hearts of the saints in Zion were made glad in the spring of 1832 by a visit from their youthful Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, both of whom had suffered much for the truth's sake, during the winter that had just past, at the hands of a furious mob in Ohio.
At the time the mobbing referred to occurred, the Prophet was living at the house of a Brother John Johnson, Sen., (usually called "Father Johnson" by Joseph and the saints), in the little town of Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, about thirty miles from Kirtland. Before removing to that place, the Prophet's wife had taken two children (twins) to rear, their mother, the wife of a Brother John Murdock, having died when the children were a few days old. Emma Smith received them when they were nine days old, and at the time of the event to be related they were eleven months old.
Nothing of unusual importance had occurred in Hiram since the Prophet's arrival. He had occupied his time in the revision of the Bible that he had been commanded to make, and in holding public meetings in the evenings and on the Sabbath day. Here, too, he received a number of revelations, among them the one called the "Vision," [G] which describes the different degrees of glory to which men may attain in the future life.