Soon after the words of Enoch were given, the Lord gave the following commandment:

A Revelation to Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, given December, 1830.[[9]]

1. Behold, I say unto you, that it is not expedient in me that ye should translate any more until ye shall go to the Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes.

2. And again, I say unto you, that ye shall not go until ye have preached my Gospel in those parts, and have strengthened up the Church whithersoever it is found, and more especially in Colesville; for, behold, they pray unto me in much faith.

3. And again, a commandment I give unto the Church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio, against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall return unto them.

4. Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself until I come. Even so. Amen.

Footnotes

[1]. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 33.

[2]. Orson Pratt was born September 19, 1811, in Hartford, Washington county, New York. His ancestors are enumerated in the biographical note of his brother, Parley P. Pratt, pp. 118, 119. The humble circumstances of his parents compelled him to seek employment where he could obtain it in various places, mainly at farming, during which time, however, he managed to get some schooling, paying especial attention to arithmetic, and gaining an acquaintance also with bookkeeping, grammar, geography and surveying. The early lessons of morality and religion taught at his father's home made deep impressions on his youthful mind, and led him in the autumn of 1829, particularly to seek the Lord. For this purpose he retired frequently to the lonely fields or the woods for prayer. This continued till September, 1830, when his brother Parley P. Pratt, an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came into the neighborhood where he resided, and as related in the text was converted at the first preaching of his brother Parley P. Pratt.

[3]. Doctrine and Covenants, section 34.

[4]. Edward Partridge was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 27th of August, 1793, of William and Jemima Partridge. His father's ancestor emigrated from Berwick, Scotland, during the seventeenth century, and settled at Hadley, Massachusetts, on Connecticut river. Nothing worthy of note transpired in his youth, with the exception, that he remembered, (though the precise time he could not recollect) that the Spirit of the Lord strove with him a number of times, insomuch that his heart was made tender, and he went and wept; and sometimes he went silently and poured the effusions of his soul to God in prayer.

At the age of sixteen he went to learn the hatter's trade, and continued as an apprentice for about four years. At the age of twenty he had become disgusted with the religious world. He saw no beauty, comeliness, or loveliness in the character of God as represented by the teaching of the various religious sects. He however heard a Universal Restorationer preach upon the love of God: this sermon gave him exalted opinions of God, and he concluded that Universal Restoration was right according to the Bible. He continued in this belief till 1828, when he and his wife were baptized into the "Campbellite" church by Sidney Rigdon, in Mentor, though they resided in Painesville, Ohio. He continued a member of this church, though doubting at times its being the true one, until Elders Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jun., and Ziba Peterson came with the Book of Mormon, when he began to investigate the subject of religion anew. As stated in the text he accompanied Sidney Rigdon to Fayette, New York, where, on the 11th of December, he was baptized by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Seneca river.

[5]. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 35.

[6]. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 36.