Preparations for Returning Exiles to Zion.
February 1.—Every expedient preparation was making by the Church in Kirtland, and Clay county, to have those who have been driven from their possessions in Jackson county, returned.
Conference of High Priests and Elders at New Portage.
February 9.—A conference of High Priests, Elders and officers of the Church of Christ in New Portage, Medina county, Ohio, was called at the house of Brother Kirlins, which I attended. It had been suggested that Elder Rigdon might remove from Kirtland to New Portage; but after listening to the proceedings of a previous conference in Portage, from Brothers Palmer and Bosworth, it was decided that Elder Rigdon should not remove; and that the brethren in New Portage should assist all in their power to build the Lord's House in Kirtland; and that the brethren erect only a temporary or cheap place for meeting in Portage, as that was not to be established as a Stake of Zion at present; and that course would enable them to do more for the House in Kirtland.
At a council of the High Priests and Elders, (Orson Hyde, clerk,) at my house in Kirtland, on the evening of the 12th of February, I remarked that I should endeavor to set before the council the dignity of the office which had been conferred on me by the ministering of the angel of God, by His own voice, and by the voice of this Church; that I had never set before any council in all the order in which it ought to be conducted, which, perhaps, has deprived the councils of some or many blessings.
And I continued and said, no man is capable of judging a matter, in council, unless his own heart is pure; and that we are frequently so filled with prejudice, or have a beam in our own eye, that we are not capable of passing right decisions.
Order in Ancient Councils.
But to return to the subject of order; in ancient days councils were conducted with such strict propriety, that no one was allowed to whisper, be weary, leave the room, or get uneasy in the least, until the voice of the Lord, by revelation, or the voice of the council by the Spirit, was obtained, which has not been observed in this Church to the present time. It was understood in ancient days, that if one man could stay in council, another could; and if the president could spend his time, the members could also; but in our councils, generally, one will be uneasy, another asleep; one praying, another not; one's mind on the business of the council, and another thinking on something else.
Responsibility of Those who sit in Judgment.
Our acts are recorded, and at a future day they will be laid before us, and if we should fail to judge right and injure our fellow-beings, they may there, perhaps, condemn us; there they are of great consequence, and to me the consequence appears to be of force, beyond anything which I am able to express. Ask yourselves, brethren, how much you have exercised yourselves in prayer since you heard of this council; and if you are now prepared to sit in council upon the soul of your brother.