"At their meetings Brigham and Heber saw the manifestations of the spirit and heard the gift of speaking and singing in tongues. They were constrained by the spirit to bear testimony to the truth, and when they did this the power of God rested upon them.
"Desiring to hear more of the saints, in January, 1832, Heber took his horses and sleigh and started for Columbia, Bradford county, Penn., a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles. Brigham and Phineas Young and their wives went with him.
"They stayed with the church about six days, saw the power of God manifested and heard the gift of tongues, and then returned rejoicing, bearing testimony to the people by the way. They were not baptized, however, until the following spring. Brigham was baptized on Sunday, April 14th, 1832, by Eleazer Miller, and Heber C. Kimball was baptized the next day.
"Just two weeks from that time I was baptized by Joseph Young, with several others.
"The Holy Ghost fell upon Heber so greatly, that he said it was like a consuming fire. He felt as though he was clothed in his right mind and sat at the feet of Jesus; but the people called him crazy. He continued thus for months, till it seemed his flesh would consume away. The Scriptures were unfolded to his mind in such a wonderful manner by the spirit of revelation that he said it seemed he had formerly been familiar with them.
"Brigham Young and his wife Miriam, with their two little girls, Elizabeth and Vilate, were at the time living at our house; but soon after her baptism Miriam died. In her expiring moments, she clapped her hands and praised the Lord, and called on all around to help her praise him; and when her voice was too weak to be heard, her lips and hands were seen moving until she expired.
"This was another testimony to them of the powerful effect of the everlasting gospel, showing that we shall not die, but will sleep and come forth in the resurrection and rejoice with her in the flesh.
"Her little girls sister Miriam left to my care, and I did all I could to be a mother to her little ones to the period of our gathering to Kirtland, and the marriage of Brigham to Miss Mary Ann Angell.
"The glorious death of sister Miriam caused us to rejoice in the midst of affliction. But enemies exulted over our loss and threw many obstacles in the way of our gathering with the saints.
"To my husband's great surprise some of the neighbors issued attachments against his goods; yet he was not indebted to any of them to the value of five cents, while there were some hundreds of dollars due to him. However, he left his own debts uncollected, settled their unjust claims, and gathered to Kirtland with the saints about the last of September, 1832, in company with Brigham Young.