The enemies of the cause abroad were united with the spirits of dissension at Kirtland, to produce disaffection against the Prophet himself and to attribute to him those evils which were solely caused by disobedience to his counsel and the command of God expressed through him. As we have seen, some of the Twelve were so far blinded that they joined secretly with the enemy; but there was not a quorum in the Church that was entirely exempt from the evil influence.
Joseph was stricken with illness in June, 1837. And while he was wrestling with the adversary to overcome the physical affliction, the doubting members of the Church were taught by apostates that his woes had been sent upon him because of his transgressions. When the Prophet was once more restored through prayer and the blessing of the Almighty to his condition of health and power, he humbly said of his enemies:
The Lord judge betwixt me and them, while I pray my Father to forgive them the wrong.
While Satan was spreading this spirit of dissension through Kirtland, the Lord was directing to Joseph the magnificent missionary movement to the old world. About the first day of June, 1837, that devoted and ever-constant Apostle Heber C. Kimball was set apart by the spirit of prophecy and revelation to preside over a mission to England—the first in that dispensation. With him were associated Apostle Orson Hyde and Elders Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding; and when they reached New York they were joined by three brethren from Canada, John Goodson, Isaac Russell and John Snyder. They sailed from the United States on the 1st day of July, 1837, on the ship Garrick, and landed in Liverpool on the 20th day of that same month.
This was the commencement of a glorious work, which has brought the honest-in-heart by tens of thousands from foreign lands, and which yet continues and must continue until the elect shall be gathered and the judgments of God are poured out upon the nations. Though this was the first missionary work of the Church performed in another hemisphere, self-denying brethren had up to this time been diligent in laboring in Canada, in the states and among the Indians on the border, that the people of this continent might have an opportunity to hear and obey.
It was a glorious overcoming of the evil which menaced the Church at that hour. Drawing strength and means from abroad to the cause, the missionary movement also opened a glorious opportunity for Elders in Zion to forsake speculations, vanities, dissensions, and to prove their faith by their devoted efforts for the salvation of their fellow-men.
Apostles Kimball and Hyde, and Elder Richards and companions landed on this foreign shore absolutely moneyless. They did not have so much as a cent or a farthing, but they were not dismayed. The Prophet of God had pronounced upon their heads blessings which they knew could not fail. Immediately after landing at Liverpool they advanced to Preston, thirty miles distant. When they alighted from the coach they found unfurled above their heads a large flag bearing this inscription in letters of gold:
"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL."
The banner was floating in compliment to Queen Victoria who had but recently ascended the throne after the death of King William IV; but it was accepted as a promise and a good omen by the Elders, and they were not disappointed.
Elder Joseph Fielding had a brother who resided at Preston, and with whom he and his sisters, one of whom afterwards became the wife of President Hyrum Smith, and the mother of his son, Joseph F. Smith, had corresponded. He was a minister of religion, and was styled Rev. James Fielding. Three days after the Elders landed in England they preached in Mr. Fielding's church, at Preston, and seven days later they baptized nine persons in the River Ribble near that place. The continuation of their work was marked by a noble zeal on their own part and a prosperity under the divine assistance almost without parallel.