After benedictory remarks by President Young, the procession returned to the Tabernacle and were dismissed.
President Young’s Vision
In the afternoon service of that day, President Young spoke at length in relation to temple building. In the course of his remarks he said:
“I scarcely ever say much about revelations, or visions, but suffice it to say, five years ago last July [1847], I was here and saw in the spirit the temple not ten feet from where we have laid the chief corner stone. I have not inquired what kind of a temple we should build. Why? Because it was represented before me. I never looked upon that ground, but the vision of it was there. I see it as plainly as if it was in reality before me. Wait until it is done. I will say, however, that it will have six towers, to begin with, instead of one. Now do not any of you apostatize because it will have six towers, and Joseph only built one. It is easier for us to build sixteen, than it was for him to build one. The time will come when there will be one in the center of temples we shall build, and on the top, groves and fish ponds.”[5]
Success in Foreign Mission Fields
The missionaries sent out to various parts of the earth in 1849 and succeeding years, met with varied success. The Church membership in the British Mission, before heavy emigration set in, was about twenty-eight thousand souls. Outside of Great Britain perhaps the greatest success in any foreign field fell to the lot of Erastus Snow and his companions, who introduced the Gospel in Scandinavia. Many branches were raised up, especially in Denmark, where Elders Snow, Peter O. Hansen, George P. Dykes and John E. Forsgren were laboring. Elder Forsgren carried the Gospel into Sweden and, later (1851) Hans F. Petersen and Hans Peter Jensen, to Norway. In each of these countries the elders were successful, although little headway was made in Sweden until 1853, Elder Forsgren having been banished soon after his arrival there. In Denmark, persecution raged, and several of the elders were brutally treated, while in Norway they were cast into prison. Elders John Taylor and companions in France were able to make some converts, but found it to be a hard field. Elders Lorenzo Snow, Joseph Toronto and Thomas B. H. Stenhouse, in Italy, found conditions similar to those the elders encountered in France. Meeting with no success in Genoa, they moved to the Protestant valleys of Piedmont, where a few were baptized. Finally Elder Stenhouse was sent into Switzerland to open the door for the Gospel there, where many were waiting to embrace the truth. The elders in India made a number of converts, but principally among the English, and branches of the Church were organized in that land. The message of salvation was also successfully carried into Australia, by John Murdock and Charles W. Wandell; into South Africa, by Elders Jesse Haven, Leonard I. Smith and William Walker; Hawaii, by Elder George Q. Cannon and companions. In China the mission opened by Elders Hosea Stout, James Lewis and Chapman Duncan, was a failure, and Elders Parley P. Pratt and Rufus Allen returned from South America, they being unable, because of political disturbances, to get a foothold there. Elders Addison Pratt, Benjamin F. Grouard, James Brown and others, were banished from the Society Islands, and the native Saints were sentenced to hard labor for holding meetings. Elders Pratt and Grouard, with Noah Rodgers, who died crossing the plains in 1846, had successfully introduced the Gospel in those and other islands of the Pacific in the day of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Foundation for Future Labors
These early missionaries laid the foundation for the preaching of the Gospel in many foreign lands, which has been continued since that time with wonderful results. Thousands of honest converts have gladly received the message of salvation, and with the spirit of gathering resting upon them, have come to Zion, as the prophets foretold, with songs of everlasting joy.
The Hand-Cart Immigration
The early companies arriving in the Salt Lake Valley came with oxen, mules and horses and heavy laden wagons. The people, however, quite generally were under the necessity of walking across the plains by the sides of their wagons. It became apparent that other and cheaper methods would have to be employed to accommodate the increasing immigration. As early as 1851, the First Presidency suggested the use of handcarts as a means of making the journey from Iowa westward. In fact, there were in the Salt Lake Valley at that time some who had crossed the plains in that manner, with comparative comfort and safety, and this had led to the suggestion of general travel in hand-cart companies. It was not until about the year 1856, however, that the idea was impressed upon the foreign Saints, and then after repeated suggestions. When they did take hold of it they entered into the spirit of hand-cart transportation with enthusiasm. Especially was this the case with the members of the Church in the British Isles. With handcarts, the British Saints could make the journey from Liverpool to Salt Lake City for about forty-five dollars, coming by way of Boston or New York to Iowa City, where they were fitted out to cross the plains. To those who were scarcely able to raise means, or who did not care to be indebted to the Perpetual Emigration Fund Company, this was a decided advantage.