Then on the 25th of the same month:
"President Zenas H. Gurley arose and said that the business before the meeting was to select persons to receive their endowment. He had received direction to select 10 or 12 to go in the Temple. He desired the brethren not to think it was partiality to make this selection. The most important point to be considered was to learn obedience. This was the principle taught by Jesus Christ."
He then proceeded to name the brethren for this purpose, and continuing his remarks he said:
"The Saints who have passed through the trials of the Church were generally rooted and grounded in love and have a witness in their hearts or they would not have remained."
And I say amen to that. I wish with all my soul that Zenas H. Gurley had been one of them for his own sake, for it was but 10 days after he made this utterance, that the exodus from Nauvoo began, and this is the last reference we have of Zenas H. Gurley while connected with the Church! What became of him? "Because he had no root he withered away." The terrible trials the Saints were forced to undergo in the wilderness were too great for him; he could not stand the test. And while he had declared that he would go with the Saints even if it required that he should sacrifice the wealth of the whole nation, when put to the actual test, his heart failed him and he sought safety in flight, he sought his life, but lost the life eternal!
The next reference we have of him in the minutes of the Twenty-first quorum is in 1855, where the statement is made that he had fled from the Church and was associated with James J. Strang. Of his connection with Mr. Strang, I prefer to read to you the account from the history of the "Reorganized" Church, for you know then we will have it correct. On page 744 of volume three we have the following:
"After the death of Joseph Smith, Elder Gurley investigated the claims of the various leaders, and finally accepted those of James J. Strang as being the most reasonable. A letter written by him from Gananoque, Canada West, November 6, 1849, and published in Gospel Herald, volume 4, page 187, indicates that he was then on a mission to Canada in the interest of the organization under Strang. On January 1, 1850, he again wrote from Landsdown, Upper Canada, still engaged in the same work.
"A letter written January 10, 1850, from Pittsburg, Canada West, manifested zeal in his work."
We have already shown how he manifested great zeal in his work in the Twenty-first quorum before he left the Church. But to continue:
"March 15, 1850 he wrote from St. Lawrence, New York, that he was assisting Brother Silsby in organizing the brethren and helping them in getting ready for Beaver. He was present at a conference held at Voree, Wisconsin, June 1 and 2, 1850, and in these minutes we find this entry: 'Brother Z. H. Gurley was'—
Then there is an ellipsis, no doubt it would be interesting to know what follows, and the account continues—