Even before the organization of the Church, two of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, were directed to search out the Twelve Apostles, and as a mark by which these men were to be known the Lord particularizes:
"And the Twelve are they who shall desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart."
In his diary under date of 1835, the Prophet Joseph writes:
"On the Sabbath previous to the 14th of February, Brothers Joseph and Brigham Young came to my house after meeting and sang for me; the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon us, and I told them I wanted those brethren together who went up to Zion in the camp the previous summer, for I had a blessing for them."
Of the minutes of that meeting on February 14th, a brief extract will be interesting:
"President Joseph Smith, Jr., after making many remarks on the subject of choosing the Twelve, wanted an expression from the brethren if they would be satisfied to have the Spirit of the Lord dictate in the choice of the Elders to be Apostles; whereupon all the Elders present expressed their anxious desire to have it so.
"A hymn was then sung, 'Hark, Listen to the Trumpeters.' President Hyrum prayed and the meeting was dismissed for one hour.
"Assembled pursuant to adjournment, and commenced with prayer.
"President Joseph Smith, Jr., said that the first business of the meeting was for the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon to pray, each one, and then proceed to choose twelve men from the Church as Apostles, to go to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
"The three witnesses, viz., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, united in prayer.