Life of Heber C. Kimball, an apostle

by Orson F. Whitney

The conference closed on the 16th of April, having been in session three days.

The time had now come for the Apostles to separate, to go into different parts of the Lord's vineyard. It was thought wisdom for Elder Heber C. Kimball to visit the churches which he had built up while in England on his former mission; for Orson Pratt to go north on a mission to Scotland, John Taylor to continue his labors in Liverpool, Parley P. Pratt to proceed to Manchester to begin the publication of the Star, George A. Smith to go into the Potteries, and Brigham Young and Willard Richards to accompany Elder Woodruff into his field of labor. These arrangements were at once carried out by the brethren, and the work spread on every hand, with redoubled energy and multiplied success.

CHAPTER XL.

HEBER VISITS THE BRANCHES RAISED UP DURING HIS FORMER MISSION—HIS REPORT OF THEIR CONDITION AND STANDING—FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE AT MANCHESTER.

Pursuant to the appointment of his quorum at the conference, Heber visited the Saints whom he had brought into the Church during his former mission. Elder Willard Richards accompanied him, pending preparations for his mission to Herefordshire.

They first visited the branch in Walkerfold, the home of the Rev. John Richards, whose daughter Jennetta Willard had married, in fulfillment of Heber's prediction. They found Sister Richards in a very low state of health, but after they had anointed and laid hands upon her, according to the ordinance of the Church, she immediately began to amend.

The Reverend Mr. Richards, who was feeling very sorely the effects of the preaching of Mormonism in his pastorate, on seeing Elder Kimball in his house, ordered him to leave. Heber meekly complied, much to the grief of Sister Richards and her aged mother, who wept aloud at his departure. The Walkerfold branch, though small, had suffered more persecution in proportion to its numbers than any other, but its members, with scarcely an exception, had remained steadfast in the faith.

Heber's report continues:

"From thence we returned to Preston, where I left Brother Richards to prepare for his mission to Herefordshire, and proceeded from thence to Dauber's Lane and Eggleston. We found there two branches rejoicing in the Lord. After a short visit with them, I returned to Preston; and after two days I started on a visit to the north. I went alone, by way of Walkerfold, on my way to Clithero, where I held meetings on the Sabbath, and administered the sacrament to nearly two hundred Saints. It was a time of refreshing to them and to myself, as I had not seen them for more than two years. It had been said there, as in other places, that I would never return to them again; but they now saw me again, and knew that myself and many of my fellow laborers had come; and that our message and our zeal were the same as formerly, and therefore I was received with greater joy than ever. I stayed at Elder T. Smith's, where on Monday I was joined by Elder Fielding from Preston.

"On Wednesday we went to Chatburn and held meeting in the evening. There was great joy in the place. The next day we went to Downham and held meeting that evening and many came to hear. We bore testimony to the Gospel, and of the work of the Lord in these last days. The people were very attentive. When we had closed, a certain man wished to ask a few questions; he appeared much agitated; in fact we were reminded of the prediction in the Book of Mormon, that 'men would anger and tremble because of the truth.' He demanded some evidence of the truth of the Gospel, or message, of which we testified; but would not tell us what evidence would satisfy him, so we could only repeat our testimony to him, and let him go, with no other evidence than what ourselves and tens of thousands of others had believed and were satisfied with. The Saints had a time of rejoicing. On Saturday we returned to Chatburn and held meeting, after which three persons were baptized and added to the Church. On the Sabbath the meeting was held in a large barn, no house being sufficiently large to convene the people. There were many to hear, who were very attentive. We ordained two Priests. In the evening four others were baptized. Some who had left the society, wished they had been faithful, and some of them returned by humble repentance and being re-baptized. There appears to be something peculiar in the people of this place; others had tried in vain to enlist them into their folds; but on hearing the first preaching of the fullness of the Gospel they were overwhelmed in tears of repentance, and more than twenty were immediately baptized. It is a small village, but the number of members soon increased to about ninety. They have mostly stood fast. We have never received anything like an insult all the time we visited the place, and we feel bound to bless them.