"I was very much hurt at his abrupt manner, especially as his words seemed to intimate that I was one who would not pay my debts, a reputation I had not earned. 'Have you any further business with me?' he asked, turning towards me again, after the lapse of a few moments. 'No sir,' said I sternly, and walked away.
"Some time elapsed, and we did not meet, for I avoided him whenever I saw him coming. One day, however, we met face to face, he on his way to the Endowment House, and I near the Temple Block, where I was then working. Smiling amiably and reminding me that I had avoided him several times, he asked: 'Have you got a lot yet?' 'No sir,' I answered, coolly, although my blood was warmed by the recollection which his words called up. 'Well, you'll get one,' said he, 'and you'll get it of me, too.' (I inwardly resolved that I never would.) 'Yes, you'll come and get it of me,' he repeated, and we separated.
"Being determined that his words should not come to pass, (for I was not at all won over by his change of manner) I went and purchased a lot from a sister in the Church, paid her for it, and put up a house on the land. I then asked her for the deed, but she told me she did not have one.
"'Well, who holds the title to the land, then?' I asked.
"'Heber C. Kimball,' she replied.
"I was dumb-founded. 'Well, I shall not buy it of him,' I said to myself, but I resolved to go and get the deed for her. Brother Kimball received me very kindly, and my feelings were somewhat softened towards him. Almost the first question he asked was: 'Have you got a lot yet?' 'Yes, sir,' I replied, and then told him I had come to get sister ———'s deed. 'Why, I cannot give her a deed,' said he, 'for she has never paid me for that lot.' I then told him what I had done, and he said with a smile, 'I told you you would have to come to me for a lot. Wait here a moment,' he added, and went into his office. Returning presently, he handed me a deed for the land, made out in my name, and said: 'There, I'll make you a present of that deed, and you've already paid for the land; God bless you,' and we parted friends.
"Another incident I will relate:
"On the morning of the 15th day of April, 1865, my wife and I were going through the Temple block towards the Endowment House, as we had been previously requested by our Bishop to go and get our endowments. I was in a very thoughtful mood and prayed silently in my own mind that the Lord would give me grace to always adhere to the truth and have my mind quickened by the Holy Ghost, so that I might always be able to decide between truth and error and to have courage to defend the principles of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
"We overtook President H. C. Kimball and were walking leisurely along, when Willard G. Smith overtook us and said to President Kimball, 'Have you heard the news? President Lincoln was assassinated last night while at the theatre in Washington. See the flags are at half mast.' After some little conversation we entered the Endowment House. The thought of the sad death of President Lincoln weighed heavily on my mind, and made a deep impression on me. In going through the House Brother Kimball gave us a very impressive lecture. Fixing his eyes on me, he said:
"'Do you know that you will yet be called upon to stand in front of the enemy?' Then he paused for a reply.