"The emphasis with which those words were spoken I shall never forget.
"I was with Brother Heber on the occasion of his last meeting at Bountiful, Davis County, Utah, just previous to his death. He seemed full to overflowing; for over two hours he held the audience; that meeting and the deep instructions will endure in the hearts of true Saints while eternities roll on.
"While working with him in the House of the Lord in 1856-7, how often I have heard him speak against pride and covetousness and the fear of riches, being fearful of the Lord's displeasure and consequent judgments. Said he: 'If the Saints will repent, the Lord's wrath will be turned away, but they will not repent until it is too late.'"
PRESIDENT A. O. SMOOT:
"A short time before Brother Heber was taken ill with his last sickness, I drove through with him from Provo to Salt Lake. He was unusually free in his conversation, it being almost a ceaseless flow of prophecies in relation to individuals in and out of the Church. He foretold, with what I have since realized to be the greatest accuracy, what would befall certain men. Some of those of whom he prophesied are still in good standing, but many who were in good standing then, have fallen, as he said they would."
PRESIDENT A. F. MCDONALD:
"My first intimate acquaintance with President Kimball occurred in 1868, I being then in charge of the Tithing Office at Provo. He often called into the office to do business. His public discourses about this time were the most earnest and impressive that I had ever heard; and on several occasions in the Provo meeting house, he clearly foreshadowed the time of trial the Saints are now passing through, and to a period still before us. He often used the language 'A test, a test is coming.'
"On one occasion, when he was stopping with us during a two days' conference, he came into the Tithing Yard where I was busy putting up hay, and called me towards him and said: 'Do you want me at your house, or would you rather not have us there?' I answered that it was a pleasure and honor to have him there. Looking intently at me, he said: 'I want to say to you that you have seen your worst days; you have had some hard times and trials in the past, but from this time it will be better for you. In whatever you are called to do, or whatever you put your hands to accomplish, you will be prospered and prevail.' This is true so far in my experience.
"On another occasion in 1863, during a two days' meeting in Provo, I invited several brethren to dinner. Brother Kimball was present. During the chat at the table, conversation turned on the number of children I then had, being at that time six boys; hearing this reply he said: 'Yes, and the next, the seventh, will be a boy also, and he will be the noblest, the most talented, and the greatest you have had.' Brother R. L. Campbell, who I remember was present, said in a free and jocular way: 'If it should come a girl, what then?' Upon which Brother Kimball observed; 'It will not come a girl, but a boy, and you will see it.' One year and four days after, a boy was born, and Brother Kimball, again attending a two days' meeting at Provo, called to see him and directed that he be blessed and given the name of 'Heber,' by which name he is known in our family and has grown to manhood, as we believe to fulfill the words spoken of him.
"On the night of Brother Kimball's accident at Provo, a short time before his death, I was with him. I took a silk handkerchief from my pocket and tied it over his head, and then suggested that I go and call on President B. Young, then at the house of Bishop Wm. Miller, to come and administer to him; but he said: 'I command you to administer to me and anoint me with oil in the name of the Lord; do not be in the least afraid; you hold the same Priesthood and authority from God as President Young or myself, and God hears and answers the prayers of His humblest servants and people.' I administered to him accordingly, and he soon revived, becoming quite free and jocular with us, and about two o'clock in the morning at his suggestion I went home. On the following day, myself and wife called to see him. He was much improved and quite sociable, his conversation being original, incisive, and a continual feast of inspiration. As we were leaving he asked his wife (Lucy W.) to get my handkerchief that I had put on his head the previous night, and addressing my wife he said: 'Here, Betty, take this handkerchief, and be sure that you never wash it, but keep it as it is, and when you have sickness in your family, exercise the prayer of faith, and it will prove a blessing, and will be a bond between you and me for ever!' My wife has sacredly kept that handkerchief."