Life of Heber C. Kimball, an apostle

by Orson F. Whitney

He found in these families, which were related, congenial associates, for they too were seekers after truth, and truth they were all destined, ere many days, to find.

Sometime in the fall or winter of 1831, about three weeks after Heber and his wife had joined the Baptist church, five Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Pennsylvania to Victor, five miles from Mendon, and tarried at the house of Phineas H. Young. They were Eleazer Miller, Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen. Hearing of these men, Heber was prompted by curiosity to visit them, "when," says he, "for the first time I heard the fullness of the everlasting gospel."

The glorious news of a restored gospel and a living priesthood, commissioned of and communicating with the heavens; the promise of the Holy Ghost with signs following the believer, as in days of old; the wondrous declaration of angels revisiting the earth, breaking the silence of ages, bringing messages from another world;—all this fell upon the heart of this God-fearing man, and on the hearts of his friends and companions, like dew upon thirsty ground. As the voice of a familiar spirit, it seemed an echo from the far past—something they had known before.

To hear, with Heber, was to believe. He was convinced that they taught the truth, and was constrained to receive their testimony. He saw, more clearly than ever, that he had embraced but a portion of the truth in the Baptist faith; that the creeds of Christendom, the religions of the world, were but remnants of the everlasting gospel, broken off fragments of that grand Rock of Ages, the same in all generations; mixtures of truth and error; lesser lights at best in the broad firmament of human faith; and that now, when the Sun had once more arisen, the stars that lit the night must pale away.

Both Heber and Brigham received the word gladly, and were impelled to testify of its divinity. Then the power of God fell upon them.

"On one occasion," says Heber, "Father John Young, Brigham Young, Joseph Young and myself had come together to get up some wood for Phineas H. Young. While we were thus engaged we were pondering upon those things which had been told us by the Elders, and upon the saints gathering to Zion, when the glory of God shone upon us, and we saw the gathering of the saints to Zion, and the glory that would rest upon them; and many more things connected with that great event, such as the sufferings and persecutions that would come upon the people of God, and the calamities and judgments that would come upon the world.

"These things caused such great joy to spring up in our bosoms that we were hardly able to contain ourselves, and we did shout aloud 'Hosannah to God and the Lamb.'"

This heavenly vision, vouchsafed as the reward of faith and pure desires, only made them eager to know more of the "marvelous work and wonder" which the God of Israel had set His hand to perform, in fulfillment of the words of His ancient prophets. The Holy Ghost had fallen upon them, as on Cornelius of old, before baptism. They had plucked from the Tree of Life, from branches overhanging the wall, luscious fruit, whose sweetness and flavor made them long to enter the garden and more fully satisfy the desire of their souls.

Heber, accordingly, proposed a journey to Pennsylvania, the state from whence the Elders came, where several branches of the Church were established. It was winter; January, 1832. Putting his horses to the sleigh, he and his companions set off upon the journey, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles. The party consisted of Heber C. Kimball, Brigham Young, Phineas Young and the wives of the two latter. The branch they visited was in Columbia, Bradford County; that from which the Elders came, in Rutland, Tioga County.

They tarried about six days, attending the meetings of the Church, witnessing the manifestations of the gifts of the spirit, such as speaking in tongues, interpretations and prophecy, and learning more of the nature and mission of the great latter-day work. They returned home rejoicing, praising God, and bearing testimony by the way.