The substance of this letter had been revealed to me several weeks before, but I had not named it to any person.
The time having now come for me to prepare for leaving the islands, I had a desire to take with me all the Saints I could get to go to Zion. There had already been a line drawn upon the islands between the Saints and those who had rejected the gospel, and the enemies were very bitter against me and the work of God I had labored to establish. They threatened my life, but the Saints were willing to stand by me.
I spent four days with the Saints visiting them, holding meetings and encouraging them, while the devil was raging upon every hand.
I had baptized and organized into the Church nearly one hundred persons while upon the islands, and there seemed a prospect of gathering about half of them with me, but the devil raged to such an extent that quite a number were terrified.
The inhabitants of the islands had but little acquaintance with the management of horses or wagons; in fact, most of them knew more about handling a shark than a horse. However, in company with Nathaniel Thomas, who had sold his property and had money, I went to the mainland and purchased ten new wagons, ten sets of harness and twenty horses. When I got everything prepared for the company to start, I left the affairs with Brother Thomas, and went on ahead of the company to Scarboro, to prepare my own family for the journey.
The outfit which I purchased for the company cost about $2,000.00.
Before leaving Brother Thomas, I counselled him in regard to the course to pursue, and charged him not to be later than the 1st of September in starting for the mainland.
I arrived at Father Carter's on the 19th of August, and waited with great anxiety for the arrival of the company from the islands, but instead of reaching there by the 1st of September they did not arrive till the 3rd of October; and when they did arrive the wagon covers were all flying in the breeze. It took a good day's work to nail down the covers, paint the wagons and get prepared for the journey.