Priesthood
My first remembrance of President Heber C. Kimball goes back to the days of my childhood. He was a familiar and prominent figure in my mind in Nauvoo, Illinois, as the father of his sons, William, Heber, and David, with whom, as a little boy, I was more intimate although the two former were several years my seniors. I also recall him in those early days as the possessor of one of the best homes in the City of Nauvoo, and as the husband of “Aunt” Vilate Kimball, one of the dearest, kindest, most motherly souls who ever came within the range of my memory or acquaintance; and also as the father of Helen M. Kimball, a beautiful young woman, very much resembling her mother in appearance, and who was somewhat noted in the Smith family as being in some way related to it and who, after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was married to Horace K. Whitney, and became the mother of our present poet and historian, Orson F. Whitney.
One of my most distinct recollections of President Kimball was in the winter of 1845-6, in the Nauvoo temple. My mother, and her sister, Mercy R. Thompson, were much engaged in the work going on in the temple that winter, and President Kimball was also associated with the work being done there. It was there that my father’s children were sealed to their parents and President Kimball officiated.
In February, 1846, President Kimball took up the line of march, with the Twelve and the Saints who were driven out of Nauvoo, for their long journey into the wilderness, which eventually led to the occupancy of the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the settlement of Utah, by the Saints, and the fulfilment of the prophecy by Joseph Smith, that the Saints should gather to the Rocky Mountains.
The incident which more particularly specialized this departure of President Kimball to my mind, was the fact that my brother John, now the patriarch, and then a boy of about twelve years, accompanied President Kimball and family on their pilgrimage into the unknown wilderness, leaving us in Nauvoo in great fear and doubt as to whether we should ever see them again or not. This made an indelible impression upon my mind, and ever since there seemed to be inseverable ties connecting us with President Kimball and his family.
In 1848 we crossed the plains in a subdivision of President Kimball’s company. He baptized me in City Creek, in 1850, where the junction of East and North Temple streets now is.
In July, 1852, while attending a meeting which was held in Salt Lake City, my mother was taken sick and went to the home of President Kimball, where she remained during her last illness; under the care of Aunt Vilate. This brought me almost constantly for months directly in contact with President Kimball and family.
It was here I became more familiar with his home life and habits. I was greatly impressed and moved by his manner of praying in his family. I have never heard any other man pray as he did. He did not speak to the Lord as one afar off, but as if conversing with him face to face. Time and again I have been so impressed with the idea of the actual presence of God, while he was conversing with him in prayer, that I could not refrain from looking up to see if he were actually present and visible. While President Kimball was very strict in his family, he was ever kind and tender towards them.
I sometimes thought he was even kinder to me than to his own boys. I have heard him reprove them, but no word of reproof ever fell from his lips upon me. Later, through him, I was sent on my first mission. No better or kinder thing was ever done for me. It gave me four years of experience and seasoning which fixed my whole course of life, and it came just at the right time to the boy that I was.
Later I was associated with him in the Endowment House, where I served with him and under his direction for years. This brought me into the most intimate relation with him, and gave to each of us the most complete and perfect opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with each other. I learned to love him with the truest love, and the many evidences of his love and confidences in me are beyond all question.
My latest recollections of him are associated with a most unusual call made upon a number of brethren in 1861, by President Brigham Young, to accompany him on a mission to Provo. Among these were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, Abraham O. Smoot, Elijah F. Sheets, George G. Bywater and myself. These brethren all located in Provo with President Young, and those of the number possessed of means (Presidents Young and Kimball, and Elders Smoot and Sheets) proceeded at once to build themselves homes there.
It was while President Kimball was engaged in building and preparing a place for a portion of his family in Provo, that he met with an accident from which he did not recover, and soon after, Monday, June 22, 1868, came his final summons to meet the actual presence of the gracious Father, with whom he had, in prayer, so long and truly counseled, as if face to face with him, and whom he had devotedly served to the last moment.
President Heber C. Kimball was one of God’s noblemen. True as steel to every trust. Pure as refined gold. Fearless of foes or of death. Keen of perception, full of the spirit of the prophets. Inspired of God. Valiant in the testimony of Christ; a lifelong, undeviating friend and witness of the divine calling and mission of Joseph Smith. He was called by the grace of God, ordained by living authority, and lived and died an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.-Young Woman’s Journal, Vol. 20, 1909, pp. 251-252.
Tribute to Erastus Snow
My earliest vivid recollection of Elder Erastus Snow was in the fall of 1848, just after my arrival in Salt Lake Valley. I had the privilege of listening to a most excellent discourse by him in the bowery at the north side of the old Pioneer fort. This discourse so impressed itself and the speaker, upon my mind, that it and he ever after held a most distinguished place in my memory. As an orator and profound reasoner, I always felt impressed that he had no superior, especially when he warmed up to his subject, and entered into his discourse with the full force and energy of his active and vigorous mind.
As a counselor, his wisdom was manifest from every point of view.
As a colonizer and builder, from the pioneer days to the completion of his work, he was equal to the foremost of his associates. In point of endurance and perseverance in whatever he engaged, he was untiring and almost inexhaustible.
As a legislator or statesman, he was the peer of any of his associates, among whom were builders of this commonwealth. One of the marked peculiarities of his character was continuity and perseverance in whatever he undertook to do, until his object was attained and his purpose accomplished. Nothing could turn him aside from the discharge of his duty. He was, without doubt, a chosen and an effective instrument in the hand of God for the accomplishment of the mission assigned him, in which he always concentrated his mind, and threw the whole force of his vigorous and noble spirit.
As the head of a numerous family, he was an example to all mankind. His friendship was always true and boundless. I esteem him as one of the great men, not only of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but of the world.-Improvement Era, Vol. 14, Feb., 1911, p. 280.
Purpose of Visits of Church Leaders
We have come to see the condition and the spirit of the Latter-day Saints, and to present ourselves before them; that they may judge us by what we say and by the spirit we bring, as to whether we are in fellowship with them and with the Lord; and that they may see whether we measure up to the standards that they expect in those who stand at the head of the Church.-Improvement Era, Vol. 21, December, 1917, p. 98.
See addenda at close of volume. �
Gospel Doctrine