See Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 2:8–27, 1835 ed. [D&C 20:38–84]; and Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 3:30–44, 1835 ed. [D&C 107:58–100].

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had been designated as a “traveling high council” and had the duty, according to JS, “to go abroad and regulate and set in order all matters relative to the different branches of this church.” The quorum also oversaw the work of the Seventy and other “travelling Elders” who were appointed to preach the gospel outside of Zion and its stakes. JS had given similar instruction before; he declared in a January 1839 letter, “Let every Elder ocupy his own ground. and when he builds a church let him preside over it. and let not others run in to trouble him.” (Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835; Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:38]; Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835; Letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, 16 Jan. 1839.)