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Elders’ Journal, October 1837

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  • Historical Introduction
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation *Elders’ Journal, October 1837 *Elders’ Journal, October 1837 *Letter from Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan H. Hale, 18 September 1837 *Elders’ Journal, October 1837
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ELDERS’ JOURNAL
OF THE CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS.
Vol. I. No. 1.]- , OHIO, OCTOBER, 1837. -[Whole No. 1.
 
North Lat, 44. Long. 69, 10. Vinalhaven, Fox Islands, Monday, Sept. 18th, 1837.
To Joseph Smith Jr. and the in greeting:
Dear Saints of God, whom we love of a truth for the truth’ sake that dwelleth in you, and we pray God that it may abide with you forever: As we are called to stand upon the Islands of the sea, in defence of the truth and for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are under the necessity of making use of our pen, to give you an account of our labors in the ministry since we left , as we cannot at present speak to you face to face. We left May 31st, and took Steamboat at [Ohio] in company with , to go forth to labor in the vineyard as the Lord should direct.— After calling on the Saints in N. Y. we arrived at Sackett’s Harbour and took Steamboat on the 6th of June for and on the 8th arived at Brother Artemus Judd’s. And on the 10th, had the happy privilege of setting in conference with , , and a number other elders, and a large congregation of Saints. And we were blessed with a very interesting time. After spending several days with them we took the parting hand with these beloved friends and proceeded on our journey for the East in company with elder John Goodson, and others bound for . We took the parting hand with them at Schenectady, and arrived at the Caanan church in , visited the church a few days. Here elder took his departure for and we went to Colebrook, visited different parts of the town and held eight meetings, from thence to Canton and held a meeting in the village hall in Collinsville.— As we commenced speaking several began to beat their drums at the doors which made much confusion. This is the only disturbance we have had since we left . We next visited , where we held four meetings and many came out to hear and manifested a spirit of inquiry. And had the privilege of leading three of his kinfolk into the waters of . And had not the Spirit called us away to perform a greater work, we should have had no difficulty in establishing a branch of the church in that place. A family where we tarried but one night, and taught them the things of the kingdom, believed our testimony, and after our departure, two of the household followed us 15 miles to receive baptism at our hands, but we were gone, and they truly believed it to be a day of warning and not of many words. We also visited Farmington and held one meeting in the Methodist meeting house, and preached to an attentive congregation who wished to hear more concerning the great work of God. We left Farmington on the 20 of July, for and after visiting the Bradford church, and after preaching several times with them, we proceeded on our journey to , Maine, where we spent several days with the church and friends. But duty urging us forward to lift the warning voice to those that had not heard the sound of the gospel, we then went to the city of Portland. We there took the Steamer Bangor on the 19 of August, to speed us on our way to the Islands of the sea, they landed us at Owls head at the setting of the sun: But how to get conveyance to the Islands we knew not, we retired to a grove and offered up our thanks unto God for his mercies and asked him to open our way before us; we returned to the Inn and soon found some men that were going near the Islands that night, they said they would land us if we chose to take passage with them. We accordingly went on board, they hoisted sail and landed us on North Fox Island, Vinalhaven, at 2 o’clock Sunday morning, August 20th. It was with peculiar feelings and sensations that we began to walk forth upon one of the Islands of the sea which was wrapped in the sable shades of night, whose waters had never covered a soul for the remission of their sins after the order of the gospel, and which soil had never before been pressed by the foot steps of an elder of Israel. We were Strangers, Pilgrims, and almost pennyless. But we had [p. [1]]
ELDERS’ JOURNAL
OF THE CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS.
Vol. I. No. 1.]- , OHIO, OCTOBER, 1837. -[Whole No. 1.
 
North Lat, 44. Long. 69, 10. Vinalhaven, Fox Islands, Monday, Sept. 18th, 1837.
To Joseph Smith Jr. and the in greeting:
Dear Saints of God, whom we love of a truth for the truth’ sake that dwelleth in you, and we pray God that it may abide with you forever: As we are called to stand upon the Islands of the sea, in defence of the truth and for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are under the necessity of making use of our pen, to give you an account of our labors in the ministry since we left , as we cannot at present speak to you face to face. We left May 31st, and took Steamboat at [Ohio] in company with , to go forth to labor in the vineyard as the Lord should direct.— After calling on the Saints in N. Y. we arrived at Sackett’s Harbour and took Steamboat on the 6th of June for and on the 8th arived at Brother Artemus Judd’s. And on the 10th, had the happy privilege of setting in conference with , , and a number other elders, and a large congregation of Saints. And we were blessed with a very interesting time. After spending several days with them we took the parting hand with these beloved friends and proceeded on our journey for the East in company with elder John Goodson, and others bound for . We took the parting hand with them at Schenectady, and arrived at the Caanan church in , visited the church a few days. Here elder took his departure for and we went to Colebrook, visited different parts of the town and held eight meetings, from thence to Canton and held a meeting in the village hall in Collinsville.— As we commenced speaking several began to beat their drums at the doors which made much confusion. This is the only disturbance we have had since we left . We next visited , where we held four meetings and many came out to hear and manifested a spirit of inquiry. And had the privilege of leading three of his kinfolk into the waters of . And had not the Spirit called us away to perform a greater work, we should have had no difficulty in establishing a branch of the church in that place. A family where we tarried but one night, and taught them the things of the kingdom, believed our testimony, and after our departure, two of the household followed us 15 miles to receive baptism at our hands, but we were gone, and they truly believed it to be a day of warning and not of many words. We also visited Farmington and held one meeting in the Methodist meeting house, and preached to an attentive congregation who wished to hear more concerning the great work of God. We left Farmington on the 20 of July, for and after visiting the Bradford church, and after preaching several times with them, we proceeded on our journey to , Maine, where we spent several days with the church and friends. But duty urging us forward to lift the warning voice to those that had not heard the sound of the gospel, we then went to the city of Portland. We there took the Steamer Bangor on the 19 of August, to speed us on our way to the Islands of the sea, they landed us at Owls head at the setting of the sun: But how to get conveyance to the Islands we knew not, we retired to a grove and offered up our thanks unto God for his mercies and asked him to open our way before us; we returned to the Inn and soon found some men that were going near the Islands that night, they said they would land us if we chose to take passage with them. We accordingly went on board, they hoisted sail and landed us on North Fox Island, Vinalhaven, at 2 o’clock Sunday morning, August 20th. It was with peculiar feelings and sensations that we began to walk forth upon one of the Islands of the sea which was wrapped in the sable shades of night, whose waters had never covered a soul for the remission of their sins after the order of the gospel, and which soil had never before been pressed by the foot steps of an elder of Israel. We were Strangers, Pilgrims, and almost pennyless. But we had [p. [1]]
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