On 19 October 1841, , the presiding authority in , Ohio, wrote a letter to JS, , and in , Illinois. In his letter, featured here, Babbitt gave the church leaders an update about the church in Kirtland and sought clarification about conflicting instruction he had received. When Babbitt was appointed to preside over the church in Kirtland in October 1840, JS “gave it as his opinion, that the brethren from the east might gather” to Kirtland. JS later amended that statement in January 1841, when he wrote to , his in Kirtland, stating that he preferred that those coming from the East gather to Nauvoo instead of Kirtland. JS further clarified his stance in May 1841, when he advised all the Saints to gather to the Nauvoo area.

Though was appointed to preside over the church in , he had a history of problems with church leaders. In the summer of 1840, for example, reported that Babbitt made disparaging remarks about JS and others, accusing them of misusing funds, and was calculating “to destroy the confidence of the brethren in the or any of the Authorities of the church.” Babbitt also held a “secret Council” in the Kirtland , locking the doors and prohibiting “certain brethren, in good standing” from entering. The church withdrew fellowship from Babbitt until he appeared before a in in early September 1840 to answer the charges. After hearing the evidence on both sides, JS eventually withdrew the charges and reconciled with Babbitt for a time.

Despite JS’s instructions to do otherwise, also encouraged Latter-day Saints to move to or remain in instead of to . Babbitt’s efforts to entice members to relocate to Kirtland were unsurprising because he had made similar efforts in the past. As early as April 1840—before JS’s directive to gather to the Nauvoo area—church members reported that Babbitt was attempting to convince those living in the eastern to gather to Kirtland. In August 1841 several church members from , Illinois, wrote to the church’s high council in Nauvoo that Babbitt was teaching that “Kirtland must be built up and would be and that too immediately, therefore Kirtland was the place for him.” Babbitt did not explicitly encourage the Springfield Saints to move to Kirtland instead of Nauvoo, but he declared his belief that a scourge from “two states against Nauvoo” would occur and that the Saints would be driven from Nauvoo “within one year.” By making such declarations, he sought to dissuade them from gathering to Nauvoo. In a 30 August 1841 letter to , however, JS stated that there should be no confusion on the matter—despite apparently conflicting instruction in 1840 regarding gathering to Kirtland—because the Saints had been directed to gather to Nauvoo in his 24 May proclamation and in other commandments and revelations. Babbitt, however, apparently remained unsure about whether he should maintain the in Kirtland or disband it and follow the instruction to gather to Nauvoo, and he continued to encourage the growth of Kirtland. On 3 October 1841, Babbitt delivered a “discourse on the subject of the gathering” at a regional church in Kirtland.

Because of ’s conduct—particularly his insistence on encouraging the Saints to develop at the expense of gathering to —at the early October 1841 general church conference, “made remarks disapprobatory” about Babbitt’s actions. The conference ultimately voted to disfellowship Babbitt until the time when he would “make satisfaction.” It is possible that Babbitt knew of the general conference vote when he wrote the letter featured here. Nevertheless, Babbitt explained in his letter his misunderstandings and confusion and reiterated his faith in the church and its leaders. In a letter printed in the 1 November 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons, Hyrum Smith again addressed Babbitt’s insistence that Kirtland be further settled and developed, noting that “the designs of the leading members of that . . . are not according to the will of God.”

stated that he wrote the following letter because he had an opportunity to send it to by way of . The letter bears no signs of postal delivery. It is likely that Whitney included Babbitt’s letter in another letter Whitney sent to JS twelve days later. A later JS history indicates that JS received Whitney’s letter on 9 November 1841.