ON the , Joseph Smith and his counsel- ors, Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith, crossed the river to Montrose, to spend the day with the Twelve, and set them apart and bless them, before they started upon their missions. There were twelve of us who met there, and we all dined in my house. After dinner, we assembled at Brother Brigham Young's house for our meeting. Brother Hyrum Smith opened by prayer; after which the Presidency laid their hands upon our heads and gave each of us a blessing. President Rigdon was mouth in blessing me, and also blessed Sisters Young, Taylor and Woodruff. The Prophet Joseph promised us if we would be faithful, we should be blessed upon our mission, have many souls as seals of our ministry, and return again in peace and safety to our families and friends; all of which was fulfilled. Brother Hyrum advised me to preach the first principles of the gospel; he thought that was about as much as this gener- ation could endure. Then Joseph arose and preached some precious things of the Kingdom of God unto us, in the power of the Holy Ghost; some of which I here copy from my journal: "Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy, and be ready to forgive our brethren on the first intimation of their repent- ance and desire for forgiveness; for our Heavenly Father will be equally as merciful unto us. We also ought to be willing to repent of and confess our sins, and keep nothing back. Let

Ioway Territory Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy & be ready to forgive our brother on the first intimations of repentance & asking forgiveness, & should we ever forgive our brother or even our enemy before they repent or ask forgiveness our heavenly father would be equally as mercif- ul unto us. Again let the Twelve & all Saints be willing to confess all their sins & not keep back a part & let the twelve be humble & not be exalted & beware of pride & not seek to excell one above another but act for each others good & pray for one & another & honour oveur brother or make

(on the Joseph Smith & his counsellors Sidy Rigdon & Hyrum Smith crossed the river to Montrose to spend the day with the Twelve and set them apart & bless them before they started upon their missions there were twelve in number & dined at my House. After dinner we assembled at Brigham Youngs Home for our Meeting Br Hyrum Smith opened by prayer After which the presidency laid their hands upon our heads & gave us a blessing president Rigdon was mouth in blessing me they also blessed Sisters Young, Tayler & Woodruff the prophet Joseph promised us if we would be faithful we should again return to our families & friends and be blessed upon our missions and have many souls as seals of our ministry and returne again in peace and safety to our families & friends (all of which was fulfilled) Br Hyrum ordained us to preach the first principles of the Gospel and thought that was about as much as this genera- tion could endure. Then Joseph arose and preached some precious things of the Kingdom of God unto us in the power of the Holy Ghost some of which I will mention from my journal Ever keep in exercise the principal of mercy and be ready

On the , Joseph Smith and his counselors, Sydney Rig- don and Hyrum Smith, crossed the river to Montrose, to spend the day with the Twelve, and set them apart and bless them, before they started upon their missions. There were twelve of us who met there, and we all dined in my house. After dinner, we assembled at Brother Brigham Young's house for our meeting. Brother Hyrum Smith opened by prayer; after which the Presidency laid their hands upon our heads and gave each of us a blessing. President Rigdon was mouth in bless- ing me, and also blessed Sisters Young, Taylor and Woodruff. The prophet Joseph promised us if we would be faithful, we should be blessed upon our mission, have many souls as seals of our ministry, and return again in peace and safety to our families and friends; all of which was fulfilled. Brother Hyrum advised me to preach the first principles of the gospel; he thought that was about as much as this generation could endure. Then Joseph arose and preached some precious things of the kingdom of God unto us, in the power of the Holy Ghost; some of which I here copy from my journal: "Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy, and be ready to forgive our brethren on the first intimation of their repentance and desire for forgiveness; for our Heavenly Father will be equally as merciful unto us. We also ought to be willing to repent of and confess our sins, and keep nothing back. Let the Twelve be humble and not be exalted, and beware of pride and not seek to ex- cel one another, but act for each other's good, and honorably make mention of each other's names in prayer before the Lord and before your fellow-men. Do not backbite or devour a brother. The elders of Israel should seek to learn by precept and example in this late age of the world and not be obliged to learn everything we know by sad experience. I trust the remainder of the Twelve will learn wisdom and not follow the example of those who have fallen. When the Twelve, or any other witnesses of Jesus Christ, stand before the congregations of the earth, and they preach in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and the people are astonished and confounded at the doctrine, and say 'That man has preached a powerful ser- mon,' then let that man or those men take care that they do not ascribe the glory unto themselves, but be careful that they are humble, and ascribe the glory to God and the Lamb; for it is by the power of the Holy Priesthood and the Holy Ghost that they have the power thus to speak. "Who art thou, O man, but dust! and from whom dost thou receive thy power and blessings, but from God? "Then let the Twelve Apostles and Elders of Israel observe this key, and be wise: Ye are not sent out to be taught, but to teach. "Let every man be sober, be vigilant, and let all his words be seasoned with grace, and keep in mind it is a day of warning, and not of many words. "Act honestly before God and man; beware of sophistry, such as bowing and