DETERMINED TO FULFILL THE LORD'S COMMAND.

It will be observed that this differs from nearly all other
revelations in this respect: a fixed day and a stated place were
given for the commencement of the mission. When the reve-
lation was given, all was peace and quietude in Far West,
Missouri, the city where most of the Latter-day Saints dwelt;
but before the time came for its fulfillment, the Saints of God
had been driven out of the State of Missouri into the State
of Illinois, under the edict of Governor Boggs; and the Mis-
sourians had sworn that if all the other revelations of Joseph
Smith were fulfilled, that should not be. It stated the day
and the place where the Twelve Apostles should take leave
of the Saints, to go on their missions across the great waters,
and the mobocrats of Missouri had declared that they would
see that it should not be fulfilled.

It seemed as though the Lord, having a foreknowledge of
what would take place, had given the revelation in this man-
ner to see whether the Apostles would obey it at the risk of
their lives.

When the time drew near for the fulfillment of this com-
mandment of the Lord, Brigham Young was the President of
the Twelve Apostles; Thos. B. Marsh, who was the senior Apostle, had fallen. Brother Brigham called together those
of the Twelve who were then at Quincy, Illinois, to see what
their minds would be about going to Far West, to fulfill the
revelation. The Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum,
Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight and Parley P. Pratt were in
prison in Missouri, at the time; but Father Joseph Smith,
the Patriarch, was at Quincy, Illinois. He and others who
were present did not think it wisdom for us to attempt the
journey, as our lives would be in great jeopardy. They
thought the Lord would take the will for the deed. But when
President Young asked the Twelve what our feelings were
upon the subject, we all of us, as the voice of one man, said
the Lord God had spoken, and it was for us to obey. It was
the Lord's business to take care of His servants, and we
would fulfill the commandment, or die trying

To fully understand the risk the Twelve Apostles ran in
making this journey, my readers should remember that
Lilburn W. Boggs, governor of the State of Missouri, had