visiting Little Rock, we travelled down
the river ten miles, and tied up our
canoe on the east bank, and stopped
with Mr. Jones. I preached next day
at his house. On the we left our
canoe with Mr. Jones, and walked
back up the river ten miles, opposite
Little Rock, and took the old military
road, and started to wade the Missis-
sippi swamp, which was mostly cov-
ered with water from Little Rock,
Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, a
distance of about 175 miles. We
waded through mud and water knee
deep, day after day, and in some in-
stances forty miles per day, before we
could get a stopping place.
On the , while in the swamps,
I had an attack of the rheumatism, and
could not travel fast. My companion,
brother Brown, had got in a hurry,
and wished to return to his family in Kirtland; and as I could not travel as
fast as he wished, we parted. He
left me sitting on a log in the mud
and water; I was lame and unable to
walk, without food, and twelve miles
from the nearest house on the road.
He went out of sight in great haste.
I then knelt down in the water, and
prayed to the Lord to heal me. The
Spirit of the Lord rested upon me,
and I was healed; the pain left me;
I arose and went my way. Whenever
I met with one or more families, I
preached and bore testimony to them.
I crossed the Mississippi river in the
evening of the of March, and
stayed at a public house kept by Mr. Josiah Jackson. I was suspected of
being an impostor. Mr. Jackson
believed I was one of Murril's clan,
who were then murdering and steal-
ing negroes; and to test me, he
gathered together a large house full
of the most wicked and corrupt peo-
ple in the city, and set me to preach-
ing, to see whether I could preach or
not.
I do not think that Mr. Jackson, or
the same company of men and women,
will ever meet together again for the
same purpose, for they would not like
again to have their sins and abomina-
tions revealed to each other as point-
edly as I told them that night, through
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost;
they were glad to get rid of me upon
almost any terms.
I travelled from Memphis to Middle
Tennessee.
—I met with Elder Warren
Parrish, in Benton county. He and David W. Patten had labored together
through the winter in Tennessee, and
baptized twenty persons. Elder Pat-
ten had returned to Kirtland. I
joined Elder Parrish, and we labored
together over three months, travelling
and preaching daily; baptizing such
as would receive our testimony; ex-
tending our labors in Tennessee and Kentucky.
—We received a letter from Oliver Cowdery, requesting Elder
Parrish to come to Kirtland, and for
me to remain and take charge of the
southern churches, and the Lord would
bless me in so doing.
—Warren Parrish ordained
me an Elder. We baptized some forty
persons while laboring together.
—Elder Parrish left. I
travelled alone through the year, and
extended my labors both in Kentucky
and Tennessee. I baptized forty-three
persons during this season, thirty-one
after brother Parrish left.
—While travelling in the
night, with brother Benjamin L. Clapp
and others, a tremendous storm of
wind and rain overtook us. We came
to a creek which had swollen to such
an extent by the rain, that we could
not cross without swimming our
horses; several of the company were
females. We undertook to head the
stream, to ford it; but in the attempt,
in the midst of the darkness and the
raging of the wind and rain, we were
lost in the thick woods, amidst the
rain, wind, creeks and fallen tree-
tops. We crossed streams nearly
twenty times. I was reminded of Paul's perils by water; but the Lord
was merciful unto us in the midst of
our troubles, for while we were grop-
ing in the dark, running the risk of
killing both ourselves and animals,
by riding off precipitous bluffs, a
bright light suddenly shone round
about us, and revealed our perilous
situation, as we were upon the edge of
a deep gulf. [Acts 27] The light continued with
us until we found a house, and learned
the right road; then the light dis-
appeared, and we were enabled to
reach the house of brother Henry
visiting Little Rock, we travelled down
the river ten miles, and tied up our
canoe on the east bank, and stopped
with Mr. Jones. I preached next day
at his house. On the we left our
canoe with Mr. Jones, and walked
back up the river ten miles, opposite
Little Rock, and took the old military
road, and started to wade the Mississippi swamp, which was mostly covered with water from Little Rock,
Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, a
distance of about 175 miles. We
waded through mud and water knee
deep, day after day, and in some instances forty miles per day, before we
could get a stopping place.
On the , while in the swamps,
I had an attack of the rheumatism, and
could not travel fast. My companion,
brother Brown, had got in a hurry,
and wished to return to his family in
Kirtland; and as I could not travel as
fast as he wished, we parted. He
left me sitting on a log in the mud
and water; I was lame and unable to
walk, without food, and twelve miles
from the nearest house on the road.
He went out of sight in great haste.
I then knelt down in the water, and
prayed to the Lord to heal me. The
Spirit of the Lord rested upon me,
and I was healed; the pain left me;
I arose and went my way. Whenever
I met with one or more families, I
preached and bore testimony to them.
I crossed the Mississippi river in the
evening of the of March, and
stayed at a public house kept by Mr.
Josiah Jackson. I was suspected of
being an impostor. Mr. Jackson
believed I was one of Murril's clan,
who were then murdering and stealing negroes; and to test me, he
gathered together a large house full
of the most wicked and corrupt people in the city, and set me to preaching, to see whether I could preach or
not.
I do not think that Mr. Jackson, or
the same company of men and women,
will ever meet together again for the
same purpose, for they would not like
again to have their sins and abominations revealed to each other as pointedly as I told them that night, through
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost;
they were glad to get rid of me upon
almost any terms.
I travelled from Memphis to Middle
Tennessee.
—I met with Elder Warren
Parrish, in Benton county. He and
David W. Patten had labored together
through the winter in Tennessee, and
baptized twenty persons. Elder Patten had returned to Kirtland. I
joined Elder Parrish, and we labored
together over three months, travelling
and preaching daily; baptizing such
as would receive our testimony; extending our labors in Tennessee and
Kentucky.
—We received a letter from
Oliver Cowdery, requesting Elder
Parrish to come to Kirtland, and for
me to remain and take charge of the
southern churches, and the Lord would
bless me in so doing.
—Warren Parrish ordained
me an Elder. We baptized some forty
persons while laboring together.
—Elder Parrish left. I
travelled alone through the year, and
extended my labors both in Kentucky
and Tennessee. I baptized forty-three
persons during this season, thirty-one
after brother Parrish left.
—While travelling in the
night, with brother Benjamin L. Clapp
and others, a tremendous storm of
wind and rain overtook us. We came
to a creek which had swollen to such
an extent by the rain, that we could
not cross without swimming our
horses; several of the company were
females. We undertook to head the
stream, to ford it; but in the attempt,
in the midst of the darkness and the
raging of the wind and rain, we were
lost in the thick woods, amidst the
rain, wind, creeks and fallen treetops. We crossed streams nearly
twenty times. I was reminded of
Paul's perils by water; but the Lord
was merciful unto us in the midst of
our troubles, for while we were groping in the dark, running the risk of
killing both ourselves and animals,
by riding off precipitous bluffs, a
bright light suddenly shone round
about us, and revealed our perilous
situation, as we were upon the edge of
a deep gulf. The light continued with
us until we found a house, and learned
the right road; then the light disappeared, and we were enabled to
reach the house of brother Henry
