RLDS Church History Context

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Source: Church History Vol. 3 Chapter 23 Page: 445 (~1867)

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445 the work as far as I have seen. Elder Anderson seems to be of the right stamp. He reports that he met the missionaries forty miles east of Fort Kearney, doing well and in good spirits."-The Saints' Herald, vol. 10, p. 62.

Charges were made both in America and Europe that President Joseph Smith was a spiritualist, and a lawyer. In answer to these he wrote Elder T. E. Jenkins of Wales, as follows:-

"Bro. T. E. Jenkins:-Your letter, in which you ask me to correspond with the saints through the Restorer, is received. I feel grateful to the saints for having accepted the little effort I made upon a former occasion, and I am at no loss to believe you when you tell me that all manner of stories are circulated in England and Wales calculated to throw discredit upon my connection with the work of the last days. I once investigated spiritualism, as it is called, but never became a believer in its marvelous manifestations; I simply examined for myself what purported to be for the good of men, and finding no good in it for me, paid no further attention to it. Out of this grew the wonderful stories about my being a spiritualist. I studied law under William Kellogg, in the years 1855 and 1856, in the city of Canton, Fulton county, State of Illinois, intending then to practice at the bar, which I have not as yet done, never having applied for admission. Out of this, I presume, grew the story of my being a lawyer so industriously circulated. It was evidently intended to discredit me in the eyes of the saints; but to my mind an honest lawyer stands a better chance for the celestial kingdom than a dishonest preacher of a desecrated priesthood, no matter how loudly he may declaim against spiritualists and lawyers.

"All this, however, has nothing to do with our faith, or the line of conduct to be pursued by us, both in America and England. That we are approaching an important period in the work is obviously impressed upon all interested in any way in it. For those in the valley of Utah there is given disquiet, although some three thousand seem to be added by this spring's emigration to those already there. Whether this will add to their strength remains

(page 445)

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