| 448 Elder Cowdery and confirmed upon him the blessings of wisdom and understanding sufficient for his station, that he be qualified to assist Elder Rigdon in arranging the church covenants, which are soon to be published; and have intelligence in all things to do the work of printing.
"After blessing Elder Rigdon we laid our hands upon Brother Zebedee, and confirmed the blessings of wisdom to preach the gospel even till it spreads to the islands of the seas, and to be spared to see threescore years and ten, and see Zion built up and Kirtland established forever, and even at last to receive a crown of life. Our hearts rejoiced and we were comforted with the Holy Spirit.
"Sunday, April 20. Elder Rigdon entertained a large congregation of saints with an interesting discourse upon the dispensation of the fullness of times, etc.
"On the 21st I attended conference, and had a glorious time. Some volunteered to go to Zion, and others donated sixty-six dollars and thirty-seven cents, for the benefit of the scattered brethren in Zion. The following are extracts from the minutes of the conference:-
"This day a conference of elders assembled at the dwelling house of Brother Carpenter, President Joseph Smith, Jun., read the second chapter of Joel's prophecy, prayed, and addressed the conference as follows:-
"It is very difficult for us to communicate to the churches all that God has revealed to us, in consequence of tradition; for we are differently situated from any other people that ever existed upon this earth, consequently those former revelations cannot be suited to our conditions; they were given to other people, who were before us; but in the last days, God was to call a remnant, in which was to be deliverance, as well as in Jerusalem and Zion. Now if God should give no more revelations, where will we find Zion and this remnant? The time is near when desolation is to cover the earth, and then God will have a place of deliverance in his remnant, and in Zion, etc.
"The President then gave a relation of obtaining and translating the Book of Mormon, the revelation of the priesthood of Aaron, the organization of the church in 1830, the
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