| 260 to see them there, the question being supplemented by the statement that they were looking for me to come; that I had many friends there, who had been friends to my father; that they thought I ought to be with them, and felt a great desire to see me among them.
"To this I replied that I might some day visit them when a railway was completed that I could go and come without let or hindrance.
"'But,' said Elder Snow, 'we want you to come and stay.' In reply to this I stated that 'I could not do that in the sense conveyed, so long as such things were taught and practiced there as I had reason to believe were taught and practiced.'
"'You refer to plurality,' said Elder Snow; and I answered him, 'Yes, I refer to the doctrine of polygamy as it is called in the States.'
"'Why, you believe in the Book of Mormon, do you not?' inquired Elder Smith.
"I replied to him, 'I believe in the book; but do not believe the construction that you Utah people put upon it.'
"Other conversation took place of a general character, mainly between Elder Snow and myself, until they left, the interview lasting some two and a half or three hours.
"Not more than three or four weeks elapsed after the visit of Elders Snow and Smith when I was visited by Elders Samuel H. Gurley and Edmund C. Briggs, sent as delegates from the Reorganized Church at Zarahemla, Wisconsin, with a commission to deliver what they believed to be the word of the Lord to me:-
"'THE CHURCH IN ZARAHEMLA, WISCONSIN, TO
JOSEPH SMITH.
"'Our faith is not unknown to you, neither our hope in the regathering of the pure in heart enthralled in darkness, together with the means, to the accomplishment of the same; viz., that the seed of him to whom the work was first committed should stand forth and bear the responsibility (as well as wear the crown) of a wise masterbuilder-to close up the breach, and to combine in one a host, who, though in captivity and sorely tried, still refuse to strengthen the
(page 260) |
