| 720 of whom took an interest in my welfare and assisted me greatly with their good counsel. I have always felt a warm feeling in my heart for these brethren, and shall always remember the pleasant hours we spent together.
In the fall of the year I attended for the first time a semiannual conference at Gallands Grove, Iowa. I was not only very agreeably surprised to see the large number of people present, but stimulated to press forward in the work I had espoused; it was encouraging to me to be associated for so many days with such good, cheerful, happy people.
At this conference I was ordained a seventy. After I returned home from conference I passed through a terrible time of darkness, almost doubting the call that I had received because of my conscious inability to magnify the office; but the Lord in his mercy shortly afterwards gave me abundant evidence of the divinity of the call.
An incident which seemed remarkably strange, to me at that time, happened one day as I was preparing to set out on a short preaching tour. I was waiting for a train to take me to a place called Macon City; and while pacing to and fro on the platform of the depot, I heard a small voice, saying, "You will yet be called to be one of the Lord's apostles." Needless to say, this caused a very peculiar sensation to come over me; and I candidly admit I did not have any faith in it, and was inclined to believe it was given by the powers of darkness, with a view to put vain thoughts in my head calculated to cause my downfall. Nevertheless it made such a strong impression on me that I could not throw it off.
In the spring of 1880 I was sent to Canada under the direction of Bro. William H. Kelley. Went from Plano, Illinois, where the conference was held, to Galien, Michigan. Was accompanied to that place by Brn. G. A. Blakeslee (who afterward became Bishop of the church), Heman C. Smith, and Morris T. Short. Bro. Blakeslee directed our labors during our sojourn there. We were to bombard the town from three different points. My position was about two miles from town, where I was to hold forth in a schoolhouse. I must confess that I did not accept the situation with any
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