| 601 chapel, were obliged to break off from their business at the commencement of this storm, on the 11th instant.
"This evening at six o'clock met with the Council of the Twelve, by their request. Nine of them were present. Council opened by singing and prayer. And I made some remarks as follows:-
"'I am happy in the enjoyment of this opportunity of meeting with this council on this occasion. I am satisfied that the Spirit of the Lord is here, and I am satisfied with all the brethren present; and I need not say that you have my utmost confidence, and that I intend to uphold you to the uttermost, for I am well aware that you have to sustain my character against the vile calumnies and reproaches of this ungodly generation, and that you delight in so doing.
"'Darkness prevails at this time as it was at the time Jesus Christ was about to be crucified. The powers of darkness strove to obscure the glorious Sun of righteousness that began to dawn upon the world and was soon to burst in great blessings upon the heads of the faithful; and let me tell you, brethren, that great blessings await us at this time, and will soon be poured out upon us, if we are faithful in all things, for we are even entitled to greater blessings than they were, because they had the person of Christ with them to instruct them in the great plan of salvation. His personal presence we have not, therefore we have need of great faith, on account of our peculiar circumstances; and I am determined to do all that I can to uphold you, although I may do many things inadvertently that are not right in the sight of God.
"'You want to know many things that are before you that you may know how to prepare yourselves for the great things that God is about to bring to pass. But there is one great deficiency or obstruction in the way that deprives us of the greater blessings; and in order to make the foundation of this church complete and permanent we must remove this obstruction, which is, to attend to certain duties that we have not as yet attended to. I supposed I had established this church on a permanent foundation when I went to Missouri,
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