History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph F. Smith
And other directions concerning my servant Martin Harris shall be given him of the Spirit, that he may receive his inheritance as seemeth him good.
39. And let him repent of his sins, for he seeketh the praise of the world.
40. And also let my servant William W. Phelps stand in the office which I have appointed him, and receive his inheritance in the land;
41. And also he hath need to repent, for I, the Lord, am not well pleased with him, for he seeketh to excel, and he is not sufficiently meek before me.
42. Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
43. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins. Behold he will confess them and forsake them.
44. And now, verily, I say concerning the residue of the Elders of my Church, the time has not yet come, for many years, for them to receive their inheritance in this land—except they desire it through the prayer of faith—only as it shall be appointed unto them of the Lord.
45. For, behold, they shall push the people together from the ends of the earth;
46. Wherefore, assemble yourselves together; and they who are not appointed to stay in this land, let them preach the Gospel in the regions round about, and after that let them return to their homes.
47. Let them preach by the way, and bear testimony of the truth in all places, and call upon the rich, the high and the low, and the poor to repent;
48. And let them build up churches, inasmuch as the inhabitants of the earth will repent.
49. And let there be an agent appointed by the voice of the Church, unto the church in Ohio, to receive monies to purchase lands in Zion.
50. And I give unto my servant, Sidney Rigdon, a commandment that he shall write a description of the land of Zion, and a statement of the will of God, as it shall be made known by the Spirit unto him;
51. And an epistle and subscription, to be presented unto all the churches to obtain monies, to be put into the hands of the Bishop, of himself or the agent, as seemeth him good or as he shall direct, to purchase lands for an inheritance for the children of God.
52. For, behold, verily I say unto you, the Lord willeth that the disciples, and the children of men should open their hearts, even to purchase this whole region of country, as soon as the time will permit.
53. Behold, here is wisdom. Let them do this lest they receive none inheritance, save it be by the shedding of blood.
54. And again, inasmuch as there is land obtained, let there be workmen sent forth of all kinds unto this land, to labor for the saints of God.
55. Let all these things be done in order; and let the privileges of the lands be made known from time to time, by the Bishop or the agent of the Church;
56. And let the work of the gathering be not in haste, nor by flight, but let it be done as it shall be counseled by the Elders of the Church at the conferences, according to the knowledge which they receive from time to time.
57. And let my servant Sidney Rigdon consecrate and dedicate this land, and the spot for the temple unto the Lord.
58. And let a conference meeting be called, and after that let my servants Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith, Jun., return, and also Oliver Cowdery with them, to accomplish the residue of the work which I have appointed unto them in their own land, and the residue as shall be ruled by the conferences.
59. And let no man return from this land, except he bear record by the way of that which he knows and most assuredly believes.
60. Let that which has been bestowed upon Ziba Peterson be taken from him; and let him stand as a member in this Church, and labor his own hands, with the brethren until he is sufficiently chastened for all his sins, for he confesseth them not, and he thinketh to hide them.
61. Let the residue of the Elders of this Church, who are coming to this land, some of whom are exceedingly blessed even above measure, also hold a conference upon this land.
62. And let my servant Edward Partridge direct the conference which shall be held by them.
63. And let them also return, preaching the Gospel by the way, bearing record of the things which are revealed unto them;
64. For, verily, the sound must go forth from this place into all the world, and unto the utmost parts of the earth—the Gospel must be preached unto every creature, with signs following them that believe.
65. And behold the Son of man cometh. Amen.
Footnotes
1. This date in the Prophet's narrative is given the 6th of June, but the minutes of the conference in the Far West Record are dated "June 3rd." In John Whitmer's History of the Church it is written: "June 3rd 1831, a general conference was called, and a blessing promised if the Elders were faithful and humble before Him [i. e. the Lord]. Therefore the Elders assembled from the east and from the west, from the north and the south, and also many members." (p. 21.) Whitmer, however, speaks of the conference as continuing several days (p. 22); and then under date of "the 6th of June" states that the revelation was given which Joseph, the Prophet, in the text of his History above, speaks of as having been given the day following the close of the conference. The 3rd of June, 1831, fell upon Friday, so that the great probability is that this important conference commenced on Friday and continued through Saturday and Sunday; and then before the Elders dispersed on Monday, the 6th, the revelation alluded to by the Prophet, was given. Previous conferences of a general character usually occupied three days, See p. 118, and hence it is likely that this one did.
2. The manner in which the man of sin was revealed and the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood manifested, is related by John Whitmer, in his History of the Church (ch. 7). After giving the names of those who were ordained High Priests the day on which the two powers were manifested, he says: "Joseph Smith, Jun., prophesied the day previous that the man of sin would be revealed. While the Lord poured out His Spirit upon His servants, the devil took a notion to make known his power. He bound Harvey Whitlock and John Murdock so that they could not speak, and others were affected but the Lord showed to Joseph, the seer, the design of the thing; he commanded the devil in the name of Christ, and he departed, to our joy and comfort."
Parley P. Pratt also alludes to this subject in his Autobiography: "In this conference much instruction was given by President Smith, who spoke in great power, as he was moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and the spirit of power and of testimony rested down upon the Elders in a marvelous manner. Here also were some strange manifestations of false spirits, which were immediately rebuked." (p. 72.)
3. A misapprehension has arisen in the minds of some respecting the statement—"The authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood was manifested and conferred for the first time upon several of the Elders." It has been supposed that this passage meant that the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood was now for the first time conferred upon men in this dispensation. This of course is an error, since even before the Church was organized, the Apostleship, the highest authority in the Melchizedek Priesthood, was conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and very probably upon David Whitmer also (See pp. 40-42, note.) The Prophet does not mean that the Melchizedek Priesthood was given for the first time in the Church. It was at this conference, however, that the special office of High Priest was for the first time conferred upon men in this dispensation, except in so far as Apostles are also High Priests (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 84:63); and of course as there were men who had been ordained to the apostleship before this conference of June, 1831, in that manner there had been High Priests in the Church, but not otherwise.
4. In addition to the spiritual manifestations already mentioned as having occurred at this conference of June 3rd-6th, it should be said that, according to John Whitmer's History of the Church (ch. 5): "The Spirit of the Lord fell upon Joseph in an unusual manner, and he prophesied that John the Revelator was then among the Ten Tribes of Israel who had been led