5a The hopes of my people and the goals of my church, while not yet fully realized, and at times and to many seemingly distant, are closer to realization than many recognize.
5b It is yet day when all can work. The night will come when for many of my people opportunity to assist will have passed.
DC 143 Intro: SECTION 143
Revelation given through President Israel A. Smith during the World Conference of 1954.
A vacancy in the Quorum of Twelve and the need for more seventies to meet the opportunities for missionary expansion had occupied the thought and prayers of the prophet. After some debate the revelation was approved in the usual manner.
To the Councils, Quorums, and Orders of the Church and to the General Conference:
1a When I was in England in 1952 I was given the assurance that Donald V. Lents, a high priest, was called to be an apostle.
1b Now that there is a vacancy in the Council of Twelve, and realizing the great need for apostolic ministry and direction, I have made it a subject of prayer, and I am directed to submit this name to you, the voice of inspiration to me being:
2 My servant Donald V. Lents is called and he is now chosen to the holy office of an apostle and should be ordained to that office as soon as practicable. Pending that time he should be placed in charge of the English and European Missions.
3a The voice of inspiration to me also is as follows: It is wisdom for the church to accept the direction of the council of Presidents of Seventy and complete their organization. My servants of this council should not be overcareful in selecting elders, under the law, to occupy as Seventies.
3b The field of opportunity in new places is great in all areas, and there are many who earnestly desire to do missionary work who are called to be Seventies, and when they are ordained to that office the church should devise ways and means, as far as practicable, for them to be given missionary assignment.
4 The growing desire for missionary work will be amply rewarded, and the church will be blessed even more than in the past.
DC 144 Intro: SECTION 144
On May 28, 1952, President Israel A. Smith prepared and signed the following statement and placed it in the hands of his counselor, Elder F. Henry Edwards. After the death of President Smith on June 14, 1958, this document was brought to the attention of the Council of Twelve and other general church officers, and at the World Conference of 1958 it was unanimously approved by the quorums and orders of the priesthood and by the Conference assembly. The Conference ordered its insertion in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Elder William Wallace Smith was ordained as President of the High Priesthood and prophet, seer, and revelator to the church at the Auditorium at Independence, Missouri, on October 6, 1958.
To the church and to the Council of Twelve Apostles:
1 As I am about to go overseas and realize the usual hazards of travel, and being ever conscious of the uncertainties of life and the certainty of death, and in order that my demise, whether soon or longer postponed, may not cause confusion, I hereby declare that in the event of my death, whenever it shall occur, my brother, William Wallace Smith, should be selected to succeed me as president of the high priesthood of the church, this having been manifested to me by the Lord at the time he was chosen and set apart as an apostle and again when he was called to be a counselor and member of the Quorum of the First Presidency, at the General Conference of 1950.
