5d My servant Joseph F. Burton, though aged, will be an efficient officer and representative of the faith, and, choosing some one to go with him, may be intrusted with this difficult mission.
6 It is the will of the Lord that the mission to Utah and the west should be continued, and suitable representatives of the church be sent and maintained there under the conditions prevailing at the present time. It is essential that the church have proper representatives there.
7a As the Saints have heretofore been instructed in reference to the gathering, they are now again admonished that the gathering must not be in haste, nor without due preparation,
7b and must be done in accordance with the revelation given to the church upon Fishing River and in accordance with the counsel and advice of the elders of the church whose duty it has been made to counsel and advise the Saints.
7c The spirit of speculation, the exhibition of greed for gain is unseemly in the Saints and officers of the church, and should be avoided. It has the appearance of evil.
7d Heed should be paid to the admonitions of those who from time to time preach and write upon the gathering to remove the principle of selfishness from the hearts of the Saints and especially from those upon whom rests the burden of the church and its ministrations abroad.
8a Inasmuch as misunderstanding has occurred in regard to the meaning of a revelation hitherto given through my servant Joseph Smith in regard to who should be called to preside in case my servant should be taken away or fall by transgression,
8b it is now declared that in case of the removal of my servant now presiding over the church by death or transgression, my servant Frederick M. Smith, if he remain faithful and steadfast, should be chosen, in accordance with the revelations which have been hitherto given to the church concerning the priesthood.
8c Should my servant Frederick M. Smith prove unstable and unfaithful, another may be chosen, according to the law already given. Independence, Missouri, April 14, 1906
DC 128 Intro: SECTION 128
At the annual Conference of 1909, Presiding Bishop E. L. Kelley requested that a meeting of the eldership be called to consider organizations and procedures in connection with the Gathering and the care of the poor. At the meeting called in this connection the elders asked the First Presidency for instruction. At a subsequent meeting President Smith asked for the support and prayers of the ministry as he sought divine guidance, and accordingly April 18, was observed by the eldership as a day of fasting and prayer for such guidance.
The following revelation through President Joseph Smith was presented to the elders April 19, 1909, and by them referred to the quorums. After receiving their approval, the elders adopted a resolution "that the document be accepted as a whole," and their action was reported to the Conference. The revelation is dated April 18, 1909, at Lamoni, Iowa. It was accepted by the Conference and ordered included in the Doctrine and Covenants.
To the Eldership; Brethren: So far as the burden of the conference and its peculiar conditions have enabled me to do I have steadfastly presented the matter stated by the Bishop for our consideration to the Lord for instruction. Whether that which has come to me will bring relief to the situation, I know not; but such as it is, I hereby present it.
1a The conditions surrounding the work, the increase of the membership of the church, the increasing desire for gathering together, and the necessity existing for the obtaining places for settlement in the regions round about,
