| 95 Before the death of the prophet four missionaries; viz., Addison Pratt, B. F. Grouard, Noah Rogers, and K. Hanks were assigned a mission to the Society Islands. Soon after the martyrdom news began to arrive from them. They lost Elder Hanks at sea by death, but the other three reached their destination in safety and accomplished an important work. We make brief mention of this mission here, expecting to have more to say regarding it later on, in connection with its prosecution by the Reorganization.
The Times and Seasons, volume 5, page 602, contains a letter from Elder Pratt to his wife, written November 4, 1843,
advise twenty-five thousand people who will throng about me in tears and in the absence of my President and the older members of the now presiding council, will ask counsel at my hands? Shall I tell them to fly to the wilderness and deserts? Or, shall I tell them to stay at home and take care of themselves, and continue to build the temple? With these reflections and inquiries, I walked onward, weighed down as it were unto death. When I could endure it no longer, I cried out aloud, saying: O Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray thee, show me what these things mean, and what I shall say to thy people! On a sudden the Spirit of God came upon me, and filled my heart with joy and gladness indescribable; and while the Spirit of revelation glowed in my bosom with as visible a warmth and gladness as if it were fire, the Spirit said unto me: "Lift up your head and rejoice; for, behold, it is well with my servants Joseph and Hyrum! My servant Joseph still holds the keys of my kingdom in this dispensation, and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed. Go and say unto my people in Nauvoo, that they shall continue to pursue their daily duties and take care of themselves, and make no movement in church government to reorganize or alter anything until the return of the remainder of the Quorum of the Twelve. But exhort them that they continue to build the house of the Lord which I have commanded, them to build in Nauvoo."
This information caused my bosom to burn with joy and gladness, and I was comforted above measure, all my sorrow seemed in a moment to be lifted as a burthen [burden] from my back.
The change was so sudden I hardly dare to believe my senses; I therefore prayed the Lord to repeat to me the same things the second time; if, indeed, I might be sure of their truth, and might really tell the saints to stay in Nauvoo, and continue to build the temple.
As I prayed thus, the same Spirit burned in my bosom, and the Spirit of the Lord repeated to me the same message again. I then went on my way rejoicing, and soon arrived in Nauvoo, and delivered this message both to the people and friends individually and in the great congregation. In confirmation that the message was right, I found them already renewing their labors on the temple, under the direction of John Taylor and Willard Richards, who were members of our quorum, and were in jail with the prophets when they were murdered-Taylor being wounded with four bullets, and Richards escaping uninjured.-Autobiography of P. P. Pratt, pp. 370-372.
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