Early in the summer of 1841, in fact in the month of May, Joseph called upon the Saints everywhere to come into Hancock County, that there might be a concentration of effort to build up Nauvoo. The proclamation closed with these words:
Let it therefore be understood that all the stakes excepting those in this county (Hancock) and in Lee County, Iowa, are discontinued; and the Saints instructed to settle in this county as soon as circumstances will permit.
The Twelve Apostles, whose departure from Nauvoo on their missions to England under very trying circumstances, was related in a former chapter, returned during the summer, after accomplishing one of the most successful and remarkable missions in modern times. They were a tower of strength to Joseph, and he was not long in availing himself of their valuable support. At a special conference convened in Nauvoo on the sixteenth of August, 1841, Joseph said:
The time had come when the Twelve should be called upon to stand in their place next to the First Presidency; and attend to the settling of emigrants and the business of The Church at the stakes, and assist to bear off the kingdom victoriously to the nations.[2]
And he at once turned over to their management many of the temporal affairs, with which he had been perplexed, and devoted himself more exclusively to spiritual labors.
One of the most pleasing events that happened, during the summer of which I write, was the visit of the Indian chief Keokuk to Nauvoo. He was accompanied by Kiskukosh, Appenoose and about one hundred chiefs and braves of the Sac and Fox tribes, together with their families. They were brought over from the Iowa side on the ferry and two large flat boats. The band and a detachment of the Legion met them at the landing, but as soon as Keokuk failed to recognize Joseph among those who had come to bid him welcome, he refused to land or allow any of his party to go ashore until Joseph made his appearance. The arrangement had been made for the band and the detachment of the Legion to lead the dusky visitors to the grove where the Saints held their meetings; and there Joseph would have joined them. But Keokuk seemed to have his own ideas in relation to the etiquette to be observed at his reception, and waited until the Prophet met him at the landing and bade him welcome to Nauvoo.
At the grove Joseph addressed the Indians at some length, upon what the Lord had revealed to him concerning their fore-fathers, and recited to them the glorious promises contained in the Book of Mormon respecting themselves, the despised remnants of a once splendid race. How their hearts must have glowed and their eyes brightened as they listened to the young Prophet relate the story of their forefathers' rise and fall, and the bright promises held out to them of redemption from their fallen state! In conclusion Joseph counseled them to cease killing each other, and warring with other tribes or with the whites. To Joseph's speech Keokuk replied:
I have a Book of Mormon at my wigwam that you gave me a number of moons ago. I believe you are a great and good man. Keokuk looks rough, but I am a son of the Great Spirit. I have heard your advice. We intend to quit fighting, and follow the good talk you have given us.
After the "talk," they were feasted by the Saints with good food and dainties and melons. At the conclusion of the feast, they gave a specimen of their war dance to entertain the spectators, and then returned to the Iowa side of the river to their encampment.
Thus passed away the summer of 1841; and by the first of October—the date fixed for the semi-annual conference—the early autumn frosts had tinged the forest leaves with purple and gold, giving to the splendid scenery about Nauvoo an additional charm. President Joseph Smith was not present at the opening of the conference. He had that morning gone to assist in laying the corner-stone of the Nauvoo House which the Saints by revelation had been commanded to build;[3] and the conference was opened by President Brigham Young.
The principal subject brought before the people at this conference was the redemption of the dead, and building the temple. This matter appeared to impress itself upon the mind of Joseph with great force, and nothing, apparently, gave him more delight than to explain its importance to his people. Up to this time many baptisms for the dead had been performed in the river, but it was now announced that no more baptisms for the dead should be attended to, until it could be done in the font of the Lord's house, for thus had the Lord commanded. The Saints, however, were not long denied the privilege of performing this work of baptism for their dead, as on the eighth of November, following the conference, a temporary baptismal font had been completed and dedicated in the basement of the temple.[4]
On the occasion of the angel Moroni's first appearance to Joseph Smith, in 1823, he repeated to the young Prophet the words of Malachi, recorded in the fourth chapter of the Book of Malachi, the fifth and sixth verses, though quoting somewhat differently from the language of King James' translation, as follows:
Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he will plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
In fulfillment of this promised visitation, in April, 1836, Elijah the prophet appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said:
Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken by the mouth of Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.
And now when something like peace had come to The Church, and settled conditions obtained, the Prophet of God began to unfold the doctrine of salvation for the dead—the application of those principles of salvation to past generations who had lived upon the earth when neither the Gospel nor divine authority to administer its ordinances were among men.
In addition to the main idea of this doctrine which he taught with such great power, the following gems are gathered from his teachings at this conference, chiefly relating to the same subject:
The proclamation of the first principles of the Gospel, was a means of salvation to men individually, and it was the truth and not men that saved them; but men by actively engaging in rites of salvation substantially became instruments in bringing multitudes of their kindred into the Kingdom of God. [And hence] he presented baptism for the dead as the only way by which men can appear as saviors on Mount Zion.
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The difference between an angel and a ministering spirit: the one [the first] is a resurrected or translated body with its spirit ministering to embodied spirits; the other a disembodied spirit visiting and ministering to disembodied spirits.
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Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while his body was laying in the sepulchre) to the spirits in prison, to fulfill an important part of his mission, without which he could not have perfected his work or entered into his rest. After his resurrection he appeared as an angel to his disciples.
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Translated bodies cannot enter into rest until they have undergone a change equivalent to death.
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Translated bodies are designed for future missions.
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The angel which appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos was a translated or resurrected body.
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Jesus Christ went in body after his resurrection to minister to translated and resurrected bodies.
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It is no more incredible that God should save the dead than that he should raise the dead.
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There is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God.
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All