TO WILLIAM W. PHELPS AND OTHERS
1833 AUGUST 18

ALS Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, to William Phelps, John Whitmer, Edward Partridge, Isaac Morley, John Corrill, and Sidney Gilbert, Independence, Missouri, 18 August 1833, 3 pp., Joseph Smith Collection, LDS Church Archives.

Kirtland, August 18, 1833.

Brother William [Phelps], John [Whitmer], Edward [Partridge], Isaac [Morley], John and Sidney [Gilbert].

O thou disposer of all Events, thou dispencer of all good! in the name of Jesus Christ I ask thee to inspire my heart indiht my thaughts guide my peen to note some kind word to these my Brotheren in Zion that like the rays of the sun upon the Earth wormeth the face thereof so let this word I write worm the hearts of my Brotheren or as the gentle rain decen[d]eth upon the earth or the dews upon the mountains refresheth the face of nature and Causeth her to smile so give unto thy servent Joseph have a word that shall refresh the hearts and revi[v]e the spir[i]ts yea souls of those afflicted ones who have been called to leave their homes and go to a strange land not knowing what should befall them behold this is like Abraham a strikeing <evidence> of their acceptance before the <Lord> in this thing but this is not all <they are> but called to contend with the beast of the wilderness for a long time whos[e] Jaws <are> were open to devour them thus did Abraham and also Paul at Ephesus bhold thou art like him <them> and again the affliction of my Brotheren reminds me of Abraham offering up Isaac his only son but my Brothren have been called to give up even more than this their wives and their children yea and their own life also O Lord what more dost thou require at their hands before thou wilt come and save them may I not say thou wilt yea I will <say> Lord thou wilt save them out of the hands of their enemies thou hast tried them in the fu[r]nace of affliction a furnace of thine own choseing and couldst thou have tried them more then thou hast O Lord then let this suffice and from henceforth <let> this <be> reco[r]ded <be> in heaven for thine angels to look upon and for a testimony against all those ungodly men who have commited those ungodly deeds [forever and] ever and <yea> let thine anger <is> be enkindled against them and <let> them <and they shall> be consumed before thy face and be far removed from Zion O <they will go> let them go down to <the> pit and give pl[a]ce for thy saints for thy spirit will not always strive with man therefore I fear for all these things yet O Lord glorify thyself thy will be done and not mine but I must conclude my pray[er] my heart being full of real desire for all such are not [so] reprobate that they cannot be saved

Dear Brotheren in fellowship and <love> towards you and with a broken heart and a contrite spirit I take the pen to address you but I know not what to say to you and the thaught <that> this <of> letter will be so long coming to you my heart faints within me I feel to exclaim O Lord let the desire of my heart be felt and realized this moment <upon your hearts> and teach you all things thy servent would communicate to would you my Brotheren since the inteligence of the Calamity of Zion has reached the ears of the wicked there is no saifty for us here but evevery man has to wach their houses every night to keep off the mobers473 satan has Come down in great wrath upon all the Chirch of God and th[ere] is no saifty only in the a[r]m of Jehovah none else can deliver and he will not deliver unless we do prove ourselves faithful to him in the severeest trouble for he that will have his robes washed in the blood of the Lamb must come up throught great tribulation even the greatest of all affliction but know this when men thus deal with you and speak all maner of evil of you falsly for the sake of Christ that he is your friend and I verily know that he will spedily deliver Zion for I have his immutible covenant that this shall be the case but god is pleased to keep it hid from mine eyes the means how exactly the thing will be done the chirch in Kirtland concluded with one accord to die with you or redeem you and never at any time have I felt as I now feel that pure love and for you my Brotheren the wormth and Zeal for you[r] safty that we can scarcely hold our spirits but wisdom I trust will keep us from madness and desperation and the power of the Go[s]pel will enable us to stand and [p. 1] and bear with patience the great affliction that is falling upon us on all sides for we <are> no safer here in Kirtland then you are in Zion the cloud is gethering around us with great fury and all pharohs host or in other words all hell and the comb[ined] powrs of Earth are Marsheling their forces to overthrow us and we like the chilldren of Is<s>arel with the red Sea before us them and the Egyptions ready to fall upon them to distroy them and no arm could diliver but the arm of God and this is the case with us we must wait on God to be gratious and call on him with out ceaseing to make bare his arm for our defence for naught but the arm of the almighty can save us we are all well here as can be expected yea altogether so with the exception of some little ailments feavers &c.

Brother Oliver is now Sitting before me and is faithful and true and his heart bleeds as it were for Zion yea never did the hart pant for the cooling streem as doth the heart of thy Brothe[r] Oliver for thy salvation yea and I may say this is the Case with the whole Chirch and all the faithful Oliver will or aught rather to stay with me or in this land unti until I am permitted to Come with him for I know that if God shall spare my life that he will permit me to settle on an inhe[r]itance on the land of Zion <in due time> but when I do not know but this I do know that I have been keept from going <up> as yet for your sakes and the day will come that Zion will be keept for our sakes therefore be of good cheer and the cloud shall pass over and the sun shall shine as clear and as fair as heaven itself and the Event shall be glorious Oliver can stay here to good advantage and have his wife come to him and he can be instrumental of doing great good in this place and god will <give> Brother william more help and grace to stand as an ensign to the people for it must be lifted up [ ] and cursed sha[ll] every man be that lifts his arm to <hinder> this great work and god is my witness of this truth it shall be done and let all the saints say amen

Dear Brotheren we must wait patiently until the Lord come[s] and resto[res] unto us all things and build the waist places again for he will do it in his time and now what shall I say to cumfort your hearts well I will tell you that you have my whole confidence yea there is not one doubt in <my heart> not one place in me but what is filld with perfect confidince and love for you and this affliction is sent upon us not for your sins but for the sins of the chirch and that all the ends of the Earth may know that you are not speculiting with them for Lucre but you are willing to die for the cause you have espoused you know that the chirch have treted lightly the commandments of the Lord and for this cause they are not worthy to receive them yet god has suffered it not for your sins but that he might <pre>prare you for a grateer work that you might be prepared for the endowment from on high we cast no reflections upon you we are of one heart and one mind on this subject which I speak in the name of the chirch all seem to wax strong as th[e]y see the day <of> tribulation approcing and if our kingdom were of this world then we would fight but our weapons are not carnal yet mighty and <will> bind satan ere long under our feet we shall get a press immediately in this place and print the Star until you can obtain deliverence and git up again474 if god permit and we believe he will we think it would be wise in you to try to git influence by offering to print a paper in favor of the goverment as you know we are all friends to the Constitution yea true friends to that Country we have for which our fathers bled in the mean time god will send Embasadors to the authorities of the government and sue for protection and redress that they may be left with out excuse that a ritious Judgement might be upon them [p. 2] and thus the testimony of the Kingdom must go unto all and there are many ways that God disigns to bring about his ritious purposes and in the day of Judgement he disigns to make us the Judges of the whole world generation in which we live O how unsearchable are the depths of his mysteries and his ways past finding out Brotheren the testamony which you have given of your honesty and the truth of this work will be felt Ete[r]naly by this generation for it will be proclaimed to [the] ends of the Earth that there are men now liveing who have offered up their lives for this as a testimony of their religion our Brotheren in the East will handle this testimony to good advantage it seems to inspire every heart to a lively sence of faith and to arm them <with> double fortitude and power and the harder the persicution the greater the gifts of God upon his chirch yea all things shall work together for good to them who are willing to lay down their lives for Christ sake we are suffering great persicution on account of one man by the name of Docter Hurlburt who has been expeled from the chirch for lude and adulterous conduct and to spite us he is lieing in a wonderful manner and the peopl are running after him and giveing him mony to brake down mormanism which much endangers <our lives> at preasnt but god will put a stop to his carear soon and all will be well my heart this moment <is made> glad for Zion we have Just received you[r] letter containing the bond with which our enemies bound themselves to distroy Zion and also the blessing <of> god in poreing out upon his spirit upon you and we have had the word of the Lord that you shall [be] deliverd from you[r] dainger and <shall> again flurish in spite of hell [this] god has communicated to me by the gift of the holy ghost that this should be <the case> after much p[rayer] and suplication and also that an other printing office must be built the Lord knows how and also it is the will of the Lord that the Store shou[ld] be kept and that <not> one foot of <land> the perchased should <be> given to the enimies of god or sold to them but if any is sold let it be sold to the chirch we cannot git the consent of the Lord that we shall give the ground to the enemies yet let those who are bound to leave the land to make a show as if to do [it] untill the Lord delivr[s] a word to the wise is sufficien<t> therefore Jud[g]e what I say for know assuredly that every foot of ground that falls into the hands of the enimies with consent is not easy to be obtained g again O be wise and not let the knowledge I give unto <you> be known abroad for your saks hold fast that which you have received trust in god considder Elijah when he prayed for rain go often to your holy plases and <look> for a cloud of light to apper to your help O God I ask thee in the name of Jesus of nazereth to save all things concerning Zion and build up her wai[s]t places and restore all things O god send forth Judgement unto victory O come down and cause the mou[n]tans to flow down at thy presance and now I conclude by telling you that we wait the Comand of God to do whatever he plese and if <he> shall say go up to Zion and defend thy Brotheren by <the sword> we fly and we count not dear our live[s] dear to us I am your Brother in Christ

Joseph Smith Jr [p. 3]

/475Edward Pa<r>trige

Independence Jackson County
Missouri [p. 4]