Various

“ She was taken sick with a fever, and when about to die she called her relatives around her and said to her father, "Your religion is worth nothing in the hour of death. I have lived it as faithfully as mortal could do, and it is of no good to me now. I am going to utter darkness, therefore look to yourselves and seek a religion that will support you and enable you to face death fearlessly—the one that you have is of no value!"
Then turning to her brother John, she reproached him with having hindered and persuaded her from embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ. ”

“ I have witnessed the power of God displayed in the healing of persons who were sick in hundreds of instances, in some cases that would probably be considered by the world as very wonderful, but to which the Saints, whose experience has been similar to my own, had become accustomed. I think Elder David W. Patten possessed the gift of healing to a greater degree than any man I ever associated with. ”

“ It was quite a common thing in early days in the Welsh mission for the power of the devil to be manifested in what were called the Saints' meetings—that is, testimony or sacramental meetings. The evil one seemed to be always on the alert to operate through some one, and the power of the Priesthood invariably had to be exerted to banish the evil influences from the meeting. ”

“ It happened that the Methodist deacon, one of the owners of the building, and Elder Morris' father were in the street in front of the building at the time of the accident, and the latter was almost paralyzed with fear at the sight of his boy falling down, and no less surprised and overjoyed at seeing him walk forth the next moment unscathed. The deacon, too, seemed very much astonished and hardly able to believe the evidence of his own sight when he saw the man whose religious pretentions he had ridiculed so much pass through such an ordeal and appear unhurt. ”

“ On arriving at Dresden, Tenn., I rented the court-house to hold meeting in, and while in the act of preaching to a good-sized audience, a mob gathered outside and a shot was fired at me through the window. The bullet passed near my head and lodged in the ceiling, and immediately afterwards a few brickbats were also thrown through the window. Considerable excitement followed and the audience began to scatter, when a man by the name of Camp, somewhat noted as a fighting character, arose and called on the fleeing people to stop. ”

“ Brother Evans, and a man named John Nicholas who was staying with him, got out of bed and went to the sick man, and found him, doubled up with the cholera and in great agony. The Elder informed him, in answer to his appeal for relief, that the blessings of the gospel were not for men of his class, who were determined to oppose the work of God, but for the Saints. He said, "I will administer to you on one condition only, and that is that you repent of your sins and covenant with the Lord to forsake them and embrace the gospel if He spares your life." ”

“ Elder Evans was greatly surprised to see such an array of talent unitedly opposed to him, but he did not feel to shrink from the contest, for he knew he had the truth on his side. In the outset some of the more independent persons in the audience stated that if the fallacy of the young man's doctrines was to be exposed, he should first be allowed to state briefly what his doctrines were. The preachers assented to this and Elder Evans explained, one after another, the first principles of the gospel, in as plain a manner as possible, and they in turn sought to controvert and ridicule them. ”

“ When Elder Evans was crossing the Atlantic in charge of a company of Saints emigrating to Utah, a terrible epidemic in the nature of a fever broke out on the ship, and threatened the destruction of all on board. He felt that their only hope lay in securing the favor of the Almighty, and determined to muster all the faith he could in appealing to the Lord. He called together four Elders of experience who were on board, and asked them to retire with him to the hold of the vessel and unite in prayer. ”

“ In the summer of 1849 the cholera prevailed throughout Wales to an alarming extent. The mortality was so great in some places that a perfect panic ensued. The Elders, however, continued their labors, undaunted by the disease, administering to the sick day and night, and the faith of the Saints was so great that they almost invariably recovered. A local Elder by the name of Thomas Jones, who was a man of some property, and not obliged to work for his living, spent his whole time while the disease prevailed in visiting among the sick. ”

“ After joining the Church Elder Parry was often troubled in his sleep by evil spirits. Upon one occasion he inquired of the president of the Liverpool branch why it was that he was thus annoyed. The Elder replied that some persons were troubled more than others, and told him to use the following words in his prayers before retiring to rest: "O God, the Eternal Father, I ask Thee in the name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to give Thine angels charge concerning me this night, and allow not the powers of darkness to molest my spirit nor body." ”

“ On consulting with Joseph Smith, Atchison told him that he did not want any one to go with them to his trial, which was to take place midway between Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman. Joseph at first hesitated about agreeing to this, but Atchison reassured him by saying: "My life for yours!"
When they arrived at the place of trial quite a number of the mob had gathered, and on seeing Joseph commenced to curse and swear. Atchison, however, checked them by saying: "Hold on boys, if you fire the first gun there will not be one of you left!" ”

“ Joseph put her off till the next morning, when he met her at Brother Whitney's house. There were eight persons present, one a Methodist preacher, and one a doctor. Joseph took her by the hand, prayed in silence a moment, pronounced her arm whole, in the name of Jesus Christ, and turned and left the room.
The preacher asked her if her arm was whole, and she straightened it out and replied: "It is as good as the other." The question was then asked if it would remain whole. Joseph hearing this, answered and said: "It is as good as the other, and as liable to accident as the other." ”

“ On reaching Atchison, our starting point for the overland journey, the company was stricken with the cholera. There were over forty cases, and of these some fifteen proved fatal. Numbers were healed instantaneously through the prayer of faith when the Elders laid their hands upon them, although apparently near death's door; others gave way entirely to fear, failed to exercise faith and soon died. After we had started upon our journey and when the last person who had been afflicted had recovered, I was prostrated with the same dread disease. ”

“ In the year 1846, a man living in Merthyr Tydvil, who was a member of the Church, happened accidentally to break his leg between the knee and ankle. A surgeon was called in, who set the broken bones, bound the limb up with bandages and splints and cautioned the patient to keep perfectly quiet until the fracture could have time to knit. Three days afterwards Elders Abel Evans and Thomas D. Giles called to see him, and the former questioned him as to his faith. "Do you believe," said he, "that the Lord has power to heal your broken limb?" ”

“ While possessed with this evil spirit, the girls would sometimes lay in a trance, motionless, and apparently without breathing, till we were ready to conclude they were dead, then they would come to and speak and sing in tongues, and talk about Priesthood and the endowments. At other times, they would choke up, ceasing to breathe until they were black in the face, and we thought they would surely die. ”

“ Many anecdotes are related of Elder Abel Evans, formerly of Lehi, in this Territory, who died while on a mission in Wales some years since. He was a man of wonderful faith, and possessed the gift of healing in a remarkable degree. While laboring as a missionary in Wales in an early day he met a sister who was a member of the Church and was afflicted with a terrible cancer in her face which had eaten away her upper lip and the greater portion of her nose. She had tried all the doctors she could find who pretended to cure cancers and they had one after another given her case up as hopeless. ”

“ On the 23rd of July, 1843, he visited the Llanelly branch of the Church, where he held meeting out of doors in the forenoon and in the afternoon attended a sacrament meeting. At the latter meeting permission was given for any of the Saints to speak as they might feel led by the Spirit. Among others Elder Giles was moved upon to speak in tongues, and the interpretation of what he said was given to the president of the branch, Elder John Morgan, as follows: "My servant, watch, for thy life is in danger; but through thy faith thy life shall be spared!" ”

“ In a short time the meeting was in such an uproar, through the raving and shrieking of those girls, that the speaker could not be heard. Some of the Elders were immediately sent to cast the evil spirits out of them, but they failed to do so, and with difficulty the girls were carried into an adjoining room.
When a presiding Elder has the spirit of his office upon him it is his privilege to know the proper course to take in any emergency. ”

“ Brother Peck had seen the power of God manifested in so many instances then, and he had such confidence in the Almighty hearing and answering his prayers, that he never thought of summoning a surgeon, but immediately administered to the boy and then placed him in the wagon. In an hour afterwards he examined his leg and found that it was entirely well, the only sign of the injury left being a slight scar which had the dry and scaly appearance of an old sore, long since healed up. The place was not even discolored. There were numbers of witnesses to this miracle, many of whom are living to-day. ”

“ The four missionaries who had visited Kirtland proceeded on westward to the borders of the Lamanites, in Jackson County, Missouri, on the mission to which they had been called by revelation through Joseph the Prophet, leaving the few converts they had made to themselves. Meetings were held occasionally by the members of the Church in Kirtland, all of which I attended. All manner of spirits were there made manifest, and no one to detect them. Many persons were operated upon in a very strange manner, and I was impressed that the spirits which inspired them were from the evil one. ”

“ He had before him the fear of being declared a false prophet, and it required a great deal of faith in him to tell it, especially that part relating to her baptism. However, he was soon relieved on that score, for the good lady expressed her readiness and anxiety to go immediately and be baptized. But her husband declared there was not a stream or pond in that region deep enough to baptize a person in, and it would be no use for them to think of doing such a thing that day. "Is there not a ditch or hollow anywhere around here that is deep enough?" said Elder Halliday, "Please go and see." ”

“ The faith in the ordinances of the gospel displayed by the Saints among whom Brother Giles labored was quite remarkable. The feeling with most of them on being taken sick was that if they could only have the Elders come and lay their hands upon them they would be well, and the result was generally according to their faith. Brother Wm. Lewis, of whom mention has already been made, was taken seriously sick on one occasion and was unable to leave his bed. His first thought was to send for Elder Giles to come and administer to him. ”

“ Several of the most bitter enemies of the Church in those days died an unnatural death. One man, who was a sectarian minister, and one of the worst opposers to the work of God to be found in that vicinity, became ferocious like a mad dog, and had to be chained up for quite a while before his death.
Brother Parry was released from his labors as a traveling Elder in the Welsh conference, in the early part of the year 1856, and immediately prepared to emigrate to this country. Upon reaching Iowa City, on his journey westward, he was appointed captain of a company of one hundred persons. ”

“ A few days afterwards Joseph Smith and I took a walk out upon the prairie, and in the course of our conversation I suggested to him to send for General Atchison to defend him in the suit then brought against him, as he was in command of the third division of the militia of the State of Missouri, and was a lawyer and a friend to law. Joseph made no reply, but turned back immediately to Far West, and a man was selected, with the best horse to be found, to go to Liberty for General Atchison. ”

“ About seventeen months after he was baptized Elder Giles was called to labor as a missionary in Monmouthshire, where he soon baptized a goodly number of people, organized about thirty branches of the Church and had the satisfaction of seeing his converts enjoy the gifts of the gospel, such as speaking in tongues, interpreting the same, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, etc. He had much opposition to meet, and suffered considerable persecution, but was upheld by the power of God, and had great joy in his labors. ”

“ His brother, Bernard Parry, died on the 12th of November, 1841, while a member of the Campbellite church, and without having heard of the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith. While upon his death bed, however, his mind was illumined by the Spirit of God and he had the gift of prophecy. He said that the Lord had shown him many great and marvelous things which were to come to pass in this age, but that he would not live to see them, for he was about to die. ”

“ When General Clark's army came up against Far West, Colonel Hinkle betrayed the First Presidency of the Church into their hands for seven hundred and fifty dollars. Then Joseph and Hyrum, Sidney, and Lyman Wight were taken by the mob, who held a court-martial over them and sentenced them to be shot the next morning at eight o'clock on the public square. Lyman Wight told them to "shoot and be damned." Generals Atchison and Doniphan immediately rebelled against the decision, and Doniphan said, if men were to be murdered in cold blood, he would withdraw his troops, which he did. ”