This certainly was a sign to them. At this meeting Sidney Rigdon
was rejected and the Twelve Apostles were upheld as the quorum to lead the
Church.
Sidney Rigdon did not like this. He got a few followers and tried to
organize another church. A number of others did the same, but all these
movements did not amount to much. The Saints kept on under the direction of
the Twelve, building the temple and other public edifices in Nauvoo.
The enemies of the Church were disappointed. They had thought that if they
could get Joseph out of the way that would be the end of "Mormonism." Of
course they did not understand that "Mormonism" is the Lord's work and does
not depend for its success on one or two men. He can raise up any number of
men to carry on his work, and now Brigham Young and his brethren were the
men who could and would carry it on.
In May, 1845, some of the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum were tried, and by
a jury pronounced innocent. This gave the mobbers more courage, and they
gathered again. In the small settlements outside of Nauvoo many houses were
burned and the inmates driven into the fields. These Saints were advised to
move into Nauvoo for protection.
Some time before his death, Joseph had predicted that the Saints would yet
move to the Rocky Mountains; and he had even begun the movement by holding
councils and asking for volunteers from the brethren to go ahead and locate
a place to which the Church might gather.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142