Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, between 22 and 28 May 1838
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Source Note
and , Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to JS, , Caldwell Co., MO, [between 22 and 28 May 1838]. Featured version copied [between 6 July and ca. late July 1838] in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, pp. 48–49; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838.
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Historical Introduction
In late May 1838, and wrote to JS to inform him of their recent return to , Ohio, from their mission in . Kimball and Hyde were members of the and had been appointed as traveling ministers and “special witnesses of the name of Christ, in all the world.” The two apostles started on their mission in June 1837, departing Kirtland with fellow missionaries and and traveling to , where the four men were joined by a few other missionaries. In July the group of missionaries sailed from New York City to , England, to begin what would be the first Mormon mission outside of North America. Over the next nine months, Kimball, Hyde, and others proselytized and organized of the church in and in a number of towns and villages in the Ribble Valley of Lancashire, where they enjoyed great success. By the end of their mission, over fifteen hundred people had joined the church. Kimball and Hyde departed England in April 1838 and arrived in Kirtland on 21 May, only to find Kirtland rife with rumors about and antagonism toward JS. In their letter to JS, they wrote that they had arrived on “monday last,” which indicates they wrote their letter sometime between 22 and 28 May.In the letter, and briefly rehearsed their proselytizing activities in , reported on the caustic atmosphere they encountered upon returning to , and confirmed their steadfast loyalty to JS and the church. They also expressed their desire to move with their families to as soon as they could afford to do so, and they inquired regarding the spiritual well-being and harmony of the Saints in , Missouri. Kimball, the more senior apostle and first signatory, may have inscribed the letter.When copied the letter from and into JS’s journal, Robinson wrote that JS received the letter on 6 July 1838. Robinson likely made the copy by late July; transcripts of this letter and a few other documents appear within a gap in regular journal keeping, with regular entries resuming late that month. The original letter is apparently not extant.
Footnotes
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1
See Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:23].
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2
Thompson, Journal of Heber C. Kimball, 10–14.
Thompson, Robert B. Journal of Heber C. Kimball an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840.
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3
Allen et al., Men with a Mission, 28–53.
Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.
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5
See JS, Journal, 4–8 and 26–31 July 1838.
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