My family having been gone about two months, during which time I heard nothing from them; our brethren being in prison; death and destruction following us everywhere we went; I felt very sorrowful and lonely. The following words came to my mind, and the Spirit said unto me, ‘write,’ which I did by taking a piece of paper and writing on my knee as follows:
FAR WEST, April 6th, 1839.A word from the Spirit of the Lord to my servant, Heber C. Kimball:
Verily I say unto my servant Heber, thou art my son, in whom I am well pleased; for thou art careful to hearken to my words, and not transgress my law, nor rebel against my servant Joseph Smith, for thou hast a respect to the words of mine anointed, even from the least to the greatest of them; therefore thy name is written in heaven, no more to be blotted out for ever, because of these things; and this Spirit and blessing shall rest down upon thy posterity for ever and ever; for they shall be called after thy name, for thou shalt have many more sons and daughters, for thy seed shall be as numerous as the sands upon the sea shore; therefore, my servant Heber, be faithful, go forth in my name and I will go with you, and be on your right hand and on your left and my angels shall go before you and raise you up when you are cast down and afflicted; remember that I am always with you, even to the end, therefore be of good cheer, my son, and my spirit shall be in your heart to teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom. Trouble not thyself about thy family, for they are in my hands; I will feed them and clothe them and make unto them friends; they never shall want for food nor raiment, houses nor lands, [p.242] fathers nor mothers; brothers nor sisters; and peace shall rest upon them forever; if thou wilt be faithful and go forth and preach my gospel to the nations of the earth; for thou shalt be blessed in this thing: thy tongue shall be unloosed to such a degree that has not entered into thy heart as yet, and the children of men shall believe thy words, and flock to the water, even as they did to my servant John; for thou shalt be great in winning souls to me, for this is thy gift and calling; and there shall be no gift withheld from thee, if thou art faithful. Therefore, be faithful, and I will give thee favor in the eyes of the people; be humble and kind and you shall obtain kindness; be merciful and you shall obtain mercy; and I will be with you even unto the end. Amen.
[Pp. 241–42 in Whitney, Orson F. 1967. Life of Heber C. Kimball. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft.]