Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle. Orson F. Whitney

Zion.

      Yet not alone upon Zion's Camp must rest the responsibility of their failure to redeem Zion. It bears with at least equal weight upon those whom they came to succor.

      What said the Lord concerning them?

      "Behold, they have not learned to be obedient, * * * but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh Saints, to the poor and afflicted among them."

      Is not the episode of the fowl, related by Heber, a tell-tale straw before the wind in this connection? Can a people honey-combed with selfishness build up Zion?

      "And are not united according to the union required by the law of

       the celestial kingdom;"—

      Again that injunction of unity, the secret of Zion's redemption.

       "Except ye are one ye are not mine."

      "And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom, otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself."

      Wonderful revealing, this. What is it but to say that the United Order, the Order of Enoch, the Order of Zion, is the order of the celestial worlds, where the Gods, a divine brotherhood, have "all things common?"

      "Therefore it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season, for the redemption of Zion."

      Is it marvelous that this should be; that a work of such magnitude should require preparation; that Zion, city of holiness, should be built up only by the pure in heart? Ah, reader, the redemption of Zion is more than the purchase or recovery of lands, the building of cities, or even the founding of nations. It is the conquest of the heart, the subjugation of the soul, the sanctifying of the flesh, the purifying and ennobling of the passions. Greater is he who subdues himself, who captures and maintains the citadel of his own soul, than he who, misnamed conqueror, fills the world with the roar of drums, the thunder of cannon, the lightning of swords and bayonets, overturns and sets up kingdoms, lives and reigns a king, yet wears to the grave the fetters of unbridled lust, and dies the slave of sin.

      In her children's hearts must Zion first be built up and redeemed; "every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God." When the fig-tree of Israel's faith puts forth such leaves, then know that the summer is nigh.

      "And this cannot be brought to pass, until mine elders are endowed with power from on high."

      And yet were these same elders, unendowed, sent forth to redeem Zion? Surely the Lord did not design it then to be. Else, would he not have endowed them before-hand? This admitted, and what becomes of their "failure?"

      Ah, there are many such failures in a sublime success. They are but steps in the stairway of triumph and victory.

      What did Zion's Camp achieve? It cast the shadow of a coming event; struck the spark that shall kindle to a flame; fixed on the horizon of history a shining star, the herald of a glory yet to come.

CHAPTER X.

       Table of Contents

      BUILDING THE TEMPLE—JOSEPH AND HEBER WORKING IN THE QUARRY—THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL—A LESSON ON FAITH—CALL OF THE TWELVE—HEBER C. KIMBALL ORDAINED AN APOSTLE.

      The work now engaging, almost exclusively, the attention of the Church in Kirtland, was the building of the Temple. This edifice was begun in June, 1833. The walls were partly reared when, in the year following, the expedition for the relief of the Missouri Saints took from Kirtland nearly all the able-bodied men whose means and energies, otherwise, would have been employed upon the Lord's House.

      But the sacred enterprise was not suffered to languish. The elders left in charge were untiring in their efforts to promote the work. The brethren labored day and night, and the sisters—among the foremost, as ever, in a good cause—were not one whit behind. Says Heber:

      "Our women were engaged in knitting and spinning, in order to clothe those who were laboring at the building; and the Lord only knows the scenes of poverty, tribulation and distress which we passed through to accomplish it. My wife had toiled all summer in lending her aid towards its accomplishment. She took a hundred pounds of wool to spin on shares, which, with the assistance of a girl, she spun, in order to furnish clothing for those engaged in building the temple; and although she had the privilege of keeping half the quantity of wool for herself, as a recompense for her labor, she did not reserve even so much as would make a pair of stockings, but gave it for those who were laboring at the house of the Lord. She spun and wove, and got the cloth dressed and cut and made up into garments, and gave them to the laborers on the temple. Almost all the sisters in Kirtland labored in knitting, sewing, spinning, etc., for the same purpose; while we went up to Missouri to endeavor to reinstate our brethren on the lands from which they had been driven.

      "Elder Rigdon, when addressing the brethren upon the importance of building this house, spake to this effect: That we should use every effort to accomplish this building by the time appointed; if we did the Lord would accept it at our hands; and on it depends the salvation of the Church, and also of the world. Looking at the sufferings and poverty of the Church, he frequently went upon the walls of the building, both by night and day, and wept, crying aloud to the Almighty to send means whereby we might accomplish the building.

      "After we returned from our journey to the West, the whole Church united in this great undertaking, and every man lent a helping hand. Those who had not teams went to work in the stone quarry and prepared the stones for drawing to the house.

      "The Prophet, being our foreman, would put on his tow frock and tow pantaloons and go into the quarry. The Presidency, High Priests and Elders all alike assisting. Those who had teams assisted in drawing the stone to the house. These all laboring one day in the week, brought as many stones to the house as supplied the masons through the whole week. We continued in this manner until the walls of the house were reared. The committee who were appointed by revelation to superintend the building were Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon and Jared Carter. They used every exertion in their power to forward the work."

      During the winter of 1834-5, Heber attended the theological school established in Kirtland. Here originated the lectures on faith, contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants. It was the custom, at these meetings, to call upon a certain number to speak for the edification of the others. Heber, on one occasion, was invited to address them on the subject of faith. Every passage of scripture bearing on the theme having been quoted by previous speakers, and not wishing to repeat what they had said, he was left to depend entirely upon the Spirit. He began by relating the following anecdote, the incident of which had occurred in his own family:

      "My wife, one day, when going out on a visit, gave my daughter Helen Mar charge not to touch the dishes, for if she broke any during her absence she would give her a whipping when she returned. While my wife was absent my daughter broke a number of the dishes by letting the table leaf fall, and then she went out under an apple tree and prayed that her mother's heart might be softened, that when she returned she might not whip her. Her mother was very punctual when she made a promise to her children, to fulfill it, and when she returned she undertook, as a duty, to carry this promise into effect. She retired with her into her room, but found herself powerless to chastise her; her heart was so softened that it was impossible for her to raise her hand against the child. Afterwards, Helen told her mother she had prayed to the Lord that she might not whip her."

      Heber paused in his simple narrative. Tears glistened in the eyes of his hearers; the Prophet Joseph was weeping like a child. He told the brethren that that was the kind of faith they needed; the faith of a little child, going in humility to its Parent, and asking for the desire of its heart. He said the anecdote was well-timed.

      A grammar school was opened in Kirtland the same winter, taught by Sidney Rigdon and William E. McLellin. Most of the Elders, including the Prophet, attended this school. Some of them were