The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter to Moses Nickerson, 19 November 1833

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, to , , Brantford Township, Wentworth Co., Gore District, Upper Canada, 19 Nov. 1833. Retained copy, [ca. 19 Nov. 1833], in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 62–65; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.

Historical Introduction

Between 4 October and 4 November 1833, JS and traveled to southwest and to preach to ’s family and friends. Their destination in Upper Canada was , the home of Nickerson’s two sons and , who had immigrated to Mount Pleasant and there opened a store together. After arriving in Mount Pleasant, JS and Rigdon found the Nickersons, who were in their late twenties at the time, and others in the area receptive to their message. According to Moses’s later autobiography, after listening to JS and Rigdon’s preaching for “some days,” he investigated “the doctrine advanced by them” and “became much interested; and, finally convinced of its truthfulness.” JS and Rigdon eventually fourteen people, including Eleazer Freeman and Moses. Before they left , JS and Rigdon Eleazer Freeman an and apparently designated him to preside over the small congregation in Mount Pleasant. Nevertheless, JS directed the letter featured here to Moses, apparently because Rigdon had promised to write to Moses but had been unable to do so. In this 19 November 1833 letter, JS informed Moses about matters in , Ohio; expressed his love and concern for the new Canadian members of the ; and attempted to bolster their faith.
received the letter, and by late December he wrote a response to rather than to JS. After acknowledging that he had received JS’s letter, Moses wrote that Rigdon and JS’s labors while in had been “the beginning of a good work: there are 34 members attached to the church at ,” all of whom remained “much engaged” in the Church of Christ. Moses expressed gratitude “for what I have received: the scriptures have been opened to my view beyond account,” and he informed Rigdon that “your friends in Canada often speak of you and brother Joseph.” He asked Rigdon and JS to send more preachers to Mount Pleasant to relieve and noted that “the work requires competent workmen; for the harvest is truly great.” Other missionaries were eventually sent to Mount Pleasant, and by summer 1834, missionary reported that he had “baptized two persons at Mount Pleasant, which increased the church in that place to 43.” Later in 1834, preached to many “attentive congregations” in Mount Pleasant and informed church leaders in “that the church in that place are prospering in the way of the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100].

  2. [2]

    “Autobiography of Moses C. Nickerson,” True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 July 1870, 425.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

  3. [3]

    Retrospective Note regarding Baptisms, in JS, Journal, 1832–1834.

  4. [4]

    Moses Nickerson, Wendhom, Canada, to [Sidney Rigdon], 29 Dec. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134. “Wendhom” is most likely Windham Township, Norfolk County, Ontario, about nine miles south-southwest of Mount Pleasant.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  5. [5]

    “Communications,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:7–8.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  6. [6]

    “A Summary,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1834, 1:45.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Moses Nickerson, 19 November 1833 Letterbook 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 64

be suffered to execute their threats we know not, but we trust in the Lord, and leave the event with him to govern in his own wise providence.
I shall expect a communication from you on the reception of this, and hope you will give me information concerning the brethren, their health, faith, &c. Also inform me concerning our friends with whom we formed acquaintance.
You are aware, no doubt, dear brother, that anxieties inexpresible croud themselves continually upon my mind for the saints, when I consider the many temptations with which we are subject from the cunning and flattery of the great adversary of our souls. And I can truely say, that with much fervency I have called upon the Lord in behalf of our brethren in . And when I call to mind with what rediness they received the word of truth by the ministry of and myself, I am truely under great obligation to humble myself in thankfulness before him.
When I contemplate the rapidity with which the great and glorious day of the coming of the Son of Man advances, when he shall come to receive his saints unto himself where they shall dwell in his presence and be crowned with glory & immortality; when I consider that soon the heavens are to be shaken, and the earth tremble and reel to and fro; and <​that​> the heavens are to be unfolded as a scroll when it is folded <​rolled​> up, that every mountain and island are to flee away <​away​> I cry out in my heart, What manner of person ought I to be in all holy conversasion and godliness!
You remember the testimony which I bore in the name of the Lord Jesus, concerning the great work which he has brought forth in the last days. You know my manner of communication, how that in weakness and simpleness I declared to you what the Lord had brought forth by the ministering of his holy angels to me, for this generation. I pray that the Lord may enable you to treasure these things up in your mind; for I know that his Spirit will bear testimony to all who seek diligently after knowledge [p. 64]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 64

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Moses Nickerson, 19 November 1833
ID #
189
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:355–360
Handwriting on This Page
  • Oliver Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [15]

    Six days after this letter was written, Orson Hyde and John Gould arrived in Kirtland from Jackson County and “brough[t] the melencholly intelegen [intelligence] of the riot in Zion” that drove the Mormons from Jackson County. (JS, Journal, 25 Nov. 1833.)

  2. [16]

    On 29 December 1833, Moses Nickerson wrote a letter to Sidney Rigdon giving an update on the church at Mount Pleasant. He told Rigdon that “your friends in Canada often speak of you and brother Joseph.” (Moses Nickerson, Wendhom, Canada, to [Sidney Rigdon], 29 Dec. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.)

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  3. [17]

    See Acts 17:11. In his journal, JS described the people of the Mount Pleasant area as “very attentive” and “deeply impressed,” adding that “great excitement prevailes in every place where we have been.” A later history also noted that at one service presided over by JS and Rigdon in Mount Pleasant, “a large and attentive audience listened to all that was said, and at the close of the meeting several persons came forward and requested baptism.” (JS, Journal, 20–25 and 27–28 Oct. 1833; Gates, Lydia Knight’s History, 20.)

    Gates, Susa Young [Homespun, pseud.]. Lydia Knight’s History. Noble Women’s Lives Series 1. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.

  4. [18]

    JS interpreted the recent and spectacular display of the Leonid meteor shower on 13 November 1833 as a confirmation of his millenarian expectations. He wrote that early that morning he “arrose and beheld to my great Joy the stars fall from heaven yea they fell like hail stones a litteral fullfillment of the word of God as recorded in the holy scriptures and a sure sign that the coming of Christ is clost at hand.” (JS, Journal, 5–13 Nov. 1833; see also Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:12–13; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:14].)

  5. [19]

    See Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:5].

  6. [20]

    See Isaiah 24:20; and Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49:23].

  7. [21]

    See Revelation 6:14; and Isaiah 34:4; see also Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:95].

  8. [22]

    See 2 Peter 3:11.

  9. [23]

    A later account of JS’s preaching in Upper Canada stated that JS “told how the angel visited him, of his finding the plates, the translation of them, and gave a short account of the matter contained in the Book of Mormon. . . . The Prophet bore a faithful testimony that the Priesthood was again restored to the earth, and that God and His Son had conferred upon him the keys.” (Gates, Lydia Knight’s History, 18.)

    Gates, Susa Young [Homespun, pseud.]. Lydia Knight’s History. Noble Women’s Lives Series 1. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06