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Show Page 63 the first Saints emigrating from England - Heber C. Kimball had returned from the first mission there with a handful of converts, and Orson's mind began to turn to the vast prospects which would logically ensue from this overseas beginning. He was not to wait long for word that the entire Quorum of Apostles would be going to England. The Saints had met in conference at Far West, Missouri, and a revelation was given instructing the Twelve to labor "across the great waters" - but first they were to meet and consecrate the Far West temple site. April 26, 1839, was designated 33 for this meeting. Events moved rapidly, however, to render the prospects for the new mission not only improbable but fatally dangerous. The conference had also featured an inflamed speech by Sidney Rigdon which, in the minds of many Missourians, constituted a Mormon declaration of war. As the temple cornerstones were laid, Rigdon recalled the former privations of the Missouri Saints and announced that the Mormons would bear no more tramplings, that the seat of war would be carried into the houses of the aggressors. Subsequently, heat, drunkenness, and political riots set northern Missouri on fire with civil war - the summer culminated in the infamous massacre of helpless Mormons at Haun's Mill and the arrest and 34 court martial of Joseph Smith and his counselors. By the August number of the Elders' Journal, Orson was notified of the "great mission" the Twelve were to undertake and was requested to return to Zion. A letter, presumably from Parley, asked him to come to Far West quickly, to make the spiritual preparations required by the revelation before the opportunity passed away. The Mormon War, as it is known in Missouri annals, continued to blaze |