President's Office,
Gt. Salt Lake City,
September 19th, 1867.
Elder John Brown,
Care of Mr. Benjamin Crain,
Du Quoin, Illinois.
Dear Brother:
Your letter of the 7th of August has been received. It came to hand while I was on a visit with the Twelve and a number of the elders to the Settlements north a far as Bear Lake Valley. We returned on the afternoon of the 17th instant, having been absent a little over sixteen days. We travelled about three hundred miles, and held twenty-five meetings, which were numerously attended, and during which excellent instructions were given. It has been one of the most pleasant trips that I ever made, and it is thus viewed by all the Company. Peace and contentment are everywhere apparent, and the people are prospering to a wonderful extent. A great country is being opened up, and under the blessing of the Lord large and prosperous settlements will grow up there. The grasshoppers have done considerable damage to the crops in places at Cache. Grain has been injured in Bear Lake valley and in other Settlements; but not to any serious extent. Throughout this valley the prospect is that they will be very numerous next year, as they have deposited their eggs in great quantities; but this will be as the Lord wills. The people have been strongly exhorted to take care of their grain, and it is to be hoped that they
will do so.
The news which you write respecting your movements and success is very gratifying. The Lord is pleading with the people through His Spirit; but will they listen to it? If they would they would escape the calamities which will surely come upon those who reject the message of the Lord. The Lord has been pleading with the nation through war and its dreadful train of attendant evils. The honest-inheart should be touched by what has occurred, and I have no doubt but you and the Elders, if you are faithful, will have great doors opened to you and be the means of bringing many to the knowledge of the truth. While mankind manifest the disposition which you describe as having met your friends, there is great encouragement for an elder to labor. There must be a spirit of honesty within them, which if they do not quench and disregard, will bring them into the Church.
You and the elders with you have our faith and prayers in your behalf, that you may be very successful in winning souls and bringing them to a knowledge of our Redeemer. Your labor is a most delightful one. No labor can be sweeter to any human soul who holds the priesthood and does all in his power to magnify it, than the preaching of the gospel to a people willing to receive it.
We have very peaceful times in the Territory at present. The Indians are manifesting an inclination for peace. Black Hawk has had an interview with Superintendent Head and wishes peace. The vigilance which our people have maintained this season in San Pete has had a salutary effect upon the Lamanites. They have been foiled in several of their attacks and have lost some of their men. It is not profitable to rob and plunder under such circumstances. It pays better to have <peace &> have the run of the settlements to beg what they want.
The new Tabernacle is progressing finely towards completion. We expect the plastering to be finished next week, and the building to be so far advanced that we can use it for our Fall conference. It is magnificent room for the purpose for which it was designed, and in summer will be an excellent refuge from the heat for the congregations of the Saints. It is very pleasing to see the heartiness and zeal with which the workmen have taken hold of the work upon the building in response to the call which we made.
Give my love to Elder Dusenberry and all the Elders with whom you may meet, and accept the same to yourself, in which Presidents Kimball and Wells and Brother Cannon join. Praying the Lord to bless and preserve yourself and co-laborers and to give you the wisdom required to fill your missions profitably and honorably,
I remain
Your Brother
Brigham Young
P. S. I have received a letter from Mr. H. S. Roebuck, Lock Box 433. P. O. Cincinnati, O., in which he expresses a wish to hold communication with some of our agents in the States. I have sent him your address. Probably it may be well for you to communicate with him; and if any of the elders are passing through Cincinnati they might drop him a note, he might wish to obtain a personal interview. I have also a letter from Mr. R. Chery, Eufaula, Barbour Co. Ala., who expresses belief in the Work and wants to get a Book of Mormon. He asks my opinion about being baptized by a good man of his acquaintance. In my letter to him I have explained that mere goodness is not the only qualification needed to enable a man to officiate in the ordinances of the gospel, and I have also given him your address.