--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1840 to 1841. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 2 number: 11 published: 1841-04-01 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“Communications,” *Times and Seasons* 2, no. 11 (April 1, 1841): 364–366." printed_title: COMMUNICATIONS. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-04-01_2_11 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v2n11.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-04-01_2_11 start_page: 364 end_page: 366 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1841 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-04-01_2_11 publication_year: 1841 --- # Communications The following is an extract of a letter from Elder P. P. Pratt, to Prest. S. Rigdon. Manchester, Jan. 8th, 1841. Pres't. S. Rigdon: Dear Brother, I take this opportunity to address you, hoping these lines will find you alive, and recovered from that lingering sickness which has so long prayed upon your system. We are well; that is, myself, wife, and children, and the brethren generally, with whom you are acquainted. We have just received a few numbers of the Times and Seasons, [Sept. and Oct. Nos.,] from which we learn that Gadiantan [Lilburn] has sent a demand for some of us to come back to Mo. in order to have a trial. Say to him and his band, that I for one, will be there quite as soon as he will wish to see me, and that when I come it will be to have a trial, and a just one too! therefore in his patience let him possess his soul; in the mean time I will be gathering up witnesses, for I only left the dungeon to be gathering up witnesses whom he had dispersed, and thus prepare for trial. Tell Missouri to fear not, for we will never forsake her. * * * I must now give you a little news from this part of the vineyard. In the first place, we have had one snow this winter of some 3 inches deep. The weather is now so cold that it is in danger of freezing potatoes in the chamber; it is the coldest we have had. It is somewhat sickly with scarlet and other fevers. One family of Saints burried [buried] 3 children at a time. Peace is declared between the allied powers and Egypt. Palestine is in the hands of Turkey. The Jews have as much liberty there as the United States Government guarantees to its citizens. As to the progress of the work of God in this country it is increasing at every step. It is now prospering in Ireland, and in Wales, as well as in Scotland and England. It is spreading into various new places in England. We have several hundred faithful preachers; and the spirit of enquiry [inquiry] to be more generally awakened. The Clergy of the church of England, the Methodist priests, and the Baptist ministers, and Unitarians, etc. are all in arms, as it were, against the Saints. The country is flooded with pamphlets, tracts, papers &c. published against us. Some of them have bear & wolf stories in them, some of them, have snake stories, and others gander stories. I must say that "Jonathan" is far behind "John Bull" in ingenuity in regard to inventing lies; all the foolishness ever published in the United States against the truth, would be considered sober earnest, compared to the follies which are being made manifest here, but I will forbear with a promise to send you a few specimens when our next emigrants sail for your place. I must inform you of the fact, that we have rept [reaped] the first fruits of Campbellism in England. A few societies have been formed in England upon that principle for some years, but have made but little progress. One sosciety [society] of one hundred members exists about seventy miles from Manchester, at a place called Nothingham. They discovered about 2 years ago that they had been baptized for the remission, of sins without authority, and that they had not obtained remission, nor the gifts of the Spirit. From that time till now, many of them have been seeking and praying for the Lord to send officers and raise up his own church.-At length, some of our writings fell into some of their hands, which soon brought two of their number to Manchester to enquire [inquire]. They attended our meeting in the hall of Manchester, were well pleased, and called at our office next morning: after spending the day in enquiring [inquiring], etc. one of them purchased 3 Voices of Warning and returned home; the other, (an inteligent [intelligent] gentleman,) staid [stayed] two or three days, enquired [inquired] diligently, and at length was baptized and confirmed, and went home to tell the glad tidings; this was a week or two ago. We expect to hear from them soon, and go out and baptize and organize the church there. Tell friend Campbell to go ahead and prepare the way, the Saints will follow him up and gather the fruits. The work of the Lord in this country rolled on unnoticed for some years except by the few.-It was almost exclusively confined to the poor, and what they would call the lower classes; the editors, priests, and public in general hardly knew of its existence: but at length they began to "smell the rat," and since that time it has blazed forth like a flame which had been smothered. Many of its opposers who were very violent against it have become preachers of it; and at this time a general spirit of enquiry [inquiry] is beginning to be awakened among all classes. I often feel as though I should like to be in the midst of our old friends in the west, but when it will be my lot I know not, I am resigned to the kind of life, I am now living; I can truly say that I was never more contented, or more happy than of late. It does us much good to hear from Nauvoo, and I hope the presidency, and others will favor us with frequent communications.-Say to President Smith that I want to see his essay on the priesthood very much. Br. Rigdon, be sure to write to me when you receive this. Our latest news from Nauvoo is Nov. 12, or when the two Englishmen left there,-they have just arrived safe with letters. &c. this is January 13th. * * Yours &c. P. P. PRATT. The wise will improve their time while the sluggard sleeps. Livonia Wayne co. Mich. March 2nd, 1841. Br. Smith, I take a few moments opportunity to inform you and the friends of Zion that the cause of truth is onward in this section of country. I have just returned home from a Conference which commenced on the 26 of Feb. last at Brownstown, and we had a harmonious time indeed, a time of much interest and enjoyment among the saints, and we hope a lasting benefit to many who are now believing the gospel, but have not as yet obeyed it; there were five baptized during said meeting under the hand of E. M. Serrine who was chosen to preside over said Conference, there were represented at said Conference by different elders something rising of one hundred and forty members, there has been considerable increase since the Conference in December last, but the enemies of Christ and his cause in different sections of this country, are not only manifesting their folly, but are making rapid progress towards the vortex of ruin and destrnction [destruction], to which the wicked are soon to be consigned: it is truly the case that Daniel saw the situation the children of men would be in, (at the time the God of heaven would sit [set] up a kingdom that should never be destroyed neither given to another people) when he said the wicked should do wickedly and none of the wicked should understand, but the wise should understand. The saints in this section of country are making the necessary arrangements to move up to the west the coming summer if possible, but the times are hard, and those that sell their effects will have to do it at a considerable sacrifice, but the most of them I think, see the necessity of doing so, when they see the cup of the iniquity of the wicked filling up and see manifest the abominable corruption of human beings when God withdraws his spirit from them, it is then easy to discover what an awful spectable [spectacle] of demons, in human shape, presented themselves, with their weapons of death against the saints in the Missouri mobs. I must here say, that before I joined the church of Latter Day Saints, or knew that God had as yet set his hand to bring in the dispensation of the fulness [fullness] of times, I saw myself among such beings, sealing up the law, and binding up the testimony, while the judgements [judgments] Almighty God were closely following up so that I had to flee from place to place, as Lot fled from Sodom. I pray God the Eternal Father in the name of Jesus Christ to give unto his saints grace for their day and trial Amen. Yours in the bonds of a peaceful gospel, RUFUS BEACH.