Footnotes
See Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840. Pratt’s and Hyde’s writings were the first published accounts of JS’s first vision of Deity and were among the earliest works to systematically outline church doctrine for foreign audiences.
In an earlier letter to JS from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, the two missionaries mentioned a “great work to be done in Germany” and asked for permission to write and publish a book on the church to be spread throughout the German-speaking lands. JS responded to their request with “no objections whatever.” (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)
JS counseled the Twelve concerning British emigration in a December 1840 letter, wherein he stated that since Nauvoo was a gathering place, “let those men who are accustomed to making machinery and those who can command a capital even if it be but small, come here as soon as convenient.” (Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840; see also Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:25–28].)
In April 1841 the apostles in England met in a conference, blessed Hyde for his mission to Palestine, and prepared to return to the United States. By earlier agreement, Pratt would remain in England and run the printing operations there. At the end of April, the rest of the apostles and the emigrating converts sailed on the Rochester for the United States. (Woodruff, Journal, 7 and 19–21 Apr. 1841; Fielding, Journal, Feb.–Oct. 1841, 30–31.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.