At a special of the , held in the City of , August 16th, 1841. Elder was unanimously appointed to preside over the conference, and , and were appointed Clerks.

After singing by the choir, conference [o]pened by prayer by the .

The object of the conference was then [p]resented by the , who stated [t]hat President Joseph Smith, (who was [t]hen absent on account of the death of [h]is ,) had called a special conference [t]o transact certain items of business ne[c]essary to be done previos to the October [c]onference, such as to select men of expe[ri]ence to send forth into the vineyard, [ta]ke measures to assist emigrants who [ma]y arrive at the places of gathering, and prevent impositions being practiced upon them by unprincipled speculators, &c. &.; and he hoped that no one could view him and his brethren, as aspiring because they had come forward to take part in the proceedings before them; for he could assure the brethren that nothing could be fa[r]ther from his wishes and that of his , than to interpose with church affairs at and her , for he had been in the vineyard so long he had become attached to foreign missions, and nothing could induce him to retire therefrom, and attend the affairs of the church at home but a sense of duty, the requirements of heaven, or the revelations of God, to which he would always submit, be the consequence what it might; and the brethren of his Quorum responded Amen.

A list of names of the , and cities were read by the , and a few were selected by nomination and designated as follows: voted that Elders

On motion of , seconded by :

Rescolved, that the select the individuals to go and preach in such places as they may judge expedient, and present the same to the conference; with a view of expediating the business of the day.

The situation of the poor of , was then presented to the conference by Bishops and , and a collection taken for their benefit.

After singing, conference adjourned until 2 o’clock P. M.

Conference assembled at 2 P. M. and was addressed by Elders and , concerning the spread of the gospel and the building up of the kingdom of God in these last days.

President Joseph Smith now arriving proceeded to state to the conference at considerable length, the object of their present meeting, and in addition to what had stated in the morning, said that the time had come when the twelve should be called upon to stand in their place next to the first presidency, and attend to the settling of emegrants and the business of the church at the [p. 521]