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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
Creek, of little value, which he collected and sold. We disposed of
nearly one hundred and fifty dollars worth of furniture. My husband
tried to sell our sofa for the meetinghouse, offering to give ten dollars
of its value, but could not. At this time our only and very valuable
cow died. My husband then for the first time felt that he could receive
help, and addressed a note to a brother, stating that if the church would
esteem it a pleasure to make up the loss of the cow they might do so.
But nothing was done about it only to charge my husband with being
insane on the subject of money. The brethren knew him well enough
to know that he would never ask for help unless driven to it by stern
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necessity. And now that he had done it, judge of his feelings and mine
when no notice was taken of the matter only to use it to wound us in
our want and deep affliction.
At this meeting my husband humbly confessed that he was wrong
in several things of this nature, which he never should have done and
never would have done but for fear of his brethren and a desire to
be just right and in union with the church. This led those who were
injuring him to apparently despise him. We were humbled into the
very dust and distressed beyond expression. In this state of things we
started to fill an appointment at Monterey. On the journey I suffered
the keenest anguish of spirit. I tried to explain to myself why it was that
our brethren did not understand in regard to our work. I had felt quite
sure that when we should meet them they would know what spirit we
were of, and that the Spirit of God in them would answer to the same
in us, His humble servants, and there would be union of feeling and
sentiment. Instead of this we were distrusted and suspiciously watched,
which was a cause of the greatest perplexity I ever experienced. As
I was thus thinking, a portion of the vision given me at Rochester,
December 25, 1865, came like a flash of lightning to my mind, and I
immediately related it to my husband:
I was shown a cluster of trees standing near together, forming a
circle. Running up over these trees was a vine which covered them at
the top and rested upon them, forming an arbor. Soon I saw the trees
swaying to and fro, as though moved by a powerful wind. One branch
after another of the vine was shaken from its support until the vine
was shaken loose from the trees except a few tendrils which were left
clinging to the lower branches. A person then came up and severed