TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 13 June

[Hemidakota]

1834 - Elders Orson Hyde and Parley P. Pratt meet with Missouri governor Daniel Dunklin in Jefferson City to discuss the governor's commitment to assist in restoring the Saints to their property in Jackson County. The governor refuses to honor his pledge of help to the Saints. With out the governor's support, Zion's Camp will likely be unable to succeed in its intended purpose of restoring the Saints to their property. Zion's Camp was staying near the Salt River. Through neglect of the guards, Elder Heber C. Kimball's horses got loose and he had to chase them ten miles and bring them back to camp. The guards were severely chastised for their neglect of duty. (History of the Church, 2:90)

1837 - The Prophet Joseph was so ill he was unable to lift his head when the first missionaries to Great Britain called on him to bid farewell as they were about to leave Kirtland, Ohio. They were: Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, Joseph Fielding, John Goodson, John Snyder, and Isaac Russell. Elder Brigham Young and other Kirtland Saints traveled with them to Fairport, on Lake Erie a few miles from Kirtland, to see them off on a steamer for Buffalo, New York, on their way to New York City and then by ship to Britain.

1842 - The Prophet Joseph met in council to devise a way to furnish the poor immigrants with labor. Many of the English Saints were poor factory workers before coming to Nauvoo and with Nauvoo being a new city there were few factories to employ them. He laments that "those who have funds have more generally neglected to gather, and left the poor to build up the city and the kingdom of God in these last days" (History of the Church, 5:25).

1844 - The Mayor Joseph Smith presided in Municipal Court at the Seventies' Hall in Nauvoo and with associate justices heard the case against the others arrested in connection with the complaint of Francis M. Higbee. They had obtained a writ of habeas corpus to appear before the Nauvoo court. All were "honorably discharged from the accusations and arrest" (History of the Church, 6:461) and Higbee was ordered to pay the expenses of the court proceedings. Word arrived from Carthage that a mob of 300 men had gathered with the intent of attacking Nauvoo. Also, a gathering of residents of Warsaw, Illinois, under the influence of Thomas Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal and enemy of the Saints, passed a resolution stating "that the time, in our opinion, has arrived, when the adherents of Smith, as a body, should be driven from the surrounding settlements into Nauvoo. That the prophet and his miscreant adherents should then be demanded at their hands; and, if not surrendered, a war of extermination should be waged to the entire destruction, if necessary for our protection, of his adherents" (History of the Church, 6:464). In the evening, the Prophet Joseph spoke at a meeting held in the Seventies Hall. He shared with those present a dream he had where William and Wilson Law had thrown him in a pit. They were attacked and called out to the Prophet for help but he couldn't help them because he was in a pit. He was then delivered from the pit by an angel. (History of the Church, 6:461-462).

1963 - President David O. McKay sets apart Ernest J. Wilkins as the president of the Language Training Mission (LTM), the forerunner of the Missionary Training Center (MTC). The first missionaries begin arriving as early as June 16th to learn Spanish and Portuguese. Other languages are added later.

1978 - After remodeling, the Laie Hawaii Temple is rededicated by President Spencer W. Kimball.

1988 - The Samoan Saints celebrates the centennial of the Church in Samoa.

1979 - The first baptisms on the Canary Islands take place.

2000 - President Gordon B. Hinckley visits with the Saints in Bangkok, Thailand, during his extended tour of Asia and the South Pacific. He also met with government leaders while in the country.

2004 - The Manhattan New York Temple is dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley.