We Will Have Means to Gather the Saints by Tens of Thousands

During the year 1842 the Church’s work of gathering the Saints had been hampered by its lack of funds. On January 20, 1843, Joseph prophesied that the situation would soon be alleviated:

I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, as soon as we get the Temple built, so that we shall not be obliged to exhaust our means thereon, we will have means to gather the Saints by thousands and tens of thousands.

The Temple was not completed until May 1, 1846, after the majority of the Saints had been driven from Nauvoo and had begun the trek westward to a new home in Utah. Yet despite the sufferings of the Saints the Church was growing rapidly in foreign lands during this year. By mid-1848 the Saints in the British Isles numbered 17,902. New missions were soon opened in the Society Islands, Italy, Switzerland, India, France, Denmark, Sweden, Jutland, Norway, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Tasmania. As these converts began to gather to the tops of the mountains, the Church realized the necessity of providing funds and equipment to assist them. Farms were set up along the pioneer route westward, and the Saints prepared crops to feed later companies. New conveyances such as the handcarts were implemented. Companies were established on foreign shores to organize the gathering Saints and to procure better accommodations for them at more advantageous prices. These endeavors were financed, to a great extent, by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. This was a revolving fund which the Church established in September, 1849. Saints were allowed to borrow from the fund to finance their journey to Zion, and were expected to pay back their debt so others could obtain the same privilege. The California gold rush served to establish Salt Lake City as the “crossroads of the West” and brought opportunity for trade to the Saints, thereby increasing capital available for the gathering. Joseph’s prophecy was literally fulfilled for the Church, through its industry and ingenuity, obtained the means necessary to gather the Saints by the tens of thousands.