January 1836

Thursday, the 21st.

This morning, at 15 minutes past nine, my little daughter is 5 months old. O Lord, I thank thee that thou hast thus been merciful and spared my only child. At about three o'clock P.M., I assembled in our office, garment, having all things prepared for the occasion, with Presidents Joseph Smith, Jr., F. G. Williams, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Elder John Corrill, and washed our bodies with pure water before the Lord, preparatory to the anointing with the holy oil. After we were washed, our bodies were perfumed with a sweet smelling odorous wash.

At evening, the presidents of the Church, with the two bishops and their counsellors, and Elder Warren Parrish, met in the president’s room, the high councils of Kirtland and Zion in their rooms. Those named in the first room were anointed with the same kind of oil and in the man[ner] that were Moses and Aaron, and those who stood before the Lord in ancient days, and those in the other rooms with anointing oil prepared for them. The glorious scene is too great to be described in this book; therefore, I only say that the heavens were opened to many, and great and marvelous things were shown.