And satisfy man’s hidden hunger
I will help them know
Your arms are their shelter
Your heart is their home
Their only hope
For protection from the storm
In 1833 the prophet Joseph was instructed to head a mission with Sidney Rigdon which took them all the way to Canada (D&C 100). This calling came at the time that the enemies in Missouri were gathering their forces for an assault upon the Church. You can imagine the anxiety these brethren would have been under to leave their families at such a time. Nevertheless, they went and this mission was incredibly productive. It paved the way for Parley P. Pratt to find John Taylor, the future president of the Church, two years later. I am constantly amazed at the sacrifices that were required of the early saints for the restoration of the Gospel.
One such man was John Murdock who was called to go on a mission to the Eastern States of America in 1832 and who had at that time been preaching the gospel for over a year whilst his children, motherless after the death of their mother, Julia Clapp, resided with other families in Ohio. His newborn twins were given to Joseph and Emma Smith to adopt. After the death of his wife, John Murdock sold his property to become a full-time missionary. He served several missions for the Church and in 1851 became Australia’s first Mission President. He survived the death of three wives and four children whilst serving many missions and faithfully fulfilling many callings in the Church.
Another early Church member worthy of mention is Elder Orson Hyde. Orson Hyde was just a new convert in 1832 when Joseph Smith gave him a blessing and told him that in due time he would go to Jerusalem, the land of his fathers, and that he would there prepare the way and facilitate the gathering of the Jewish people to their land. Elder Hyde left for this important mission at the beginning1840 but it took him over a year and a half to get to the Holy Land. He relied on the goodness of people he met along the way to finance this trip and by working his way through Europe whilst engaging in missionary work. He finally secured a passage to Jaffa on a ship with inadequate food and had to subsist on snails gathered from the coastal rocks for many days. On October 1841 he ascended the Mount of Olives and after spending considerable time thinking and writing the dedicatory prayer, he knelt and dedicated the land of Israel for the gathering, following which he erected a pile of stones as a witness and a testimony of what he had done. Having dedicated the Holy Land, he began a laborious journey home surviving the worst storm at sea he had ever experienced and spending four weeks in quarantine in Italy with the rest of his fellow passengers. His path home led him across the Alps and included a prolonged sojourn in Germany and England. He finally arrived home in December 1842 after what was almost certainly the most dangerous mission in the history of the early Church. He had not seen his family for three years.
Nobody’s sacrifice, however, could equal that of John the Beloved who chose to remain on Earth until the Saviour's return ‘to bring souls unto Him’ (D&C 7:1-2). We of course don’t yet have John’s account of his time here since Jesus’ departure but I am certain it would make for riveting reading. I have often wondered what kind of courage it would have taken for John to choose this fate for himself. I imagine when your heart fully belongs to Him who offers salvation from the jaws of hell, you get to feel like Paul of old who said: "Woe be unto me if I preach not the Gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:16). Nevertheless, I cannot imagine living on this earth and 'sorrowing for the sins of the world' for 2,000 years like The Beloved has done. My thoughts go to him from time to time and gratitude fills my heart that we have such valiant souls who are so devoted to the Saviour of all mankind and who serve us, less valiant but not less deserving.....
I long to see the paths he wanders
To and fro the length of the earth
I wish to wipe his brow
At the end of the day
To uphold the magnitude of his holy work
Let me hold him close
And soothe his heavy heart
As the time for final gathering nears
And let me gather in my cupped hands
The hallowed drops of The Beloved's tears
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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