I was set apart for the mission which I have just finished by Apostle Moses Thatcher, at the Council House, at Salt Lake, Utah, on the 10 of April 1882 as follows:
Brother Anthony W. Ivins, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the Holy Melchizedec Priesthood, we lay our hands upon your head and set you apart to a mission to the Republic of Mexico. . . .
Thou shalt live to see a prophet raised up on their midst. Thou shalt live to see a perfect chain of communications from the mountains, form the church and Kingdom of God, and the people of Zion, down through the Republic of Mexico, through Central America, and through South America, and a great and important work shall be accomplished in thy day in the midst of the remnant of Israel. They shall come forth, many of them, and rejoice with thee in the knowledge of the Truth and while the work may now seem difficult, let thy prayers ascend unto God, lead with Him by night and by day, for His eyes are upon that people, and the words of his prophets will not be unfulfilled, but they will be fulfilled, and thou shalt be an instrument in the hands of accomplishing a great and good work among them.
Therefore go thou in peace and safety by sea, or by land, though shalt be preserved from disease and from death, and thy faith shall be mighty before the Lord. When thou latest thy hands upon the sick, the sick shall be healed and the power of God shall be made manifest through thee unto the House of Israel, for we seal these blessings upon thy hand by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Anthony W. Ivins, Reminiscence, September 1895, in Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins, 1875-1932, ed. Elizabeth Oberdick Anderson [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2013], 98-99, emphasis in bold added)