Friday, June 5, 2020

J. Golden Kimball's Recollection of Prophecies Delivered by his Father Heber C. Kimball and the Fulfillment Thereof

During his April 1928 sermon at General Conference, J. Golden Kimball recollected the fulfilment of prophecies delivered by his father Heber C. Kimball (1801-1868):

 

 

It was during this time of famine, when the half-starved, half-clad settles scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread, or for rags to hide their nakedness, that Heber C. Kimball, filled with the spirit of prophecy, in a public meeting, declared to the astonished congregation, that, within a short time, states’ goods would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than in New York, and that the people should be abundantly supplied with food and clothing.

 

As soon as the spirit force had abated, on resuming his seat, he remarked to the brethren that he feared he had missed it that time. President Young said; “Never mind, let it go.” Charles C. Rich, an apostle, said; “I don’t believe a word of it.” Heber said, “Neither do I, but God hath spoken.” The words of a prophet, when spoken by the spirit of God, are the words of God, as he is the dictator.

 

The advent of the gold hunters, on their way to California, set on fire, as it were, the civilized world, and hundreds of richly laden trains made Salt Lake City their resting place. Thus, the Prophet Heber’s words came true, for states’ goods were actually sold in the streets here cheaper than they could be bought in New York.

 

Heber, a few years later, said, “That is the way I prophesy, but I have predicted things I did not foresee and did not believe anybody else did, but I have said it, and it came to pass. The Lord led me right, but I did not know it.”

 

“Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, the capital,” said Heber C. Kimball, to Parley P. Pratt, in April, 1836, “And there,” continued Heber prophetically, “thou shalt find a people prepared for the gospel, and they shall receive thee, and thou shalt organize the Church among them, and it shall spread thence into the regions round abut, and many shall be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and shall be filled with joy; and from the things growing out of this mission shall the fullness of the gospel spread into England and cause a great work to be done in that land.

 

This pointed prophecy was strikingly fulfilled. The Fieldings, who were among the people that Parley found in Canada, ready to receive his message, had a brother in England, a minister, to whom they wrote concerning the rise of “Mormonism,” and thus prepared the way for Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, who, with their associates, including Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding, carried the gospel across the Atlantic. The Revelation James Fielding, the minister referred to , received them kindly )though he afterwards turned against them) and it was from his pulpit in Vauxhall chapel, Preston, Lancashire, July 23, 1837, that these elders preached the first “Mormon” sermons ever heard in Britain. (Bonnie Taylor, ed. J. Golden Kimball: His Sermons [Latter-day Publishing, 2007], 246-47)