Show THE BOOK OF MORMON The Dying Testimony of David Whitmer AS BELATED BY WITNESSES An Interesting Letter from I C Whltmer and John J Snyder on the Subject The following letter has been received re-ceived by parties in Salt Lako and forwarded for-warded to us with the request that we give it publication RICHMOND Mo February 3 1888 Dear Brethren It has pleased the Lord to take from our midst our dear aged brother David Whitmer God alone knows how we mourn his loss yet we know that it pleased God to take him because the righteous purposes and work of God must roll on The testator has died His testimony that the truth is now established and the Book of Mormon and Bible were true was given by him on his death bed therefore as he has sealed his testimony with his death it is now in full force to the condemnation or justification of the world Upon his death bed he gave us his testimony in these words know the work is set up Truth is established Hold fist to the rock By the same spirit as he gave this testimony he bore his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon Oh brethren and sisters we cannot describe to you in a letter what we havessen and heard and what the Lord has made known to us through our dear brother in his dying hours Only those who saw and heard can fully feel and know these great things in their fulness We can only write apart a-part of these testimonies and when we see you face to face and can talk with you in the spirit then we will tell you more for we know that these things are strength and comfort to all who are in Christ Jesus our Lord Last spring soon after Brother David had finished his pamphlet he selected verse which he told us he wanted reud at his funeral services Ho was then in good health This was something he never did before in his life We told him we wanted him with us yet many years if it was Gods will and urged him not to think about dying He answered an-swered that his work was done sind Gods will not his be done and if it pleased the Lord to let him remain some years to see the work move on well and good and if it pleased the Lord to take him hence well and good He would read the replies to his pamphlet in the Herald and we would ask him if i he did not want to answer such and I such things which were in the Herald i and send the answers forth to the Lat rday Saints so the honest in heart I might not be led wrong but know the J truth He would always tell us that the honest in heart would have their spiritual eyes opened in Gods own due time and they would then understand and receive his pamphlet that he had borne his testimony in the pamphlet concerning all these things and his work was done that he would not mako n single reply to the Herald no matter what they would say that he would not carry on n debate or disputation disputa-tion with them He said that when n servant of God had borne his testmony to a people If that people openly rejected re-jected it and desired only to refute and contend against it because of their blindness to the truth that that servant ser-vant had rid his garments of their blood and his work was done and for him to keep up a contention with those people he would come under that condemnation con-demnation where Christ says that contention con-tention was of the devil and that disputations dis-putations must be done away 0 brethren what lesson we have learned from our dear brother on this point We now see that a true servant of God bears his testimony to certain truths and there he lets the matter rest to the condemnation or justification of the hearers but all who are not truo servants ser-vants will not rest but desire contention conten-tion disputation ana debate continually continu-ally for in this they delight because they can display their witand human wisdom but the servant of God desires to please God only and not men and is meek and lowly in heart caring not what man will say or think May God help us to be like our departed brother in this respect Hear what he says in the conclusion of his pamphlet Brethren Breth-ren I have this to say in conclusion I will not argue and dispute with you In the spirit of ove and meekness I have told you what the spirit of God has moved upon me ta speak I am now past 82 years of age and my work in this world is about done to My days to stay here are not many more I soon go to rest with those who have gone before me but I have rid my garments of your blood and the blood of all men Brethren we have told yen before about the prophecy which Brother Joseph Smith gave in 1834 to Brother David We have the old yellow timeworn time-worn paper among the sacred papers of our dear brother This prophecy his been fulfilled It saysof Brother David that he shall be s ruler in Zion when he is old and well stricken in years He shall Bay to the faithful Go forth and build up the waste places of Zion Brethren he said itl Let us go forth to the work 1 May God be with us to keep us humble meek and lowly in heart that we may depend solely upon Him who is able to accomplish accom-plish a great work through His meek humble servants and may we at all times have the spirit of love with us not only for our brethren who love us but for all men even our enemies those who hate us and persecute us let us love them in return and show to them by our words and actions that we do in reality love them in return All who cannot do this have not yet been born of the spirit and cannot see the king I J r dom of God No one is yet qualified to labor in the Masters vIneyard unless he can go forth in this spirit of love a3 described so plainly by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Above all things brethren lit us remember this loveit is the fulfilling of the whole law It and it alone is the key by which wo can unlock the gates of heaven and enter therein when we shall have done with this life Happy is he who possesses it continually Having it only at times will not snffic The wicked have it at times We must be of this rpirit con tinually if we expect to inherit the first resurrection Our dear brother David was of this spirit continually May ve prow in grace until we have reached this mark Hot long after Brother David had selected his funeral text he was taken to his bed During his feeble condi tion Brother E L Kelly of the ReorganIzed Re-organized Church came here to see him This was last spring He told Brother Kelly that he had selected his funeral text and that his work was done that he did not expect to remain here very muchlonger He had Brother Kelly read this text which was Rev 2214 He also told him that he had said in his pamphlet and had written Brother Joseph that he loved him and loved his father but that Brother Joseph had doubted this and did not believe him He told Brother Kelly that this had caused him much grief and our dear Brother David began to cry liKe a child 0 brethren we will never forget that time Our hearts were full Brother Kellys heart was full When Brother David was through cry ing he told Brother Kelly that Brother Joseph did not know what love was To this Brother Kelly made no reply but his heart was tilled with the love of God and he knew and realized that he was in the presence of a grand old man of God whose heart was also filled with the love of God who had become as a little child whose heart was warm and tender and full of the Holy Spirit of the Master Many of the Latterday Saints still accuse Brother David of ambition and a snirit of leadership Brethren such a thing was as far from him as language could express Of all men we have ever known he was the most meek and humble and had the least pride and ambition We have only to read his I pamphlet on this subject to see that he had no such desires He wrote the pamphlet because God moved upon him to write it just the same as He moved upon His servants of old to write their testimony just the same as he moved upon Paul to write to the Galatians and others who had erred from the true gospel and doctrine of Christ Many of the Latterday Saints do not believe Brother David when he says in his pamphlet that he loves them but we brethren can testify before God that hs did love them and that he has grieved and sorrowed much because of them and we can also testify that we have the same spirit toward them as our dear Brother David had Brother David recovered from the spell of sickness he had last spring and enjoyed good health during the summer sum-mer Last October he was taken with a cold on his lungs which was the beginning be-ginning of his lat weakness The cold wore oil and left him in a very weak condition He had no disease but was simply weak and feeble He grew more and more feeble up to his death which occurred January 25th on Wednesday at 5 oclock pm His mind was clar as the noonday up to the time he breathed his last breath On Sunday previous to his death about 4 oclock pm he told us to send for certain orethren and for Dr George W Buchanan Bu-chanan an old friend whom he had known almost fifty years saying he wanted to bear his dying testimony to the truth of the Boos of Mormon At about pm those brethren and Dr lSuctumanalso Mr George I Wasson another friendhad all arrived at the house He first asked Dr Buchanan to state to those presentwhether or not he was in his right mind before he gave his dying testimonyThe doctor replied Yes vou are in your right mind for I have just had a conversation with you He then addressed himself to all who were in the room and said Now you must all be faithful to Christ I want to say to you all the Uible and the Record of the Ncphites is true so you can say that you have heard me bear my testimony on my deathbed All be faithful in Christ and your reward will be according to your works God bless you all My trust is in Christ forever world without end Amen This testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon and Bible he gave to go forth to unbelievers in the Book of Mormon In a few minutes after he bore ibis testimony Dr Buchanan and Mr Wasson left the house Those who were present with him during his dying hours to whom the Lord revealed through bra great and marvelous things were the brethren breth-ren and sisters of the church of Christ who reside here He continued from Sunday evening to Wednesday evening the time of his death being three days in this weak condition of body but his mind was strong and clear up to his death and 0 brethren the many great things he uttered to us with the power of God upon him Though weak in body at times he would have us sit him up In the chair so he could sptak with power and force and in his weak and dying condition he would raise his hands and eyes to heaven and speak by the power of the Holy Ghost Brethren it is impossible for us to attempt at-tempt to describe in a letter and impossible im-possible for you to feel and realize the great things that we have heard and seen and felt and know those who saw and heard know that it would be wisdom to only tell certain things to certain ones Things that are of God and sacred must be told only by the guidance of the Holy Spirit Some of the things that we can speak of in this letter are as follows On Monday morning Brother David had certain brethren sit him in his arm chair While in the chair he raised his eves and hands to heaven and had a vision While in this vision with uplifted eyes and hands to heaven among other things he said I see Jesus 0 if I could only raise my feet and understanding under-standing to my faith I could make one step into the promised land forever l He said other things in this vision that we cannot write you After this he said what we have told you in the beginning be-ginning of this letter lii know the 0 work is set up Truth is established Hold fast to the rock That rock is Christ Brethren our hearts are too full in writing this words fail us We cannot described to you these things We will close our letter now hoping the time is not far distant when we can speak with you face to face and tell you what we have seen and heard We had thought to add more to this letter by way of exhortation to the brethren but we feel to close now May we all so live that when we come to die wa may be as sure of the first resurrection as our dear departed brother David Whitmer May the Holy Spirit of God be with you all abundantly to continue with you all through life is the prayer of your unworthy brethrenin the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Amen Your brethren in ChristI Christ-I C WHITJIER JOHN J Savaza P S Brethren there is one thing more we will speak of in this letter When the appointed time of the Lord came for the spirit to leave the body such a sweet peaceful and marvelous death we have never seen or heard of Just before the last breath left the Cody he opened his eyes wide There was no more expression in his eyes than there would be in the eyes of a dead man Gradually the eyes began to grow bright They grew brighter and brighter until they shone far brighter than ever we have seen them in this world The eyes then gradually turned straight up toward heaven and he seemed to be looking at something way afar off He was looking into heaven Then a sweet smite came upon his whole face and features as if he was greeting the angels of God He breathed one or two more times and his body sank in death His spirit bad take Its flight to heaven 0 brethren words fail us We cannot describe to you by letter nor could we by word of month bring you to realize fully the great and marvelous things which wo have seen and heard and felt and know Your brethren in Cnrist 1 C W J J S |