The Saints were thankful to God, for a prophet to guide them in these latter days. Joseph had delivered to them the plain and pure doctrines of the Savior, unsullied by the precepts of men. He had opened to their minds the literal Fatherhood of God and the inestimable worth placed on the human family. He was preparing them for that glorious day when the New Jerusalem, “the church of the Firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth” (JST Genesis 9: 23). But it was also precisely because of their prophet and their aligning themselves with him that dark clouds of trouble now hung over them as a people, and threatened to destroy their peace. Mobs were assembling, troops were marching, and government leaders were about to act rashly in announcing that the Mormons must leave the state or be exterminated. Joseph and Hyrum were taken prisoner and threatened to be executed, while the latter-day Saints were pillaged and humiliated, some even shot down in cold blood. Those that remained were left with no choice but to flee and to pray and to wait for the outcome.