_Monday, 20_.--I rode out to see Hiram Kimball, with Mrs. Butterfield, about a deed for the Lawrence estate. Settled with Dr. Robert D. Foster, and gave him a note to balance all demands; and afterwards acknowledged about twenty deeds to different individuals, which occupied my time until about three p. m. A letter appears in the _Millennial Star_, giving particulars of the passage of the ship _Swanton_, from Liverpool; and arrival at New Orleans, loaded with Saints, in which {309} the power of the holy priesthood was manifested in the healing of the sick:-- _Excerpt of Letter from Millennial Star_. The stewart of this vessel was so injured by a blow from one of the crew, that his life was despaired of; and I stood over him for some time, and thought that life was gone. The captain had administered to him all that he could think of in the way of medicine, but to no effect; and after they gave up all hopes of his recovery, at twelve o'clock at night, he sent for Elder Lorenzo Snow, [C] and by anointing him with oil, and the laying on of hands, in the name of the Lord, he was there and then raised up and perfectly healed. For this token of the divine favor we will praise the God of Israel. [Footnote C: Elder Snow was in charge of this company of Saints.] _Tuesday, 21_.--Was in the office about nine, writing orders. About noon, started with William Clayton for Shokoquon. Dined at Brother Russel's, and then resumed our journey to Libeus T. Coon's, sixteen miles, when I returned. Wonderful signs have been seen in the heavens during the week. _A Sign in the Heavens_. This night, about twelve o'clock, the pilot and officers of the steamer _William Penn_, on the Ohio river, between Aurora and the rising sun, Indiana, observed a great light in the sky, in the form of a serpent. It turned to a livid, bright red, deep and awful, and remained stationary among the stars for two or three minutes, and then in a gradual manner formed a distinct roman G: in about a minute and a half, it turned into a distinct O, and afterwards changed to a plain D, when it turned into an oblong shape, and gradually disappeared. [D] [Footnote D: This description is condensed from an article in the _Times and Seasons_ (Vol. IV, No. 10), quoted from a paper called the _Daily Sun_, but whether a New York or a local Illinois paper cannot be learned.] _Wednesday, 22_.--Was spent in visiting my friends. Elder Edwin D. Woolley writes from Westfield, Massachusetts, that he has baptized twenty and organized a branch in Little River village. Elder James Burnham died in Richmond, Massachusetts, {310} aged 46. He had been on a mission to England and Wales about two years, and was then on a mission in the Eastern States, and, through excessive labor and exposure, brought on quick consumption. He left a wife and several children to lament his loss. _Thursday, 23_.--Spent the day in visiting my friends.