4. The First Commandment to Gather.--In December, 1830, the Lord gave a revelation[41] to the church in New York, requiring the Saints in that state to move into Ohio by the time Oliver Cowdery returned from his mission to the Lamanites. This is the first direct commandment to the church to gather. During the winter of 1830-31, the Saints obeyed this commandment, the most of them settling in Kirtland. The Prophet Joseph and his family arrived there about the first of February, 1831. Before the coming of the New York Saints there was a church at Kirtland of about one hundred members, most of whom had been drawn from the Campbellite sect. 5. The First Bishops of the Church.--On the 4th of February, 1831, the Lord by revelation[42] commanded that Edward Partridge should be "appointed by the voice of the church, and ordained a bishop." Edward Partridge was a merchant in Kirtland, of whom the prophet said: "He was a pattern of piety, and one of the Lord's great men, known by his steadfastness and patient endurance to the end;" and of whom the Lord said, in the revelation appointing him bishop--"His heart is pure before me, for he is like unto Nathaniel of old, in whom there is no guile." He was required to give up his business of merchant, and devote all his time in the labors of the church. He was not to be the only bishop in the church, however, as in the November following (1831), the Lord said: "There remaineth * * * other bishops to be set apart unto the church, to minister even according to the first." [43] In December of that year, Newel K. Whitney was appointed a bishop over the church in Kirtland and vicinity {317} [see note 2, end of section]; while Edward Partridge was bishop in Zion and the regions round about. 6. The Bishopric.--Although nothing is said in the revelation which appointed Edward Partridge bishop about the rights and powers of his office in the church, yet here, doubtless, will be the most proper place to speak of bishops in respect to their rights and authority. _I._ The bishopric is the presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood;[44] and since that Priesthood has most to do with administering the "outward ordinances, the _letter_ of the gospel," [45] the bishops will find their chief employment in the temporal affairs of the church. Indeed the Lord plainly says: "The office of a bishop is in administering all temporal things." [46] By ministering in temporal things we mean attending to the tithing, caring for the poor, and when the law of consecration shall be observed by the church, the bishops will receive the consecrations, settle people on their possessions, divide their inheritances unto them,[47] keep the Lord's store-house, etc. [See note 3, end of section].