Concerning these times, Sister Bathsheba W. Smith says: "When I was in my sixteenth year, some Latter-day Saint elders visited our neighborhood. I heard them preach and believed what they taught; I believed the Book of Mormon to be a divine record, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I knew by the spirit of the Lord, which I received in answer to prayer, that these things were true. On the 21st of August, 1837, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Elder Samuel James, in Jones' Run, on the farm and near the residence of Augustus Burgess, and was confirmed by Elder Francis G. Bishop. The spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I knew that he accepted of me as a member in his kingdom. My mother was baptized this same day. My sister Sarah, next older than me, was baptized three days previously. My father, and my two oldest sisters, Matilda and Nancy, together with their husbands, Col. John S. Martin and Josiah W. Fleming, were baptized into the same church soon afterwards. My uncle, Jacob Bigler, and his family had been baptized a few weeks before. A part of my first experience as a member of the church was, that most of my young acquaintances and companions began to ridicule us. The spirit of gathering with the saints in Missouri came upon me, and I became very anxious indeed to go there that fall with my sister Nancy and family, as they had sold out and were getting ready to go. I was told I could not go. This caused me to retire to bed one night feeling very sorrowful. While pondering upon what had been said to me about not going, a voice said to me,'Weep not, you will go this fall' I was satisfied and comforted. The next morning I felt contented and happy, on observing which my sister Sarah said, 'You have got over feeling badly about not going to Zion this fall, have you?' I quietly, but firmly, replied, 'I am going--you will see.'