The day following he journeyed on to New York, where he {210} met Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt. When they reached Schenectady they met Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Lyman Wight. The six journeyed together until they reached Fairport, where Elder Hyde separated from them to visit his family in Kirtland. On this journey homeward President Young requested Elder Woodruff to keep an account of the events of those times, for some day he would be called upon to give a record of them. It was during this journey that Lyman Wight testified that while he was in jail in Missouri with the prophet, that Joseph informed him that he (Joseph) would not live to see his 40th birthday, but enjoined him not to speak of it until after his words had been fulfilled. It was during this journey also that Elder Kimball had a dream. It showed the policy of the nation toward the work of God and the important part the Twelve would perform in building upon the foundation laid by the Prophet. The Twelve arrived in Nauvoo on the sixth day of August, where they received a hearty welcome by families and friends. "When we landed in the city, a deep gloom seemed to rest over Nauvoo such as we had never before experienced." Those were days of heartfelt anxiety. Conflicting spirits were at work in a struggle for ascendency. Selfish ambitions and sinister motives were operating among the few. The Saints, generally, were trusting themselves to an overruling Providence; they believed that at the proper time and in a manner unmistakeable, there would be some manifestation of God's watchcare over His Saints. The personal ambitions of men had gained no decided sway over the hearts and minds of the great body of the Church. The Apostles had just arrived. They were strong men, and the people felt the power of their influence. Those who were promoting their own selfish ends were likewise concerned over the arrival of the Twelve. To them the presence of these men meant more a contest for supremacy than it did an opportunity for more light and a better understanding. The humble and the God-fearing among the people possessed the key of their own safety. They were seeking a will higher than their own, and were willing when they found it to yield obedience. They knew that it was not their work. They appreciated fully the fact that they were humble instruments and therefore wanted to place themselves in harmony {211} with that divine authority which had been their guide and their anchor in bygone days. Those who were seeking the light were the first to behold it. The days following the arrival in Nauvoo of President Young and other members of the Twelve were days of great future significance in the history of the Church; every event of those days has been a land-mark in the history of God's people. What followed of importance is carefully recorded by Elder Woodruff in his journal. The contents of that journal are of supreme historical importance in the annals of the Church. {212}