Anson Call Obedient and Resourceful, Elder Oaks Says

“Anson Call was in the initial exodus from Nauvoo. He and his family crossed Iowa in the spring of 1846 and reached Council Bluffs, Iowa, that summer. There Brigham Young was organizing wagon companies. He appointed Anson Call captain of the first 10 wagons. The Twelve ordered his wagon train to move west. It left the Missouri River for the West on July 22, 1846. Organized by priesthood authority, they were directed toward the Rocky Mountains, and they went westward with great energy.

“After traveling more than 130 miles through what is now Nebraska, this first wagon train was overtaken by new instructions directing them not to proceed further that season. They found a place to winter and then, in the spring of 1847, returned east and rejoined the main body of the Church on the Iowa side of the Missouri. There Anson Call and his family remained for a year, making further preparations and helping others prepare for the trip west. It was two years after their initial start westward in 1846 that Anson Call and his family finally journeyed to the valleys of the mountains. There the obedient and resourceful Anson Call was frequently used by Brigham Young to begin new settlements in the Intermountain West.

“What is the meaning of this pioneer experience? It is not enough that we are under call, or even that we are going in the right direction. The timing must be right, and if the time is not right, our actions should be adjusted to the Lord’s timetable as revealed by His servants.”

Source: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=e31a6e11057fb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1.

Conversion and Courage

“By the time Anson was in his early 20s he had become dissatisfied with all denominations, and he considered the preaching of Latter-day Saint missionaries an annoyance. His father, however, believed the missionaries and was baptized.

“The missionaries returned often to Madison to preach the gospel, and they frequently stopped at Anson’s house to talk to him. Among those who stopped were missionaries Brigham Young, John P. Greene, and Almon Babbitt. Anson wrote of their visits in his record: ‘In discussing with them upon the principles of the gospel … I came to the conclusion … I did not understand the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I resolved to prepare myself … by investigating the two books.’

“So Anson engaged in a thorough study of the Book of Mormon, comparing it with the Bible to better prove to the missionaries that the Church was wrong. After six months of diligent praying and searching, he finished the two books. He found, however, that the more he had studied, the more he became convinced that the missionaries were right. Instead of disproving the Book of Mormon, Anson became a firm believer in it. He wrote: ‘I was then taught by the Spirit to obey the principles of the gospel.’

“During his conversion, Anson struggled intensely over what it would be like to be classified as a ‘Mormon.’ He thought at times that he would become ‘insane’ with the inner wrestling of his soul. ‘My feelings were not known by any but my wife,’ he wrote. ‘I was proud and haughty, and to obey the gospel was worse than death. … To be called a Mormon, I thought, was more than I could endure. … I at last covenanted before the Lord that if He would give me confidence to face the world in Mormonism I would be baptized.’”

Source: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b7e2759235d0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1.

Rashness

Anson Call (Anson Vasco's father had trouble maintaining good relationships with his several wives. One day he found a note either to or from wife Mariah and a man who worked on the property. He assumed an affair had taken place, and he immediately divorced her without giving her a chance to defend herself. He forced her kids away to be raised by Mary and sent her away on a horse. Mariah told Mary that she never had an affair, and Mary believed her.

Source: Anson Call and the Rocky Mountain Prophesy, p. 322-323.

Martyrdom of Jospeh Smith

“Anson spent the winter in Nauvoo and preached in the surrounding area. When mob dissension grew, the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum, his brother, were martyred on 27 June 1844 in nearby Carthage, Illinois. The last time Anson saw the Prophet alive was when the latter rode up to tell the Nauvoo Legion good-bye. Anson wrote of the event: ‘He [Joseph] turned himself upon the saddle, waved his hand, and said, ‘… Be faithful and true, and you shall have your reward. Farewell!’ He then started for Carthage. I little thought it was the last time I should see him alive.’

“The bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought back from Carthage and placed at the Mansion House in Nauvoo. Much distraught, Anson took his family to view the bodies. He recorded: ‘Sleep and the desire of food had left my body. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings. What was to be done I knew not. I cried mightily unto the Lord that I might know what to do.’

“After the Martyrdom, the mob burned many homes of the Saints, including those of Anson’s father, his brother Harvey, and his brother-in-law Chester Loveland. All stayed temporarily with Anson’s family in Nauvoo.”

Source: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b7e2759235d0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1.

More Persecution

“Lacking sufficient means to remove his family from the state, Anson decided to return to Three Forks to reclaim some property, though Joseph Smith Sr. and Brigham Young advised him against it. When Anson arrived in Three Forks, he discovered that a man by the name of George Washington O’Neil had taken possession of his farm and property.

“Anson went to Mrs. Day, a neighbor, who told him that O’Neil and a man named Culp said they would shoot Anson if they ever saw him again. While Anson was conversing with Mrs. Day, O’Neil and Culp showed up and said they supposed Anson had come to get his property but that there was none for him. Seeing that it was useless to retrieve his property, Anson left the house and walked toward his horse. O’Neil and Culp followed him, and O’Neil picked up the end of a hoop pole from pieces of a barrel lying nearby and struck Anson on the head.

“Anson wrote of the event: ‘He [O’Neil] repeated the blows, and my having on my head a thick woolen cloth cap saved my skull. Mrs. Day threw the door open. … I started for the door. He then hit me in the face and repeated the blows two or three times before I reached it. … I clenched the door post, when he gave me a blow over the eye, the scar of which I carry to this day.’

“Once Anson got inside the house, Mrs. Day shut the door and, seeing the men run past the window, said they had gone to get their guns. Anson opened the door, quickly mounted his horse, and escaped.

“Describing what happened upon his return to Far West, he wrote: ‘I … made up my mind that I would not let anybody know what had happened to me from the fact that Father Smith and Brigham had told me not to go. … In the morning I sprung out of bed, and I instantly found myself lying on the floor. … I then returned to bed and found myself under the necessity of telling [my wife] what had happened but sought to keep it from my family. Father Smith soon found it out and came to see me, telling me it would do me good but he was glad they didn’t kill me.’

“This beating was only one of several that Anson suffered at the hands of mobbers in Missouri.”

Source http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b7e2759235d0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 .