Bathsheba Wilson Smith Receives Divine Assurance About Gathering to Missouri

Bathsheba Wilson Smith documented a remarkable spiritual experience during her youth. She wrote: '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 as it were said to me, "Weep not, you will go this fall." I was satisfied and comforted.' The next morning she felt 'so contented and happy,' and when her sister Sarah expressed surprise at her change in demeanor, Bathsheba 'quietly, but firmly replied, "I am going. You will see."' She testified: 'My brother, Jacob G. Bigler, having gone to Far West, Missouri, joined the church there and bought a farm for my father, and then returned. About this time my father sold his farm in West Virginia, and fitted out my mother, my brother and sister Sarah, Melissa and myself... and we started for Far West, Missouri.' Her obedience to the divine voice proved instrumental in preserving her family from the Haun's Mill massacre.