Elder David W. Patten Bears Testimony Before Death - Wounds from Battle

During the violent Missouri persecution, Captain David W. Patten, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, led a company of Saints against a mob threatening the Saints. Though he was wounded in the ensuing battle, his spiritual power remained strong. Bathsheba Smith witnessed: 'Cap. David Patten's company went, and a battle ensued. Some of the Latter-day Saints were killed, and several were wounded. I saw Bro. James Hendrik [Hendricks], one of the wounded, as he was being carried home...Soon afterwards Cap. David W. Patten, who was once one of the Twelve Apostles, was brought wounded into the house where we were. I heard him bear testimony to the truth of Mormonism. He exhorted his wife and all present to abide in the faith. His wife asked him if he had anything against her. He answered he had nothing against anyone. Elder Heber C. Kimball asked him if he would remember him when he got home. He said he would. Soon after, he died without a struggle.' Though mortally wounded, Elder Patten's final testimony and spiritual power remained undiminished, serving as a powerful witness to all present of the reality of the gospel.