Benjamin Brown's Sufferings and Trials at Winter Quarters

“I was appointed to preside over a branch of the Church in the State of New York, and afterwards in the State of Ohio, and subsequently in the State of Illinois, where I remained until the expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo. I was then appointed to preside over a company of the Saints, and we commenced our journey towards the West. We travelled through the State of Iowa, and arrived at the Missouri river, where we were compelled to stop, as the season was too far advanced to proceed further. We formed a settlement, which we called Winter Quarters. Here we suffered many privations, and many of our brethren and sisters died from the effects of the hardships they had to endure. I was appointed to preside over a portion of the Saints in this place, and I had to exert all my faith and energy to comfort and sustain them under their severe trials. Many were sick, and I was called upon to administer to them, and I had the satisfaction of seeing many of them restored to health through the power of God. I had also to provide for the wants of the poor and the destitute, and I often felt my own weakness, but the Lord was with me, and gave me strength according to my day. I felt that I was in the path of duty, and that the Lord would sustain me, and I was not disappointed. My faith was strengthened, and I was enabled to bear up under all my trials, and to encourage others to do the same. We remained at Winter Quarters until the spring of 1848, when we again took up our line of march for the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.”

— Benjamin Brown, Testimonies For The Truth