Miraculous Provision of Money for Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball on Their Journey to England
Published September 28, 2026 at 8:54 AM
During their 1839 journey to England, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball set out with only $13.50, which Young said was all they knew they had. At successive stages they found enough money to pay for conveyance, food, and lodging—about $86 or, in another account, over $87 in expenses—despite their limited funds. Young testified that they repeatedly found just enough in his trunk to pay each bill, and that on reaching Kirtland Corners they had one York shilling left. He described the provision as an answer to faith and compared the experience to the biblical account of the widow’s meal and oil.
In Their Own Words
“When brother Heber C. Kimball and I were on the way to England, and were left in a little place called Pleasant Garden, I know, as I know I live, that we had no more than thirteen dollars and fifty cents. This was all we had, that we knew anything about. In the course of the journey, we paid out just about eighty-six dollars, as near as I can recollect, for conveyance, food, and lodging, always finding just money enough in my trunk to pay each bill; and when we arrived at Kirtland Corners, we had just the York shilling left. I know, as I know I live, that the means were provided beyond anything we possessed, and I know that the Lord was with us, and that He provided for us, and that He led us by His Spirit, and that He has been with us from that day to this. I have often thought of the widow's meal and oil, and I have often thought of the children of Israel in the wilderness, whose clothes did not wax old, and whose shoes did not wear out. I have seen the power of God manifested in my own experience, and I know that He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, and that He will provide for His servants when they are in the path of duty.”
— Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:337
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 5 March 1872 (Vol. 34, No. 10). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1872-03-05_34_10 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Journal of Discourses, Volume 8 (pages 334-338), discourse 83. https://journalofdiscourses.com/8/83 (extracted verbatim from source text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: Journal of Discourses, Volume 8, page 337 https://journalofdiscourses.com/8/83 Full first-person account: Journal of Discourses, Volume 8, page 337 https://journalofdiscourses.com/8/83
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