Heber C. Kimball's Prophetic Vow Shields Mary Lightner at Far West (1838)

When the mob militia took Far West, Missouri in the fall of 1838, a general confronted Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner and demanded she abandon the Saints to save her husband and child. She answered, "If you kill him today, God will raise up another tomorrow," and declared she would suffer with the rest, for she was not ashamed to own her religion. In that moment a man she had never met — Heber C. Kimball — stepped between her and the general and gave her a prophetic promise: "Sister Lightner, God Almighty bless you, I thank my God for one soul that is ready to die for her religion; not a hair of your head shall be harmed, for I will wade to my knees in blood in your behalf." Hyrum Smith and others echoed the same vow. The promise held: through the surrender, the search for her brother Henry hidden beneath a feather bed in the family wagon, and the chaotic days that followed, Mary passed through unharmed — a protection she attributed directly to that inspired vow.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

When the mob came into Far West, they took us prisoners. A general came to me and said, 'You must deny your faith, and leave this people, and go home, or we will kill your husband and child.' I said, 'If you kill him today, God will raise up another tomorrow.' He said, 'You are a d---d fool.' I said, 'I am not ashamed of my religion.' Heber C. Kimball came up and said, 'Sister Lightner, God Almighty bless you. I thank my God for one soul that is ready to die for her religion. Not a hair of your head shall be harmed, for I will wade to my knees in blood in your behalf.' Hyrum Smith and others said the same. I was not harmed, though they searched our wagons and took everything we had, and even searched under the feather bed where my brother Henry was hid, but they did not find him.