Lorenzo Hatch Finds God's Preservation Through 15 Months of Missionary Hardship — Turned Out of Doors Multiple Times

From April 1844 to July 1845, Lorenzo Hill Hatch served a mission that took him on foot across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Vermont — a journey of many hundreds of miles with virtually no money, in poor health, and in the face of open hostility.

He recorded the hardships plainly:

- Turned away from two consecutive houses in cold April weather and forced to sleep in hazel brush with only a valise under his head

- Sick for nine days in Milford, Illinois from the exposure

- 'Treated worse than dogs' on a steamboat to Buffalo

- Denied lodging multiple times in Illinois and New York because he was a Mormon

- Ill throughout much of the journey

Yet at the end, he recorded simply: 'The Lord did preserve me all the time I was gone. At home I found brothers and sisters all well; my grandfather and grandmother were well. I was happy to get home and found Nauvoo flourishing; such crops, I never saw growing out of the earth before.'

Divine preservation through fifteen months of poverty, illness, and persecution.

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

April 15, 1844. I started on a mission in company with Thomas E. Fuller. We traveled on foot through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Vermont. We had no money. My uncle, Jeremiah Hatch, gave me twelve and a half cents and regretted he had no more to give. We were turned away from two houses in succession in the cold month of April. We slept in the hazel brush with my valise for a pillow. I was sick nine days in Milford, Illinois, from exposure. We were treated worse than dogs on a steamboat to Buffalo. We were denied lodging many times in Illinois and New York because we were Mormons. I was ill throughout much of the journey. The Lord did preserve me all the time I was gone. At home I found brothers and sisters all well; my grandfather and grandmother were well. I was happy to get home and found Nauvoo flourishing; such crops, I never saw growing out of the earth before.