ch, or none.

When King began to preach at my house I noticed that every other
denomination opposed him. I was surprised at this. I could not
see how he could injure them if they were right. I had been
brought up as a strict Catholic. I was taught to look upon all
sects, except the Catholic, with disfavor, and my opinion was
that the Mormons and all others were apostates from the true
Church; that the Mormon Church was made up of the off-scourings
of hell, or of apostates from the true Church. I then had not the
most distant idea that the Mormons believed in the Old and New
Testaments. I was astonished to hear King prove his religion from
the Scriptures. I reflected. I determined, as every honest man
should do, to fairly investigate his doctrines, and to do so with
a prayerful heart.

The more I studied the question, the more interested I became. I
talked of the doctrine to nearly every man I met. The excitement
soon became general, and King was invited to preach in many
places.

In the meantime Levi Stewart, one of my near neighbors, became
interested in this religion, and went to Far West, Missouri, to
investigate the question of Mormonism at headquarters. He joined
the Church there, and when he returned he brought with him the
Book of Mormon and a monthly periodical called the Elder's
Journal.

By this time my anxiety was very great, and I determined to
fathom the question to the bottom. My frequent conversations with
Elder King served to carry me on to a conviction that the
dispensation of the fullness of time would soon usher in upon the
world. If such was the case I wished to know it; for the
salvation of my never-dying soul was of far more importance to me
than all other earthly considerations. I regarded the heavenly
boon of eternal life as a treasure of great price. I left off my
frivolity and commenced to lead a moral life. I began trying to
lay up treasure in heaven, in my Father's rich storehouse, and
wished to become an heir of righteousness, to inherit in common
with the faithful children the rich legacy of our Father's
Kingdom.

During that year our child, Elizabeth Adaline, died of scarlet
fever. The night she lay a corpse I finished reading the Book of
Mormon. I never closed my eyes in sleep from the time I commenced
until I finished the book. I read it after asking God to give me
knowledge to know if it was genuine and of Divine authority. By
careful examination I found that it was in strict