Heber C. Kimball - Church Service

Church Service

Shortly after his baptism, Kimball was ordained an elder by Joseph Young, and began proselyting in the neighboring areas with Joseph and Brigham Young. They were met with great success, baptizing many and building up churches. He reports one instance where Ezra Landon baptized some twenty people but wanted Kimball to confirm them. He did so, and immediately they began speaking in tongues and interpreting them.

In 1833, Kimball relocated his family to church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio. Kimball was ordained a member of The Quorum of Twelve Apostles on February 14, 1835. He was one of the original twelve members of the Quorum, being 4th in seniority. He marched with Zion's Camp in 1834.

Joseph Smith, Jr. called Kimball to lead a group of missionaries to England in 1837. The mission began work in Liverpool, England, and met with considerable success. Kimball was known as a simple and outspoken preacher who worked hard. He and the other missionaries brought many people to the new faith. The missionaries began organizing groups of British converts to travel to America, beginning in 1840, and join the main body of the church. Kimball returned with a small party to make travel arrangements for the groups and discovered the Latter Day Saints were undergoing considerable strife and pressure in the state of Missouri. While Smith was imprisoned in the Liberty Jail, Brigham Young (now ranking leader of the Quorum) and Kimball organized the removal of approximately 12,000 Latter Day Saint refugees across the border into Illinois. There the church founded the city of Nauvoo and built a temple. Kimball returned to his mission in England in 1840 and served until 1841.

After Smith's assassination in 1844, succession to the leadership of the church was a divisive issue for some. Brigham Young, standing as the head of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, led the majority of church members across the state line into Iowa and eventually to the Salt Lake Valley. Kimball stood next in leadership in the Quorum and was became a member of the new First Presidency in 1847. Kimball led one of three large companies to the Salt Lake Valley in the summer of 1848. He established his families in Utah Territory and supported them by farming, ranching, milling at the Heber C. Kimball Gristmill and freighting, in addition to church responsibilities. While in the First Presidency, Kimball received special assignments to supervise the ongoing British Mission and to conduct temple ordinances. He also served in the Utah's Territorial legislature.

Kimball died on June 22, 1868, at age 67, in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, from the effects of a carriage accident. He was buried in the Kimball-Whitney Cemetery (40.772949, -111.889755), located on the south slope of what's now known as Capitol Hill, an area then called "Heber's Bench" after him.