You might as well deny “Mormonism,” and turn away from it, as to oppose the plurality of wives. Let the Presidency of this Church, and the Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole of them would be damned. What are you opposing it for? It is a principle that God has revealed for the salvation of the human family. He revealed it to Joseph the Prophet in this our dispensation; and that which he revealed he designs to have carried out by his people. (Heber C. Kimball, 12 October 1856, JD 5:203)
Many of this people have broken their covenants by finding fault with the plurality of wives, and trying to sink it out of existence. But you cannot do that, for God will cut you off and raise up another people that will carry out His purposes in righteousness unless you walk up to the line of your duty. On the one hand there is glory and exaltation, and on the other no tongue can express the suffering and affliction this people will pass through if they do not repent. (Heber C. Kimball, September 28, 1856, JD, 4:108)
“What I do not to-day, when the sun goes down, I lay down to sleep, which is typical of death; and in the morning I rise up and commence my work where I left it yesterday. That course is typical of the probations we take. But suppose that I do not improve my time today, I wake up tomorrow and find myself in the rear; and then, if I do not improve upon that day, and again lay down to sleep, on awaking, I find myself still in the rear. This days work is typical of this probation, and the sleep of every night is typical of death, and rising in the morning is typical of the resurrection. They are days labors, and it is for us to be faithful today, tomorrow, and every day.(Heber C. Kimball, JD 4:329)
“All truth may be new to the ignorant, though old as eternity to the Gods, and whom the Gods make wise. Much that is true, is not expedient. The Prophet Joseph could not tell all he knew, even to the Elders; nor the Elders all they knew to the people. Paul, caught up unto “the third heaven”; Joseph, unto “the seventh heaven,” saw and heard things unspeakable, things “unlawful to be uttered.” The mysteries of God’s kingdom are not for the world, nor for novices in the faith until it is wisdom in the Lord, “lest they perish.” (Life of Heber C. Kimball, by Apostle Orson F. Whitney, 1888, Second Collector’s Edition, 1996, p. 162)
Prophecy by Heber C. Kimball – the father of J. Golden Kimball and the grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball. Here is the prophecy:
In August 16, 1857, Heber C. Kimball stated: There will also be a day when you will be brought to the test — when your very hearts and your inmost souls will melt within you because of the scenes that many of you will witness. Yes, you will be brought to that test, when you will feel as if every thing within you would dissolve. Then will be the time you will be tried whether you will stand the test or fall away. (Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, August 16, 1857. source)
In May of 1868 Heber C. Kimball said: An army of Elders will be sent to the four quarters of the earth to search out the righteous and warn the wicked of what is coming. All kinds of religions will be started and miracles performed that will deceive the very elect if that were possible. Our sons and daughters must live pure lives so )as to be prepared for what is coming. After a while the Gentiles will gather by the thousands to this place, and Salt Lake City will be classed among the wicked cities of the world. A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the Saints, and the results will be financial bondage. Persecution comes next and all true Latter-day Saints will be tested to the limit. Many will apostatize and others will be still not knowing what to do. Darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. The judgments of God will be poured out on the wicked to the extent that our Elders from far and near will be called home, or in other words the gospel will be taken from the Gentiles and later on carried to the Jews.
The western boundary of the State of Missouri will be swept so clean of its inhabitants that as President Young tells us, when you return to that place, there will not be left so much as a yellow dog to wag his tail. Before that day comes, however, the Saints will be put to a test that will try the integrity of the best of them. The pressure will become so great that the more righteous among them will cry unto the Lord day and night until deliverance comes. Yes, we think we are secure here in the chambers of these everlasting hills, where we can close the doors of the canyons against mobs and persecutors, the wicked and the vile, who have always beset us with violence and robbery, but I want to say to you, my brethren, that the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy against the people of God. Then is the time to look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great shifting time, and many will fall. For I say unto you there is a test, a Test, a TEST coming. This Church has before it many close places through which it will have to pass before the work of God is crowned with glory. The difficulties will be of such a character that the man or woman who does not possess a personal knowledge or witness will fall. If you have not got this testimony, you must live right and call upon the Lord, and cease not until you obtain it.
Remember these sayings: The time will come when no man or woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within themselves. If you do not have the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, how can you stand? (Heber C. Kimball, First Counselor in the First Presidency, May 1868, in Deseret News, 23 May 1931; see also Conference Report, Oct. 1930, p. 58-59)
“Just think of your position; you have heard the teachings and instructions of President Young, and his instructions are the word of God to us, and I know that every man and woman in this Church who rejects his testimony, and the testimony of those that he sends, rejects the testimony of God and his Father.” (JD 4:2)