Dear Hallie, yes I am under silence. Leon

                                                                                                                                  May 12th

Dear Hallie and the rest,
I got your letter and since I have a little time tonight, as it is only 9, I’ll write awhile. Don’t get excited over the rumors. Yes I am under silence, pending trial for hurting McClain’s feelings; but it is only one of those petty, personal, vindictive stunts men pull once in a while. He wrote an open letter and sent it to the whole Advocate list last winter telling so many big ones about the Editors, the Twelve, and the Conference, that I just naturally had to answer it. Of course he didn’t like it to have me put his statements side by side so that everyone could see how carelessly he handled the truth, and so he’s trying to vent his spite. The trial will probably be at Minneapolis soon, and I’ll put some more of his statements side by side to prove just what he is.

     He has made some threats about suing, but I don’t think there is any danger of that, it would cost him more than he would get out of it. Anyway I told him I would gladly spend the rest of my days in jail if it would clean up the mess in the general office. I didn’t send my open letter to the Advocate list, however; but only to the Twelve, the Bishops, Editors, and three others, 22 in all. But it did the work and got him out of office, while his widespread effort fell flat. That’s why he’s sore. However, if he does anything at all he must do it soon, for by the end of the conference year there will be such a change for the better in the church’s financial affairs, hes loudest roar won’t be worth a whisper.

    It is warming up here now, 85 today. We’ll be making garden as fast as we can now. Suckers are running, and we have plenty of fish and maple sirup.

    While in Council Bluffs on the way home, I saw a write-up about the Mormons at Manti, showing a picture of Father Cutler’s tombstone, and it kind of brought back memories of old time stories. Also while there I went out to Winter Quarters and saw the Mormon burial ground with tombstones dated in the late 40’s, Brigham Young’s house built nearly a hundred years ago, and the monument erected on the hill in the cemetery, depicting a hardy pioneer, his arm, shovel in hand, supporting his sorrowing wife, as they looked upon the face of their child in the open grave. Somehow as I looked at it something griped me with such force that I seemed to be a part of that great multitude, and partake of their sorrows and hardships as they bent their backs to burdens that the Lord had not ordered, at the behest of an ambitious leader, and I wept as I thought how often history repeats itself. In the base of the monument were bronze plates inscribed with the names of hundreds of head, though I don’t suppose the whole six hundred are there. And also in bronze letters are nearly every scripture quotation in the Bible on the resurrections. And then there was the song:
“And should we die before our journey’s through,
Happy day! All is well!
We’ll then be free from toil and sorrow too,
With the just we shall dwell.

     I wonder how Genevieve stands as well as she does the controlling of a church by repulsion, expulsion, compulsion, propulsion, and impulsion.

     When the church was rejected at Nauvoo, it was rejected as to Quorum and council, organization and perpetuation, not as members, or ministers, as individuals, nor necessarily as to individual members of quorums who were faithful. But it was the right as quorums to perpetuate their organization under divine direction that was taken from them.
Fred M’s impulsion message went over with a bang; it had the s.d.c. leverage to make it go over.

     To the Church of Christ came a clear-cut Thus saith the Spirit of the living God to you my servants—no impulsion about it. There was no s.d.c. leverage however to put it over without protest. The conference referred it to the whole body of ministry; the ministry referred it back to the conference without prejudice and without action. The conference directed the calling of a solemn assembly in August to consider it. All anyone has to do, is to read the impulsion message and the Jordan clear—cut message side by side, and let their heart render the verdict.

    The message coming to the Church of Christ, if it had claimed to be only human impulsion, with s.d.c. behind it, and no voice raised in protest, would have gone over with a bang, too. But the Church of Christ is hesitant, slow and fearful and it is better so, than it is not to want to know.
(He doesn’t seem to be silenced yet)
                                                                                Leon
(He lays it all onto McClain but one man couldn’t silence him. It must have been voted on by the Twelve at least and I think his feelings are hurt more than he will own.)