Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840

Sir, The mission upon which we are  sent, swells greater & greater.

As there is a great work to be done in Germany, as  manifested to us by the spirit; the following plan of  opperation has been suggested to us; Viz to write a set  of Lectures upon the faith and doctrine of <our> church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

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,  giving a brief history of the coming forth of the Book  of Mormon, and an account of its contents, in as clear  and plain style as possible; together with the out lines  and organization and government of the church of  Latter Day Saints, drawn from the “doctrine and Covenants”  with all the wisdom and care possible; and get the same  translated into German, and publish it when we arrive in  Germany, and scatter <it> through the German Empire, Is  this correct? Should we consider it necessary to tran slate the entire Book of Mormon into the German, and  Doctrine and Covenants too; are we or are we not at  liberty to do so. Should we deem it necessary to pub lish an edition of Hymn Books in any Country; are  we at liberty to do it? The fact is we need such works;  and we cannot get them from the church here; and if  we could we could not well carry them with us, at  least [in] any quantity. We feel that we are acting under  the direction of the Presidency, of the church; and  the reason, that we make these inquiries, is, that we do  not wish to step beyond our limits or bring ourselves  into a snare and dishonor by taking liberties that  are not ours.

We feel that all our exertions and interests  shall become subservient to build up the Kingdom [p. 144]