<​April 16 43​> Almost all who have fallen in these last days, in the , have fallen in a strange land; this a strange land to those who have come from a distance. We should cultivate sympathy for the afflicted among us. If there is a place on Earth where men should cultivate this spirit & pour in the oil & Wine in the bosoms of the afflicted, it is this place: & this Spirit is manifest here, & altho he is <​a man is​> a Stranger & <​is​> <​&​> afflicted when he arrives, he finds a brother & a friend ready to administer to his necessities.

Another remark, I would esteem it one of the greatest blessings, if I am to be afflicted in this world, to have my lot cast where I can find brothers & friends all around me, but this is not the thing I referred to; it is to have the privilege of having our dead buried on the land, where God has appointed to gather his Saints together, & where there will be none but Saints; where they may have the privilege of laying their bodies where the Son of Man will make his appearance, & where they may hear the sound of the trump, that shall call them forth to behold him; that in the morn of the resurrection they may come forth in a body, & come right up out of their graves, & strike hands immediately in Eternal glory & felicity, rather than to be scattered thousands of miles apart. There is something good & sacred to me in this thing; the place where a man is buried is sacred to me; this subject is made mention of in the Book of Mormon, & <​the​> Scriptures; <​even​> to the aborigines <​of this land​>, the burying places of their Fathers & is more sacred than any thing else.

When I heard of the death of our beloved ; it would not have affected me so much, if I had the opportunity of burying him in the land of . I believe those who have buried their friends here, their condition is enviable. Look at Joseph in Egypt, how he required his friends to bury him in the tomb of his fathers; see the expense which attended the entombing embalming, & the going up of the great company to his burial. It has always been considered a great curse <​calamity​> not to obtain a honorable burial, & one of the greatest curses <​calamaties​> <​curses​> the Ancient Prophets could put on any one <​man​>, was that he may should go without a burial.

I have said Father, I desire to be buried <​die​> here <​among the Saints,​> before <​but if I <​should​> go hence & di​> I go hence, but if this is not thy will, <​& I go hence & die,​> may I return, <​wilt thou​>,or find some kind friend to bring me <​my​> <​body​> back; & gather my friends, who have fallen in foreign lands, & bring them up hither, that we may all lie together.

I will tell you what I want, if tomorrow I shall be called to lay in yonder tomb, in the morning of the resurrection, let me strike hands with my Father, & cry my Father, & he will say my Son, my Son, as soon as the rock rends, & before we come out of our graves.

And may we contemplate these things so? yes, if we learn how to live & how to die. When we lie down we contemplate how we may rise up in the morning, & it is pleasing for friends to lie down together, locked in the arms of love, to sleep; & awake in each other’s embrace, & renew their conversation.

Would you think it strange <​if​> that I relate what I have seen in vision, in relation to this interesting theme? those who have died in Jesus Christ, may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy when they come forth, which they have possessed here. So plain was the vision, that I actually saw men, before they had ascended from the Tomb, as though they were getting up slowly, they took each other by the hand & it was tho they said to each other My Father & My Son; My mother, My Daughter; My brother my Sister; & when the voice calls <​for the dead to arise,​> suppose I am laid by the side of my Father, what would be the first joy of my heart? where is <​to meet​> my Father, my Mother, my brother, my Sister— & when they are by my side, I embrace them, & they me. [p. 22]