On behalf of a of the of the church held 29 November 1841, wrote a letter commending the work of to the highest authorities of the in , Illinois, including JS. In 1840 and 1841, Page had done much missionary work in the branches of the church in , , and but had failed to fulfill his appointed mission to Europe and with fellow apostle ; Page and Hyde journeyed together to the eastern , but while Hyde continued overseas, Page instead remained in the East. In January 1841 the publicly reprimanded Page for this negligence.

Over the ensuing months, attempted to explain his actions and tried to regain favor with church leaders in . In July 1841, after delivering a few sermons in , Page asked , who was also then in the city and in contact with JS in Nauvoo, “to present his [Page’s] best respects to the authorities of the Church.” According to Bernhisel, Page gave “exceedingly flattering accounts of the progress of the work where he labored during the past winter & Spring and this summer.” In a 1 September letter written from , Page notified JS that he would be traveling back to New York and that he hoped to leave from there to go overseas to join on his mission. In that letter, Page asked JS to write to him in New York “care of .” It is not known when Page arrived in New York, but it was likely between 1 September and 29 November 1841, when the letter featured here was written. It is also unclear what conversations he had with Foster or other Latter-day Saints in New York. Nevertheless, it appears that Page and his character were discussed at the church conference in New York City held 29 November 1841, and Page may have been in attendance. Foster, who served as the clerk of the conference, was apparently assigned to write a letter commending Page to the and Page’s fellow apostles in Nauvoo.

presumably wrote this letter either the day of the conference or within the next few days. The letter, which may have arrived in sometime in middle or late December, applauded for his proselytizing endeavors and his church leadership in .

’s original letter has not been located. The text of the letter, however, was published by JS in the 15 March 1842 issue of the church’s newspaper Times and Seasons.