Testimony Of John Brush by Leroy Campbell

My wife, Karen, and I are both sixth generation members of the Church of Jesus Christ. I wish to share with you the testimony of how my great, great, great grandfather, Elder John Brush, became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. These following words were written in January of 1891.

"In May, 1832, Brother Brush, then a boy of seventeen, enlisted under Major Stillman and served through what is known as the Blackhawk war; but in the fall of the same year, as the Saints were beginning to collect in Jackson county, Missouri, the family thought it best to follow them, and in October they arrived at Independence and camped the first night on the temple lot.

Independence then contained about twenty families of Saints, though several settlements were being formed outside of Independence from five to ten miles away. The family of which we are writing joined those located about six miles west of Independence on the Big Blue river, where there was plenty of timber to make their houses and their farms. But while the timber was all needed for these purposes, it put the settlers to the necessity of clearing their land before crops could be raised, and shortly after arriving Brother Brush tried to add to the supplies of the family by hauling com from Jackson county to the Shoshone Indian Nation (I believe this was actually the Shawnee Indian Nation), about twenty-five miles away. 

As yet he (John) had not obeyed the gospel, but for some time he had been studying over the problem as to whether or not the Saints had the truth. One night, therefore, when hauling com as above mentioned, he turned out his cattle as usual to feed, ate supper, made his bed under the body of the wagon, and lay down to think the subject over. At last he concluded that if they had the truth he wanted to share in their joys and labors; and he then earnestly prayed the Lord to manifest unto him whether they were right. 

Almost immediately he fell asleep and dreamed the following dream: "I thought I was among a great collection of Indians and began preaching to them in their own language, first talking to their head men and then to the tribe. They believed my teachings, and I then saw near by, under a bank, a beautiful pool of clearest water. I went down to the water and the Indians followed, when I took one in and baptized him in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. As I finished, a strong light shone upon me, and looking up I saw a shining angel on the bank who said: "Thus will I be a witness to you in all your administrations." In this way I baptized about four hundred persons, the light from the angel being so strong upon the water as to make it almost impossible to see each person as he or she went under. When I awoke, to my great astonishment I was still speaking in the Indian tongue, and I continued so speaking until I was fearful I had lost my natural language."

This phenomenon of speaking in another language returned several times during the trip, and Brother Brush could no longer doubt that the Saints possessed the truth and the power of the gospel of Christ. On returning home, at the earliest convenience he was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, Solomon Hancock officiating in both ordinances.

I am thankful for the heritage that I have in the church of Jesus Christ. I feel my heritage is a blessing in the work with the Native American people.