ELDER EDWIN HOLDEN,

an old veteran of the Church, and one who was intimately acquainted with Joseph Smith, makes the following statement in regard to what he recollects of the Prophet, and adds his testimony respecting his missoin:

"The first time I saw Joseph Smith was in 1831, in Genesee, New York State, about twenty-five miles from the famous hill, Cumorah. On hearing that two men were there calling themselves 'Mormons,' I determined to see them. I rode on horseback fifteen miles from the place I was living to see them—Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. When I got to the place I learned that they were going to hold meeting in a barn. It was so crowded that it was with much difficulty I got inside; and by a great effort climbed up on one of the beams of the roof. There I could see and hear them distinctly.

"At the Temple in Kirtland I was also present after it had been dedicated. Patriarch Smith, Joseph's father, was my guide. He took me through the rooms, and also took me up into a room at the top of the house, where I saw the Egyptian mummies, and the papyrus from which Joseph translated the Book of Abraham. I also made there a purchase of a Book of Mormon, one of the first that had been translated and printed.

"In 1838 Joseph and some of the young men were playing various out-door games, among which was a game of ball. By and by they began to get weary. He saw it, and calling them together he said: 'Let us build a log cabin.' So off they went, Joseph and the young men, to build a log cabin for a widow woman. Such was Joseph's way, always assisting in whatever he could.

"I knew many years ago—and the knowledge has been increasing every year—that Joseph Smith was God's Prophet. I also know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that the gospel of Christ is of a surety true, and my testimony has not abated, but has grown stronger and clearer every year. I am in my 85th year, and am ready at any time to go home, when the Lord my God sees fit to call me."