"There are
certain eternal laws by which the Gods in the eternal worlds are governed and
which they cannot violate, and do not want to violate. These eternal
principles must be kept, and one principle is that no unclean thing can enter
into the kingdom God .”
John Taylor, while young, was taught to believe in God, read and believe in the Bible, and to pray. He had a vision while in his teenage years of an angel sounding a trump to all the world. At the time, he did not understand the significance and wouldn't until many years after. Born in England his family moved to America and left John behind to sell the family business and other important things. After matters were settled he sailed to New York. During a storm John Taylor received an answer to prayer that he had to go to America and preach God's word. He was so confident and expressed so much faith that night that he stood on deck and although the waters were raging he felt calm. He arrived in New York safe and sound and met up with his family.
John Taylor then met a neighbor who housed Elder Pratt. He would follow Elder Pratt where ever he went and would write down the messages Elder Pratt spoke and compare them with the Bible. For three weeks, he did this until he felt the Spirit bore testimony that this was the true and everlasting gospel. He never doubted since.
While serving as an apostle, John Taylor received much persecution and witnessed much tribulation of the Prophet Joseph Smith. John Taylor was considered a close friend to Joseph. When Joseph and Hyrum was wrongfully imprisoned, John and other faithful friends of the prophet willfully went with them. All but Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor, and Willard Richards left to find and obtain justice. June 27, was a solemn afternoon and John Taylor was asked to sing to lift their spirits. Twice he sang, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" in his tenor voice. After he finished a mob with blackened faces burst into the room and John Taylor witnessed tragedy and murder. The prophet Joseph spoke his last words to John Taylor saying, “That’s right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can.” Elder Taylor wrote of his account in D&C 135.
Although Elder Taylor felt the grief for the death of the prophet he knew that this was not Joseph Smith's church that it was the true church of God. “This church has the seeds of immortality in its midst. It is not of man, nor by man—it is the offspring of Deity.”
