185 years ago today - 1836: 8 December

[Patriarchal Blessing]

Abel Butterfield. (Given by Joseph Smith, Sen.)

" ... thou shalt be a mighty Man in the earth--the earth shall tremble at the sound of thy voice thou shalt have such great power that the inhabitants shall acknowledge thee to be a man of God... Thou shalt teach the Lamanites the wonderful things of God in their tongue thou shalt baptize many and they shall rejoice in the Lord Thou hast been in earnest to receive thy blessing.... thou shalt live to see the winding up scene of this generation... --by authority of the Priesthood I seal thee up to eternal life Amen."

[From typescript; William Smith Patriarchal Blessings Book, pp. 133-134, RLDS Archives, in Selected LDS Patriarchal Blessings, New Mormon Studies CD ROM, Signature Book, 2009, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]