On Dec. 5, 1847, nine members of the Quorum of the Twelve met at Orson Hyde's house in Kanesville, Iowa, for a council meeting to discuss the reorganization of the First Presidency of the Church.
After each elder spoke, Orson Hyde moved that Brigham Young, president of the Twelve, be sustained as the president of the Church, and that he nominate his counselors.
This was unanimously carried out, and President Young named Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors, who were also unanimously sustained.
Three weeks later, this matter was brought before a general conference of the Church at Kanesville - where in the interim a log tabernacle had been erected especially for the conference. The tabernacle, which was built by some 200 workmen, held between 800 and 1,000 people.
On the last day of the conference, which lasted from Dec. 24 to 27, 1847, the new First Presidency was sustained.
A dead stillness reigned in the congregation when the newly sustained Church president spoke. "This is one of the happiest days of my life. . . . ," he said. "Is not the bliss of heaven and the breezes of Zion wafted here? Who feels hatred, malice or evil? If you come to the door with a bad spirit, it would not come in with you; no, it could not mingle here: but when you enter, your feelings become as calm and gentle as the zephyrs of paradise; and I feel glory, Hallelujah!
"We have been driven from Nauvoo here, but the hand of the Lord is in it - visible as the sun shining this morning; it is visible to my natural eyes; it's all right.
"As the Lord's will is my will all the time, as He dictates so I will perform. If He don't guide the ship, we'll go down in the whirlpool."
Following Brigham Young's address, George A. Smith led the shout of "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb. Amen! Amen! Amen!"
A month later, Brigham Young said, "The spirit of the Lord at
thatT time rested upon the people in a powerful manner, in so much that the saints' hearts were filled with joy unspeakable; every power of the mind and nerve of their body was awakened." (Source: A Comprehensive History of the Church 3:315-317.)