John Taylor—Man of Faith

When John Taylor left England in 1832, he emigrated to New York, and then after a few months he went to Upper Canada where he continued to preach in the Methodist Church. One of the members of the congregation was Leonora Cannon, a remarkable woman whom John later married. John continued to preach, but he felt something was missing in his religion. He later wrote: “A number of us met together for the purpose of searching the Scriptures; and we found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the Apostles, which neither the Methodists, Baptists, … nor any of the religious sects taught; and we concluded that if the Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or if they were true, the Bible was false. … In addition … , we prayed and fasted before God; and the substance of our prayers was, that if he had a people upon the earth anywhere, and ministers who were authorized to preach the Gospel, that he would send us one” (in Journal of Discourses, 23:30). The Lord sent Parley P. Pratt on a mission to Canada and helped to answer John Taylor’s prayer of faith.

Faith in God Was Sufficient for John Taylor’s Needs
After joining the Church, John Taylor moved his family from Canada to Kirtland, Ohio, and later to Missouri, where they were driven from their home during the Missouri persecutions. He had scarcely situated his family in Nauvoo, Illinois, the new gathering place of the Saints, when he was sent to England to preach the gospel. John Taylor’s companion was Wilford Woodruff. While preaching the gospel “without purse or scrip” (without money), John Taylor left it up to the Lord to manage his money matters, saying, “ ‘I would rather put my trust in the Lord than in any of the kings of the earth’ ” (Roberts, The Life of John Taylor, p. 71). When he arrived in New York City, before leaving for England, he had only one penny in his pocket. Still, he did not plead poverty. When asked about his financial status, he said he had “plenty of money.”
One day Parley P. Pratt approached him, “ ‘Brother Taylor, I hear you have plenty of money?’ … ‘Yes, Brother Pratt, that’s true.’ ‘Well, I am about to publish my “Voice of Warning” and “[Millennial] Poems,” I am very much in need of money, and if you could furnish me two or three hundred dollars I should be very much obliged.’ … ‘Then you are welcome to all I have.’
“And putting his hand into his pocket Elder Taylor gave him his copper cent. A laugh followed.
“ ‘But I thought you gave it out that you had plenty of money,’ said Parley.
“ ‘Yes, and so I have,’ replied Elder Taylor. ‘I am well clothed, you furnish me plenty to eat and drink and good lodging; with all these things and a penny over, as I owe nothing, is that not plenty?’ ” (Roberts, The Life of John Taylor, pp. 72–73).