William's Mission Call

William was ordained a priest on 3 March 1851 and was assigned to do local missionary work . He "labored in the Deepcar branch under Elder William Memmott" (Stories of the LDS Hymns). He labored extensively as a missionary for about two years. He was then ordained an elder in 1853 and his missionary service continued for about two more years he would continue traveling about the country, mostly on foot, to spread the Gospel. He kept a daily diary during this time. The diary "shows the deep and abiding faith of [William] in the restored Gospel." It also tells of "how he traveled on foot and endured revilings and all sorts of persecutions for the Gospel's sake. It is full of such entries as 'Walked 21 miles, rode 7 today.'" "One [entry]of March 27, 1853, reads; 'Mob assembled and broke up the afternoon meeting. In the evening we met at Brother Craig's house and had a good meeting. The mob assembled outside expecting to pelt us with goose eggs, but as e did not open the door they did not know where to look for us, so they pelted each other'"(Stories of LDS Hymns). The diary was kept of four years of missionary service up to 1854. However this would not be the end of his missionary labors.