Leman Copley’s actions did not destroy the work of consecration in Kirtland but did demonstrate one of its vulnerabilities. Consecration depended on the voluntary contribution of resources from those who participated. The Lord had urged the Saints to enter into “a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken” (D&C 42:30), but at the same time Church leaders respected the principle of agency. The Lord laments the selfish and incorrect decision made by Copley in withdrawing the assistance he had offered to the Church members arriving in the area. However, Church leaders continued to work with him and bring him to repentance. Fellowship with Copley was withdrawn in the summer of 1831 but was extended again to him by October 1832. Until the Saints left the Kirtland area entirely, and Copley refused to follow, he continued to be involved in the Church (Black, Who’s Who, 68–69).

In the same revelation, Newel Knight is told to “stand fast” in his office (D&C 54:2). As the leader of the Colesville Branch, Newel may have felt that their misfortune occurred because of his actions. It can be difficult, but those called to lead in the Church must also accept the agency of the people they serve. It can be gut-wrenching to see some make the wrong decision, but it is worse when, as in the case of Leman Copley, a poor decision affects many other people in a negative way. Nevertheless, the agency of an individual and their power to make good and bad choices must always be respected.

Because of Leman Copley’s refusal to help, the members of the Colesville Branch were commanded to continue on their journey to the land of Missouri. They had already traveled more than 350 miles to arrive in Kirtland, and now a journey of eight hundred more miles lay before them. Newel Knight worried over the health of his mother, Polly, wondering if she could even survive such a journey. “My mother’s health was very poor and had been for a considerable length of time,” he later wrote. “Yet she would not consent to stop traveling. Her only, or her greatest desire, was to set her feet upon the land of Zion, and to have her body interred in that land.” Newel went so far as to purchase lumber before their departure, in case his mother died along the way and he need to make a coffin for her (Rise of the Latter-day Saints, 36).

Nevertheless, the Knight family and the rest of the Colesville Branch began preparations to start the next portion of their journey. “We now understood that [Ohio] was not the land of our inheritance—the land of promise,” Newel Knight recorded. “For it was made known in a revelation that Missouri was the place chosen for the gathering of the church, and several were called to lead the way to that state” (Joseph F. Darowski, “Journey of the Colesville Branch,” Revelations in Context, 42–43). The Colesville Saints chose to have Newel continue to preside over them. He was released from his previous calling as a missionary (D&C 52:32) and given leave to look after his family during their journey (D&C 56:6–7). Newel later reflected, “This was the first branch of the Church which had emigrated to the land of Zion. I had found it required all of the wisdom I had to lead this company through so long a journey in the midst of enemies; yet so great were the mercies and blessings of God to us that not one of us were harmed, and we made our journey in safety” (Rise of the Latter-day Saints, 36).