Elijah Abel is called by Joseph Smith to be an undertaker in Nauvoo. He sees much death, but feels peace knowing that his calling is from God. The death of Joseph Smith Sr. is especially difficult for him.
The following chapter is excerpted from One More River to Cross, the title of the first novel of a trilogy to be called Standing of the Promises being published by Deseret Book beginning August 2000. Young and Gray's historical fiction explores the experiences of Elijah Abel, Jane Manning James, and other early African-American Latter-day Saints.