the nearby valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. In 1838, he embarked on a five-month proselytizing mission to southern Missouri and Arkansas. Once he returned to Far West, Missouri state forces invaded; and Smoot, alongside Joseph and Hyrum Smith, was taken prisoner on November 1 during the 1838 Mormon War. He then moved to the new settlement of Zarahemla, Iowa, and was chosen as a member of the high council. In April 1842, Smoot began another mission, this time to South Carolina. He preached in Charleston, but found no success and returned to Nauvoo, Illinois, that July. During Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential campaign, Smoot was assigned to travel to Tennessee and oversee both political and missionary efforts in the area. While preaching and electioneering in Dresden, Tennessee, Smoot came in contact with those who opposed his beliefs. One night, a man attempted to assassinate Smoot, but narrowly missed; the "bullet passed near [his] head and lodged in the ceiling". On another occasion, when "a mob of two hundred men" threatened Smoot while he was speaking, a few audience members protected him after he made the Masonic sign that signaled danger. Smoot later wrote: "During my experience I have seen the power of God manifested upon various occasions in preserving my life". When he learned of the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum, Smoot returned to Nauvoo. His next assignment was to lead a branch of the church in Keokuk, Iowa. In 1844, he served another mission in Alabama as part of his charge from Brigham Young to direct the church in the South. He gathered a group from this region to move to Nauvoo and eventually journey west. In between his missions, Smoot volunteered as a police officer in Nauvoo and an officiator in the Nauvoo Temple. In 1851, Smoot undertook another mission, this time to England. His goal this time was to bring converts to the church back to the United States, sponsored by the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Smoot left England within the same month of his arrival and, once back in the U.S., accompanied the band of British immigrants on the trek west. He contracted cholera while traveling, but recovered. The group arrived in Utah in September 1852. In total, Smoot served nine proselyting missions for the LDS Church, in addition to twice serving as a bishop. In 1880, when he was 65 years old, Smoot was assigned by John Taylor to