Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were almost constant companions in the gospel of Jesus Christ from the time the two met at Fayette, N.Y., in December 1830, until the saints fled Missouri nine years later.
A few weeks after Sidney Rigdon had been baptized by Elder Parley P. Pratt in Kirtland, Ohio, Nov. 14, 1830, he went to Fayette with the express purpose of meeting Joseph Smith. In the preface to his record of the revelation recorded as Section 35, the Prophet wrote: "In December Sidney Rigdon came from OhioT to inquire of the Lord, and with him came Edward Partridge. . . ."In early February, 1831, Rigdon and Partridge accompanied Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, to Kirtland. (See Feb. 18 Church News, p. 14.)
One of the early revelations that linked Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon together in the service of the Lord was recorded as Section 44, in which they were instructed to call together the elders of the Church who should "go forth into the regions round about, and preach repentance unto the people." (D&C 44:3.)
The association between the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon led them on several travels together. In History of the Church, Vol. 1, Joseph Smith wrote of their first trip to Missouri: "On the 19th of June 1831T, in company with Sidney Rigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Partridge, William W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, Algernon S. Gilbert and his wife, I started from Kirtland, Ohio, for the land of Missouri, agreeable to the commandment before received, wherein it was promised that if we were faithful, the land of our inheritance, even the place for the city of New Jerusalem, should be revealed." (See D&C 42:61-69.)
At St. Louis, Mo., the group divided. Some, including the Prophet, went by land on foot to Independence, Jackson County, Mo.; the others, including Sidney Ridgon, arrived by water a few days later.
The Prophet recorded in his history: "On the second day of August, I assisted the Colesville branch of the Church to lay the first log, for a house, as a foundation of Zion in Kaw township, twelve miles west of Independence. The log was carried and placed by twelve men, in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel. At the same time, through prayer, the land of Zion was consecrated and dedicated by Elder Sidney Rigdon for the gathering of the saints. . . .
"As we had received a commandment D&C 58:50T for Elder Rigdon to write a description of the land of Zion, we sought for all the information necessary to accomplish so desirable an object."
After Sidney Rigdon returned to Ohio, he was a scribe to the Prophet in translating the Bible. While they were working on the translation in Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, they were attacked and tarred by a mob.
Sidney Ridgon and his family returned to Kirtland, but he soon afterward accompanied the Prophet on another visit to Missouri, from which he returned to Kirtland in June, 1832.
Again, he spent time with the prophet in translating the Bible.
On March 18, 1833, Sidney Rigdon was ordained and set apart as a counselor to Joseph Smith; Frederick G. Williams was ordained and set apart as the Prophet's other counselor in the First Presidency.