William W. Phelps, who had been excommunicated, writes to Joseph Smith: "BROTHER JOSEPH:-I am alive, and with the help of God I mean to live still. I am as the prodigal son, though I never doubt or disbelieve the fulness of the Gospel. . . . I have seen the folly of my way, and I tremble at the gulf I have passed. So it is, and why I know not. I prayed and God answered, but what could I do? Says I, 'I will repent and live, and ask my old brethren to forgive me, and though they chasten me to death, yet I will die with them, for their God is my God. The least place with them is enough for me, yea, it is bigger and better than all Babylon.'" Joseph restores Phelps to full fellowship and even makes him a charter member of the Council of Fifty four years later. He is excommunicated again in 1847 for "adultery" (taking three unauthorized plural wives). He is rebaptized in 1848. Phelps serves as a Nauvoo city councilman, assists in drafting the constitution of the "State of Deseret" in 1849, and works in the Utah legislature as Speaker of the House. In 1851. But he was perhaps most noted in Utah for his convincing portrayal of Satan in the endowment ceremony in the Salt Lake Endowment House on Temple Square.
[Source: On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
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