When a Mormon missionary stopped by the Taylor home in 1836, Leonora was more interested than was John. However, John was the one who finally decided to move from Toronto to church headquarters in Ohio, and it was John's commitment that survived their temple worship experience there, when it was disrupted by several pistol- and bowie-knife-wielding apostles.As half the church fell away in Ohio, the Taylors escaped to Missouri with the faithful, just in time for the 1838 Mormon War. John's role became that of an advocate with Congress--to convince them that it was the non-Mormons who had sacked the county seat and burned their own homes, for instance. As a literary experience, this was good preparation for later editorships of church newspapers in Illinois, New York, and Liverpool.