D&C 117

The Lord chastised Newel K. Whitney -

"Let my servant Newel K. Whitney be ashamed of the Nicolaitane band and of all their secret abominations, and of all his littleness of soul before me, saith the Lord, and come up to the land of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and be a bishop unto my people, saith the Lord, not in name but in deed, saith the Lord."  (Doctrine and Covenants 117:11)

A thought came to me this morning, Bishop Whitney obeyed and proved faithful yet died, compared to our day, at a relative young age.  So did many other early faithful brethren (i.e. Parley Pratt, .Oliver Granger, David Patten, etc.)  From the Lord's perspective, that had proved themselves and maybe needed for the work on the other side of the veil.