Start of Missionary Work

In Doctrine and Covenants 4 we hear the famous missionary scripture. "Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, all ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day..." There are a lot of people who have that desire in these latter-days, but who started it all for us when this section came out? I will post more when I do more research!