October 1889
Cannon, George Q. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, November 2, 1889: pg. 591-593.
The Deseret Weekly. "General Conference." October 12, 1889: pg. 481-492.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, October 26, 1889: pg. 560-562.
GENERAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
Apostle John W. Taylor
President Woodruff
Elder Jacob Gates
Elder C. W. Penrose
Afternoon Session
Apostle Heber J. Grant
Elder Abram H. Cannon
Elder John Morgan
Apostle F. M. Lyman
Second Day. Morning Session
Apostle Moses Thatcher
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder B. H. Roberts
Afternoon Session
Apostle Lorenzo Snow
Bishop O. F. Whitney
Apostle John Henry Smith
Third Day. Morning Session. October 6th
President Woodruff
Sustaining of the Authorities
President Wilford Woodruff' Interjection
Sustaining Continues
President Cannon
Discourse
Afternoon Session
Presiding Bishop Wm. B. Preston
President Wilford Woodruff
Discourse
President Jesse N. Smith
Elder John T. Caine
Overflow Meeting
Elder John Morgan
Counselor John W. Young
Apostle A. H. Lund
Elder Junius F. Wells
Apostle J. H. Smith
Elder A. W. Ivins
Apostle H. J. Grant
The Deseret Weekly. "General Conference." October 12, 1889: pg. 481-492.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, October 26, 1889: pg. 560-562.
GENERAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
Apostle John W. Taylor
President Woodruff
Elder Jacob Gates
Elder C. W. Penrose
Afternoon Session
Apostle Heber J. Grant
Elder Abram H. Cannon
Elder John Morgan
Apostle F. M. Lyman
Second Day. Morning Session
Apostle Moses Thatcher
Elder Seymour B. Young
Elder B. H. Roberts
Afternoon Session
Apostle Lorenzo Snow
Bishop O. F. Whitney
Apostle John Henry Smith
Third Day. Morning Session. October 6th
President Woodruff
Sustaining of the Authorities
President Wilford Woodruff' Interjection
Sustaining Continues
President Cannon
Discourse
Afternoon Session
Presiding Bishop Wm. B. Preston
President Wilford Woodruff
Discourse
President Jesse N. Smith
Elder John T. Caine
Overflow Meeting
Elder John Morgan
Counselor John W. Young
Apostle A. H. Lund
Elder Junius F. Wells
Apostle J. H. Smith
Elder A. W. Ivins
Apostle H. J. Grant
GENERAL CONFERENCE
The Sixtieth General Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., October 4th, 1889.
There were on the stand: of the First Presidency, Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon; of the Council of the Twelve Apostles: Lorenzo snow, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, Heber J. Grant and John W. Taylor; of Counselors to the Twelve: John W. Young; Patriarch, John Smith; of the Presiding Council of the Seventies, Henry Herriman, Jacob Gates, Abraham H. Cannon, Seymour B. Young, John Morgan and B. H. Roberts.
There were also present a large number of Presidents of Stakes and other prominent brethren from various parts of Utah and surrounding States and Territories.
Conference was called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir sang:
Joy to the world! the Lord will come
And earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Saints and angels sing.
Opening prayer was offered by Apostle Lorenzo Snow.
Singing:
Come, listen to a Prophet’s voice,
And hear the word of God,
And in the way of truth rejoice,
And sing for joy aloud.
The Sixtieth General Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., October 4th, 1889.
There were on the stand: of the First Presidency, Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon; of the Council of the Twelve Apostles: Lorenzo snow, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, Heber J. Grant and John W. Taylor; of Counselors to the Twelve: John W. Young; Patriarch, John Smith; of the Presiding Council of the Seventies, Henry Herriman, Jacob Gates, Abraham H. Cannon, Seymour B. Young, John Morgan and B. H. Roberts.
There were also present a large number of Presidents of Stakes and other prominent brethren from various parts of Utah and surrounding States and Territories.
Conference was called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir sang:
Joy to the world! the Lord will come
And earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Saints and angels sing.
Opening prayer was offered by Apostle Lorenzo Snow.
Singing:
Come, listen to a Prophet’s voice,
And hear the word of God,
And in the way of truth rejoice,
And sing for joy aloud.
President Wilford Woodruff
addressed the assemblage as follows:
I feel very thankful that my life has been preserved to attend another semi-annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope and trust that while we are together our hearts may be lifted in prayer to God, and that we may enjoy His Holy Spirit and the revelations of heaven; that what may be said while we are assembled together during our conference may be according to the mind of God.
I feel that of all people under heaven, we have the greatest reason to rejoice before the Lord that we have lived in a day and generation when the God of Israel has set His hand to establish His Kingdom, to gather together His people, to build up Zion, to carry out the great purposes which the Lord has promised and given by revelation through the mouths of inspired men—Prophets, Patriarchs and Apostles—since the world began. I rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; I always have since I have been made acquainted with it.
It has been my lot and privilege to be associated with the Latter-day Saints for over fifty years. I have seen the afflictions, the tribulations, the persecutions through which this people have been called to pass from their organization until the present day. But we have everything to encourage us as the Saints of God, as those who have entered into covenant with Him, obeyed His commandments, and walked in the ordinances of His house. The Lord has never in any dispensation or generation failed to carry out His purposes and His works; and of all the generation and dispensations that God has given to men, this last and great dispensation—the greatest of all dispensations—has been revealed to the human family.
The Kingdom has been revealed, the Church of Jesus Christ has been organized, the Zion of God has been inaugurated, the people of God have been called together; and in all the troubles and trials through which we, as a people, have been called to pass, there has been no power that has stayed the hand of God or thwarted His purposes with regard to the carrying out of His principles or those which have been revealed unto the Latter-day Saints.
The Lord has called—commencing with Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God—Apostles and Prophets, Patriarchs and Elders, High Priests and Seventies in these last days to go forth and warn the world. We have been under the necessity of doing this. As the Lord told Ezekiel, He sent him as a watchman unto the House of Israel; He told him what the consequences would be if he did not fulfil his mission and do his duty—that the blood of that generation of the House of Israel would be required at his hands. So the God of heaven ordained when He raised up Joseph Smith the Prophet to organize the Church and Kingdom. He stood as a watchman on the walls of Zion unto this generation. There are 30,000 people, I suppose, today dwelling in these hills of Israel who hold some portion of the Holy Priesthood. it is our duty to warn the world; we have been called to do this; we would have been under condemnation if we had not fulfilled that duty; and so the Church and Kingdom of God have grown until the present day.
With regard to our future, it is in the hands of God, who holds the destiny of this people and of all men in His own hands. I would say to the Latter-day Saints. Fear not; lay your burdens upon the Lord, and He will not fail us. He will not fail in carrying out all His purposes and all His promises unto us. The Zion of God will arise, and so will the glory and power of God, and we shall be prepared as a bride for the coming of the bridegroom.
Let our hearts be raised to God while we are assembled together in this Conference, that we may have His Holy Spirit with us continually.
addressed the assemblage as follows:
I feel very thankful that my life has been preserved to attend another semi-annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope and trust that while we are together our hearts may be lifted in prayer to God, and that we may enjoy His Holy Spirit and the revelations of heaven; that what may be said while we are assembled together during our conference may be according to the mind of God.
I feel that of all people under heaven, we have the greatest reason to rejoice before the Lord that we have lived in a day and generation when the God of Israel has set His hand to establish His Kingdom, to gather together His people, to build up Zion, to carry out the great purposes which the Lord has promised and given by revelation through the mouths of inspired men—Prophets, Patriarchs and Apostles—since the world began. I rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; I always have since I have been made acquainted with it.
It has been my lot and privilege to be associated with the Latter-day Saints for over fifty years. I have seen the afflictions, the tribulations, the persecutions through which this people have been called to pass from their organization until the present day. But we have everything to encourage us as the Saints of God, as those who have entered into covenant with Him, obeyed His commandments, and walked in the ordinances of His house. The Lord has never in any dispensation or generation failed to carry out His purposes and His works; and of all the generation and dispensations that God has given to men, this last and great dispensation—the greatest of all dispensations—has been revealed to the human family.
The Kingdom has been revealed, the Church of Jesus Christ has been organized, the Zion of God has been inaugurated, the people of God have been called together; and in all the troubles and trials through which we, as a people, have been called to pass, there has been no power that has stayed the hand of God or thwarted His purposes with regard to the carrying out of His principles or those which have been revealed unto the Latter-day Saints.
The Lord has called—commencing with Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God—Apostles and Prophets, Patriarchs and Elders, High Priests and Seventies in these last days to go forth and warn the world. We have been under the necessity of doing this. As the Lord told Ezekiel, He sent him as a watchman unto the House of Israel; He told him what the consequences would be if he did not fulfil his mission and do his duty—that the blood of that generation of the House of Israel would be required at his hands. So the God of heaven ordained when He raised up Joseph Smith the Prophet to organize the Church and Kingdom. He stood as a watchman on the walls of Zion unto this generation. There are 30,000 people, I suppose, today dwelling in these hills of Israel who hold some portion of the Holy Priesthood. it is our duty to warn the world; we have been called to do this; we would have been under condemnation if we had not fulfilled that duty; and so the Church and Kingdom of God have grown until the present day.
With regard to our future, it is in the hands of God, who holds the destiny of this people and of all men in His own hands. I would say to the Latter-day Saints. Fear not; lay your burdens upon the Lord, and He will not fail us. He will not fail in carrying out all His purposes and all His promises unto us. The Zion of God will arise, and so will the glory and power of God, and we shall be prepared as a bride for the coming of the bridegroom.
Let our hearts be raised to God while we are assembled together in this Conference, that we may have His Holy Spirit with us continually.
Apostle John W. Taylor
was the next speaker. His remarks were as follows, in substance: I am pleased to meet with the Saints in Conference once more. It is a surprise to me to be called to speak thus early. I regard it as my duty to respond to every call made by the Presidency of the Church. I hope the day will never come when any other sentiment will animate me.
President Woodruff and his counselors are actuated by the Spirit of God, to which we would do well to take heed. We look to these brethren as having the spirit of revelation, when they are united. When Christ realized His time had come He asked His Father if it were possible for the bitter cup to pass to let it be so, nevertheless that the will of the Father be done and not His. We should sustain by our faith, prayers and works those whom God has appointed to preside over the Church. When men write under the influence of the Spirit of God it is revelation. In order to reveal the mind of our Father in heaven, it is not necessary that He should come down on earth personally to make a communication. Many of the revelations given through Joseph Smith were obtained by that prophet listening to the whisperings of the “still, small voice” within him.
It has been remarked about some men that they suddenly become absorbed in some line of ideas. The impressions of the Holy Ghost come like flashes of light, and without the presence of doubt and darkness. They have to be acted upon forthwith. I bear testimony that President Woodruff and his Counselors are prophets, seers and revelators; and the people should remember that, especially in these times, they should not live by sight. Circumstances are of such a nature that the righteous must live by faith.
The hand of God is over this Church, and no power can destroy it or impede its progress. I pray however that it may not be necessary for us to be chastened in order to bring us into a disposition of obedience. I believe in implicit obedience in temporal and spiritual things to the light of heaven, as given through the Priesthood. If this principal were taught us more frequently it would be better for us as a community. We cannot retain the Spirit of God and yet be constantly finding fault with the Priesthood. We should not expect perfection from those who hold that authority. They are mortal as other men, but they are called of God. We must learn not to judge men by what we see, nor on the basis of the limited opportunities we have of what transpires. When we have an impression derogatory of our brother, it is our duty to go to him personally and in that way get an understanding of the matter involved. We should be possessed of the spirit of unity. We should not criticize the authorities. Our enemies seek to sow among us the seeds of dissension; they wish to segregate the Saints into factions. In this endeavor they turn truth into semblance of falsehood, and virtue into vice. Hasty conclusions are dangerous and should not be arrived at. There are many honorable men and women who respect our rights but the great majority do not.
I have been associated with the authorities of the Church for years, and I have never seen in their deliberations any disposition toward unrighteousness. I bear testimony that they have acted in the spirit of their calling as well as any men on earth could have done.
If a duty is required of us and it is not diligently performed, instead of having a spirit of light and comfort we are possessed of a sentiment of heaviness. When I acted as Teacher it was a great trial for me to visit the houses of some of the people. When this feeling was overcome, and the obligation discharged, joy was the result. When it overcame me and I have been neglectful then I have had heaviness of spirit. So it is in all the labors that are required at our hands.
We should not be afraid to speak our feelings freely at this Conference. May the fire of the Spirit of God increase as this Conference progresses. This will be the case if we lay aside our cares of a worldly character that are liable to fret and annoy us. Let us centre our prayers and faith in a desire that the servants of God may speak those things that will be adapted to the wants of the people. If this is done the result will be all that could be desired. The speaker concluded by bearing testimony to the truth of the work of God.
was the next speaker. His remarks were as follows, in substance: I am pleased to meet with the Saints in Conference once more. It is a surprise to me to be called to speak thus early. I regard it as my duty to respond to every call made by the Presidency of the Church. I hope the day will never come when any other sentiment will animate me.
President Woodruff and his counselors are actuated by the Spirit of God, to which we would do well to take heed. We look to these brethren as having the spirit of revelation, when they are united. When Christ realized His time had come He asked His Father if it were possible for the bitter cup to pass to let it be so, nevertheless that the will of the Father be done and not His. We should sustain by our faith, prayers and works those whom God has appointed to preside over the Church. When men write under the influence of the Spirit of God it is revelation. In order to reveal the mind of our Father in heaven, it is not necessary that He should come down on earth personally to make a communication. Many of the revelations given through Joseph Smith were obtained by that prophet listening to the whisperings of the “still, small voice” within him.
It has been remarked about some men that they suddenly become absorbed in some line of ideas. The impressions of the Holy Ghost come like flashes of light, and without the presence of doubt and darkness. They have to be acted upon forthwith. I bear testimony that President Woodruff and his Counselors are prophets, seers and revelators; and the people should remember that, especially in these times, they should not live by sight. Circumstances are of such a nature that the righteous must live by faith.
The hand of God is over this Church, and no power can destroy it or impede its progress. I pray however that it may not be necessary for us to be chastened in order to bring us into a disposition of obedience. I believe in implicit obedience in temporal and spiritual things to the light of heaven, as given through the Priesthood. If this principal were taught us more frequently it would be better for us as a community. We cannot retain the Spirit of God and yet be constantly finding fault with the Priesthood. We should not expect perfection from those who hold that authority. They are mortal as other men, but they are called of God. We must learn not to judge men by what we see, nor on the basis of the limited opportunities we have of what transpires. When we have an impression derogatory of our brother, it is our duty to go to him personally and in that way get an understanding of the matter involved. We should be possessed of the spirit of unity. We should not criticize the authorities. Our enemies seek to sow among us the seeds of dissension; they wish to segregate the Saints into factions. In this endeavor they turn truth into semblance of falsehood, and virtue into vice. Hasty conclusions are dangerous and should not be arrived at. There are many honorable men and women who respect our rights but the great majority do not.
I have been associated with the authorities of the Church for years, and I have never seen in their deliberations any disposition toward unrighteousness. I bear testimony that they have acted in the spirit of their calling as well as any men on earth could have done.
If a duty is required of us and it is not diligently performed, instead of having a spirit of light and comfort we are possessed of a sentiment of heaviness. When I acted as Teacher it was a great trial for me to visit the houses of some of the people. When this feeling was overcome, and the obligation discharged, joy was the result. When it overcame me and I have been neglectful then I have had heaviness of spirit. So it is in all the labors that are required at our hands.
We should not be afraid to speak our feelings freely at this Conference. May the fire of the Spirit of God increase as this Conference progresses. This will be the case if we lay aside our cares of a worldly character that are liable to fret and annoy us. Let us centre our prayers and faith in a desire that the servants of God may speak those things that will be adapted to the wants of the people. If this is done the result will be all that could be desired. The speaker concluded by bearing testimony to the truth of the work of God.
President Woodruff
said: We wish to hear from all the Apostles, Presidents and Seventies, and as many Elders as we can during this Conference. We want to feel what the spirit they are of. I should be glad to sit and listen to the testimony of every Elder in this congregation at our several meetings, but of course that cannot be. I will call now upon Elder Jacob Gates to address us.
said: We wish to hear from all the Apostles, Presidents and Seventies, and as many Elders as we can during this Conference. We want to feel what the spirit they are of. I should be glad to sit and listen to the testimony of every Elder in this congregation at our several meetings, but of course that cannot be. I will call now upon Elder Jacob Gates to address us.
Elder Jacob Gates,
of the presidency of the Seventies,
then spoke to the Conference. If we have received the Gospel in honest hearts and have kept our covenants, we have received the witness of the Spirit of God of its truth. I received the Gospel 56 years ago, under the administration of Apostle Orson Pratt, and from that time I have known of the truth of this Church—tis divine origin. In the darkest days, when I have been thrown into prison on false charges, I have always been able to bear testimony. Not only did I receive this witness through the impressions of the Spirit of Truth, but also by the ministration of angels. I met the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1834, in the camp of those who were gathered together to go up to redeem Zion, which has not yet been redeemed, but it will be in the future. During my travels of a thousand miles I became well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph.
I became satisfied from person knowledge and observation that he was the great Prophet of Nineteenth Century, and a greater Prophet, by way of comparison, has never lived on the earth. I know that he was a Prophet of the living God and that his words have been fulfilled. You who are here today are witnesses of the fulfilment of his predictions; for before he died he said that this people should to go to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, that they would drink of the cool streams which flow down from the canyons, and would remain here until they became a great and powerful people.
I lived as his neighbor after he was driven out from Missouri, in Nauvoo; I knew him well; I saw him in life and also in death when his blood had been shed by a ruthless mob in this land of freedom. I have never known his blood to be atoned for.
The people of the world do not understand us nor the works we are performing at present. If they did they would come to us and acknowledge that is the work of God. Every Latter-day Saint should prepare for the great events of the future. Let us be humble and faithful, and be united as the heart of one man. Iniquity should be searched out and our houses set in order. This is in unison with a revelation on that subject, given through President John Taylor. The speaker exhorted the quorums of Seventies, especially, to purify their organizations, that they may be prepared to wield a greater influence in the midst of the world. Zion is the pure in heart; therefore the work of each officer and member of the Church is to purify the heart, that the community may be fully in accord with the genius of the Gospel. Every Saint must cultivate faith and purity in his own heart. I have spoken of Joseph Smith; I can also bear testimony regarding Brigham Young, who was his successor as the heard of the Church on earth. I heard him speaking with the voice of Joseph, after the latter’s death. I have the same testimony to bear concerning John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.
of the presidency of the Seventies,
then spoke to the Conference. If we have received the Gospel in honest hearts and have kept our covenants, we have received the witness of the Spirit of God of its truth. I received the Gospel 56 years ago, under the administration of Apostle Orson Pratt, and from that time I have known of the truth of this Church—tis divine origin. In the darkest days, when I have been thrown into prison on false charges, I have always been able to bear testimony. Not only did I receive this witness through the impressions of the Spirit of Truth, but also by the ministration of angels. I met the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1834, in the camp of those who were gathered together to go up to redeem Zion, which has not yet been redeemed, but it will be in the future. During my travels of a thousand miles I became well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph.
I became satisfied from person knowledge and observation that he was the great Prophet of Nineteenth Century, and a greater Prophet, by way of comparison, has never lived on the earth. I know that he was a Prophet of the living God and that his words have been fulfilled. You who are here today are witnesses of the fulfilment of his predictions; for before he died he said that this people should to go to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, that they would drink of the cool streams which flow down from the canyons, and would remain here until they became a great and powerful people.
I lived as his neighbor after he was driven out from Missouri, in Nauvoo; I knew him well; I saw him in life and also in death when his blood had been shed by a ruthless mob in this land of freedom. I have never known his blood to be atoned for.
The people of the world do not understand us nor the works we are performing at present. If they did they would come to us and acknowledge that is the work of God. Every Latter-day Saint should prepare for the great events of the future. Let us be humble and faithful, and be united as the heart of one man. Iniquity should be searched out and our houses set in order. This is in unison with a revelation on that subject, given through President John Taylor. The speaker exhorted the quorums of Seventies, especially, to purify their organizations, that they may be prepared to wield a greater influence in the midst of the world. Zion is the pure in heart; therefore the work of each officer and member of the Church is to purify the heart, that the community may be fully in accord with the genius of the Gospel. Every Saint must cultivate faith and purity in his own heart. I have spoken of Joseph Smith; I can also bear testimony regarding Brigham Young, who was his successor as the heard of the Church on earth. I heard him speaking with the voice of Joseph, after the latter’s death. I have the same testimony to bear concerning John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.
Elder C. W. Penrose
said, substantially: I desire to respond, when called upon, to any duty I am requested to perform. I have always had that desire. In my early experience I was advised by a co-laborer never to decline to perform anything which I was requested to do by brethren in authority. If I responded cheerfully I would be sustained of the Lord. I have proved this advice to be good. It has been acted upon and the result has been always satisfactory.
I rejoice in this work. How sweet it is to hear good works. The effect is peace and union. On the other hand how disagreeable is the result of saying that which bring disunion. Difficulties—political and otherwise—are growing up around us, but we need not fear them. As quoted by President Woodruff, it is the Father’s good pleasure, in the proper time, to give us the kingdom and the power thereof. We need not fear the threats that are made against us, for God is with this work. The government of God is bound to be established. It will be the grandest government of which any conception can be formed. I mean no treason to any nation on earth in thus expressing myself, but merely to assert my loyalty to Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, whose right it is to reign. How great will be that Kingdom and its dominion. It will cover the whole surface of the earth. The Lord has decreed that he will give it to His Saints. If we look with the eye of the spirit, we will see that Kingdom in its power and splendor. I know these things to be true, by the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of revelation. By that spirit Israel was led anciently, and by the same power all the servants of God is every age, including the present, have been guided and accomplished the mission entrusted to them. This is the Church of Christ, not a man and it will remain and triumph.
The time will come when the redemption of Zion will be fully wrought out. This is as sure as that the sun shines. We should not be disappointed if these things are not fulfilled as soon as we anticipate. We are liable to fix the dates, as all things have their times and seasons for verification, but they are not set by us; neither can they be, as the Lord has reserved that right to Himself.
We must be brought to a unity of the faith, and therefore we should organize together to defend and retain our rights. We must be instructed in the principles of government. Let us prepare for the day that is before us; set our houses in order, that our homes may be miniature kingdoms of God, not conducted on the basis of selfishness, but its opposite. The wicked will do wickedly, but the saints will walk closer to their religious profession, and God will eventually give them the victory. May the peace and blessing of God be upon all.
The choir sang the anthem, Who is like unto Thee, O Lord.
Benediction by President Angus M. Cannon.
said, substantially: I desire to respond, when called upon, to any duty I am requested to perform. I have always had that desire. In my early experience I was advised by a co-laborer never to decline to perform anything which I was requested to do by brethren in authority. If I responded cheerfully I would be sustained of the Lord. I have proved this advice to be good. It has been acted upon and the result has been always satisfactory.
I rejoice in this work. How sweet it is to hear good works. The effect is peace and union. On the other hand how disagreeable is the result of saying that which bring disunion. Difficulties—political and otherwise—are growing up around us, but we need not fear them. As quoted by President Woodruff, it is the Father’s good pleasure, in the proper time, to give us the kingdom and the power thereof. We need not fear the threats that are made against us, for God is with this work. The government of God is bound to be established. It will be the grandest government of which any conception can be formed. I mean no treason to any nation on earth in thus expressing myself, but merely to assert my loyalty to Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, whose right it is to reign. How great will be that Kingdom and its dominion. It will cover the whole surface of the earth. The Lord has decreed that he will give it to His Saints. If we look with the eye of the spirit, we will see that Kingdom in its power and splendor. I know these things to be true, by the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of revelation. By that spirit Israel was led anciently, and by the same power all the servants of God is every age, including the present, have been guided and accomplished the mission entrusted to them. This is the Church of Christ, not a man and it will remain and triumph.
The time will come when the redemption of Zion will be fully wrought out. This is as sure as that the sun shines. We should not be disappointed if these things are not fulfilled as soon as we anticipate. We are liable to fix the dates, as all things have their times and seasons for verification, but they are not set by us; neither can they be, as the Lord has reserved that right to Himself.
We must be brought to a unity of the faith, and therefore we should organize together to defend and retain our rights. We must be instructed in the principles of government. Let us prepare for the day that is before us; set our houses in order, that our homes may be miniature kingdoms of God, not conducted on the basis of selfishness, but its opposite. The wicked will do wickedly, but the saints will walk closer to their religious profession, and God will eventually give them the victory. May the peace and blessing of God be upon all.
The choir sang the anthem, Who is like unto Thee, O Lord.
Benediction by President Angus M. Cannon.
Afternoon Session.
Conference resumed at 2 p. m.
Singing by the choir:
Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous source of every joy,
Let Thy praise our tongues employ.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing:
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath.
And when my voice is closed in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers,
My days of praise shall ne’er be past
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures.
Conference resumed at 2 p. m.
Singing by the choir:
Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous source of every joy,
Let Thy praise our tongues employ.
Prayer by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing:
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath.
And when my voice is closed in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers,
My days of praise shall ne’er be past
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures.
Apostle Heber J. Grant
said, in substance, I am pleased to assemble with the Saints in General Conference, and have enjoyed the remarks thus far made. I desire that the same spirit that was with us this morning may be in the assemblage this afternoon. There is a lack of union among the Saints. There is a disposition among the people to think more of their own interests than those of the work of God. It is our duty to follow the counsel given us by the leaders of the Church—to seek first the Kingdom of God. If we had faith that all God’s promises would be realized if we kept His commandments, surely there would be more practical religious operation among us than there is. If we had faith in the results of paying tithing, or the blessings resulting from keeping the Word of Wisdom, we would be more strict in the observance of these requirements. If we will study the revelations and seek for the light of the Holy Spirit to convince us that the blessings promised will follow obedience, we will be pricked in our hearts. We have set out for an exaltation in the Kingdom of God—the greatest blessing that can be bestowed upon intelligent beings. God has stamped His displeasure upon the idlers. This refers to things both temporal and spiritual. If we expect to gain God’s blessings, there is but one course open to us—that is to walk in obedience to the commandments of the Almighty.
Some people think they are not appreciated and are not allowed sufficient scope for usefulness. There is but one person who can curtail an individual’s usefulness and that is himself. In order to progress symmetrically, we must conform to all of the requirements of the Gospel. A man taking another course may develop in any one direction, but when the day of reckoning comes he will be found wanting not having improved all his talents. Some think that if we are keeping merely a portion of the law, all is well. You cannot, in the erection of a building leave any part of the structure out and have it complete. If the saints fulfil the destiny God desires them to reach they will have to approximate to perfection. Unity should exist in individuals and in families. Unless this be so there cannot be a united condition as a community. Brother Gates spoke about a revelation given on Fishing River, regarding the redemption of Zion. I will read a portion of it:
Verily I say unto you who have assembled yourselves together that you may learn my will concerning the redemption of my afflicted people.
Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church, and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now;
But behold they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them.
And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;
And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom, otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself;
And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.
Now, we are told by the Prophet Joseph that at that early date that Zion could have been redeemed even then, but for the disobedience of the people. The Almighty would never chasten His people if they were obedient. No earthly parent would even do that. The latter chasten their children for their good. So with our Heavenly Father, in relation to His treatment of us.
I find that the Nephites, in olden times on this continent, were more or less in the same position as we are now in. Jacob spoke to the people in his day, in the following language:
And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you, and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.
And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren, because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you Nay. But he condemneth you; and if ye persist in these things, his judgments must speedily come upon you.
The Lord delights to bless us, and will delight to give us riches if we seek for them, to do with them as directed in the remarks of the Prophet Jacob. If we do not use such things in this way they will be the opposite of a blessing to us. I realize that there are many yet to speak, and it would therefore not be proper for me to continue longer. The speaker bore testimony to the divine origin of the work of God.
said, in substance, I am pleased to assemble with the Saints in General Conference, and have enjoyed the remarks thus far made. I desire that the same spirit that was with us this morning may be in the assemblage this afternoon. There is a lack of union among the Saints. There is a disposition among the people to think more of their own interests than those of the work of God. It is our duty to follow the counsel given us by the leaders of the Church—to seek first the Kingdom of God. If we had faith that all God’s promises would be realized if we kept His commandments, surely there would be more practical religious operation among us than there is. If we had faith in the results of paying tithing, or the blessings resulting from keeping the Word of Wisdom, we would be more strict in the observance of these requirements. If we will study the revelations and seek for the light of the Holy Spirit to convince us that the blessings promised will follow obedience, we will be pricked in our hearts. We have set out for an exaltation in the Kingdom of God—the greatest blessing that can be bestowed upon intelligent beings. God has stamped His displeasure upon the idlers. This refers to things both temporal and spiritual. If we expect to gain God’s blessings, there is but one course open to us—that is to walk in obedience to the commandments of the Almighty.
Some people think they are not appreciated and are not allowed sufficient scope for usefulness. There is but one person who can curtail an individual’s usefulness and that is himself. In order to progress symmetrically, we must conform to all of the requirements of the Gospel. A man taking another course may develop in any one direction, but when the day of reckoning comes he will be found wanting not having improved all his talents. Some think that if we are keeping merely a portion of the law, all is well. You cannot, in the erection of a building leave any part of the structure out and have it complete. If the saints fulfil the destiny God desires them to reach they will have to approximate to perfection. Unity should exist in individuals and in families. Unless this be so there cannot be a united condition as a community. Brother Gates spoke about a revelation given on Fishing River, regarding the redemption of Zion. I will read a portion of it:
Verily I say unto you who have assembled yourselves together that you may learn my will concerning the redemption of my afflicted people.
Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church, and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now;
But behold they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them.
And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;
And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom, otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself;
And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.
Now, we are told by the Prophet Joseph that at that early date that Zion could have been redeemed even then, but for the disobedience of the people. The Almighty would never chasten His people if they were obedient. No earthly parent would even do that. The latter chasten their children for their good. So with our Heavenly Father, in relation to His treatment of us.
I find that the Nephites, in olden times on this continent, were more or less in the same position as we are now in. Jacob spoke to the people in his day, in the following language:
And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you, and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.
And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren, because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you Nay. But he condemneth you; and if ye persist in these things, his judgments must speedily come upon you.
The Lord delights to bless us, and will delight to give us riches if we seek for them, to do with them as directed in the remarks of the Prophet Jacob. If we do not use such things in this way they will be the opposite of a blessing to us. I realize that there are many yet to speak, and it would therefore not be proper for me to continue longer. The speaker bore testimony to the divine origin of the work of God.
Elder Abram H. Cannon,
of the presidency of the Seventies,
was the next speaker. He said, in substance: I have been interested in the remarks of the brethren. We should realize a lesson we have sought to teach the world ever since the Church was established, that is, that the Gospel is a perfect law of liberty. It does not control or dominate man in his thoughts. Freedom was established contemporaneously with this creation. In the past when people have hearkened to the words of prophets, they have been prospered exceedingly. But when they have taken the opposite of this course, trouble has been the result. This was illustrated in the days of the Prophet Samuel when the people clamored for a king. He pictured to them the trouble that would grow out of their being gratified in this matter. The result was as defined by him. From the time of the organization of the Church, you will find that blessings have attended the Saints when they have carried out the counsels of our God.
We have in our midst the oracles of God, men who are authorized to communicate unto us His mind and will. We sustain them in our faith and prayers as Prophets, Seers and Revelators unto the Church. Do we sustain them by our works? We see in our midst today a great effort made to turn us away from the counsels of these our leaders, and we are ridiculed because of our willingness to listen to their teachings. But if we will carry out their instructions, as they are given to us from time to time, as the Lord reveals His will unto them, we shall see blessings follow in our path, we will be prospered in all our labors, and will not be overcome by the snares and devices of the adversary.
Satan, from the very beginning, has been seeking to bring the souls of men into bondage and an effort will continue to be made in our midst to bring the people into bondage to lead them away from God and bring them to destruction.
In the Gospel there is glory and redemption for us, and if we will but follow out the commands of God He will bless us, He will fulfill all the predictions that He has made concerning Zion; He will relieve us though the way is dark and there seems to be no ray of light to brighten our path.
of the presidency of the Seventies,
was the next speaker. He said, in substance: I have been interested in the remarks of the brethren. We should realize a lesson we have sought to teach the world ever since the Church was established, that is, that the Gospel is a perfect law of liberty. It does not control or dominate man in his thoughts. Freedom was established contemporaneously with this creation. In the past when people have hearkened to the words of prophets, they have been prospered exceedingly. But when they have taken the opposite of this course, trouble has been the result. This was illustrated in the days of the Prophet Samuel when the people clamored for a king. He pictured to them the trouble that would grow out of their being gratified in this matter. The result was as defined by him. From the time of the organization of the Church, you will find that blessings have attended the Saints when they have carried out the counsels of our God.
We have in our midst the oracles of God, men who are authorized to communicate unto us His mind and will. We sustain them in our faith and prayers as Prophets, Seers and Revelators unto the Church. Do we sustain them by our works? We see in our midst today a great effort made to turn us away from the counsels of these our leaders, and we are ridiculed because of our willingness to listen to their teachings. But if we will carry out their instructions, as they are given to us from time to time, as the Lord reveals His will unto them, we shall see blessings follow in our path, we will be prospered in all our labors, and will not be overcome by the snares and devices of the adversary.
Satan, from the very beginning, has been seeking to bring the souls of men into bondage and an effort will continue to be made in our midst to bring the people into bondage to lead them away from God and bring them to destruction.
In the Gospel there is glory and redemption for us, and if we will but follow out the commands of God He will bless us, He will fulfill all the predictions that He has made concerning Zion; He will relieve us though the way is dark and there seems to be no ray of light to brighten our path.
Elder John Morgan,
of the presidency of the Seventies,
spoke in substance as follows; I am gratified in the present privilege afforded us. The Saints are gathered from far and near to receive instruction. I am deeply interested in the education of our children. A generation of young people are growing up, and taking the places of their parents. There are on the register of the Sabbath Schools between 50,000 and 60,000 names. When we imagine the possibilities of this multitude, in the future, we are deeply impressed with the importance of a great subject. The Church schools, where the children can obtain religious instruction, outside of those convened on the Sabbath day, are, as yet, few. Some parents have taken it for granted that their children would naturally fall into line as Latter-day Saints. This is not a mistake, as religion is not in that way hereditary. They have to be properly taught. Some young men are viewed as infidels, while an investigation will show that their condition is not one of infidelity, but of ignorance. They have not been taught. Their religious culture has been neglected. Hence the conditions of today, by which they are tempted to repudiate the gospel, are luring them away to destruction. If children, as written on the mottoes, are the “Hope of Israel,” must they not be taught? I recently read of an incident in point. A case wherein a husband, who had been separated from his wife, sought to regain from the mother the possession of a child, was in court. A basis of the application was that the mother did not properly care for the moral and religious culture of the little one. The judge asked the child if its mother taught it to pray. In answer, the child knelt down and repeated the Lord’s prayer, concluding by asking a blessing upon father and mother. The judge said that was good evidence in refutation. Can this be said of all the fathers and mothers in Israel?
When we look around us and see the prospect before us, and think that within a decade 100,000 of the names of children will be on the Sabbath school rolls, we feel the importance of this theme. We then look forward to a time when children will be taught in Church schools the principles of the Gospel five days in the week, and be thus prepared to carry the message of salvation to the natives of the earth. I know that this is the work of God, and that it will triumph.
of the presidency of the Seventies,
spoke in substance as follows; I am gratified in the present privilege afforded us. The Saints are gathered from far and near to receive instruction. I am deeply interested in the education of our children. A generation of young people are growing up, and taking the places of their parents. There are on the register of the Sabbath Schools between 50,000 and 60,000 names. When we imagine the possibilities of this multitude, in the future, we are deeply impressed with the importance of a great subject. The Church schools, where the children can obtain religious instruction, outside of those convened on the Sabbath day, are, as yet, few. Some parents have taken it for granted that their children would naturally fall into line as Latter-day Saints. This is not a mistake, as religion is not in that way hereditary. They have to be properly taught. Some young men are viewed as infidels, while an investigation will show that their condition is not one of infidelity, but of ignorance. They have not been taught. Their religious culture has been neglected. Hence the conditions of today, by which they are tempted to repudiate the gospel, are luring them away to destruction. If children, as written on the mottoes, are the “Hope of Israel,” must they not be taught? I recently read of an incident in point. A case wherein a husband, who had been separated from his wife, sought to regain from the mother the possession of a child, was in court. A basis of the application was that the mother did not properly care for the moral and religious culture of the little one. The judge asked the child if its mother taught it to pray. In answer, the child knelt down and repeated the Lord’s prayer, concluding by asking a blessing upon father and mother. The judge said that was good evidence in refutation. Can this be said of all the fathers and mothers in Israel?
When we look around us and see the prospect before us, and think that within a decade 100,000 of the names of children will be on the Sabbath school rolls, we feel the importance of this theme. We then look forward to a time when children will be taught in Church schools the principles of the Gospel five days in the week, and be thus prepared to carry the message of salvation to the natives of the earth. I know that this is the work of God, and that it will triumph.
Apostle F. M. Lyman
made substantially the following remarks:
I have been well pleased in listening to the remarks of our brethren. They have taught us good doctrines, and have borne testimony to the truth of the Gospel. We have each the same testimony abiding in our breasts if we have done the will of God. I sometimes wonder if we have really that testimony abiding with us that we are actually engaged in God’s work, that it is a work established by our Father in Heaven, and that the Father Himself came to the earth and revealed Himself and His Son Jesus to the Prophet Joseph. Do we know that the Lord sustained the Prophet Joseph to the day of his death and guided him by revelation in the establishment of the kingdom and Church now upon the earth known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? If we have this knowledge, then we are not justified in any division or contention, or in entertaining misgivings in regard to the final triumph of this work. How can we be consistent if we have this knowledge and yet be careless in respect to our duties? We should be so well acquainted with the three Beings—the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that we would not dissent from the principles of eternal life, neglect our duties, ignore the counsels of God’s Priesthood, or the truth which has been revealed to us for our salvation, remembering the injunction given in our day in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, “Except ye are one ye are not Mine.”
The word has been sounded in this Conference that there exists a sentiment of division, a lack of faith. Is there a lack of faith in Israel? If so, there is a cause for it. There is a law laid down by which the Latter-day Saints may be united and become one. If that law be disregarded, then it is just as true that the unity of the Saints will diminish. As pain, disease and sickness of every kind produce death, so do disunion and division produce weakness, and when men are weakened, either in their faith or physically, they are liable to attacks of disease and of the enemy. Our only fortress of safety is in union. The Latter-day Saints cannot afford to be disunited; skeptical, or doubting, and it should be the great aim and ambition of every individual member of the Church to so closely examine and scrutinize self as to be assured that there is no room for doubt or misgiving in his or her heart.
It is held that men who are religious must be bigoted and slaves—that they cannot be free. Can a man do everything that is right and yet be free? He certainly can do all things that are lawful and be free; and if there are some right things which are not lawful, of course if he were to do them he would soon lose his liberty. But does it have the effect of binding a man to speak the truth, to be honest, to be virtuous and upright and to keep the commandments of God? Why no. If a man does not serve God the Eternal he must serve somebody. There are but two masters whom we can serve in this world—the Lord our God and the evil one. There are only two powers—the power for salvation, life and exaltation, the other for division, destruction and death.
The Lord has borne testimony to the hearts of the Latter-day Saints and given them to know that this is His work which He has established. No doubt dark clouds pass over us occasionally, and there may be in the hearts of the people some misgiving; they may perhaps be inclined to question the possibility of the good ship “Zion” making the port. Does it seem as if some power was about to engulf the kingdom and swallow it up? This feeling may prevail in the hearts of some who are lacking testimony, or whose testimony may have weakened. There are those who once had the testimony strong in their hearts, but who turned away from the truth and are outside the Kingdom today. A few at a time occasionally return, and we shall yet see the day—possibly in the near future—when scores, and even hundreds, will come back and ask to have a berth in the ship, so that they may be saved when all around seems to be sinking.
Shall we say, then, that the Latter-day Saints are in a dangerous condition today? No, only so far as they are not doing the will of the Lord. You will find deep in their hearts an anchor for the soul that will hold them true to the Kingdom of God.
The disunion and division to which reference has been made is not in regard to Joseph Smith being a Prophet of the Lord, in regard to the labors of the late President Young, President Taylor, President Woodruff, the Presidency of the Church today or the Twelve Apostles. They are local matters which divide the people, local troubles and personal affairs which, more or less breed strife and contention between them. But the Latter-day Saints know the truth, and when they hear the testimonies of the servants of God a testimony comes direct to their hearts and they recognize in them the words of the Lord. We need a little more wisdom and light from the Lord in our political affairs, so that we may work together in closer harmony. But let us seek first the Kingdom of God, and with all our getting we should get wisdom. In all our troubles—religious, social, political—whatever they may be, a little grain of wisdom from the Lord will save us a great deal of anxiety.
After urging the great necessity of personal example as well as mere teaching on the part of those in authority, the speaker said, in conclusion; this is the kingdom of our God, established by the Father, and it cannot be broken down or destroyed, but will endure forever. You need not fear because of any little division or lack of union that may be found in our midst. God will be our Deliverer, and He will save us; for this is His work and He will accomplish it with power on earth in His own due time.
The choir sang the anthem: Sing unto the Lord.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
made substantially the following remarks:
I have been well pleased in listening to the remarks of our brethren. They have taught us good doctrines, and have borne testimony to the truth of the Gospel. We have each the same testimony abiding in our breasts if we have done the will of God. I sometimes wonder if we have really that testimony abiding with us that we are actually engaged in God’s work, that it is a work established by our Father in Heaven, and that the Father Himself came to the earth and revealed Himself and His Son Jesus to the Prophet Joseph. Do we know that the Lord sustained the Prophet Joseph to the day of his death and guided him by revelation in the establishment of the kingdom and Church now upon the earth known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? If we have this knowledge, then we are not justified in any division or contention, or in entertaining misgivings in regard to the final triumph of this work. How can we be consistent if we have this knowledge and yet be careless in respect to our duties? We should be so well acquainted with the three Beings—the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that we would not dissent from the principles of eternal life, neglect our duties, ignore the counsels of God’s Priesthood, or the truth which has been revealed to us for our salvation, remembering the injunction given in our day in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, “Except ye are one ye are not Mine.”
The word has been sounded in this Conference that there exists a sentiment of division, a lack of faith. Is there a lack of faith in Israel? If so, there is a cause for it. There is a law laid down by which the Latter-day Saints may be united and become one. If that law be disregarded, then it is just as true that the unity of the Saints will diminish. As pain, disease and sickness of every kind produce death, so do disunion and division produce weakness, and when men are weakened, either in their faith or physically, they are liable to attacks of disease and of the enemy. Our only fortress of safety is in union. The Latter-day Saints cannot afford to be disunited; skeptical, or doubting, and it should be the great aim and ambition of every individual member of the Church to so closely examine and scrutinize self as to be assured that there is no room for doubt or misgiving in his or her heart.
It is held that men who are religious must be bigoted and slaves—that they cannot be free. Can a man do everything that is right and yet be free? He certainly can do all things that are lawful and be free; and if there are some right things which are not lawful, of course if he were to do them he would soon lose his liberty. But does it have the effect of binding a man to speak the truth, to be honest, to be virtuous and upright and to keep the commandments of God? Why no. If a man does not serve God the Eternal he must serve somebody. There are but two masters whom we can serve in this world—the Lord our God and the evil one. There are only two powers—the power for salvation, life and exaltation, the other for division, destruction and death.
The Lord has borne testimony to the hearts of the Latter-day Saints and given them to know that this is His work which He has established. No doubt dark clouds pass over us occasionally, and there may be in the hearts of the people some misgiving; they may perhaps be inclined to question the possibility of the good ship “Zion” making the port. Does it seem as if some power was about to engulf the kingdom and swallow it up? This feeling may prevail in the hearts of some who are lacking testimony, or whose testimony may have weakened. There are those who once had the testimony strong in their hearts, but who turned away from the truth and are outside the Kingdom today. A few at a time occasionally return, and we shall yet see the day—possibly in the near future—when scores, and even hundreds, will come back and ask to have a berth in the ship, so that they may be saved when all around seems to be sinking.
Shall we say, then, that the Latter-day Saints are in a dangerous condition today? No, only so far as they are not doing the will of the Lord. You will find deep in their hearts an anchor for the soul that will hold them true to the Kingdom of God.
The disunion and division to which reference has been made is not in regard to Joseph Smith being a Prophet of the Lord, in regard to the labors of the late President Young, President Taylor, President Woodruff, the Presidency of the Church today or the Twelve Apostles. They are local matters which divide the people, local troubles and personal affairs which, more or less breed strife and contention between them. But the Latter-day Saints know the truth, and when they hear the testimonies of the servants of God a testimony comes direct to their hearts and they recognize in them the words of the Lord. We need a little more wisdom and light from the Lord in our political affairs, so that we may work together in closer harmony. But let us seek first the Kingdom of God, and with all our getting we should get wisdom. In all our troubles—religious, social, political—whatever they may be, a little grain of wisdom from the Lord will save us a great deal of anxiety.
After urging the great necessity of personal example as well as mere teaching on the part of those in authority, the speaker said, in conclusion; this is the kingdom of our God, established by the Father, and it cannot be broken down or destroyed, but will endure forever. You need not fear because of any little division or lack of union that may be found in our midst. God will be our Deliverer, and He will save us; for this is His work and He will accomplish it with power on earth in His own due time.
The choir sang the anthem: Sing unto the Lord.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
Second Day. Morning Session.
The choir sang:
Praise ye the Lord! ‘tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices to His praise.
His nature and His works invite
To make this duty our delight.
Prayer by Elder Milo Andrus.
Singing:
With joy we own Thy servants,
Lord, Thy ministers below,
Ordained to spread Thy truth abroad,
That all Thy name may know!
The choir sang:
Praise ye the Lord! ‘tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices to His praise.
His nature and His works invite
To make this duty our delight.
Prayer by Elder Milo Andrus.
Singing:
With joy we own Thy servants,
Lord, Thy ministers below,
Ordained to spread Thy truth abroad,
That all Thy name may know!
Apostle Moses Thatcher
addressed the Conference. The substance of his remarks was as follows: I hope to have a portion of the same Spirit as has rested upon the speakers thus far. The Spirit of God has rested upon the people who have assembled in Conference, God has revealed His mind through His prophets in our time. He has revealed the powers and keys of the Holy Priesthood, bringing the truth as it is in Christ to light. Previous to this revelation the world lay in darkness and in doubt. When it was made the youthful Prophet Joseph Smith was in doubt, not knowing which of the religious paths ho should pursue. He took the injunction of the Apostle James, and though only in his fifteenth year, he asked God for wisdom, in which he was lacking. He bowed down in a secret place in the woods, and the powers of darkness oppressed him for a time. In his extremity he called upon God for deliverance. His release came. In a bright pillar of light, which descended upon him, he beheld the Father and the Son, who instructed him to go after none of the religions of the day, because they were all astray, but that the right path would be shown him in course of time. As soon as the youth made known his experience he was persecuted by professed followers of the Savior. From that day until he was martyred in Carthage jail, persecution, calumny and falsehood followed him, culminating in his being murdered in cold blood. He was enabled in his lifetime to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and form the nucleus of that great kingdom of which all the holy prophets have spoken.
It is not my purpose to dwell upon the early history of the Church, further than to show that we have received the new light and the manifestations of the power of God in our day, and that the Holy Priesthood has been restored and its keys and powers have again been given to men ; that under the direction of the servants of God we have gathered to these valleys and built up towns and cities and houses of a sacred character in which ordinances for the salvation of the living and the dead are performed. The hearts of the children are being turned to the fathers and the latter to the children.
Notwithstanding the evidences of these things and the testimonies that have been borne by the Elders, as a people we are derided, scorned and treated with contempt. Efforts are being made to lead our youth away from the religion of their fathers and from the paths of virtue. These conditions should cause the Saints to be determined that the community shall not be entirely leavened with the leaven of the Gentiles. Those who are living humbly and faithfully are not affected by fears as to the final triumph of this work. This feeling only exists in the breasts of those who are imbued with the spirit and genius of the world.
Satan at one time appeared to Moses and requested that great and good man to worship him. Moses detected the spirit of the evil one, and resisted him, and he departed in rage. The prophet had no fear of Satan, for he had before beheld the power and glory of God. Some are afraid when they compare the paucity of our numbers with the multitudes of the world's peoples. They can see no escape for the Saints. Those who have the Spirit of God are, however, not dismayed by any natural appearances, no matter how threatening. The speaker dwelt for some time upon the murderous crime of Cain against his brother and the cause of its perpetration—jealousy and covetousness, as related in the “Pearl of Great Price." The secret oaths and combinations and oaths entered into in those ancient times were also explained. Such associations of a secret character were also spoken of in the Book of Mormon, the ancient prophets on this continent asserting that they would prove the destruction of all peoples among whom they are allowed to exist and flourish. They have been established in this nation, being a special feature associated with the conflict in progress between capital and labor. The speaker treated of the condition of the people of the nation, and then of certain elements that were making their appearance in the community of Saints, saying in substance:
The great issue before the nations to-day is on the question of the combinations of capital and the union of secret societies of labor against it. In the midst of the Christian nations of the earth we find the evidences of extreme riches upon the one hand and extreme poverty on the other. Here in the United States a beneficent government has put it within the reach of every industrious citizen to have in his own common right 160 acres of land, yet right in the youth of the nation, and while we are boasting that our power is respected on every sea, and that the United States is absolutely fearless of the combined forces of Europe, the startling announcement was made recently by a congressional committee that fewer people in the United States possess their own homes in proportion to the population of the nation than in France, which has just merged into a form of republican government. The reason given for this state of affairs is that as the frugal and industrious pioneer takes up and cultivates the virgin soil, he is followed by the banker, the merchant, the saloon keeper, and those who come and take mortgages. The thoughtless, bound down hand and foot by these agencies and powers, yield up their homes and become poor. The same system has prevailed even in the new States of the Union west of the Mississippi River. Take the State of Nebraska, To-day she is under the bondage of $150,000,000 of mortgage; and last year, just from one or two of her counties, 1,800 families removed from that state, leaving their farms and improvements to those who had taken mortgages upon their habitations, feeling themselves utterly unable to meet the demands of the money lenders.
The condition of affairs has been a subject of discussion in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It has been called up before the President and his cabinet. We have not yet discovered a statesman wise enough to propose a remedy that would overcome the evil.
Here in Utah, to some extent, the same ideas are gaining a hold upon the minds of the people and as our cities become more dense in the population, our towns grow into cities and our villages into towns, our people are gradually yielding up their inheritances and becoming tenants rather than the owners of those places which God in His infinite mercy and loving – kindness gave unto them. They are learning the extravagant ways of the world, and the leaven of the Gentiles in this respect is working in the midst of the people.
A little while ago here in Salt Lake City we had the painful spectacle of our brethren, under the influence and leadership of these combinations already referred to, striking—not for higher wages, not because they were being oppressed by their brethren, but because they had turned their back against the organization of God's Holy Priesthood, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and had bound themselves to one of the secret societies that are seeking a foothold in the midst of this people. They did not claim that their wages were too small or that their hours were too long, but they did claim that the behest of one of those union men bad not been obeyed by the contractor. They claimed that men were employed upon a building who did not belong to the union, and that spirit, which bids fair to become a moans of destruction in the Christian world, found for a time at least, lodgment in the hearts of some of the employed.
After referring to the watchful care bestowed upon the Saints of Zion by those holding authority in the respective wards and stakes, and the happiness which prevailed among the people, Apostle Thatcher remarked that ail this was not the result of secret combination, of socialism, feminism of nihilism, of trades unions, and the struggle of labor and capital, but of the Holy Spirit of God r sting down upon them, making them to feel that they are the children of God.
Why, he asked, should we permit the spirit of discontent and fault- finding to prevail in our midst to the advantage of the Gentile and the ungodly, who regard us with feelings of the deepest hate? We should not lightly dispose of our inheritance to strangers. Treat them kindly when they are within thy gates and show them every consideration. But there is no reason why we should yield to our enemies—those from whose cruelties we fled in the past, who robbed us of our flocks and other possessions, burned our houses, killed our friends and these near and dear to us, God has planted our feet in these mountains; lie has made us a free people; He h is showered down upon us the blessings of heaven and earth, and will preserve us unto the end. However much we may dread imprisonment and death, God is stronger than all, and will bring us safely through.
Let us sustain His Holy Priesthood, men full of tender mercy, long-suffering, and judgment. May peace dwell in the habitations of the people, may they become more prayerful than in the past, and seek to unite their hearts in one and all things, both spiritual and temporal, until the kingdom of God shall be fully established upon the earth.
addressed the Conference. The substance of his remarks was as follows: I hope to have a portion of the same Spirit as has rested upon the speakers thus far. The Spirit of God has rested upon the people who have assembled in Conference, God has revealed His mind through His prophets in our time. He has revealed the powers and keys of the Holy Priesthood, bringing the truth as it is in Christ to light. Previous to this revelation the world lay in darkness and in doubt. When it was made the youthful Prophet Joseph Smith was in doubt, not knowing which of the religious paths ho should pursue. He took the injunction of the Apostle James, and though only in his fifteenth year, he asked God for wisdom, in which he was lacking. He bowed down in a secret place in the woods, and the powers of darkness oppressed him for a time. In his extremity he called upon God for deliverance. His release came. In a bright pillar of light, which descended upon him, he beheld the Father and the Son, who instructed him to go after none of the religions of the day, because they were all astray, but that the right path would be shown him in course of time. As soon as the youth made known his experience he was persecuted by professed followers of the Savior. From that day until he was martyred in Carthage jail, persecution, calumny and falsehood followed him, culminating in his being murdered in cold blood. He was enabled in his lifetime to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and form the nucleus of that great kingdom of which all the holy prophets have spoken.
It is not my purpose to dwell upon the early history of the Church, further than to show that we have received the new light and the manifestations of the power of God in our day, and that the Holy Priesthood has been restored and its keys and powers have again been given to men ; that under the direction of the servants of God we have gathered to these valleys and built up towns and cities and houses of a sacred character in which ordinances for the salvation of the living and the dead are performed. The hearts of the children are being turned to the fathers and the latter to the children.
Notwithstanding the evidences of these things and the testimonies that have been borne by the Elders, as a people we are derided, scorned and treated with contempt. Efforts are being made to lead our youth away from the religion of their fathers and from the paths of virtue. These conditions should cause the Saints to be determined that the community shall not be entirely leavened with the leaven of the Gentiles. Those who are living humbly and faithfully are not affected by fears as to the final triumph of this work. This feeling only exists in the breasts of those who are imbued with the spirit and genius of the world.
Satan at one time appeared to Moses and requested that great and good man to worship him. Moses detected the spirit of the evil one, and resisted him, and he departed in rage. The prophet had no fear of Satan, for he had before beheld the power and glory of God. Some are afraid when they compare the paucity of our numbers with the multitudes of the world's peoples. They can see no escape for the Saints. Those who have the Spirit of God are, however, not dismayed by any natural appearances, no matter how threatening. The speaker dwelt for some time upon the murderous crime of Cain against his brother and the cause of its perpetration—jealousy and covetousness, as related in the “Pearl of Great Price." The secret oaths and combinations and oaths entered into in those ancient times were also explained. Such associations of a secret character were also spoken of in the Book of Mormon, the ancient prophets on this continent asserting that they would prove the destruction of all peoples among whom they are allowed to exist and flourish. They have been established in this nation, being a special feature associated with the conflict in progress between capital and labor. The speaker treated of the condition of the people of the nation, and then of certain elements that were making their appearance in the community of Saints, saying in substance:
The great issue before the nations to-day is on the question of the combinations of capital and the union of secret societies of labor against it. In the midst of the Christian nations of the earth we find the evidences of extreme riches upon the one hand and extreme poverty on the other. Here in the United States a beneficent government has put it within the reach of every industrious citizen to have in his own common right 160 acres of land, yet right in the youth of the nation, and while we are boasting that our power is respected on every sea, and that the United States is absolutely fearless of the combined forces of Europe, the startling announcement was made recently by a congressional committee that fewer people in the United States possess their own homes in proportion to the population of the nation than in France, which has just merged into a form of republican government. The reason given for this state of affairs is that as the frugal and industrious pioneer takes up and cultivates the virgin soil, he is followed by the banker, the merchant, the saloon keeper, and those who come and take mortgages. The thoughtless, bound down hand and foot by these agencies and powers, yield up their homes and become poor. The same system has prevailed even in the new States of the Union west of the Mississippi River. Take the State of Nebraska, To-day she is under the bondage of $150,000,000 of mortgage; and last year, just from one or two of her counties, 1,800 families removed from that state, leaving their farms and improvements to those who had taken mortgages upon their habitations, feeling themselves utterly unable to meet the demands of the money lenders.
The condition of affairs has been a subject of discussion in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It has been called up before the President and his cabinet. We have not yet discovered a statesman wise enough to propose a remedy that would overcome the evil.
Here in Utah, to some extent, the same ideas are gaining a hold upon the minds of the people and as our cities become more dense in the population, our towns grow into cities and our villages into towns, our people are gradually yielding up their inheritances and becoming tenants rather than the owners of those places which God in His infinite mercy and loving – kindness gave unto them. They are learning the extravagant ways of the world, and the leaven of the Gentiles in this respect is working in the midst of the people.
A little while ago here in Salt Lake City we had the painful spectacle of our brethren, under the influence and leadership of these combinations already referred to, striking—not for higher wages, not because they were being oppressed by their brethren, but because they had turned their back against the organization of God's Holy Priesthood, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and had bound themselves to one of the secret societies that are seeking a foothold in the midst of this people. They did not claim that their wages were too small or that their hours were too long, but they did claim that the behest of one of those union men bad not been obeyed by the contractor. They claimed that men were employed upon a building who did not belong to the union, and that spirit, which bids fair to become a moans of destruction in the Christian world, found for a time at least, lodgment in the hearts of some of the employed.
After referring to the watchful care bestowed upon the Saints of Zion by those holding authority in the respective wards and stakes, and the happiness which prevailed among the people, Apostle Thatcher remarked that ail this was not the result of secret combination, of socialism, feminism of nihilism, of trades unions, and the struggle of labor and capital, but of the Holy Spirit of God r sting down upon them, making them to feel that they are the children of God.
Why, he asked, should we permit the spirit of discontent and fault- finding to prevail in our midst to the advantage of the Gentile and the ungodly, who regard us with feelings of the deepest hate? We should not lightly dispose of our inheritance to strangers. Treat them kindly when they are within thy gates and show them every consideration. But there is no reason why we should yield to our enemies—those from whose cruelties we fled in the past, who robbed us of our flocks and other possessions, burned our houses, killed our friends and these near and dear to us, God has planted our feet in these mountains; lie has made us a free people; He h is showered down upon us the blessings of heaven and earth, and will preserve us unto the end. However much we may dread imprisonment and death, God is stronger than all, and will bring us safely through.
Let us sustain His Holy Priesthood, men full of tender mercy, long-suffering, and judgment. May peace dwell in the habitations of the people, may they become more prayerful than in the past, and seek to unite their hearts in one and all things, both spiritual and temporal, until the kingdom of God shall be fully established upon the earth.
Elder Seymour B. Young
of the Presidency of the Seventies,
was the next speaker. I have listened to the remarks of the brethren with great satisfaction. I have never attended a conference in which more of the Spirit of the Lord has been manifested. The teachings of the Elders have been characterized by the Holy Spirit. When we maintain in our public assemblies, the Spirit of the Gospel, the people rejoice. In this divine system is all that is necessary for the development of the noblest and highest aspirations of men. No other organization, secret or otherwise, is needful for our purpose, as it embraces all truth. Salvation is an individual work. It is needful that each one should possess the Holy Spirit and be guided by its influence.
Our enemies have charged us with disloyalty. It has been suggested that no more “Mormon” immigrants should be allowed to land on the shores of this country until they take an oath to the effect that they do not have a specified religious belief. These conditions exist in the face of the fact that the Saints have always been loyal to the government, even going so far as to supply five hundred men under the most trying circumstances, to go to Mexico and fight the battles of the country. The Saints have defended the country’s interests against Indian depredations comparatively without remuneration from the government. But, as President Brigham Young once said, notwithstanding that we may be outraged and abused, still we will love our country and revere the principles of its government. The Saints have sought to show a good example to all peoples, that they might be induced to turn to God and serve Him.
We should hold our blessings sacred, and not engage in any society that would lead us away from the teachings of God and His servants. We should sustain the government, each other and all things that are good and worthy. In relation to our government we should submit to all things placed upon us in the meantime make our calling and election sure. We should follow the example of meekness placed before us by Christ, when he submitted himself, for righteousness’ sake, to be baptized of John. The Jews spurned their Savior, but the time will come when they will repent and acknowledge Him. The people of this nation are rejecting the message of the Gospel, but it is our duty to proclaim it. God will give them numerous testimonies of its truth and will ultimately make bare His arm, vindicate His people and bring them off triumphant.
of the Presidency of the Seventies,
was the next speaker. I have listened to the remarks of the brethren with great satisfaction. I have never attended a conference in which more of the Spirit of the Lord has been manifested. The teachings of the Elders have been characterized by the Holy Spirit. When we maintain in our public assemblies, the Spirit of the Gospel, the people rejoice. In this divine system is all that is necessary for the development of the noblest and highest aspirations of men. No other organization, secret or otherwise, is needful for our purpose, as it embraces all truth. Salvation is an individual work. It is needful that each one should possess the Holy Spirit and be guided by its influence.
Our enemies have charged us with disloyalty. It has been suggested that no more “Mormon” immigrants should be allowed to land on the shores of this country until they take an oath to the effect that they do not have a specified religious belief. These conditions exist in the face of the fact that the Saints have always been loyal to the government, even going so far as to supply five hundred men under the most trying circumstances, to go to Mexico and fight the battles of the country. The Saints have defended the country’s interests against Indian depredations comparatively without remuneration from the government. But, as President Brigham Young once said, notwithstanding that we may be outraged and abused, still we will love our country and revere the principles of its government. The Saints have sought to show a good example to all peoples, that they might be induced to turn to God and serve Him.
We should hold our blessings sacred, and not engage in any society that would lead us away from the teachings of God and His servants. We should sustain the government, each other and all things that are good and worthy. In relation to our government we should submit to all things placed upon us in the meantime make our calling and election sure. We should follow the example of meekness placed before us by Christ, when he submitted himself, for righteousness’ sake, to be baptized of John. The Jews spurned their Savior, but the time will come when they will repent and acknowledge Him. The people of this nation are rejecting the message of the Gospel, but it is our duty to proclaim it. God will give them numerous testimonies of its truth and will ultimately make bare His arm, vindicate His people and bring them off triumphant.
Elder B. H. Roberts
addressed the Conference. It is a pleasure for me to meet with the Saints in their present capacity. This is a time of refreshing—a spiritual feast. By it we are renewed. Our faith is increased in the great work of the last days. I have not had the pleasure of mingling to any extent with the Saints in these valleys for the last few years. My labors have been among the nations of the earth, proclaiming the Gospel. I have, however, observed closely the progress of events, and the drift of circumstances.
It would seem from remarks made by brethren who have had ample opportunities for an understanding of the subject, that there is a tendency toward disunion. Still, as Apostle Lyman stated, it is probably of a local character. But whether local or general, it should not exist. It is a complicated disease. When it prevails there is lack of faith and confidence. If there is any Stake where discord is, those who preside in the locality should exert all their powers to remove the causes of division, and increase the faith and confidence of the people.
If there ever was a time when our front should be unbroken it is now. It is a time when parents and the community should throw around the youth protection from the insidious attacks of the enemy of souls. When the enemy is on the watch for weak points in our ranks, it is no time to be segregated.
In crossing the Atlantic recently we were overtaken by a severe gale, and the officers lost their reckoning. An attempt at taking an observation was made, but owing to moving clouds, it was imperfect. In consequence it was necessary to take soundings. It would be well for us to make reckonings, that we may ascertain where we stand.
We have been proclaiming the restoration of the Gospel in these times through a prophet. The charge of presumption has been made against us on this ground. It may appear presumptuous to take such a position, but it is true. The Lord saw the necessity of establishing faith through testimony. That that might be accomplished He brought from the bosom of this continent the Book of Mormon—the testimony of an entire people. In addition, the Lord sent one of his ancient servants again to earth, and he laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood. Subsequently Peter, James and John appeared and bestowed upon Joseph Smith the keys and authority of the Melchisedec Priesthood. The presence of the Saints today is proof of the genuineness of this restoration. Elijah also came and bestowed the keys which turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the latter to the children. This turning of hearts has begun, proving the efficacy of this restoration. Moses also brought to earth in these days the keys of the gathering of Israel in the latter times. We have ample evidence in our own experience that these keys have been committed to man. These being great truths what right have the Saints to be rebellious and to withdraw themselves from the oracles of God? We cannot afford to be so lost to our interest as to forfeit the right to the Holy Spirit, by indulging in the spirit of the world. Better lose all our substance than slacken our hold upon the great work of the last days. We have not only heard these things taught, but we have a right to know them for ourselves. Christ laid down this principle when he said that any man who would do the will of the Father, should “know of the doctrine whether it be of God” or not. If there are any among us who are not in possession of this knowledge, it is a shame. Paul, in his day, thus characterized an absence of knowledge of the things of God. If there is disunion among us, it is a shame that it should be so.
This work cannot be destroyed; for the forces of heaven stand behind it and will carry it to a successful consummation.
The choir sang the anthem: In thee, O, Lord, do I put my trust.
Benediction by Counselor Daniel H. Wells.
addressed the Conference. It is a pleasure for me to meet with the Saints in their present capacity. This is a time of refreshing—a spiritual feast. By it we are renewed. Our faith is increased in the great work of the last days. I have not had the pleasure of mingling to any extent with the Saints in these valleys for the last few years. My labors have been among the nations of the earth, proclaiming the Gospel. I have, however, observed closely the progress of events, and the drift of circumstances.
It would seem from remarks made by brethren who have had ample opportunities for an understanding of the subject, that there is a tendency toward disunion. Still, as Apostle Lyman stated, it is probably of a local character. But whether local or general, it should not exist. It is a complicated disease. When it prevails there is lack of faith and confidence. If there is any Stake where discord is, those who preside in the locality should exert all their powers to remove the causes of division, and increase the faith and confidence of the people.
If there ever was a time when our front should be unbroken it is now. It is a time when parents and the community should throw around the youth protection from the insidious attacks of the enemy of souls. When the enemy is on the watch for weak points in our ranks, it is no time to be segregated.
In crossing the Atlantic recently we were overtaken by a severe gale, and the officers lost their reckoning. An attempt at taking an observation was made, but owing to moving clouds, it was imperfect. In consequence it was necessary to take soundings. It would be well for us to make reckonings, that we may ascertain where we stand.
We have been proclaiming the restoration of the Gospel in these times through a prophet. The charge of presumption has been made against us on this ground. It may appear presumptuous to take such a position, but it is true. The Lord saw the necessity of establishing faith through testimony. That that might be accomplished He brought from the bosom of this continent the Book of Mormon—the testimony of an entire people. In addition, the Lord sent one of his ancient servants again to earth, and he laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood. Subsequently Peter, James and John appeared and bestowed upon Joseph Smith the keys and authority of the Melchisedec Priesthood. The presence of the Saints today is proof of the genuineness of this restoration. Elijah also came and bestowed the keys which turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the latter to the children. This turning of hearts has begun, proving the efficacy of this restoration. Moses also brought to earth in these days the keys of the gathering of Israel in the latter times. We have ample evidence in our own experience that these keys have been committed to man. These being great truths what right have the Saints to be rebellious and to withdraw themselves from the oracles of God? We cannot afford to be so lost to our interest as to forfeit the right to the Holy Spirit, by indulging in the spirit of the world. Better lose all our substance than slacken our hold upon the great work of the last days. We have not only heard these things taught, but we have a right to know them for ourselves. Christ laid down this principle when he said that any man who would do the will of the Father, should “know of the doctrine whether it be of God” or not. If there are any among us who are not in possession of this knowledge, it is a shame. Paul, in his day, thus characterized an absence of knowledge of the things of God. If there is disunion among us, it is a shame that it should be so.
This work cannot be destroyed; for the forces of heaven stand behind it and will carry it to a successful consummation.
The choir sang the anthem: In thee, O, Lord, do I put my trust.
Benediction by Counselor Daniel H. Wells.
Afternoon Session.
The choir sang:
Great God, attend while Zion sings,
The joy that from Thy presence springs.
To spend one day with Thee on earth,
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
Prayer by Elder John Nicholson.
Singing:
Let us pray, gladly pray,
In the house of Jehovah,
Till the righteous can say,
“O, our warfare is over.”
The choir sang:
Great God, attend while Zion sings,
The joy that from Thy presence springs.
To spend one day with Thee on earth,
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
Prayer by Elder John Nicholson.
Singing:
Let us pray, gladly pray,
In the house of Jehovah,
Till the righteous can say,
“O, our warfare is over.”
Apostle Lorenzo Snow
addressed the conference. The following is a synopsis of his remarks:
We understand very distinctly, I suppose, that whatever blessings we as Latter-day Saints secure to assist us in the great work which we are endeavoring now to accomplish in the interest of God must come to us through the operations of His Holy Spirit, and this, too, according to the faith which we exercise while together on such an occasion as the present. Hence we should endeavor as far as possible to forget all worldly matters which grieve and vex us, and fix our minds upon the Lord, having a sufficiency of His Holy Spirit, that we may be enable to receive such knowledge and suggestions as will help us in our onward path.
I believe there never was a time since the organization of this Church and Kingdom of God upon the earth when it was more necessary than now for us to obtain spiritual aid and blessings, in order that we may be prepared for the great event which seems now to be rapidly approaching, and in which our collective interests are deeply involved. In the past history of the Saints there have been times when God has seen proper to bring about such circumstances as would try our faith and see what progress His people have made in a knowledge of those principles which He has revealed to us. How far we have been successful in securing that amount of testimony and knowledge from God in relation to the importance of keeping his commandments, it is not for me to say a
We have been told that there exists disunion to a certain extent among the Latter-day Saints—that there is not a feeling of sentiment of union and mutual interest among the people of God which should prevail. In order to prepare ourselves for that which is coming, we ought to look around and try to discover clearly what are the privileges to be obtained through the Gospel which we have embraced. I believe there is a way by which perfect union can be effected if we will but understand things aright. Jesus urged upon His disciples the necessity of union—that the same should be promoted among them as existed between Himself and His Father. We must perfect ourselves before we can attain to the great exaltation and glory which have been promised unto the faithful. We should at all times be willing to make sacrifices for the Gospel’s sake, no matter how disagreeable the duty may sometimes be.
I see before me this afternoon thousands of people who have received the Gospel of Christ from among the various nations of the earth. They have made sacrifices which have astonished the world at large. Leaving all that was near and dear to them they have come and settled in these mountain vales, exposing themselves to danger both upon sea and land, and journeyed to a place of which they knew comparatively little. What inspired them to do this? The Spirit of God opened their understanding; it removed part of the veil which hung between them and the knowledge of God, and they became convinced by His power and intelligence of a supernatural nature that there was something which could not be reached through any other source of life, through any other system or order of things than the Gospel which had been proclaimed to them.
I had an intimate acquaintance with Joseph Smith, the Prophet, for a number of years. The position he occupied before the world and the declarations which he made were of an extraordinary character. It was a position which no individual before or since has attempted to resume. I knew Joseph Smith to have been an honest man, a man of truth, honor and fidelity, willing to sacrifice everything he possessed, even life itself, as a testimony to the heavens and the world that he had borne the truth to the human family. We, as a people, have been making sacrifices for the last sixty years; we think our religion worth all else, and it most assuredly is.
Having spoken of some of the trials and persecutions through which the Saints have passed, including imprisonment and long separation from relatives and friends, Apostle Snow said they were willing to continue to undergo them for the Gospel’s sake. They would yet be successful in their work among the children of men. No impediment placed in the way would ever prevent the onward progress of the Church of Christ. Dark clouds may sometimes pass over our heads, we may be sorely tired and perplexed, and efforts made to thwart us; but the truth is mighty and will prevail. The world, which knows not the purposes of God, may think that “Mormonism” is now about to be destroyed, that the voice of the Latter-day Saints and the Priesthood will never be heard again throughout the world; but when these dark clouds thicken about us, and the Saints are put to the test, it is then that God is more glorified, in the fact that we are ready to show our willingness to pass through the fiery ordeal. We make no complaint, but feel thankful that we are able to show how precious is to us the religion which we have espoused. Let us go on rejoicing.
Apostle Snow next related some of the extraordinary manifestations of the power of God which he witnessed when in Kirtland some fifty-three years ago, among these being the speaking in tongues, visions, and the ministering of holy angels.
There is no danger of this Church being destroyed. We know too well the strength and value of our religion. The speaker cited the trials through which Job was called to pass by way of testing his faith; the Lord even permitted the prince of darkness to have dominion over him for a time, and but for all this Job’s name would probably never have passed into history. So with the trials of the Latter-day Saints.
God bless this people is my prayer continually, especially in the obtaining of knowledge and intelligence from heaven, so that we may be able to withstand the difficulties, trials and afflictions which may arise in our path.
addressed the conference. The following is a synopsis of his remarks:
We understand very distinctly, I suppose, that whatever blessings we as Latter-day Saints secure to assist us in the great work which we are endeavoring now to accomplish in the interest of God must come to us through the operations of His Holy Spirit, and this, too, according to the faith which we exercise while together on such an occasion as the present. Hence we should endeavor as far as possible to forget all worldly matters which grieve and vex us, and fix our minds upon the Lord, having a sufficiency of His Holy Spirit, that we may be enable to receive such knowledge and suggestions as will help us in our onward path.
I believe there never was a time since the organization of this Church and Kingdom of God upon the earth when it was more necessary than now for us to obtain spiritual aid and blessings, in order that we may be prepared for the great event which seems now to be rapidly approaching, and in which our collective interests are deeply involved. In the past history of the Saints there have been times when God has seen proper to bring about such circumstances as would try our faith and see what progress His people have made in a knowledge of those principles which He has revealed to us. How far we have been successful in securing that amount of testimony and knowledge from God in relation to the importance of keeping his commandments, it is not for me to say a
We have been told that there exists disunion to a certain extent among the Latter-day Saints—that there is not a feeling of sentiment of union and mutual interest among the people of God which should prevail. In order to prepare ourselves for that which is coming, we ought to look around and try to discover clearly what are the privileges to be obtained through the Gospel which we have embraced. I believe there is a way by which perfect union can be effected if we will but understand things aright. Jesus urged upon His disciples the necessity of union—that the same should be promoted among them as existed between Himself and His Father. We must perfect ourselves before we can attain to the great exaltation and glory which have been promised unto the faithful. We should at all times be willing to make sacrifices for the Gospel’s sake, no matter how disagreeable the duty may sometimes be.
I see before me this afternoon thousands of people who have received the Gospel of Christ from among the various nations of the earth. They have made sacrifices which have astonished the world at large. Leaving all that was near and dear to them they have come and settled in these mountain vales, exposing themselves to danger both upon sea and land, and journeyed to a place of which they knew comparatively little. What inspired them to do this? The Spirit of God opened their understanding; it removed part of the veil which hung between them and the knowledge of God, and they became convinced by His power and intelligence of a supernatural nature that there was something which could not be reached through any other source of life, through any other system or order of things than the Gospel which had been proclaimed to them.
I had an intimate acquaintance with Joseph Smith, the Prophet, for a number of years. The position he occupied before the world and the declarations which he made were of an extraordinary character. It was a position which no individual before or since has attempted to resume. I knew Joseph Smith to have been an honest man, a man of truth, honor and fidelity, willing to sacrifice everything he possessed, even life itself, as a testimony to the heavens and the world that he had borne the truth to the human family. We, as a people, have been making sacrifices for the last sixty years; we think our religion worth all else, and it most assuredly is.
Having spoken of some of the trials and persecutions through which the Saints have passed, including imprisonment and long separation from relatives and friends, Apostle Snow said they were willing to continue to undergo them for the Gospel’s sake. They would yet be successful in their work among the children of men. No impediment placed in the way would ever prevent the onward progress of the Church of Christ. Dark clouds may sometimes pass over our heads, we may be sorely tired and perplexed, and efforts made to thwart us; but the truth is mighty and will prevail. The world, which knows not the purposes of God, may think that “Mormonism” is now about to be destroyed, that the voice of the Latter-day Saints and the Priesthood will never be heard again throughout the world; but when these dark clouds thicken about us, and the Saints are put to the test, it is then that God is more glorified, in the fact that we are ready to show our willingness to pass through the fiery ordeal. We make no complaint, but feel thankful that we are able to show how precious is to us the religion which we have espoused. Let us go on rejoicing.
Apostle Snow next related some of the extraordinary manifestations of the power of God which he witnessed when in Kirtland some fifty-three years ago, among these being the speaking in tongues, visions, and the ministering of holy angels.
There is no danger of this Church being destroyed. We know too well the strength and value of our religion. The speaker cited the trials through which Job was called to pass by way of testing his faith; the Lord even permitted the prince of darkness to have dominion over him for a time, and but for all this Job’s name would probably never have passed into history. So with the trials of the Latter-day Saints.
God bless this people is my prayer continually, especially in the obtaining of knowledge and intelligence from heaven, so that we may be able to withstand the difficulties, trials and afflictions which may arise in our path.
Bishop O. F. Whitney
said, in substance: I have felt more of the spirit of listening than to speaking. Had it pleased God to have led the mind of His servant to choose some one else to speak and let me remain in my seat, I should have been satisfied; for I have rejoiced in the instructions given during this conference. I have a testimony regarding their truth, wisdom and inspiration. They have been dictated by the Holy Spirit.
I have realized that the testimonies of the brethren regarding this being the work of God would not suffice for me. It takes an individual knowledge to save. There is no testimony so strong, no tongue so eloquent, nothing so convincing so far as relates to another individual that will stand in the place of the knowledge I must have for myself. God has shown unto me that this is His work. This knowledge I hope to live by and, if need be, die by. I did not always have this testimony. I did not get it until thirteen years ago. I was then placed in a position to know for myself that this is the work of God. My mother had taught me the principles of the Gospel and to revere the memory of Joseph Smith as a Prophet. The latter stood next, in my estimation, to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the October Conference of 1876 I was called on a mission to the United States. I had just enough faith to be willing to go and fill it. But it was not that response of the soul I would feel today were I called to go on a similar errand. It was not long, however, before I became imbued with the testimony of which I have been speaking. I was then laboring in company with Elder A. M. Musser. I became interested in writing for the Utah press accounts of the scenes I witnessed, so that I did not engage in my spiritual labors with that zest which I should have felt. But right then God gave me that witness, which I now esteem as more precious than life.
I dreamed that I was in the garden of Gethsemane. I saw the Savior and three Apostles enter a little gate at my right into the garden, and I stood, as it were, in the background, or in the foreground, of the picture, which I beheld as plainly as I now see the faces of those before me. They did not see me, but I saw them. The Savior stationed the three Apostles in a little group and asked them to pray without ceasing, which He went to the left of the scene, bowed Himself down and prayed also. Presently He arose, and walking over to where Peter, James and John were kneeling, fast asleep, He shook them, woke them up, and again asked them to pray. He returned to His place and prayed again and again. He went back to them and found them sleeping. Awaking them once more He exhorted them to pray, to keep their eyes open, and not to sleep upon their watch. Again He returned to His place, until this had transpired three times, and as He knelt there praying to God to give Him strength to perform His mission, to pass through the ordeal which was before Him, to drink of “the bitter cup” prepared for Him by His Father—as He called upon God in the agony of His soul and asked Him if it were possible to let that cup pass from Him, the tears streamed down His cheeks, and, gazing upon His mental agony, I was constrained to weep in unison with Him.
Presently He arose and beckoned His Apostles to Him. Then the circumstances seemed to change. The scene remained as it was; but instead of being in time before the crucifixion, it now appeared to be after that event. I thought He was about leaving the earth and taking these Apostles with Him. My heart was so drawn out to Him with love and sympathy for His great suffering that I ran out from behind the tree where I had stood gazing upon the picture, and fell down at His feet, clasped His knees, and asked Him to take me with Him.
I shall never forget the look of indescribable tenderness, affection, and compassion with which He gazed down upon me as I knelt before Him. He lifted me up and embraced me. I could feel the very warmth of His bosom, against which I rested; and as He took me in His arms with all the tenderness of a father or an elder brother, He shook His head and said: “No, my son, your work is not finished; you must remain and perform your mission. These (pointing to His Apostles) have finished their work and they can go with Me; but you must remain.”
I was so anxious, I felt such a love for Him and a desire to be with Him, that I clung to Him and pleaded with Him to let me go. But He continued to shake His head. I then said: “Promise me that when I have finished my life I will come to You at last.”
Again he gazed with tenderness and compassion, and uttered these words in tones which pierced my very soul, “That, my son, will depend entirely upon yourself.” I awoke and it was morning, but I knew that I had been gazing upon a vision, that Good had indeed spoken to me, and that He had told me the truth in plainness and simplicity. I saw that I, too, must be awake, that I must not sleep upon my post, I must not consider any of the things of this world as of paramount importance to the mission which I was sent to perform as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have often reflected upon the wisdom of the answer which He gave me when He told me that it would depend entirely upon myself.
This is why I aroused myself and determined that I would give the Lord no rest until He gave me that testimony which so many of my people could bear. I obtained it; for God had respect to my desire to walk in His paths and glorify His name. He made plain to me that what is called “Mormonism” is the gospel of life and salvation. Yet it is only thirteen years since my eyes were opened to this fact that had been before me from my childhood. I can feel charity for my young brethren and sisters whose hearts are set upon worldly things. I can look back at my own precarious condition and see where I stood until the Lord reached forth His hand and plucked me as a brand from the burning. I expect to see Him do the same by others.
Parents should not despair for their wayward children nor cease to pray for them. Do not treat them harshly nor cast them adrift. The speaker here cited, as illustrative of the point treated, the merciful dealings of God with His children. It would not have benefited me if my parents had threatened to cut me adrift and expel me from home. The better way is to show our children that we still love them and have a desire for their salvation. I feel this way because of my own experience.
I believe there are tens of thousands who will yet flock into this Church. There are many people in the nations awaiting the needed process to enable them to see what we see. We must make allowances for conditions of birth and surroundings. There are many wayward young people whose minds are a little darkened and they have wandered off for a little season. It is not the mission of Christ or His servants to shut the door against that class. The parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine of his flock and going in search of the one lost sheep illustrates this point. There are ecclesiastical courts for the passing of judgment upon our brother or sister. This is not our prerogative in a private capacity. Allowances must be made for the differences of disposition and temperament of our fellow beings. Some have weaknesses that are not known to others. We should be careful not to be hasty in rising up in judgment against those we imagine to be guilty of error. God says, “I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble, and My grace shall be sufficient for them.”
My soul is filled with gratitude for the blessings of the gospel, and the manifestations of the goodness of god during this Conference.
said, in substance: I have felt more of the spirit of listening than to speaking. Had it pleased God to have led the mind of His servant to choose some one else to speak and let me remain in my seat, I should have been satisfied; for I have rejoiced in the instructions given during this conference. I have a testimony regarding their truth, wisdom and inspiration. They have been dictated by the Holy Spirit.
I have realized that the testimonies of the brethren regarding this being the work of God would not suffice for me. It takes an individual knowledge to save. There is no testimony so strong, no tongue so eloquent, nothing so convincing so far as relates to another individual that will stand in the place of the knowledge I must have for myself. God has shown unto me that this is His work. This knowledge I hope to live by and, if need be, die by. I did not always have this testimony. I did not get it until thirteen years ago. I was then placed in a position to know for myself that this is the work of God. My mother had taught me the principles of the Gospel and to revere the memory of Joseph Smith as a Prophet. The latter stood next, in my estimation, to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the October Conference of 1876 I was called on a mission to the United States. I had just enough faith to be willing to go and fill it. But it was not that response of the soul I would feel today were I called to go on a similar errand. It was not long, however, before I became imbued with the testimony of which I have been speaking. I was then laboring in company with Elder A. M. Musser. I became interested in writing for the Utah press accounts of the scenes I witnessed, so that I did not engage in my spiritual labors with that zest which I should have felt. But right then God gave me that witness, which I now esteem as more precious than life.
I dreamed that I was in the garden of Gethsemane. I saw the Savior and three Apostles enter a little gate at my right into the garden, and I stood, as it were, in the background, or in the foreground, of the picture, which I beheld as plainly as I now see the faces of those before me. They did not see me, but I saw them. The Savior stationed the three Apostles in a little group and asked them to pray without ceasing, which He went to the left of the scene, bowed Himself down and prayed also. Presently He arose, and walking over to where Peter, James and John were kneeling, fast asleep, He shook them, woke them up, and again asked them to pray. He returned to His place and prayed again and again. He went back to them and found them sleeping. Awaking them once more He exhorted them to pray, to keep their eyes open, and not to sleep upon their watch. Again He returned to His place, until this had transpired three times, and as He knelt there praying to God to give Him strength to perform His mission, to pass through the ordeal which was before Him, to drink of “the bitter cup” prepared for Him by His Father—as He called upon God in the agony of His soul and asked Him if it were possible to let that cup pass from Him, the tears streamed down His cheeks, and, gazing upon His mental agony, I was constrained to weep in unison with Him.
Presently He arose and beckoned His Apostles to Him. Then the circumstances seemed to change. The scene remained as it was; but instead of being in time before the crucifixion, it now appeared to be after that event. I thought He was about leaving the earth and taking these Apostles with Him. My heart was so drawn out to Him with love and sympathy for His great suffering that I ran out from behind the tree where I had stood gazing upon the picture, and fell down at His feet, clasped His knees, and asked Him to take me with Him.
I shall never forget the look of indescribable tenderness, affection, and compassion with which He gazed down upon me as I knelt before Him. He lifted me up and embraced me. I could feel the very warmth of His bosom, against which I rested; and as He took me in His arms with all the tenderness of a father or an elder brother, He shook His head and said: “No, my son, your work is not finished; you must remain and perform your mission. These (pointing to His Apostles) have finished their work and they can go with Me; but you must remain.”
I was so anxious, I felt such a love for Him and a desire to be with Him, that I clung to Him and pleaded with Him to let me go. But He continued to shake His head. I then said: “Promise me that when I have finished my life I will come to You at last.”
Again he gazed with tenderness and compassion, and uttered these words in tones which pierced my very soul, “That, my son, will depend entirely upon yourself.” I awoke and it was morning, but I knew that I had been gazing upon a vision, that Good had indeed spoken to me, and that He had told me the truth in plainness and simplicity. I saw that I, too, must be awake, that I must not sleep upon my post, I must not consider any of the things of this world as of paramount importance to the mission which I was sent to perform as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have often reflected upon the wisdom of the answer which He gave me when He told me that it would depend entirely upon myself.
This is why I aroused myself and determined that I would give the Lord no rest until He gave me that testimony which so many of my people could bear. I obtained it; for God had respect to my desire to walk in His paths and glorify His name. He made plain to me that what is called “Mormonism” is the gospel of life and salvation. Yet it is only thirteen years since my eyes were opened to this fact that had been before me from my childhood. I can feel charity for my young brethren and sisters whose hearts are set upon worldly things. I can look back at my own precarious condition and see where I stood until the Lord reached forth His hand and plucked me as a brand from the burning. I expect to see Him do the same by others.
Parents should not despair for their wayward children nor cease to pray for them. Do not treat them harshly nor cast them adrift. The speaker here cited, as illustrative of the point treated, the merciful dealings of God with His children. It would not have benefited me if my parents had threatened to cut me adrift and expel me from home. The better way is to show our children that we still love them and have a desire for their salvation. I feel this way because of my own experience.
I believe there are tens of thousands who will yet flock into this Church. There are many people in the nations awaiting the needed process to enable them to see what we see. We must make allowances for conditions of birth and surroundings. There are many wayward young people whose minds are a little darkened and they have wandered off for a little season. It is not the mission of Christ or His servants to shut the door against that class. The parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine of his flock and going in search of the one lost sheep illustrates this point. There are ecclesiastical courts for the passing of judgment upon our brother or sister. This is not our prerogative in a private capacity. Allowances must be made for the differences of disposition and temperament of our fellow beings. Some have weaknesses that are not known to others. We should be careful not to be hasty in rising up in judgment against those we imagine to be guilty of error. God says, “I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble, and My grace shall be sufficient for them.”
My soul is filled with gratitude for the blessings of the gospel, and the manifestations of the goodness of god during this Conference.
Apostle John Henry Smith
was the next speaker. Following is a synopsis of his discourse: It is the purpose of our Heavenly Father that mercy shall be extended to sinners to the utmost limit. I am a believer that so long as hope remains in the human breast there is some chance of repentance for them, But when that hope has been banished, there is a question in my mind whether it is possible to awaken to a sufficient degree any individual standing in this position to claim that Spirit, to enjoy the things thereof, and turn from the evil of which he has been guilty. The remarks of Brother Whitney in regard to the principle of charity were very appropriate, and all of us who have become conversant with the Gospel should indeed cultivate it. We have been made to understand that charity covers a multitude of sins, and while this is the case, our hearts should go out to our sons and daughters, to our friends and kindred, and we should seek to lead them into the way of life; we should remember that there are laws of God governing in all these matters; that we ourselves, as parents, friends and neighbors must guard them with care. So far as I am individually concerned, looking to the interests and well-being of the offspring which God has committed to my care, in understanding fully how far I may be responsible for the transgressions of my children, I intend, by the grace of God and the help of His Holy Spirit, to follow them to the utmost limit, so that not one member of my house shall be lost through anything that I may do in pushing them away from saving principles.
I am a believer in the idea that they who are taught in the principles of the Gospel in the early days of their life—while they may be wayward and thoughtless at certain periods, there has been implanted within them by a consistent father and mother an understanding of the principles of life that will ultimately lead to their salvation.
I am extremely anxious that the impress of the spirit of the Gospel may be felt among the children of the Latter-day Saints. I am a firm believer that the sons and daughters of Zion who have been born and reared here, and to whom knowledge has been given of the truth of the principles of the Gospel of life and salvation, will be found treading in the way of life, that their names will not be blotted from the book of remembrance, written there by our Heavenly Father.
My testimony is that this work in which we are engaged will remain and spread and accomplish its great purpose; for nothing can arrest its progress. Onward and upward will be its mission, until the sons and daughters of God throughout the broad earth have accepted or rejected the truth, exercising that agency which the Father has given them.
The choir sang the hymn beginning:
The Seer, the Seer, Joseph the Seer!
We sing of the Prophet ever dear.
Benediction by Counselor John W. Young.
was the next speaker. Following is a synopsis of his discourse: It is the purpose of our Heavenly Father that mercy shall be extended to sinners to the utmost limit. I am a believer that so long as hope remains in the human breast there is some chance of repentance for them, But when that hope has been banished, there is a question in my mind whether it is possible to awaken to a sufficient degree any individual standing in this position to claim that Spirit, to enjoy the things thereof, and turn from the evil of which he has been guilty. The remarks of Brother Whitney in regard to the principle of charity were very appropriate, and all of us who have become conversant with the Gospel should indeed cultivate it. We have been made to understand that charity covers a multitude of sins, and while this is the case, our hearts should go out to our sons and daughters, to our friends and kindred, and we should seek to lead them into the way of life; we should remember that there are laws of God governing in all these matters; that we ourselves, as parents, friends and neighbors must guard them with care. So far as I am individually concerned, looking to the interests and well-being of the offspring which God has committed to my care, in understanding fully how far I may be responsible for the transgressions of my children, I intend, by the grace of God and the help of His Holy Spirit, to follow them to the utmost limit, so that not one member of my house shall be lost through anything that I may do in pushing them away from saving principles.
I am a believer in the idea that they who are taught in the principles of the Gospel in the early days of their life—while they may be wayward and thoughtless at certain periods, there has been implanted within them by a consistent father and mother an understanding of the principles of life that will ultimately lead to their salvation.
I am extremely anxious that the impress of the spirit of the Gospel may be felt among the children of the Latter-day Saints. I am a firm believer that the sons and daughters of Zion who have been born and reared here, and to whom knowledge has been given of the truth of the principles of the Gospel of life and salvation, will be found treading in the way of life, that their names will not be blotted from the book of remembrance, written there by our Heavenly Father.
My testimony is that this work in which we are engaged will remain and spread and accomplish its great purpose; for nothing can arrest its progress. Onward and upward will be its mission, until the sons and daughters of God throughout the broad earth have accepted or rejected the truth, exercising that agency which the Father has given them.
The choir sang the hymn beginning:
The Seer, the Seer, Joseph the Seer!
We sing of the Prophet ever dear.
Benediction by Counselor John W. Young.
Third Day. Morning Session. October 6th.
The choir sang:
Arise, O glorious Zion,
Thou joy of latter days,
Whom countless Saints rely on,
To gain a resting place.
Opening prayer by President A. O. Smoot, of Utah Stake.
Singing:
Sons of Michael, He approaches!
Rise; the Eternal Father greet;
Bow, ye thousands, low before Him;
Minister before His feet.
Apostle Franklin D. Richards, who had been detained from attending previous meetings of Conference on account of sickness, was so far recovered as to be present this morning and appeared on the stand, in the place among the general authorities.
The choir sang:
Arise, O glorious Zion,
Thou joy of latter days,
Whom countless Saints rely on,
To gain a resting place.
Opening prayer by President A. O. Smoot, of Utah Stake.
Singing:
Sons of Michael, He approaches!
Rise; the Eternal Father greet;
Bow, ye thousands, low before Him;
Minister before His feet.
Apostle Franklin D. Richards, who had been detained from attending previous meetings of Conference on account of sickness, was so far recovered as to be present this morning and appeared on the stand, in the place among the general authorities.
President Woodruff
said: I will say to this assembly that we propose to attend to our business matters this morning. There are quite a number of stakes from which we have not received reports; hence we shall not present a statistical statement to the Conference. We propose this morning to present the authorities of the Church. President Cannon will submit them for your action.
said: I will say to this assembly that we propose to attend to our business matters this morning. There are quite a number of stakes from which we have not received reports; hence we shall not present a statistical statement to the Conference. We propose this morning to present the authorities of the Church. President Cannon will submit them for your action.
President George Q. Cannon
then presented the authorities to be voted upon by the general assembly, as follows:
Wilford Woodruff, as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George Q. Cannon as First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Joseph F. Smith as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
Lorenzo Snow as President of the Twelve Apostles.
As members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John H. Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant and John W. Taylor.
At this point
then presented the authorities to be voted upon by the general assembly, as follows:
Wilford Woodruff, as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
George Q. Cannon as First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Joseph F. Smith as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
Lorenzo Snow as President of the Twelve Apostles.
As members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John H. Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant and John W. Taylor.
At this point
President Wilford Woodruff
arose and spoke as follows:
I wish to say to this assembly of Latter-day Saints that there are three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in consequence of the organization of the First Presidency. We have felt that it is time to fill that quorum now, at this conference, and the people should be prepared for the presenting by the Twelve Apostles of such names as they may feel by the Spirit of God to be worthy and proper persons to receive this ordination or to occupy this position. These Apostles are Prophets, Seers and Revelators. I have confidence in them; I believe they have power to present such things as would be in accordance with the will of God. They (the Apostles) presented to me a list of names. I wish here to say, and I want it understood, that neither myself, President George Q. Cannon nor President Joseph F. Smith, who are my Counselors, presented any of these names. We left it with the Quorum of the Apostles. I became thoroughly satisfied that they had upon that list such names as would be acceptable unto the Lord. We took those names and made it a matter of prayer, and the Spirit of the Lord manifested unto me those whom we should appoint. They have all been accepted by the Quorum of the Apostles as well as the Presidency of the Church. I have a reason for making these remarks.
After President Woodruff had taken his seat,
arose and spoke as follows:
I wish to say to this assembly of Latter-day Saints that there are three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in consequence of the organization of the First Presidency. We have felt that it is time to fill that quorum now, at this conference, and the people should be prepared for the presenting by the Twelve Apostles of such names as they may feel by the Spirit of God to be worthy and proper persons to receive this ordination or to occupy this position. These Apostles are Prophets, Seers and Revelators. I have confidence in them; I believe they have power to present such things as would be in accordance with the will of God. They (the Apostles) presented to me a list of names. I wish here to say, and I want it understood, that neither myself, President George Q. Cannon nor President Joseph F. Smith, who are my Counselors, presented any of these names. We left it with the Quorum of the Apostles. I became thoroughly satisfied that they had upon that list such names as would be acceptable unto the Lord. We took those names and made it a matter of prayer, and the Spirit of the Lord manifested unto me those whom we should appoint. They have all been accepted by the Quorum of the Apostles as well as the Presidency of the Church. I have a reason for making these remarks.
After President Woodruff had taken his seat,
President Cannon
resumed the presentation of the authorities, submitting the names of the following three brethren for appointment to the Apostleship, to fill the three vacancies in the quorum of the Twelve before referred to:
Mariner W. Merrill, Anton H. Lund, Abraham H. Cannon.
Counselors to the Twelve Apostles—John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles, with their Counselors, as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church: John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies: Henry Herriman, Jacob Gates, Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, John Morgan and B. H. Roberts.
Wm. B. Preston as Presiding Bishop, with Robert T. Burton as his First and John R. Winder as his Second Counselor.
Franklin D. Richards as Church Historian and General Church Recorder.
John Jaques as Assistant Church Historian and General Church Recorder.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Amos Howe, Anton H. Lund, James Sharp.
Joseph Don Carlos Young, as General Church Architect.
John Nicholson, as Clerk of the Conference.
The vote upon each of the persons named for the positions specified was unanimous.
resumed the presentation of the authorities, submitting the names of the following three brethren for appointment to the Apostleship, to fill the three vacancies in the quorum of the Twelve before referred to:
Mariner W. Merrill, Anton H. Lund, Abraham H. Cannon.
Counselors to the Twelve Apostles—John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles, with their Counselors, as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church: John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies: Henry Herriman, Jacob Gates, Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, John Morgan and B. H. Roberts.
Wm. B. Preston as Presiding Bishop, with Robert T. Burton as his First and John R. Winder as his Second Counselor.
Franklin D. Richards as Church Historian and General Church Recorder.
John Jaques as Assistant Church Historian and General Church Recorder.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Amos Howe, Anton H. Lund, James Sharp.
Joseph Don Carlos Young, as General Church Architect.
John Nicholson, as Clerk of the Conference.
The vote upon each of the persons named for the positions specified was unanimous.
President Cannon,
after he had submitted the names of the authorities, delivered an elaborate and instructive discourse, of which a synopsis would not give a commensurate idea. It will doubtless hereafter be published in full. The leading topics embraced in it were the cause and cure of disunion when it exists among the Saints; the beauty and completeness of the organization of the Church; there is no domination of the State by the Church, nor combination of the two; the necessity for the Saints to seek counsel from those who are in a position to guide them aright; the beauty and necessity of wisdom in our acts and utterances; important points associated with the doctrine of the resurrection, about which some have formed erroneous conceptions. The concluding portion of the discourse was devoted to a definition of the glorious hopes and destiny of the faithful, and was of a nature to specially comfort those whose pathway through life is beset with trials.
after he had submitted the names of the authorities, delivered an elaborate and instructive discourse, of which a synopsis would not give a commensurate idea. It will doubtless hereafter be published in full. The leading topics embraced in it were the cause and cure of disunion when it exists among the Saints; the beauty and completeness of the organization of the Church; there is no domination of the State by the Church, nor combination of the two; the necessity for the Saints to seek counsel from those who are in a position to guide them aright; the beauty and necessity of wisdom in our acts and utterances; important points associated with the doctrine of the resurrection, about which some have formed erroneous conceptions. The concluding portion of the discourse was devoted to a definition of the glorious hopes and destiny of the faithful, and was of a nature to specially comfort those whose pathway through life is beset with trials.
Discourse
by President George Q. Cannon
I do not recall a conference which I enjoyed better (as far as we have gone) than this Conference which commenced on Friday last. I have felt the Spirit of God in our midst, and have been exceedingly edified and pleased with the remarks which have been made by the various speakers. It is a cause of thanksgiving to every Latter-day Saint, when we meet in Conference, to know that the Lord meets with us, and that His Spirit is poured out upon His servants. We have heard from the Elders how much we need this Spirit, and how impossible it is for us to please our God, and to accomplish the labors devolving upon us without its presence and assistance. I am thankful every day of my life that I live in an age when God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon man; that we are not left to the guidance of our own minds, to grope in uncertainty, in doubt, in darkness concerning god, concerning the life to come, concerning His purposes towards man and the earth upon which he dwells. When I think of the darkness that has been swept away; when I think of the uncertainty and doubt that have been dispelled; when I think of the flood of light which God has sent forth from His eternal throne to His children upon the earth through the medium of His Prophet, through the revelation of His Gospel, through the bestowal of His Holy Priesthood and the gift of the Holy Ghost, I feel to thank God with all my heart that my lot has been cast in a day like the present. For we are not left to ourselves; we are not left a prey to doubt and to fear and to anxiety. We know that God is with us; we know that He guides this great work, that everything connected with it is known to Him, and that its final destiny has been predicted by Him. If ever there was a people upon the face of the earth that ought to be filled with the most profound gratitude to our God for all that He has done for them, we who are assembled here today, as well as all the members of the Church who are not here, should be that people.
We are menaced by our enemies; we are threatened by dire evils; we are told our destruction is right at the threshold, that we shall be inevitably overthrown and our power wrested from us. But this is not the first time is our history that we have heard such statements. Along the pathway we have trod similar threats have been made to us; this pathway has been environed by difficulties, beset with foes, and it has seemed to human vision as though our escape was utterly impossible. How often has this been the case those who have had experience well know. It has seemed at times as though there was an impassable barrier in our pathway, impenetrable to human vision, impenetrable to human progress. But as we have stepped forward the difficulties have vanished, the pathway has been made clear, every obstruction has been moved out of the way, and we have gone joyously forward to accomplish the work that god has committed to us and commanded us to perform. I rejoice exceedingly in this. We are very weak ourselves; and those of us who bear responsibility are very conscious when we live as we should do, of our incapacity, and how very far we are from being what we should be. We shrink from the contemplation of the great weight that rests upon us, of the character of the labors that we have to perform. We would stand appalled at them, if it were not for the consciousness that God is with us, that God sustains this people; that God furnishes the wisdom and gives the strength, and that He has provided the victory; and it is comforting to know that all we have to do, is to do that which is assigned to us to the best of our power and ability, putting our trust in Him. And how strong this makes us! Not in our own strength, but in the strength of our God—He who has delivered nus out of so many trials—He who has brought us through so many troubles—He who has never deserted or forsaken us, but has been near at hand when we have called upon Him. He has heard us when affliction has befallen us, extending deliverance to us, filling us with hope, filling us with peace, filling us with joy, no matter how threatening the circumstances that have surrounded us. Can there be found a better people upon the face of the earth than the Latter-day Saints? I cannot speak for all, but I speak for the bulk, the brethren and sisters whom I know. I know by their faces, so radiant with gladness, that there is peace and joy in their hearts. I know by my own feelings—for my life, notwithstanding its vicissitudes, notwithstanding its sorrows, has been to me a complete joy until now. I have rejoiced with joy unspeakable; my language cannot describe it, not in myself but in our God, in the salvation He has assured to us. I know that this people are a favored people. I know that notwithstanding all our trials, notwithstanding all that we have to contend with, there is no enemy of ours, there is no combination of enemies of ours, whose happiness compares in the least degree with the joy and with the happiness that the Latter-day Saints have in their possession. Is not this a cause of great thanksgiving to us? Ought not our souls to swell with gratitude to God our Father for these blessings bestowed upon us? Ought we not to be a humble and obedient people? Ought we not to do His will and have our will swallowed up entirely in His holy will? If this is not the case, then we are the most ungrateful people that ever lived, and our condemnation will be a very heavy one, if we are in this condition.
We have heard remarks fall from our brethren’s lips, during the preceding meetings, concerning the disunion that exists among the Latter-day Saints. Their remarks called to mind a conversation which I had some weeks ago with an old acquaintance whom I knew in Washington. He had attended one of our meetings in company with come lady friends, and they had heard some of the speakers, in their public utterances, dwell upon the importance of union. And he related to me the comments that were made by his lady friends concerning the teaching. They had drawn the inference from the remarks, that the leading Elders were afraid that the Church was tumbling to pieces, that the work of disintegration was going on to such an extent as to cause them great alarm, which accounted for the earnest, solemn tones in which the speakers addressed the Saints concerning union and its importance, and their exhortations to the people to be more united.
I suppose those who are not acquainted with us might draw such conclusions from remarks made during this Conference. But it must be remembered by us at least, whatever other people may think, that we, as President Woodruff has told us, are placed as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and that we do not speak as hireling ministers speak. It is not our calling to say pleasant things to the people, when they need different instructions and counsels. Besides, the spirit of instruction and counsel is something which every Elder should seek for, as there are times in the history of God’s people when it is just as necessary that words of reproof and warning should be uttered—that reproof be administered when iniquity and wrong exist, and that notes of warning be raised, calling upon the people to give heed to their ways and avoid certain things lest destruction come upon them—as it is to speak comforting words to them. This has been the case always when God has had a people upon the earth. It has been the office and calling of all the Prophets and Apostles to speak as moved upon by the Holy Ghost. It is no sign of disintegration then, no sign of alarm because the Elders thus teach the people and warn them, and perhaps reprove them, and speak in tones of sharpness, and perhaps at times severity, concerning their condition.
There is no feature in our polity so desirable as union. Without it we are an exceedingly weak people; with it we are strong, strong in the Lord, because the Lord acknowledges us as His people, when we are united; He places His seal upon us, and stamps us as His own. Therefore it is not to be wondered at that the Elders are led to talk about the importance of union. It is of the first importance that we should be united; and it is no sign of alarm, it is no evidence that the Elders who thus speak are in fear concerning the result of this work, or the effects of the attacks of our enemies upon this work, because they talk in this manner to the Saints assembled in Conference, or to any other public gathering. In some respects I think we are an exceedingly united people. But owing to circumstances—the absence of many of the leading men, and the great labors which have devolved upon those that are free and able to go about—the people have not been visited for some years, as was formerly the case; and therefore many things have grown up and sprung into existence, which need the attention of the leading Elders, of the Presidents of Stakes and their counselors, the Bishops and their counselors. And it requires a good deal of exertion at the present time to lay these matters before the people as they should be. But we ought to be a united people; and we cannot dwell too much upon the importance of union. When we are divided we are very weak; when we are united we are very strong, for God is with us.
God has given to us an organization which, if we maintain, as we should, will preserve union, will preserve complete harmony and strength in the Church. Therefore, we should do all in our power to maintain that organization, which is complete and perfect. Although others may decry the Priesthood and the influence of the Priesthood, and may oppose it, and censure us because we give heed to the counsels of the Priesthood, it is for us to listen to the voice of our God, to maintain its integrity unto us, to beware of every spirit not of God, that it does not have place within us, but that under all circumstances we will be guided by His Holy Spirit, and the counsels of His servants. That which we witness today throughout this Territory; that which we have witnessed wherever the Latter-day Saints have settled—the deliverances that have been wrought out, the prosperity that God has given unto us, is due to the fact that we have had His servants in our midst, and that the people have listened to their counsels. Shall we turn our backs upon that authority which God has thus blessed, which He has sustained, and shown His approval of by giving His blessings unto those who have obeyed their counsels? We should not do this. We should avoid it; and we should be humble, meek and lowly in our walk and conversation; in all our associations with each other, and do all in our power to maintain in its entirety the organization which has been given unto us.
In conversation some years ago with a gentleman by the name of Haskell, of Kansas, who was a Member of Congress, and who is since deceased, he said to me: Mr. Cannon, I have paid some attention to your organization, and I think it the most magnificent organization that exists on the earth—how did you succeed in getting it? I told him I did not suppose, if I were to tell him all about it that he would be prepared to accept my statement as true; but I told him, of course, that the organization had come from God, and that its perfection was due to divine wisdom. I mention this as the testimony of a man of considerable experience and observation and extensive reading, as a high tribute to the strength, power and surpassing superiority of our organization. It is, my brethren and sister, strikingly manifest to every one who reflects how God has blessed us in this respect. And we should be proud of it—that is, we should be thankful for it, and not be ashamed of it.
I have felt for some time that some of the Latter-day Saints were beginning to manifest a disposition to feel ashamed of the Priesthood, and ashamed of seeking counsel at the hands of the Priesthood, as though it were a forbidden thing, as though it were something that we did wrong in practicing; that to come and ask counsel of the servants of God was something so contrary to public opinion that some men shrink from doing it, and feel ashamed of asking counsel of God’s servants. If such feelings as these were to prevail among the Latter-day Saints, it would be a most deplorable thing; I think the result would be disastrous to us. If I knew a man who has the counsel of God, and I wished to obtain counsel, I feel as though it would be the greatest blessing I could have given unto me, under the circumstances, to be able to go to him to ask counsel concerning the course I should take. This has been my course throughout life, and I know it has been attended with blessing. Suppose the world deride it; suppose the world attack it; suppose the world accuse us of one-man power, of joining church and state; they will accuse us anyhow, no matter what we do, no matter how correct our lives may be; and shall we deprive ourselves of the benefits that God has given unto us in the hope that we will conciliate the world, and that we will prevent the world from talking about us? If that be our idea we delude ourselves most egregiously. The man who entertains the view, that by taking a certain course that is not exactly in accord with the will of God, he is going to gain the favor of the world, makes a great mistake. I do not think we should be unwise in these matters; wisdom should be exercised in all that we do. But do not, my brethren and sisters, deprive yourselves of that light which God has placed within our reach for our guidance and our safety because of any fear we may entertain concerning public opinion in relation to that method of doing.
The cry has gone forth that we join church and state. A greater libel was never made concerning any people than that concerning us. Owing to our peculiar position all our eligible men bear the holy Priesthood. It was not possible for us to obtain suitable men in our Territory, in by-gone days, who were not members of the Priesthood. There was no other choice left for us but to select the best men we had regardless of their position in the Church. Because we did this it ought not to be thought to follow that we blended church and state, or that we looked upon the Church as an institution to be associated with the civil government; not at all. I do not think it possible to find another people, situated as we were for so many years in these valleys, who would have drawn the lines of distinction so clearly between church and state, as we did.
We have always looked upon civil government as entirely distinct from church government; and our views upon this subject ought to be so well known as not to leave room for accusation even. It has been proclaimed by Joseph Smith; it has been proclaimed by Brigham Young; it has been proclaimed by John Taylor; it has been proclaimed by Wilford Woodruff, and all the leading Elders associated with them, that God intended to organize a Kingdom on the earth that should not be composed of Latter-day Saints alone, but that members of that Kingdom should belong to other religious denominations as well as to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This has been a cardinal doctrine in this Church—that is, with the Elders who have had experience and knowledge concerning that which is to come and that which the Prophet Joseph believed in and taught. In fact, he set the example on one occasion, and those familiar with it know about it. He showed unto the brethren before he died that the Kingdom of God, when established, should throw its protecting aegis around the infidel, around the Methodist, and around the Presbyterian, around the Baptist, around the Catholic and every other man, whatever form of belief he may profess, as well as around the Latter-day Saint; and that each man and each denomination was to receive equal rights, equal favors and protection from the Kingdom of God. This has been our doctrine for the last forty-five or fifty years. Hence it is one of the greatest libels that can be pronounced against a people, to say concerning us, that we believe in the blending of church and state. We believe in no such doctrine; and I will say, never did believe in it. But in consequence of our peculiar position; in consequence of the fact, as I have stated, that every reputable man among us who has attained his majority, holds the Priesthood, our enemies have seized that and made it the foundation for base libels and attacks upon us.
I will return again to the idea I was dwelling upon. Shall we, let me ask, feel ashamed of asking counsel? If a Teacher came to my house, and I were in doubt concerning any matter that I wished to have counsel upon, I would gladly ask that Teacher what his views were, and in this way, if possible, obtain his counsel, looking upon the Teacher as a man of God. If an Elder were to come to my House, or a Bishop, or a High Priest, or a Seventy, or an Apostle, and I were in doubt concerning something I contemplated, and I wished to obtain more light upon it, I would gladly submit my case to him and ask his counsel. And if he did not come to my house, and I could have access to him, I would not engage in any important enterprise without taking such a course. In the primitive days of the Church this was universally the case. We sought counsel at the hands of the servants of God, just as they did in ancient times. Kings did not go to war without seeking counsel. You remember the case of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, when they contemplated warring. Jehoshaphat requested the king of Israel, his ally, to inquire of the Lord how it should be with them; and the king of Israel gathered together his prophets, about four hundred men, all of whom said “Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it [Syria] into the hand of the king.” But it seems that Jehoshaphat was not entirely satisfied with this word, favorable as it was; and he inquired: “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? And the King of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord, but I hate him; for he doth not prophecy good concerning me, but evil.” A messenger was sent to bring Micaiah before King Ahab and Jehoshaphat; and the prophet was informed what the other prophets had said concerning the result of the battle; and he was asked to prophecy in like manner; and he did so, giving the kind of counsel that the king of Israel wanted. But the king suspected there was something wrong about it; and he adjured him to tell him the truth. Then Micaiah prophesied that which God had given him, namely, the utter overthrow of King Ahab and his army—a prophecy which was fulfilled to the very letter.
Now, kings did this in ancient times, and mighty men, and it was not considered improper; and it does not argue because we believe in this principle, that we are theocratic, and that we are trying to found a theocracy. One is not a sequence of the other. Every man has the right to seek unto God in the appointed way; to seek unto Him in prayer, and besides calling upon Him in prayer, to obtain His word through His appointed servants. Members of Wards should teach their children to ask counsel concerning all matters they wish to undertake, all enterprises upon which they desire to enter. When Bishop is living up to his duty he has the word of the Lord for his people; and he cannot give correct counsel to his people if he is not living as he should live. The same with regard to the President of a Stake. And when the High Council come together with the President of the Stake, it is their privilege to know for themselves concerning matters to give counsel pertaining thereunto. So it is with every council in this Church. The light of heaven that comes from God to enlighten the minds of the children of men is not confined to one individual, to one class, or to one council or quorum; on the contrary, that light is diffused through the whole body of the Priesthood, and the whole body of the Church, according to the faithfulness of the members. We should understand this. The light of heaven—that is, the light that enlightens our minds, is as free as the light of the sun, as free as the atmosphere we breathe. We should seek for and enjoy these privileges. I would like to seek the Latter-day Saints so impressed with its importance, that whenever we take a serious or grave step, we should seek the counsel of God. We should do this on our knees in our chambers, alone; and it is our privilege to seek for and obtain it elsewhere, so we may walk aright before God and acceptably before Him. In this way the Kingdom of God will be built up.
I want to see the power of the Priesthood strengthened; not the power of the First Presidency alone; not the power of the Twelve Apostles alone; not the power of the Presidents of Stakes, or that of the High Councils, or the Bishops and their Councilors alone. I want to see this strength and power diffused through the entire body of the Priesthood, reaching from the head down to the least and most humble deacon in the Church. Every man should seek for and enjoy the revelations of God, the light of heaven shining in his soul and giving unto him knowledge concerning his duties, concerning that portion of the work of God that devolves upon him in his Priesthood. When we live thus we will be a mighty power, irresistible in our onward march. Though, when we are in this condition we shall provoke more hatred, greater opposition than that which we now have to contend with; because it is that feature in our organization that Satan dreads and hates; and he expects his servants to fight this and endeavor to destroy it; and the efforts of our enemies for years have been to destroy the power and influence of the holy Priesthood, knowing if this could be done we would lose our strength, and become weak as water, so to speak.
I am in favor of everything that will tend to build up Zion, that will strengthen us and make us more compact. We have this opposition to contend with; do what we will we cannot pacify the hostility of Satan. At the same time I do not believe in throwing away wisdom, and acting as though there was no such things as wisdom in the world. That is the other extreme. I believe we can do all this and be wise in our conversation, be wise in our conduct, and in all our associations; not indulging in wild-fire or doing foolish things. But this is God’s work, and He will take care of it no matter what we do. At the same time we, through unwisdom, can provoke wrath and bring it down upon us, and many men do it through their own imprudent acts. In taking this course, we depart from the counsel of God’s servants. You will always find it to be the case, that the men who are getting themselves into trouble bring trouble upon others because of their imprudent action and unwise speeches; and they are the men who disregard counsel.
Before I sit down I wish to mention some doctrine that has been upon my mind, and as this will perhaps be the last opportunity I shall have during the Conference, I will call attention to it now. The doctrine I refer to is in connection with the resurrection. I will read from that revelation known among us as the Vision, which is found in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord in speaking about the sons of perdition says:
“They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born.
For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come.
Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father—having crucified him unto themselves, and put him to an open shame.
These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels,
And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power.
Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath;
For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.”
I was given to understand, while I and others of the brethren were in exile, that because of this passage, contained in this revelation, some of the Elders had conceived the idea, and were teaching it, that the sons of perdition would not be resurrected; and inquiry was made of us concerning it. The doctrine as taught, was, that a certain class of spirits that had received tabernacles upon the earth, would not be resurrected; and to sustain this view the paragraphs just read were quoted: “For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.” Because of this language some have inferred that all the rest would be resurrected, and the sons of perdition would not be resurrected. If you will read the context carefully you will see this is not the meaning. “And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power, Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, ... For all the rest shall be brought forth,” etc. That is, they will be redeemed and brought forth, but they will not be brought forth in the manner that we will be resurrected; they will not receive that redemption which the rest of the children of men will receive. God in this glorious revelation through His servant, Joseph, taught this to us, that there will be a time when every human being, except the sons of perdition, will partake of the salvation of our God. And even, it is said concerning them of the telestial glory, that they are heirs of salvation. But the sons of perdition are not heirs of salvation; they will not receive redemptions, they having committed the unpardonable sin, from which they never can be redeemed, so far, at least, as God has taught us in His revelations.
Now if you will turn to the 29th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find how plain the Lord has made this matter, so plain as to leave no doubt about it:
“And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth,
For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;
And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand.
But behold, verily I saw unto you, before the earth shall pass away, Michael, mine archangel, shall sound his trump, and then shall all the dead awake, for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth; yea, even all.
“Then shall all the dead awake,”—mark the words—“for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth; yea, even all.”
The Book of Mormon is also very clear upon this doctrine. I will read a few extracts from that book in connection with this subject, which will be found in the 9th chapter of the Second Book of Nephi, the 15th and 16th, 21st and 22nd verses:
“And it shall come to pass, that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.
And as surely as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is His eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous, shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy, are the devil and his angels, and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever, and has no end.
And He cometh into the world that He may save all men, if they will hearken unto his voice: for behold, He suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
And He suffereth this, that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before Him at the great and judgment day.”
The Prophet Helaman says:
“For behold, he surely must die, that salvation may come; yea, it behoveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.”
You will see there is another prophet who bears testimony as to the character of the redemption wrought out by the Savior. No matter what a man’s sins may be, whatever crimes he may have committed, the resurrection of the mortal body is assured to him by the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. But after that comes the second death; and they who are sons of perdition will partake of that.
Amulek, in the 40th verse of the 11th chapter of Alma, says:
“And he shall come into the world to redeem his people: and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.
“Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, excepting it be the loosing of the bands of death.”
How plain are the words of the prophet: “The wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, excepting it be the loosing of the bands of death; for, behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God and be judged according to their works.
“The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time, and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.”
I might go on, still quoting from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, in corroboration of the view I have endeavored to set forth, but it is not necessary. All men will come forth from the dead regardless of their condition, regardless of their sins, the just and the unjust; all will stand before the judgment set of Christ and they will have His judgments passed upon them. Some will receive and have pronounced upon them the blessings of eternal lives, as promised to the faithful, and be exalted; another class will not receive exaltation, but they will nevertheless be redeemed, and there will be degrees in the condition of the children of men there, just as there are degrees in our condition here. There will be this difference, however: the righteous and the wicked will not mingle together, as they no do, but a great separation will take place. Some will become rulers in the Kingdom of God. They are they for whom God holds in reserve crowns and septres, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers. They are the men who have been faithful before God in the midst of every trial, whose knees have never shaken, whose hands have never trembled in the face of the enemy—men of God, who have started out to serve God with all their hearts—men who have been devoted in this life to the cause of God, and who have shown unflinching integrity in every condition of life. God for them has reserved thrones; for them He has reserved principalities and powers and dominion, yea, God has reserved for them the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal lives, and they will be rulers in His Kingdom. Be comforted then; be comforted, ye afflicted ones, whose souls have groaned under the burden of your sorrows; you who have felt that life was almost too hard to bear, be comforted! For as God lives, and as His throne cannot be moved by the efforts of man, so surely will it be that those who are faithful in Christ Jesus will receive this glorious reward. They will receive crowns; they will receive thrones; they will receive principalities and powers, and no power on earth or in hell can deprive them of it.
My brethren and sisters, let us be faithful; let us keep the commandments of God; let us keep our armor bright. Let us listen to the voice of inspired men, the men who have taught us with such power, and with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost, these two days that are past. Let us humble ourselves before our God in this Conference, and say, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Let us set our houses in order; let us be chaste; let us be true to our brethren and sisters; let us be upright in our dealings; let us be willing to suffer wrong rather than do wrong; let us carry out practically in our lives the teachings of our blessed and glorious Redeemer, making His Gospel part of our lives, and exhibiting in our conduct and our associations with the children of men, its precepts. That we may be able to do this, I ask in your and my own behalf, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem: Arise, shine, for thy light is come.
Benediction by John Henry Smith.
by President George Q. Cannon
I do not recall a conference which I enjoyed better (as far as we have gone) than this Conference which commenced on Friday last. I have felt the Spirit of God in our midst, and have been exceedingly edified and pleased with the remarks which have been made by the various speakers. It is a cause of thanksgiving to every Latter-day Saint, when we meet in Conference, to know that the Lord meets with us, and that His Spirit is poured out upon His servants. We have heard from the Elders how much we need this Spirit, and how impossible it is for us to please our God, and to accomplish the labors devolving upon us without its presence and assistance. I am thankful every day of my life that I live in an age when God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon man; that we are not left to the guidance of our own minds, to grope in uncertainty, in doubt, in darkness concerning god, concerning the life to come, concerning His purposes towards man and the earth upon which he dwells. When I think of the darkness that has been swept away; when I think of the uncertainty and doubt that have been dispelled; when I think of the flood of light which God has sent forth from His eternal throne to His children upon the earth through the medium of His Prophet, through the revelation of His Gospel, through the bestowal of His Holy Priesthood and the gift of the Holy Ghost, I feel to thank God with all my heart that my lot has been cast in a day like the present. For we are not left to ourselves; we are not left a prey to doubt and to fear and to anxiety. We know that God is with us; we know that He guides this great work, that everything connected with it is known to Him, and that its final destiny has been predicted by Him. If ever there was a people upon the face of the earth that ought to be filled with the most profound gratitude to our God for all that He has done for them, we who are assembled here today, as well as all the members of the Church who are not here, should be that people.
We are menaced by our enemies; we are threatened by dire evils; we are told our destruction is right at the threshold, that we shall be inevitably overthrown and our power wrested from us. But this is not the first time is our history that we have heard such statements. Along the pathway we have trod similar threats have been made to us; this pathway has been environed by difficulties, beset with foes, and it has seemed to human vision as though our escape was utterly impossible. How often has this been the case those who have had experience well know. It has seemed at times as though there was an impassable barrier in our pathway, impenetrable to human vision, impenetrable to human progress. But as we have stepped forward the difficulties have vanished, the pathway has been made clear, every obstruction has been moved out of the way, and we have gone joyously forward to accomplish the work that god has committed to us and commanded us to perform. I rejoice exceedingly in this. We are very weak ourselves; and those of us who bear responsibility are very conscious when we live as we should do, of our incapacity, and how very far we are from being what we should be. We shrink from the contemplation of the great weight that rests upon us, of the character of the labors that we have to perform. We would stand appalled at them, if it were not for the consciousness that God is with us, that God sustains this people; that God furnishes the wisdom and gives the strength, and that He has provided the victory; and it is comforting to know that all we have to do, is to do that which is assigned to us to the best of our power and ability, putting our trust in Him. And how strong this makes us! Not in our own strength, but in the strength of our God—He who has delivered nus out of so many trials—He who has brought us through so many troubles—He who has never deserted or forsaken us, but has been near at hand when we have called upon Him. He has heard us when affliction has befallen us, extending deliverance to us, filling us with hope, filling us with peace, filling us with joy, no matter how threatening the circumstances that have surrounded us. Can there be found a better people upon the face of the earth than the Latter-day Saints? I cannot speak for all, but I speak for the bulk, the brethren and sisters whom I know. I know by their faces, so radiant with gladness, that there is peace and joy in their hearts. I know by my own feelings—for my life, notwithstanding its vicissitudes, notwithstanding its sorrows, has been to me a complete joy until now. I have rejoiced with joy unspeakable; my language cannot describe it, not in myself but in our God, in the salvation He has assured to us. I know that this people are a favored people. I know that notwithstanding all our trials, notwithstanding all that we have to contend with, there is no enemy of ours, there is no combination of enemies of ours, whose happiness compares in the least degree with the joy and with the happiness that the Latter-day Saints have in their possession. Is not this a cause of great thanksgiving to us? Ought not our souls to swell with gratitude to God our Father for these blessings bestowed upon us? Ought we not to be a humble and obedient people? Ought we not to do His will and have our will swallowed up entirely in His holy will? If this is not the case, then we are the most ungrateful people that ever lived, and our condemnation will be a very heavy one, if we are in this condition.
We have heard remarks fall from our brethren’s lips, during the preceding meetings, concerning the disunion that exists among the Latter-day Saints. Their remarks called to mind a conversation which I had some weeks ago with an old acquaintance whom I knew in Washington. He had attended one of our meetings in company with come lady friends, and they had heard some of the speakers, in their public utterances, dwell upon the importance of union. And he related to me the comments that were made by his lady friends concerning the teaching. They had drawn the inference from the remarks, that the leading Elders were afraid that the Church was tumbling to pieces, that the work of disintegration was going on to such an extent as to cause them great alarm, which accounted for the earnest, solemn tones in which the speakers addressed the Saints concerning union and its importance, and their exhortations to the people to be more united.
I suppose those who are not acquainted with us might draw such conclusions from remarks made during this Conference. But it must be remembered by us at least, whatever other people may think, that we, as President Woodruff has told us, are placed as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and that we do not speak as hireling ministers speak. It is not our calling to say pleasant things to the people, when they need different instructions and counsels. Besides, the spirit of instruction and counsel is something which every Elder should seek for, as there are times in the history of God’s people when it is just as necessary that words of reproof and warning should be uttered—that reproof be administered when iniquity and wrong exist, and that notes of warning be raised, calling upon the people to give heed to their ways and avoid certain things lest destruction come upon them—as it is to speak comforting words to them. This has been the case always when God has had a people upon the earth. It has been the office and calling of all the Prophets and Apostles to speak as moved upon by the Holy Ghost. It is no sign of disintegration then, no sign of alarm because the Elders thus teach the people and warn them, and perhaps reprove them, and speak in tones of sharpness, and perhaps at times severity, concerning their condition.
There is no feature in our polity so desirable as union. Without it we are an exceedingly weak people; with it we are strong, strong in the Lord, because the Lord acknowledges us as His people, when we are united; He places His seal upon us, and stamps us as His own. Therefore it is not to be wondered at that the Elders are led to talk about the importance of union. It is of the first importance that we should be united; and it is no sign of alarm, it is no evidence that the Elders who thus speak are in fear concerning the result of this work, or the effects of the attacks of our enemies upon this work, because they talk in this manner to the Saints assembled in Conference, or to any other public gathering. In some respects I think we are an exceedingly united people. But owing to circumstances—the absence of many of the leading men, and the great labors which have devolved upon those that are free and able to go about—the people have not been visited for some years, as was formerly the case; and therefore many things have grown up and sprung into existence, which need the attention of the leading Elders, of the Presidents of Stakes and their counselors, the Bishops and their counselors. And it requires a good deal of exertion at the present time to lay these matters before the people as they should be. But we ought to be a united people; and we cannot dwell too much upon the importance of union. When we are divided we are very weak; when we are united we are very strong, for God is with us.
God has given to us an organization which, if we maintain, as we should, will preserve union, will preserve complete harmony and strength in the Church. Therefore, we should do all in our power to maintain that organization, which is complete and perfect. Although others may decry the Priesthood and the influence of the Priesthood, and may oppose it, and censure us because we give heed to the counsels of the Priesthood, it is for us to listen to the voice of our God, to maintain its integrity unto us, to beware of every spirit not of God, that it does not have place within us, but that under all circumstances we will be guided by His Holy Spirit, and the counsels of His servants. That which we witness today throughout this Territory; that which we have witnessed wherever the Latter-day Saints have settled—the deliverances that have been wrought out, the prosperity that God has given unto us, is due to the fact that we have had His servants in our midst, and that the people have listened to their counsels. Shall we turn our backs upon that authority which God has thus blessed, which He has sustained, and shown His approval of by giving His blessings unto those who have obeyed their counsels? We should not do this. We should avoid it; and we should be humble, meek and lowly in our walk and conversation; in all our associations with each other, and do all in our power to maintain in its entirety the organization which has been given unto us.
In conversation some years ago with a gentleman by the name of Haskell, of Kansas, who was a Member of Congress, and who is since deceased, he said to me: Mr. Cannon, I have paid some attention to your organization, and I think it the most magnificent organization that exists on the earth—how did you succeed in getting it? I told him I did not suppose, if I were to tell him all about it that he would be prepared to accept my statement as true; but I told him, of course, that the organization had come from God, and that its perfection was due to divine wisdom. I mention this as the testimony of a man of considerable experience and observation and extensive reading, as a high tribute to the strength, power and surpassing superiority of our organization. It is, my brethren and sister, strikingly manifest to every one who reflects how God has blessed us in this respect. And we should be proud of it—that is, we should be thankful for it, and not be ashamed of it.
I have felt for some time that some of the Latter-day Saints were beginning to manifest a disposition to feel ashamed of the Priesthood, and ashamed of seeking counsel at the hands of the Priesthood, as though it were a forbidden thing, as though it were something that we did wrong in practicing; that to come and ask counsel of the servants of God was something so contrary to public opinion that some men shrink from doing it, and feel ashamed of asking counsel of God’s servants. If such feelings as these were to prevail among the Latter-day Saints, it would be a most deplorable thing; I think the result would be disastrous to us. If I knew a man who has the counsel of God, and I wished to obtain counsel, I feel as though it would be the greatest blessing I could have given unto me, under the circumstances, to be able to go to him to ask counsel concerning the course I should take. This has been my course throughout life, and I know it has been attended with blessing. Suppose the world deride it; suppose the world attack it; suppose the world accuse us of one-man power, of joining church and state; they will accuse us anyhow, no matter what we do, no matter how correct our lives may be; and shall we deprive ourselves of the benefits that God has given unto us in the hope that we will conciliate the world, and that we will prevent the world from talking about us? If that be our idea we delude ourselves most egregiously. The man who entertains the view, that by taking a certain course that is not exactly in accord with the will of God, he is going to gain the favor of the world, makes a great mistake. I do not think we should be unwise in these matters; wisdom should be exercised in all that we do. But do not, my brethren and sisters, deprive yourselves of that light which God has placed within our reach for our guidance and our safety because of any fear we may entertain concerning public opinion in relation to that method of doing.
The cry has gone forth that we join church and state. A greater libel was never made concerning any people than that concerning us. Owing to our peculiar position all our eligible men bear the holy Priesthood. It was not possible for us to obtain suitable men in our Territory, in by-gone days, who were not members of the Priesthood. There was no other choice left for us but to select the best men we had regardless of their position in the Church. Because we did this it ought not to be thought to follow that we blended church and state, or that we looked upon the Church as an institution to be associated with the civil government; not at all. I do not think it possible to find another people, situated as we were for so many years in these valleys, who would have drawn the lines of distinction so clearly between church and state, as we did.
We have always looked upon civil government as entirely distinct from church government; and our views upon this subject ought to be so well known as not to leave room for accusation even. It has been proclaimed by Joseph Smith; it has been proclaimed by Brigham Young; it has been proclaimed by John Taylor; it has been proclaimed by Wilford Woodruff, and all the leading Elders associated with them, that God intended to organize a Kingdom on the earth that should not be composed of Latter-day Saints alone, but that members of that Kingdom should belong to other religious denominations as well as to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This has been a cardinal doctrine in this Church—that is, with the Elders who have had experience and knowledge concerning that which is to come and that which the Prophet Joseph believed in and taught. In fact, he set the example on one occasion, and those familiar with it know about it. He showed unto the brethren before he died that the Kingdom of God, when established, should throw its protecting aegis around the infidel, around the Methodist, and around the Presbyterian, around the Baptist, around the Catholic and every other man, whatever form of belief he may profess, as well as around the Latter-day Saint; and that each man and each denomination was to receive equal rights, equal favors and protection from the Kingdom of God. This has been our doctrine for the last forty-five or fifty years. Hence it is one of the greatest libels that can be pronounced against a people, to say concerning us, that we believe in the blending of church and state. We believe in no such doctrine; and I will say, never did believe in it. But in consequence of our peculiar position; in consequence of the fact, as I have stated, that every reputable man among us who has attained his majority, holds the Priesthood, our enemies have seized that and made it the foundation for base libels and attacks upon us.
I will return again to the idea I was dwelling upon. Shall we, let me ask, feel ashamed of asking counsel? If a Teacher came to my house, and I were in doubt concerning any matter that I wished to have counsel upon, I would gladly ask that Teacher what his views were, and in this way, if possible, obtain his counsel, looking upon the Teacher as a man of God. If an Elder were to come to my House, or a Bishop, or a High Priest, or a Seventy, or an Apostle, and I were in doubt concerning something I contemplated, and I wished to obtain more light upon it, I would gladly submit my case to him and ask his counsel. And if he did not come to my house, and I could have access to him, I would not engage in any important enterprise without taking such a course. In the primitive days of the Church this was universally the case. We sought counsel at the hands of the servants of God, just as they did in ancient times. Kings did not go to war without seeking counsel. You remember the case of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, when they contemplated warring. Jehoshaphat requested the king of Israel, his ally, to inquire of the Lord how it should be with them; and the king of Israel gathered together his prophets, about four hundred men, all of whom said “Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it [Syria] into the hand of the king.” But it seems that Jehoshaphat was not entirely satisfied with this word, favorable as it was; and he inquired: “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? And the King of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord, but I hate him; for he doth not prophecy good concerning me, but evil.” A messenger was sent to bring Micaiah before King Ahab and Jehoshaphat; and the prophet was informed what the other prophets had said concerning the result of the battle; and he was asked to prophecy in like manner; and he did so, giving the kind of counsel that the king of Israel wanted. But the king suspected there was something wrong about it; and he adjured him to tell him the truth. Then Micaiah prophesied that which God had given him, namely, the utter overthrow of King Ahab and his army—a prophecy which was fulfilled to the very letter.
Now, kings did this in ancient times, and mighty men, and it was not considered improper; and it does not argue because we believe in this principle, that we are theocratic, and that we are trying to found a theocracy. One is not a sequence of the other. Every man has the right to seek unto God in the appointed way; to seek unto Him in prayer, and besides calling upon Him in prayer, to obtain His word through His appointed servants. Members of Wards should teach their children to ask counsel concerning all matters they wish to undertake, all enterprises upon which they desire to enter. When Bishop is living up to his duty he has the word of the Lord for his people; and he cannot give correct counsel to his people if he is not living as he should live. The same with regard to the President of a Stake. And when the High Council come together with the President of the Stake, it is their privilege to know for themselves concerning matters to give counsel pertaining thereunto. So it is with every council in this Church. The light of heaven that comes from God to enlighten the minds of the children of men is not confined to one individual, to one class, or to one council or quorum; on the contrary, that light is diffused through the whole body of the Priesthood, and the whole body of the Church, according to the faithfulness of the members. We should understand this. The light of heaven—that is, the light that enlightens our minds, is as free as the light of the sun, as free as the atmosphere we breathe. We should seek for and enjoy these privileges. I would like to seek the Latter-day Saints so impressed with its importance, that whenever we take a serious or grave step, we should seek the counsel of God. We should do this on our knees in our chambers, alone; and it is our privilege to seek for and obtain it elsewhere, so we may walk aright before God and acceptably before Him. In this way the Kingdom of God will be built up.
I want to see the power of the Priesthood strengthened; not the power of the First Presidency alone; not the power of the Twelve Apostles alone; not the power of the Presidents of Stakes, or that of the High Councils, or the Bishops and their Councilors alone. I want to see this strength and power diffused through the entire body of the Priesthood, reaching from the head down to the least and most humble deacon in the Church. Every man should seek for and enjoy the revelations of God, the light of heaven shining in his soul and giving unto him knowledge concerning his duties, concerning that portion of the work of God that devolves upon him in his Priesthood. When we live thus we will be a mighty power, irresistible in our onward march. Though, when we are in this condition we shall provoke more hatred, greater opposition than that which we now have to contend with; because it is that feature in our organization that Satan dreads and hates; and he expects his servants to fight this and endeavor to destroy it; and the efforts of our enemies for years have been to destroy the power and influence of the holy Priesthood, knowing if this could be done we would lose our strength, and become weak as water, so to speak.
I am in favor of everything that will tend to build up Zion, that will strengthen us and make us more compact. We have this opposition to contend with; do what we will we cannot pacify the hostility of Satan. At the same time I do not believe in throwing away wisdom, and acting as though there was no such things as wisdom in the world. That is the other extreme. I believe we can do all this and be wise in our conversation, be wise in our conduct, and in all our associations; not indulging in wild-fire or doing foolish things. But this is God’s work, and He will take care of it no matter what we do. At the same time we, through unwisdom, can provoke wrath and bring it down upon us, and many men do it through their own imprudent acts. In taking this course, we depart from the counsel of God’s servants. You will always find it to be the case, that the men who are getting themselves into trouble bring trouble upon others because of their imprudent action and unwise speeches; and they are the men who disregard counsel.
Before I sit down I wish to mention some doctrine that has been upon my mind, and as this will perhaps be the last opportunity I shall have during the Conference, I will call attention to it now. The doctrine I refer to is in connection with the resurrection. I will read from that revelation known among us as the Vision, which is found in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord in speaking about the sons of perdition says:
“They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born.
For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come.
Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father—having crucified him unto themselves, and put him to an open shame.
These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels,
And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power.
Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath;
For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.”
I was given to understand, while I and others of the brethren were in exile, that because of this passage, contained in this revelation, some of the Elders had conceived the idea, and were teaching it, that the sons of perdition would not be resurrected; and inquiry was made of us concerning it. The doctrine as taught, was, that a certain class of spirits that had received tabernacles upon the earth, would not be resurrected; and to sustain this view the paragraphs just read were quoted: “For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.” Because of this language some have inferred that all the rest would be resurrected, and the sons of perdition would not be resurrected. If you will read the context carefully you will see this is not the meaning. “And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power, Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, ... For all the rest shall be brought forth,” etc. That is, they will be redeemed and brought forth, but they will not be brought forth in the manner that we will be resurrected; they will not receive that redemption which the rest of the children of men will receive. God in this glorious revelation through His servant, Joseph, taught this to us, that there will be a time when every human being, except the sons of perdition, will partake of the salvation of our God. And even, it is said concerning them of the telestial glory, that they are heirs of salvation. But the sons of perdition are not heirs of salvation; they will not receive redemptions, they having committed the unpardonable sin, from which they never can be redeemed, so far, at least, as God has taught us in His revelations.
Now if you will turn to the 29th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find how plain the Lord has made this matter, so plain as to leave no doubt about it:
“And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth,
For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;
And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand.
But behold, verily I saw unto you, before the earth shall pass away, Michael, mine archangel, shall sound his trump, and then shall all the dead awake, for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth; yea, even all.
“Then shall all the dead awake,”—mark the words—“for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth; yea, even all.”
The Book of Mormon is also very clear upon this doctrine. I will read a few extracts from that book in connection with this subject, which will be found in the 9th chapter of the Second Book of Nephi, the 15th and 16th, 21st and 22nd verses:
“And it shall come to pass, that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.
And as surely as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is His eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous, shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy, are the devil and his angels, and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever, and has no end.
And He cometh into the world that He may save all men, if they will hearken unto his voice: for behold, He suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
And He suffereth this, that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before Him at the great and judgment day.”
The Prophet Helaman says:
“For behold, he surely must die, that salvation may come; yea, it behoveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.”
You will see there is another prophet who bears testimony as to the character of the redemption wrought out by the Savior. No matter what a man’s sins may be, whatever crimes he may have committed, the resurrection of the mortal body is assured to him by the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. But after that comes the second death; and they who are sons of perdition will partake of that.
Amulek, in the 40th verse of the 11th chapter of Alma, says:
“And he shall come into the world to redeem his people: and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.
“Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, excepting it be the loosing of the bands of death.”
How plain are the words of the prophet: “The wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, excepting it be the loosing of the bands of death; for, behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God and be judged according to their works.
“The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time, and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.”
I might go on, still quoting from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, in corroboration of the view I have endeavored to set forth, but it is not necessary. All men will come forth from the dead regardless of their condition, regardless of their sins, the just and the unjust; all will stand before the judgment set of Christ and they will have His judgments passed upon them. Some will receive and have pronounced upon them the blessings of eternal lives, as promised to the faithful, and be exalted; another class will not receive exaltation, but they will nevertheless be redeemed, and there will be degrees in the condition of the children of men there, just as there are degrees in our condition here. There will be this difference, however: the righteous and the wicked will not mingle together, as they no do, but a great separation will take place. Some will become rulers in the Kingdom of God. They are they for whom God holds in reserve crowns and septres, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers. They are the men who have been faithful before God in the midst of every trial, whose knees have never shaken, whose hands have never trembled in the face of the enemy—men of God, who have started out to serve God with all their hearts—men who have been devoted in this life to the cause of God, and who have shown unflinching integrity in every condition of life. God for them has reserved thrones; for them He has reserved principalities and powers and dominion, yea, God has reserved for them the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal lives, and they will be rulers in His Kingdom. Be comforted then; be comforted, ye afflicted ones, whose souls have groaned under the burden of your sorrows; you who have felt that life was almost too hard to bear, be comforted! For as God lives, and as His throne cannot be moved by the efforts of man, so surely will it be that those who are faithful in Christ Jesus will receive this glorious reward. They will receive crowns; they will receive thrones; they will receive principalities and powers, and no power on earth or in hell can deprive them of it.
My brethren and sisters, let us be faithful; let us keep the commandments of God; let us keep our armor bright. Let us listen to the voice of inspired men, the men who have taught us with such power, and with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost, these two days that are past. Let us humble ourselves before our God in this Conference, and say, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Let us set our houses in order; let us be chaste; let us be true to our brethren and sisters; let us be upright in our dealings; let us be willing to suffer wrong rather than do wrong; let us carry out practically in our lives the teachings of our blessed and glorious Redeemer, making His Gospel part of our lives, and exhibiting in our conduct and our associations with the children of men, its precepts. That we may be able to do this, I ask in your and my own behalf, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The choir sang the anthem: Arise, shine, for thy light is come.
Benediction by John Henry Smith.
Afternoon Session.
The choir sang:
Praise ye the Lord! my heart shall join
In work so pleasant, so divine.
Now while the flesh is my abode,
And when my soul ascends to God.
Prayer by Elder Wm. M. Palmer.
The choir sang:
Ye children of our God
Ye Saints of latter days,
Surround the table of the Lord
And join to sing his praise.
The Priesthood of the Tenth Ward officiated in the administration of the Sacrament.
The choir sang:
Praise ye the Lord! my heart shall join
In work so pleasant, so divine.
Now while the flesh is my abode,
And when my soul ascends to God.
Prayer by Elder Wm. M. Palmer.
The choir sang:
Ye children of our God
Ye Saints of latter days,
Surround the table of the Lord
And join to sing his praise.
The Priesthood of the Tenth Ward officiated in the administration of the Sacrament.
Presiding Bishop Wm. B. Preston
was called to address the congregation. He said that it was necessary for the people to keep very still in order for such a vast assemblage to hear the speakers. If we do not enjoy all the blessings of the Gospel it is because of our own neglect. The Gospel is a perfect law of liberty, and if we do not enjoy this liberty we are our own bondsmen; if we do not enjoy the blessings of the Government of God, it is because we fail to govern ourselves. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth; it embraces all the principles of life, and brings salvation to those who obey it. I am requested to represent the Aaronic Priesthood this afternoon. This branch is to aid as an appendage to the Melchisedec Priesthood. In it are Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, called to operate in these callings as servants of God. The Bishop as a father to those over whom he is called to preside; not an autocrat, but a father. I have sometimes thought and care enough upon our calling to perform it properly. It is our duty to attend to temporal matters; to see that the poor are provided for; to see that there is nothing wrong among the people—this to be done through the Teachers who visit from house to house. It is also the duty of Priests to visit the house of each member, and to preach the Gospel to every household. Are the Priests faithful in performing this duty? If not, there is something for them to repent of, as there is with the Bishops and others if they are neglectful. There is no more important calling than that of a Teacher in attending to matters relating to the welfare of the Saints, and administering to their comfort and support. If they have not done this they have not perfected themselves as teachers. In all their labors they are to be assisted by the Deacons as may be necessary. The beauty of the Gospel is that all have something to do. It is our duty to set a good example before all. We are responsible for our own course. If Zion is not redeemed as quickly as she ought to be, it is our own fault. If the sick are not healed, it is because of our lack of faith. We all have a duty and will be held responsible by the Lord for the way we perform it. I have been delighted with the words of light and truth we have received at this conference. The duty that rests upon us is to set ourselves in order in accordance with the plan of salvation. Then, the whole house would be in order, and all obstacles would be removed from our path. Let us honor God and keep His laws, that we may receive the blessings of the faithful.
was called to address the congregation. He said that it was necessary for the people to keep very still in order for such a vast assemblage to hear the speakers. If we do not enjoy all the blessings of the Gospel it is because of our own neglect. The Gospel is a perfect law of liberty, and if we do not enjoy this liberty we are our own bondsmen; if we do not enjoy the blessings of the Government of God, it is because we fail to govern ourselves. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth; it embraces all the principles of life, and brings salvation to those who obey it. I am requested to represent the Aaronic Priesthood this afternoon. This branch is to aid as an appendage to the Melchisedec Priesthood. In it are Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, called to operate in these callings as servants of God. The Bishop as a father to those over whom he is called to preside; not an autocrat, but a father. I have sometimes thought and care enough upon our calling to perform it properly. It is our duty to attend to temporal matters; to see that the poor are provided for; to see that there is nothing wrong among the people—this to be done through the Teachers who visit from house to house. It is also the duty of Priests to visit the house of each member, and to preach the Gospel to every household. Are the Priests faithful in performing this duty? If not, there is something for them to repent of, as there is with the Bishops and others if they are neglectful. There is no more important calling than that of a Teacher in attending to matters relating to the welfare of the Saints, and administering to their comfort and support. If they have not done this they have not perfected themselves as teachers. In all their labors they are to be assisted by the Deacons as may be necessary. The beauty of the Gospel is that all have something to do. It is our duty to set a good example before all. We are responsible for our own course. If Zion is not redeemed as quickly as she ought to be, it is our own fault. If the sick are not healed, it is because of our lack of faith. We all have a duty and will be held responsible by the Lord for the way we perform it. I have been delighted with the words of light and truth we have received at this conference. The duty that rests upon us is to set ourselves in order in accordance with the plan of salvation. Then, the whole house would be in order, and all obstacles would be removed from our path. Let us honor God and keep His laws, that we may receive the blessings of the faithful.
President George Q. Cannon,
by request of President Woodruff, read from the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, as follows:
My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people and from land to land, in the congregations of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them.
And behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth;
And this is an ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation;
Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
by request of President Woodruff, read from the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, as follows:
My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people and from land to land, in the congregations of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them.
And behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth;
And this is an ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation;
Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
President Wilford Woodruff
spoke. The following is a synopsis of his remarks:
There is one peculiarity of the Saints that is unknown anywhere else, that is that the Elders are called upon, without previous warning, to speak to the Saints. Those who have listened to them, thus called at this Conference, know that they have spoken by the Spirit and power of the Lord. I have been with Joseph, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and with many others, under many circumstances, and I have never felt a better influence than has been here. No man has ever been called to build up the Kingdom of God, and has been able to do it except by the Holy Ghost. That Spirit is one of the Godhead. It will deceive no man. It is the Spirit of Inspiration, and will guide us into all truth. The Elders are told what they should say would be given to them in the hour they needed it. This is our condition. The Lord has said that He would choose the weak to confound the wise. This certainly has been the case in this age. The Elders are sent forth to carry to the nations of the Gospel of Christ.
A greater Prophet, save Jesus only, than Joseph Smith, God never raised up. This is because the present one is the greatest dispensation of all. The world called him an illiterate man, but he was raised up by God, and taught by Him as His servant. He brought forth the Book of Mormon, translating it by the Urim and Thummim, and giving an account of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. In that book is a record of the building of temples and cities, of the visit of Jesus to this continent, and many other things. That is a true history. Joseph also organized the Church as it was organized by Jesus and His Apostles on the eastern hemisphere.
Almost the whole body of the male members of the Church who have arrived at maturity have received some portion of the Priesthood. There is reason for the Lord pursuing this course. There never was a time when there were so many to whom the Gospel should be preached in the world as at present. John the Revelator saw the restoration of the Gospel in the last days. The angel he saw has visited the earth, and his message has been proclaimed as far as time and circumstances have permitted.
When I came here in 1847, we found this a barren desert. Now you find fields and crops, and cities in all these valleys, and 200,000 Saints are dwelling here. They have been gathered from the various nations, in response to the Gospel proclamation. They were taught the principles of the Gospel as Jesus taught them, the Holy Ghost testified of their truth. This whole congregation will bear witness to this. If there are any here who do not belong to the Church, let them look upon the work of the Saints, and then ask themselves if we are not sincere, if we are not earnest, if we are deceivers. No man can say in his heart that we are not what we claim to be.
The God of heaven has set up His Kingdom and it will not be overthrown. In the times of Daniel, the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream—that of the great image—and manifested what should come to pass. His dream was interpreted by Daniel the Prophet, and the Kingdom of God which was shown in the dream is being established in these days. The Lord is going to comfort His people. He will prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. This is your work. The God of heaven raised up this nation. He inspired men in regard to the discovery of this continent, and the subsequent development of liberty upon this land. The hand of God was in the establishment of this government, and if any constitution has ever been inspired, it is the Constitution of the United States; that contains the best fundamental basis of government for all mankind. All men and women should be sustained in their religion; they should have the right to enjoy it. The Saints claim this as a right; they claim a right to believe in God and keep His laws. If any people have a truth that I have not, I want it. Any people have a right to preach their religion, and we claim the same right.
The Lord has given us the principles of truth. Sixty years ago this Church was organized, and it has grown through persecution to the present. God has set His hand to establish His Kingdom. So far He has sustained it, and He will continue to do so. We are all in His hands. If this had not been His work it would have been gone long ago.
Whatever law a people observe will bring them the reward of its observance. The ancient Prophets and Apostles obeyed the celestial law. We are endeavoring to do the same thing. In the great rebellion in heaven, one third of the hosts there were cast out. The same war that was there is being continued here, and will till Christ comes. There are but few who have received the fulness of the Gospel in any age. There were only eight souls who believed the testimony of Noah. The city of Enoch had to be taken from the earth. Jesus came as the Savior of the world, but only a few followed Him, and they were persecuted and put to death. The Church was driven into the wilderness, and the Priesthood taken to heaven till it was restored through Joseph Smith in this age. Those who obey the Gospel are under the necessity of undergoing persecution, because the majority are against them. Anciently the Apostles were required to lay down their lives. Are we any better than they? We are not. If the Lord were to call us to seal our testimony with our blood, I think we would do it. I think that any sacrifice the Lord requires would be made. Today the Lord is going to establish Zion, and the Saints should stand in holy places. Let us round up our shoulders and bear the tribulations sent upon us. The Lord will have a chastened people. The Church must be sanctified for the coming of the Son of Man.
I have sympathy for those who take a stand against the kingdom of God. When Jesus was crucified, He knew what would follow upon the Jewish nation, and prayed for their forgiveness. He knew the great afflictions that would come upon the Jews until the last dispensation. All that Jesus and the Prophets said of the judgments upon them have been fulfilled in the terrible experiences they have had. Today for the first time since Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jews are returning, and Jerusalem will be rebuilt. The words of the Lord will be fulfilled. The world is being warned by the Elders, some of whom have laid down their lives. The world have reason to weep for their rejection of the Gospel, because of the judgments which are coming on the earth.
I say to the Saints, Be ye faithful the little time you are on earth. We will follow our brethren beyond the vail, and it will pay us to be true and faithful, and keep the law of God. I rejoice in seeing so many Saints here, and listening to the testimony of the Elders. If we do right, all will be well. When a young man I longed to see an apostle. Now they are with us, and I can bear record that the Kingdom of God will triumph, and Christ will come and reign on earth. May we be faithful, that we may enter the glorious presence of our God. All we keep the celestial law of God shall receive their salvation in the celestial world with their wives and children, and all that has been given to them.
spoke. The following is a synopsis of his remarks:
There is one peculiarity of the Saints that is unknown anywhere else, that is that the Elders are called upon, without previous warning, to speak to the Saints. Those who have listened to them, thus called at this Conference, know that they have spoken by the Spirit and power of the Lord. I have been with Joseph, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and with many others, under many circumstances, and I have never felt a better influence than has been here. No man has ever been called to build up the Kingdom of God, and has been able to do it except by the Holy Ghost. That Spirit is one of the Godhead. It will deceive no man. It is the Spirit of Inspiration, and will guide us into all truth. The Elders are told what they should say would be given to them in the hour they needed it. This is our condition. The Lord has said that He would choose the weak to confound the wise. This certainly has been the case in this age. The Elders are sent forth to carry to the nations of the Gospel of Christ.
A greater Prophet, save Jesus only, than Joseph Smith, God never raised up. This is because the present one is the greatest dispensation of all. The world called him an illiterate man, but he was raised up by God, and taught by Him as His servant. He brought forth the Book of Mormon, translating it by the Urim and Thummim, and giving an account of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. In that book is a record of the building of temples and cities, of the visit of Jesus to this continent, and many other things. That is a true history. Joseph also organized the Church as it was organized by Jesus and His Apostles on the eastern hemisphere.
Almost the whole body of the male members of the Church who have arrived at maturity have received some portion of the Priesthood. There is reason for the Lord pursuing this course. There never was a time when there were so many to whom the Gospel should be preached in the world as at present. John the Revelator saw the restoration of the Gospel in the last days. The angel he saw has visited the earth, and his message has been proclaimed as far as time and circumstances have permitted.
When I came here in 1847, we found this a barren desert. Now you find fields and crops, and cities in all these valleys, and 200,000 Saints are dwelling here. They have been gathered from the various nations, in response to the Gospel proclamation. They were taught the principles of the Gospel as Jesus taught them, the Holy Ghost testified of their truth. This whole congregation will bear witness to this. If there are any here who do not belong to the Church, let them look upon the work of the Saints, and then ask themselves if we are not sincere, if we are not earnest, if we are deceivers. No man can say in his heart that we are not what we claim to be.
The God of heaven has set up His Kingdom and it will not be overthrown. In the times of Daniel, the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream—that of the great image—and manifested what should come to pass. His dream was interpreted by Daniel the Prophet, and the Kingdom of God which was shown in the dream is being established in these days. The Lord is going to comfort His people. He will prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. This is your work. The God of heaven raised up this nation. He inspired men in regard to the discovery of this continent, and the subsequent development of liberty upon this land. The hand of God was in the establishment of this government, and if any constitution has ever been inspired, it is the Constitution of the United States; that contains the best fundamental basis of government for all mankind. All men and women should be sustained in their religion; they should have the right to enjoy it. The Saints claim this as a right; they claim a right to believe in God and keep His laws. If any people have a truth that I have not, I want it. Any people have a right to preach their religion, and we claim the same right.
The Lord has given us the principles of truth. Sixty years ago this Church was organized, and it has grown through persecution to the present. God has set His hand to establish His Kingdom. So far He has sustained it, and He will continue to do so. We are all in His hands. If this had not been His work it would have been gone long ago.
Whatever law a people observe will bring them the reward of its observance. The ancient Prophets and Apostles obeyed the celestial law. We are endeavoring to do the same thing. In the great rebellion in heaven, one third of the hosts there were cast out. The same war that was there is being continued here, and will till Christ comes. There are but few who have received the fulness of the Gospel in any age. There were only eight souls who believed the testimony of Noah. The city of Enoch had to be taken from the earth. Jesus came as the Savior of the world, but only a few followed Him, and they were persecuted and put to death. The Church was driven into the wilderness, and the Priesthood taken to heaven till it was restored through Joseph Smith in this age. Those who obey the Gospel are under the necessity of undergoing persecution, because the majority are against them. Anciently the Apostles were required to lay down their lives. Are we any better than they? We are not. If the Lord were to call us to seal our testimony with our blood, I think we would do it. I think that any sacrifice the Lord requires would be made. Today the Lord is going to establish Zion, and the Saints should stand in holy places. Let us round up our shoulders and bear the tribulations sent upon us. The Lord will have a chastened people. The Church must be sanctified for the coming of the Son of Man.
I have sympathy for those who take a stand against the kingdom of God. When Jesus was crucified, He knew what would follow upon the Jewish nation, and prayed for their forgiveness. He knew the great afflictions that would come upon the Jews until the last dispensation. All that Jesus and the Prophets said of the judgments upon them have been fulfilled in the terrible experiences they have had. Today for the first time since Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jews are returning, and Jerusalem will be rebuilt. The words of the Lord will be fulfilled. The world is being warned by the Elders, some of whom have laid down their lives. The world have reason to weep for their rejection of the Gospel, because of the judgments which are coming on the earth.
I say to the Saints, Be ye faithful the little time you are on earth. We will follow our brethren beyond the vail, and it will pay us to be true and faithful, and keep the law of God. I rejoice in seeing so many Saints here, and listening to the testimony of the Elders. If we do right, all will be well. When a young man I longed to see an apostle. Now they are with us, and I can bear record that the Kingdom of God will triumph, and Christ will come and reign on earth. May we be faithful, that we may enter the glorious presence of our God. All we keep the celestial law of God shall receive their salvation in the celestial world with their wives and children, and all that has been given to them.
Discourse
by President Wilford Woodruff
The following passage from the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants was read by President George Q. Cannon:
My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land, in the congregation of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them.
And behold and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth;
And this is an ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation:
Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
President Woodruff then said: I have traveled over one hundred and fifty thousand miles preaching the Gospel to large and small congregations, to saints and to sinners; and I have never yet seen the day, on arising to my feet, that I have known what I was going to say to the people. And this is the case with the Elders generally in their ministrations. You who have attended the meetings of this Conference perceived that we called upon brethren from the right and left to speak to us; and if you have any discernment you certainly can testify that they spoke by the Spirit and power of God.
I have attended Conferences during my whole life, in company with the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, with the first Twelve Apostles, all of whom are in the spirit world, mingling with the Gods; and I have never attended a Conference when I have felt better and been more edified in listening to the remarks of the same number of men, than at this Conference. The Elders have spoken by inspiration, and they have declared unto us eternal truths. As I said last night at our Priesthood meeting so I would remark here, no man that God ever made, beginning with Father Adam down through the history of the world, that has ever been called to build up the Kingdom of God, and preach the Gospel, has been able to perform that work only by the Power of the Holy Ghost; neither can any man do it today. We are all dependent upon the Holy Ghost. And what is the Holy Ghost? The testimony of the Father and the Son. It is the one of the God-head—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Will the Holy Ghost deceive any man? It will not. When a man speaks as he is moved upon by the Holy Ghost, it is the spirit of inspiration; it is the word of God; it is the will of God. It cannot lie; it cannot deceive. It leads into all truth and reveals to man the will of his Maker.
Jesus instructed His disciples to take no thought what they should eat, or what they should drink. They were traveling without purse or scrip, as many of us have done in our time. The Lord knew they would have need of something to eat; and He knew that somebody would be raised up to supply their wants. He also instructed them to take no thought what they should say when having to appear before magistrates and rulers; for the same should be given them the hour it was needed.
This is the condition of the Latter-day Saints. The Apostle has said, “He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ... and things which are not, to bring to naught things which are.” This has been the case in the dealings of God with man of all ages; and it certainly is the case in this our day.
When I look upon the ten thousand faces of Latter-day Saints before me the present time; and when I contemplate what God hath wrought in establishing this people in the midst of these mountain valleys; and when I bring myself face to face with the wonderful age we live in, and sense the mighty responsibilities that rest upon us, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and as watchmen to this generation—when I contemplate these things, if any man under heaven feels his weakness, it is Wilford Woodruff. And in saying this to myself, I know I am expressing the feelings of my brethren associated with me in reference to themselves, as Counselors, as well as the sentiments of the Twelve respecting themselves, and those of every Elder of Israel who appreciates his calling in Christ Jesus.
We have been called from the ploy, the plane and the anvil, and the various avocations of life; and without preparation the Elders of this Church are sent forth, by command of Almighty God, to preach to and warn the nations of the earth. Joseph Smith has been referred to by some of the speakers, and their testimony of him is true. A greater prophet than he, expecting Jesus Christ, I do not believe ever lived. In saying this I give it as my own personal views. I don’t believe God ever raised up a greater prophet, save Jesus himself. The dispensation he was called to usher in is the greatest ever given to man; and it required just such a man to stand at the head of it—a man who was true to God and his brethren; who was a seer and revelator, and whose faith in God was such that he never wavered or doubted, but persevered himself and encouraged others to move forward in the great work before them. The world called him illiterate and ignorant. However they might regard him, our testimony of him is that he was taught of God Himself and of the angels who visited him; and that he fulfilled certain revelations and predictions referring to this age, as contained in the Bible and other records of Divine truth. And, as has been stated during this Conference, he brought forth the Book of Mormon—the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—in fulfillment of the testimony of Isaiah, translating that record through the Urim and Thummim, thereby revealing to us the history of the early inhabitants of this Continent. That book informs us that two distinct nations inhabited this land, the founders of both of which were brought here by the power of God from the eastern continent, the first, known afterwards as the Jaredites, tracing their origin to the tower of Babel. They flourished and became a mighty people; but they turned from the right way of the Lord, and when they had ripened in iniquity they, like other nations of the earth, were finally destroyed by the judgments of God. The other nation was known as Nephites and Lamanites, being named after the sons of Lehi, the head of the family who, by command of God, left their native land, Jerusalem, some four hundred years before Christ, and traveled by land, and in ships of their own construction, crossed the great waters, and came to this land. They dwelt here for hundreds of years, and also became a great and mighty people, an outline of whose history is recorded in that book. The interesting mission of the Savior to the people of this continent is also recorded here; the establishing of the Church among the believing Nephites, and their labors in the work of perfection. And I may say the remains of some of the cities built by these peoples have been discovered and written about by such men as Stephens and Catherwood and others; and doubtless much remains yet to come to light in corroboration of the testimony of this divine record.
The Prophet Joseph not only performed this work, but organized the Church with prophets and apostles, elders, priests, teachers and deacons, as it was organized in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. And there is a feature connected with the Church as it exists today that is peculiar from all other dispensations that we have any account of; that is, nearly the whole body of its male members have received some portion of the Priesthood, until we have to-day in these mountains some twenty thousand men bearing either the Priesthood after the order of Aaron or Melchisedek. There is a reason for this. There never has been a time in all the dispensations of God to man, when there has been so much need for the labors of the servants of God as in this our day; and the Lord, therefore, has called a great number of men to bear the Priesthood, and directed them to go unto all nations, tongues and peoples, as He showed John the Revelator He would do in the last days as recorded in the 14th chapter of the book of Revelations. And in fulfilment thereof we have not only gone forth to the nations proclaiming this Gospel revealed to man by the angel of God, but in further obedience to the divine command, have come out from Babylon, until we number some two hundred thousand gathered here. And by what power have we come here? And why did you leave the States of this nation, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany and other nations? You heard the Elders. They told you they had been sent by God and that they had the fulness of the Gospel to offer to man, and they explained to you the principles thereof. They told you there was but one Gospel, and that God had never revealed but the one, the Gospel that Paul referred to when he said, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” You believed and obeyed, and gathered with the Saints. And what was it these Elders taught you? It was that you must have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God; that you must repent of your sins and be baptized by immersion for remission of the same, and then have hands laid upon your head for the reception of the Holy Ghost. And this Comforter, this Holy Spirit, you received, and it bore witness unto you that you had indeed been initiated into the Church of Christ. And if I were to call upon this congregation of Latter-day Saints today, and ask every man and woman who thus heard and obeyed, and who did receive this testimony for themselves, to rise to their feet, how many do you think would remain seated? Not man, if any. The fact that you are thus gathered here, and that you have these many years remained faithful to the cause you espoused, is evidence that you did receive and are still in possession of this testimony. And I would say, if there are present today any strangers who are not acquainted with the principles of our religion, let them gaze upon this congregation of over ten thousand faces; let them travel through the settlements of the Saints north and south, and contemplate the work that has been accomplished in redeeming the earth and making it habitable, and then let them ask themselves the question, are not these people in earnest? Are they not sincere? Are they deceivers, these missionary Elders who have been the means of inducing the people of all lands to thus settle and make homes in these valleys? Do you believe in their works and their mission? You say no. But let me tell you, there is not an honest man upon the face of the earth acquainted with the history of the Latter-day Saints that can say this at heart. And I testify to you, as I would to the whole world had I the power to do so, that God has set His hand to fulfil the word of the Lord as given in the Bible, the book of all books the Christian world profess to believe in; the revelations of St. John, the predictions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, and others contained within its sacred lids, who spoke of the great work of the last days; and I testify that the day has come which Daniel saw, the day referred to by him in his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, when the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed.
This Kingdom was represented to him as a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which stone smote the image, representing the different nations that then existed and should exist, on the feet, breaking it to pieces; and it became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. Was Daniel a prophet? He was, and was highly favored of God because of his mighty faith. Isaiah saw our day and time and was glad.
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” What is the matter? The Lord is going to comfort Zion; He is going to have mercy upon her afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” saith the Lord. “Yea, she may forget, but I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graved thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” This refers to the building up of Zion in the last days; the gathering together of the people, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.
As far as constitutional liberty is concerned, I will say, the God of heaven has raised up our nation, as foretold by His Prophets generations ago. He inspired Columbus, and moved upon him to cross the ocean in search of this continent. The world is acquainted with the history of his course; his pleadings with the courts of Europe, and his final triumph in finding sympathy in the King and Queen of Spain, who furnished the necessary means to make the exploration. It is also well known how our forefathers found a home and an asylum in this land from the hand of persecution, and how they planted here the tree of liberty and jealously guarded it from the attempt of the mother country to uproot and destroy it. The hand of God was in all this; and it is through the intervention of His providences that we enjoy today the freest and most independent government the world ever saw. And what was the object of this? It was to prepare the way for the building up of the Kingdom of God in this the last dispensation of the fullness of times; and as long as the principles of constitutional liberty shall be maintained upon this land, blessings will attend the nation. But wo unto those who fight against Zion, said the Lord. I have heard the Prophet Joseph Smith remark, that if he were Emperor of the world, and had the power to control the whole human family, he would sustain every man, woman and child in the enjoyment of their civil and religious rights, let their religion be what it may. In saying this he expressed my sentiments, and the feelings of this entire community. For God has given to every man individual agency, and He will hold him accountable for the use of this agency. And while we in our hearts and feelings accord to the whole world this blessing, we claim the same for ourselves. To obtain this and to secure it to our children, we have struggled; and we look forward with joyful anticipation when it shall be beyond the power of man to drive it any more from the earth. Our feelings with regard to religious liberty have been manifested towards the religious denominations that have come among us. Not a single one of them can accuse us of doing anything to hinder them in their labors by way of establishing themselves among us; on the other hand, we have opened our doors to them; they have occupied our public stands until they have had meeting houses of their own. We have never had a fear that our people or our children would be captivated by their doctrine or converted to their religion; if they have a single truth which we have not, we want it, for it is truth we are after. This Church has been organized now nearly sixty years. It certainly has been like the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It has withstood all the opposition that has been aimed against it; and it will remain firm and immovable, fulfilling the destiny marked out for it, until the winding up scene. Zion will arise, clothed with the glory of God, no matter what we may have to pass through. We are in the hands of God, and so are all men and nations; and if this is the work of God—and we say it is—He will bear it off triumphant.
Brother George Q. Cannon in his discourse this morning referred to the different laws which govern man, and the different glories that attend their observance. And I would say, show me a nation of people and I will tell you their future condition by the laws which govern them. All the creations of God are governed by law; and all blessings are predicated upon the observance of law. Opposition to the laws of God commenced in the councils of heaven at the time one-third of the heavenly hosts were cast out; and they are here upon the earth still opposing the work of God. They are without tabernacles; they never had bodies, and that is the curse visited upon them. Those who did not rebel were permitted to take tabernacles. The war that commenced at that time is still being waged, and the struggle will continue until Christ shall come to assume the reigns of government. There have been very few people in any age of the world ready to receive the Gospel when presented to them. In the days of Noah only eight souls believed on him, although he and his sons preached to the anti-diluvian world a hundred and twenty years. In consequence of their having become ripened in iniquity, the Lord determined to destroy them from the face of the earth. Enoch appeared in his day as the representative of God, and succeeded in raising up a Church who so far perfected themselves in the ways of the Lord as to be worthy of translation. They, we are told, will return to the earth with Christ and the Church of the First Born, when His Saints upon the earth shall be prepared to meet Him. In the days of Jesus and the Apostles, comparatively few believed on them, and the opposition was so strong against them that they were all, excepting one, put to death. That was a day of sacrifice; the time had not then arrived for the Lord to establish His Kingdom. The consequence was that the Church fled to the wilderness, and the Priesthood was taken home to the Paradise of God, where it remained until the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
We have at present about two hundred thousand people in these mountains who have received the Gospel, out of the millions that now inhabit the earth, and it seems, in consequence of the unpopularity of the Gospel, that we are under the necessity of passing through more or less persecution. We have these things to meet, as other men have met them. In ancient times the Apostles were ready to lay down their lives for the truth’s sake. They knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that they had been called to and endowed with the Priesthood of heaven. Are we any better than they? Are the Apostles of this day any better than those of former days? If God were to require it at our hands that our testimony be sealed by our blood, I believe there is not a single member of the Council of the Twelve but what would be ready to make the sacrifice. Why? Because we, like the former day Apostles, know for ourselves that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we are His servants. Whatever sacrifices the Lord may require at the hands of this people, will be met by the people. But ours is not a day of sacrifice. Our special calling is to build up Zion, and prepare the people to stand in holy places while the judgments of the Lord are being poured out upon the wicked. And whatever may be before us we must meet in the fear of our God, believing that He will deliver us in His own due time. The Lord, for our encouragement, has told us that Zion shall not be moved out of her place. But if we do not do our part, as the brethren have said who have preached to us during this Conference, we shall be chastised. This is my testimony to the Latter-day Saints.
In reflecting upon these things I have a great deal of sympathy for those who array themselves against us, as I have for the Jews who opposed the Savior and His Apostles. When upon the cross suffering the agonies of a cruel death, Christ exclaimed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Why did the Savior feel thus towards those who opposed him? Because He had clearly before his mind the results of their acts; that they were only heaping coals of fire upon their own heads; that all He had predicted concerning them would sooner or later overtake them; which certainly has been the case.
The Lord is again calling upon the human family to repent of their sins. And while in the pursuit of their calling some of our brethren have been called upon to lay down their lives for the work of God. What will be the result of the rejection of the Gospel by this generation? The answer has been written by St. John, by Isaiah and has been reiterated by the revelations of God through the Prophet Joseph. Woe unto them, says the Lord, that fight against Zion; woe unto all nations that continue in their iniquities; they have reason to weep for themselves and their posterity.
To the Latter-day Saints I would say, be ye faithful in keeping the commandments of God the little time we have to remain here. We are as much upon a mission to this generation, as the Prophets which have preceded us were to the generations in which they lived. We have our day; they had theirs. As they have gone to render an account of their stewardship, so we shall follow, and will be held to answer for the deeds done in the body, and the manner in which we shall have used the talents entrusted to us. Brethren and sisters, be true and faithful, and keep inviolate the covenants you have entered into, that we may be worthy of eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God to man.
I rejoice in meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints in Conference; and I have rejoiced in listening to the testimonies of the Elders. I have often said in my boyhood, I wished I could see an Apostle or some one that was able to teach me the same Gospel I had read of in the New Testament. But I could never find no man that could teach those doctrines; it was said they have been done away. They were done away, it is true, but through the unbelief of the children of men. But they are with us. The Kingdom of God is here, and the Lord will sustain it. And I can bear record as my brethren have, that this kingdom will stand; and that the Zion of God will remain upon the earth until Jesus shall come to receive us unto himself. And my prayer is that you and I, and all this people, may be true and faithful, working with an eye single to the glory of God, for the building up of Zion, and the establishing of His kingdom upon the earth; and when we go to the other side of the veil, we can there assemble with all those who have kept the celestial law, and honored the Holy Priesthood, from Father Adam down to our day, and with them receive our inheritance, and have part in the morning of the first resurrection, with our wives and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, each in the family organization in the Celestial World. Amen.
by President Wilford Woodruff
The following passage from the sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants was read by President George Q. Cannon:
My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land, in the congregation of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them.
And behold and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth;
And this is an ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation:
Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
President Woodruff then said: I have traveled over one hundred and fifty thousand miles preaching the Gospel to large and small congregations, to saints and to sinners; and I have never yet seen the day, on arising to my feet, that I have known what I was going to say to the people. And this is the case with the Elders generally in their ministrations. You who have attended the meetings of this Conference perceived that we called upon brethren from the right and left to speak to us; and if you have any discernment you certainly can testify that they spoke by the Spirit and power of God.
I have attended Conferences during my whole life, in company with the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, with the first Twelve Apostles, all of whom are in the spirit world, mingling with the Gods; and I have never attended a Conference when I have felt better and been more edified in listening to the remarks of the same number of men, than at this Conference. The Elders have spoken by inspiration, and they have declared unto us eternal truths. As I said last night at our Priesthood meeting so I would remark here, no man that God ever made, beginning with Father Adam down through the history of the world, that has ever been called to build up the Kingdom of God, and preach the Gospel, has been able to perform that work only by the Power of the Holy Ghost; neither can any man do it today. We are all dependent upon the Holy Ghost. And what is the Holy Ghost? The testimony of the Father and the Son. It is the one of the God-head—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Will the Holy Ghost deceive any man? It will not. When a man speaks as he is moved upon by the Holy Ghost, it is the spirit of inspiration; it is the word of God; it is the will of God. It cannot lie; it cannot deceive. It leads into all truth and reveals to man the will of his Maker.
Jesus instructed His disciples to take no thought what they should eat, or what they should drink. They were traveling without purse or scrip, as many of us have done in our time. The Lord knew they would have need of something to eat; and He knew that somebody would be raised up to supply their wants. He also instructed them to take no thought what they should say when having to appear before magistrates and rulers; for the same should be given them the hour it was needed.
This is the condition of the Latter-day Saints. The Apostle has said, “He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ... and things which are not, to bring to naught things which are.” This has been the case in the dealings of God with man of all ages; and it certainly is the case in this our day.
When I look upon the ten thousand faces of Latter-day Saints before me the present time; and when I contemplate what God hath wrought in establishing this people in the midst of these mountain valleys; and when I bring myself face to face with the wonderful age we live in, and sense the mighty responsibilities that rest upon us, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and as watchmen to this generation—when I contemplate these things, if any man under heaven feels his weakness, it is Wilford Woodruff. And in saying this to myself, I know I am expressing the feelings of my brethren associated with me in reference to themselves, as Counselors, as well as the sentiments of the Twelve respecting themselves, and those of every Elder of Israel who appreciates his calling in Christ Jesus.
We have been called from the ploy, the plane and the anvil, and the various avocations of life; and without preparation the Elders of this Church are sent forth, by command of Almighty God, to preach to and warn the nations of the earth. Joseph Smith has been referred to by some of the speakers, and their testimony of him is true. A greater prophet than he, expecting Jesus Christ, I do not believe ever lived. In saying this I give it as my own personal views. I don’t believe God ever raised up a greater prophet, save Jesus himself. The dispensation he was called to usher in is the greatest ever given to man; and it required just such a man to stand at the head of it—a man who was true to God and his brethren; who was a seer and revelator, and whose faith in God was such that he never wavered or doubted, but persevered himself and encouraged others to move forward in the great work before them. The world called him illiterate and ignorant. However they might regard him, our testimony of him is that he was taught of God Himself and of the angels who visited him; and that he fulfilled certain revelations and predictions referring to this age, as contained in the Bible and other records of Divine truth. And, as has been stated during this Conference, he brought forth the Book of Mormon—the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—in fulfillment of the testimony of Isaiah, translating that record through the Urim and Thummim, thereby revealing to us the history of the early inhabitants of this Continent. That book informs us that two distinct nations inhabited this land, the founders of both of which were brought here by the power of God from the eastern continent, the first, known afterwards as the Jaredites, tracing their origin to the tower of Babel. They flourished and became a mighty people; but they turned from the right way of the Lord, and when they had ripened in iniquity they, like other nations of the earth, were finally destroyed by the judgments of God. The other nation was known as Nephites and Lamanites, being named after the sons of Lehi, the head of the family who, by command of God, left their native land, Jerusalem, some four hundred years before Christ, and traveled by land, and in ships of their own construction, crossed the great waters, and came to this land. They dwelt here for hundreds of years, and also became a great and mighty people, an outline of whose history is recorded in that book. The interesting mission of the Savior to the people of this continent is also recorded here; the establishing of the Church among the believing Nephites, and their labors in the work of perfection. And I may say the remains of some of the cities built by these peoples have been discovered and written about by such men as Stephens and Catherwood and others; and doubtless much remains yet to come to light in corroboration of the testimony of this divine record.
The Prophet Joseph not only performed this work, but organized the Church with prophets and apostles, elders, priests, teachers and deacons, as it was organized in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. And there is a feature connected with the Church as it exists today that is peculiar from all other dispensations that we have any account of; that is, nearly the whole body of its male members have received some portion of the Priesthood, until we have to-day in these mountains some twenty thousand men bearing either the Priesthood after the order of Aaron or Melchisedek. There is a reason for this. There never has been a time in all the dispensations of God to man, when there has been so much need for the labors of the servants of God as in this our day; and the Lord, therefore, has called a great number of men to bear the Priesthood, and directed them to go unto all nations, tongues and peoples, as He showed John the Revelator He would do in the last days as recorded in the 14th chapter of the book of Revelations. And in fulfilment thereof we have not only gone forth to the nations proclaiming this Gospel revealed to man by the angel of God, but in further obedience to the divine command, have come out from Babylon, until we number some two hundred thousand gathered here. And by what power have we come here? And why did you leave the States of this nation, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany and other nations? You heard the Elders. They told you they had been sent by God and that they had the fulness of the Gospel to offer to man, and they explained to you the principles thereof. They told you there was but one Gospel, and that God had never revealed but the one, the Gospel that Paul referred to when he said, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” You believed and obeyed, and gathered with the Saints. And what was it these Elders taught you? It was that you must have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God; that you must repent of your sins and be baptized by immersion for remission of the same, and then have hands laid upon your head for the reception of the Holy Ghost. And this Comforter, this Holy Spirit, you received, and it bore witness unto you that you had indeed been initiated into the Church of Christ. And if I were to call upon this congregation of Latter-day Saints today, and ask every man and woman who thus heard and obeyed, and who did receive this testimony for themselves, to rise to their feet, how many do you think would remain seated? Not man, if any. The fact that you are thus gathered here, and that you have these many years remained faithful to the cause you espoused, is evidence that you did receive and are still in possession of this testimony. And I would say, if there are present today any strangers who are not acquainted with the principles of our religion, let them gaze upon this congregation of over ten thousand faces; let them travel through the settlements of the Saints north and south, and contemplate the work that has been accomplished in redeeming the earth and making it habitable, and then let them ask themselves the question, are not these people in earnest? Are they not sincere? Are they deceivers, these missionary Elders who have been the means of inducing the people of all lands to thus settle and make homes in these valleys? Do you believe in their works and their mission? You say no. But let me tell you, there is not an honest man upon the face of the earth acquainted with the history of the Latter-day Saints that can say this at heart. And I testify to you, as I would to the whole world had I the power to do so, that God has set His hand to fulfil the word of the Lord as given in the Bible, the book of all books the Christian world profess to believe in; the revelations of St. John, the predictions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, and others contained within its sacred lids, who spoke of the great work of the last days; and I testify that the day has come which Daniel saw, the day referred to by him in his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, when the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed.
This Kingdom was represented to him as a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which stone smote the image, representing the different nations that then existed and should exist, on the feet, breaking it to pieces; and it became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. Was Daniel a prophet? He was, and was highly favored of God because of his mighty faith. Isaiah saw our day and time and was glad.
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” What is the matter? The Lord is going to comfort Zion; He is going to have mercy upon her afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” saith the Lord. “Yea, she may forget, but I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graved thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” This refers to the building up of Zion in the last days; the gathering together of the people, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.
As far as constitutional liberty is concerned, I will say, the God of heaven has raised up our nation, as foretold by His Prophets generations ago. He inspired Columbus, and moved upon him to cross the ocean in search of this continent. The world is acquainted with the history of his course; his pleadings with the courts of Europe, and his final triumph in finding sympathy in the King and Queen of Spain, who furnished the necessary means to make the exploration. It is also well known how our forefathers found a home and an asylum in this land from the hand of persecution, and how they planted here the tree of liberty and jealously guarded it from the attempt of the mother country to uproot and destroy it. The hand of God was in all this; and it is through the intervention of His providences that we enjoy today the freest and most independent government the world ever saw. And what was the object of this? It was to prepare the way for the building up of the Kingdom of God in this the last dispensation of the fullness of times; and as long as the principles of constitutional liberty shall be maintained upon this land, blessings will attend the nation. But wo unto those who fight against Zion, said the Lord. I have heard the Prophet Joseph Smith remark, that if he were Emperor of the world, and had the power to control the whole human family, he would sustain every man, woman and child in the enjoyment of their civil and religious rights, let their religion be what it may. In saying this he expressed my sentiments, and the feelings of this entire community. For God has given to every man individual agency, and He will hold him accountable for the use of this agency. And while we in our hearts and feelings accord to the whole world this blessing, we claim the same for ourselves. To obtain this and to secure it to our children, we have struggled; and we look forward with joyful anticipation when it shall be beyond the power of man to drive it any more from the earth. Our feelings with regard to religious liberty have been manifested towards the religious denominations that have come among us. Not a single one of them can accuse us of doing anything to hinder them in their labors by way of establishing themselves among us; on the other hand, we have opened our doors to them; they have occupied our public stands until they have had meeting houses of their own. We have never had a fear that our people or our children would be captivated by their doctrine or converted to their religion; if they have a single truth which we have not, we want it, for it is truth we are after. This Church has been organized now nearly sixty years. It certainly has been like the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It has withstood all the opposition that has been aimed against it; and it will remain firm and immovable, fulfilling the destiny marked out for it, until the winding up scene. Zion will arise, clothed with the glory of God, no matter what we may have to pass through. We are in the hands of God, and so are all men and nations; and if this is the work of God—and we say it is—He will bear it off triumphant.
Brother George Q. Cannon in his discourse this morning referred to the different laws which govern man, and the different glories that attend their observance. And I would say, show me a nation of people and I will tell you their future condition by the laws which govern them. All the creations of God are governed by law; and all blessings are predicated upon the observance of law. Opposition to the laws of God commenced in the councils of heaven at the time one-third of the heavenly hosts were cast out; and they are here upon the earth still opposing the work of God. They are without tabernacles; they never had bodies, and that is the curse visited upon them. Those who did not rebel were permitted to take tabernacles. The war that commenced at that time is still being waged, and the struggle will continue until Christ shall come to assume the reigns of government. There have been very few people in any age of the world ready to receive the Gospel when presented to them. In the days of Noah only eight souls believed on him, although he and his sons preached to the anti-diluvian world a hundred and twenty years. In consequence of their having become ripened in iniquity, the Lord determined to destroy them from the face of the earth. Enoch appeared in his day as the representative of God, and succeeded in raising up a Church who so far perfected themselves in the ways of the Lord as to be worthy of translation. They, we are told, will return to the earth with Christ and the Church of the First Born, when His Saints upon the earth shall be prepared to meet Him. In the days of Jesus and the Apostles, comparatively few believed on them, and the opposition was so strong against them that they were all, excepting one, put to death. That was a day of sacrifice; the time had not then arrived for the Lord to establish His Kingdom. The consequence was that the Church fled to the wilderness, and the Priesthood was taken home to the Paradise of God, where it remained until the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
We have at present about two hundred thousand people in these mountains who have received the Gospel, out of the millions that now inhabit the earth, and it seems, in consequence of the unpopularity of the Gospel, that we are under the necessity of passing through more or less persecution. We have these things to meet, as other men have met them. In ancient times the Apostles were ready to lay down their lives for the truth’s sake. They knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that they had been called to and endowed with the Priesthood of heaven. Are we any better than they? Are the Apostles of this day any better than those of former days? If God were to require it at our hands that our testimony be sealed by our blood, I believe there is not a single member of the Council of the Twelve but what would be ready to make the sacrifice. Why? Because we, like the former day Apostles, know for ourselves that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we are His servants. Whatever sacrifices the Lord may require at the hands of this people, will be met by the people. But ours is not a day of sacrifice. Our special calling is to build up Zion, and prepare the people to stand in holy places while the judgments of the Lord are being poured out upon the wicked. And whatever may be before us we must meet in the fear of our God, believing that He will deliver us in His own due time. The Lord, for our encouragement, has told us that Zion shall not be moved out of her place. But if we do not do our part, as the brethren have said who have preached to us during this Conference, we shall be chastised. This is my testimony to the Latter-day Saints.
In reflecting upon these things I have a great deal of sympathy for those who array themselves against us, as I have for the Jews who opposed the Savior and His Apostles. When upon the cross suffering the agonies of a cruel death, Christ exclaimed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Why did the Savior feel thus towards those who opposed him? Because He had clearly before his mind the results of their acts; that they were only heaping coals of fire upon their own heads; that all He had predicted concerning them would sooner or later overtake them; which certainly has been the case.
The Lord is again calling upon the human family to repent of their sins. And while in the pursuit of their calling some of our brethren have been called upon to lay down their lives for the work of God. What will be the result of the rejection of the Gospel by this generation? The answer has been written by St. John, by Isaiah and has been reiterated by the revelations of God through the Prophet Joseph. Woe unto them, says the Lord, that fight against Zion; woe unto all nations that continue in their iniquities; they have reason to weep for themselves and their posterity.
To the Latter-day Saints I would say, be ye faithful in keeping the commandments of God the little time we have to remain here. We are as much upon a mission to this generation, as the Prophets which have preceded us were to the generations in which they lived. We have our day; they had theirs. As they have gone to render an account of their stewardship, so we shall follow, and will be held to answer for the deeds done in the body, and the manner in which we shall have used the talents entrusted to us. Brethren and sisters, be true and faithful, and keep inviolate the covenants you have entered into, that we may be worthy of eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God to man.
I rejoice in meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints in Conference; and I have rejoiced in listening to the testimonies of the Elders. I have often said in my boyhood, I wished I could see an Apostle or some one that was able to teach me the same Gospel I had read of in the New Testament. But I could never find no man that could teach those doctrines; it was said they have been done away. They were done away, it is true, but through the unbelief of the children of men. But they are with us. The Kingdom of God is here, and the Lord will sustain it. And I can bear record as my brethren have, that this kingdom will stand; and that the Zion of God will remain upon the earth until Jesus shall come to receive us unto himself. And my prayer is that you and I, and all this people, may be true and faithful, working with an eye single to the glory of God, for the building up of Zion, and the establishing of His kingdom upon the earth; and when we go to the other side of the veil, we can there assemble with all those who have kept the celestial law, and honored the Holy Priesthood, from Father Adam down to our day, and with them receive our inheritance, and have part in the morning of the first resurrection, with our wives and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, each in the family organization in the Celestial World. Amen.
President Jesse N. Smith,
of Snowflake Stake,
said: The principal part of my labors has been upon the frontiers, where the instructions needed by the people are essentially of a parental character. I have a testimony of the truth of the Gospel, and desire to be faithful. I rejoice to see the prosperity of the Saints, and that they are becoming numerous, notwithstanding the opposition they are confronted by. The faith of this people has vitality, and God protects and blesses them. I am anxious to perform every duty in the fear of God, trusting in Him for the results. Our aged brethren are becoming enfeebled with many years of service. Those who follow them should arise in the strength of the Lord. I exhort all who have received the Priesthood to be diligent. I see in the future this great kingdom established and perfected, and securing to all men their rights, and protection to all. The Lord will never forsake this people. There never will be a lack of a man of God to stand at the head of this great work. I have been a witness of many deliverances wrought out by an unseen hand for this people. It is true that the first Elder of the Church, with many others, was called to lay down his life, and many have had to endure hardships, but this need not be a cause of regret. If there were no trials no man could be tested. The promise of eternal life is to those who endure unto the end. It has been said of Jesus that He was a man of sorrows. His life and habits showed Him to be a most earnest Being, not dwelling upon the lighter things that engage the attention of smaller minds. It is good for us to emulate the virtues of those who have overcome. We may expect to be subject to annoyance and perplexity until the Lord shall come. I have seen many of the efforts made to destroy the Priesthood, and have been able to judge the motives behind these attempts. Those motives have been unworthy. Many subterfuges have been used as covers for these endeavors. These efforts have been made in the name of morality, but the pretense has been hypocritical. This is made clear by the practices of those who conducted such assaults against the Priesthood. I rejoice that men and women make it an object of their lives to walk in purity. There may be exceptions, but I do not believe they are so numerous as to cause alarm. I am willing to consecrate myself for the benefit and progress of this great cause we are engaged in. May the Lord add His blessing.
of Snowflake Stake,
said: The principal part of my labors has been upon the frontiers, where the instructions needed by the people are essentially of a parental character. I have a testimony of the truth of the Gospel, and desire to be faithful. I rejoice to see the prosperity of the Saints, and that they are becoming numerous, notwithstanding the opposition they are confronted by. The faith of this people has vitality, and God protects and blesses them. I am anxious to perform every duty in the fear of God, trusting in Him for the results. Our aged brethren are becoming enfeebled with many years of service. Those who follow them should arise in the strength of the Lord. I exhort all who have received the Priesthood to be diligent. I see in the future this great kingdom established and perfected, and securing to all men their rights, and protection to all. The Lord will never forsake this people. There never will be a lack of a man of God to stand at the head of this great work. I have been a witness of many deliverances wrought out by an unseen hand for this people. It is true that the first Elder of the Church, with many others, was called to lay down his life, and many have had to endure hardships, but this need not be a cause of regret. If there were no trials no man could be tested. The promise of eternal life is to those who endure unto the end. It has been said of Jesus that He was a man of sorrows. His life and habits showed Him to be a most earnest Being, not dwelling upon the lighter things that engage the attention of smaller minds. It is good for us to emulate the virtues of those who have overcome. We may expect to be subject to annoyance and perplexity until the Lord shall come. I have seen many of the efforts made to destroy the Priesthood, and have been able to judge the motives behind these attempts. Those motives have been unworthy. Many subterfuges have been used as covers for these endeavors. These efforts have been made in the name of morality, but the pretense has been hypocritical. This is made clear by the practices of those who conducted such assaults against the Priesthood. I rejoice that men and women make it an object of their lives to walk in purity. There may be exceptions, but I do not believe they are so numerous as to cause alarm. I am willing to consecrate myself for the benefit and progress of this great cause we are engaged in. May the Lord add His blessing.
Elder John T. Caine
said he deemed it a great privilege to stand before the Saints in a conference, and express his joy that the people were becoming more united, and the work of God was still progressing in spite of the efforts made against it. I rejoice to hear the testimonies that have been borne, and to witness the sincerity and earnestness of the people. This is a glorious day. We have passed through many trials, but the people are still anxious to see and hear and associate with the servants of God. We have raised our hands in covenant toward God to sustain them, and it is our duty to keep that agreement. It is now over 42 years since I joined this Church, and I have never regretted it. I rejoice in laboring with you in the cause of right. May we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord.
The choir sang the anthem: Lord, what is man?
Benediction was pronounced by President Wilford Woodruff, and the Conference adjourned till April, 1890, the precise day to be hereafter announced.
said he deemed it a great privilege to stand before the Saints in a conference, and express his joy that the people were becoming more united, and the work of God was still progressing in spite of the efforts made against it. I rejoice to hear the testimonies that have been borne, and to witness the sincerity and earnestness of the people. This is a glorious day. We have passed through many trials, but the people are still anxious to see and hear and associate with the servants of God. We have raised our hands in covenant toward God to sustain them, and it is our duty to keep that agreement. It is now over 42 years since I joined this Church, and I have never regretted it. I rejoice in laboring with you in the cause of right. May we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord.
The choir sang the anthem: Lord, what is man?
Benediction was pronounced by President Wilford Woodruff, and the Conference adjourned till April, 1890, the precise day to be hereafter announced.
Overflow Meeting.
In the Assembly Hall an overflow meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, Apostle H. J. Grant presiding. On the stand were: Of the Quorum of the Apostles, H. J. Grant, John Henry Smith and A. H. Lund; also Counselor John W. Young; of the presidency of the Seventies, John Morgan.
The choir sang:
Great is the Lord, ‘tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise.
Prayer was offered by Elder Wm. Paxman.
The choir sang:
Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears.
The Priesthood of the Eleventh Ward officiated in the administration of the Sacrament.
In the Assembly Hall an overflow meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, Apostle H. J. Grant presiding. On the stand were: Of the Quorum of the Apostles, H. J. Grant, John Henry Smith and A. H. Lund; also Counselor John W. Young; of the presidency of the Seventies, John Morgan.
The choir sang:
Great is the Lord, ‘tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise.
Prayer was offered by Elder Wm. Paxman.
The choir sang:
Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears.
The Priesthood of the Eleventh Ward officiated in the administration of the Sacrament.
Elder John Morgan
addressed the assemblage. A passage of Scripture has presented itself to my mind several times today while looking upon the great numbers of the Saints: “Give us room that we may dwell.” When we consider that the settlements of the Saints extend from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south, we can better understand the meaning of these words. It is a source of joy for the Saints to know that their numbers are so rapidly increasing and that such an overflow meeting as this is necessary.
That the Latter-day Saints are more firmly grounded in the principles of the Gospel than they ever were before, and that their numbers are steadily swelling, is apparent, and is a cause of rejoicing to the Saints. The honest are gathering to these valleys from all parts of the earth. Here they find that which will make them better, and redeem mankind and the earth from the condition both have lain in for so many centuries. Though the world may not believe this, and though they may deride the Latter-day Saints, not one word of the Lord will fall unfulfilled, and all that He has promised will be accomplished. The opposition we have in the past encountered has caused this work to be filled with life and activity, and a great incentive which the Saints have had to faithfulness. When we see the wealth of the world pouring in upon us we might well fear the result, but for the legislation which has been passed against us; and it will yet become apparent that this legislation has been a blessing to us. The men who have suffered under it, and who have endured imprisonment, are more faithful and humble than ever before. The Kingdom of God is moving steadily forward and is accomplishing the work assigned it.
As individuals we have need to walk cautiously, for we are today passing through an ordeal that we will in the future look back upon as a fiery one. We have need to guard our footsteps lest we take a false step. There is no reason to turn from the Gospel; but on the contrary there is every rightful incentive for us to continue to practice every principle God has revealed. These principles are worth caring for, and we cannot afford to trample them down nor turn aside from them, nor treat them slightingly.
Let us carry the spirit of this conference home with us; let us carry it into the valleys of these mountains where we dwell. So shall God be with us and His blessings abide upon us.
addressed the assemblage. A passage of Scripture has presented itself to my mind several times today while looking upon the great numbers of the Saints: “Give us room that we may dwell.” When we consider that the settlements of the Saints extend from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south, we can better understand the meaning of these words. It is a source of joy for the Saints to know that their numbers are so rapidly increasing and that such an overflow meeting as this is necessary.
That the Latter-day Saints are more firmly grounded in the principles of the Gospel than they ever were before, and that their numbers are steadily swelling, is apparent, and is a cause of rejoicing to the Saints. The honest are gathering to these valleys from all parts of the earth. Here they find that which will make them better, and redeem mankind and the earth from the condition both have lain in for so many centuries. Though the world may not believe this, and though they may deride the Latter-day Saints, not one word of the Lord will fall unfulfilled, and all that He has promised will be accomplished. The opposition we have in the past encountered has caused this work to be filled with life and activity, and a great incentive which the Saints have had to faithfulness. When we see the wealth of the world pouring in upon us we might well fear the result, but for the legislation which has been passed against us; and it will yet become apparent that this legislation has been a blessing to us. The men who have suffered under it, and who have endured imprisonment, are more faithful and humble than ever before. The Kingdom of God is moving steadily forward and is accomplishing the work assigned it.
As individuals we have need to walk cautiously, for we are today passing through an ordeal that we will in the future look back upon as a fiery one. We have need to guard our footsteps lest we take a false step. There is no reason to turn from the Gospel; but on the contrary there is every rightful incentive for us to continue to practice every principle God has revealed. These principles are worth caring for, and we cannot afford to trample them down nor turn aside from them, nor treat them slightingly.
Let us carry the spirit of this conference home with us; let us carry it into the valleys of these mountains where we dwell. So shall God be with us and His blessings abide upon us.
Counselor John W. Young
addressed the Saints. The Latter-day Saints who have attended this conference are witnesses that the Spirit of God has been poured out upon the people abundantly. Personally I have never enjoyed a conference better, and I feel that we have great occasion to rejoice.
We are engaged in a great work, that of the Gospel, which has been restored in our day, with the promise that it should nevermore be taken from the earth. We live when Apostles and Prophets speak unto us under the inspiration of the Almighty. We have privileges which are great, far greater than we appreciate. The time allotted to us on the earth is short. In it we ought to lay a foundation for an eternal salvation. We have no time to lose. Let us go forth from this conference determined to right the wrongs we have committed. Let us be more united in temporal tings than we have been heretofore, and be in temporal as we are in spiritual affairs. There is comparatively little discussion or division among the people concerning spiritual matters; but what about their temporal affairs? Are they united in them? To a certain extent, yes. The people have gone forth and built new settlements and have shown much union in such labors as the bringing out of water upon their lands. But there are higher laws of temporal union which we have not carried out, and we will be held accountable for the course we have taken in regard to these things. Let us be more united temporally. If we will be, we shall have more power spiritually.
addressed the Saints. The Latter-day Saints who have attended this conference are witnesses that the Spirit of God has been poured out upon the people abundantly. Personally I have never enjoyed a conference better, and I feel that we have great occasion to rejoice.
We are engaged in a great work, that of the Gospel, which has been restored in our day, with the promise that it should nevermore be taken from the earth. We live when Apostles and Prophets speak unto us under the inspiration of the Almighty. We have privileges which are great, far greater than we appreciate. The time allotted to us on the earth is short. In it we ought to lay a foundation for an eternal salvation. We have no time to lose. Let us go forth from this conference determined to right the wrongs we have committed. Let us be more united in temporal tings than we have been heretofore, and be in temporal as we are in spiritual affairs. There is comparatively little discussion or division among the people concerning spiritual matters; but what about their temporal affairs? Are they united in them? To a certain extent, yes. The people have gone forth and built new settlements and have shown much union in such labors as the bringing out of water upon their lands. But there are higher laws of temporal union which we have not carried out, and we will be held accountable for the course we have taken in regard to these things. Let us be more united temporally. If we will be, we shall have more power spiritually.
Apostle A. H. Lund
addressed the Saints. In arising before you, my brethren and sisters, I can say it has been a time of refreshing for me in attending this conference. Jesus told the woman at the well that He would give her of the water of life, and after drinking of it she would not thirst again. We can all testify that after having drank of the Gospel we have not thirsted. Our doubts have been removed, and we have retained a consciousness, a testimony that we have received the truth. How thankful we ought to feel that we have become members of the Church of Christ.
How true were the words spoken by the Lord and the Prophet Joseph, that a great and marvelous work was about to be begun. When I read the Book of Mormon, and ask the question, is it possible that this can be an imposture, the answer is, no. The book was published before the Church was organized. In it is the declaration that when the spiritual gifts cease, faith has ceased. This is a statement that could be brought against this work if it were not true. How could Joseph have dared to put such words in a book written by him, had he not been inspired? The book was written hundreds of years before his time, and he only translated it. I believe that the spiritual gifts are as common among us as they were in the early rise of the Church, only there are more of us, and we do not notice them as much as formerly. My labors of late have been in the Manti Temple, and there I have seen many cases of healing.
The speaker related a number of instances of healing which had occurred under his own observation, during the period of his labors in the Manti Temple, which were striking testimonies of the truth of the Gospel. The sick had been made whole and the blind restored to sight.
How thankful Luther and the reformers would have been if they could have witnessed such evidences of the truth of their teachings as we do.
The choir sang:
Mortals awake! with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay.
addressed the Saints. In arising before you, my brethren and sisters, I can say it has been a time of refreshing for me in attending this conference. Jesus told the woman at the well that He would give her of the water of life, and after drinking of it she would not thirst again. We can all testify that after having drank of the Gospel we have not thirsted. Our doubts have been removed, and we have retained a consciousness, a testimony that we have received the truth. How thankful we ought to feel that we have become members of the Church of Christ.
How true were the words spoken by the Lord and the Prophet Joseph, that a great and marvelous work was about to be begun. When I read the Book of Mormon, and ask the question, is it possible that this can be an imposture, the answer is, no. The book was published before the Church was organized. In it is the declaration that when the spiritual gifts cease, faith has ceased. This is a statement that could be brought against this work if it were not true. How could Joseph have dared to put such words in a book written by him, had he not been inspired? The book was written hundreds of years before his time, and he only translated it. I believe that the spiritual gifts are as common among us as they were in the early rise of the Church, only there are more of us, and we do not notice them as much as formerly. My labors of late have been in the Manti Temple, and there I have seen many cases of healing.
The speaker related a number of instances of healing which had occurred under his own observation, during the period of his labors in the Manti Temple, which were striking testimonies of the truth of the Gospel. The sick had been made whole and the blind restored to sight.
How thankful Luther and the reformers would have been if they could have witnessed such evidences of the truth of their teachings as we do.
The choir sang:
Mortals awake! with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay.
Elder Junius F. Wells.
I have greatly enjoyed the spirit of this conference and the instructions we have received. It was truly said that no people are so well served by those whom they sustain in positions of honor and trust as are the Latter-day Saints. The service rendered to us by the servants of the Lord is very great. Without a paid ministry, this people are looked after in all the affairs of life, and they always know where to go for advice. The Scriptures say that he who desireth the office of a Bishop, desireth a good thing. A Bishop’s thoughts are ever upon his little flock. The poor appeal to him for succor and the sick apply to him for relief. All this labor, and much more, is performed by the Bishops among this people in their organized wards, from Idaho to Mexico.
The union existing among this people is their strength, and is what causes them to be feared. Drinking of the water of life, as described by Brother Lund, is what has made this people one, and no people can be united as this people are except by the power of the Holy Ghost.
I have greatly enjoyed the spirit of this conference and the instructions we have received. It was truly said that no people are so well served by those whom they sustain in positions of honor and trust as are the Latter-day Saints. The service rendered to us by the servants of the Lord is very great. Without a paid ministry, this people are looked after in all the affairs of life, and they always know where to go for advice. The Scriptures say that he who desireth the office of a Bishop, desireth a good thing. A Bishop’s thoughts are ever upon his little flock. The poor appeal to him for succor and the sick apply to him for relief. All this labor, and much more, is performed by the Bishops among this people in their organized wards, from Idaho to Mexico.
The union existing among this people is their strength, and is what causes them to be feared. Drinking of the water of life, as described by Brother Lund, is what has made this people one, and no people can be united as this people are except by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Apostle J. H. Smith.
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Words of truth have been delivered to us at this conference. It seems to me that no people on earth have instruction given to them by their religious teachers upon every subject as do the Latter-day Saints. Our leaders teach us the Gospel, instruct us in our daily duties, warn us against temptation, and admonish us to do right.
From the day the labors of Joseph Smith the Seer commenced, the seal of the Holy spirit was upon his ministry. It was upon the ministry of the man who led us to the mountains, who was a great one, raised up for that work; and it has been upon the ministry of the Priesthood of this Church in all parts of the earth.
The voice of inspiration knows no timidity. It is not confined along to the leaders of this people, but it circulates through the whole body. Those who obey the laws of God enjoy it. The sick are healed, the blind see, unknown tongues are spoken, devils are cast out; and the gifts and graces which pertained to the Gospel in the days of Jesus and the ancient Apostles exist among this people today. This is my testimony.
The testimonies borne during this conference are true, and the Saints know it. We dare not deny it. i plead with you, my brethren and sisters, to be true, honest, virtuous and faithful, and we shall obtain the blessings promised.
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Words of truth have been delivered to us at this conference. It seems to me that no people on earth have instruction given to them by their religious teachers upon every subject as do the Latter-day Saints. Our leaders teach us the Gospel, instruct us in our daily duties, warn us against temptation, and admonish us to do right.
From the day the labors of Joseph Smith the Seer commenced, the seal of the Holy spirit was upon his ministry. It was upon the ministry of the man who led us to the mountains, who was a great one, raised up for that work; and it has been upon the ministry of the Priesthood of this Church in all parts of the earth.
The voice of inspiration knows no timidity. It is not confined along to the leaders of this people, but it circulates through the whole body. Those who obey the laws of God enjoy it. The sick are healed, the blind see, unknown tongues are spoken, devils are cast out; and the gifts and graces which pertained to the Gospel in the days of Jesus and the ancient Apostles exist among this people today. This is my testimony.
The testimonies borne during this conference are true, and the Saints know it. We dare not deny it. i plead with you, my brethren and sisters, to be true, honest, virtuous and faithful, and we shall obtain the blessings promised.
Elder A. W. Ivins.
In the days of the Savior came one crying in the wilderness, Repent. So in our day. A message of repentance from heaven is published, and the servants of the Lord are proclaiming that Israel will be gathered. This congregation is a living witness of the fulfilment of some of the purposes of God. We came here from many different nations, and are living witnesses that the Gospel has been restored. We have been called out of Babylon, that we may be saved from the fate which awaits her. Babylon will fall, and if we partake of her sins we shall receive of her judgments.
In the days of the Savior came one crying in the wilderness, Repent. So in our day. A message of repentance from heaven is published, and the servants of the Lord are proclaiming that Israel will be gathered. This congregation is a living witness of the fulfilment of some of the purposes of God. We came here from many different nations, and are living witnesses that the Gospel has been restored. We have been called out of Babylon, that we may be saved from the fate which awaits her. Babylon will fall, and if we partake of her sins we shall receive of her judgments.
Apostle H. J. Grant.
I have been truly edified by the outpourings of the Spirit we have had at this conference. I rejoice that there is abundance of labor for each Latter-day Saint, and that the gift of eternal life is within the reach of all. I rejoice in this work, and I know that it is true. When the people of God were driven to the mountains, there was but one city of them; now they extend from Canada to Mexico.
It depends upon the individual himself, in this work, whether he shall be saved or not. Our carelessness may retard for a time the work of God, but ultimately it will fill the whole earth.
The choir sang the anthem: Daughters of Zion.
Benediction by Apostle J. H. Smith.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference.
I have been truly edified by the outpourings of the Spirit we have had at this conference. I rejoice that there is abundance of labor for each Latter-day Saint, and that the gift of eternal life is within the reach of all. I rejoice in this work, and I know that it is true. When the people of God were driven to the mountains, there was but one city of them; now they extend from Canada to Mexico.
It depends upon the individual himself, in this work, whether he shall be saved or not. Our carelessness may retard for a time the work of God, but ultimately it will fill the whole earth.
The choir sang the anthem: Daughters of Zion.
Benediction by Apostle J. H. Smith.
John Nicholson,
Clerk of Conference.