April 1896
Cannon, George Q. "Remarks." The Deseret Weekly, June 6, 1896: pg. 769-770.
Richards, Franklin D. "Times and Seasons." The Deseret Weekly, May 9, 1896: pg. 641-643.
The Deseret Weekly. "Sixty-Sixth Annual Conference." April 11, 1896: pg. 527-532.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, April 18, 1896: pg. 545-547.
SIXTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
President Joseph F. Smith
Elder John W. Taylor
Afternoon Session
President Lorenzo Snow
Elder Heber J. Grant
Elder George Teasdale
Second Day. Sunday, April 5th, 10 a.m.
President Wilford Woodruff
Discourse
Elder Franklin D. Richards
Times and Seasons
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Afternoon Session
President George Q. Cannon
Elder Abraham H. Cannon
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
The Assembly Hall
Edward Stevenson
Elder Brigham Young
Priesthood Meeting. 7 p. m.
Elder Seymour B. Young
Bishop William B. Preston
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
Third Day. April 6th, 10 a. m.
Reading of Reports
Elder John Henry Smith
Elder John Nicholson
President Wilford Woodruff
Elder B. H. Roberts
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
Reading of Document
Sustaining of the General Authorities
Elder Brigham Young
President George Q. Cannon
Remarks
Richards, Franklin D. "Times and Seasons." The Deseret Weekly, May 9, 1896: pg. 641-643.
The Deseret Weekly. "Sixty-Sixth Annual Conference." April 11, 1896: pg. 527-532.
Woodruff, Wilford. "Discourse." The Deseret Weekly, April 18, 1896: pg. 545-547.
SIXTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
President Wilford Woodruff
President Joseph F. Smith
Elder John W. Taylor
Afternoon Session
President Lorenzo Snow
Elder Heber J. Grant
Elder George Teasdale
Second Day. Sunday, April 5th, 10 a.m.
President Wilford Woodruff
Discourse
Elder Franklin D. Richards
Times and Seasons
Elder Francis M. Lyman
Afternoon Session
President George Q. Cannon
Elder Abraham H. Cannon
Elder Marriner W. Merrill
The Assembly Hall
Edward Stevenson
Elder Brigham Young
Priesthood Meeting. 7 p. m.
Elder Seymour B. Young
Bishop William B. Preston
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
Third Day. April 6th, 10 a. m.
Reading of Reports
Elder John Henry Smith
Elder John Nicholson
President Wilford Woodruff
Elder B. H. Roberts
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
Reading of Document
Sustaining of the General Authorities
Elder Brigham Young
President George Q. Cannon
Remarks
SIXTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Sixty-sixth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., on Saturday, April 4th, 1896, President Wilford Woodruff presiding.
Of the general authorities present on the stand there were,
of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith;
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill and Abraham H. Cannon;
Patriarch John Smith;
of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson;
of the Presiding Bishopric—William B. Preston, Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder.
Conference called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir and congregation sang:
Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way;
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Opening prayer by Elder John W. Hess.
Singing by the choir:
Hark! listen to the trumpeteers!
They sound for volunteers,
On Zion’s bright and flowery mount,
Behold the officers.
The Sixty-sixth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m., on Saturday, April 4th, 1896, President Wilford Woodruff presiding.
Of the general authorities present on the stand there were,
of the First Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith;
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill and Abraham H. Cannon;
Patriarch John Smith;
of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjelsted, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson;
of the Presiding Bishopric—William B. Preston, Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder.
Conference called to order by President George Q. Cannon.
The choir and congregation sang:
Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way;
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Opening prayer by Elder John W. Hess.
Singing by the choir:
Hark! listen to the trumpeteers!
They sound for volunteers,
On Zion’s bright and flowery mount,
Behold the officers.
President Wilford Woodruff.
Our hearts ought to be filled this morning with gratitude and thanksgiving to God our Heavenly Father, for the blessings that we enjoy at the present time, for the privilege of assembling this glorious morning in this tabernacle, in the Sixty-sixth annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If there is any man on the face of the earth who ought to be thankful who ought to have gratitude, who ought to be faithful to the God of Heaven and the Church and kingdom of God, it is myself. When we look over the field to the last sixty-six years, and see all that the Lord has done since the re-organization of this Church, the number who have passed away, and the many changes which have taken place, we ought to be thankful for the blessings of God. Our history has been a very peculiar one, and we have been called to pass through many events. We have arrived where the promises of God in the revelations in the Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants by the voice of the Prophets of God, are being fulfilled before our eyes, before the heavens, and before the earth. We stand here today with this great and mighty responsibility resting upon us as the Holy Priesthood and the Saints of the Living god, to labor, and to be true and faithful to God, to our covenants, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to those laws and principles which God has revealed concerning the last dispensation and the fulness of times. I feel thankful for these blessings, and hope that during this conference the Apostles and the Elders of Israel and the people may be filled with the inspiration of the Almighty God; that we might comprehend and understand the position we occupy today in the sight of heaven and earth, that the spirit and power of God may be with us, that we may know the mind and will of God and rejoice together and be able to perform the things required at our hands. I ask God to bless the Latter-day Saints who are assembled in this conference, that these blessings may dwell with us during these meetings, from henceforth and forever. Amen.
Our hearts ought to be filled this morning with gratitude and thanksgiving to God our Heavenly Father, for the blessings that we enjoy at the present time, for the privilege of assembling this glorious morning in this tabernacle, in the Sixty-sixth annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If there is any man on the face of the earth who ought to be thankful who ought to have gratitude, who ought to be faithful to the God of Heaven and the Church and kingdom of God, it is myself. When we look over the field to the last sixty-six years, and see all that the Lord has done since the re-organization of this Church, the number who have passed away, and the many changes which have taken place, we ought to be thankful for the blessings of God. Our history has been a very peculiar one, and we have been called to pass through many events. We have arrived where the promises of God in the revelations in the Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants by the voice of the Prophets of God, are being fulfilled before our eyes, before the heavens, and before the earth. We stand here today with this great and mighty responsibility resting upon us as the Holy Priesthood and the Saints of the Living god, to labor, and to be true and faithful to God, to our covenants, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to those laws and principles which God has revealed concerning the last dispensation and the fulness of times. I feel thankful for these blessings, and hope that during this conference the Apostles and the Elders of Israel and the people may be filled with the inspiration of the Almighty God; that we might comprehend and understand the position we occupy today in the sight of heaven and earth, that the spirit and power of God may be with us, that we may know the mind and will of God and rejoice together and be able to perform the things required at our hands. I ask God to bless the Latter-day Saints who are assembled in this conference, that these blessings may dwell with us during these meetings, from henceforth and forever. Amen.
President Joseph F. Smith
expressed his gratitude for the presence at this general conference of President Woodruff, who had been wonderfully blessed and preserved by the Lord, to minister to the people in His name. He spoke similarly concerning President George Q. Cannon and Lorenzo Snow, and Elder Franklin D. Richards, who had led useful and faithful lives in the Church of Christ for a long series of years. In the same connection of valor and integrity to truth he referred to the brethren of the Council of the Twelve generally and to the large number of other good, faithful brethren who had proved themselves worthy laborers in the work of God.
The speaker then dwelt upon the feet of the increasing numbers of elders who were being sent into the nations to warn the people of the world. He looked forward in the extension of missionary labor to populous countries which had never yet been reached by the Elders, and anticipated that the missionaries would, before long, have access to classes of people with whom they had not heretofore been able to come in contact. He spoke of the wonderful change of sentiment that had taken place regarding the Latter-day Saints. It had been brought about by the Lord. This condition might not always exist as opposition must be met in the future, but the people would have increased wisdom to meet with obstacles as they might arise.
President Smith dwelt for some time upon the danger associated with times of peace and worldly goodwill, unless great wisdom were exercised and purity of conduct should exist. He pointed out the nature of these dangers and what they consisted of and how they ought to be guarded against. The concluding portion of his discourse was devoted to the necessity of parents teaching their children to love the truth and abide in it, giving numerous excellent suggestions upon the value of early training. In the same connection he delineated that kind of missionary experience which cultivated faith in the young Elders who were sent abroad on missions, and the conditions which tended in the direction of destroying that principle, or at least retarding its development in their minds.
expressed his gratitude for the presence at this general conference of President Woodruff, who had been wonderfully blessed and preserved by the Lord, to minister to the people in His name. He spoke similarly concerning President George Q. Cannon and Lorenzo Snow, and Elder Franklin D. Richards, who had led useful and faithful lives in the Church of Christ for a long series of years. In the same connection of valor and integrity to truth he referred to the brethren of the Council of the Twelve generally and to the large number of other good, faithful brethren who had proved themselves worthy laborers in the work of God.
The speaker then dwelt upon the feet of the increasing numbers of elders who were being sent into the nations to warn the people of the world. He looked forward in the extension of missionary labor to populous countries which had never yet been reached by the Elders, and anticipated that the missionaries would, before long, have access to classes of people with whom they had not heretofore been able to come in contact. He spoke of the wonderful change of sentiment that had taken place regarding the Latter-day Saints. It had been brought about by the Lord. This condition might not always exist as opposition must be met in the future, but the people would have increased wisdom to meet with obstacles as they might arise.
President Smith dwelt for some time upon the danger associated with times of peace and worldly goodwill, unless great wisdom were exercised and purity of conduct should exist. He pointed out the nature of these dangers and what they consisted of and how they ought to be guarded against. The concluding portion of his discourse was devoted to the necessity of parents teaching their children to love the truth and abide in it, giving numerous excellent suggestions upon the value of early training. In the same connection he delineated that kind of missionary experience which cultivated faith in the young Elders who were sent abroad on missions, and the conditions which tended in the direction of destroying that principle, or at least retarding its development in their minds.
Elder John W. Taylor
of the Council of Apostles, followed. He expressed his gratitude at the privilege of listening to the inspired teachings of the Prophets of God. He referred to the prophecies made by the servants of God some years since, when conditions were much less favorable than at present, and testified to the fulfillment of as many of those predictions as time had permitted. He felt that those still awaiting fulfillment would not fail. These prophecies had a bearing upon the improvement to occur in the financial and social condition of the people of God. The inspiration thus shown in the words of the servants of God should be a cause of thanksgiving on the part of the Latter-day Saints.
The spirit of hatred formerly existing against the Saints, and the contempt of the world toward the people of God had disappeared to a great measure, and a feeling of respect and confidence had been established. The Saints were becoming better understood, and their mission more fully comprehended and respected. The world had learned through the efforts of the Tabernacle choir and others, that good can come out of Zion, and more of this good would be recognized in the future. Representation of Utah in the government being now of a free and efficient character, greater good could be done by good men in Washington, whether they be non-Mormons or Latter-day Saints. There had never, to the speaker’s knowledge, been a union of church and state in Utah, and no such union was wanted.
The speaker exhorted all to new courage and hopefulness; and to press onward in the work, not giving way to despondency. He closed with a testimony to the truth of the work of God, and the self-sacrificing spirit of the officers of the Church.
The anthem:
From afar, gracious Lord,
Thou hast gathered Thy flock,
was sung by the choir.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
of the Council of Apostles, followed. He expressed his gratitude at the privilege of listening to the inspired teachings of the Prophets of God. He referred to the prophecies made by the servants of God some years since, when conditions were much less favorable than at present, and testified to the fulfillment of as many of those predictions as time had permitted. He felt that those still awaiting fulfillment would not fail. These prophecies had a bearing upon the improvement to occur in the financial and social condition of the people of God. The inspiration thus shown in the words of the servants of God should be a cause of thanksgiving on the part of the Latter-day Saints.
The spirit of hatred formerly existing against the Saints, and the contempt of the world toward the people of God had disappeared to a great measure, and a feeling of respect and confidence had been established. The Saints were becoming better understood, and their mission more fully comprehended and respected. The world had learned through the efforts of the Tabernacle choir and others, that good can come out of Zion, and more of this good would be recognized in the future. Representation of Utah in the government being now of a free and efficient character, greater good could be done by good men in Washington, whether they be non-Mormons or Latter-day Saints. There had never, to the speaker’s knowledge, been a union of church and state in Utah, and no such union was wanted.
The speaker exhorted all to new courage and hopefulness; and to press onward in the work, not giving way to despondency. He closed with a testimony to the truth of the work of God, and the self-sacrificing spirit of the officers of the Church.
The anthem:
From afar, gracious Lord,
Thou hast gathered Thy flock,
was sung by the choir.
Benediction by Patriarch John Smith.
Afternoon Session.
2 p. m.—Singing by the choir and congregation:
Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation;
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam,
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come.
Prayer by Elder Edward Partridge.
The choir sang:
Hark! listen to the gentle strain,
O’er hill and valley, grove and plain!
It echoes from the heights above
The voice of freedom, peace and love.
2 p. m.—Singing by the choir and congregation:
Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation;
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam,
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come.
Prayer by Elder Edward Partridge.
The choir sang:
Hark! listen to the gentle strain,
O’er hill and valley, grove and plain!
It echoes from the heights above
The voice of freedom, peace and love.
President Lorenzo Snow.
The Saints had been called to labor in the interest of our Father, God. It was one of the best desires that could possess us to gain an understanding of the purpose of our coming into the world from our former estate, and to put our whole heart into the labor of carrying it out. We were doubtless a pretty good class of people before we came here, and were innocent when we made our advent to this probation. We were in this stage of life that we might ultimately obtain a fulness of joy. There was in section 101 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and promise to the effect that a time would come when whatever a man shall desire he shall receive. Before that time shall come a great change should come over the whole face of nature. This would affect the whole animal creation as well as man. All destructive agencies would be banished. These things would take place and the promises gave us joy. We did not have things as we wanted them here. We did not succeed in inducing all of our children to do as we wished them to, but if we proved faithful we could ultimately have all our posterity with us. It might be a great period of time before all this should be realized, but it would surely be if we were obedient. This had been promised to the speaker in the Temple at Kirtland, and he firmly believed that it would be fully fulfilled. He had great faith and confidence in the magnanimity and love of God. They were so comprehensive that we could not fully understand them.
Every man, woman and child could do something toward securing exaltation and glory. The opportunities were exhaustless. It was a mighty work we had to accomplish for ourselves, and when performing it we were also operating in the interest of others.
President Snow related the experience of a young man who wasted all his estate in profligate living and was on the point of suicide, when a supernatural being checked him and urged him to follow his counsel, with the promise that in two years he would govern a kingdom. He was to live a strictly moral life, and his kingdom would be secured. Seeking honest employment, and living faithfully for two years, he found himself a rule over his own spirit and desires. He was informed that this was the realization of the promise. This was the great object of the second estate of men to overcome obstacles and temptations and learn self-control, preparatory to their becoming rulers over others. There was no need of discouragement; though heavy sacrifices might be necessary, and each one could show a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others.
The work of the Lord in behalf of His people had been wonderful during the past few years, miraculous works having been performed in their behalf. The highest rejoicing should be on account of the spiritual blessings of the Gospel, with the glorious truths it has taught. Born of God, in His image men were to become more like him, through overcoming difficulties and temptations. In this respect the prospects were particularly aright. The Lord would be pleased with one ambitious to attain to spiritual advancement, and to become equal with God, through receiving of His fulness, in accordance with the original design. With the new light thrown upon their condition and prospects by the Gospel, the Saints would certainly not be willing to sacrifice those prospects for any earthly consideration. Even in the family relationships, to be continued hereafter there was sufficient happiness to compensate them for all human losses.
It was a pleasure to the speaker to reflect upon the promise that we should see each other in the next life, when all enmity would be banished from the earth.
It was a pleasure to see this great audience of faithful Saints, who were associated with the work of God. He concluded by invoking the blessing of God upon the people.
The Saints had been called to labor in the interest of our Father, God. It was one of the best desires that could possess us to gain an understanding of the purpose of our coming into the world from our former estate, and to put our whole heart into the labor of carrying it out. We were doubtless a pretty good class of people before we came here, and were innocent when we made our advent to this probation. We were in this stage of life that we might ultimately obtain a fulness of joy. There was in section 101 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and promise to the effect that a time would come when whatever a man shall desire he shall receive. Before that time shall come a great change should come over the whole face of nature. This would affect the whole animal creation as well as man. All destructive agencies would be banished. These things would take place and the promises gave us joy. We did not have things as we wanted them here. We did not succeed in inducing all of our children to do as we wished them to, but if we proved faithful we could ultimately have all our posterity with us. It might be a great period of time before all this should be realized, but it would surely be if we were obedient. This had been promised to the speaker in the Temple at Kirtland, and he firmly believed that it would be fully fulfilled. He had great faith and confidence in the magnanimity and love of God. They were so comprehensive that we could not fully understand them.
Every man, woman and child could do something toward securing exaltation and glory. The opportunities were exhaustless. It was a mighty work we had to accomplish for ourselves, and when performing it we were also operating in the interest of others.
President Snow related the experience of a young man who wasted all his estate in profligate living and was on the point of suicide, when a supernatural being checked him and urged him to follow his counsel, with the promise that in two years he would govern a kingdom. He was to live a strictly moral life, and his kingdom would be secured. Seeking honest employment, and living faithfully for two years, he found himself a rule over his own spirit and desires. He was informed that this was the realization of the promise. This was the great object of the second estate of men to overcome obstacles and temptations and learn self-control, preparatory to their becoming rulers over others. There was no need of discouragement; though heavy sacrifices might be necessary, and each one could show a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others.
The work of the Lord in behalf of His people had been wonderful during the past few years, miraculous works having been performed in their behalf. The highest rejoicing should be on account of the spiritual blessings of the Gospel, with the glorious truths it has taught. Born of God, in His image men were to become more like him, through overcoming difficulties and temptations. In this respect the prospects were particularly aright. The Lord would be pleased with one ambitious to attain to spiritual advancement, and to become equal with God, through receiving of His fulness, in accordance with the original design. With the new light thrown upon their condition and prospects by the Gospel, the Saints would certainly not be willing to sacrifice those prospects for any earthly consideration. Even in the family relationships, to be continued hereafter there was sufficient happiness to compensate them for all human losses.
It was a pleasure to the speaker to reflect upon the promise that we should see each other in the next life, when all enmity would be banished from the earth.
It was a pleasure to see this great audience of faithful Saints, who were associated with the work of God. He concluded by invoking the blessing of God upon the people.
Elder Heber J. Grant
of the Council of Apostles, followed. He said in substance: There had never been a time in the history of the Church when there was such cause for gratitude as now. Kindliness of feeling had increased in a marvelous degree, a fact which deserved the deepest gratitude of the Saints. Liberty of utterance and the blessings of the Spirit had attended him in his ministry among the people, and God had blessed the Saints through the labors of himself and other servants of God, similar blessings being experienced by the laborers themselves. This was not on account of increased knowledge and power on the part of the Elders, so much as the greater spirit of faithfulness which attended the people themselves. The time of harvest having now come, the Spirit of God had increased upon the Priesthood and the people alike, manifesting itself in the greater faith and confidence of all. It all would turn their attention to the preaching of the Gospel by precept and example there would be a great number of converts made among the people at home. Failure to live the commandments of God would weaken the effect of preaching them, and those who thus acted would be responsible for the lack of faith on the part of the young. On the other hand, if all should live to the law of God, a marvelous work for God would be performed. The changed feelings of the people of the land toward the Latter-day Saints were spoken of and illustrated by items of current history. Still greater favor with all good men could be gained by honest and strictness in the lives of the people. All had been taught day by day the simple principles and duties of the Gospel, yet some were seemingly more anxious to perform great works than to keep the little commandments.
Turning to the financial condition of the people, the speaker stated that if the Word of wisdom were strictly kept, the money thus saved to the community would give ample employment to all the idle men in Zion. In closing, the speaker touched upon the necessity of sustaining home industries.
of the Council of Apostles, followed. He said in substance: There had never been a time in the history of the Church when there was such cause for gratitude as now. Kindliness of feeling had increased in a marvelous degree, a fact which deserved the deepest gratitude of the Saints. Liberty of utterance and the blessings of the Spirit had attended him in his ministry among the people, and God had blessed the Saints through the labors of himself and other servants of God, similar blessings being experienced by the laborers themselves. This was not on account of increased knowledge and power on the part of the Elders, so much as the greater spirit of faithfulness which attended the people themselves. The time of harvest having now come, the Spirit of God had increased upon the Priesthood and the people alike, manifesting itself in the greater faith and confidence of all. It all would turn their attention to the preaching of the Gospel by precept and example there would be a great number of converts made among the people at home. Failure to live the commandments of God would weaken the effect of preaching them, and those who thus acted would be responsible for the lack of faith on the part of the young. On the other hand, if all should live to the law of God, a marvelous work for God would be performed. The changed feelings of the people of the land toward the Latter-day Saints were spoken of and illustrated by items of current history. Still greater favor with all good men could be gained by honest and strictness in the lives of the people. All had been taught day by day the simple principles and duties of the Gospel, yet some were seemingly more anxious to perform great works than to keep the little commandments.
Turning to the financial condition of the people, the speaker stated that if the Word of wisdom were strictly kept, the money thus saved to the community would give ample employment to all the idle men in Zion. In closing, the speaker touched upon the necessity of sustaining home industries.
Elder George Teasdale
of the Council of the Apostles, was the next speaker. He urged the Saints to become more consistent, and be not mere hearers of the word, but doers as well. It was the general desire that we should all have understanding of what God wished us to perform. We were living in the latter-days, which were to be similar in some of their conditions, to the times of the flood. In those ancient days the word of the Lord was preached, and the professedly wise people of the world did not accept of it. So matters were to a great extent in our day. There were many inducements to reject the light of the Gospel and to depart from it after it had been received. As the Apostle Paul expressed it prophetically, we were living in perilous times, when false philosophy was taught and false and seducing spirits were abroad. The speaker related some of his early experience in the Church, illustrating the fact that when men who had embraced the Gospel became puffed up in pride, and imbued with a disposition to find fault with the authorities, they became darkened in their minds, and finally opposed the work of God and made shipwreck of their faith.
The rising generation must be tested as the older ones had been; but they had the advantage of individual knowledge as embodied in the doctrine of each one asking wisdom of God. The delusive influences of the work were being introduced among the youth, and must be overcome by the word of truth. But one way was open for the redemption of men from error and darkness, and that was through the true principles and ordinances of the Gospel. These ordinances must be administered through the proper authority, that the spirit of God might be a witness to their efficacy. The burial in the water of baptism, with its accompanying resurrection, was spoken of, and its proper performance urged. The gifts and keys by which the doctrine might be understood and its truth known, were referred to as of great importance and obtainable only through obedience and humility. Truth could be obtained through meekness and righteousness, and the avoidance of principles. He referred to the 46th section of the Doctrine and covenants, commencing with the 7th verse, where asking of blessing and wisdom from God is commanded, that the seductions of evil spirits might be avoided, and the operations of the Spirit of God, comprehended. The speaker continued in this view of thought through the remainder of his discourse, concluding with an exhortation to the young to honor their parents.
The choir sang the anthem: Let the Mountains Shout for Joy, after which the congregation arose and joined in singing the Doxology.
Benediction by Elder George Reynolds.
of the Council of the Apostles, was the next speaker. He urged the Saints to become more consistent, and be not mere hearers of the word, but doers as well. It was the general desire that we should all have understanding of what God wished us to perform. We were living in the latter-days, which were to be similar in some of their conditions, to the times of the flood. In those ancient days the word of the Lord was preached, and the professedly wise people of the world did not accept of it. So matters were to a great extent in our day. There were many inducements to reject the light of the Gospel and to depart from it after it had been received. As the Apostle Paul expressed it prophetically, we were living in perilous times, when false philosophy was taught and false and seducing spirits were abroad. The speaker related some of his early experience in the Church, illustrating the fact that when men who had embraced the Gospel became puffed up in pride, and imbued with a disposition to find fault with the authorities, they became darkened in their minds, and finally opposed the work of God and made shipwreck of their faith.
The rising generation must be tested as the older ones had been; but they had the advantage of individual knowledge as embodied in the doctrine of each one asking wisdom of God. The delusive influences of the work were being introduced among the youth, and must be overcome by the word of truth. But one way was open for the redemption of men from error and darkness, and that was through the true principles and ordinances of the Gospel. These ordinances must be administered through the proper authority, that the spirit of God might be a witness to their efficacy. The burial in the water of baptism, with its accompanying resurrection, was spoken of, and its proper performance urged. The gifts and keys by which the doctrine might be understood and its truth known, were referred to as of great importance and obtainable only through obedience and humility. Truth could be obtained through meekness and righteousness, and the avoidance of principles. He referred to the 46th section of the Doctrine and covenants, commencing with the 7th verse, where asking of blessing and wisdom from God is commanded, that the seductions of evil spirits might be avoided, and the operations of the Spirit of God, comprehended. The speaker continued in this view of thought through the remainder of his discourse, concluding with an exhortation to the young to honor their parents.
The choir sang the anthem: Let the Mountains Shout for Joy, after which the congregation arose and joined in singing the Doxology.
Benediction by Elder George Reynolds.
Second Day. Sunday, April 5th, 10 a.m.
The choir and congregation sang:
How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
Singing by the choir:
What was witnessed in the heavens?
Why, an angel, earthward bound.
Had he something with him bringing?
Yes—the Gospel—joyful sound.
The choir and congregation sang:
How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
Prayer by Elder Jonathan G. Kimball.
Singing by the choir:
What was witnessed in the heavens?
Why, an angel, earthward bound.
Had he something with him bringing?
Yes—the Gospel—joyful sound.
President Wilford Woodruff
was the first speaker this morning. He treated upon the nature and functions of the Holy Priesthood, which conveyed the highest calling in which could be engaged—to be a minister of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth. He spoke of its antiquity, beginning, so far as this planet was concerned, with Adam. He enumerated the various dispensations of God to man from the beginning till now, and expressed himself to the effect that whenever the inhabitants of the world were prepared for the fulness of the Gospel, in any age, He revealed the Priesthood. He then dwelt upon the restoration of this power in this age, through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and declared that in this latter-day dispensation the power to administer salvation had come to stay, never more to be removed from the earth. He next detailed some of the leading beneficent effects of the fullness of the Gospel, and administered much salutary advice to the young men of the community, exhorting them to appreciate the great blessings within their reach. President Woodruff expressed himself earnestly upon the necessity of the Latter-day Saints attending to the work necessary to be done in the Temple for the redemption of their kindred dead. A portion of the discourse was devoted to an explanation of the importance of the missionary department of the Church, to which the Gospel is to be extended to all nations. In conclusion the President spoke of the prerogative of the heads of the Church to counsel the Saints for their good and for the benefit and advancement of the work of God, and stated that if they were to attempt to direct the people in a pathway that was wrong, God would remove them.
The remarks of the speaker were interesting and comprehensive. An adequate idea of them could not be conveyed in a brief reference.
Discourse
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 5th, 1896, by
Prest. Wilford Woodruff.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The highest calling the Lord ever called any human being to, in any age of the world, has been to receive the Holy Priesthood, with its keys and powers, and to be called to go forth to the inhabitants of the earth and teach them the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to qualify and prepare them for a part in the first resurrection and to go back into the presence of God, their Creator, to dwell in glory world without end. The Lord bestowed that blessing, that Priesthood and that power in the beginning of creation. Father Adam was called of God and ordained to the fullness of the Melchisedek Priesthood—ordained to the highest office and gift of God to man on the earth. Adam bestowed that blessing upon seen of his sons—Seth, Enos, Jared, Canaan, Mahalaleel, Enoch and Methuselah. They were all ordained High Priests by their father Adam, and possessed the privilege and the right to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to give it to the human family, so that they might qualify and prepare themselves for eternal life. In tracing the history of the dealings of God with men from that day to this, we find the Lord has in various dispensations and times given unto the sons of men that blessing. Israel had it in the beginning, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob down, and until Moses, who traveled with the children of Israel forty years in the wilderness. They had the fits and graces of that Priesthood bestowed upon them, and they had the privilege of magnifying their callings and preparing themselves for eternal life. But Israel would not accept the Melchisedek Priesthood, and therefore it was taken from them, and the Lesser Priesthood was conferred upon them while they traveled in the wilderness. It is not necessary for me to spend time in tracing this Priesthood through the six thousand years that have past and gone; but it has been manifest in every age and dispensation when God has had prophets and apostles on the earth. Jesus Christ came into the world in the meridian of time. He was the Great High Priest of Israel. He was the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He chose His Apostles, He organized His Church. He bestowed upon these Apostles all the gifts and graces belonging to the Apostleship. In that dispensation it seems that they were called to lay down their lives for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. The Savior himself was put to death. The Apostles were all, with one exception, put to death in their day and time, until finally the Priesthood was taken home to God, and remained there for a length of time. But my views are that whenever the inhabitants of the earth were prepared for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Priesthood, it has been bestowed upon them.
In the days of the Savior and His Apostles, John the Revelator, while upon the Isle of Patmos, gave an outline of great events which were to transpire in the last dispensation of the fulness of times. Other Prophets and Apostles, who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, left on the pages of history a record of what the Lord would do in the last dispensation. Among the great events that the Revelator saw was the one described in the 14th chapter of his Revelation, and which is often quoted by our elders, because it is very applicable.
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.
If this revelation had not been fulfilled, neither you nor I would be here today, this Tabernacle would not be erected, this city would be still part of the Great American Desert, as we found it; but in the fulfillment of the revelations of God, these things have been done and some of us have lived to see them. The angel of God did visit Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God, who was raised up by the power of God as a prophet, seer and revelator, and who organized the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth. From that day until this the work has progressed and the Gospel has been preached. The Holy Ghost has been with the people. The Lord Almighty has set His hand to carry out the great program—to establish the Zion of God in the earth and to prepare the people for the coming of the Son of Man.
These are my views with regard to the calling of men in this dispensation. Gold and silver may pass away; houses and lands may perish; all temporal matters will pass away; but the Priesthood never, salvation never, the kingdom of God never, and prophecy will never fall unfulfilled. We have had Apostles now for upwards of sixty years. Many have died and gone to the other side of the veil; and those upon whom God bestowed the glory and power of the organization of the Church have sealed their testimony with their blood, as the ancient Apostles did. They have gone home to receive their reward; but that organization has remained; the Holy Priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained upon their heads, and will remain upon the heads of this people until the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, we are in this organization today. I do not pretend to say exactly the number that we have in the Priesthood; but we have from fifteen to twenty thousand Elders in this Church; we have many various organizations of the Priesthood, and churches are organized throughout the world as far as we have had an opportunity. I have been called, these Apostles have, many of the Elders have to go to the nations of the earth and the islands of the sea to preach the Gospel to our fellowmen. What greater calling can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation? Do we prize these things in their fullness? I do not think we do. Nevertheless, so far we have been enabled to maintain our position, and to go forth and fulfill our missions as far as we have had time and opportunity. Certainly there has been nothing in this work that I have had greater consolation in than in preaching the Gospel to my fellow men and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of God, both for the living and the dead. I may say the same with regard to my brethren who are called to perform those ordinances.
There was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our sons and our missionaries abroad. I will say for myself—and when I say it for myself I think I speak for a great many others—there is no joy that I have ever had that has been greater than that which has come to me in having sons receive the Holy Priesthood and go forth and administer among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation. It is a glorious gift to the sons of men. It is what men have not enjoyed before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost. Then should we not prize these things? Yes, we should. The Lord, in the dispensation of His providences, has given to us an army of sons and daughters, and our sons are called to go to the nations of the earth. We want to instill into their minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth and the saving of souls from sin. You give unto any soul the principles of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him, and you become an instrument in the hands of God in the salvation of that soul. There is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it.
This is our position today in these mountains. We have been led here by the power of God—led by a prophet, seer and revelator, President Brigham Young, who was full of the Holy Ghost and full of revelation, appointed of the Lord, who magnified his calling up to the hour of his death. We came here and found a barren desert. From that day till this it has been a continual growth and increase, until we have arrived at a point where we have a tabernacle as a “shadow in the daytime from the heat * * * and for a covert from the storm and from rain.” These things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient Prophets and Patriarchs who foresaw the work of go in the last days.
I want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among us. I want them to comprehend and understand the blessings that are within their reach. The Lord has given us a large number of sons and daughters. They have got to take the places of their fathers, the same as the sons of Adam had in his day and generation. A great responsibility rests upon them. The Lord requires at the hands of our sons that they shall bear off this kingdom of our God while they dwell in the flesh that they may be justified. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery, “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father.” It requires light, knowledge and understanding; it requires the spirit and power of God for us to comprehend our position, our blessings and our gifts that God has placed upon us. I feel to rejoice and thank God myself that I have lived to see what I do in these valleys of the mountains; that I have lived to see these multitudes that fill these tabernacles and temples and labor here in the building up of the kingdom of God. The Lord has been very merciful to me, and my life has been preserved to pass through these things, and I still remain in the midst of this people. I have to acknowledge the hand of God in the whole of it. I suppose you have to do so with regard to your lives. The fact is, there is not a blessing that God has bestowed upon us from the beginning but has been the gift of God. We should understand this. We have preached the Gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, as far as the Lord has opened doors for us and we have had the privilege of going. Still the world today is full of people who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and while the Priesthood rests upon our shoulders we are still under obligation and are still held responsible for the salvation of the children of men, as far as we have the privilege of bestowing these gifts upon the sons and daughters of Adam. Only think that by embracing the Gospel of Christ we can become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, that we can have part in the first resurrection, and come forth out of our graves and be clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives, and pass into the presence of God and the Lamb and dwell with them eternally in the heavens! Who comprehends this? Do the inhabitants of the earth? They do not. Satan has warred against us from the organization of this Church, to try and destroy this people; but so far we have been preserved. We should be thankful for these blessings. I realize myself that we are dependent upon the Lord in all things. The Lord is our preserver. He is the author of our salvation. Jesus Christ has laid down His life to redeem us by His blood, and through that we have these blessings bestowed upon us.
Among other things, we live in a generation in which the Lord has enabled us to rear several temples—some in these mountains and some before we came here; and hundreds and thousands of people go into these temples to redeem their dead. This is a blessing the Latter-day Saints should prize. It is a duty that is required at our hands to do what we can in this direction. It is a blessing that the inhabitants of the earth have not had for centuries until this dispensation. I hope that no man who has got a record of his father’s house will go down to his grave without having attended to this work. How would I feel, after living as long as I have, with the privileges I have had of going into these temples, to go into the spirit world without having done this work? I meet my father’s house, I meet my mother’s house, I meet my progenitors, and they are shut up in prison; I held the keys of their salvation, and yet did nothing for them; what would be my feelings, or what would be their feelings toward me? They would not like it. I feel that while the Lord has given us this blessing, every man and woman in this Church that has any faith at all in God and in the Gospel should attend to this duty. Jesus Christ, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits in prison, that were drowned in the days of Noah by the flood, because of their wickedness and abominations. They had been in prison for a long time, and He went and preached to them, “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, David Patten, and the Apostles and Elders who have been true and faithful unto death have also gone to the spirits in prison in their day and time and preached the Gospel of Christ to their fathers’ houses and to those who are shut up in prison, and they are laboring there for the salvation of the children of men. These are glorious principles—principles which the Latter-day Saints should not neglect while they have the privilege and power. As I said in the beginning, there is no calling, a man can be called to, any greater than to have this right and privilege to go forth and save the souls of men—save them by preaching the Gospel to them, by administering the ordinances of the house of God to them, that they may be prepared themselves to go into the kingdom of heaven, and into a celestial glory. There are three glories. Paul in speaking upon that subject said, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” These glories overshadow the whole human family. Now, how much better it is for a man to receive these ordinances, that he may go where God and Christ dwell, which is the highest glory. But Jesus said in His day, “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;” while “broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” I think many times that we ourselves do not prize the blessings that we enjoy and that are within our reach. Our hearts should be set upon the building up of the kingdom of God, the Zion of God and the work of God, while we are here and have power to perform these things. It is our duty as the Presidency and as Apostles, not only to labor ourselves, but to send forth the Elders of Israel to the nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel. Doors are open today among many of the nations for the spread of the Gospel of Christ, and to bring the people unto Christ, that they also may receive these blessings.
Brethren and sisters, this is the way I feel this morning. Of all people under heavens we should be the best, the most righteous, and the most true and faithful to God and to our fellow men. We should be true and faithful to the Holy Priesthood while we have it resting upon us, and true to our labors. I rejoice at our condition today. I rejoice at the peace that has come unto us by the power and blessing of God. I rejoice at the change that is taking place in the world. We are visited now by hundreds of people from the nations of the earth. They are coming to behold the glory of Zion. They come to enquire at our hands concerning various matters, and there is a very different feeling to what there was in former days toward us. Brother John W. Taylor referred to our going to St. Louis and to Chicago. Yes, I recollect very well when we went into Jackson County, Missouri. My labors there have been alluded to. When I went on my first mission in 1834, I had to go through Jackson County on my way to Arkansas. It was just after our brethren had been driven out. I had to go and hide in the cornfields and in the brush during the day, and walk along in the night, till I got through that county, for the lives of myself and companion were in danger there. The last time I went there, the Mayor of Independence came out to meet us with a fine carriage. He had but one arm, having lost the other in the army, but he gave us that arm and made us welcome. I could not help feel the different between then and when I went through there as a missionary. There is a change taking place. Zion is going to rise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. This people, if they do their duty, will fulfill and carry out these great principles, and the eyes of the world will be turned towards Zion, and men will come to enquire concerning the things of the kingdom of God. We are in a good condition. We are blessed of the Lord. The Latter-day Saints have never been so well off temporally. Go into the houses of the Latter-day Saints, and you will find them in a better position than they have ever been before. These are the blessings of God, and we should prize these things and give God the glory for them, while we try to do our duty and magnify our calling. I want to say that I am in for salvation and for eternal life. I have labored for that since I was a boy. I have desired the gifts and graces and blessings manifest in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. In my childhood I prayed God that I might live to see a prophet or somebody who could teach me the principles I read of in the New Testament. The clergy of the day did not do it. Nobody around there appeared to believe in such things. Well, I have lived to see Prophets and Apostles; I have lived to travel with them and to unite with them in the kingdom of God. I have been in the Apostleship fifty-eight years; I have been in the Church sixty-three years. My whole life almost has been spent in this Church; and from the time I came into the Church I went on missions and have never ceased altogether from that day to this. I have always rejoiced in this, and do today. When I die and lay down my body, I do not want anybody to rise up and say that I have neglected my duty in trying to give them salvation as far as I could. I have always rejoiced in preaching the Gospel; I have rejoiced in administering the ordinances of life and salvation at home and abroad, because I have known that this was the work of God, and I know it is today.
I want to say now to the rising generation, gird up the loins of your minds, prepare yourselves, and realize you have a mission before you. Who are going to bear this kingdom off when we go to the grave? To whom does the God of Israel look to do this? He looks to our sons and daughters that are rising up here. This responsibility rests upon them, and I hope they will fulfill and magnify their calling. There is nothing like it on earth. You may get the riches of the world; they pass away; but eternal life, celestial glory, a place with the righteous after resurrection, with immortal bodies, are worth more than all this world can give. I have confidence to believe that the Latter-day Saints will carry out these principles and magnify their calling before the Lord. I have hopes that our sons and daughters will do the same.
Brethren and sisters, I say, God bless you. I am glad to meet with you. I rejoice in the Gospel, in the kingdom of God, and in the Holy Priesthood. I pray God to bless you, to open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your hearts to understand. I pray God to open your understanding, that you may comprehend the value and blessing of the Gospel that you have received and of the blessings of these temples and tabernacles in the midst of which you have the privilege of dwelling and receiving the ordinances of God. I pray that we may pursue that course that when we get on the other side of the veil we shall be satisfied with our record. We will find our history and our record there in the great library of the celestial kingdom of our God, and we will know what we have been doing in this life. If we do anything that is wrong we will be sorry for it. We should repent of wrong and try to do better. I pray that the Spirit of God may be with us to guide and direct us in our labors until we get through here, then when we pass away we may be received in the kingdom of God. We shall rejoice if we do right; for our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, and it has never entered into the hearts of the children of men the glory that lies before the sons and daughters of Adam. It is hidden from our eyes today, and will never be open to us until we enter into the presence of God and the Lamb. Amen.
was the first speaker this morning. He treated upon the nature and functions of the Holy Priesthood, which conveyed the highest calling in which could be engaged—to be a minister of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth. He spoke of its antiquity, beginning, so far as this planet was concerned, with Adam. He enumerated the various dispensations of God to man from the beginning till now, and expressed himself to the effect that whenever the inhabitants of the world were prepared for the fulness of the Gospel, in any age, He revealed the Priesthood. He then dwelt upon the restoration of this power in this age, through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and declared that in this latter-day dispensation the power to administer salvation had come to stay, never more to be removed from the earth. He next detailed some of the leading beneficent effects of the fullness of the Gospel, and administered much salutary advice to the young men of the community, exhorting them to appreciate the great blessings within their reach. President Woodruff expressed himself earnestly upon the necessity of the Latter-day Saints attending to the work necessary to be done in the Temple for the redemption of their kindred dead. A portion of the discourse was devoted to an explanation of the importance of the missionary department of the Church, to which the Gospel is to be extended to all nations. In conclusion the President spoke of the prerogative of the heads of the Church to counsel the Saints for their good and for the benefit and advancement of the work of God, and stated that if they were to attempt to direct the people in a pathway that was wrong, God would remove them.
The remarks of the speaker were interesting and comprehensive. An adequate idea of them could not be conveyed in a brief reference.
Discourse
Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 5th, 1896, by
Prest. Wilford Woodruff.
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The highest calling the Lord ever called any human being to, in any age of the world, has been to receive the Holy Priesthood, with its keys and powers, and to be called to go forth to the inhabitants of the earth and teach them the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to qualify and prepare them for a part in the first resurrection and to go back into the presence of God, their Creator, to dwell in glory world without end. The Lord bestowed that blessing, that Priesthood and that power in the beginning of creation. Father Adam was called of God and ordained to the fullness of the Melchisedek Priesthood—ordained to the highest office and gift of God to man on the earth. Adam bestowed that blessing upon seen of his sons—Seth, Enos, Jared, Canaan, Mahalaleel, Enoch and Methuselah. They were all ordained High Priests by their father Adam, and possessed the privilege and the right to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to give it to the human family, so that they might qualify and prepare themselves for eternal life. In tracing the history of the dealings of God with men from that day to this, we find the Lord has in various dispensations and times given unto the sons of men that blessing. Israel had it in the beginning, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob down, and until Moses, who traveled with the children of Israel forty years in the wilderness. They had the fits and graces of that Priesthood bestowed upon them, and they had the privilege of magnifying their callings and preparing themselves for eternal life. But Israel would not accept the Melchisedek Priesthood, and therefore it was taken from them, and the Lesser Priesthood was conferred upon them while they traveled in the wilderness. It is not necessary for me to spend time in tracing this Priesthood through the six thousand years that have past and gone; but it has been manifest in every age and dispensation when God has had prophets and apostles on the earth. Jesus Christ came into the world in the meridian of time. He was the Great High Priest of Israel. He was the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He chose His Apostles, He organized His Church. He bestowed upon these Apostles all the gifts and graces belonging to the Apostleship. In that dispensation it seems that they were called to lay down their lives for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. The Savior himself was put to death. The Apostles were all, with one exception, put to death in their day and time, until finally the Priesthood was taken home to God, and remained there for a length of time. But my views are that whenever the inhabitants of the earth were prepared for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Priesthood, it has been bestowed upon them.
In the days of the Savior and His Apostles, John the Revelator, while upon the Isle of Patmos, gave an outline of great events which were to transpire in the last dispensation of the fulness of times. Other Prophets and Apostles, who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, left on the pages of history a record of what the Lord would do in the last dispensation. Among the great events that the Revelator saw was the one described in the 14th chapter of his Revelation, and which is often quoted by our elders, because it is very applicable.
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.
If this revelation had not been fulfilled, neither you nor I would be here today, this Tabernacle would not be erected, this city would be still part of the Great American Desert, as we found it; but in the fulfillment of the revelations of God, these things have been done and some of us have lived to see them. The angel of God did visit Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God, who was raised up by the power of God as a prophet, seer and revelator, and who organized the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth. From that day until this the work has progressed and the Gospel has been preached. The Holy Ghost has been with the people. The Lord Almighty has set His hand to carry out the great program—to establish the Zion of God in the earth and to prepare the people for the coming of the Son of Man.
These are my views with regard to the calling of men in this dispensation. Gold and silver may pass away; houses and lands may perish; all temporal matters will pass away; but the Priesthood never, salvation never, the kingdom of God never, and prophecy will never fall unfulfilled. We have had Apostles now for upwards of sixty years. Many have died and gone to the other side of the veil; and those upon whom God bestowed the glory and power of the organization of the Church have sealed their testimony with their blood, as the ancient Apostles did. They have gone home to receive their reward; but that organization has remained; the Holy Priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained upon their heads, and will remain upon the heads of this people until the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, we are in this organization today. I do not pretend to say exactly the number that we have in the Priesthood; but we have from fifteen to twenty thousand Elders in this Church; we have many various organizations of the Priesthood, and churches are organized throughout the world as far as we have had an opportunity. I have been called, these Apostles have, many of the Elders have to go to the nations of the earth and the islands of the sea to preach the Gospel to our fellowmen. What greater calling can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation? Do we prize these things in their fullness? I do not think we do. Nevertheless, so far we have been enabled to maintain our position, and to go forth and fulfill our missions as far as we have had time and opportunity. Certainly there has been nothing in this work that I have had greater consolation in than in preaching the Gospel to my fellow men and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of God, both for the living and the dead. I may say the same with regard to my brethren who are called to perform those ordinances.
There was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our sons and our missionaries abroad. I will say for myself—and when I say it for myself I think I speak for a great many others—there is no joy that I have ever had that has been greater than that which has come to me in having sons receive the Holy Priesthood and go forth and administer among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation. It is a glorious gift to the sons of men. It is what men have not enjoyed before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost. Then should we not prize these things? Yes, we should. The Lord, in the dispensation of His providences, has given to us an army of sons and daughters, and our sons are called to go to the nations of the earth. We want to instill into their minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth and the saving of souls from sin. You give unto any soul the principles of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him, and you become an instrument in the hands of God in the salvation of that soul. There is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it.
This is our position today in these mountains. We have been led here by the power of God—led by a prophet, seer and revelator, President Brigham Young, who was full of the Holy Ghost and full of revelation, appointed of the Lord, who magnified his calling up to the hour of his death. We came here and found a barren desert. From that day till this it has been a continual growth and increase, until we have arrived at a point where we have a tabernacle as a “shadow in the daytime from the heat * * * and for a covert from the storm and from rain.” These things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient Prophets and Patriarchs who foresaw the work of go in the last days.
I want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among us. I want them to comprehend and understand the blessings that are within their reach. The Lord has given us a large number of sons and daughters. They have got to take the places of their fathers, the same as the sons of Adam had in his day and generation. A great responsibility rests upon them. The Lord requires at the hands of our sons that they shall bear off this kingdom of our God while they dwell in the flesh that they may be justified. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery, “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father.” It requires light, knowledge and understanding; it requires the spirit and power of God for us to comprehend our position, our blessings and our gifts that God has placed upon us. I feel to rejoice and thank God myself that I have lived to see what I do in these valleys of the mountains; that I have lived to see these multitudes that fill these tabernacles and temples and labor here in the building up of the kingdom of God. The Lord has been very merciful to me, and my life has been preserved to pass through these things, and I still remain in the midst of this people. I have to acknowledge the hand of God in the whole of it. I suppose you have to do so with regard to your lives. The fact is, there is not a blessing that God has bestowed upon us from the beginning but has been the gift of God. We should understand this. We have preached the Gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, as far as the Lord has opened doors for us and we have had the privilege of going. Still the world today is full of people who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and while the Priesthood rests upon our shoulders we are still under obligation and are still held responsible for the salvation of the children of men, as far as we have the privilege of bestowing these gifts upon the sons and daughters of Adam. Only think that by embracing the Gospel of Christ we can become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, that we can have part in the first resurrection, and come forth out of our graves and be clothed with glory, immortality and eternal lives, and pass into the presence of God and the Lamb and dwell with them eternally in the heavens! Who comprehends this? Do the inhabitants of the earth? They do not. Satan has warred against us from the organization of this Church, to try and destroy this people; but so far we have been preserved. We should be thankful for these blessings. I realize myself that we are dependent upon the Lord in all things. The Lord is our preserver. He is the author of our salvation. Jesus Christ has laid down His life to redeem us by His blood, and through that we have these blessings bestowed upon us.
Among other things, we live in a generation in which the Lord has enabled us to rear several temples—some in these mountains and some before we came here; and hundreds and thousands of people go into these temples to redeem their dead. This is a blessing the Latter-day Saints should prize. It is a duty that is required at our hands to do what we can in this direction. It is a blessing that the inhabitants of the earth have not had for centuries until this dispensation. I hope that no man who has got a record of his father’s house will go down to his grave without having attended to this work. How would I feel, after living as long as I have, with the privileges I have had of going into these temples, to go into the spirit world without having done this work? I meet my father’s house, I meet my mother’s house, I meet my progenitors, and they are shut up in prison; I held the keys of their salvation, and yet did nothing for them; what would be my feelings, or what would be their feelings toward me? They would not like it. I feel that while the Lord has given us this blessing, every man and woman in this Church that has any faith at all in God and in the Gospel should attend to this duty. Jesus Christ, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits in prison, that were drowned in the days of Noah by the flood, because of their wickedness and abominations. They had been in prison for a long time, and He went and preached to them, “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, David Patten, and the Apostles and Elders who have been true and faithful unto death have also gone to the spirits in prison in their day and time and preached the Gospel of Christ to their fathers’ houses and to those who are shut up in prison, and they are laboring there for the salvation of the children of men. These are glorious principles—principles which the Latter-day Saints should not neglect while they have the privilege and power. As I said in the beginning, there is no calling, a man can be called to, any greater than to have this right and privilege to go forth and save the souls of men—save them by preaching the Gospel to them, by administering the ordinances of the house of God to them, that they may be prepared themselves to go into the kingdom of heaven, and into a celestial glory. There are three glories. Paul in speaking upon that subject said, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” These glories overshadow the whole human family. Now, how much better it is for a man to receive these ordinances, that he may go where God and Christ dwell, which is the highest glory. But Jesus said in His day, “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;” while “broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” I think many times that we ourselves do not prize the blessings that we enjoy and that are within our reach. Our hearts should be set upon the building up of the kingdom of God, the Zion of God and the work of God, while we are here and have power to perform these things. It is our duty as the Presidency and as Apostles, not only to labor ourselves, but to send forth the Elders of Israel to the nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel. Doors are open today among many of the nations for the spread of the Gospel of Christ, and to bring the people unto Christ, that they also may receive these blessings.
Brethren and sisters, this is the way I feel this morning. Of all people under heavens we should be the best, the most righteous, and the most true and faithful to God and to our fellow men. We should be true and faithful to the Holy Priesthood while we have it resting upon us, and true to our labors. I rejoice at our condition today. I rejoice at the peace that has come unto us by the power and blessing of God. I rejoice at the change that is taking place in the world. We are visited now by hundreds of people from the nations of the earth. They are coming to behold the glory of Zion. They come to enquire at our hands concerning various matters, and there is a very different feeling to what there was in former days toward us. Brother John W. Taylor referred to our going to St. Louis and to Chicago. Yes, I recollect very well when we went into Jackson County, Missouri. My labors there have been alluded to. When I went on my first mission in 1834, I had to go through Jackson County on my way to Arkansas. It was just after our brethren had been driven out. I had to go and hide in the cornfields and in the brush during the day, and walk along in the night, till I got through that county, for the lives of myself and companion were in danger there. The last time I went there, the Mayor of Independence came out to meet us with a fine carriage. He had but one arm, having lost the other in the army, but he gave us that arm and made us welcome. I could not help feel the different between then and when I went through there as a missionary. There is a change taking place. Zion is going to rise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. This people, if they do their duty, will fulfill and carry out these great principles, and the eyes of the world will be turned towards Zion, and men will come to enquire concerning the things of the kingdom of God. We are in a good condition. We are blessed of the Lord. The Latter-day Saints have never been so well off temporally. Go into the houses of the Latter-day Saints, and you will find them in a better position than they have ever been before. These are the blessings of God, and we should prize these things and give God the glory for them, while we try to do our duty and magnify our calling. I want to say that I am in for salvation and for eternal life. I have labored for that since I was a boy. I have desired the gifts and graces and blessings manifest in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. In my childhood I prayed God that I might live to see a prophet or somebody who could teach me the principles I read of in the New Testament. The clergy of the day did not do it. Nobody around there appeared to believe in such things. Well, I have lived to see Prophets and Apostles; I have lived to travel with them and to unite with them in the kingdom of God. I have been in the Apostleship fifty-eight years; I have been in the Church sixty-three years. My whole life almost has been spent in this Church; and from the time I came into the Church I went on missions and have never ceased altogether from that day to this. I have always rejoiced in this, and do today. When I die and lay down my body, I do not want anybody to rise up and say that I have neglected my duty in trying to give them salvation as far as I could. I have always rejoiced in preaching the Gospel; I have rejoiced in administering the ordinances of life and salvation at home and abroad, because I have known that this was the work of God, and I know it is today.
I want to say now to the rising generation, gird up the loins of your minds, prepare yourselves, and realize you have a mission before you. Who are going to bear this kingdom off when we go to the grave? To whom does the God of Israel look to do this? He looks to our sons and daughters that are rising up here. This responsibility rests upon them, and I hope they will fulfill and magnify their calling. There is nothing like it on earth. You may get the riches of the world; they pass away; but eternal life, celestial glory, a place with the righteous after resurrection, with immortal bodies, are worth more than all this world can give. I have confidence to believe that the Latter-day Saints will carry out these principles and magnify their calling before the Lord. I have hopes that our sons and daughters will do the same.
Brethren and sisters, I say, God bless you. I am glad to meet with you. I rejoice in the Gospel, in the kingdom of God, and in the Holy Priesthood. I pray God to bless you, to open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your hearts to understand. I pray God to open your understanding, that you may comprehend the value and blessing of the Gospel that you have received and of the blessings of these temples and tabernacles in the midst of which you have the privilege of dwelling and receiving the ordinances of God. I pray that we may pursue that course that when we get on the other side of the veil we shall be satisfied with our record. We will find our history and our record there in the great library of the celestial kingdom of our God, and we will know what we have been doing in this life. If we do anything that is wrong we will be sorry for it. We should repent of wrong and try to do better. I pray that the Spirit of God may be with us to guide and direct us in our labors until we get through here, then when we pass away we may be received in the kingdom of God. We shall rejoice if we do right; for our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, and it has never entered into the hearts of the children of men the glory that lies before the sons and daughters of Adam. It is hidden from our eyes today, and will never be open to us until we enter into the presence of God and the Lamb. Amen.
Elder Franklin D. Richards,
of the Council of the Apostles, next addressed the Conference. Following is a brief outline of his remarks: No one who had the spirit of Zion could, under the existing favorable conditions, feel otherwise than happy. It had been remarked by a wise man that there was a time for all things. The work of the Lord had its times of apparent adversity alternating with periods of refreshing. The speaker here referred to the distressing circumstances which surrounded the Saints in Missouri, followed by the pleasanter situation that ensued when the migration to Illinois was completed, where today advantages were enjoyed. Nauvoo became a glorious city, and many people came from distant parts of the nation to see and hear the Prophet Joseph. Then came the martyrdom of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, precipitating another season of gloom, and the people suffered as wanderers in the wilderness for a season. The settling of this western region brought a cessation of disturbance, and again peace reigned. Soon Apostles were sent out to the different nations, where the door of the Gospel was opened up to their people.
The speaker continued in this strain, giving a graphic, condensed delineation of the history and experience of the Saints, in consecutive order, leading up to the present status of affairs. Now, he held, came another appearance of springtime in the affairs of the Saints. Among the symptoms were calls from various parts of the earth for Elders, and for information concerning the belief and doctrines of this Church, and the cause of our being distinctive in many of our peculiarities from other peoples of the earth.
Some of the speaker’s remarks were directed to Elders whose duty it was to respond to calls to go forth to the nations with the message which God had given us to proclaim. They should be willing to undertake this great labor for the salvation of mankind, as did the earlier Elders, in the rise of the Church. The new and enlarged political status would enable the brethren to go abroad under more favorable circumstances than heretofore. the Lord had opened up the way, that the Gospel banner might be carried to every people under heaven by the Heralds of the Lord. The Elders abroad should see that good and accurate records were kept in the branches of the Church that had been and might be established.
Speaking of the children of the Saints, he said that if parents could not induce their sons and daughters to walk in the path of the Gospel of Christ, they could at least do the best they could, and the Lord would do the rest, and all would come right at last.
Many of the children of the best men on earth in all ages had gone astray, and their recovery, or redemption, provided a wide and important field for their parents in eternity as well as in time.
God was going to turn the favor of the best and most influential men on the earth toward this community, because they were learning something concerning the virtues of the people here. The confidence of intelligent people abroad was being increased by the spread of correct information concerning us.
Times and Seasons.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 5th, 1896, by
Elder Franklin D. Richards
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
After the very precious instructions that we have been listening to from our First Presidency in the Church and in the Priesthood, I feel on being called upon to speak, as though it was not following the rule of giving the best at the last of the feast; but being thus called, I desire to give my testimony with the rest of my brethren. And in this vast congregation, while it is difficult for us to make all hear, I would ask the people kindly to be as quiet as they can, so that we may most of us hear, and I will try to speak so as to be heard; and if the Lord pleases to give us a generous measure of His Holy spirit we may still be edified.
I have been exceedingly refreshed by the instructions of yesterday and today, and I realize that it is an instructive, interesting and important time in which we live; and if we can but understand the importance of the times and the circumstances that surround and attend upon us, no person who possesses the spirit of Zion, can be otherwise than happy and rejoice in the multitude of the tender mercies of our God which He is bestowing upon His people. It was said by an ancient wise man that “there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” There is a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to plant and a time to gather. There are times when it appears as if all nature was by the frost of life not only hidden up, but when the severity is so great that it sems as if it must be killed outright, and that vegetation could not start in the spring. Then again we see the opposite extreme in the summer, when the heat is so great that human flesh and blood faints and subsides before it. Now, when we look at the great work of the Lord in the last days, there is quite a similarity in the course of God’s providences to His people to what there is in the course of the seasons and of the revolving years. The work of the Lord has had its times of refreshing and sunshine, of sowing and maturing, and reaping the plentiful, the bounteous, the glorious harvest in the temples of God for instance, as they have been completed and dedicated, and as we have received the blessings of heaven therein. While on the other hand there have been times of persecution, affliction, sorrow and distress, until to all outward appearance it would seem as if the tree of life which God had planted in the earth had been about frozen to death.
Such was a time in Missouri, when the Prophet and his immediate associates were in prison together; when other brethren by the score were in other prisons; when the voice of the military chieftain told us we need never expect to see our Prophet again, and we were, with all military sternness informed that we must locate as other people locate, and never organize again in ward and stakes, under bishops and presidents. The consummation of that serious event looked like destruction for the Church. We were banished from the state, and it took all that winter with all the brethren could do to help everybody get out from those distressing conditions and into the State of Illinois. There spring opened. There was found a feeling of kindness, benevolence and generosity on the part of the good people of the City of Quincy and the regions round about; brethren came and went, took up farms, worked them upon shares, hired out, and did whatever they could to sustain life, get their families located, and overcome the adversities of the previous year.
What was the result? As this spring weather opened to them, they got situations and labor. In a little while the Prophet Joseph came along, having been delivered by the almighty power of God, also his brother Hyrum, and the brethren of the Apostles. Directly the work of the Lord began to prosper, Brother Joseph purchased a place for Nauvoo, bought out Commerce, because it was so sickly that other people could not live there. Nauvoo was built up in the short space of seven years, and a temple was built there which cost about a million dollars. That was a glorious summer’s work. Our Elders went everywhere preaching the word, explaining to the people around them that faith that we were persecuted for and driven from state to state, telling them what was the cause of the terrible, frosty winter that we had been passing through; and it had its effects. Many people were gathered in. Nauvoo became a glorious city. People came from New Orleans, from New York and from Canada to find out and hear the word of the Prophet Joseph, and to see what these people were doing, because they made the welkin ring from morning till night with the saw and hammer, building up that beautiful place.
Well, before the temple was completed our Prophet laid down his life, having been led like a lamb to the slaughter. But the work of the Lord went on. Our treaties with our enemies allowed us a certain period to get our wagons together, and another terrible winter set in upon us. We had the journey over the prairies of Iowa, the period of sickness, the cold of the winter, the suffering in Winter Quarters; and we journeyed over the plains exiled—Israel in the wilderness—the kingdom of God on wheels—for about two years, till we arrived in this “great American desert”—a country of sagebrush, grease-wood, wolves and Indians. We got here and winter began to break again. A little experience soon taught us that the Lord would bless and prosper us and make the earth fruitful for our sakes, after striving to keep His commandments and to do His will. We had hardly got located here, however, just so that we could spend the 24th of July and have a good dinner under a bowery, when at the following conference the Twelve were started off—President Lorenzo Snow to Italy, Erastus Snow to Denmark, John Taylor to France and Germany, and Franklin D. Richards to England. The Elders went abroad everywhere preaching the Gospel, and found people willing to hear. What was the matter with this people, driven out from the nation and having to become a people to themselves? And yet the Gospel spread abroad. In England and other European countries, people were added to the Church by the thousands and tens of thousands in wonderful rapidity. The work of the Lord prospered, and we had another summer time to a certain extent, locating settlements all over this country and building four temples. Then behold, another winter set in.
You know, winters are not always of the same temperature. We sometimes have a winter that freezes so hard that bark on the trees becomes loose, and then we have other winters that are mild. Well, we had a winter set in here that was so severe that nearly all manner of business was closed up—except the marshals, the attorneys, the courts and the penitentiary: they were about the only line of prosperous business that was done here during that winter of some six to twelve years ago. Now, the Lord has seemed to cause these things to work in this way. It seems to be a natural periodic state that we pass through from time to time. It happened that during this winter, when we could not be abroad preaching the Gospel (for you must know our Elders went sometimes clear to the sea and back again and reported that they could not get a house to speak in anywhere, not even a congregation out of doors), the supreme court in Washington, had our leading men’s characters brought up there and canvassed, and the decision of those courts were published and have gone abroad in the court reports into all the spheres of the legal lore throughout this country and the world; and so we became advertised while we were staying around at home and away from home taking care of ourselves as best we could, we were making acquaintances through the attorneys and the courts in the higher circles of life.
When this had been going on for some months and years, there was a council held down East, and our leading ladies were invited to join the National Council of women, in Washington and they reported the Relief Societies, &c., and those reports were published in the papers and books, which have gone to all the States and Territories of the Union, and in a higher circle than merely those that are plowing and sowing, the mechanics, &c. These means the Lord employed during the hard period of our winter. It was not very much the “winter of discontent” after all. He made us to become known among the people. They could take these books and hunt over the decisions of the law courts, and they could read the reports of this grand Council of Women from all parts of the world, and quietly learn something about us.
Directly there was a great call for all the inhabitants of the earth to come to Chicago and celebrate the World’s Columbian Exposition. At this Exposition there came commissioners from all civilized countries; many of them got a chance to talk with our brethren and sisters in Chicago, and a number of them came to Salt Lake City. We gave them copies of our Church works and of the History of Utah, which they carried off with them to their homes, and they have no doubt been reading over these things. So the work has been going on. Our dear sisters and brethren of the choir went down and really put the country on its mettle in music. Thus we got some of the fine arts before the people of the earth. The Presidency went along also, and as has been shown you this morning, the Mayor of Independence welcomed them and accompanied them to the hall where they could exchange congratulations publicly.
These things have been going on until, I want to say to you brethren and sisters and especially the Elders of Israel, springtime seems to be on us again; and as the earth, after the frosts and snows of winter, is being broken up and pulverized and prepared for the seed, so calls are coming from all parts of the earth for Elders. “Where can we find an Elder?” “If you have an Elder coming this way, please direct him to our place.” Calls are being made, and the people of the earth are now ready to hear the Gospel. I want to tell this legion of Seventies that are before us—the bone and sinew of Israel, if you please—and the multitudes of the Elders’ quorums, that the time has come when the inhabitants of the earth want the Gospel; want to know what it is that we have been making a fuss about in the earth, keeping the courts busy and the penitentiary full. They want us to send some Elders along, that they can ask questions of them, and that the Gospel may be explained unto them. We have calls for Elders from sea to sea and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. The time has come when we must rise up and sow—go forth and scatter the Gospel seeds throughout the lands. The inhabitants of the earth are ready to hear it, and it is our duty, and it is made the duty of the Twelve Apostles, and especially you have made it the duty of the missionary committee, to hunt up Elders and send them abroad to preach the Gospel. We have had a good deal of difficulty to find them as fast as they have been wanted. One mission in the South called for one hundred extra Elders. We have a thousand or more in the field; but there is wanted a great multitude yet to go everywhere, and we are seeking through Israel, almost with lighted candles, to find men of suitable spirit and faith—men that can go and preach the word of God to the nations of the earth. There never has been a time when we have ben so able to do it as at the present time. I know one says, “I am owing something;” another, “I am a little in debt” &c. Arrange these things from this day forth, as if you knew you had to go on a mission. Then when you are ready to go, you will be ready to stay if you are not wanted. I do not want you to think it is a difficult thing. We do not ask anybody to go on missions until they can go reasonably and consistently with the spirit of the Gospel, with the faith of their kindred and with the blessings of their Bishops and Presidents. In the beginning, when Presidents Young, Woodruff, Snow and others that are around me, were called upon to go and preach the Gospel, and had nothing to go with, we went whether we could or not. You do not have to do that today; you are given time to go consistently and comfortably. But I give you notice that we want Elders to go and preach the Gospel; for now is the time when the desire of the people is open to receive it. It is the great leading duty of Israel to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth, laid especially upon the Twelve Apostles, with the First Presidency to see that it is carried out.
Think what the Lord is doing for us! A little while ago we were set upon fiercely by the government, and if the Lord had not come to our rescue to tell us we might suspend operations in some of His ordinances, not only would our public and our private property have been taken away from us, but our temples would have been closed up. Now the government has come back, and gave us, a while ago, our personal property, and last week, by enactment and the signature of the Executive, they restore to us the real property, except that which has been lost and wasted in the handling.
We have occasion to rejoice in this. The work of the Lord is beginning to triumph in some of these matters. This is the first time we have had the chance to hold the general Conference with these Stars and Stripes over us in the relationship we sustain to them now. Utah is no longer a territory, looked upon with suspicion; but it has become a state—I had almost said a sovereign state. Well, if the states are sovereign, then I suppose Utah is sovereign, too. Heretofore we have always had to go under the direction and counsel of the President and Congress of the United States; but now we have a State organization, and a Governor, a native born Governor, who can give letters of commendation to honorable men and can introduce them to governors of other States and men in high positions. Thus the Lord is opening the way, by which we can carry the Gospel wherever it should be carried.
I think, brethren and sisters, we ought to rise up to the possibilities and opportunities of the situation, and spread the knowledge of this Gospel. If you have relations out in the world, and you may have been slow to communicate with them, keep up a kindly, friendly correspondence with them. If you have been backward in sending the word of the Lord to your kindred, send them some of it. Let them be enlightened. Feed them a little. As Brigham and Heber used to say, hand them a little salt, that they can taste of it and see how good it is. And so let us go on wit the good work of the Lord which He has given to us to do, and let us work while it is today.
You know, in going out in a great field, where some of the land is high and some low, that which is on the knolls ripens the quickest, while down in the swales it doesn’t get ripe so quick. It is just so with this great vineyard of the Lord and field of the world. There are spots and places where it is ripe sooner than others. But we want to be prepared and ready that when the summer is on we may gather in the harvest. When the springtime comes we want to cast in the seed—the world of the Lord, that we may by and by, in the autumn, realize a great ingathering, a harvest of souls, to Zion, that shall increase and extend and multiply, till we will be building other temples, other stakes, and multiplying the wards of Israel throughout the land. You must not think because we have become a State, and these sisters must not think now they have the franchise, that we have got it all and we can sit down and enjoy it. This is simply the armor that God gives us to pick up and buckle on to go to work for another summer’s labor. The winter has gone again, and after the sowing the Lord will bring the harvest as He would have it. We need not wonder or marvel about things in the future; we want to be up and doing today.
Now, I want to notify you Elders that in going abroad we wish you, when you get to be presidents of missions, to bring home the very best published histories there are of those countries that you go to, so that we can have the history of the generation of men on the earth in the Historian’s Office; and we do home, now that the government has given us back our substance, that sometime we shall have a Historian’s Office that will be a credit to the Church, so that we can preserve the records properly. I wish you to see that there are good complete records instituted in our conferences, in your missions. And when you go to those nations where they are led by chiefs, in tribes, as in New Zealand among the Maories, (and among the Lamanites, if they don’t get killed off before their day comes) you get at some of those venerable old Maori chiefs, and you will find they are full of genealogy and history of their tribes and will take you back by tradition for hundreds of years. Get what they know, and write it for the benefit of those people that live around them; for when they come up to Zion or when temples shall be built in their midst, they will find that the people of Zion are getting up records of their fathers. We must begin to be Israel in this direction more than we have been before.
These are some of my ideas just now, as I enjoy this rich and precious and glorious conference that I am sharing with you. We talk about our sons and our families. It really makes folks feel terrible all over if they see their families not in so good a situation as some of their brethren’s. But we must just do the best we can, and then the Lord will do the rest for us, and set angels to help us. It is precious that we can look back to so great a father as Abraham. The Lord says, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him.” And so he did. He instructed them concerning the very first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” While he had one side of his family, the descendants of Sarah, that came to be Twelve Tribes to enter into the Gospel covenant and the power of great salvation, there was another side of his household, the descendants of his other wives, that have gone off in the line of Mohammedamism. But as different as their views are from ours, they have maintained that feature which our father Abraham taught them, that they should have no other gods before Him, and with them there is but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet; while with us there is but one God, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior. If we can establish our children in the right ways of the Lord, that is what we ought to do. But we can look back over some of the best families of Israel, beginning with the Prophet Joseph’s family and going all along the line, and where are they? Look into the world and at some of the best preachers among the different denominations—men living up to the best light they have—and some of their children are the renegades of their town. Well, if men do the best they can, there will be help given to the righteous. Think of father Abraham! The Lord has told us that he has passed the angels and the Gods and gone into his exaltation. Where are his generations? where are these Moslems? Father Abraham has gone up to where he has power—power with the Gods, power with the Son of God, power with the courts of heaven, power with the council of the Eternal. He has a work on hand. In this world he has a multitude, like the sand of the sea shore, and they have to come around, in time or eternity, to inherit the presence and glory of their father Abraham in the eternal world, so many of them as can be rescued through obedience to the Gospel. I hope the Lord will bless us, and help us to understand the times and seasons in which we live, that we may make the most and best of them, glorify His name and build up His Church.
The Lord is going to turn the favor of the best men on earth towards this people as fast as we will let Him. Men already have come here with their millions and offered their money to us. They sense that we are a people who are trustworthy, and that pay our debts. They sense that we are a staid people, and our merchants have paid their debts in the east and maintained as good a financial reputation as any people in these whole United States. (We can say “these United States” since we have got in). why do they feel that way? It is because they see the integrity of this people; that during the late panic the banks did not close up and burst us all to pieces and ruin everything, but held steady. They see virtues among this people that make them feel safe that if there is a people anywhere where they can invest and do business with safety, they are here. We have the least number of defaulters among us, we have the least bankrupts among us, we have the least of anything of that kind that is mischievous and bad. We need to cultivate these virtues, not in our merchants only, but every man, woman and child ought to be brought up in the culture of these graces and virtues, so that we can stand up and be exalted above every other people; and the glory of God will come upon Zion, and they will look to her as the safest and best place for their great treasure storehouses and the establishment of all that is good. We will have men come in here with means to build railroads, and make labor for our brethren, and cause them to rejoice, so that they can get a little money to pay their debts and their tithing with. I pray the Lord to bless us all in cultivating very grace and virtue that the Gospel grants us, that we may so live as to be proper exemplars in the Church of our God, and be worthy of the blessings that heaven has to bestow upon us. May it be so. Amen.
of the Council of the Apostles, next addressed the Conference. Following is a brief outline of his remarks: No one who had the spirit of Zion could, under the existing favorable conditions, feel otherwise than happy. It had been remarked by a wise man that there was a time for all things. The work of the Lord had its times of apparent adversity alternating with periods of refreshing. The speaker here referred to the distressing circumstances which surrounded the Saints in Missouri, followed by the pleasanter situation that ensued when the migration to Illinois was completed, where today advantages were enjoyed. Nauvoo became a glorious city, and many people came from distant parts of the nation to see and hear the Prophet Joseph. Then came the martyrdom of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, precipitating another season of gloom, and the people suffered as wanderers in the wilderness for a season. The settling of this western region brought a cessation of disturbance, and again peace reigned. Soon Apostles were sent out to the different nations, where the door of the Gospel was opened up to their people.
The speaker continued in this strain, giving a graphic, condensed delineation of the history and experience of the Saints, in consecutive order, leading up to the present status of affairs. Now, he held, came another appearance of springtime in the affairs of the Saints. Among the symptoms were calls from various parts of the earth for Elders, and for information concerning the belief and doctrines of this Church, and the cause of our being distinctive in many of our peculiarities from other peoples of the earth.
Some of the speaker’s remarks were directed to Elders whose duty it was to respond to calls to go forth to the nations with the message which God had given us to proclaim. They should be willing to undertake this great labor for the salvation of mankind, as did the earlier Elders, in the rise of the Church. The new and enlarged political status would enable the brethren to go abroad under more favorable circumstances than heretofore. the Lord had opened up the way, that the Gospel banner might be carried to every people under heaven by the Heralds of the Lord. The Elders abroad should see that good and accurate records were kept in the branches of the Church that had been and might be established.
Speaking of the children of the Saints, he said that if parents could not induce their sons and daughters to walk in the path of the Gospel of Christ, they could at least do the best they could, and the Lord would do the rest, and all would come right at last.
Many of the children of the best men on earth in all ages had gone astray, and their recovery, or redemption, provided a wide and important field for their parents in eternity as well as in time.
God was going to turn the favor of the best and most influential men on the earth toward this community, because they were learning something concerning the virtues of the people here. The confidence of intelligent people abroad was being increased by the spread of correct information concerning us.
Times and Seasons.
Discourse delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 5th, 1896, by
Elder Franklin D. Richards
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
After the very precious instructions that we have been listening to from our First Presidency in the Church and in the Priesthood, I feel on being called upon to speak, as though it was not following the rule of giving the best at the last of the feast; but being thus called, I desire to give my testimony with the rest of my brethren. And in this vast congregation, while it is difficult for us to make all hear, I would ask the people kindly to be as quiet as they can, so that we may most of us hear, and I will try to speak so as to be heard; and if the Lord pleases to give us a generous measure of His Holy spirit we may still be edified.
I have been exceedingly refreshed by the instructions of yesterday and today, and I realize that it is an instructive, interesting and important time in which we live; and if we can but understand the importance of the times and the circumstances that surround and attend upon us, no person who possesses the spirit of Zion, can be otherwise than happy and rejoice in the multitude of the tender mercies of our God which He is bestowing upon His people. It was said by an ancient wise man that “there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” There is a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to plant and a time to gather. There are times when it appears as if all nature was by the frost of life not only hidden up, but when the severity is so great that it sems as if it must be killed outright, and that vegetation could not start in the spring. Then again we see the opposite extreme in the summer, when the heat is so great that human flesh and blood faints and subsides before it. Now, when we look at the great work of the Lord in the last days, there is quite a similarity in the course of God’s providences to His people to what there is in the course of the seasons and of the revolving years. The work of the Lord has had its times of refreshing and sunshine, of sowing and maturing, and reaping the plentiful, the bounteous, the glorious harvest in the temples of God for instance, as they have been completed and dedicated, and as we have received the blessings of heaven therein. While on the other hand there have been times of persecution, affliction, sorrow and distress, until to all outward appearance it would seem as if the tree of life which God had planted in the earth had been about frozen to death.
Such was a time in Missouri, when the Prophet and his immediate associates were in prison together; when other brethren by the score were in other prisons; when the voice of the military chieftain told us we need never expect to see our Prophet again, and we were, with all military sternness informed that we must locate as other people locate, and never organize again in ward and stakes, under bishops and presidents. The consummation of that serious event looked like destruction for the Church. We were banished from the state, and it took all that winter with all the brethren could do to help everybody get out from those distressing conditions and into the State of Illinois. There spring opened. There was found a feeling of kindness, benevolence and generosity on the part of the good people of the City of Quincy and the regions round about; brethren came and went, took up farms, worked them upon shares, hired out, and did whatever they could to sustain life, get their families located, and overcome the adversities of the previous year.
What was the result? As this spring weather opened to them, they got situations and labor. In a little while the Prophet Joseph came along, having been delivered by the almighty power of God, also his brother Hyrum, and the brethren of the Apostles. Directly the work of the Lord began to prosper, Brother Joseph purchased a place for Nauvoo, bought out Commerce, because it was so sickly that other people could not live there. Nauvoo was built up in the short space of seven years, and a temple was built there which cost about a million dollars. That was a glorious summer’s work. Our Elders went everywhere preaching the word, explaining to the people around them that faith that we were persecuted for and driven from state to state, telling them what was the cause of the terrible, frosty winter that we had been passing through; and it had its effects. Many people were gathered in. Nauvoo became a glorious city. People came from New Orleans, from New York and from Canada to find out and hear the word of the Prophet Joseph, and to see what these people were doing, because they made the welkin ring from morning till night with the saw and hammer, building up that beautiful place.
Well, before the temple was completed our Prophet laid down his life, having been led like a lamb to the slaughter. But the work of the Lord went on. Our treaties with our enemies allowed us a certain period to get our wagons together, and another terrible winter set in upon us. We had the journey over the prairies of Iowa, the period of sickness, the cold of the winter, the suffering in Winter Quarters; and we journeyed over the plains exiled—Israel in the wilderness—the kingdom of God on wheels—for about two years, till we arrived in this “great American desert”—a country of sagebrush, grease-wood, wolves and Indians. We got here and winter began to break again. A little experience soon taught us that the Lord would bless and prosper us and make the earth fruitful for our sakes, after striving to keep His commandments and to do His will. We had hardly got located here, however, just so that we could spend the 24th of July and have a good dinner under a bowery, when at the following conference the Twelve were started off—President Lorenzo Snow to Italy, Erastus Snow to Denmark, John Taylor to France and Germany, and Franklin D. Richards to England. The Elders went abroad everywhere preaching the Gospel, and found people willing to hear. What was the matter with this people, driven out from the nation and having to become a people to themselves? And yet the Gospel spread abroad. In England and other European countries, people were added to the Church by the thousands and tens of thousands in wonderful rapidity. The work of the Lord prospered, and we had another summer time to a certain extent, locating settlements all over this country and building four temples. Then behold, another winter set in.
You know, winters are not always of the same temperature. We sometimes have a winter that freezes so hard that bark on the trees becomes loose, and then we have other winters that are mild. Well, we had a winter set in here that was so severe that nearly all manner of business was closed up—except the marshals, the attorneys, the courts and the penitentiary: they were about the only line of prosperous business that was done here during that winter of some six to twelve years ago. Now, the Lord has seemed to cause these things to work in this way. It seems to be a natural periodic state that we pass through from time to time. It happened that during this winter, when we could not be abroad preaching the Gospel (for you must know our Elders went sometimes clear to the sea and back again and reported that they could not get a house to speak in anywhere, not even a congregation out of doors), the supreme court in Washington, had our leading men’s characters brought up there and canvassed, and the decision of those courts were published and have gone abroad in the court reports into all the spheres of the legal lore throughout this country and the world; and so we became advertised while we were staying around at home and away from home taking care of ourselves as best we could, we were making acquaintances through the attorneys and the courts in the higher circles of life.
When this had been going on for some months and years, there was a council held down East, and our leading ladies were invited to join the National Council of women, in Washington and they reported the Relief Societies, &c., and those reports were published in the papers and books, which have gone to all the States and Territories of the Union, and in a higher circle than merely those that are plowing and sowing, the mechanics, &c. These means the Lord employed during the hard period of our winter. It was not very much the “winter of discontent” after all. He made us to become known among the people. They could take these books and hunt over the decisions of the law courts, and they could read the reports of this grand Council of Women from all parts of the world, and quietly learn something about us.
Directly there was a great call for all the inhabitants of the earth to come to Chicago and celebrate the World’s Columbian Exposition. At this Exposition there came commissioners from all civilized countries; many of them got a chance to talk with our brethren and sisters in Chicago, and a number of them came to Salt Lake City. We gave them copies of our Church works and of the History of Utah, which they carried off with them to their homes, and they have no doubt been reading over these things. So the work has been going on. Our dear sisters and brethren of the choir went down and really put the country on its mettle in music. Thus we got some of the fine arts before the people of the earth. The Presidency went along also, and as has been shown you this morning, the Mayor of Independence welcomed them and accompanied them to the hall where they could exchange congratulations publicly.
These things have been going on until, I want to say to you brethren and sisters and especially the Elders of Israel, springtime seems to be on us again; and as the earth, after the frosts and snows of winter, is being broken up and pulverized and prepared for the seed, so calls are coming from all parts of the earth for Elders. “Where can we find an Elder?” “If you have an Elder coming this way, please direct him to our place.” Calls are being made, and the people of the earth are now ready to hear the Gospel. I want to tell this legion of Seventies that are before us—the bone and sinew of Israel, if you please—and the multitudes of the Elders’ quorums, that the time has come when the inhabitants of the earth want the Gospel; want to know what it is that we have been making a fuss about in the earth, keeping the courts busy and the penitentiary full. They want us to send some Elders along, that they can ask questions of them, and that the Gospel may be explained unto them. We have calls for Elders from sea to sea and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. The time has come when we must rise up and sow—go forth and scatter the Gospel seeds throughout the lands. The inhabitants of the earth are ready to hear it, and it is our duty, and it is made the duty of the Twelve Apostles, and especially you have made it the duty of the missionary committee, to hunt up Elders and send them abroad to preach the Gospel. We have had a good deal of difficulty to find them as fast as they have been wanted. One mission in the South called for one hundred extra Elders. We have a thousand or more in the field; but there is wanted a great multitude yet to go everywhere, and we are seeking through Israel, almost with lighted candles, to find men of suitable spirit and faith—men that can go and preach the word of God to the nations of the earth. There never has been a time when we have ben so able to do it as at the present time. I know one says, “I am owing something;” another, “I am a little in debt” &c. Arrange these things from this day forth, as if you knew you had to go on a mission. Then when you are ready to go, you will be ready to stay if you are not wanted. I do not want you to think it is a difficult thing. We do not ask anybody to go on missions until they can go reasonably and consistently with the spirit of the Gospel, with the faith of their kindred and with the blessings of their Bishops and Presidents. In the beginning, when Presidents Young, Woodruff, Snow and others that are around me, were called upon to go and preach the Gospel, and had nothing to go with, we went whether we could or not. You do not have to do that today; you are given time to go consistently and comfortably. But I give you notice that we want Elders to go and preach the Gospel; for now is the time when the desire of the people is open to receive it. It is the great leading duty of Israel to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth, laid especially upon the Twelve Apostles, with the First Presidency to see that it is carried out.
Think what the Lord is doing for us! A little while ago we were set upon fiercely by the government, and if the Lord had not come to our rescue to tell us we might suspend operations in some of His ordinances, not only would our public and our private property have been taken away from us, but our temples would have been closed up. Now the government has come back, and gave us, a while ago, our personal property, and last week, by enactment and the signature of the Executive, they restore to us the real property, except that which has been lost and wasted in the handling.
We have occasion to rejoice in this. The work of the Lord is beginning to triumph in some of these matters. This is the first time we have had the chance to hold the general Conference with these Stars and Stripes over us in the relationship we sustain to them now. Utah is no longer a territory, looked upon with suspicion; but it has become a state—I had almost said a sovereign state. Well, if the states are sovereign, then I suppose Utah is sovereign, too. Heretofore we have always had to go under the direction and counsel of the President and Congress of the United States; but now we have a State organization, and a Governor, a native born Governor, who can give letters of commendation to honorable men and can introduce them to governors of other States and men in high positions. Thus the Lord is opening the way, by which we can carry the Gospel wherever it should be carried.
I think, brethren and sisters, we ought to rise up to the possibilities and opportunities of the situation, and spread the knowledge of this Gospel. If you have relations out in the world, and you may have been slow to communicate with them, keep up a kindly, friendly correspondence with them. If you have been backward in sending the word of the Lord to your kindred, send them some of it. Let them be enlightened. Feed them a little. As Brigham and Heber used to say, hand them a little salt, that they can taste of it and see how good it is. And so let us go on wit the good work of the Lord which He has given to us to do, and let us work while it is today.
You know, in going out in a great field, where some of the land is high and some low, that which is on the knolls ripens the quickest, while down in the swales it doesn’t get ripe so quick. It is just so with this great vineyard of the Lord and field of the world. There are spots and places where it is ripe sooner than others. But we want to be prepared and ready that when the summer is on we may gather in the harvest. When the springtime comes we want to cast in the seed—the world of the Lord, that we may by and by, in the autumn, realize a great ingathering, a harvest of souls, to Zion, that shall increase and extend and multiply, till we will be building other temples, other stakes, and multiplying the wards of Israel throughout the land. You must not think because we have become a State, and these sisters must not think now they have the franchise, that we have got it all and we can sit down and enjoy it. This is simply the armor that God gives us to pick up and buckle on to go to work for another summer’s labor. The winter has gone again, and after the sowing the Lord will bring the harvest as He would have it. We need not wonder or marvel about things in the future; we want to be up and doing today.
Now, I want to notify you Elders that in going abroad we wish you, when you get to be presidents of missions, to bring home the very best published histories there are of those countries that you go to, so that we can have the history of the generation of men on the earth in the Historian’s Office; and we do home, now that the government has given us back our substance, that sometime we shall have a Historian’s Office that will be a credit to the Church, so that we can preserve the records properly. I wish you to see that there are good complete records instituted in our conferences, in your missions. And when you go to those nations where they are led by chiefs, in tribes, as in New Zealand among the Maories, (and among the Lamanites, if they don’t get killed off before their day comes) you get at some of those venerable old Maori chiefs, and you will find they are full of genealogy and history of their tribes and will take you back by tradition for hundreds of years. Get what they know, and write it for the benefit of those people that live around them; for when they come up to Zion or when temples shall be built in their midst, they will find that the people of Zion are getting up records of their fathers. We must begin to be Israel in this direction more than we have been before.
These are some of my ideas just now, as I enjoy this rich and precious and glorious conference that I am sharing with you. We talk about our sons and our families. It really makes folks feel terrible all over if they see their families not in so good a situation as some of their brethren’s. But we must just do the best we can, and then the Lord will do the rest for us, and set angels to help us. It is precious that we can look back to so great a father as Abraham. The Lord says, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him.” And so he did. He instructed them concerning the very first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” While he had one side of his family, the descendants of Sarah, that came to be Twelve Tribes to enter into the Gospel covenant and the power of great salvation, there was another side of his household, the descendants of his other wives, that have gone off in the line of Mohammedamism. But as different as their views are from ours, they have maintained that feature which our father Abraham taught them, that they should have no other gods before Him, and with them there is but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet; while with us there is but one God, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior. If we can establish our children in the right ways of the Lord, that is what we ought to do. But we can look back over some of the best families of Israel, beginning with the Prophet Joseph’s family and going all along the line, and where are they? Look into the world and at some of the best preachers among the different denominations—men living up to the best light they have—and some of their children are the renegades of their town. Well, if men do the best they can, there will be help given to the righteous. Think of father Abraham! The Lord has told us that he has passed the angels and the Gods and gone into his exaltation. Where are his generations? where are these Moslems? Father Abraham has gone up to where he has power—power with the Gods, power with the Son of God, power with the courts of heaven, power with the council of the Eternal. He has a work on hand. In this world he has a multitude, like the sand of the sea shore, and they have to come around, in time or eternity, to inherit the presence and glory of their father Abraham in the eternal world, so many of them as can be rescued through obedience to the Gospel. I hope the Lord will bless us, and help us to understand the times and seasons in which we live, that we may make the most and best of them, glorify His name and build up His Church.
The Lord is going to turn the favor of the best men on earth towards this people as fast as we will let Him. Men already have come here with their millions and offered their money to us. They sense that we are a people who are trustworthy, and that pay our debts. They sense that we are a staid people, and our merchants have paid their debts in the east and maintained as good a financial reputation as any people in these whole United States. (We can say “these United States” since we have got in). why do they feel that way? It is because they see the integrity of this people; that during the late panic the banks did not close up and burst us all to pieces and ruin everything, but held steady. They see virtues among this people that make them feel safe that if there is a people anywhere where they can invest and do business with safety, they are here. We have the least number of defaulters among us, we have the least bankrupts among us, we have the least of anything of that kind that is mischievous and bad. We need to cultivate these virtues, not in our merchants only, but every man, woman and child ought to be brought up in the culture of these graces and virtues, so that we can stand up and be exalted above every other people; and the glory of God will come upon Zion, and they will look to her as the safest and best place for their great treasure storehouses and the establishment of all that is good. We will have men come in here with means to build railroads, and make labor for our brethren, and cause them to rejoice, so that they can get a little money to pay their debts and their tithing with. I pray the Lord to bless us all in cultivating very grace and virtue that the Gospel grants us, that we may so live as to be proper exemplars in the Church of our God, and be worthy of the blessings that heaven has to bestow upon us. May it be so. Amen.
Elder Francis M. Lyman,
of the Council of the Apostles, addressed the conference. It was a precious privilege to gather together without molestation. When the prophecies which had been given from the Lord through His servants and their fulfilment were alluded to we were reminded of some early date in the history of the Church. Notably the prophecy concerning the war of the Rebellion on this nation, given through Joseph the Prophet in 1832. This prediction was, as was now a matter of history, literally fulfilled. It had also been declared by the Prophet that great changes would occur at a later time, growing out of the labor performed by Zion’s Camp. He made certain declarations at a meeting of the members of that historic buoy of men, concerning a period of more than fifty years in advance of the time they were uttered. The speaker then dwelt upon a series of circumstances which he regarded as a fulfilment of the prophecy to which he had reference. As evidence in support of this statement, Elder Lyman directed attention to prominent events which had occurred in recent years. He held that the changes they involved were in fulfilment of what the Prophet had predicted in February, 1835, when the members of Zion’s Camp were designated as messengers of the Lord to go forth and prune His vineyard for the last time, previous to the coming of the Son of Man.
The usual time for the closing of the morning session of the Conference having nearly arrived with Elder Lyman began his discourse, his remarks were necessarily brief.
The choir sang the anthem: Hark! Hark! my soul.
Benediction by Elder Charles W. Penrose.
of the Council of the Apostles, addressed the conference. It was a precious privilege to gather together without molestation. When the prophecies which had been given from the Lord through His servants and their fulfilment were alluded to we were reminded of some early date in the history of the Church. Notably the prophecy concerning the war of the Rebellion on this nation, given through Joseph the Prophet in 1832. This prediction was, as was now a matter of history, literally fulfilled. It had also been declared by the Prophet that great changes would occur at a later time, growing out of the labor performed by Zion’s Camp. He made certain declarations at a meeting of the members of that historic buoy of men, concerning a period of more than fifty years in advance of the time they were uttered. The speaker then dwelt upon a series of circumstances which he regarded as a fulfilment of the prophecy to which he had reference. As evidence in support of this statement, Elder Lyman directed attention to prominent events which had occurred in recent years. He held that the changes they involved were in fulfilment of what the Prophet had predicted in February, 1835, when the members of Zion’s Camp were designated as messengers of the Lord to go forth and prune His vineyard for the last time, previous to the coming of the Son of Man.
The usual time for the closing of the morning session of the Conference having nearly arrived with Elder Lyman began his discourse, his remarks were necessarily brief.
The choir sang the anthem: Hark! Hark! my soul.
Benediction by Elder Charles W. Penrose.
Afternoon Session.
We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,
To guide us in these latter days,
was sung by the choir and congregation.
Prayer by Elder George Goddard.
The anthem, Hussons, was sung by the choir.
We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,
To guide us in these latter days,
was sung by the choir and congregation.
Prayer by Elder George Goddard.
The anthem, Hussons, was sung by the choir.
President George Q. Cannon
delivered an elaborate discourse on the subject of the guidance of the Church by revelation from God. He showed, with great clearness, that the Saints had been led by that power from the beginning of the latter-day dispensation to the present hour, and that the heads of the Church had been divinely selected on account of their adaptability to perform the special work necessary to be accomplished in the development of the purposes of the Almighty.
delivered an elaborate discourse on the subject of the guidance of the Church by revelation from God. He showed, with great clearness, that the Saints had been led by that power from the beginning of the latter-day dispensation to the present hour, and that the heads of the Church had been divinely selected on account of their adaptability to perform the special work necessary to be accomplished in the development of the purposes of the Almighty.
Elder Abraham H. Cannon,
of the Council of the Apostles, was the next speaker. It appeared to him that the burden of the teachings of the Conference had been in relation to the carrying of the Gospel to the nations, owing to the favorable existing conditions for prosecuting that labor. There was also a missionary work needed at home, as it was expected that the Elders sent abroad would be fortified with the strongest kind of recommendations. He had been pleased to note that those being selected were, as a rule, men who had been doing their duty at home. The demand for Elders was being favorably met by those who were requested to engage in missionary work. They generally responded with expressions of willingness.
Of late the gathering of the Saints from abroad had not been preached as strongly as in earlier times. Perhaps this had occurred in the Providence of God, that the few scattered Saints might remain for a time in the countries of their nativity to preserve the world from destruction. It was probably that when the “salt of the earth” should be withdrawn, that there would come such a clash of nations as had never occurred in history. God would gather his people to these mountains fastnesses in his own time. But it had struck the speaker that we did not pay as much attention as we should to those who did gather here. Many of them were left to wander whithersoever they would, without anyone to direct them or aid them in obtaining employment. Bishops who mere attended to their strictly local and routine duties were contracted in their operations. Notwithstanding the conditions there existed some disposition to criticize recent endeavors of the First Presidency to find employment for those who needed it. Yet when we looked around, we could witness everywhere the beneficent results of the efforts of the leaders of the Church in the direction of temporal affairs. God was just as able to give financial wisdom to the authorities as to bestow gifts upon them in the domain of spiritual affairs. He had done this heretofore and would continue to do so. The Almighty could give to His servants every kind of ability to further the cause of truth and progress on the earth. The day would come when men who now thought they had great practical talent would seek advice on temporal affairs from the servants of God.
Statehood had come to us, but with it came greater responsibility. Would we act as patriots, or would we act selfishly? All laws enacted should be such only as would conduce to the public weal. In selecting men for office, only the good, the noble and the virtuous should be chosen. Otherwise we would fail to use aright the powers which political emancipation afforded us.
of the Council of the Apostles, was the next speaker. It appeared to him that the burden of the teachings of the Conference had been in relation to the carrying of the Gospel to the nations, owing to the favorable existing conditions for prosecuting that labor. There was also a missionary work needed at home, as it was expected that the Elders sent abroad would be fortified with the strongest kind of recommendations. He had been pleased to note that those being selected were, as a rule, men who had been doing their duty at home. The demand for Elders was being favorably met by those who were requested to engage in missionary work. They generally responded with expressions of willingness.
Of late the gathering of the Saints from abroad had not been preached as strongly as in earlier times. Perhaps this had occurred in the Providence of God, that the few scattered Saints might remain for a time in the countries of their nativity to preserve the world from destruction. It was probably that when the “salt of the earth” should be withdrawn, that there would come such a clash of nations as had never occurred in history. God would gather his people to these mountains fastnesses in his own time. But it had struck the speaker that we did not pay as much attention as we should to those who did gather here. Many of them were left to wander whithersoever they would, without anyone to direct them or aid them in obtaining employment. Bishops who mere attended to their strictly local and routine duties were contracted in their operations. Notwithstanding the conditions there existed some disposition to criticize recent endeavors of the First Presidency to find employment for those who needed it. Yet when we looked around, we could witness everywhere the beneficent results of the efforts of the leaders of the Church in the direction of temporal affairs. God was just as able to give financial wisdom to the authorities as to bestow gifts upon them in the domain of spiritual affairs. He had done this heretofore and would continue to do so. The Almighty could give to His servants every kind of ability to further the cause of truth and progress on the earth. The day would come when men who now thought they had great practical talent would seek advice on temporal affairs from the servants of God.
Statehood had come to us, but with it came greater responsibility. Would we act as patriots, or would we act selfishly? All laws enacted should be such only as would conduce to the public weal. In selecting men for office, only the good, the noble and the virtuous should be chosen. Otherwise we would fail to use aright the powers which political emancipation afforded us.
Elder Marriner W. Merrill,
of the Council of the Apostles, addressed the Conference. He had been entertained and blessed in listening to the discourses delivered thus far. He had been reminded, in listening in President Woodruff, this morning, of the difficulties which were encountered in the early settlement of these valleys. These obstacles were most severe in the frontier locations. The Indians were troublesome, and President Young advised the people to feed them and not fight them.
Some instances occurred where the brethren neglected to take the counsels of the leaders. In such cases disaster resulted and numbers lost their lives. But nothing of this kind happened when the advice of the authorities was followed. The advice of the speaker to all was to adhere to the teachings of the servants of God. This was the path of safety.
None should fail to take heed to the instructions of the President of the church in relation to the redemption of the dead. Millions of dollars had been spent in erecting houses to the name of the Lord. These facilities for the blessing of the living and redemption of the dead ought to be economized.
In his early experience the speaker had never entertained the thought that any other than the Salt Lake Temple would be erected in the region. The first intimation he received to the contrary was many years ago, in Logan, when President Woodruff, in delivering a public discourse there, prophesied that the time would come when a temple would be built on the hill overlooking the town, and our young people would go up on the towers and from them view the surrounding country, all of which had been fulfilled.
The Lord was pleased with the Temple, His power was there, and it rested upon the people who entered them with honest hearts to perform work for their dead. It was a great sacred labor and it was now only in its incipient stages. Many things had happened in the temples which, if it were wise to talk about them, would astonish some people.
The speaker thought it would be a good thing if the Elders who went abroad would take an interest in collecting genealogical information. It would be of great use to the Saints.
Elder Merrill declared that he knew this labor to be of God, and that this was the true Church of Christ; also that the Presidency of the Church were chosen of God, and sought the welfare of the people continually. He would not dare make this declaration if he did not have a personal knowledge of its truth. We knew but little of the weight of care and responsibility which rested upon these men, and it became our duty to sustain them and do our part in trying to make their burdens lighter.
The choir sang the anthem, Let all Israel sin.
Benediction by Elder Angus M. Cannon.
of the Council of the Apostles, addressed the Conference. He had been entertained and blessed in listening to the discourses delivered thus far. He had been reminded, in listening in President Woodruff, this morning, of the difficulties which were encountered in the early settlement of these valleys. These obstacles were most severe in the frontier locations. The Indians were troublesome, and President Young advised the people to feed them and not fight them.
Some instances occurred where the brethren neglected to take the counsels of the leaders. In such cases disaster resulted and numbers lost their lives. But nothing of this kind happened when the advice of the authorities was followed. The advice of the speaker to all was to adhere to the teachings of the servants of God. This was the path of safety.
None should fail to take heed to the instructions of the President of the church in relation to the redemption of the dead. Millions of dollars had been spent in erecting houses to the name of the Lord. These facilities for the blessing of the living and redemption of the dead ought to be economized.
In his early experience the speaker had never entertained the thought that any other than the Salt Lake Temple would be erected in the region. The first intimation he received to the contrary was many years ago, in Logan, when President Woodruff, in delivering a public discourse there, prophesied that the time would come when a temple would be built on the hill overlooking the town, and our young people would go up on the towers and from them view the surrounding country, all of which had been fulfilled.
The Lord was pleased with the Temple, His power was there, and it rested upon the people who entered them with honest hearts to perform work for their dead. It was a great sacred labor and it was now only in its incipient stages. Many things had happened in the temples which, if it were wise to talk about them, would astonish some people.
The speaker thought it would be a good thing if the Elders who went abroad would take an interest in collecting genealogical information. It would be of great use to the Saints.
Elder Merrill declared that he knew this labor to be of God, and that this was the true Church of Christ; also that the Presidency of the Church were chosen of God, and sought the welfare of the people continually. He would not dare make this declaration if he did not have a personal knowledge of its truth. We knew but little of the weight of care and responsibility which rested upon these men, and it became our duty to sustain them and do our part in trying to make their burdens lighter.
The choir sang the anthem, Let all Israel sin.
Benediction by Elder Angus M. Cannon.
The Assembly Hall.
An overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall at 2 p.m.
Present on the stand: Of the Apostles, Brigham Young, John W. Taylor and George Teasdale.
Of the First Council of Seventies, Seymour B. Young and Edward Stevenson.
The congregation sang: Do what is right.
Prayer by Elder A. H. Raleigh.
Singing: Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
An overflow meeting was held in the Assembly Hall at 2 p.m.
Present on the stand: Of the Apostles, Brigham Young, John W. Taylor and George Teasdale.
Of the First Council of Seventies, Seymour B. Young and Edward Stevenson.
The congregation sang: Do what is right.
Prayer by Elder A. H. Raleigh.
Singing: Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
Edward Stevenson
said he stood before the people as a witness for Christ and also for the Latter-day Prophets. All the Prophets of old spoke of our day. In the spring of 1820, when Joseph was praying in the woods, the light of heaven shone about him and two personages stood before him and two personages stood before him and one said to him, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. He was forbidden to join any of the churches. The history of the people of this continent was hid up until the Lord chose to reveal it through Joseph Smith. The Savior appeared unto the people of this hemisphere and organized His Church as He did on the eastern hemisphere. In the twenty-second year of his age the Lord permitted Joseph Smith to bring forth this record.
Referred to 11th chapter of Genesis: “Let us go down and scatter the people upon all the face of the land.” First chapter of Ether, records of the people from Tower of Babel. Jared and his brother were of the people who were scattered.
Six hundred years before Christ another colony came out from Jerusalem. Joseph Smith brought forth records of these peoples.
John the Baptist came and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Lesser Priesthood. Peter, James and John conferred the Melchisedec Priesthood upon them. The speaker had heard the Prophet Joseph declare this. The speaker wished to call upon the world to repent and accept the Gospel.
Sister Maggie Hall, assisted by the Temple choir, sang “Glory to God on high.”
said he stood before the people as a witness for Christ and also for the Latter-day Prophets. All the Prophets of old spoke of our day. In the spring of 1820, when Joseph was praying in the woods, the light of heaven shone about him and two personages stood before him and two personages stood before him and one said to him, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. He was forbidden to join any of the churches. The history of the people of this continent was hid up until the Lord chose to reveal it through Joseph Smith. The Savior appeared unto the people of this hemisphere and organized His Church as He did on the eastern hemisphere. In the twenty-second year of his age the Lord permitted Joseph Smith to bring forth this record.
Referred to 11th chapter of Genesis: “Let us go down and scatter the people upon all the face of the land.” First chapter of Ether, records of the people from Tower of Babel. Jared and his brother were of the people who were scattered.
Six hundred years before Christ another colony came out from Jerusalem. Joseph Smith brought forth records of these peoples.
John the Baptist came and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Lesser Priesthood. Peter, James and John conferred the Melchisedec Priesthood upon them. The speaker had heard the Prophet Joseph declare this. The speaker wished to call upon the world to repent and accept the Gospel.
Sister Maggie Hall, assisted by the Temple choir, sang “Glory to God on high.”
Elder Brigham Young
was pleased with the remarks of President Woodruff this morning. It is a joy to see him so full of vigor. We have every opportunity to enjoy ourselves. He desired the spirit of the Lord to enable him to say a few words in relation to a subject that had occurred to him. The human family are being educated. There are agencies at work educating the Latter-day Saints and intervening a barrier between them and their God. It is proper for all to have what might be termed a good English education. There are lessons to be learned to prepare us for the life to come. We arise in the resurrection with the knowledge which we acquire in this life.
The Latter-day Saints are original and take the lead. It takes the spirit of God to decide what to take up and what to leave behind. where is the institutions that is teaching the people for the present and future like our temples? You cannot find it in any of the seminaries or churches in the world.
Every individual educated in the Latter-day Saint educational institutions should have the missionary sentiment to disseminate the knowledge they received. He regretted that some who were educated in these institutions manifested a spirit of indifference in this direction.
The spirit of the Gospel that is in the hearts of the people will bring about a revolution in these matters. A system of education is going on and some are sinking lower while others are rising higher.
In course of time we will see the man or the woman as they have made themselves by the education that has been going on within the individual. There is an object lesson for all in the fact that the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum gave their lives as a seal to their testimony.
He thanked God that the people generally were seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that all things may be added unto them.
Singing: We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.
Benediction by Elder Robert T. Burton.
was pleased with the remarks of President Woodruff this morning. It is a joy to see him so full of vigor. We have every opportunity to enjoy ourselves. He desired the spirit of the Lord to enable him to say a few words in relation to a subject that had occurred to him. The human family are being educated. There are agencies at work educating the Latter-day Saints and intervening a barrier between them and their God. It is proper for all to have what might be termed a good English education. There are lessons to be learned to prepare us for the life to come. We arise in the resurrection with the knowledge which we acquire in this life.
The Latter-day Saints are original and take the lead. It takes the spirit of God to decide what to take up and what to leave behind. where is the institutions that is teaching the people for the present and future like our temples? You cannot find it in any of the seminaries or churches in the world.
Every individual educated in the Latter-day Saint educational institutions should have the missionary sentiment to disseminate the knowledge they received. He regretted that some who were educated in these institutions manifested a spirit of indifference in this direction.
The spirit of the Gospel that is in the hearts of the people will bring about a revolution in these matters. A system of education is going on and some are sinking lower while others are rising higher.
In course of time we will see the man or the woman as they have made themselves by the education that has been going on within the individual. There is an object lesson for all in the fact that the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum gave their lives as a seal to their testimony.
He thanked God that the people generally were seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that all things may be added unto them.
Singing: We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.
Benediction by Elder Robert T. Burton.
Priesthood Meeting. 7 p. m.
A Priesthood meeting was held in the Tabernacle. At the afternoon session of the conference an invitation had been extended to the sisters as well as the brethren to attend the evening meeting.
The choir and congregation joined in singing, and the opening prayer was offered by Elder George B. Wallace.
A Priesthood meeting was held in the Tabernacle. At the afternoon session of the conference an invitation had been extended to the sisters as well as the brethren to attend the evening meeting.
The choir and congregation joined in singing, and the opening prayer was offered by Elder George B. Wallace.
Elder Seymour B. Young
was the first speaker. He expressed gratification at the instructions given during Conference, and spoke of the education of the children of the Saints, making particular reference to the counsel given by revelation, in the Word of Wisdom, by the observances of which the physical organization of the children was made healthy and strong. He pointed out the necessity of obedience to all the counsels of the Lord, in order to make desirable progress in spiritual and temporal matters; and concluded by bearing witness to the divine calling of the leaders of the Church in this dispensation.
was the first speaker. He expressed gratification at the instructions given during Conference, and spoke of the education of the children of the Saints, making particular reference to the counsel given by revelation, in the Word of Wisdom, by the observances of which the physical organization of the children was made healthy and strong. He pointed out the necessity of obedience to all the counsels of the Lord, in order to make desirable progress in spiritual and temporal matters; and concluded by bearing witness to the divine calling of the leaders of the Church in this dispensation.
Bishop William B. Preston
addressed the congregation. He urged the Bishops and those associated with them in temporal matters of the Church to be more diligent in learning what was required of them and in doing it. They should set worthy examples and should counsel and instruct the people for their improvement in material affairs as well as in spiritual duties. He called special attention to the duties that devolved upon the Lesser Priesthood in their labors among the Saints.
addressed the congregation. He urged the Bishops and those associated with them in temporal matters of the Church to be more diligent in learning what was required of them and in doing it. They should set worthy examples and should counsel and instruct the people for their improvement in material affairs as well as in spiritual duties. He called special attention to the duties that devolved upon the Lesser Priesthood in their labors among the Saints.
Elder Jonathan G. Kimball
made some pointed suggestions to the young men, particularly on the necessity of being humble. He spoke of the need for proving which existed among the Seventies, that they might be more firmly rooted and be more diligent in performing their duties. He also referred to the labors of the missionaries, and to traveling without purse or scrip, trusting in the Lord to give them what they needed; the Seventies should learn at home the requirements of missionary work. The Lord would bless the people if they had faith. He exhorted the people to sustain those called to officiate in the Priesthood.
After singing by the choir and congregation, prayer was offered by Elder John Nicholson.
made some pointed suggestions to the young men, particularly on the necessity of being humble. He spoke of the need for proving which existed among the Seventies, that they might be more firmly rooted and be more diligent in performing their duties. He also referred to the labors of the missionaries, and to traveling without purse or scrip, trusting in the Lord to give them what they needed; the Seventies should learn at home the requirements of missionary work. The Lord would bless the people if they had faith. He exhorted the people to sustain those called to officiate in the Priesthood.
After singing by the choir and congregation, prayer was offered by Elder John Nicholson.
Third Day. April 6th, 10 a. m.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn:
The time is far spent, there is little remaining,
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land;
Then hasten, ye heralds, go forward proclaiming,
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven’s at hand.
Prayer was offered by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
The choir and congregation sang the hymn:
The time is far spent, there is little remaining,
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land;
Then hasten, ye heralds, go forward proclaiming,
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven’s at hand.
Prayer was offered by Elder John D. T. McAllister.
Singing by the choir:
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
The following reports were read by Elder Heber J. Grant:
A statistical report of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
Statistical and financial report of the National Woman’s Relief Society for the year ending December 31, 1895: Besides other information it showed enrollment of 23,943, and that 503 branches had been organized in the States; receipts of various kinds of property, including amount on barn at the beginning of the year, $36,310; expended during the year, $18,417. The report bears the signatures of Zina D. H. Young, president; Jane S. Richards, Bathsheba W. Smith and Sarah M. Kimball, vice presidents; Emmeline B. Wells, secretary, and Isabella M. Horne, treasurer.
Annual report of the Young Ladies National Mutual Improvement association of Zion, from January 1st, 1895, to January 1st, 1896. It exhibited as follows: No. of associations 406; cash on hand and received, $9,886; property, $4,589; balance of cash, $3669; property, $3,882; increase in membership, 227; in average attendance, 841.
Signed by Ermina S. Taylor, president, Maria Y. Dougal and Martha H. Tingey, counselors, Ann M. Cannon, secretary and treasurer.
Of the Primary associations of the Church:
Six of the Stakes no reported. Number of associations, 437; officers and members, 32,348; average attendance, 14,848; meetings, with miscellaneous exercises, 11,353; donations to charitable purposes, $576; to missionaries, $43. Signed by Louie B. Felt, president, Lillie T. Freeze, counselor; May Anderson, secretary, and nine aids to the general board.
A statistical report of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
Statistical and financial report of the National Woman’s Relief Society for the year ending December 31, 1895: Besides other information it showed enrollment of 23,943, and that 503 branches had been organized in the States; receipts of various kinds of property, including amount on barn at the beginning of the year, $36,310; expended during the year, $18,417. The report bears the signatures of Zina D. H. Young, president; Jane S. Richards, Bathsheba W. Smith and Sarah M. Kimball, vice presidents; Emmeline B. Wells, secretary, and Isabella M. Horne, treasurer.
Annual report of the Young Ladies National Mutual Improvement association of Zion, from January 1st, 1895, to January 1st, 1896. It exhibited as follows: No. of associations 406; cash on hand and received, $9,886; property, $4,589; balance of cash, $3669; property, $3,882; increase in membership, 227; in average attendance, 841.
Signed by Ermina S. Taylor, president, Maria Y. Dougal and Martha H. Tingey, counselors, Ann M. Cannon, secretary and treasurer.
Of the Primary associations of the Church:
Six of the Stakes no reported. Number of associations, 437; officers and members, 32,348; average attendance, 14,848; meetings, with miscellaneous exercises, 11,353; donations to charitable purposes, $576; to missionaries, $43. Signed by Louie B. Felt, president, Lillie T. Freeze, counselor; May Anderson, secretary, and nine aids to the general board.
Elder John Henry Smith,
of the Council of the Apostles, was the first speaker. He referred to the erection of the Pioneer Monument stating that the statue of Brigham Young had been placed upon a temporary pedestal, for protection from the depredations of relic hunters. The permanent monument would be so elaborate as to be well worth the amount it would cost when completed. He urged greater zeal in laboring toward its completion. The speaker also stated the desire of the authorities that home publications should be more liberally patronized. They were established and distributed for the purpose spreading among the people the principles of the Gospel and of the Church government. Every home in the Church should secure as many of these magazines and papers as possible, and they should be freely distributed in the different missions as efficient aids of the Elders. Their value in this connection had been proved. The spirit of loyalty to these publications should be developed to equal the increasing zeal for missionary work. The zeal in the latter direction was spoken of as developing to a remarkable and gratifying extent, and it was thought that this, coupled with the needed improvement in the matter of supporting home periodicals, would make the promulgation of Gospel principles in the world more efficient and easy. He closed with a testimony to the unity and faithfulness of the Church authorities, and their zeal to the performance of their duties, to the end that liberality and love toward all men might be increased, and as many as possible be brought to a knowledge of the truth.
of the Council of the Apostles, was the first speaker. He referred to the erection of the Pioneer Monument stating that the statue of Brigham Young had been placed upon a temporary pedestal, for protection from the depredations of relic hunters. The permanent monument would be so elaborate as to be well worth the amount it would cost when completed. He urged greater zeal in laboring toward its completion. The speaker also stated the desire of the authorities that home publications should be more liberally patronized. They were established and distributed for the purpose spreading among the people the principles of the Gospel and of the Church government. Every home in the Church should secure as many of these magazines and papers as possible, and they should be freely distributed in the different missions as efficient aids of the Elders. Their value in this connection had been proved. The spirit of loyalty to these publications should be developed to equal the increasing zeal for missionary work. The zeal in the latter direction was spoken of as developing to a remarkable and gratifying extent, and it was thought that this, coupled with the needed improvement in the matter of supporting home periodicals, would make the promulgation of Gospel principles in the world more efficient and easy. He closed with a testimony to the unity and faithfulness of the Church authorities, and their zeal to the performance of their duties, to the end that liberality and love toward all men might be increased, and as many as possible be brought to a knowledge of the truth.
Elder John Nicholson
was called upon to address the congregation. He had rejoiced with the general body of Conference attendants, in the spirit of the meetings, which he characterized as the most enjoyable in his recollection. One principle he felt to impress unequivocally upon the minds of the Saints, their union in carrying out all the designs and purposes now in contemplation and progress. The authorities should be liberally sustained in their various projects, that they, holding the keys of the kingdom, might be able to open the doors of salvation and development to the people. There could be no doubt as to where those keys were to be found today. It was well sustained by a revelation to Frederick G. Williams, where he was told those keys should always remain with the First Presidency.
Referring to the peculiar position of the Saints in the past, and their firmness in holding it, he said that it was at first difficult for him to understand the correctness of the new position taken when the old was abandoned, but the key before referred to was manifested to him and he was convinced of the correctness of the new stand. With that key in their possession the Saints would have no fear for delusions, which would thus be stripped of their power to deceive. On every great occasion the pre-eminence of the Presidency has been displayed, and this Conference was a notable example. Such triumphs, progression, intelligence and freedom, would continue, until Zion would take it legitimate place at the head. The speaker closed with the prayer that the day of this consummation might be hastened.
was called upon to address the congregation. He had rejoiced with the general body of Conference attendants, in the spirit of the meetings, which he characterized as the most enjoyable in his recollection. One principle he felt to impress unequivocally upon the minds of the Saints, their union in carrying out all the designs and purposes now in contemplation and progress. The authorities should be liberally sustained in their various projects, that they, holding the keys of the kingdom, might be able to open the doors of salvation and development to the people. There could be no doubt as to where those keys were to be found today. It was well sustained by a revelation to Frederick G. Williams, where he was told those keys should always remain with the First Presidency.
Referring to the peculiar position of the Saints in the past, and their firmness in holding it, he said that it was at first difficult for him to understand the correctness of the new position taken when the old was abandoned, but the key before referred to was manifested to him and he was convinced of the correctness of the new stand. With that key in their possession the Saints would have no fear for delusions, which would thus be stripped of their power to deceive. On every great occasion the pre-eminence of the Presidency has been displayed, and this Conference was a notable example. Such triumphs, progression, intelligence and freedom, would continue, until Zion would take it legitimate place at the head. The speaker closed with the prayer that the day of this consummation might be hastened.
President Wilford Woodruff
made interesting remarks in relation to the “Manifesto,” for which he said the Lord was responsible. He gave a relation of some of his personal experience, showing how he had been led by the spirit of revelation from his boyhood. He also told the manner in which he had been shown, long before it occurred, that he should dedicate the Temple in this city. He predicted many good things concerning Zion.
made interesting remarks in relation to the “Manifesto,” for which he said the Lord was responsible. He gave a relation of some of his personal experience, showing how he had been led by the spirit of revelation from his boyhood. He also told the manner in which he had been shown, long before it occurred, that he should dedicate the Temple in this city. He predicted many good things concerning Zion.
Elder B. H. Roberts,
of the first council of Seventy, followed. He said in substance: He had experienced great joy in the work of the conference, and especially that nothing had been done which might cause regret. He had possessed from boyhood a testimony of the work, and had often been led by the promptings and whisperings of the spirit. He had, perhaps, not always been thus guided and controlled, and every such care had occasioned him much sorrow. He had been reminded of the word of the Lord to the whole Church at the time of its organization, when it was distinctly shown that the Prophet Joseph, having been accepted as first Elder in the Church, by the members of it, should be sustained as a seer, translator and Prophet of Jesus Christ, heed being given to all his words and commandments, as received from God. This to the end that the work might be strengthened and preserved from the storms that should break upon it. This position would give wisdom to the leaders of the Church, to sustain the liberty of the people, and yet guide that liberty to the glory of God, by his unerring counsel.
The speaker also bore testimony to the fact that this power and order would never be removed from earth, as it had been in all former dispensations, on account of the unworthiness of the people. In this dispensation of unfailing word of God had been pledged to the stability of the work, notwithstanding the imperfections of the people. Their loyalty to the truth was assured through the promise of God, and the speaker testified with power that the authority now exercised in love and zeal by the Priesthood should never be taken from them. They would be sustained of God, and even though some might have stumbled in the darkness, they might still return to the path of right, taking advantage of its unerring guidance to the good of salvation. He sustained with humility and faithfulness the decisions and instructions of the Presidency and Apostles, and felt to urge all to submit themselves in obedience to the counsels and labors of the Priesthood. He hoped always to be able and willing to place the Kingdom of god and its interests paramount to all other issues.
The anthem, Praise ye the Father, was sung by the choir.
Benediction by L. W. Shurtliff.
of the first council of Seventy, followed. He said in substance: He had experienced great joy in the work of the conference, and especially that nothing had been done which might cause regret. He had possessed from boyhood a testimony of the work, and had often been led by the promptings and whisperings of the spirit. He had, perhaps, not always been thus guided and controlled, and every such care had occasioned him much sorrow. He had been reminded of the word of the Lord to the whole Church at the time of its organization, when it was distinctly shown that the Prophet Joseph, having been accepted as first Elder in the Church, by the members of it, should be sustained as a seer, translator and Prophet of Jesus Christ, heed being given to all his words and commandments, as received from God. This to the end that the work might be strengthened and preserved from the storms that should break upon it. This position would give wisdom to the leaders of the Church, to sustain the liberty of the people, and yet guide that liberty to the glory of God, by his unerring counsel.
The speaker also bore testimony to the fact that this power and order would never be removed from earth, as it had been in all former dispensations, on account of the unworthiness of the people. In this dispensation of unfailing word of God had been pledged to the stability of the work, notwithstanding the imperfections of the people. Their loyalty to the truth was assured through the promise of God, and the speaker testified with power that the authority now exercised in love and zeal by the Priesthood should never be taken from them. They would be sustained of God, and even though some might have stumbled in the darkness, they might still return to the path of right, taking advantage of its unerring guidance to the good of salvation. He sustained with humility and faithfulness the decisions and instructions of the Presidency and Apostles, and felt to urge all to submit themselves in obedience to the counsels and labors of the Priesthood. He hoped always to be able and willing to place the Kingdom of god and its interests paramount to all other issues.
The anthem, Praise ye the Father, was sung by the choir.
Benediction by L. W. Shurtliff.
Afternoon Session. 2 p. m.
The session opened by the choir singing
Great God, indulge my humble claim;
Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;
The glories that compose Thy name
Stand all engaged to make me blest.
Prayer by Elder William C. Dunbar.
Singing by the choir, the anthem Come, let us sing unto the Lord.
The session opened by the choir singing
Great God, indulge my humble claim;
Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;
The glories that compose Thy name
Stand all engaged to make me blest.
Prayer by Elder William C. Dunbar.
Singing by the choir, the anthem Come, let us sing unto the Lord.
President George Q. Cannon,
after some preliminary remarks relating to its contents, announced to the Conference that a document addressed to the officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be read by Elder Heber J. Grant. The reading was then proceeded with. the paper in question appears in this issue of the News. It was stated by Elder Grant that the only reason why the name of Anthon H. Lund did not appear on the document in connection with his associate Apostles was because he was in Europe on a mission and, he being out of reach, his signature could not be obtained.
A motion was made by Elder Angus M. Cannon, seconded by Elder Joseph E. Taylor, that the Conference adopt the position of the authorities as defined in their statement to which the people had listened. As opportunity was given for remarks pertinent to the motion. None were offered and the question being called for, it was put to the people by President George Q. Cannon and carried unanimously.
after some preliminary remarks relating to its contents, announced to the Conference that a document addressed to the officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be read by Elder Heber J. Grant. The reading was then proceeded with. the paper in question appears in this issue of the News. It was stated by Elder Grant that the only reason why the name of Anthon H. Lund did not appear on the document in connection with his associate Apostles was because he was in Europe on a mission and, he being out of reach, his signature could not be obtained.
A motion was made by Elder Angus M. Cannon, seconded by Elder Joseph E. Taylor, that the Conference adopt the position of the authorities as defined in their statement to which the people had listened. As opportunity was given for remarks pertinent to the motion. None were offered and the question being called for, it was put to the people by President George Q. Cannon and carried unanimously.
President George Q. Cannon presented the general authorities of the Church to the Conference 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, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund and Abraham H. Cannon.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church—John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson.
William 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, with John Jaques and Chas. W. Penrose as his assistants.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Anthon H. Lund, James Sharp and Joseph F. Smith.
As Trustee-in-Trust for the body of religious worshippers known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Wilford Woodruff.
John Nicholson as Clerk of the General Conference.
All the voting to sustain the authorities as presented was unanimous.
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, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund and Abraham H. Cannon.
The Counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
Patriarch to the Church—John Smith.
First Seven Presidents of the Seventies—Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, B. H. Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Edward Stevenson.
William 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, with John Jaques and Chas. W. Penrose as his assistants.
As the Church Board of Education: Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, George W. Thatcher, Anthon H. Lund, James Sharp and Joseph F. Smith.
As Trustee-in-Trust for the body of religious worshippers known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Wilford Woodruff.
John Nicholson as Clerk of the General Conference.
All the voting to sustain the authorities as presented was unanimous.
Elder Brigham Young,
of the Council of the Apostles, said in substance:
The action taken in the Conference today had brought great relief to the community and manifested the wisdom and consistency of the watchcare of God in the affairs of the Church. He rejoiced in the acquisition of Statehood after so many years of waiting, and in the prudence already displayed in the administration of the affairs of the commonwealth. Tried under new and peculiar conditions, the Saints, he hoped, would be equal to the emergencies presented to them. Many vicissitudes had been passed through of late, resulting in the unexpected wealth and poverty of many of the people. These were intended to prepare the people for the use of the means God was preparing to give them, for the furtherance of the cause of truth. He testified to the growth and improvement of the people of God, and the attention being attracted to the Latter-day Saints from the world at large.
He closed with the invocation of the blessings of God upon all who work righteousness in the earth.
of the Council of the Apostles, said in substance:
The action taken in the Conference today had brought great relief to the community and manifested the wisdom and consistency of the watchcare of God in the affairs of the Church. He rejoiced in the acquisition of Statehood after so many years of waiting, and in the prudence already displayed in the administration of the affairs of the commonwealth. Tried under new and peculiar conditions, the Saints, he hoped, would be equal to the emergencies presented to them. Many vicissitudes had been passed through of late, resulting in the unexpected wealth and poverty of many of the people. These were intended to prepare the people for the use of the means God was preparing to give them, for the furtherance of the cause of truth. He testified to the growth and improvement of the people of God, and the attention being attracted to the Latter-day Saints from the world at large.
He closed with the invocation of the blessings of God upon all who work righteousness in the earth.
President George Q. Cannon
addressed the conference on spiritual gifts; especially that of revelation, by which the Church is led. He defined the operations of that gift, and explained some of its leading manifestations. He also asked the Saints to regard the First Presidency in their true light, and declared that they had never done anything to forfeit their confidence. He asserted that if they entertained a feeling of love and confidence in those whom God loved the Almighty would bless them. The unjust reproaches of the world could be borne with, but foundationless insinuations of brethren, out of the soul. He continued for some time giving timely instructions appropriate to existing conditions.
The concluding portion of President Cannon’s discourse was devoted to giving an explanation of the recent efforts of the Presidency to establish enterprises which would furnish the people with employment.
Remarks
Made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday, April 8, 1896, by President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The spirit that is enjoyed in this conference is a very sweet and heavenly feeling; it produces pure happiness and contentment, and our hearts are filled with joy. These are the evidences of God’s favor; that He accepts of us and approves of our course. there has been a great deal of curiosity indulged in by different members of the Church as to the spirit of revelation and how it manifests itself. It is true that in the Church the Lord has given, among other gifts, the gift of the ministering of angels, also the gift of visions and dreams, and some people imagine that the Church is led of God by the ministering of angels. Now, angels do minister unto men in our day, and we can testify to this. We can testify that Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer, has visited the earth and has ministered unto men. Some can testify of this from their personal experience. But the Church is led by the gift of revelation through the Holy Ghost. And how is it known to be from God, that which comes, sometimes with power, sometimes with the still small voice of the Spirit? It is known by its fruits. Questions arise upon various matters; differences of views exist and are expressed; for the men whom God has chosen to lead the people are men of independent thought and of positive characters, and they do not consent without being convinced; but there is a way by which the truth and the right can always be known. Darkness is not one of the manifestations of revelations from God; it is light—light which removes darkness and doubt from the human mind—that is the evidence that a thing is right or that is revelation from God. If you read what the Prophet Joseph had revealed to him concerning Oliver Cowdery connected with the work of translation, you will get a key to the spirit of revelation that God has placed in His Church. Just as Brother B. H. Roberts quoted this morning, the Lord told the Church that they should receive the words of His servant Joseph “as if from mine own mouth.” It is in this manner that the Church of Christ is guided; it is this that constitutes its strength; it is this that has given it its success. Men wonder at its success, but if they could see how the Lord operates and how He brings things about to accomplish certain ends, they would understand it. Why, if it were not so we would be worried to death. We never could stand up under the pressure if we had to care for this work, or if we had to indulge in fears concerning it; it would kill the strongest man that ever lived. But it is not necessary to worry, or to take trouble; it is only necessary to do our part and leave the result with God. He will take care of His work. He has not gone to sleep; He has not gone on a journey; He has not forgotten this work that He has established. Not in the darkest hour, not in the deepest dilemma does He forget us. We can go to bed and sleep without worrying over the work of God. And I do not believe that that keeps the servants of God awake. Financial troubles may have worried some; but so far as the work itself is concerned, that does not disturb the servants of God. They know that He is taking care of it; and when the burden appears heavy and oppressive the only course then is to ask God to make it light and to lift the burden, and He never fails to do it in his own time and way. There is no reason in the world why we should not live if not forever in the flesh, at least, till we are all satisfied with life. I was going to say if I live till then I will be very old; for I am very fond of life. There are so many opportunities to labor, I would like to live and work; and I suppose we all have that feeling.
We have had a good time at this conference, and I want to say a few words that are in my heart. I want you, my brethren and sisters, to bear with the First Presidency. Think us honest men. Thus us true men. Think us men that are not schemers, and designers, and full of tricks. Do not think of us as bad men—men that are ever ready to take advantage. What right have you to entertain such a thought about any of us? What right has any man or woman in this congregation, or in the church, to have such an estimate about Wilford Woodruff or George Q. Cannon or Joseph F. Smith? Have we ever done anything in our lives to furnish the least foundation for such a view of our characters? I declare to you in the presence of the Lord Almighty and all the holy hosts, that we have never done anything in our lives to justify any suspicion of this character. Go through our entire lives, in secret and in public, and in our transactions with the children of men, you cannot put your finger on where we have done intentional wrong. I do not say this to boast, but because of what has occurred in the past months. At the same time, in another light, we feel that we are unworthy of that responsibility and that honor which god has, in His wisdom, seen fit to place upon us. Now, I want to say to all of you who are here—and I wish all Israel could hear my words—go away from this conference carrying with you a feeling of confidence and love in and for the First Presidency of this Church, as well as the Twelve Apostles, and if you will do so God will bless you. If you do not do it, I will not say what the consequences will be. I do not want to predict evil; but I say that God will bless you if you love the men whom He loves, and whom He has chosen out of all Israel for these stations. They have not chosen themselves; they have not sought the offices themselves. The Lord knows this; and many of you ought to know it. It is bad enough to have the world to fight. I have been willing through my life to battle and to stand up and take all that men would heap upon me that did not belong to the Church; but I have been wounded to the very soul when my brethren and my sisters have said things that were false concerning me, and concerning my brethren—for their reputation is as dear to me as my own is. There is where it wounds; there is where it cuts; there is where it hurts. Why, I have felt as though I could fight the whole world, if I only did what God wanted me to do. I have suffered from mental fear as very few men in the world have; but I have not suffered from the other fear. I thank God for that; and I thank Him that the men who stand at your head are men whose knees have never trembled, whose hands have never shook, whose hearts have never failed them in the hour of peril and danger. The Lord has stood by them and has made them valiant in the truth. Now, whether you know it or not, I know it, and I bear testimony to it this afternoon. We have not paltered with the word of God; we have not temporized with the enemy of the Church of Christ; but when peril has come we have been ready to meet it and to face it, and to stand all the consequences, with the Lord to help us. Now, we should esteem these men. We are unworthy of the blessings of God if we do not do it. I have had some experience before I was a member of the First Presidency, in traveling with President Young, and listening to complaints from married people. It is surprising how lenient a man will be with his wife when he loves her, but if he does not love her, he is apt to be suspicious of her, and perhaps unkind and hard towards her. So, on the other hand, when a woman becomes alienated from her husband, and her affections are drawn from him, how wonderfully suspicious she grows and how she distorts and misconstrues her husband’s words and acts, because of jealousy. Her mind becomes so filled with jealousy that she illustrates the truth of the words of Shakespeare.
“Trifles, light as air, are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”
Yes, trifles that would not be noticed ordinarily, to a jealous person, and especially where there is no love, or where love is not strong enough to overcome jealousy, become as strong as proofs of holy writ. I have seen this illustrated many times.
Now, if you love us, you will not be jealous of us, you will not suspect our acts, you will not attribute false motives to us, you will not distort our words and put a wrong construction on them; but you will have confidence in us. We ought to be trusted. The Lord has trusted us, and can not you trust us? Can not you have confidence enough in us to believe that we will give right counsel in all affairs? If you do not, then our declaration today is of no use. It would be useless if you are going to rise up and say, “Oh! don’t you see how they favor that man?” “Don’t you see how they discriminate against that other man?” “Don’t you see they will allow that man to do this, and they will retrain that other man? That man is a republican and this man is a democrat—or that man is a democrat and this man is a republican.” Thus they would attribute false motives to us, and color our conduct, and look at us with suspicious eyes, watching for some evidence of unfairness on our part. Let me warn you today, in the presence of the Lord and in the name of our Lord and Master, against that, and be careful; for Satan will strive to instill these ideas and thoughts into your minds to weaken the influence of the Priesthood of the Son of God. It is most unfair to us, it is most unjust, because we can see what others cannot see always; we can see reasons for a certain course of conduct that others cannot see. You men that have large families understand this. One child may think, Father is not fair; he lets my brother or sister do such a thing or have such a thing, and why cannot I do the same or have the same? Now, the father knows the reasons for doing as he does. We may as well impugn the providence of our Heavenly Father on the same principle, if we carry it far enough. The Lord blesses some men in various ways, and others do not receive these blessings, although apparently they are just as worthy. And infidels impugn the justice of the Eternal Father because of this,--as they see it,--discrimination in His treatment of His children, and they scout the idea of there being a God, because, measured by their puny, fallible standard, He does not come up to the mark that they think He ought to reach.
As I say to you again, have confidence in us, believe that we are honest, and say, “No, I cannot understand that; it is not altogether clear to me; but I know that there is nothing wrong. If I understood it, I know it would be all right.” That is the way we should talk. Do you think that I would doubt a man whom I knew? No. I always believe good about him. If I cannot understand some of his actions, I think, well, if I knew the reasons I would understand it and it would be reconcilable with my ideas of the justice of his character. That is the way I feel towards all my friends. I am loth to believe that they are acting from improper motives or with improper feelings. For this reason I never want to hear a one-sided statement, nothing ex parte, because it is impossible to come to a correct conclusion to come to a correct conclusion without hearing both sides.
I trust that the Lord will impress these thoughts on all our hearts, that we may feel and realize the truth of these things.
There is another subject that I would like to allude to, if time will permit. It is this: You have heard of our entering into enterprises and striving to do something to furnish employment for the people and to cause the people of this State to assume that position which we think they are entitled to. We have endeavored to seek the mind and will of God concerning this; and we have endeavored to be careful about every step, that there should be no misstep, no wrong conclusion, no wrong action. If ever men sought this, I believe I am justified in saying that we have. Now, we are entering into these enterprises for wise purposes. First, in speaking for the Latter-day Saints, it does not seem right that the people should gather to Zion, then scatter throughout the land. This is a gathering dispensation. We have felt that God has entrusted you to us as a flock is entrusted to a shepherd. The eyes of the Latter-day Saints naturally turn for counsel and help to the authorities of their Church, in the hours of distress and affliction. It is therefore a cause of unfeigned sorrow to us to see men and women—either Latter-day Saints or others—idle in our land, being without employment, and dependent upon the Church or upon individual charity for that which is necessary to sustain life. According to the report read at this conference there are too many dependent upon the Church for assistance. We should less this number by every means in our power, and place within every person’s reach—not only the Latter-day Saints, but every citizen of Utah—the opportunity of earning his or her own bread. I can scarcely conceive of anything in human affairs that is so painful to men and women who have been energetic and industrious to be reduced to penury and to a condition of dependence; and we should be merciful to those who are in this condition. Some people become helpless, and they have to be sustained. When help is extended to such, it should be done in the most delicate manner, not to wound the susceptibilities of the poor. I believe there are men and women that would almost rather starve than to go about and make their wants known. They feel what we would call proud. Well, it is a proper pride to feel independent; and it is contrary to all our practices in the past to do anything that would have the effect to reduce people to pauperism. Residents of this stake should earn their own living, by some honorable means of employment.
These reasons have had great weight with us, and we have talked and counseled about them a great deal, as well as prayed about them. Now, the Lord in his goodness seems to be opening the way for us to obtain employment. We have, as you know, a large enterprise in Ogden. Some of the brethren who went up there, I understand, have come dissatisfied and come away because the conditions did not altogether suit them. We are doing everything in our power to make employment for our own people. We do not want people from afar to come in and take the bread that ought to be earned by the residents of this State. But some have said they are not suited with the conditions. This is unfortunate. The contractor is desirous of employing residents of the State. He says he likes our citizens; he has had them work for him before, and they have given him entire satisfactions, as they are peaceful and quiet and do their work. A number of men were sent up there the other day, and I met one of them on the street. He said to me, “Well, a good many of us have come back.” I asked him the reason. Said he, “we did not like the man”—a sort of subcontractor I think he was. I asked him whether he required of the men anything that was improper. “No, but we did not like him.” Therefore, he and others had quit work. I think that is a very unreasonable thing. If work is there, it seems to me that we should embrace the opportunity to work. We do not want any working man oppressed; we do not want any tyranny exercised over them; but this contractor can get the men without drawing them from our settlements. There are many coming here who will gladly take employment. They may not stay long; they may give dissatisfaction in some respects; but they can be obtained.
I wanted to say this much to this conference before we adjourned. Our brethren ought to look at this in the light that we design they shall view it in—look at it a little from our standpoint. We want employment furnished to the people. We want business revived. We want to control that which we should control. We want to obtain the influence that belongs to a people having a credit that is unexampled for integrity and honesty and good management. We want to reap the benefits of this character and this credit, which President Young commenced, and which has been carefully built up during forty-eight years. We want the citizens of Utah—the entire community, to have the benefit of this credit, and not see strangers come from afar and do that which we ought to do. And if you will take hold and have the union that has been shown in our proceedings at this conference, and, be determined to be united, it will give us power and influence in the earth, and, men will respect and honor us.
Allusions were made by Brother John Henry smith to the circulations of our periodicals. It occurred to me while he was speaking that the day has at last come, I believe, when we should use the press as we never have used it. It is a might engine for good, if used properly. Our enemies have used it in the most effective manner against us, and Satan has been determined apparently to exclude every line of truth from circulation in the world. I believe that instead of this mighty engine being used for our destruction, we should use it for the salvation of our fellowmen, by disseminating the truth and circulating it in every corner of the habitable globe. I trust that that day has come; and we must enlarge our hearts and become liberal in these things, and use the paper and the ink for the purpose which our Great Creator undoubtedly designed them for—to do good to human kind.
My brethren and sisters, I pray God, in the name of Jesus, to bless you all, to bless you in all your relations in life, and to fill you with the Holy Ghost continually. No better blessing could I ask in your behalf, or in my own, than this. Amen.
The choir and congregation sang: The Spirit of God like a fire is burning.
Conference adjourned for six months.
Benedictions by President Wilford Woodruff.
addressed the conference on spiritual gifts; especially that of revelation, by which the Church is led. He defined the operations of that gift, and explained some of its leading manifestations. He also asked the Saints to regard the First Presidency in their true light, and declared that they had never done anything to forfeit their confidence. He asserted that if they entertained a feeling of love and confidence in those whom God loved the Almighty would bless them. The unjust reproaches of the world could be borne with, but foundationless insinuations of brethren, out of the soul. He continued for some time giving timely instructions appropriate to existing conditions.
The concluding portion of President Cannon’s discourse was devoted to giving an explanation of the recent efforts of the Presidency to establish enterprises which would furnish the people with employment.
Remarks
Made at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday, April 8, 1896, by President George Q. Cannon
[Reported by Arthur Winter.]
The spirit that is enjoyed in this conference is a very sweet and heavenly feeling; it produces pure happiness and contentment, and our hearts are filled with joy. These are the evidences of God’s favor; that He accepts of us and approves of our course. there has been a great deal of curiosity indulged in by different members of the Church as to the spirit of revelation and how it manifests itself. It is true that in the Church the Lord has given, among other gifts, the gift of the ministering of angels, also the gift of visions and dreams, and some people imagine that the Church is led of God by the ministering of angels. Now, angels do minister unto men in our day, and we can testify to this. We can testify that Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer, has visited the earth and has ministered unto men. Some can testify of this from their personal experience. But the Church is led by the gift of revelation through the Holy Ghost. And how is it known to be from God, that which comes, sometimes with power, sometimes with the still small voice of the Spirit? It is known by its fruits. Questions arise upon various matters; differences of views exist and are expressed; for the men whom God has chosen to lead the people are men of independent thought and of positive characters, and they do not consent without being convinced; but there is a way by which the truth and the right can always be known. Darkness is not one of the manifestations of revelations from God; it is light—light which removes darkness and doubt from the human mind—that is the evidence that a thing is right or that is revelation from God. If you read what the Prophet Joseph had revealed to him concerning Oliver Cowdery connected with the work of translation, you will get a key to the spirit of revelation that God has placed in His Church. Just as Brother B. H. Roberts quoted this morning, the Lord told the Church that they should receive the words of His servant Joseph “as if from mine own mouth.” It is in this manner that the Church of Christ is guided; it is this that constitutes its strength; it is this that has given it its success. Men wonder at its success, but if they could see how the Lord operates and how He brings things about to accomplish certain ends, they would understand it. Why, if it were not so we would be worried to death. We never could stand up under the pressure if we had to care for this work, or if we had to indulge in fears concerning it; it would kill the strongest man that ever lived. But it is not necessary to worry, or to take trouble; it is only necessary to do our part and leave the result with God. He will take care of His work. He has not gone to sleep; He has not gone on a journey; He has not forgotten this work that He has established. Not in the darkest hour, not in the deepest dilemma does He forget us. We can go to bed and sleep without worrying over the work of God. And I do not believe that that keeps the servants of God awake. Financial troubles may have worried some; but so far as the work itself is concerned, that does not disturb the servants of God. They know that He is taking care of it; and when the burden appears heavy and oppressive the only course then is to ask God to make it light and to lift the burden, and He never fails to do it in his own time and way. There is no reason in the world why we should not live if not forever in the flesh, at least, till we are all satisfied with life. I was going to say if I live till then I will be very old; for I am very fond of life. There are so many opportunities to labor, I would like to live and work; and I suppose we all have that feeling.
We have had a good time at this conference, and I want to say a few words that are in my heart. I want you, my brethren and sisters, to bear with the First Presidency. Think us honest men. Thus us true men. Think us men that are not schemers, and designers, and full of tricks. Do not think of us as bad men—men that are ever ready to take advantage. What right have you to entertain such a thought about any of us? What right has any man or woman in this congregation, or in the church, to have such an estimate about Wilford Woodruff or George Q. Cannon or Joseph F. Smith? Have we ever done anything in our lives to furnish the least foundation for such a view of our characters? I declare to you in the presence of the Lord Almighty and all the holy hosts, that we have never done anything in our lives to justify any suspicion of this character. Go through our entire lives, in secret and in public, and in our transactions with the children of men, you cannot put your finger on where we have done intentional wrong. I do not say this to boast, but because of what has occurred in the past months. At the same time, in another light, we feel that we are unworthy of that responsibility and that honor which god has, in His wisdom, seen fit to place upon us. Now, I want to say to all of you who are here—and I wish all Israel could hear my words—go away from this conference carrying with you a feeling of confidence and love in and for the First Presidency of this Church, as well as the Twelve Apostles, and if you will do so God will bless you. If you do not do it, I will not say what the consequences will be. I do not want to predict evil; but I say that God will bless you if you love the men whom He loves, and whom He has chosen out of all Israel for these stations. They have not chosen themselves; they have not sought the offices themselves. The Lord knows this; and many of you ought to know it. It is bad enough to have the world to fight. I have been willing through my life to battle and to stand up and take all that men would heap upon me that did not belong to the Church; but I have been wounded to the very soul when my brethren and my sisters have said things that were false concerning me, and concerning my brethren—for their reputation is as dear to me as my own is. There is where it wounds; there is where it cuts; there is where it hurts. Why, I have felt as though I could fight the whole world, if I only did what God wanted me to do. I have suffered from mental fear as very few men in the world have; but I have not suffered from the other fear. I thank God for that; and I thank Him that the men who stand at your head are men whose knees have never trembled, whose hands have never shook, whose hearts have never failed them in the hour of peril and danger. The Lord has stood by them and has made them valiant in the truth. Now, whether you know it or not, I know it, and I bear testimony to it this afternoon. We have not paltered with the word of God; we have not temporized with the enemy of the Church of Christ; but when peril has come we have been ready to meet it and to face it, and to stand all the consequences, with the Lord to help us. Now, we should esteem these men. We are unworthy of the blessings of God if we do not do it. I have had some experience before I was a member of the First Presidency, in traveling with President Young, and listening to complaints from married people. It is surprising how lenient a man will be with his wife when he loves her, but if he does not love her, he is apt to be suspicious of her, and perhaps unkind and hard towards her. So, on the other hand, when a woman becomes alienated from her husband, and her affections are drawn from him, how wonderfully suspicious she grows and how she distorts and misconstrues her husband’s words and acts, because of jealousy. Her mind becomes so filled with jealousy that she illustrates the truth of the words of Shakespeare.
“Trifles, light as air, are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.”
Yes, trifles that would not be noticed ordinarily, to a jealous person, and especially where there is no love, or where love is not strong enough to overcome jealousy, become as strong as proofs of holy writ. I have seen this illustrated many times.
Now, if you love us, you will not be jealous of us, you will not suspect our acts, you will not attribute false motives to us, you will not distort our words and put a wrong construction on them; but you will have confidence in us. We ought to be trusted. The Lord has trusted us, and can not you trust us? Can not you have confidence enough in us to believe that we will give right counsel in all affairs? If you do not, then our declaration today is of no use. It would be useless if you are going to rise up and say, “Oh! don’t you see how they favor that man?” “Don’t you see how they discriminate against that other man?” “Don’t you see they will allow that man to do this, and they will retrain that other man? That man is a republican and this man is a democrat—or that man is a democrat and this man is a republican.” Thus they would attribute false motives to us, and color our conduct, and look at us with suspicious eyes, watching for some evidence of unfairness on our part. Let me warn you today, in the presence of the Lord and in the name of our Lord and Master, against that, and be careful; for Satan will strive to instill these ideas and thoughts into your minds to weaken the influence of the Priesthood of the Son of God. It is most unfair to us, it is most unjust, because we can see what others cannot see always; we can see reasons for a certain course of conduct that others cannot see. You men that have large families understand this. One child may think, Father is not fair; he lets my brother or sister do such a thing or have such a thing, and why cannot I do the same or have the same? Now, the father knows the reasons for doing as he does. We may as well impugn the providence of our Heavenly Father on the same principle, if we carry it far enough. The Lord blesses some men in various ways, and others do not receive these blessings, although apparently they are just as worthy. And infidels impugn the justice of the Eternal Father because of this,--as they see it,--discrimination in His treatment of His children, and they scout the idea of there being a God, because, measured by their puny, fallible standard, He does not come up to the mark that they think He ought to reach.
As I say to you again, have confidence in us, believe that we are honest, and say, “No, I cannot understand that; it is not altogether clear to me; but I know that there is nothing wrong. If I understood it, I know it would be all right.” That is the way we should talk. Do you think that I would doubt a man whom I knew? No. I always believe good about him. If I cannot understand some of his actions, I think, well, if I knew the reasons I would understand it and it would be reconcilable with my ideas of the justice of his character. That is the way I feel towards all my friends. I am loth to believe that they are acting from improper motives or with improper feelings. For this reason I never want to hear a one-sided statement, nothing ex parte, because it is impossible to come to a correct conclusion to come to a correct conclusion without hearing both sides.
I trust that the Lord will impress these thoughts on all our hearts, that we may feel and realize the truth of these things.
There is another subject that I would like to allude to, if time will permit. It is this: You have heard of our entering into enterprises and striving to do something to furnish employment for the people and to cause the people of this State to assume that position which we think they are entitled to. We have endeavored to seek the mind and will of God concerning this; and we have endeavored to be careful about every step, that there should be no misstep, no wrong conclusion, no wrong action. If ever men sought this, I believe I am justified in saying that we have. Now, we are entering into these enterprises for wise purposes. First, in speaking for the Latter-day Saints, it does not seem right that the people should gather to Zion, then scatter throughout the land. This is a gathering dispensation. We have felt that God has entrusted you to us as a flock is entrusted to a shepherd. The eyes of the Latter-day Saints naturally turn for counsel and help to the authorities of their Church, in the hours of distress and affliction. It is therefore a cause of unfeigned sorrow to us to see men and women—either Latter-day Saints or others—idle in our land, being without employment, and dependent upon the Church or upon individual charity for that which is necessary to sustain life. According to the report read at this conference there are too many dependent upon the Church for assistance. We should less this number by every means in our power, and place within every person’s reach—not only the Latter-day Saints, but every citizen of Utah—the opportunity of earning his or her own bread. I can scarcely conceive of anything in human affairs that is so painful to men and women who have been energetic and industrious to be reduced to penury and to a condition of dependence; and we should be merciful to those who are in this condition. Some people become helpless, and they have to be sustained. When help is extended to such, it should be done in the most delicate manner, not to wound the susceptibilities of the poor. I believe there are men and women that would almost rather starve than to go about and make their wants known. They feel what we would call proud. Well, it is a proper pride to feel independent; and it is contrary to all our practices in the past to do anything that would have the effect to reduce people to pauperism. Residents of this stake should earn their own living, by some honorable means of employment.
These reasons have had great weight with us, and we have talked and counseled about them a great deal, as well as prayed about them. Now, the Lord in his goodness seems to be opening the way for us to obtain employment. We have, as you know, a large enterprise in Ogden. Some of the brethren who went up there, I understand, have come dissatisfied and come away because the conditions did not altogether suit them. We are doing everything in our power to make employment for our own people. We do not want people from afar to come in and take the bread that ought to be earned by the residents of this State. But some have said they are not suited with the conditions. This is unfortunate. The contractor is desirous of employing residents of the State. He says he likes our citizens; he has had them work for him before, and they have given him entire satisfactions, as they are peaceful and quiet and do their work. A number of men were sent up there the other day, and I met one of them on the street. He said to me, “Well, a good many of us have come back.” I asked him the reason. Said he, “we did not like the man”—a sort of subcontractor I think he was. I asked him whether he required of the men anything that was improper. “No, but we did not like him.” Therefore, he and others had quit work. I think that is a very unreasonable thing. If work is there, it seems to me that we should embrace the opportunity to work. We do not want any working man oppressed; we do not want any tyranny exercised over them; but this contractor can get the men without drawing them from our settlements. There are many coming here who will gladly take employment. They may not stay long; they may give dissatisfaction in some respects; but they can be obtained.
I wanted to say this much to this conference before we adjourned. Our brethren ought to look at this in the light that we design they shall view it in—look at it a little from our standpoint. We want employment furnished to the people. We want business revived. We want to control that which we should control. We want to obtain the influence that belongs to a people having a credit that is unexampled for integrity and honesty and good management. We want to reap the benefits of this character and this credit, which President Young commenced, and which has been carefully built up during forty-eight years. We want the citizens of Utah—the entire community, to have the benefit of this credit, and not see strangers come from afar and do that which we ought to do. And if you will take hold and have the union that has been shown in our proceedings at this conference, and, be determined to be united, it will give us power and influence in the earth, and, men will respect and honor us.
Allusions were made by Brother John Henry smith to the circulations of our periodicals. It occurred to me while he was speaking that the day has at last come, I believe, when we should use the press as we never have used it. It is a might engine for good, if used properly. Our enemies have used it in the most effective manner against us, and Satan has been determined apparently to exclude every line of truth from circulation in the world. I believe that instead of this mighty engine being used for our destruction, we should use it for the salvation of our fellowmen, by disseminating the truth and circulating it in every corner of the habitable globe. I trust that that day has come; and we must enlarge our hearts and become liberal in these things, and use the paper and the ink for the purpose which our Great Creator undoubtedly designed them for—to do good to human kind.
My brethren and sisters, I pray God, in the name of Jesus, to bless you all, to bless you in all your relations in life, and to fill you with the Holy Ghost continually. No better blessing could I ask in your behalf, or in my own, than this. Amen.
The choir and congregation sang: The Spirit of God like a fire is burning.
Conference adjourned for six months.
Benedictions by President Wilford Woodruff.