L'œuvre du temple et le devoir spirituel

Je sens a deep sense of responsibility in trying to express my thoughts to this vast congregation of Saints des derniers jours. The one thought above all others that has come to my esprit is how thankful Je suis to my heavenly Father that Je suis permitted to be a Saint des derniers jours ; that I, as a member of the Church of Dieu, have ian opportunity of mingling with you. How thankful Je suis, too, that the Seigneur permits me to hold the holy Prêtrise, with the privilege of ministering among my brethren and sisters. Je sens that a tremendous responsibility rests upon all who hold this Prêtrise; that it shall be magnified righteously before our heavenly Father; that we shall labor in the ministry with kindness, sympathy, helpfulness, and with amour unfeigned, so that the great œuvre of our heavenly Father may progress in the earth and accomplish its mission among the children of men. ¶

Je suis thankful for the opportunity of mingling my voice in song and prière, and to listen to the advice and counsel of my brethren. J'espère we shall all go home determined to follow the splendid instructions to which nous avons listened, all of which are for our spiritual and temporal welfare. ¶

Je suis particularly impressed by President Grant's advice that we get out of debt. Indebtedness is one of the great problems of the day facing the Saints des derniers jours. We are today living under a commercial system of competition which has come from the monde, and has replaced the conditions which prevailed in the early settlement of the valleys. ¶

Our present financial situation should set us all to Serious thinking. Is not the time coming when it will be necessary for the Latterday Saints to return to those earlier methods of living — the old rules of co-operation and mutual helpfulness — each doing his share in the community? It was this system of co-operation that built the roads, canals, bridges, cleared away the brush, organized towns and villages, and laid the foundation for the great communities of Latterday Saints who now occupy these mountain valleys. Co-operation results from the great vérité that human beings must depend upon one another. Now we finance all undertakings with money in the form of bonds. These bonds and certificates of indebtedness are usually sold outside the state, and must be paid by our labor, whether nous sommes engaged in the office, on the farm, or on the range. Are we not overreaching ourselves and becoming the "hewers of wood and drawers . of water"? ¶

■ We cooperate wonderfully in spiritual things. Our system of organization, and the operation of the stakes, wards and missions, are the admiration of all unbiased investigators. In all the affairs of the wards and stakes, cooperation is the basic idea. But when it comes to business, nous sommes actuated purely by the esprit of competition. That competition is for the profit of individuals or groups of individuals, and not in the interest of the community. Under our present competitive system of living, you will find in the small communities a number of peuple in commercial pursuits, supplying our needs for the purpose of making profit for themselves. Why not develop the esprit by which the community owns these institutions? Why not develop cooperative purchasing as nous sommes now developing cooperative selling? This cooperative esprit could be developed in the cultivation of large tracts of land, in flocks and herds, merchandising, banking, canals and water problems, and in many other ways, some of which have already been developed in the older states and in the countries of Europe. ¶

I just want to leave this thought to set us thinking more about this great problem of living, to see if, in the near future, nous pouvons put into' operation some of the earlier methods in vogue among the Pioneers and early-comers to these valleys; when there was no money, when labor was wealth, and the ability to œuvre and apply labor intelligently created wealth for the community. ¶

I again testify to you, my brethren and sisters, of my thankfulness and appreciation for the Évangile. Je sais this to be the œuvre of Dieu, for the Seigneur has manifested it to me in many ways, and I thank ¶

him with all my cœur, and with all my esprit and with all my âme that Je suis a Saint des derniers jours. ¶

May he bless us with the disposition to understand the Évangile, to manifest it in our daily lives, so that we may grow spiritually day by day stronger in the foi and more willing to keep his commandements, I ask in the name of Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶