Remarks

I share, in common with my hearers, the blessed instructions incident to another general Conference. My spirit is refreshed, cheered, strengthened and encouraged in the way of life. I am glad that our neighbors from the states and territories round about have taken it into their hearts to come and enjoy a pleasant time with songs and music, and of hearing the performances incident to our first great Eisteddfod. I would be pleased, and I know my coadjutors, my brethren and sisters, would be pleased, if our visitors, in coming to entertain us with their musical festival, might be entertained by us in turn, and we be able to do them some good by imparting to them knowledge of the principles in which we believe, and in the practice of which we have been lead to gather together here to make this place so acceptable as a point of attraction in the midst of this, that was fifty years ago, the great American desert. ¶

The principles of our faith which lie at the foundation of our existence as a people, have been presented this morning very plainly, forcibly and ardently—principles that have taken hold of us in our various nativities. When they were expounded to us, we had no way of disputing them, as honest men and women, but to embrace them and make them, through life the code of our salvation. I think we have one among us today who has labored, and traveled so many years to preach the Gospel, that if all those who had heard him testify and preach the truth to them had received it with the same honest, earnest purpose as he received it, the knowledge of this Gospel would now have spread to all the enlightened nations of the earth, and all the men would have had an opportunity by this time to believe the same glorious principles that we believe in. That man is President Wilford Woodruff, who has spent his life in preaching this Gospel. I once heard President Young say that he believed that if all who had heard him preach the Gospel had received it as he received it when he heard it, and had taken hold with the same interest and energy to keep the commandments of God themselves and teach others to do so, the Gospel might then have reached to all the nations of the earth, and they have been made partakers of its blessings and its privileges. But the fact is, the people of the earth are so bound up in the traditions of the fathers that they do not appreciate this matter. They have been taught by their religious teachers—for whom they entertained the highest regard—that the heavens were so effectually sealed up, that we were to have no more revelation. It has been awfully true that the heavens have been closed as concerning the revelations of God’s will, for some fourteen hundred years past, while the famine for the word of the Lord has prevailed, and a woe it has been to all the inhabitants of the earth to be thus shut out from the revelations of God and the power of His ministering Priesthood, and made only to depend upon a written book, called a Bible for salvation. The Church of the Living God has never been conducted on the earth by writings alone, or by books, parchments, or records of any kind. Take the Bible and all the holy books that have ever been written,--can they baptize you for the remission of sins? Have they got the power to administer the Holy Ghost to us? Can they institute a single ordinance? They can tell us what others have done; but they cannot confer the authority, nor administer the ordinances of the Gospel to us. It has taken no less than the real, living authority, direct from heaven, to confer this power by which we have carried the Gospel to the nations, and gathered the people so that at present we have people of about twenty-five different languages located here in Utah, from as man, or more different nations. ¶

Inasmuch as this is the case, it may be interesting to know how we have come by further Revelations and this Priesthood Right at the door of this dispensation and the principle of revelation, lies a stumbling block to the people, because of the Book of Mormon. “A bible! a bible! a golden bible!” they cry. ¶

I want to tell you in regard to the popular story that has gone abroad in the world viz, that this book of Mormon was made up by one Solomon Spaulding, who wrote a novel, that our leaders have preserved and discovered the novel Mr. Spaulding wrote, and which they claim Sydney Rigdon got hold of and published as the Book of Mormon. That romance of Mr. Spaulding’s we have obtained and had published in full, and if any of you want to examine it, you can have it and read it for yourself. You can also read the Book of Mormon, and see whether the one resembles the other. And if you want to see the original manuscript of Mr. Spaulding’s apply to the president of the Oberlin Institute in Ohio, and you can get as close an examination of it as anybody likes to make. I say this to clear away the underbrush from the investigations of the Book of Mormon. ¶

The Lord hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of the habitation of the children of men, that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. Acts 17:26; 27 ¶

What shall we think of the inhabitants of this half of the world? The Bible gives account of people that lived on the other half of the globe. It gives an account of the creation, of the world, and then a very short account of the existence of the people who lived before the flood. It also gives us some account concerning the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the growth of Israel until they became a people, and the Lord’s dealings with them in their posterity and blessing and whenever they turned away from Him, and His afflicting and chastising hand. it also gives an account of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; how angels were sent beforehand to let the people know that the Savior was coming; that John the Baptist was going to prepare the way for him; and so down through the Gospel, and epistles, until its last great work by John the Revelator, recording the grandest vision that we have any account of in divine writ. This Bible is a book written by and of people of the other half of the globe. This half was shut out, and it has become a subject of speculation by a great many people who the original inhabitants of this part of the world were. Some say they are the ten tribes of Israel, and some say one class and some another. ¶

The Book of Mormon is the Bible of the American continent. It gives an account of the dealings of the Lord with the people that lived on this half of the globe. It informs us that, when the language was confounded at Babel, there were a couple of men who knew God and who had His favor, that did not go into idolatry as the mass of people did, but united and asked God that he would not confound their language, so that they and their few friends and relatives might be able to understand each other. The Lord heard them and granted them that prayer, and He told them if they would hearken to His words, He would lead them to a land where they could live and grow up and cultivate His everlasting love and blessing. he led them on to this land, and the names of the two men were, Mahonri and Jared. They came over to this country in those early days from the land of Shinar. They were wise men, great men, had excellent families, and were first class stock to begin to populate one-half of the earth. They feared the Lord, they walked in His ways, and they brought with them the manners and customs of those early times and displayed their architectural works all over this land. The built great cities, they became numerous and powerful. They kept records of their lives in those days and of their experience of God’s providence over them; how they were led, and how they built and lived after they arrived here. By and by they became very proud and haughty, and became involved in wars, contentions and strifes, similar to those who have had between the Northern and Southern States, until they weakened and finally destroyed each other. The enmity among them was so deadly that it continued until men finished up by fighting two and two, sword in hand. This record gives us an account of that. ¶

Then there was in the days of Israel a family of a man by the name of Lehi, who had several sons. Six hundred years before the Christian era, when Jeremiah came proclaiming judgments against Jerusalem, because of their wickedness, the Lord revealed unto this man Lehi and his family, they being righteous people, that He had compassion upon them, and that He did not require them to be led away captive into Babylon. So He told them that if they would gather out into the wilderness, He would lead them to a place of safety, where they could live upon a choice land above all other lands. This man Lehi and his family hearkened to His counsel, as did another man by the name of Ishmael, who had several daughters, and these united together in marriage, and they spread abroad here on this American continent and became a numerous and powerful people. They were people of Israel, the descendants of Joseph. They were descendants of both of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh; and they have in this land fulfilled the prophecy which said that they should grow together and become a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth. It was of this land that Moses spake when he blessed Joseph, saying: ¶

“Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things brought forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. * * * ¶

His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns; and with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. Deut. 33:13-17. ¶

These people that came over from Jerusalem, brought with them plates, on which were contained the law of Moses and the prophecies of the early prophets, and they lived here keeping the law of Moses until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

When our Savior had performed His mission in the land of Judea, He came over to this land of America. He told the people in Jerusalem that He had other sheep that were not of that fold, and that He must visit them also, that they might hear His voice, and He would bring them and they should become one people. So He came over here and held several notable conferences with the people. He taught them the same Gospel that He had taught in the land of Jerusalem, He appointed twelve disciples here, and gave them instructions; endowed them with the Priesthood, etc. ¶

In the course of time, when the people became wicked again, after having had a long period of the greatest happiness of any people on earth, a celebrated prophet, by the name of Mormon, a righteous man, distinguished among his people for his virtues, his intelligence and his power of Priesthood, received instructions from the Lord to write the history of his people in an abridged form, before destructions should come upon them. He did so, and wrote it upon plates of pure gold, and in the language called the reformed Egyptian—a language which no people knew very well; and he being a prophet and having the Urim and Thummim, hid it up with these plates, so that in due time the plates should come forth and the means to interpret the record on them. ¶

In a few words I have given you items of this history, covering a period of two or three thousand years. This Book of Mormon is an abridgement of the records of the Jaredites and also of the records of a people that came over, who were the descendants of Joseph. I should mention also that eleven years after Lehi left, when the sons of Zedekiah were captures and their eyes put out in the most barbarous manner, one of their number, named Mulek, made his escape and was led by the Lord, and he came and landed on this North American continent, so that he and his children joined with the descendants of Joseph. We have on this land in the natives, the descendants of Ephraim, of Manasseh and of Judah combined. This is what scientists, with much searching, speculation, and study, are endeavoring to find out. ¶

This Book of Mormon is the Bible of the American world, made by these people. It gives an account of their rise and progress, their wealth and their poverty, their prosperity and their adversity, and finally their downfall and destruction; how they came to be cursed, and how the Savior came and preached to them the same Gospel that He taught in Judea. This book contains a testimony of the same principles as the Bible, and is a practical fulfillment of that which is spoken of by Ezekiel, the prophet, in the 37th chapter of his prophecy concerning the writing on sticks: ¶

The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mind hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. ¶

The word of the Lord in Ezekiel, as here given, makes not only the existence of the two sticks or records appear very clearly, by “being in thine hand and before their eyes,” but the expression in the 19th verse is particularly significant here. Here the Lord says: “I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall become one in Mine Hand.” ¶

The word them, being plural, must signify two or more; and, putting them with him, even with the stick of Judah, signifies that not less than three are spoken of, which third, as appears from the test, must refer to “all the house of Israel his companions.” ¶

this is the beautiful harmony with the prophecy of Nephi, in chapter xxix, verses 12-14. Second Nephi, delivered 450 years before the coming of Christ: ¶

For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; * * * And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews. And it shall come to pass that my people, which are the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham, that I would remember his seed forever. ¶

Here we are told by Ezekiel and Nephi, two notable prophets who lived many hundreds of years before the coming of our Savior, that there will be three records, sticks or Bibles published, containing His wonderful works, among three divisions of the house of Israel. ¶

The stick of Judah—the Bible—has been in circulation for centuries among all civilized nations. The stick of Joseph, in the hands of Ephraim—which is the Book of Mormon—was translated into English from the Reformed Egyptian, by means of the Urim and Thummim, in the hands of Joseph Smith and has been translated from the English language into the French, German, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Welsh, Spanish, Dutch, Kanaka, Maori, Hindostanee, and one of the modern Jewish languages, and has been published and circulated in all except the two last mentioned nationalities, so that its existence is already widely known in Christendom. ¶

Having received so complete a fulfilment of the promise concerning these two Bibles, we may exercise implicit faith that the third, giving an account of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, will be forthcoming in the due time of the Lord. ¶

The Book of Mormon has special and peculiar claim upon the faith of all true Christian people, because it was translated by the power of God through the Urim and Thummim, word by word and sentence by sentence. ¶

On the 22nd of September, 1827, the gold plates upon which the Book of Mormon was engraved, were taken out of the ground and delivered to Joseph Smith, with the most solemn injunction concerning their safety, by the Prophet Moroni who had charge of the sacred record. ¶

While Joseph Smith was translating with Oliver Cowdery writing for him, they came to where it referred to baptism for the remission of sins, and the authority necessary to administer it, and feeling anxious to be baptized themselves, they went into the woods near by and united in fervent prayer. While thus engaged, no less a personage than John the Baptist appeared to them, in a cloud of light, and laying his hands upon them, ordained them, saying: ¶

Upon you my fellow servants in the name of the Messiah. I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the Gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness. ¶

He instructed them that this Aaronic Priesthood had not the power of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on them later, and also directed that Joseph should baptize Oliver, and that Oliver should baptize Joseph; and further that Joseph should ordain Oliver, and that Oliver should ordain him to this same Aaronic Priesthood. ¶

He also informed them that he was acting under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchisedek, which Priesthood, he said, should in due time be conferred upon them. ¶

It is impossible to read the wonderful history of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon out of the hill Cumorah and the restoration of the Priesthood at the command of God, by holy, resurrected men—for others who restored the Priesthood as well as Moroni were resurrected beings—without feeling that in these glorious events the words of David are fulfilled: ¶

Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other; truth shall spring out of the ground and righteousness shall look down from heaven.—Psalm 85:10, 11. ¶

The first ordinations and baptisms in this dispensation took place on May 15, 1829. This is how authority of Priesthood to administer Gospel ordinances began to be restored to earth again. The word of the Lord, the Book of Mormon, truth, sprung out of the ground, but this righteous authority of Priesthood looked down from heaven. It did not come from any record of the fathers, or from any of the churches of the present day. The first ordination was given by John, the promised son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Ghost from his birth, was baptized in his childhood, and was ordained by an angel of god, when he was eight days old; he was the same who baptized our Savior in the river Jordan, and testified that He was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and of whom Jesus said, there has been no greater Prophet born of a woman, although he did no miracle. This same John whom Herod caused to be beheaded in prison, and gave his head to Herodias’ daughter in a charger, was the last to hold the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood int he Jewish dispensation, and he having been raised from the dead, came by direction of Peter, James and John, and conferred this authority on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. ¶

Soon after this ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood, and while they were engaged in fervent prayer, the word of the Lord came unto Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that they should be ordained to the Melchisedek Priesthood, as had been promised by John the Baptist, when he ordained them Priests. Accordingly, without detailing time and place, the Lord in a revelation, says: ¶

With Peter, James and John whom I have sent, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be Apostles, and especial witnesses of My name, and bear the keys of your ministry, and of the same things which I reveal unto them; unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth. ¶

Thus we are informed that these distinguished Apostles were sent by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to restore to earth the highest authority of Priesthood which He has ever conferred upon man, the Apostleship, with the privilege to receive revelations, organize the Church of Christ, and set in order in all things that are wanting. Oh how great is the mercy of God in causing the famine for the word of the Lord from sea to sea to cease and to commence giving line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until His promise shall be fulfilled, that knowledge of Himself shall fill the earth as the waters do the mighty deep; when none shall need to say, know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest! ¶

By virtue of these ordinations and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they had given to them the knowledge how to organize the Church, what officers to place in it, what powers to confer on each officer, and to give them the right to officiate in every ordinance necessary to build up the church here upon the earth. It is by the rites and powers of this Priesthood and Apostleship that the First Presidency and Twelve receive their ordinations, only in the third or fourth degree of descent from these holy men who were ordained by our Lord Jesus, Himself. This is how we have received the Priesthood, and by virtue of this authority do we baptize people for the remission of their sins and lay our hands upon them when thus obedient, and God verifies His promise; they do receive the Holy Ghost. We walk in the light of this Spirit, we keep His commandments, and He blesses us according to our diligence and faithfulness. It is by this power and this ministry that we have traveled through this nation and among many foreign nations. The Gospel is now at work like leaven; it is destined to leaven and gather out the righteous from all the four quarters of the earth. Thus you see we have the Bible and we have the Book of Mormon, and they both teach the same doctrines; for there is only one name given among men whereby they can be saved. There is only one doctrine by which they can be saved. There is only one spirit into which we have to be baptized, having the fellowship of each other and the love of God and angels; and we walk in the light of it, growing brighter and brighter, as we expect it will, until the perfect day. ¶

In the Revelation of John we read that the church—the woman with a crown of twelve stars on her head, clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet—became a mother of a man child who was caught up to God and His throne. This woman, the Church, is now coming forth out of the wilderness where she has been nourished, and is putting on her royal robes of the Priesthood and is destined to be again clothed with the sun, the moon being under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ¶

Then seeing that we have received such a Gospel, the new and the everlasting Gospel—new, because it is new to the generation in which we live; but it is everlasting, and the only Gospel that was ever revealed and taught among mankind—we are doing the work which God has laid upon us to do. He has given authority in different ways. ¶

The angel told Joseph in some of his early ministrations that the Lord was going to send Elijah, the Prophet, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. In the Month of March, 1836, in the temple at Kirtland, Elijah came and conferred the keys of his ministry upon joseph; and so on until there was given all the powers and authorities necessary to gather Israel, to build up Zion, to establish righteousness in the earth, and to take all the persecution that the Lord is willing we should have and that the devil is permitted to impose upon us. Those that abide and run faithfully and true to the end have the promise that they shall be saved. ¶

My brethren and sisters, how glorious are the promises and blessings which have been promised unto the fathers, and which God has determined to bestow upon their children as fast as He can! Not only that we should sit and sing praises to the Lord for having redeemed us, but he has called us to become ministers, kings and priests unto the Most High God, and reign with Him a thousand years. Oh, glorious hopes! Oh, glorious prospects! Can we claim these hopes and call them ours? Yes, if through faith in Jesus’ name we conquer Satan’s power. That is where it lies. We must be true and faithful, and put one after another of our evil propensities under our feet, till we conquer this lump of clay that is given us, and sanctify it, so that the truth will grow in it. You will find that there is certain seed that will not grow unless you prepare your soil just right for it. So man cannot have the truth grow in him unless he observes the principles of the Gospel, keeps the commandments of God and purifies himself before the Lord. ¶

I will bring my remarks to a close, but I wish to testify to you, my brethren and sisters, and to visiting strangers, that this is the work of the Most High God. He has set His hand the second time to gather Israel, and to build up a Zion. That He is going to bring the Zion that is in the heavens—the City of Enoch—when we are prepared on the earth for it, to come and dwell with us. I feel that, having put on the armor of Christ, let us fight the good fight, and contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. May the Lord help us to do His will, to entertain faith in all that is right, and true, and just and holy, and qualify ourselves by the help of God for every good word and word; and that we may obtain grace and strength to endure to the end, is my prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

The choir sang: Light and Truth. ¶

Benediction by Elder George Reynolds. ¶

Afternoon Session. ¶

Singing by the choir: ¶

All hail the glorious day, ¶

By prophets long foretold. ¶

Prayer by Elder Abram Hatch, of Wasatch Stake. ¶

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, ¶

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word, ¶

was sung by the choir and congregation. ¶