The Latter-day Work

In contemplating the duty immediately before me, I earnestly desire a liberal measure of the Holy Spirit to assist and strengthen me, to enlighten me, and to enable me to speak unto your edification—I have been very happy in listening to the instructions that have been given us—I realize that these occasions are designed for our great benefit, as spiritual feasts, to refresh us with the words of life, the spirit of faith, the consolation for our trials and temptations, and the enrichment in the spirit of the Gospel by which to further progress in the way of life ¶

Much of the instruction that we have had pertains to matters of our self-support and our sustenance, which is not only timely and appropriate, but very important, because we need continually an enlargement, an extension of our opportunities; and there are many young people among us who do not sense the importance of assuming the responsibilities of life and settling down into a position in society, of taking to themselves the character of a head of a family, and of establishing themselves among the Saints of Zion—It should be realized by all people that the comforts of life which we have, whether we get them directly or indirectly, come out of the ground to us; not only our food, but our raiment, from our hats to our boots, and from our feathers to the finest wear we put on—Then even the gold and silver and all precious jewels come forth out of the earth—They who till the ground and bring forth out of it the necessaries, the blessings and the comforts of life, by so much improve and increase the general happiness and good of all—There are no portions of the human family that are so independent and comfortable in the ways of life generally as those that are on a farm which they can attend to wisely and profitably, and obtain from it the necessaries of life—If we could realize and understand this more perfectly, and think of it more seriously and considerately, it would be better for a great many of our young, ambitious men and women, who now are seeking for positions in life to escape labor and toil—While they are establishing associations and fixing up measures to cultivate their physical energies and develop their muscles, the general labor that is to be done in the cultivation of the soil, the producing of all that is necessary for living, both in the field for men and in the house and dairy for women, would furnish all the physical culture that they need; and this properly assorted and used would save considerable expense in that certain direction ¶

Now it has got to that, as has been hinted to us, that if any large enterprise is undertaken, whether it be a private or a public one, there is a seeking directly for something or other in the shape of a bonus—If men come among us with capital to do us any good, to put up some machinery or anything of that kind, they first lay claim to some bonus—Whereas, in the beginning of this work, everybody was expected to take care of himself and do something to help build up the Church, the thing is getting very fast turned round the other way, and people now, if they have been unfortunate in the "boom" or through their own carelessness, are expecting the Church to turn in and support them—We have got the thing headed around the wrong way in that respect—We ought to continue the plan and sentiment of sustaining ourselves and of having something to help build up the Church, as in the beginning—This sentiment, if continued and carried out, will grow and extend until our unoccupied lands will be occupied and cultivated, and these valleys will be filled up, and our settlements extend to Canada in the north, to Mexico in the south, and back to Missouri in the east ¶

I have rejoiced in these instructions given us for our profit—I feel now like speaking to you some of my own personal reflections, in a different strain—The last time we heard our venerable and beloved President Woodruff speak to us here, how delightfully he did address us, as if he might not have been more than forty-five years of age! He gave us a good long talk— long enough for a common sermon, and it was interesting, instructive and emphatic—It would be good for those who did not hear it, to get and read it occasionally—His last teachings all seemed to be given with a view on his part that it might be possibly the last that he would say to us—While hearing him speak in that excellent, free and enlivening manner, I could not help but think, "Is it possible that this will be the last time we shall hear him?" Well, President Woodruff has departed from us in our present relation, and has gone to join the holy throng — the Prophet Joseph, the Patriarch Hyrum, and twelve or fifteen of the Apostles that have died and gone during his lifetime and ours—It is only a few years ago that President Snow and I were ordained down here in the Old Fort—We have lived to see the members of nearly a whole quorum depart hence, and we are left behind, though we are following them up as fast as time will move us on ¶

Now, there are certain peculiar notions that people sometimes have—Once in a while there is one who thinks we were in a hurry to get the authorities of the Church filled up, almost before it was decent and proper in their estimation—I want to say a little about that—There is no standard of human invention, no precedent among mankind, that can determine how long or how short that period shall be—But the Lord has determined a rule for it—Back in the days when the Prophet Joseph was slain, and the Church was left without him here upon the earth, the whole people mourned — mourned as we have never known how to mourn since—I want to tell you Saints, that felt you mourned when President Young died, when President Taylor died, or now that President Woodruff has departed from us, it is no such mourning as was felt through all Nauvoo and among all the Saints when the Prophet and Patriarch were slain—It just seemed as if everything around us, even the animals, the trees and the habitations, were clothed in mourning—We felt his absence, because he was to us instead of God—He directed us in everything, taught us in all the great principles that pertain to our salvation and exaltation throughout all this mortal existence and clear into the eternities—Anybody that has the spirit of revelation, and who will read the last revelations that he gave us, cannot help but wonder and admire, and comprehend something of the great mind and capacity of soul that he had acquired during his short experience, in the Gospel, of twenty-four years here in the flesh ¶

Now, when he was taken away, it was the first great and terrible experience in that line, and there was no rule left when the Church organization should be perfected—Let me cite you to a few facts in connection with this—When that event occurred, the Apostles were all away throughout the United States, on missions, except John Taylor and Willard Richards—They were in prison with the Prophet Joseph—President Taylor was shot nearly to pieces, so that he had like to have died, according to all human appearance—Willard just lost a drop of blood from one of his ears; a ball whistled so near that it broke his skin and let a drop of blood mingle with the others—The Prophet Brigham was in Boston, with Apostle Woodruff—It was a sad and sorrowful time—Immediately the Prophet Joseph was slain, one man and another, and another, who had been taught by him to comprehend some great principles of the Gospel, came to feel so important that one man said, since Joseph was dead there was no man living to whom he owed allegiance—He therefore, in the greatness of his self-importance, gathered up his family with a few others and went away to Texas—Lyman Wight was this man, whose cognomen among the Twelve was, "the wild ram of the mountain." By and by one of his sons returned to us—Another man, Alpheus Cutler, in the greatness of his experience and self-sufficiency, took his family and some friends and went to a northern state, making a camp of his own, ready to build up a city, a people, a nation, and become a prophet—George Miller, one of the presiding Bishops, also started with a few and went off among the Ponca Indians—Another one, James J. Strang, who thought he had the thing fixed so it had come to stay, went off with a few to Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan, and carried on his operations for a while, till by and by one of his followers sickened of him and assassinated him—This is the way these great men, who thought they were somebody, have gone in the strength of their own endowments, feeling themselves as great as Joseph the Prophet—How was it, when the Prophet Brigham came back to Nauvoo, that he realized that the powers of the Priesthood and the keys thereof had come down upon him? He went and stood in his place—Sidney Rigdon wanted to become a "guardian" ¶

to the Church, to guide and lead them till he should see Joseph again—And thus, one after another, these different influences wrought—About this time, too, to fill up the cup and make it run over and to accomplish the wickedness of the world, a mob got around and forced the Twelve, when they got back to Nauvoo, to enter into an agreement with them that they and the people would get up and leave the country—This they did—They made their arrangements, and, as quick as we could finish the Temple and get the blessings of the Lord upon us, the Saints started out into the wilderness to find a country as far from civilization as they could ¶

The Prophet Joseph had a feeling or a premonition of what might be, and we find it on the record of his history that he felt forebodings that he might not stay to see that Temple completed—He took the Twelve aside—those who were faithful—and he gave them their endowments in a holy place, in a new building that he consecrated for that purpose—He placed upon them the keys, authority and powers which the Lord and the angels had conferred upon him—You recollect that John the Baptist came and ordained Joseph and Oliver to the Aaronic Priesthood—Peter, James and John came and ordained him and Oliver unto the Melchisedek Priesthood— the holy Apostleship—In the Temple at Kirtland, Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared and conferred upon him the keys of the gathering of Israel, of the Gospel of Abraham, and of the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers—Joseph called the brethren aside and placed all these keys, powers and blessings, that he had received, upon them—You have heard President Woodruff testify of this, and of the great work and marvelous power thereof—Well, these things bestowed upon the brethren caused some men to become headstrong, and in view of what they knew they thought they could build up the Church unto God, build up the kingdom of God, and stand at the head of it themselves ¶

While this was going on, the powers of the Priesthood rested down upon the Twelve Apostles, and President Young always took pains to have a majority of them within reach, where he could arrange for any decision that he found it necessary to make—He had a great vision, in which Joseph said to us through him, "Get the Holy Spirit, and keep it." That is a great injunction that is upon us all—If we want to go where these men are, we must get the Holy Spirit and walk in the light of it—After he and the Pioneers had been out here and had found this place for us to come to live in, and then went back to the Mississippi river, in Winter Quarters, the Spirit of the Lord, the revelation of the Lord, came upon him—It was about two years and a half, on that occasion, that the Church had been without a First Presidency, till the Lord made manifest to them, in Winter Quarters, about December, 1847, that the organization should be completed—There being no good place for it, they picked out men and set them to work to build a tabernacle in Kanesville, for the conference—At that conference the First Presidency was accepted, and, according to the dictation of the revelation, they, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, were upheld by the unanimous consent and vote and prayers of God's people—Thus the first great calamity to the Church was remedied, and the fulness of the Priesthood was again restored ¶

In 1849 the Presidency and the brethren got together down in the old fort here, and there was a series of conferences and councils held, where four of the brethren were ordained unto the Apostleship, to fill the vacancies made by those who had been promoted to the First Presidency, and of this number were Brothers Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow and myself—For ten years and a half I was the youngest member of the quorum, and when I look back it seems marvelous to me that I have lived to see, in about fifty years, nearly a whole quorum of Apostles pass away to the other world—They have gone to labor with the Prophet Joseph, and they cannot feel lonesome—I cannot help but think how happy President Woodruff must be in getting into their society, and rejoicing and glorifying God in the great work there of preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ ¶

When it came to pass that President Brigham Young departed from us, then there was another period when the Presidency of the Church came upon the Twelve—During this period it devolved upon President John Taylor, the President of the Twelve Apostles, and this continued for a while—At that time it was so that a number of the brethren of the Twelve were but young men, not of long experience, and we had to have a little time to get acquainted with each other, and we had to labor to accomplish the things that were required—During this time some entertained ideas of one kind, some of another—It was thought that some should be brought to the Presidency who were not entitled to it, and we had to take a little time to learn and inquire into the mind of the Lord on these matters—By and by, when we had come to a proper state of feeling, to an entire unanimity, and when the Lord saw fit, He made it manifest unto the Twelve that the First Presidency should again be organized—Whereupon President John Taylor was called to be President of the Church, and Apostles Geo. Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith were called to be his counselors ¶

Now, I want to say to you that the only rule there is about constructing the First Presidency is this: When the quorum of the Twelve Apostles are of one heart and of one mind, and they attain to that faith that the Lord will make manifest His will, then is the time when the Presidency are appointed—There is no other precedent established, only to obtain the fellowship, the union and the faith of the council to prevail with the Lord to make manifest these things unto them ¶

So again, when President Taylor died, we were left in a similar condition, and the Twelve held the direction of affairs—By and by, when it came the proper time, when we felt the Spirit of the Lord burning in all our hearts, when the word of the Lord came to President Woodruff, then another Presidency was constructed—It was done by the same rule — all were agreed and united, and prevailed with the Lord to make manifest His will about it ¶

My brethren and sisters, there are some truths greater than other truths—As the Lord said to Abraham, where you see one truth greater than another, then you may know there is another truth greater than that—The great truth that regulates us in all these matters is the truth of being united—The Lord has told us in the revelations that except we are one we are not His—That is a great, capital truth; and if you will carry it with you into your wards and into your Stakes, as also into your families, you will find a great, capital blessing with it everywhere ¶

When President Woodruff was taken from us, how were we? Why, we had nobody that wanted to go off to California, to Canada, to Mexico, or to the Sandwich Islands even, to set up a church of his own; but we were all here — the two counselors that remained and the Twelve Apostles, fourteen in all—When we were thus together, I want to say to you that under those circumstances and at that time there were no opposing, contending influences—There was nobody wanted to go away and set up a kingdom—But we were united—And I want to testify that a great measure of this blessing of unity, fellowship and love has come down upon us, and through us to the people, by the untiring zeal, energy and devotion of President Lorenzo Snow—While he was President of the Twelve Apostles he labored diligently unto this end; and I have never seen a time, nor have you ever seen a time, in this dispensation, when there was a more cordial, solid unanimity in the Presidency and Apostles of the Church than there is to-day ¶

When we, as the Apostles, accepted the responsibility to preside, President Cannon took his seat in the Council of the Twelve, where he occupied it before he left it as a counselor to President Woodruff—President Jos. F. Smith did the same—The Twelve Apostles assumed the presidency of the Church, although it was but for a short time — from September 2nd to September 13th—On the latter day we were together, and in contemplating the interests of the Church, temporal and eternal, we remembered the words of President Woodruff while he was with us, that he did not think the Church should be long without its full organization, and it began to burn in our hearts—One after another felt as if a First Presidency ought to be organized, if the word of the Lord were so; and directly the word of the Lord was given to us that the time had come to organize, and so we organized—President Lorenzo Snow and his counselors were presented, and accepted by the brethren in council, as the First Presidency of the Church—We were all united on it, our hearts were warm in it, the fire of the Lord burned in every bosom, and we could not keep still for the joy we had in this thing ¶

Now, that is the only rule there is in regard to filling or keeping open the vacancy of the First Presidency of the Church—It is when the brethren are united in the love and power of the Holy Priesthood—When the word of the Lord comes to us, it tells us what to do, when to do, and how to do—So that no one need feel that we have waited too short a time after President Woodruff's departure to make it both decent and proper to fill the vacancy—When the Lord speaks, then is the time! When His mind is made manifest, we should honor and accept it, and carry it out to the uttermost—I rejoice in that the Lord is so ready to make manifest to us; that we did not have to wait two years and a half, nor a year and a half, for Him to give it to us ¶

President Woodruff was full of teaching concerning the last instructions of the Prophet Joseph to the Apostles, and the blessings he put upon them—Brother Woodruff was the last one of that distinguished Council of the Twelve which the Prophet Joseph administered to personally; not in the Temple (it was before the Temple was completed), but in a retired place, where only a very few knew of it—It was necessary that they should have this blessing, so that if Joseph should be taken away it might be instituted and carried on in the Temple, when the Temple was completed—Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord, for that he caused it to be brought about in this way! And blessed be His holy name, too, that he caused us to be roused up out of our homes and sent out into these mountains before that war of the Rebellion came upon us—Oh, how we hated to go! But how true the Lord made His word to come out when He said, "My people shall be willing in the day of my power." He knew how to make us willing, although it took mobs to come upon us and kill our brethren, the Prophets ¶

Brethren, this great work is upon us—The Lord has given us some singular features connected with it—One of them is this: He has said by the mouth of the angel that the hour of His judgment is come—The Savior, in looking down into our time, as recorded in the 24th chap. of Matthew, told the brethren that in the last days not only should false Christs and false Prophets appear and try to lead away many, but He told them that in these times there should be wars and rumors of wars, and great distress among all nations; and so great should be the trouble and distress that it should be only a vexation to understand the report thereof—Now then, what do we see? We have already lived to see wars in our day—They are a necessary concomitant to this latter-day work—They cannot be avoided—They are a necessary part of the latter-day program—Let me draw your minds a little to some of the circumstances, and see if it is not so—I look upon it as part of the great philosophy of the last days' dispensation, that the wars of our times are just as necessary in the fulfilling of the word and the work of the Lord as are any others of His gracious promises made to us—It was necessary to have this liberal government that His Church might be established upon this land—He could not have done it in any of the monarchies of the old world—Why was it that there was a dissatisfied element called non-conformists? It was so with them, between the reformers and the Catholics, that they could not stay and be comfortable, and they had to go off to Holland, to get a retreat where they could survive, worship God and entertain the faith they believed in—Directly, when Columbus had discovered this country and it came the proper time, these same nonconformists, afterwards called Puritans, came over to America as fast as they could—they who were not tied up to papacy nor to the Church of England, but who felt a desire for more liberty to worship God, came over here, and they became the thirteen little colonies away down on the Atlantic coast—What was the result of it? They had to have a war, declare their independence, and become a people to themselves before they could obtain that liberty to worship that was required before the Lord sent His revelations among them—War was actually necessary to bring step by step the liberty the human family has ¶

We get along a little further, and the Prophet Joseph was among us—The Saints were driven from New York state to Kirtland, from Kirtland to Missouri, and then from city to city—The first mission of the Twelve Apostles was to New England—A few people receive it—The leading men of the Church—the Prophet Joseph, and Hyrum, Brigham and Heber—were from the Eastern states—But how was it in the South? When we sent our Elders into the Southern States they persecuted them—Elders Wilford Woodruff, David W. Patten and Jedediah M. Grant succeeded in getting a few from those states; among the rest, Brother A. O. Smoot, late president of the Utah Stake—But no considerable work was ever done in the Southern States until after the war of the rebellion—That came and destroyed about a million souls, and that destruction produced liberty to the slaves—After that the Gospel could go, and it is having free course until there are many scores of our Elders there, and in some of these states our people have meeting houses, branches, societies and schools—The work is being established and taking root among the people—You see, the war was necessary to bring that about—Of course, we never could have got into the Southern States if something had not happened to break off the bonds of the African, so that slavery might be abolished ¶

So we may look all along the experience of the Latter-day Saints—Let me take you across into the old country—When I was over there in 1895, presiding in Europe, the work was going on in Great Britain, Scandinavia and Switzerland—A voice came over from Dresden and wanted to know what was this doctrine they heard of—We adopted measures to send it over to them—How did we do it? Here is Brother Maeser, known to all Israel, the first fruits, I may say, of the German confederacy—We went over there and in the dead hour of the night baptized eight souls in the river Elbe—But they could not stay a great while before they were driven away—Brother Maeser, after a little, was put in charge of a policeman, who took him across the province and delivered him to another, and he was taken from one place to another until he came over to me at Liverpool—At those times we could do very little, almost nothing—Brothers Orson Spencer and Jacob Houtz were appointed to go there and see if they could start a mission—They went, and on every application to preach in the confederacy they were given notice that they had so many hours to get out; so they had to leave—Again, Apostle Orson Pratt and Brother William W. Riter were sent over to Austria, to see if perhaps over there some better opportunity might be found; but they labored without being able to establish a church—The work did not seem to take hold, and they came back without accomplishing a great deal in the way of establishing a church in that country—But latterly what has been the fact? Why, when that war arose between France and Germany, over Alsace and Lorraine, it had the effect of loosening up the bonds—Quietly and gradually our brethren are now preaching the Gospel among that people, and the work of God is progressing, though sometimes the brethren are banished—Only a little while ago President Snow's son was banished from a province—When they were banished they did as the Savior said—being driven from one place they fled to another ¶

Thus the work of the Lord is going on—These wars have to occur to loosen up the bonds of the governments that are so tight and strong against religious liberty—I set it down as a fixed principle that these wars are going to be as necessary to the progress of liberty in this dispensation as are the labors of our Elders—We have got to accept these things—And if our sons have to go away in the wars, we must arm them with the power of God, with the power of faith; our prayers must go after them; and by and by these sons will rise up to be mighty men of Zion; when that time comes that man will say, "Let us not go up against Zion, for the inhabitants thereof are terrible." They will go to other places, where the prey is easier to acquire—So then we need not be worried—Mothers, do not be troubled about your sons who are away in the war—The Lord's eyes are over them; the holy anointing is upon them—Most of them, perhaps all, have the Priesthood, and they will call upon the Lord, and He will deliver them, make them mighty, give them distinction, and they will come as the sons of Brother Brigham have come—to places of prominence, and by and by they may have to lead the armies of Israel—These things are a part of the business ¶

We want no cowards in our band, Who will our colors fly; We call for valiant-hearted men, Who're not afraid to die. ¶

They that are not afraid to die are the ones that are likeliest to live—The Lord has said, "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it," even life everlasting ¶

I rejoice in the great work of the Lord—I know it is true—I found that out a long time ago—I only wish I could do more to further it and to help promote the cause—I strive to live my religion, and I feel thankful for the degree of confidence and love which you show to me from time to time, as well as to all of my brethren—I pray you, my dear brethren and sisters, be you strengthened in this Conference by all the counsels you get—Let every man who is the head of a family realize that he wants to labor for the benefit of every soul the Lord has given him to come forth out of his loins, that he may be able to have by and by a righteous seed, a numerous seed in the earth, and partakers of those blessings that were sealed upon the fathers anciently, and have since been sealed upon us, their children—I pray the Lord to bless you, to bless us all, with health of body, strength of mind, and a spirit to prefer Zion and her interests above all things—In ancient times, when Zion's interests were concentrated on the hill of Jerusalem, David said: ¶

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. ¶

"If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." ¶

Let us then make it our study to love Zion above all things, and seek to live to bring her interests to pass—I pray the Lord to bless all the interests of Zion, and help us to live to honor Him, to love to do His will as long as He likes to have us tarry in the flesh, that when we go it may be well with us, as we believe it to be well with these our brethren who have gone before us—Amen ¶