The Extension of Zion and Utilizing Talents

The spirit of this conference has been such that the saints, in returning to their homes in the various parts of the country, will carry with them, I believe, a fixed determination to seek in every way the improvement of the people. President Smith, in the opening of our conference, laid upon the brethren the necessity of the Priesthood impressing fully and thoroughly upon the minds of the brethren and sisters the room for improvement which exists among some of the members of the community in the character of the language they used. He also sought to impress upon the minds of the brethren and sisters that if we would make ourselves acceptable to our Heavenly Father, a more thoughtful observance of many of the primary principles of the Gospel and the moral rules and regulations of the law of God would be required on the part of the Saints, and the presiding officers would have to follow up any evidence of laxness in morality, any tendency to profanity or to the use of intoxicating drinks, in the districts over which they were called to preside. Several of the brethren have spoken upon this subject, and the spirit of their instructions, I believe, has found lodgment in the hearts of those who were permitted to listen unto them. President Snow comes to us this afternoon, in the closing hours of this conference, and presents to us his suggestions looking to a more active labor upon the part of presiding officers in the wards and Stakes of Zion, and emphasizes the suggestions presented in the remarks of President Smith that more care is requisite on the part of the Saints to hold themselves in closer communion with the Spirit of the Lord and to seek to avoid the possibility of profanity, coarseness of language, or the disobeying of any of the plain and simple requirements of the Gospel. ¶

In the time I may occupy I desire to say to the Latter-day Saints that the work of the Lord is extending. Its growth cannot be questioned by those who administer in the various sections of the country and discover in their visits the constant onward movement on the part of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to seek to extend the borders of Zion. As President Snow remarked, the organization of fifty Stakes presents to the world a body of 150 men as presidents, equipped by the possession of the High Priesthood, set apart and instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Called to the aid of each of these presidencies, as a rule, in every Stake of Zion, are eighteen more High Priests in the form of High Council and alternates. These men are selected from among the most capable. God-fearing and earnest men that can be found in the organization. They are the chosen judges among the people; and, as has been explained by President Snow, they are not alone judges of doctrine, judges of the conditions of their brethren who may be in transgression, judges to adjust differences in matters of finance, but they are men who by their experience in the world in teaching the principles of the Gospel and in seeking to extend the borders of Zion are presumed to be thoroughly prepared for the discharge of the sacred obligation of preaching the principles of righteousness and pointing the way of life to the people over whom they are called to preside in connection with the presidency of the Stake. Following in their wake, in every one of these Stakes are several wards, fully and thoroughly organized for the performance of the duty of guarding the interests, temporal and spiritual, of the people in their districts. Many of the Bishops of the wards selected to administer under the direction of the presiding authority of the Church through the presidency of the Stake, have had an extended experience in the practical things of life, and there are but few of them but what have had an extended experience in various lands and climes seeking to enlarge the borders of Zion in the promulgation of the principles of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. These men have won their spurs, if you please, from the fact that their hearts have been given to the accomplishment of our Father's purposes. It is sometimes manifest, however, that in the fulfillment of the duties attaching to the Bishopric the same skill and ability is not manifested by them as they exhibited in heralding the truth among the children of men and calling the world to repentance. The suggestions couched in the instructions of President Snow, that he wished these Presidents of Stakes to be fathers of these families, to love them as their own wives and children, and to guard their interests and establish in their breasts a determination to obey the commandments of God, are suggestions that I trust every presiding officer in the Stakes and wards of Zion will receive; and it is to be hoped that the same spirit and sentiment shall be engendered in the breasts of the presidents of the High Priests' quorums, the Seventies' quorums and the Elders' quorums, that at any time and place where the Presidency of the Church may require capable and thorough men for the discharge of any duty in connection with the development of the work of God, they shall be enabled to supply such men fully equipped for the performance of the part that may be required at their hands. There does sometimes manifest itself in some of the presiding officers, as I have discovered in my experience among the Stakes and wards of Zion, a fear of the development of men. These conditions, it is true, are rare, but they have existed. "When young men have sought to equip themselves for the performance of their part, their development seems to have given rise to a fear on the part of the presiding officer that they were ambitious and were seeking to secure an influence that would belittle him in the management and control of his district. It seems to me that the President of the Stake, or the Bishop of the ward, should have a body of men working under his watchcare whose talents he will utilize in those directions where they exhibit skill and ability. The man who fails to utilize and develop the men who are called to labor under him, is indeed lacking in the spirit of the work of God, and is not himself equipped for the performance of his part looking to the preparation of the men under his watchcare for the mission and destiny that should be theirs. ¶

I recognize the fact, my brethren and sisters, that my time is now far spent. I desire, in connection with my associates, to bear testimony to the truth of the Gospel of the Son of God. I know that it is true. I know that the organization established through the ministrations of the Savior of the world, under the direction of the Father, is among the children of men; that it has come to aid in the regeneration of the human family, and in the due time of the Lord to establish our Father's kingdom in majesty and power in the earth; that He has gathered the elements from the corners of the earth which have thus far united themselves with the work, and while perchance they may not be all that they should be, they have been those elements that have drunk in of the Spirit of Almighty God and have been impressed with a determination that, so far as the Father shall give them the power, they will minister for the accomplishment of His purposes and call mankind to repentance. To this end, my brothers of the Presidencies of the Stakes, of the High Councils, of the Bishoprics; you High Priests, Seventies, and Elders, upon whose heads have been bestowed the Holy Priesthood, see to it that in the struggle for accomplishment of the purposes of Almighty God your hands shall not slacken, but with a determined purpose, with your face to the accomplishment of the divine will, you will crowd forward our Father's work and aid in the establishment of His kingdom, that the Redeemer of the world shall come and reign in righteousness over a people equipped for the accomplishment of the destiny our Father has marked out for them. ¶

May our Father bless the organization of His Church. May the spirit of life rest upon this aged man who holds the sceptre in his hands. May the glory of God shine round about him, and may his days be lengthened as long as he may desire. May his associates be governed by the same spirit, and engaged in the self-same work, be found stalwart for the cause of truth and for the maintenance of righteousness in the world; and may all the Priesthood of the Son of God magnify their callings and stand for the truth, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. The choir sang: ¶

"Arouse, O ye mortals." ¶