St. George Temple Work

I feel honored this afternoon in having the opportunity of appearing before this vast assembly to represent the labors performed in the first temple erected in Utah -- the St. George Temple. The labor commenced in the St. George Temple on the ninth day of January, 1877, under the direction of our late beloved president, Brigham Young. President Wilford Woodruff was appointed at that time to preside over the temple. For the first few years the work performed in that house of the Lord was very great, many people flocking from the northern settlements to attend to the labor necessary for the redemption of their dead kindred; but as the temples in other parts of the country were finished, the work in the St. George Temple very materially decreased, until we had very few in attendance, so few in fact that at one time it was thought proper to close the house in consequence of the small amount of ordinance work that was being performed. This was in the time of President Woodruff's presidency over the Church. When it was mooted, President Woodruff made the remark to us that he expected to keep the temple open so that the people might have the opportunity of entering its sacred precincts and laboring for the redemption of their kindred dead, and if they failed to avail themselves of the opportunity then the responsibility should be upon the people and not upon him; for it was the Lord that had established the work with which we are identified, and he was satisfied that it would triumph. The work in the St. George Temple has been increasing for the last few months, and I believe there is an awakening among the people in regard to this great duty. Notwithstanding the fact that Elijah did come, in fulfillment of the prediction of Malachi, wherein he said that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord Elijah should come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest the earth be smitten with a curse -- I say, notwithstanding the fact that Elijah has come, and to a very great degree the hearts of the fathers have been turned to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, as manifested in the many genealogical societies that have been established in the earth since that time, be it known unto you, my brethren and sisters, that before the appearance of Elijah in the Kirtland Temple there were very few societies of that character and very little genealogical data that had been compiled in form in order to be made available for the Latter-day Saints; but since that time men have been moved upon, without knowing what power it was, to spend means in collecting genealogical records and publishing them to the world, and the Latter-day Saints have been able to avail themselves of the information thus afforded. The work of the Lord ¶

is increasing, and as it increases temple work will increase also. ¶

I want to bear my testimony to you that this is the work of God with which we have become identified, and it is destined to accomplish all that is claimed for it. It will roll forth, gathering strength upon the right hand and upon the left, until every power that is opposed to it is brought into full subjection to the mind and will of our Heavenly Father, and until He will reign upon the earth whose right it is to reign -- our beloved elder brother, Jesus Christ. I rejoice in this work. It has become a part of my very nature. I know it is true. I have watched its progress from my earliest recollection. I was with the people as a boy when they were driven from Illinois, and I have been with them from that time to this. The knowledge of the work of God has increased in my heart just as daylight increases when the morning dawns upon the earth until the earth is bathed in the refulgence of light. There have been times when the clouds have been lowering, and, to look at things from a natural standpoint, it seemed as if the people of God would be annihilated; but the power of the Almighty has been manifest and they have been delivered. I am just as satisfied that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God as I am that I am standing here before you, and also that President Brigham Young was his successor; that President John Taylor, as the third President of the Church, was a prophet of God, inspired to accomplish what he did; that Wilford Woodruff in his turn was clothed upon with the power of Almighty God and was a prophet in the midst of the people; that Lorenzo Snow had prophetic powers, and, as the President of the Church, held the keys of authority upon the earth in his time, and his testimony to the people was the word of God; and our present leader, Joseph F. Smith, is a prophet of God. I bear this testimony to you in all solemnity. I testify that this work is destined to triumph and to roll forth until it fills the whole earth. May the blessings of God attend us in ¶

the future meetings of the conference that we may have a time of rejoicing while together. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen. ¶