Report on the St. Joseph Stake

It is a great pleasure to me to come up to headquarters and see my friends, and mingle with the Saints of God. I was raised here in Salt Lake, and associated with the people throughout the various stakes of Zion, in traveling and in missionary work, for many years, and now my abode is in Arizona. I have always fraid, it mattered little to me where I lived so long as I could be associated with my people. ¶

I am happy in my relations with the Saints of God in the St. Joseph stake of Zion, in Arizona. Utah is dear to me, but Arizona today is still dearer. My interests and my home are there. As much as I love the place of my birth, and my many former friends and associates, there is no people so dear to me as the Latter-day Saints with whom I am associated in the stake of Zion where I am permitted to preside, and the good people who are not of our faith, in the territory of Arizona. I am somewhat acquainted with the inhabitants of these great mountain valleys, of the intermountain west, and in some of the states as far east as the Mississippi river; but, in all my travels I don't know that I ever came in contact with people so generous, so highminded and so liberal as are the Arizonians. The Arizona people, I mean those who have come from other sections of the world and now reside there, partake of the influence of that broad country. Their feelings accord with the breadth of the acres in that great, wide territory of ours, and their deep and generous natures resemble the gorges of the grand old Colorado. We live in perfect harmony with the people of Arizona who are not of the religious faith of the Latter-day Saints. ¶

It was my privilege recently to read a brief history of the territory, and of the settlement of that country, compiled by the Historians' Society, the "Pioneers of Arizona." In every part of the history that mentions the establishment of a settlement or mining camp, or any industry they give the "Mormon" people due credit, and speak of them in the highest terms, which I of course, know that they deserve. We do not always get this recognition, but as a rule, this people, from the governor down, are friendly, broad-minded, liberal and generous to us. I desire to have the people of Utah know that Arizona is only second to Utah in population, resources, surroundings, and environments. Its people are in every way the equal of those in this grand old state of Utah. ¶

The St. Joseph stake of Zion is increasing. Only recently it was my privilege to organize a ward in the district of country above the canal system, in the Artesian belt, and the quotation came to my mind then, from the Prophet Isaiah, where he said that "water should spring out of the earth, and the desert should blossom as the rose." And here, out among the cactus, the mesquite, the lizards, and the dry sandy soil, where our brethren have driven down iron pipes in the earth, the artesian water comes pure and sparkling, bubbling and pouring up to the surface; and now we have organized a strong ward there. Just before I left home, I went a short distance from this settlement to another one, by the name of Artesia, where we organized a branch and coupled it on to the ward that I have spoken of. A few years ago some colonizers from the east had come in and taken up this land, driven pipes and made wells, and endeavored to build a town or a village, but they couldn't do it. It takes "Mormons" to subdue the desert, the unity and co-operation of "Mormon" people. It seems to me that they are the only people that could ever have subdued this great intermountain desert. In this effort of our friends, they failed; some of them fought and killed each other, and the survivors became disgusted and sold out their holdings to our people. It was my privilege to go and assist them and fix up their affairs. We formed a little branch of the Church there, and they gave five acres of ground to build a meetinghouse on, and another of our Gentile friends offered five acres more, which we did not need. We expect to subdue that land, and we are producing now nearly everything that is necessary for the people. We have a valley of about forty to fifty miles in length, through which the Gila river flows. That is a river heading out in Colorado and New Mexico, and continuing in its course till it empties into the Colorado on the borders of California. We have been using the land there for raising alfalfa, and other crops that are easy to take care of, but we are endeavoring now to start fruit raising. It was my pleasure before leaving home to trim 600 trees upon my own place, besides farming, attending to my garden, and fixing up everything so that I could leave for a short time. When we left alfalfa was nearly in blossom, trees were in foliage, and the country was covered with a beautiful carpet of green, livened up here and there by patches of beautiful flowers, with the cacti and poppies on the side hills; everything was lovely, beautiful and thrifty. We have had a wet season, plenty of moisture, and grass and everything in the fields is in a very forward condition. We have suffered somewhat from floods washing out dams, but we are learning how to build new ones better. ¶

This, we might say, is the temporal side of affairs, but I attribute the success of the "Mormon" people, in this and other sections of the country, to their obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have listened to arguments of sectarians, and others who have endeavored to draw people together and co-operate to build up communities, but I have said to them, and would state it to all the world, they can never succeed in co-operation, subdue the desert and build up homes therein, except by the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship that comes in love for that Gospel. It can only be done on principles of righteousness, submission and obedience, by subduing ourselves, and bringing ourselves into subjection to the laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

Our people are united. They have put themselves in order, and have endeavored to obey the laws of the Gospel. This is particularly true of our High Councilors and Bishops; they are progressive, noble men, looking after the interests of the various wards, branches and organizations among the people over whom they are presiding, and we are just like one great family of nearly four thousand people. I feel like I could put my arms around them and love them all; and I strongly think that they love me. If I did not feel that I had their love and their confidence, I would want to move away from Arizona. ¶

We are united and in harmony in striving to build up, in that part of the world, the kingdom of God. We sustain not only each other but also our Prophet and President, Joseph F. Smith, and the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. We sustain the presidencies of missions by sending our Elders to them to preach the Gospel. I have brought with me from that country on this trip 20 boys and girls who have come up to the Temple, and the boys are going on missions. I never saw such happy responses to missionary calls in my life, and for twelve and a half years I presided over what is now the Middle States mission. The Presidency of the Church called upon our stake for ten missionaries, and in almost less time than it took to get an exchange of mail there were 14 who responded. In nearly all instances the call had been answered not alone by letters, but the boys have come and answered in person, and they are here ready to go anywhere that the Priesthood of God desires them. That is the kind of response that I love to witness. I say, God bless the youth of Zion. I am not discouraged in the boys and girls of this Church, for I have found that there is the spirit of patriotism and the love of the Gospel in them. They may not be doing just as well as some older members; they may have fallen into some "foolish habits, which we could possibly excuse under some circumstances; but I tell you there is determination to do their duty when they are willing to drop everything, leave their young wives, their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, property interests and everything that is dear to them, not knowing what is ahead of them, taking their lives in their hands, and going to the different nations of the earth to preach the Gospel. That is the kind of people we have in the Church down in Arizona. The climate there is warm; we have genial sunshine, and that has some effect upon the people. They are warm hearted, generous, good, and faithful. I am willing that my lot should continue to be cast with the people of Arizona, and I am willing that my bones should be buried there. I say God bless them, and bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶