The Holy Spirit a Spiritual and Temporal Guide

I am very greatly pleased, my brethren and sisters, with this opportunity of meeting with the Saints in conference, and trust that the same good spirit that has attended the brethren who have spoken to us may be enjoyed during this meeting. ¶

The work of the Lord is very remarkable among the peoples of the earth. It is attracting attention from every direction, and the doctrines that we have embraced, which have been revealed through the Prophet Joseph, attract the consideration of many people throughout the earth. These doctrines are true, and it is the truth that gives strength to this work. Their truth is discovered by many who have hardly the courage to embrace the principles, and to undertake to live them. Some people I have known feel that the truths we proclaim are too good to be true, and remark that they proffer too .much, and offer more than is reasonable for mortal men to anticipate and expect in this world, or the world to come. But, all who embrace the Gospel, with full purpose of heart, obtain a testimony of the truth of the doctrines. They obtain a witness also from the Lord Himself, a witness of the Father and of the Son, and the record is borne in the hearts of the children of men by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. That Spirit has the mission not only to bear record of the Father and the Son, and the truth and divinity of the doctrines that we have embraced,, but He will abide with us, not only in spiritual matters — matters pertaining to the church — but in regard to all things, for the truth of all things, temporal and spiritual, is known by the Holy Ghost. Those who enter into covenant with the Lord, having humbled themselves before Him and repented of their sins, as a result of their faith, and have taken upon them the name of Jesus Christ, and have undertaken to serve Him to the end, having repented of all their sins, they receive that witness and testimony, and that Spirit abides with them always through their faithfulness. It gives them stability of character ; it gives them understanding and light that is not possessed otherwise, and that does not remain with Latter-day Saints unless they continue to be faithful and very humble, meek and lowly of heart. The Spirit of the Lord is easily offended, easily grieved, and it is quite an undertaking for men to so live that that Spirit can always be a fountain of inspiration, of revelation and light to them. It is a difficult thing for men to do good always, and I want to show you, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord expects us to do so. ¶

Now, I do not want to take too much time, I do not want to lay too broad a foundation, but I will read one , little text. I think I shall be satisfied with this one small text, if I can expound it to your understanding, which I believe I can with the help of the Lord, and possibly bring to your understanding an improvement that we may engage in for the future, possibly having lived something near it in the past, but may do so more perfectly in the future. The Lord says : ¶

"Verily I say men" — that is all men ; I desire to expound to you ¶

that word in this scripture, that men, all men, Latter-day Saints and everybody else — "should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness, for the power is in them" — the power is in all men — "wherein they are agents unto themselves ; and inasmuch as men do good they shall in no wise lose their reward." ¶

Now, I desire to make this impression, my brethren and sisters, for men, the term, the word, includes the sisters as well as the brethren — all mankind, men and women — should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, because they are agents unto themselves and are so empowered by the Lord, who is our Father, so that we should be thus occupied always. We should not be employed at any time, on any occasion, anywhere, doing anything that is not a good cause. Where we have done things that were not proper and right, and were not a good cause, we have departed from the obligation and undertaking that we entered into in the beginning, and our beginning was when we entered into covenant with the Lord. I am speaking now of our beginning with this latter-day work. This Church began on the 6th of April, 1830, and you began when you entered into covenant with the Lord. Your end will be when you have laid off this mortal body, when your work has been finished and your undertaking with the Lord has been completed. We undertook at the beginning to serve the Lord to the end, to the end of our mortal mission, our probation, hence I desire to make this impression upon all Latter-day Saints ; and if there should be some here who are not Latter-day Saints I would like to ¶

make the impression upon them also that they, too, should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and bring to pass much righteousness. That is being done today in the world by very many people, for much righteousness is accomplished by people who are not of our faith. A great deal of good is being done ; there is a great deal of virtue and morality, uprightness and humility, love of the Lord, love of the truth, love of righteousness, in the hearts of the children of men. So that my appeal is not to Latter-day Saints alone this afternoon, but to all men and all women. If any man or any woman does good in this world, they shall not lose their reward, whether they be Latter-day Saints or not. But, if they would have all the good, all that the Lord has to bestow upon them, it is necessary for them to have faith in Him, repent of their sins, humble themselves before God and enter into covenant with Him, as the Latterday Saints have done, and then endure in the faith to the end of their lives. It is possible in this world, I take it from the example and history of our elder brother, Jesus, it is possible for men to do good; I believe it is quite possible for all men to do good, to work righteousness. I believe that it is quite possible for all men to repent of their sins, through faith. The Lord is generous and willing to bestow upon all men the principle of faith, and by their repentance, turning from sin and working righteousness, it is quite possible for them to get into fellowship with the Lord. It is really possible for men to do what is right, and to be perfect as God Himself is perfect. ¶

In the range of thought, in looking over my own experience, and ¶

the opportunities about me in the field of activity in this world, I have wondered what on earth there is that a man cannot do that is right, and that ought to be done, so far as morality and purity and righteousness is concerned. There may be heights that men may not easily reach, there may be works that are difficult to accomplish, but so far as being perfect in our lives in the service of the Lord, .in serving our brethren, working for them and blessing them, and doing good to others as we would that others should do to us, is there anything that we cannot do ? Can we not be sober? Can we not be honest, moral and upright? Can we not work righteousness and deal justly? I can think of nothing of this sort but what is possible for us to do. I can't think of a wrong that I ever did in my life, nor a wrong that you have ever done, that I have known about, but what we could just as well, and better, have done what was right. It has always been so with me, I could have done better. It was always easier for me to do right than to do wrong. The things that have tried me, and have been difficult for me, are the wrongs I have done ; but where I have done right I have felt well paid, well rewarded, it has made me feel comfortable and happy, it has made me free. I have always felt free and comfortable when I have done right, and always felt uncomfortable, unhappy and a slave when I have done wrong. Hence I have concluded not to do wrong any more. I am not going to wrong anybody ; and I don't want to wrong myself, but just do exactly what is right, and I want my brethren and sisters, the Latter-day Saints, so to do. ¶

The Lord has given us a perfect organization, commencing with the Aaronic Priesthood as it was revealed to us in this day, and dividing the labors that they have to perform, from the deacon to the priest ; and in the Melchisedek Priesthood, from the office of the elder to the chiefest among us, those who have the greatest power and authority upon the earth. The Lord has so designed and arranged that all men embracing the gospel may receive divine authority from Him, and power that will aid them and help them far above what men can naturally do. The natural man is a very unsafe quantity, he must be assisted by the Lord. I don't know of anything that a man can do that will be quite pleasing and satisfactory, unless the Lord helps him, and then he can be perfectly safe. There are many things that men need to be enlightened upon, and the Spirit of the Lord occupies the whole field, and will enlighten our minds and enable us to see alike in all matters, and make us one with the Father and the Son. That Spirit should dwell richly in our hearts ; when it does, and abides with us, it will draw us together, unite us, enlighten us, and strengthen -us in the performance of the duties that devolve upon us, our lives will then be successful, and we will be anxiously occupied and engaged in works of righteousness. A man with the Spirit of the Lord is not offensive, he is not offensive in his home and family, or neighborhood, he is a pleasant and agreeable companion, as a father, as a brother, as a husband, and as a neighbor, if he enjoys the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord should be enjoyed by all men; and when men possess that Spirit their difficulties disappear ; they see the right. The ¶

Spirit of the Lord always prompts us to do our full duty, all that is required of us, and to be willing to make some little sacrifice in order to be at peace. It will enable us to endure wrong if it comes upon us, and submit so far as we need and have occasion to ; to endure but never do wrong, never to wrong any one else ; if needs be to suffer wrong and evil at the hand of others, but always do what is right ourselves. ¶

I want, at the closing of my remarks, to draw attention to the conditions that have been spoken of here in this conference, first by the President, and then referred to by others. I want to state my views, briefly, in regard to our refugee brethren and sisters from Mexico. They are not a numerous people, possibly only four thousand. Of course four thousand people is quite a community, would be considered a large ward. If we have four thousand in a ward it is regarded as quite a little town ; but four thousand are not very many of the people that are garnered together of the Latter-day Saints — maybe half a million of us — the four thousand would be but few. We have lots of land and water, and any amount of climate. It happens just now that we are living in pretty fruitful times, and we are well fixed with good crops, grains and fruit crops, everything of the kind. I judge so when I see the fruit covering the ground, and we cannot take proper care of it, to make good, profitable use of it. So I want to sound this note of advice to my brethren and sisters who are not refugees, who are at home and live in the United States, in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. It ¶

is our friends, and neighbors, our brothers and sisters that are down there, and who have been driven from the republic of Mexico. They have not been able to remain there. It seems they were not wanted there. I happened to be among the first of the brethren who went as missionaries into that country, to pioneer the country. I went with President Taylor, President Joseph F. Smith and others of the brethren; quite a company of us went from here into Mexico in about 1885, as I remember. I went three times that year from Salt Lake City to the City of Mexico, and into the hot country beyond. I spent some time there with Erastus Snow, Brigham Young, Jr., John W. Taylor, Moses Thatcher, and others of the brethren. ¶

We visited the president of the republic, and we were made welcome by him and by his ministers, and we learned to respect those leading men of that republic. They offered me soldiers when I went down to pioneer the country, for that was my purpose, on my second trip into Mexico. The Indian Chief Geronimo and his men were raiding that country, and raiding Arizona, and our soldiers were there as well as the Mexican soldiers, trying to capture the outlaw and his band. While we were there the Indians went down on the west of us, and on the south, and came out on the east of us, went almost round us, but we were out of sight ; they did not happen to see us when we were pioneering the country. We had a little company of soldiers offered ns, but Mexican soldiers do not go until tomorrow, the} never go till "manana," that is, they do not go today but tomorrow, and we went today, and the soldiers following us could not find us. They thought ¶

we would make tracks, and so we did, but a tremendous storm of rain came and obliterated the tracks, and they could not find us. We thus pioneered the country. ¶

I want to say that when we say hard things about the people of that country we only say it about those who are a hard people, a bad people, not about those who are good. They have not had in Mexico, so far as I have known, a secure and stable government. There has not been protection and safety in that country, and a man always had to have a gun across his lap, or hanging on his back, so that it could be seen that he was armed, in order to take care of himself. I was given to understand, in the City of Mexico, that it was not safe for a man to walk across that valley, from one town or village to another, unless he was armed; that he would likely be killed by some one to get his suit of clothes, or a pair of boots, or the dollar in his pocket, if he had it. There were that class of people ; but we were made welcome, they wanted us there. They wanted us because our people were thrifty, and prosperous, because we would build good brick houses, and good school buildings, and establish merchandise business and so forth in the country. Our people went there, and they built the finest villages, so far as I can judge and know, in Mexico, the finest considering the population occupying them, that can be found in the republic. I rather think that is correct, they really have built splendid houses, cities, and towns, and have conducted our district schools and high schools • there also. We have taken care of ourselves, and have set a good example, and the leading men of that nation were always proud of what ¶

the "Mormons" had done there. President Diaz, as long as he stayed there, and his ministers, always spoke well of the "Mormon" people, they could not say otherwise. But there was a man killed every little ; while. It was dangerous, always more or less dangerous, and they could not be protected, they could not get justice, and the wicked could not be punished, as a rule they were not punished. ¶

Well, now our people have come away, they have been driven away because of the revolution in that country. It is a revolutionary country and a revolutionary people, and there is no telling, of course, as we learned from the President here, when peace will be declared and a good government established. I don't know when it will come, but I do want us, brethren and sisters, to open our hearts and homes, and open the way for the Latter-day Saints to come back to their friends, to come to their neighbors and kindred, they will be no tax on the people of this country. Those four thousand people can stay right here with us, and it will hardly be known that there is anybody extra. We have plenty of room, and everything to make them comfortable. They are a people that will make their way and pay as they go, and earn their living and establish themselves, and in a few years they will be just as wealthy as they were in Mexico, and they will be upon safe, solid ground, where they need not be afraid of anything on earth, no more than we are in Canada. I saw the contrast. I was down in Mexico in '85, and just a little later it fell to my lot to go to Canada to help the pioneers and give them counsel — Elder John W. Taylor and I We went to the head of the Canadian ¶

government, and we were welcomed there. They wanted us, they were glad to have us come, and we have been building there just as we built in Mexico, and just as we have built in Utah, in Arizona, in Nevada, Colorado and Idaho. ¶

Everywhere the Latter - day Saints go they are doing work that speaks well for them, and is a credit to them. They are a stable element — not quite perfect yet, but they are devoted to good works, and the Spirit of .the Lord that dwells in them makes them worthy citizens of any country and government. The government of any state or county is stronger for the "Mormon" people that .locate therein, or in any city or nation, for it has been proven that they are a good element. The Spirit of the Lord has made them this, and that Spirit will make them even more worthy than what they are now if they will continue faithful. I advise that we should invite our friends home, ask them to come home and take some of our land and work with us. Many of them come unclothed almost, and unfed. They have been robbed, and have nothing to bring with them, as a rule. There are some few that will be able to fight their own way and take care of themselves, but the others will be no burden upon us, we will be richer from taking care of them, helping them, for the Lord will compensate us for doing the good that we should be engaged in. He will reward us, for He says that we shall not lose our reward for any good thing that we do. We want to welcome home our brethren and sisters who have suffered, we want them to come back again into the United States, if they so desire. If they prefer to stay and try their chances ¶

again in Mexico, of course we make no objection, and our blessing and love will go with them where they go, and with the people who will open their hearts and homes to receive them and make them welcome. ¶

I wanted to say that much in regard to those people, for I was there in the country; I was with them when they were in their camps and tents. I was with them there and wrestled for their benefit with the government of the country. The Church has helped them attain what they could; that land was legally obtained for permanent settlement, and we have done our duty in the republic of Mexico. We have been preaching the gospel there also, and maintaining missions among them. We have been doing a good work for that republic, and we have not hurt them at all, but have done them a great deal of good; and that was the desire, I am sure, of the leading men of their nation. The Lord will bless those who have befriended our people and those who do befriend them hereafter. The Lord will bless us my brethren and sisters, in being anxiously engaged in this good cause. The Latter-day Saints who do not return to Mexico shall not feel that they are imposing on their kindred and friends, but that the latch string is out, or the door is open, and they are welcome to come and fare and share, with us until they can get on their feet,and it will not be a long time for them to do it. They are the right kind of element. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless you, my brethren and sisters. Let us remember the injunction of this text and be constantly, anxiously and earnestly engaged in a good cause, and bring to pass much righteousness every day of our lives, and the Lord will bless and sustain us, and ¶

preserve and redeem us, and make us eminently successful among the children of men. God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and keep us faithful, and help us to endure in His service while we live in the flesh, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶