Outdoor Preaching Is Not My Forte

My brethren and sisters and friends, outdoor preaching, is not my forte, but I will do the best I can. I have a reputation of being a rapid speaker, but rapidity is scarcely what is needed on this occasion. What I desire just now is the Spirit of God to assist me, and a frill volume of voice, in order that I may make those hear who stand far in the rear. I also trust that the elements will favor us, and that the rain will not pour down upon us from the clouds hanging at this moment so threatening overhead. ¶

I was deeply impressed when we sang our opening hymn, "Come, come, ye Saints," as it reminded me of an event that took place 48 years ago. I crossed the plains and mountains in 1866 with an ox train, which brought me together with a number of other emigrants from the Missouri river to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. I feel thankful to the Lord now that I came to Utah in 1866. Had my coming been delayed till the following year, I would not have had the experience of traveling all the way across the plains with ox teams, for in 1867 the Union Pacific Railroad had been built for a distance of 300 miles westward from the Missouri river. The next year (1868) that road had been built two-thirds of the way across the plains and mountains, and overland travel with ox teams was abandoned altogether in 1869. Since, then, immigrants have come to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in railway trains. ¶

But this song, "Come, come ye Saints," as well as the other one we sang today, "O, ye mountains high," we sang again and again on the plains in 1866 as we trudged along on our weary way toward this city, living part of the time on half rations. We longed for Zion, and we sang these songs of Zion with great earnestness and feeling. I do not think the late William Clayton, who composed the song, "Come, come ye Saint," could have had more of the spirit of it than we ¶

had, who sang it nineteen years later. ¶

I have often reflected upon what God has done for this people — the Latter-day Saints — not only in the growth of the community, as was referred to by Brother Goddard in his opening speech, but upon the experiences they have had in the countries or places in which they have dwelt since the Church was first organized. I have often explained: "How marvelous are the works of the Almighty!" ¶

The Lord in the beginning wanted His people to become closely associated together as a community or a religious body. The Church was only a few months old when a commandment was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith for the Saints to gather together, and the Lord gave a promise by revelation that He would give them a land which they could call their own, a land of inheritance. This was nothing new. The Children of Israel many centuries ago, were likewise given such a land, a land of promise. We even are told in the Holy Scripture that Abraham, when living childless in Chaldea, was commanded to leave his native country and journey to a strange land, which the Lord would give him and his posterity. Abraham had no son at that time; his son, Isaac, the child of promise, being born afterwards. ¶

I refer to this for the purpose of showing you that the gathering together of the people of God is an old doctrine. We also have the City of Enoch as an example. But in the dispensation in which we live we find this recorded that the Lord, in 1831, pointed out Jackson County, Missouri, as a gathering place for His Saints. Western Missouri was at that time almost uninhabited, but it was -a beautiful country, abounding with meadows and woodland, and fertile as any lands in the great West, and when Sidney Rigdon was commanded by revelation to make a description of it, he utterly failed. The land was so beautiful that the pen picture he attempted to draw of it did not begin to do justice to it. The Latter-day Saints settled in that country, and everything looked promising with them for two or three years. About 1500 members of the Church gathered into Jackson County during the years 1831, 4832 and 1833, and began to cultivate the soil; they also established a printing office, opened a store, built mills, and made other improvements, and conditions seemed to indicate that they would flourish and prosper. But in the midst of their prosperity the Lord predicted for them through the Prophet Joseph Smith "much tribulation," and when this prophecy commenced to be fulfilled, the Saints began to move into less desirable and poorer counties. ¶

I pass over the short sojourn of our people in Clay County, on the opposite side of the Missouri river, into which they were driven in 1833 by the Jackson County mob. The Saints had not lived there very long when prospects for trouble were again in plain sight. The Missourians told the Saints substantially this : "You cannot live here. We do not want you to stay in Clay County." "But," said they, pointing to a country lying about 60 miles in a northeasterly direction, "yonder is a prairie country. If you are willing to go out there and settle by yourselves, you are welcome ; there we will not molest ¶

you." To accept of this offer was apparently the best the Saints could do under the circumstances. The country suggested was a naked prairie, and the Missourians did not think at that time that the prairies of Missouri could produce much. Nevertheless, the Saints went in and settled what soon became Caldwell County. And what happened? Of course these things are recorded in Church history, and are not altogether new to you ; suffice it to say, that in two or three years the Saints numbered as many thousands in Caldwell County, and the adjoining county of Daviess, as they had numbered hundreds in Jackson County ; and lo and behold, the prairies of Caldwell County seemed to become even more productive than the rich, fertile lands in Jackson County, or Clay County. This was one of the Saints' early experiences; ,in trusting the Lord. They learned this lesson, that when God chooses to pour down the blessings of heaven upon His people, He can do so anywhere, no matter where they live — in a timber country, a prairie country, or a desert. ¶

You know what happened after the Saints began to prosper in Caldwell County. When the Missourians saw how our people progressed, how they had built up the beautiful little city of Far West, and even commenced the erection of a Temple there, Gov. Boggs took sides with the mob against the "Mormons," which resulted in their expulsion from Missouri in 1838 and 1839. ¶

What happened next? The Latter-day Saints, now numbering nearly 15,000 people in Missouri alone, had to seek a new home. But where could they go? They had scarcely anything but their bare hands to depend upon. Many of them were indeed glad to escape ' from Missouri with nothing but the clothes they wore on their backs, and many of them had to trudge on foot for 200 miles, some nearly 300 miles, before they could reach the border of the State and cross over the Mississippi river into Illinois. The people of the town of Quincy were kind to our people. Their hearts were touched because of the sufferings the exiles had endured. They called meetings and contributed clothing and food for the sufferers. But the Saints did not want to live on charity, or remain in this helpless condition. The authorities of the Church, the spiritual and temporal leaders of the people, therefore, cast their eyes around to find a country where they could locate a new Stake of Zion. About fifty miles above Quincy there was a little, struggling village called Commerce. Several attempts had been made to settle the place, but they had failed, though the people who tried it came from the East well supplied with everything necessary to establish a colony; they had plenty of teams, agricultural implements, and everything that was necessary for founding a settlement. But instead of building up the contemplated city of Commerce on the banks of the river, they built up a grave yard, in fact, an extensive cemetery, on the side hill. The place was so unhealthful, that malarial diseases broke out, and laid the people low ; hence they had become discouraged and wanted to move away. And when the Latter-day Saints sent a committee to look at the country, these older settlers were perfectly willing to sell out for a song; their great desire was to get away from the unhealthful place. ¶

What could the Saints naturally expect in Commerce? If healthy, well-to-do people could not make a success there, what would become of the poor exiles who came from Missouri bleeding and povertystricken? But the Saints relied upon God Almighty; the same God who had sustained them in Caldwell, and changed that country from a naked prairie to well cultivated fields, still ruled and controlled the elements ; our brethren had confidence in Him and knew that He could remove the curse from Commerce and make it habitable for His Saints, if He chose to do so. I shall not enter into details, but simply remind you of the fact that where these people from the East, well provided with everything needed, could not build a village, the Saints in six years built up a beautiful city which, at one time, had nearly 20,000 inhabitants. .In the midst of that city they built a beautiful Temple and erected many other good and substantial buildings. Those who visit Nauvoo today will find that the best buildings there now are those erected by the Latter-day Saints seventy years ago. ¶

I refer to these things, my brethren and sisters, to show what wonders God has wrought. Although He allows the sun to shine upon the wicked and good alike, and permits the rain to fall all over the earth, there is a difference, a signal difference, between a people who disobey God's will, and a peoDle who will serve Him and keep His commandments. He can lead them into any country, poor or fertile, and bless that country for their sake, and make it fit for their habitation. Continuing my story, let me direct your attention to more recent events. The Saints lived in Nauvoo six or seven years. While there, the mob killed our Prophet and Patriarch ; and when the wicked saw that the death of these men had not destroyed the work of God, they became more furious than ever, and did not rest until they had driven about 20,000 Saints into the wilderness, far beyond the borders of civilization The people of Illinois witnessed the exiled Saints disappear on the prairies of Iowa, going toward the land of the setting sun. ¶

Those were perilous times, my brethren and sisters. The exodus of the Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo, and their experiences in the wilderness for a number of years before they arrived in this Valley, forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the world. With tears in their eyes the Saints, as they went westward, frequently looked back toward their beautiful Nauvoo. Some of them wept like the Children of Israel, when Nebuchednezzar took them captives into Babylon. The Latter-day Saints were not captives, but they had been despoiled of their homes, like the Israelites were in the days of their captivity. ¶

What happened next? The Latter-day Saints came into the wilderness, into the Great American Desert. It was not even the prairies of Caldwell now. It was not even an unhealthful Commerce. The soil in their eastern homes was comparatively fertile, but in this Great American Desert, to which they now had come, everything was absolutely barren and forbidding. Before the pioneers of 1847 arrived here, a few mountaineers, acquainted with the valleys of the Great Salt Lake, told President Brigham Young that it was folly for him to think for one moment of locating white people in this valley, where a few straggling bands of Indians of the lowest grade could not get a living from the soil. Were it not for the fish' found in the Utah Lake, the Timpanogas river, and other mountain streams, and what game they could find in the mountains, these natives would perish through starvation. And of course white people could not subsist on that kind of fare. The mountaineers were united in saying that nothing that would sustain life could grow in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. One of the trappers who heard that President Brigham Young was coming to this desert country with a colony of whites, promptly informed him that it did not rain in the regions of the Great Salt Lake between April and October, and consequently breadstuffs could not be raised. ¶

But the pioneers of 1847, relying upon the Lord, sang with cheerful hearts, "Come, come ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear, But with joy wend your way." * * * We'll find the place which God for us prepared, far away in the West." ¶

The first thing the pioneers did after their arrival on this ground upon which we now stand, was to raise their hands toward heaven and dedicate the land for the gathering of the Saints. They, no doubt, remembered when praying, how they had been driven from their homes in Jackson County ; how they had been robbed of their possessions in Clay, Caldwell and Daviess counties, Missouri, and how they had been driven from their homes in Hancock County, Illinois, into the wilderness, into the desert ; and now they importuned at the throne of grace for special blessings upon the desert lands. ¶

From the little beginning by the "'Mormon" pioneers in 1847, we have now these valleys filled with Latter-day Saints. I have traveled in many parts of the world and seen many countries, but I will say this to you, that this valley is one of the prettiest spots on earth. A greater transfiguration than that which has taken place in this valley since the pioneer days can scarcely be imagined; in fact, I think it has no equal in any part of the world . I know of no other place where you 'can ascend to a certain height, as you can here, as for instance to the top of Ensign Peak, or perhaps to the top of the Capitol building now being erected, and behold such a beautiful city, with such lovely surroundings as here. Behold the valley as it lies stretched out before you surrounded with grand and picturesque mountains and with the Great Salt Lake on the west ; and I defy any one who has traveled to mention a landscape more beautiful and delightful, or a valley more fertile than the one we have here, which until recently was a part of the Great American desert. ¶

What has the Lord wrought? A miracle ! It is not altogether the water. It is true we have learned the art of irrigation here, something that our people did not need on the prairies of Caldwell or in Illinois. But we believe that our Father in heaven had compassion, upon His persecuted 'people. In connection with the work of the pioneers in their home-making, irrigating, planting and building, God was kind to them and commanded the earth by His power to yield ¶

forth in abundance to sustain the lives of His persecuted people. From the little handful that came here in 1847, we have grown to nearly half a million, in Utah, Idaho and the surrounding country. The 724 wards or settlements, which are now (inhabited by (the Latter-day Saints, represent in part the result of the little beginning made by those persecuted people who were not permitted to possess their homes in the States of Illinois or Missouri. ¶

We who came here later, and those who have been born here, discover, as we open our eyes to take in the situation, that we are located in one of the most desirable lands upon the face of the earth, and our hearts are filled with thanksgiving to God and to our parents, who "builded better than they knew." I was a little white-haired boy when I first came to this valley with my parents, they having embraced the Gospel in a foreign land and brought their family here. And what does this mean to me. Happiness, prosperity and possibilities. I have also been the means of bringing into the world a family of children, sons and daughters, who when they opened their eyes in the world, here, found themselves with their parents in a goodly land, in a land of Prophets and Apostles, in the midst of a God-fearing people, and in a land that is blessed above all other lands upon the face of the earth. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, I shall simply refer to one point more in proof of what I am saying, and then I am through. I visited Palestine a few years ago, and you know Palestine is the country known at one time as a land flowing with milk and honey, figuratively speaking. I traveled through that country from the heights of Galilee down to the lower regions around the Dead Sea; I visited most of the little valleys of Jndea and Samaria, and I know pretty well the location of the most interesting points in that country. But Palestine is not a country today about which you can say it flows with milk and honey. What has happened? What has caused the change when that land is no longer a blessed country ; it cannot today sustain half the inhabitants who dwell there. It is not only a question of 'a seven years famine : it would be famine continuously, if the inhabitants could not get bread from Poland, Russia, or some other country where corn and food is more plentiful than in Palestine. The land is defiled, because of the inhabitants thereof, because "they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant." Palestine apparently is under a curse, but that curse will be taken away when the sons and daughters of Zion, or the Children of Israel, on their return from their long dispersion, shall sing praises to their God, and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, like in the days of old. ¶

And the same can be said about the waste places of Zion in our own day. The beautiful Nauvoo, that was once the largest city in the State of Illinois, larger than Chicago or Springfield, the State capital, at the time the Saints lived in Illinois, is today a little, neglected village. What has happened? Icarians, frugal German colonists and others who have tried to build up a city there have failed in their attempts. Nauvoo has gone down completely and like the curse that has rested on the land of Canaan for centuries, ¶

so it seems as though a curse rests upon Nauvoo and its surroundings today. The Lord has not forgotten that once there lived in that place a God-fearing people, who were driven away by mobs. Men who did not fear God took away from the Saints of the Most High their inheritances, and the curse is upon the land to this day, the same as the land of Palestine. At least, that is the impression I had when I visited Nauvoo a number of years ago, and something similar could be said of the change that has come to those parts of Missouri where the Saints once dwelt. ¶

In conclusion I thank God for our mountain home. I appreciate God's blessings upon us here, not only as manifested in the numerical growth of the Church, but in the blessings that have come to the soil upon which we dwell, upon the land which has been dedicated as a land of Zion and a home for the Saints. God grant that these beautiful valleys may always continue a land of Zion to the Latter-day Saints, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶