Show president joseph F smith declares church is in sympathy with movement for curtailment of liquor traffa record break ing attendance of con ference salt lake city at the opening ses slon of the seventy eighth annual con ference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in this city on april 4 it Is estimated that the at was larger than tor any opening day in the past with few exceptions all the high authorities of the church were present in addition to president smith there were on the stand the counsel lors of the first presidency john R winder and anthon H lund all of the apostles were present save two the absentees were reed smoot who is in washington and W penrose who is on a mission to europe president smith in his address at the opening session declared that the church was in sympathy with the movement that is sweeping the coun try for a curtailment ot the liquor traffic other speakers akeis members of the quorum of twelve apostles also urged the more general observance of the rules of temperance saying that the embargo laid on excesses in the word of wisdom is a command ment not only with regard to strong drink but as well in respect to tobacco profanity and tea and coffee the church was declared to be in a better condition than ever before the auxiliary societies were reported to be flourishing as never they had in the past the testimony of president smith and other speakers was that the favorable renditions were a fact in a spiritual as well as a temporal way the laws laid down in the gos pel are observed with greater fidelity than they have ever been it was as ser ed president smith in the beginning of hi remarks extended a welcome to the saints it was extremely agrati tying he said to see so great an out pouring of people we have every reason said president smith to feel grateful to the lord for his man blessing showered upon us since our last conference the eyes of the almighty are upon his people and he is mindful of their welfare we do not claim any honor for the deliver ance of our people from enemies and opposition we athani god tor his mer cies and blessings the president said that it was writ ten that woe is unto them by whom offenses come and a day of reckon ing Is sure to come the speaker said that he did not tor an instant doubt the truth and divinity of the gospel that has been restored to man feeling reference was made to the brothers and sisters who had been called by death since the last confer ence saying that they had gone to await the resurrection on the subject of temperance the president said I 1 believe the time Is near at hand when we shall observe the laws of temperance in accordance with the word of wisdom we find that the lord knew better than we when he gave that revelation when see a man professing to be a member of the church befouling his mouth with tobacco and liquor it pains me greatly and my heart goes out to him in regret we believe in strict temperance we bel eve in abstinence sti nence from all poisonous and per licious things just now there is a movement spreading over this country for the extension of local option and I 1 hope that every latter day saint will operate with this temperance movement I 1 and my brethren are in bar mony with the movement we think the people ought to have the right to say whether they wi 1 have drunken ness murder robbery and riot in their midst or whether they will have peace the president declared the aubil lanes of the church to be in excel lent condition he said they were active and energetic and declared that the spirit of contention is not known among the latter day saints and is present only among those who have become apostates and nave lost the spirit of the gospel president smith in making a par bial report said that on december 31 1907 there were in the field 1810 missionaries during the year there were senti out elders and re turned the returning fees of these being paid by the church forty four sisters accompanied their husbands hus banda on missions president smith said that the elders who go out into the field do so at their own expense and support themselves while in the field john R winder of the arst dency spoke of the work performed in the temple last year referring to the felt at the add lonal in arest taken in the work of redempa alon for the dead the work per formed in the temple sald mr win der has often been so great that peo pie have been turned away not president anthon H lund spoke on the principle of gathering he said that moroni taught it to joseph before any one was baptized into the church president lund said that revelations bearing on the subject of gathering were given to the church curing the first years of its existence at first there was little to encourage the young prophet joseph in the be liet that the gatherings of gods peo pie would ever reach the magnitude foretold in the revelations but it all come true the speaker said that the idea of migrating to utah did not originate with brigham young but with the prophet joseph who predicted that in these regions d fruitful and pleasant place of abode would be found at the afternoon session apostle francis F lyman spoke on the tern perance question saying that the members of the church are a tern people and that when this great wave of temperance is sweep ing the country no people are so well prepared as the latter day saints in further praise of the cleanliness of the lives of the latter day saints mr lyman said that the opponents ot the church may question our test mony but they cannot question our lives apostle john henry smith con granulated the mothers who had been given the opportunity of thoroughly instilling into their children the rules laid down in the word of wisdom in th s they were much more tortu nate than many of those in other faiths apostle heber J grant also spoke on the subject of temperance and of the condition of the church and the flourishing condition of the aux illar les second day s session in all of the addresses at the sun day session the second day of the conference the speakers confined their remarks to a discussion of the doctrinal sped of the mormon church making comparisons in a general way between the mormon church and other churches faiths and creeds there was throughout the addresses an expression of tion at the condition and continued growth and prosperity of the charch the speakers declared that the church is in a more flourishing state today than it has ever been before and that the outlook tor the future is more than bright apostles rudger clawson hyrum M smith george al bert smith and george F richards were the speakers at the morning ses sion speaking of the members of the church apostle clawson said sev enty years of training have inspired them with the spirit which is ancon qu erable the spirit that fired the heart of joseph smith the spirit that fired the heart of brigham young when he led his people into the wilds of the rocky mountains and there es a great and flourishing corn munley the spirit that fired the heart of john taylor the champion of truth the spirit that fired the heart of wilford woodruff the great mis the spirit that fired the heart of lorenzo snow who also carried the gospel to all the earth the spirit which fired the heart of the present leader of the church who has lived to see the chapey culmination of his efforts to tree the church from deb at the afternoon sess on apostle orson F whitney delivered doc address and among other things declared that the mormons were not the enemies of the gentiles he gave the definition of the wold gentile saying that in the ancient times it meant one who was not a jew and in the present usage of the word it means one who is not mon no opprobrium attaches to the designation he said the mission ol 01 mormonism is peace it alms to bind together all the people of every nation of the earth apostle david spoke on the subject of choice of service whether one shall serve the lord or the world apostle said that it was the hour for the 20 people on the sacred temple grounds which they would choose he believed in the gospel of doing and it the latter day saints at once would resolve to serve the lord much of happiness would result for in nothing Is there a source of so much happiness as in right lining which means serving god the hour has arrived he said to choose between truth and error one cannot go on always serving part of the time the enemy and part 0 the time the church the lord said that no man can serve two masters and that he cannot serve god and mammon clos ng session the conference came to a close with the ning of the general authora ties of the church at the afternoon ses sion on monday the audition committee of the church submitted its report which was accepted the conference adopted a resolution expressing the confidence of the conference in the integrity ol 01 the trustee in trust who is president smith there were five speakers ahle among these was brigham H roberts one of the first presidents of the sev enties and apostle anthony W iv ns who was elevated to the office at the october conference all of the speak ers confined their addresses to a dis cassion of the doctrines of the church apostle ivans however went a little further and said that the saints should take part in politics to the ex tent of seeing that only the best men are chosen for civic offices |