Show BinGIO CIO lS elj S D sunday services eyoub ei services were held in the acte eb salt lake city sunday p pream r dent 9 commencing at 2 pm si aln d et M cannon pre elboim domn bome time previous pre to the r meeting the lower the he edifice was to its for fanity Pa elty the galleries gaU eries w were 0 re peon oretae the convenience coave fience of the alli and in wable ble a short abort time every abat there was taken A few minutes before 2 welock president wilford woodruff and apostle george qi cannon entered th the eed build building inland and as they were recognized by the e vast congregation a murmur of welcome arose from every part there were also present on the stand apostles franklin D richards john henry smith heber J grant and john W taylor at 2 welock the meeting was called to order b president angus M cannon and the choir sang the hymn commencing well sing all hall hail to jesus name I 1 honor and praise we give to him who died on Cal hill and died that we might live prayer was offered by elder lorin parr the choir and congregation sang mid scenes hoenes of contusion confusion and creature complaints compla pla ints tats how sweet to 10 my soul Is communion with saints to find at the banquet of mercy theres room and feel in the presence of jesus at home the priesthood of the twenty first ward officiated in the administration admi 1118 of the sacrament APOSTLE GEORGE Q CANNON was the first speaker he said in standing up to address you my brethren and sisters this afternoon I 1 feel to appeal to you that you will give me the benefit of your faith and prayers four years and upwards upward have passed since I 1 had the privilege of addressing a congregation in this tabernacle the thought of speaking to you today has caused me to tremble I 1 have feared for myself I 1 have known how difficult it is to control emotions under suc such h circumstances I 1 have come here hoping and trusting that I 1 would have the presence and ase istance assistance of the spirit of the lord to give to me such thoughts thought 8 and words as to express ress to you the mind and will of the the lord I 1 shall not attempt to describe the feel feelings I 1 that I 1 have upon this occasion I 1 have been an n exceedingly happy man during the past rew few days I 1 feel today that this is one of the happiest days of my life I 1 feel to rejoice exceedingly in the goodness of our god in m the blessings which he has bestowed upon us as a people I 1 feel full of hope and good cheer no despondent feeling no feeling of depression no feeling of sorrow has crossed ray my heart or ray my mind I 1 do not know how the body of the saints feel not having had the opportunity port unity of mingling with them of late as I 1 have done in former fonner times I 1 am therefore left to judge of your feelings by the reports which I 1 have heard from my brethren who have had greater liberty than I 1 and from the testimony of the spirit of the lord to me but so far as my own feelings are concerned I 1 regard this as one of the happiest days for zion that has been witnessed in the last fifty eight years not because I 1 am here not because president woodruff is in your midst but because of the great work itself the progress that it has made and the attitude that it assumes today in the midst of the earth now upon this point int 1 perhaps there may be some w who ajro differ from me I 1 know that there is a general feeling in some quarters outside of the latter day saints that mormonism as it is called is about to be overthrown and there may be some inside the church whose faith has become weakened b by recent events and by the prospect th there ere is before us looking I 1 at matters from a natural standpoint but in my reflections in my seeking to know as far as possible the mind and will of god I 1 have not been oppressed by any feeling of despondency or fear I 1 have besought the lord that if that were the right feeling to have when we are in deep and apparently inextricable trouble and when disaster was portended that I 1 might have that feeling within me but up to this present moment me nt I 1 have not had such a feeling given to me no thought of this character has oppressed me I 1 expect trials I 1 expect difficulties I 1 expect afflictions I 1 expect persecutions persecutions which may result in serious consequences quen ces so far as this life is concerned to some of us it has cost blood it may again cost the lives of some of the people of god these are consequences which we have been taught to anticipate from the very beginning when I 1 became old enough to comprehend the character of this work the nature of the opposition that it would have to mee meet with in the earth the murderous character of satans gatans efforts as they have been manifested in passages stAges pa dt K and as I 1 believed they w would 1 fee i in n th this age I 1 made up my mind that if I 1 I 1 got through safely if I 1 secured the crown and the glory which god has promised r 0 hail in sed u unto nto those who will be faithful a lt to his cause and to his son jesus christ that if I 1 got through and attained to this great glory at the cost of everything on earth that I 1 held dear to me even to life itself I 1 ought to be satisfied and I 1 ought to make up my mind that such might be the result it has been much better with me thus far in the progress of this work and my connection with it than I 1 ever expected it would be I 1 have had more happiness that is of a worldly character I 1 have had more means I 1 have had more substance I 1 have had more quietude I 1 have had more rest and less affliction less trouble and less evil to contend with and less persecution that is as far as I 1 am personally concerned than I 1 expected might be the case in my life this great work which god our eternal father has founded is destined bear it all ye latter day saints hear it all ye ends of the earth to fill 1111 the whole world it is the power that the prophets spoke about it is the power that they described in the most glorious language the predictions of the holy prophets upon this subject are the most glorious to be found within the volume of scripture re we refer to the work wor of the thelast last days small Smal lasIt as it is in its beginnings insign insignificant destitute of influence destitute of worldly advantages it is a power nevertheless that will continue to grow it will continue to increase it will continue to spread until from pole to pole PO 1 0 from the centre to the circumference of our globe I 1 0 be in every laud land the power and tt the e influence of this great areat work which our father in heaven eaven has laid the foundation of will be felt will it be accomplished by us as mortal men by the human agencies that we have at our disposal no no we have proved by experience that we of ourselves can do but very little why there are events occurring every little while that put our human wisdom to shame that cause us to fall back and wonder what next shall be done what move shall next be made what step we shall taketo take to counteract this affliction or this evil how shall we escape this threatening danger how shall we penetrate this seemingly impenetrable wall that is before us anti and impedes our progress Is not this the feeling experienced very frequently I 1 confess to having it I 1 confess that thai time and time again I 1 have been at a loss lose looking at it as a man to tell how we shall escape the evils that menace us by which we have been surrounded and from which it seemed there was no POW possible ble outlet or means of escape it is at such times that men who look upon this work and who do not understand it who do not recognize in it the work of god raise the cry that mormonism has received its deathblow death blow and will most assuredly perish it is easy enough to understand why this is the case this work to be understood must be viewed with the eye of fifth faith the man who looks at it to comprehend it must have some knowledge of the power that founded it the power that accompanies it the power that sustains it in the absence of this knowledge of course men judge a dge of 0 as they would of any atre other r system looking at it as they would at something else that has its origin in mans manis device but there has never been a moment since the lord laid the f foundation oun dation of this church until this present time that god has left his servants in the hour of extremity in the hour of trial in the ho hour ur of peril without knowledge from him without the voice of his spirit directing the path to take to show them the next step forward when seemingly confronted by obstacles that could not be overcome but that would arrest the progress of the work As these obstacles have been approached they have vanished they have been removed out of the way and the path has been made as clear as this aisle before me for the progress of the work and for the action of the people of god praise be to god for this to him be the glory it is not the effort of man it is not the wisdom of man it is not the ingenuity of man it is not the power of man that has carried this work forward to its present condition if it had been our position would be a most woeful one we would have been in the most deplorable circumstances what could we have done what could we do today if this were the case if this were our position if god were not with us and did not sustain us and he did not guide us in every step of this work what would become of us why there are thousands thousand and Wand thousands thousand sin in this land who would be ready to lie down and die hopeless lost to all feelings of cheerfulness as to the future and expecting nothing else than overwhelming ruin now my brethren and sisters for you are the ones to whom I 1 address myself today I 1 desire that my testimony shall be encouraging so far as ae I 1 have the spirit to encourage to inspire hope to lift up those who are cast down those who mourn those who feel despondent those who ask aak themselves has bod god forsaken or forgotten us I 1 wish to address myself to all those and to say and bear testimony tec to them that god reigns today in the heavens that he is as near to us today that his revelations are poured ared out upon us today tod AY that he ibe gives ves us knowledge today that he fills ila us with his holy hely spirit today as much as ever he did I 1 in n the history of our hurch church this work did not depend upon the e prophet joseph I 1 well remember r although in my boyhood when he was taken it seemed as though hope had fled we imagined in that he would have lived to have led this people forward until jesus should come what was to become of the people then was the inquiry to whom should we look for the word or the lord the prophet the seer the revelator the man of god he be who had beheld the lord the father and the son who had been ministered unto by holy angels to whom had been restored tho the everlasting gospel in its origin nal purity and power and the glorious priesthood by by the authority of which men could officiate in gods name this man so blessed so gifted so honored of god had bad been taken away by the cruel hand of assassins and to whom should we look for guidance uce fulda who was there among al all t the V EU ere era of israel who could step forward and lead the people of god I 1 remember in the printing office where I 1 was then a boy discussions among the elders who labored there concerning this there was no WAO matt apparently amongst the sainto sainte amongst the elders so preeminent pre eminent that all minds could settle upon him but when the time came that the congregation met when the twelve apostles returned and met with the people then it was plainly manifest in the face of all israel that thee was a man whom god had chosen there was a man who was fully em powered with the authority of the priesthood to lead the people the voice of god was heard spoken by b human lips and the spirit of god bore powerful testimony to edw eve one present that he was the man main I 1 it was necessary in that hour of I 1 in that hour for which P le had been so unprepared in iid that thal hour wh whan n there was such a dived di at views views as to the priesthood and as to the rights of the priesthood that there should be a si sigo manifestation of gods provid provident and power to designate the man 00 8 that there could be no cavil nor dispute in the minds of the saints he led israel with the skwe aaa power with the same autho authority riv with the same gifts and with wf OR same wisdom that had characterize 11 the prophet joseph he led tha th people e through hours of trial and difficulty scenes that tha were perplexing I 1 4 led them across the plains D ban ftc brought them to this lan land I 1 boid poid out the spot and prophesied slid c arning the future of this country w encourage them so it has bee from that day to this r when president young lof P hio 0 sk away in the full measure 0 days having led the people of 0 00 J with such signal advantage and aa companied companies compa nied by such auch marks of davi favor god raised up another AL an when he died he raised up ano he president woodruff is here n now 1 W ad g lives today a man of r ripa experience having been a laj far with this work from the va 1 I 1 men cement till the present wl ib 5 understanding it thoroughly w be is as much as man cau can do CLO and ana has in the providence of our w y been spared to us to give unto US IB benefit of his counsels to point R unto us the mind and the W wu T 4 god to teach us as a poop people le to W j i among 0 his fellow servants to give unto them the word of god and the counsel IOU that he has from time to timm me to impart and so it will be no matter who passes away or whatever may befall the work of god he ie will preserve it he will overrule sin and disasters and difficult ties es and defeats he will overrule toem them all for the good of his people and for the glory of his name this is a great giest consolation by ight and by day in the midst of the he severest trials and troubles it is a 4 great consolation to us to know that roat this is the case 1 I bear testimony to you in the most solemn sole n manner lial luer today that god is with his Q aiple A that god is with this work at god od will bring forth great story Y and triumph to zion but we snail have to pass through trials sorrows orio ws and afflictions of various kinds we shall have to be tested and tried and proved the dross of our r nature must necessarily be cleansed if and purified by affliction jesus esus had to be made mad e perfect through ugh suffering what shall we aret expect shall we expect that our V pathway bw a y will be frei free from dim culli titles ea when he the king of kings th he 6 god of heaven and of earth had to endure affliction and sorrow and had to be made perfect through camerin offering why it would be a most extraordinary inary expectation for any rol lower of his to indulge in to sup M gae that he or she should escape als and difficulties in view of all fiatt at the savior of mankind had to endure UY my brethren brethren and sisters god will ws use everything there is connected with wl this work to be so shaped as to I 1 brinig jog his purposes to pass now have ave been asked I 1 suppose hun aas of times by brethren some of bhora om are in the penitentiary today chok faher ther george Q when do you this will cease hw how long will this continue Go are we going to w be e ground out by this tr pon are we ring going to be oe des W ayed my reply has been no 1 1 wen nen en we emerge from this trial as we e will when these clouds that TOW now darken our horizon and that ae e thin things occasionally look so 1 are removed az shall n ay a peace we shall enjoy a pros y we we shall snail enjoy an influence such i as has never been felt by us baire beire J just assure as sure as we live this W ill be |