| Show GENERAL conference the sixty first semiannual semi annual conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints convened at 10 am on saturday oct ath 1890 in the tabernacle salt lake city president wilford woodruff presiding there were on the stand of the first presidency wilford woodruff and george Q cannon of the council of the twelve apostles lorenzo snow franklin D richards moses Yb thatcher atcher francis M lemau john henry smith heber J grant john W taylor mariner W merrill Mer anton H lund and abrahama Abraha mH cannon patriarch john smith of the presiding council Counci lof of the seventies seymour B young john morgan and B H roberts of the presiding bisho bishopric ric william 13 preston Presto nand john W B winder there were also present a large number of presidents of stakes and other prominent brethren from various parts of utah and burrou surrounding ud states and territories conference was called to order by president george Q cannon the choir sang Ol clorious orious things of thee are spoken zion city of our god 1 he whose word can not be broken chose thee for his own abode the opening prayer was offered by president lorenzo snow singing by the choir how pleasant itis to see kindred and friends agree bach in his proper station move and A nd each MIMI his bis part with sympathizing heart in all the cares of eifle life and love president wilford woodruff AI addressed dressed the conference he said I 1 feel this morning to offer up the gratitude latitude Sati tude of my heart to god ray my heavenly eaverly father that my life has been preserved to again agabin meet in a semiannual semi annual conference with the saints I 1 feel thankful that I 1 have the privilege of meeting with so many of the apostles elders and saints who have assembled here on this occasion our heavenly father revealed from heaven over sixty years ago to the inhabitants of the earth through the mouth of the prophet of god whom he raised up that he had set his hand band once more more for the last time to prune hia vineyard and to prepare the people of 0 the earth for the coming of the conof son of man over sixty years have passed away since those revelations were given the fhe lord called upon the children of men to take upon themselves the name of christ those who were willing to enter in the vineyard of the lord and preach the gospel of christ to them he gave us to understand that we should be called to go forth and preach the message of the son of god in this last dispensation of the falness of times many of those who engaged to carry out and fulfill these promises of god to mankind are today in the spirit world rhey have closed their mission they have borne their testimony they have fulfilled the object of their creation they have magnified the high and holy priesthood which the god of heaven has sealed upon their heads to go forth anti and administer in the ordinances of life and salvation A few of us are left some of us still remain herein here in the flesh and we are still called upon to labor we are still called to officiate in the holy priesthood and to administer in the ordinances of salvation to the children of men it has been a very important dispensation pensa tion a very interesting generation in which we live as latter day saints the history of this thia church is before the world and we ate aie still passing through many interesting portions of the experience of the work of god in the last days I 1 will wil I 1 say eay to the latter day saints the lord has fulfilled so far all that he has promised unto us tim the lord has haa called many men hundreds of them from the nations of the earth who have received the holy priesthood the authority by which the god of israel has a always ways administered in heaven and on the earth the ordinances of life lif and sal they have labored faithfully until the present day they have warned the inhabitants of the earth all nations under heaven have been visited by the elders of israel as far as the doors were open to receive them the lord so far has warned the world he has haq so far carried out the object of the calling of the sons of men the gospel has been preached and the children childred of men have heard it in every nation including our own they have heard the testimony of these elders of israel and what was the mission given to the elders to go forth and deliver the gospel message to all the world the peo pie were called upon to repent of their sins to have faith in the lord jesus christ and when they had faith in god in the gospel faith to believe and receive those testimonies given to them they were called upon to go forth and be baptized for the remission of their sins then they had the privilege of receiving the laying on of hands bands for the reception of the holy ghost these are some of the principles that have been taught from the time of father adam down to that of every patriarch prophet apostle rand and even the savior himself in their day and generation as the only gospel ever revealed to the human family in any age of the world there hay hats never been but one gospel that gospel is the same today yesterday and forever that gospel is the same thas was taught by adam to his chil children drell which elijah methuselah and all the ancient prophets and patriarchs taught to their posterity and the inhabitants of the earth jesus christ taught the same when he came in the meridian of time he never deviated from it in any instance paul the apostle born in due time received the gospel at the hands of the lord who said though he be or an an angel I 1 1 from heaven preached any 90 other gospel let him be accursed that gospel was revealed to joseph smith in all its falness ful ness power and glory with all its graces gifts and principles he taught it to th those ose abou arou around nd hi him m b be e organized this church on the ath day of april 1830 and through all the tribulations persecutions and troubles of the latter day saints that same gk gospel has been among us I 1 feel thankful that I 1 have lived so long connected with this church and kingdom and that I 1 live now in the midst of the latter day saints As the lord has set his hand to warn the world to warn this generation to prune the vine yard bardhe he will leave every nation u under n heaven without excuse in these days of judgments calamities and tribulations which are about to be poured out upon the earth I 1 feel thankful that I 1 have been associated associate I with this people up to the present day how long 1 shall remain among the latter day saints I 1 1 do not know it matters not with me but I 1 have the same testimony to bear today that tha I 1 ha hai v i had from the commencement of this church that it is the work of godas god as promised and prophesied of through the mouths of inspired men for years I 1 bear my testimony to these things this morning I 1 hope and trust that while we are assembled in this conference our hearts may be united in faith and prayer that we may enjoy the holy spirit of god without the inspiration of that spirit utah would be as barren a desert as far as we are concerned today as we found it on the of july 1847 when you heard the gospel of christ preached by those humble bumble men who had been called from their various occupations to go forth in the lords cause inspired by the holy ghost without purse or scrip taking no thought what they should eat or what they should drink you knew that what they taught was true you heard and believed their testimony and that same testimony is here with this entire people today when you received the testimony you were baptized for the remission of your sins you had hands laid upon you for the reception of the holy ghost without all this you would have remained at home I 1 know that this is the work of god and so do you therefore let our hearts be thankful to god let us unite together in our prayers to him let us do our duty faithfully while we dwell here in the flesh v and carry out those principles in which we have been taught let us continue to preach the gospel to warn the nations to build up zion and establish righteousness so that when we get through and io go on the other side of the vail we will be satisfied with our labors here we should try therefore to live our religion to be true and faithful to our covenant sand to all those principles of the gospel of jesus christ which will save all men both in time and eternity I 1 pray to got god my heavenly father that his blessing may rest upon us upon these elders of israel u upon PO n these apostles of the lamb of GO god d that they may be inspired to dec declare are the words of salvation aal during this conference to their brethren and sisters which may god grant for 1 christs chrimes sake amen elder john forgang of the presidency of the seventies was the next speaker following fallowing Fal lowing is the substance of his remarks there is peace in the midst of the latter day saints for this blessing we should be grateful in view of the efforts that are being made to bar rass the community I 1 bear testimony to the truth of brother woodruff wood buffs ruffs pa remarks these principles will remain they are the everlasting gospel that has always existed and will continue they unite the children of men together in the end all men will know that god has spoken these things it be i N hooves the elders elden and saints to be true and faithful and warn the in bitant of the earth of judgments soon to come if we do this our reward is sure there is a great work to be performed in the nations also among the saints at home the labors of a teacher are aire very important they should built up the saints some of the people complain that they are neglected by the teachers because they are devoted to temporal matters of a pers personal oual nature it will be well for the teacher in the ward or sunday school to attend to his duties if he do them he shall reap joy and rejoicing so with the missionaries to foreign lands they have received freely freely should they give testifying that god has again revealed the true gospel this active work creates in the hearts of those who engage in it an abiding love for the souls of men there should be no division among the saints they should see am eye to eye and not net be narrowed down in their feelings reaching out arter after the honest in heart and seeking after those who grope in the dark that they may be brought brough into tinto the light of truth all malice and evil speaking should be eschewed we should sustain and uphold in their labors among the people those who have been called of god to preside over his hia church if we are faithful to our trusts all will be well with us elder cider B ff roberts roberta of the presidency of the seventies said in substance I 1 have always accounted myself blessed to be associated with the work of god in this dispensation and have greatly rejoiced that I 1 have been brought in contact with the gospel called by the world mormonism I 1 can understand the feelings of gratitude that pervade the hearts of the saints regarding this work but it is no wonder that the world regard ft with astonishment the initial announcements connected with it were calculated to startle the religious world in the first vision of joseph smith the prophet was informed by christ that there were none of the sects right but all had bad gone out of the way so bold a declaration by the youthful prophet was calculated to astonish the world but this does not argue that there are not thousands OF of people in the world whom god loves the significance of the opening announcement in this dispensation pensa tion was merely that men had departed from the right way and that they should be informed of the facts fact that the way might be prepared for the re establishment of the true church of christ what joseph declared is predicted in the scriptures in which the christians profess to believe john while on the isle of patmos predicted the restoration of the gospel in its falness in the latter days through the medium of an angel this was to occur in the hour hou r of gods judgment 21 2 1 had the inhabitants of the earth been in possession on of the gospel as it is in ran christ sti this predicted restoration would have been supe rogatory 7 connected with this prophecy of jolin john it is clearly stated that the inhabitants of the earth should be called upon to worship the true god indicating that their worship at that time would not be directed toward that great being A portion of the fulfillment fulfilment of that prediction was the bringing forth of the record called the book of mormon adding for christ the testimony of the prophets who existed on this continent they being thus united with that ol of those on the he eastern hemisphere herril sphere gradually Gia dually the rich treasures of heaven have bees been developed develop oil and the work of god has progressed preparing the way for fer the coming coining of christ who shall establish a reign of righteousness and pe ce he shall take the government into his hid own hands and we have the glorious privilege of I 1 increasing nerease ng faith on the earth that a people may be ready to receive the lord when he shall come before another general conference shall be reached we shall have entered upon the year 1891 the speaker here read from sec of the book of doctrine and covenants which relates to the coming of the son of man and referred to some remarks made by the prophet february 1835 at a aeeti meeting wherein certain elders were told that they were called to go forth and prune the vineyard for the time before the coming of christ even 56 years should wind up the scene continuing elder roberts said that these circumstances have called the saints to believe that some great epoch will open at that time the year following the present my faith in tho the matter is that hat whatever the lord has in mind to accomplish in that year will be performed it may be something however that would scarcely create a ripple the organization of the chirch of jesus christ of latter day saints was one of the greatest events of the history of the world et t was org ionized with six members and but little was known concerning it even in the neighborhood where it occurred at the time yet behold to what proportions the work then begun has grown rown it may be that the greatness of what shall occur in 1891 will not be comprehended until succeeding years president said I 1 do not think anyone can I 1 tell the hour of the coming of the son of man I 1 think those things have been sufficiently revealed to us so that we need not look for the time of that event to be made known I 1 will say here that in my dreams I 1 have had bad a great many visits from the prophet joseph since his death the last time I 1 met him was in the spirit world I 1 met him at the temple he spoke to me calling calli ng me by name he said 1 I cannot stop to talk to you for I 1 am in a hurry 11 II I I 1 met father smith he too said to me 1 I am in a hurry burry I 1 met a great many of the apostles and others who are in the spirit world and they all seemed to be in a hurry burry I 1 marveled at this and woud ered very greatly in my mind why anybody should be iu in a hurry in the paradise of god I 1 had an all interview with the prophet joseph afterwards and abken him the question why are you all in such a hurry here I 1 said 1 I have always been in a hurry in the world since I 1 was born but I 1 thought there would be no occasion for it when I 1 died and entered the spirit world he replied well I 1 will tell you the prophets Prophet sand and apostles in this dispensation have bad no time nor prepare themselves ves to go to the earth with the great bridegroom when he goes to meet the bride the lambs wife we in this dispensation have not had time we have first as much work to perform to co prepare ourselves as in other dispensations 11 he |
