Show DISCOURSE by BI elder orann pratt tabernacle october 15 ND AND FACULTIES OF 1111 MIND NI IN tfx A FUTURE STATE lATE sS I 1 I 1 feel grateful to my heavenly father this after poon for the privilege of meeting with the saints in in this tabernacle and feel thankful also for the privilege of rising in ili this stand for the tha purpose of speaking to you upon such subjects as may be presented presen fed to my mind blind I 1 1 I however realize sometimes more than thai at othe others raj the necessity of hiving the gift of the holy spirit re resting sting upon me ill in order to in instruct and to teach dathe the ap te lor or that is the only object of speaking dp king and anid P 3 jeaa hearing ing in fit a place like this tl we 0 ifor for the purpose of conveying to others I 1 the I 1 ideas teai that thai ahre ape contained within our own minds or such ideas as exoa bwy con condescend cecen d to put into our haq hearts ts the p people eo le listen 11 for 01 r tae the purpose of race receiving vi the ideas thai bat may adlay be advanced in hope that kneir ands wi will 1 I be 0 Aul e I 1 it arged and instructed auh stith the sp speaker li F inow my own harrt heart its is my fily desire when 1 I 1 lise beffre an assembly y to dom something that shall be instructing i to the minds of the tha people and in fit order to adothis do thia 1 I 1 I 1 arn perhaps us as well aware abany other person the necessity of having that spirit that is able to give truth to the mind t that hat spirit that is arleto able to inspire the heart in the tery ery moment with we the words worda and abid ideas calculated to benefi benefit t the people indeed this is the promise of the lord to his servants they arp not to take any thought before i hand concerning the words and ideas ide is thoy shall I 1 utter liel wore pre a congregation it is true they are eatn manned ta ia the revelations which eh god hos his iti their minds minda continually them the words of life why is it that we are required as the servants to treasure up in fit our minds tile the wards of life 1 ft is in ill order that w we a in may a have a store of knowledge knowledg aud and information it I 1 is si in a order that we aay understand true trite principles truel true doctrine upon q Hs that pertain to the welfare of f wan a that the mind being filled with understand 1 11 g 1 leht I 1 2 knowledge truth theory and with a J 4 oa 01 11 a d ae of things god has revealed may be able to communicate at the vsev ve r moment ih h part or 0 ve vi MC 1410 I same will orect a be to the congregation suited to their capacity and circumstances this is n not take ing thought beforehand what we shall say ifa if we 0 should treasure up tip the ilia words that god has ra re bare are written in fit the book 0 of f mor mo okon Doc doctrine trind and covenants and in the various revelations that god has given in latter times 1 I mean the printed ands and written ones together w with fill w what at he has reveille revealed in ancient timea if we should got gat it all imprinted upon the tablet of our minds atwould it would not bo 40 taking thought be beforehand forehan d what we shou should id say I 1 I 1 I 1 when we arise arhe to speak before a if 4 wo place our dependence d upon god to inspire in pIre us wit with lithe the holy spirit to bring forth not ot only I 1 IV the tha knowledge and information in regard to things that are written and things that have been revealed d butto but to communicate new ideas Adeas instructions instruction s and information by bythe the power 0 of f the holy dhosi ghost we 8 shall hall tit thus its be able to 40 ed edify afy sometimes when I 1 arise before a cong congregation rogation 0 of f the saints here in a the valleys of tile the mountains I 1 I 1 look 0 ok at myself naturally and think over natu naturally ra I 1 in in my own all mind jid how can I 1 edify tills this peo people p le what can I 1 say to them not already been said this is a weakness in human nature meditations and reflections ought not to have any b bearing baring aring upon the mind god has haa wisdom sufficient he has kilow knowledge ledge sufficient and understanding and light and truth cate something for the benefit of the people veople though they may have been instructed for a long period and been well inform edin doctrine and principles sometimes the alerd does doe snot not see proper to impart tin any new ideas to tile the speaker but rather to influence flue veo his mind to dwell upon old od things or in ili other words that which has already been made manifest for the purpose of communicating more clearly impressing or upon the mind more forcibly the importance of atta attending anding to that which hns fills already ben been spoken aud and revealed we are only sojourners here stopping here for a short period of time and lewe are liera hera we often meet together What for to learn sotidie something th in 9 that is is calcut calculated 1 t ad to benefit us temporally or r spiritually il indeed deed everything with which we are surrounded arery circumstance that we mayba placed it in everything with which wo have to do if properly used is calculated to benefit the mind of man that is the the works of bod to benefit living beings beings that are capable of being gg made happy capable of receiving jov arid peace all iris wi lt 11 ud aupp J ain living ing intelligent beings that is tbt reason we are here the reason we have come rom distant countries from foreign ian lands ds and congregated lit in these valleys it is in ili order that we may be more hippy and more fitted t to 10 gain that experience that is calculated to make us more happy iye are looking forward to a time when w h on we shall r I 1 1 a 11 be exceedingly happy that is natural 1 to tho 11 0 mind of man it is on ilia stretch i looking forward to tit the period when it shall be far mow happy than we are inquiring how and by what means or by what course of conduct we can more happy than tit at the present time some people pursue one course and some another mankind have their va rou walks and courses there aro are almost a as many courses as there are people upon the the they are traveling in ill those paths p a and roads each ow 0 seeking his own 0 wa happi ness and perhaps in few instances tile the happiness of f some others piew take a road of sin and alid wickedness to secure happiness but in ili the end they will fi find ad themselves literally disappointed it in traveling these great variety of paths they find that hat it does not produce the result they hoped for it does nol bring happiness nor give to them joy thore there is something connected with the travels oi of the people and tho the courses that they mark m ark out for themselves tile tint it is calculated very frequently to leave at a bitter sting upon the consciences they suppose they can be happy in ill pursuing pl a certain course but they flud find themselves miserably disappointed V U the lord is gathering liis his saints in to this valley in ili order to instruct thorn them how to bo be happy that tha is tho the ultimate object and aim he has in in view he desires us to be well instructed and to have the tha straight mid and narion narrow path oath laid out plain before us its showing allowing us from time to time what steps are necessary 8 ary tobe to betoken betaken taken that will leadmo the great anion tit and if we follow them and continue in tiie laih pa h we shall find that our light will iv ill grow brighter and brighter oil our r happi liaci I 1 i biess groA groat lorand erand greater great erand and our joys will become a m 0 re and more intense until lit in tho the eternal world we shall be swallowed up as dt with h it a falness of joya joy ra a ful falness of happiness r I 1 I 1 we are all tile the timo as I 1 li livid hrs vid already ed booking farward for to something a head ahead or of our I 1 present s condition to lo something that 1 is s future 1 we believe in a future slate it tisa I 1 kind id ar ot natural dinst act iii tile the mind 0 f r man to bellave belcove in fit a never ending when he lays down his 01 ol o l 1 I andy h v in alln ii lt f ani yih h abild it t crumbles xai ables back back to its mother earth he coed does ilot not believe elleve that the destruction of the body is the theat capt of the being called man he believes t that hat tare there is som something there besides the tl tabernacle bernacle of flesh that will live move and have a being forever furthermore when we reflect more fully upon this subject we believe ali tint t the 9 which dwells in ili this fles flesh h and bones is the da only ly being that is capable of being made happy we have often been told this from this stand and it has oft often an been told among the congregations of tile saints abroad that it is the spirit of man and not the mortal tabernacle that enjo enjoys ys suf suffers fews that has pleasure and pam but bat tile the mortal tabernacle is so closely connected with the spir spirit it of matt man and we have so long been in the habit of alsoc assoc associating bating the pains and pleasures of the spirit with what is termed the pains and pleasures of the body that we have almost wo worked aked ourselves into the better belief that it is actually the body that stif suffers fors pain and enjoys pleasure but this is not the cast case the bo body dy so far as we know is incapable of feeling feel hig it is naturally incapable of it dijt is only the spirit that dwells within the body that feels however severely tile the body may be injured it is not the body that discerns that injury but tha ahe spirit within the body that disi it toe the speaker here asked a bless blessing irig on on the cup up we vve were speaking conte concerning that bei being ng that we call ourselves that dwells in HI this mortal taberna cle of flesh and bones we were observing that so intimately are the body and spirit connected together that we luve have become habituated to term the pleasures and pains that thai we experience the pleasure and pains of the body but this is not the case the body of flesh and bones when the spirit has haa left it is incapable of any sensation whatever it does not form any portion of that ide identity it that belongs to ourselves as a spirits spirl ta we wa are I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 A j i 4 i 1 4 11 11 fv f r 1 cr v S I 1 ca 4 not aware of its pleasures or its pains aills for it has t ar 4 neither but we are aware that if our mortal tabernacle 44 injured infringed upon the spirit within is troubled edana ana pained p but we have hav e become habituated to call th isMe pain pahi of the body i il I biake anake these the so remarks in order to extend our ideas beyond bey ond this tin s state slate of exis existence fence if thea spirit ivalle in the body is 4 capable of suffering of being acted upon froma I 1 without the pody body and of experiencing diverse i f it is capable of intense joy oe or intense grief griff may we not suge suppose p ose that when it is freed from the tha ody body w when n the animal tabernacle i 4 folin fallen into I 1 the be dust and returns to its former earthy earth that the th same asame spirit unclothed and unshielded standing N naked asat as tt were before god and before the tha elements that he has made wr gift be acted upon then more orless or less by these same elements and that the same spirit that is ia capable of suffering fraring su here will be capable of far barmore more into intense it se suffering hereafter tile tho same spirit spie it that capable Is of great joy here willbo will be casabl of far more intense joy and pleasure hereafter and the same things of an external nature that are capable of producing intense atense pain here are under certain circumstances I 1 ce capable of producing a hundred fold more pain lill lit hereafter if this be ease case how important tt it to ie that we should take that course that the spirit al may ay in its future states state of exist existence ebee be placed under ander circumstances when acan ve tan obtain the pleasure ra joy and happiness aril ss and escape the pains evils band I 1 bitterness of misery to some spirits will be ba e perhaps there may be iu fit the future state a dlf a vast difference differ emee in some respects in the reflection of pain upon the spirit from what abare is chere andla andin other respects there may maybe be a similarity there ar are mank ti W ni i inh akl tn pov the inter intermediate elate state that we 80 8 not know knew anything about I 1 triin aa then there are other things that we do know so far as they are ar a reve reab ailed and no further and then there are other things co it the spirit of man between death and the resurrection that we may believe but not have a certain ascertain knowledge of but believe that th at such and such will be the case from analogy from reason from the nature of things there has been but a little revealed to 40 man on tile the subject duct of the state of the spirit after it leaves this mortal 1 we are aio told in the book of mormon that the spirits of all men as soon as they leave this mortal up rait body and return home to that god who kave gave them life whether they be iekel wicked or whether they bey I 1 be righteous go back to where they once were they return to their former state to their former location calion lo and residence they appear la in the tha presence arese prese I 1 i c a of the being that gave them life iffe what further are we told on the ilia subject that a after we get back into the fir presence sence of god and return home again that then it shall come to pass that tha t the spirit of the righteous those who have done good those who have wrought the works of righteousness here upon the earth shall berec be elv ed ad into a state of rest a state of happiness of peace pe ae a r e a state of joy where they will remain until if the t h time of the resurrection we are also told that another portion of spirits another class of them that return homo home to god after leaving this mortal tabernacle are cassout ca stout are sent off again and are not permitted to stay at home but are c cast ast out into outer darkness q where there is weeper ing and wailing and gnashing of teeth now there must be some intense suffering some in tense misery in connection with the wic wicked k ad class of spirits in order to cause them to weep and to wall wail we NN a might now inquire inqui rev what is the cause of thiv intense suffering and misery Is it the action of the elements upon the spirit Is it the materials of nature operating from without upon tipa it that causes call ses this distress this weeping weevil waiting wailing mourning mo ur I 1 i ng and lamentation it may to be in B some rne measure asure it may help to produce the the wretchedness but there is something connected connected with the spirit itself that hat no doubt produces this weeping wailing and mourning what is tills this something itis it is memory and remorse of conscience a memo memory 0 of f what they have once done a memory of ze their ir disobedience do you not suppose th it a spirits can have power to remember in that world as well as I 1 in it this yes km W ap oi taw ar Y aud we shall havea have it cleat clear consciousness of all ali our doings yes we have read that in the bork bor k of mormon a clear consciousness asness we read or learn a thing by observation yesterday and today to toda day da or tomorrow to te morrow it is gone unless it be something that impresses us distinctly that makes a vivid impression upon the mind that we wa coil call rem remember ember it perhaps for days months and years but common information and knowledge are constantly instantly ao coming into our minds and as con stu being forgotten and some of the knowledge we receive here at one time becomes so completely obliterated obliterate ed through the weakness of the animal system that we cannot call RAO it to mind of ideas |