Show i REMARKS at the semi semiannual annual conference k tn fu the tabernacle salt lake city pl t utah tuesday afternoon october p AM 1897 by at WOODRUFF y ait teel thank thankful fui to god my heavenly that I 1 have lived to see the when I 1 have one of my own posy called to this office a privilege OL all 11 my predecessors presidents I 1 counselors who are in the spirit fl have had their sons are sit before me here I 1 need not men them you know them yourselves t efte b had bad this desire in my heart XheLo lie lord rd has granted it unto me I 1 F am very thankful tor for it I 1 am led that these two young men we called will magnify their cal calling linis satisfied fotis gatis fied that it is in their hearts arant to remark here the difference th thinking inking of it while the breth viere dire talking between the pos of my son and our brother here iett af when I 1 was called to t apostleship leshia le ship while in the worst y we ever had in this church ales and leading men were the e prophet of god the lord taj jee up choose a companion islands A great deal aso 0 to FOX P shave done and in in my missions ty been led by inspiration of al god to do I 1 knew no more was on fox islands than I 1 what was on dolob I 1 chose if jonathan H hale as a part V kte e went through canada and johne page who was lar there we administered to one fa that was possessed of the which aich was cast out we healed and the blessings of god ucb alth I 1 us we crossed on lake L and from there down to aland farmington my native I 1 there met my father and my it was the first time I 1 had cm m since I 1 had been a latter I 1 jut nt I 1 held a meeting among I 1 baptized my father my step my sister several uncles and and organized a small branch church composed of all my as except one a methodist jr who was boarding at my house old father smith told he be blessed me that I 1 should 01 my fathers house into the I 1 certainly baptized every that t was in the house at the as B there I 1 then went on my RM K islands when I 1 got there two congregations a baptist il a meeting house a baptist aton on the north island a ok inister a methodist con without any meeting house anth island I 1 commenced there and very soon boon as saw lord had sent me there a people there for cr order of things I 1 bap of those congregations e g upon it I 1 will say I 1 iwer i while there M while in the ministry there I 1 received a letter from joseph smith the prophet of god in which he told me that the lord had given him a revelation and named to me the persons that were called to fill the places of those who had fallen my jamew name way among them he said that he wanted me to gather up the saints I 1 had baptized and bring them to zion what were the circumstances I 1 was on an island of the sea there was not a horse or an ox on the island there was not a man or a woman that knew how to harness a horse I 1 told one of the brethren who had some money that we must furnish a train of horses wagons harness etc and he proposed to advance the money for that purpose he went with me ana we bought about fifty horses ana then ben I 1 had to match these horses and get harness to fit them I 1 went to a wagon maker and engaged twenty or twenty five wagons I 1 did this in order to prepare the people to go with me according to the words of theo the prophet I 1 arranged everything agreed with this brother to furnish the money and left in advance with the understanding that they were to leave the first day of september the letter to me was dated the first of august I 1 went to maine as my wife was there with her first child I 1 waited for this company to come to me but they did not come till the first of october we had then to travel from maine to missouri through snow rain and mud however we passed through it all and got up there according to the commandment man dment of the lord to me that was the way I 1 was called to the apostleship and what I 1 had to go through I 1 have felt from that day to this that i it has ben apen good to serve the lord good to honor god and to obey his commandments no matter what we may be called to do or what office we may be called to fill if we trust in god and do our duty we will be carried through of course I 1 am here among you now but I 1 have been on the sick list a good while still the cord has bas blessed me and I 1 have got back to my former state in a measure of health and strength how long the lord will permit me to live I 1 do not k know now anything about but I 1 have to acknowledge the hand of the lord in all these affairs with myself I 1 have been edified at the teachings that have been given us at this conference what president smith has said what whai president cannon has said is true they have spoken upon principles that we should lay to heart I 1 tell you brethren and sisters the god of heaven has set his hand to build up zion in fulfillment bf all the revelations of god to man from the days of father adam down to this day the counsels that have been given here today are just and true andee and we ought to observe them I 1 cannot sin bin you cannot sin we cannot turn from the commandments of god in anywise but we are the losers by br it again I 1 will say ay to this congregation god almighty will afflict these latter day saints it if they do not pu pia sue the course they are ard called upon to pursue theford eLord the Th lord will build up zion and carry out his purposes but we ve will be chastised unless we listen to the counsels of the servants of god if these latter day saints turn tb the right or the left on political questions or on other principles to separate themselves one from another anufrom and from the commandments of god the lord almighty will hold them sible glin and they will be chastised for or gitig tt it I 1 know this as well as I 1 know I 1 am alive I 1 am anxious for fol the salvation of the latter day saints I 1 do not know anything about what you are on politics but we should be united together aether and labor together to build up zion ton we have been called from the nations of the earth to do that teat and if we do not do it the judgments of almighty god will rest upon us 1 I feel myself that the time has come when we ought to look around and about ourselves and see what we are doing and what we should do my prayer to god is in that we may open our eyes to see our ears to hear our hearts to understand the word ot of the lord and the responsibilities we are under we stand here a little handful of men and women in the eyes of the world but we are called to buia build up zion here we have four temples thank the lord our god into those tc temples malea we enter and redeem our dead we have blessings which have bever never been given to any other generation since the days of jesus christ and the apostles the lord has raised up a people for this purpose you hold the keys of the destiny of your fathers your mothers your progenitors from generation to generation you hold thi the keys of their salvation god has put that power into your hands but it we do not do what is required of us in this thing we are under condemnation if we do attend to this then when we come to meet our friends in the celestial kingdom they will say you have been our saviors because you had power to do it you have attended to these ordinances that god has required I 1 will say to this congregation that the very men whom god raised up to lay the foundation of the american government those noble men from washington down have been to men tn in these temples and required the ordinances din ances of the house of god at their hands in their behalf they heare have told them the position they occupied in the spirit world and those men have gone forth and fulfilled these requests and those noble men have received the ordinances of the house of god A great many things have been required of us as a people and as fat far as an we have fulfilled them so tar far we are justified but do not let us lose the hold we have got do not let us turn burn our backs upon th the commandments of god and do those things that will I 1 place us in difficulties in days to come I 1 the eyes of the heavens are over us the eyes of god himself the eyes of every prophet and apostle in the spirit world are watching you watching this priesthood to see what they are doing and what they are going to do it to is of far more importance than we realize and comprehend let us awake to the ordinances of the house of god and do our duty that we may be justified for christs sake amen |