Show FIRST DAYS SERVICE FIVE OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE PRESENT apostle loranzo snow presides over the exercises m 1 the efty ninth semiannual semi annual gen oral conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints assembled in the tabernacle salt 0 o city at 10 morning october 5 1888 apostle fiorenzo Xi orenzo snow presiding there were on the stand of the quorum of the twelve apostles lorenzo snow D richards john henry smith moses thatcher and heber JJ grant of counselors beus pa john smith of the presiding council of the seventies henry herriman jacob gates abram H cannon seymour B young of the presiding bishopric john R winder there were also present a number of presidents of stakes and other brethren of various parts of utah and surrounding states and territories conference was called to order by apostle fiorenzo li orenzo snow singing by the choir praise ye the lord 1 good to raise your hearts and voices in his praise opening prayer by apostle john henry smith what wondrous scenes mine eves bet hold I 1 what glories burst upon my APOSTLE SNOW said we aro emch pleased to meet with brethren sisters and friends in a conference confer enco capacity many changes have occurred since the previous gathering of this kind some of them have been pleasurable and athars sad apostolu erastus snow has passed away from his earthly labors to mingle with the faithful in another sphere also brother horace S eldreadge Eldre age of the presiding quorum of seventies and others who hav finished their earthly probation and dona well whether we will be present afe the next general conference we cannot toll it is probable that in the spirit world cebre we came here to assure mortality we agreed when we should come to aid in the establishment of the work of god on abo earth it is not probable that we were ignorant in that regard we wera doubtless able then to seethe see the outcome of this work we meet many things associated with this labor that are not pleasant but there Is a groat pleasure connected with it when we look back upon our determinations to devote ourselves to tho cause of truth and keep our covenants we have great joy because the spirit of our callings rests us without which spirit we cannot keep pace with the kingdom of god oft late years the spirit of persecution against us has been manifested and those even who have not been immediately affected by it have suffered in their feelings through sympathy there s solace iff the hour of persecution it is needful tried haac we may have opportunities to make sacrifice for tho cause of god and truth and it is through self abnegation for tho sake of right that wo are enabled 0 o take hold holdo o eternal life we have before us illustrious ix amples of the past as for instance the case of the ho bow children and daniel these were glorious examples through which god was glorified the sacrifices they made wore of the noblest character it that daniel accomplished his safety when darius appeared at the den of lions and daniel whether the god he served had saved him daniel replied that god had sent an angel to hiim to protect him as he had found in him and ho daniel had done the king no harm this was how deliverance came so it will come to us as a people it is ordained that wo be tried in a fiery ordeal it cannot bo avoided otherwise we cannot receive our celestial crowns notwithstanding that attempts have bieu made to rob us and to us into slavery the work of god has not been stayed many of the brethren have gone prison to and have shown to the heavens and all men how much they feel grateful for what god has aled people differ in their dispositions to some email trials are as powerful as large ones are to others some of tho sisters who meet with perplexities in raising their families are tried to as great an extent as they can bear but none of us need anke an unpleasant diew of trials many who suffer them enjoy themselves better than iu cays of peace they humble themselves to a greater extent before the lord and his spirit rests mightily upon them and their joy is great this being the compensating condition there are plenty of opportunities for all saints to make themselves useful these exist in many shapes as for instance in the various forms of improvement pro and societies that haave been instituted tha sisters can themselves to bo useful in a capacity and there is no clasy of people who have such privileges in this regard as the saints A short time previous to the last general conference a central educational board was organized that schools in keeping with the genius of the gos jel might be in them tho scriptures and modern could be used and the childrens minds b familiarized with the principles of as well as with matters of secular education it was deemed a matter of regret by the central boad that our financial condition was not favorable to giving the degree of substantial assistance to this move babat that was desired it was da aided to move in the direction of es publishing at least ono academy of the id bew iu each stake as a com A was concluded to bol r kairl Q maeser who j i in the work of edu hu burh of the community 11 line with the genius of the lea of salvation the general super in of the system means had been appropriated to the extent of the present ability to carry out the object in view in the various stakes it was expected that parents would contribute of their means for this object we cannot sacrifice too much in this direction as it ia impossible for us to labor too diligently and exhibit too much self denial for our children it is expected that the contemplated tem plated educational system will eventually spread until it extends to the wards it is good to be a good latter day saint but most undesirable to bo a bad one the people are progressing they are learning to baar trials no other keople would ve borne such indignities and gs as they have suffered this shows the character of god and they will continue aided by his power to pursur this course it I 1 yet come about that those who now afflict us will for us to officiate for them in the temples of god that they may be they have paid the penalty of misdeeds in this probation ELDER JACOR GATES of the firsta seven presidents of seventies was the next speaker he had listened with pleasure to the remarks that had been made regarding the exper i bence of the saints in past ages andi the present condition of affairs among this community I 1 have bean asso coated with this people for over years and I 1 am not discouraged there is s glorious outcome for this they have the truth in their hearts and no amount of perse i cution can root it out there is power in this gospel and if we embody it we will seu the power thereof exemplified in the individual cases of lat ter day saints that pow erwill be similar to that manifested antho daya of enoch by the potency of choso whoso words tbt very earth was shaken that same priesthood by which great things were accomplished in ages of the past has been revealed rave aled anew and exists in this church it was by its exercise that in ancient times ori this hemisphere and the other bide of the globe prisons wore opened the speaker here narrated the instance related in the book of mormon telling that alma and amules when in pris on were delivered and their enemies destroyed this work was established through the instrumentality of joseph smith the great prophet of the latter day dispensation and ehfe work he inaugurated is to stand forever no power can uproot it it is the kingdom forseen by the prophet daniel the demolition of all systems adverse to truth and justice will be brought about by the spread of gos pol knowledge embodied in the system revealed throughout joseph smith I 1 rejoice in the truth and thank god that I 1 heard the sound of the gospel in early youth I 1 have not seen a moment since then in the most gloomy day when I 1 hive felt the least misgiving in regard to the truth of this work all that it needs to do excellence goa pelaia to apply its principles to every day life D addressed the was grate anlin the privilege of being present and hearing what had been said he simply desired to express his feelings regarding this work the congregation iff composed of people who have been brought together from the nations of the earth through obedience to the gospel of christ great efforts had been mado by the servants of god to proclaim the gospel message yet the great bulk of the people of the world were ignorant of the nature of the mission of joseph smitha great many mor ethan there are might be informed upon the subject if they were I 1 willing the fact is that they do not lanb to know anything about it it is now as in ancient times ight has come into the world but the world loves darkness rather than light tha world will yot discover however to their dismay that this is the work of god as will tho jews in due time that jesus is the christ the speaker continued for some time stating he had been pleasurably acquainted with joseph smith whom he declared to bo a man called of god he rejoiced in the work h was instrumental in establishing and knew it would pre tha lord will comfort zion was sung by the choir benediction by elder george goddard adjourned till 2 p m in the afternoon after the 2 p m usual opening services president A 0 smoot said that afforded him pleasure to again have the privilege of assembling with the saints in a conference capacity and communing with them concerning the kingdom of god the calling of a latter day saint is no ordinary oso it means a great deal mare than we perhaps comprehend it implies that we are the servants of the lord and must listen to the guidance of his word through the mediums ho has chosen the name of latter day saint implies that is our business to gather israel from the four quarters of the earth and plant them here upon this land that we are temple builders that we obey tho laws god I 1 ims given to his people to protect them from the evils to which they are exposed it implies that we have a great work in those temples both for the living and the dead in fact a latter day saint is supposed to ob serve all the commands the lord has given and to receive thereby the riches of eternal life which are the greatest gifts of god hence it is not an idle calling and ia one that should m be tampered with wo have an ordinary work to do tor all these things devolve upon the dispensation in which wo live we must apar tho glad tidings to the distant nations of the earth who must hear it before the end shall i come both prophets and others have told us thai the second advent is near at hand and it behooves us 0 o prepare a suitable bride for the groom when will follow a thousand years of rest during winch time sa tan will be bound we find ourselves looked upon by the p eople of the world as a very peculiar and mavel ous people and with all its learning the world cannot understand zion the world persecuted christ and also his followers and it would be a strange thing if zion were applauded by the nations of the earth for by following oat the law of god christ has told us wa should be persecuted A gentleman recently said to me it your would only let polygamy alone you would be a very popular people I 1 replied that our ex perien cs was an argument against this long before polygamy was ever known we were robbed and plundered our homes burned and our prophets murdered and why was this when joseph mith was a mere boy just as soon as the angel appeared to him aud told him of the sacred plates in the hill cumorah the persecutions commenced have continued ever since and peradventure will continue very many of the latter day saints have become weak kneed doubtful and skeptical and some of them have even gone so far as to wonder whether the lord has not forsaken them let me tell you that the lord has not forsaken zion the chastisements received are for our own good As president young had said it is the kingdom of god or nothing and so it is let me tell you before I 1 sit down that the church of god has been established never again to be thrown down ELDEE B boroo did not anticipate the pleasure of addressing his brethren and sisters desired their faith sad prayers and hoped to have the spirit of the lord in ab that he might say these general meetings to us are in reality good things for latter day israel and as my brethren have remarked here today to day who have addressed you this is s time of school in of experience for the latter day saints it seems almost inevitable that the people should wade through the fire of persecution the powers of evil were arraigned against the youthful joseph and be had to contend with them as best he could in 1834 he called upon a few of his brethren to accompany him to missouri and this company was known as zions camp a name which attaches to it even to this day many of the members however have passed away and are now working m the courts on high soon after the arrival of the camp in missouri a dreadful fever broke out and the lord commanded joseph to stand asi he would bo destroyed two years after this however joseph proclaimed that he bad seen the brethren who had died of that dreadful visitation in zions camp and if he ever became as happy he would be satisfied and thus it always was no matter how severe our chastisement the lord is always near I 1 am satisfied that had we not been called to pass through the trials we have experienced we could not have kept the faith whenever the latter day saints have obeyed their prophets the people have always prospered after they left nauvoo in 1846 the camps of the saints were scattered from the missouri to the mississippi the government made a cai lupon the for five hundred troops to go into mexico there was not the slightest necessity for this call especially when we consider the condition of poverty and destitution they were then in president young with the eye of a prophet baw ar once the necessity of yielding obedience and to colonel alien who came to the camp he said you shall have all the requisition calls for if it takes oar leading elders to comply with the demand this proved that the saints had always been loyal even though they had beben driven from their homes by a fow fanatics yet when the call was made upon them to shoulder arms in defense of their country they showed their love and loyalty by a ready response and ao went forth joyously in defense of this great republic and raised the american flag upon and redeemed a large portion of mexico and lower california so when they came to utah they raised the stars and stripes over the land and session of it in the name af america in the name of our common country among the first petitions forwarded from here to the general government were those of a railroad and telegraph line in order that the saints might have some with the rest of the great government following this camo the organization of the constitutional tut ional convention we know and always have known that god has had his hand in the establishment of this great republic a refuge for the poor and oppressed of all countries the brother of jared also led to this country a small handfuls hand full of people they waxed wealthy and rich and soon become a great nation for a time and season they loved the lord but afterwards drifted away and were finally destroyed by amter nicene sarif so it was with the Nep hites who were destroyed by their brethren the Lama the latter were found here when christopher columbus lauded even the latter was looked as a crank when in rome he upon asked permission to go abroad on the waters on his voyage of discovery that bebas inspired is tion yet there are few willing to ad mil tho fact save the latter day saints wo also know that when the colonies from great britain came here thoy grew and prospered the lord inspired the parent government to bear down u on them with such a hand that unable to stand the heavy |