Show DISCOURSE R SE 0 fly mier ezra T bonson before the seventies conference tit Wednesday Feb 16 1853 in the tabernacle Taberna clel great U real sait salt lake chy I 1 I 1 have listened with a great degree of ti in 1 I to those who have already spoken I 1 am now called upon to cast in my emte by the words of my mouth month I 1 take pleasure in doing so ad I 1 always have taken satisfaction in ill speaking to my lily brethren whenever it lias has fallen fall en to toy tny lot I 1 have no excuse to make no particular artl eular pie pro luminaries limin aries to introduce batfish bilt wish at once to minkle mingle gle my lily spirit views and tei ceilings lings with those of this people whatever may bo be my field of labor or whatever I 1 may be called upon to do I 1 am ain roady ready to do it will willingly higly and wish to 0 o act in the calling whereunto I 1 am called to ta the best of my abilia ability Y whether to preach or to labor with my hands bands or whatever it U may be it is all tile the same to tonao me so that I 1 tm am attending to tile he duty of my lily calling and working in the sphere or of this our ito ho ly religion from the experience that costor all of us have had in this day and age of llie file wo we have al au pretty much crae to the conel 11 I 1 oll that whatever we do whether it is today to 66 day or at lily any other time should L ba within the hie palo pale of our religion acting in the spirit of ofir our c illing this is tile the instruction wo have been receiving this a afternoon r terno ter noon ozi and this morn morning hig my heart lias hits been warmed up since I 1 have been sitti silting og liere here and it does not take a great deal to wa baim ill it up il in 1 this cise c ise because I 1 try to sol so live boffilo alie thelmi lord 4 and lid this people that it takes but liti lelo warm it up oil what kind of a feeling do we want resting rosti ig upon onus usa we want tile the testimony of jesus and that is what we enst have not only this 4 this month and this year but every day of our lives we should ouid be in ili possession of that widel which I 1 the apostle paul admonished the people to possess in fit it his is day viz to be give a reason of tile hope that you have in ill you much good instruction has been given to tho llie elders of israel it is arm true e I 1 have been a little surprised when I 1 have reflected as a man mail reflects when I 1 have reasoned as a natural man would reason at the he remarks that have been made liere here this afternoon by president joseph jose ph young hero here wear we are e batin eating g and drinking and slee sleeping pine in pelie ece with none to molest or make us afraid wor shipping god according to the dic dictates of 0 pr consciences but when we reflect back for amo ent uron upon tile the past experience of this people ait it skews spews lowler than thunder in our ears we are to be on oil liand as has been stated this afternoon 00 it what is this for it is for 11 or our god that we may not lie down Q and becom indolent and say all is ii ease now in zion but the devil is not dead yet lie he is on oil hand to do his work to ll 11 perform eforoi his mission which is to stir sti rup up tile saints to their they do not attend to aby aby being counseled fram god it has been sa s ln in every age of the world it bs been tile experience of this taj ILI s people co P le we have now comme commenced libeg to prep tre for the building of a temple tho the ground ins leen flaked out and broken does not tho the devil know it yes lie knows all about it and there could not be a thing to displease him more than for this people to talk about a temple to say nothing about going to work to build one did it not always stir up oil the devil it was so in kirtland missouri i and illinois and will it not be so lit in tile city of great salt lak it wil are you not of glad of it you ought to tz be wily why bemuse because it is impossible to d do 0 adv any thing ing to any great extent without an ail opposite appos ite this is strictly ic c cording to the experience wo we have had wu we must have an ail opposite it must needs be that there is an ail opposite n all things to square us up arid and make us ready to become useful in all things I 1 am glad of it myself ni self what is required of us lis to do why just do right and till all is right what an easy lesson carl can you have any I 1 JOY ment withof without t a an n opposite we heir hear a good del deal said about ri linking viking sugar but I 1 tell you it is i api ble to make sugar enough to inake every tit tiling 1119 sweet th ro is plenty of sweet and there is ll 11 so plenty of bitter itter tt there Ther must emust be tit 0 opposite and it is all light i agh t whit should the alie saints du do you know you are right ri lit god lias has told you Y on so tile the revelations of jesus christ have told you that you are light and d every body who knows play any it ting ling about god tall tells k you that you are right for you wanto do right and work righteous righteousness what greater lestini testimony ony di 1 yon yen want it is enough it is quite sufficient it J t is the privilege of every body to do just as much good as they have a mind to and what a glorious idea it is to know that we are in L the ie church and kingdom of god where there is a fountain of knowledge of light and a nd of fifth adith where there is an all inexhaustible fountain of matter and experience e ll 11 ce to work upon so that a man mail is not trammeled Illie led lit in perform it z any ally one good thing tile the revelations ve of jesus christ are far more liberal than mr St he told the people that it was the alie rich that should have many wives and the poor are not to have any our god does not use any such expression he makes no distinction between wean tile tho rich and the poor between the high and the low the man servant and tile the maid I 1 servant every body is placed as free as tile air that blows who is I 1 i s trammeled in ill the gospel of of jesus jesua christ Is there one person no na not one oils are yu yn de barred from no not lot at oil all light and intelli intelligence geneo are placed as free as the nir that blows I 1 can an ail elder in israel leave this place and go into the world to preach the gospel without reve bation no can call people live liva in ill those these valleys of the mo mountains aills without no they could no more live with rout the light of revelation than they could without eating bread a ald aid id performing tile the duties required at their hands well what ciffa di 7 rence is there then if a man can have all that tha lie he needs I 1 once hoard heard a sect sectarian irian priest u illier take to tell tile the different glories adul speaks sp e aks eaks or of lie compared christians tap te ups cups or tankards tank ards aids some sollie bield a pint some a gallon ac now cays he when ewhen tile the cups are arc all fit anlis not that I 1 thought the comparison was pretty good tile the lord says lie has given different gifts gift sand and talents to tile children of men mento toone one he gives cevela bionto tion to another the gift of tongues to to another r prophecy to another the gift of miracles but no man is deprived of obtaining obtain ilig th 1 ent err all 11 if lie lias has the power of mind intelligence arid and fuith faith to do so we can call get all we desire all we can comprehend compre bead and ask for or all we can call appreciate here is wisdom that a man mail should not ask for that he fie could not appreciate or comprehend or make a good use 0 although maicy many of ofus ills may ask and receive like the child did the appi apples es A little child playing upon the floor sees you hold a plate 0 of f apples it asks for one a lie which it h olds in one 0 lie hand ian d then it wants another in tile the other oilier hand then it wants more until he arms and lap are filled to overflowing still it is not lot content but craves for more until it cannot hold them arid and loses s whole this spirit the president said he fie c uld see manifested by some of this people so the that t if they ure not careful I 1 their blessings will become a curse to them thein we lieve to prove ourselves in all al things every ever Y man and woman in the kingdom of god our faith is tried ili in many ways way waymand sand and what plan looks better to a faithful fitl ifal virtuous latter addy saint and can you be a latter day saint without being virtuous the prophet joseph said one could not and he sa said I 1 ij a virtuous man or woman woma n is willing to do precisely as the lord tolls tells him then according prophet joseph itis virtuous for bouto you to obey the voice of god the counsel of heaven through that man whom god has set to preside over us ns he holds the keys of sa salvation I 1 to this people and to the nations of the earth and cheri chatman unlocks there is not power enough in this thi to abek this is tile the situation wb are in these are the keys that are held by the men of ged among us have we any thing to fear we need not stop to spend any ally time to know whiD whether ther we shall do this thing thi 91 or the other we have hake been counseled couns ellid to do if if it should be to sharpen up our swords we need not inquire a mot mob is coming from the states or blither there is enough of la L in our midst to ral rais epoe P 0 I 1 the longer I 1 the I 1 liace tile more I 1 feel eel f like 1 fighting g illing for my religion antl my rights eights B but to hakea ah a long story il clort 0 I 1 WOW would not lot 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 give on groat whether I 1 stay here one month or one year or twenty years bears longer if 1 sit down and reason with myself on an this wise well I 1 have built me a good comfortable house I 1 have made mean me en excellent farm and am just pre paring to live or my wife is sick aud I 1 have scarcely car cely any provisions I 1 should begin to draw in my horus horns you know and be against goi going ug away but when we reflect upon st looking back upon tile days of nauvoo and comparing thi situation of this people now with their situation then could we then claim a wide spread territory no we were settled then in a lit tie ie elbow of the mississippi cornered up with mobs all around us and even in that condition many of us felt first rate rale when we came away the enemy rave rave back before the saints and we crossed over tile river unmolested I 1 am speaking of those who obeyed the counsel of the lord I 1 ican cau recollect tile time I 1 had iu nu nauvoo ul rao br jpseph young remarked that lie he was president of tile the seventies seven bics tics before be fore any ally seventies were organized r also was waa some whore a and lid was co coining illing along in tile tho w toural I 1 train traill of things as fast as I 1 could to stand ai n my lily lot among his chis peo people ae I 1 would I 1 ave obeyed the gospel before if I 1 had known enouf enough 11 we found cooped up oil it in nan and tile word of odthe all 6 lord to this people was to gather out and mobs menaced us tie on oil every side rido some good nien men at that time went to br brigham wo we shall never get out wo we never can be permitted to pass through tile Terr territory fiory or of iowa says br biggham bi bigham in reply to the in wo we shall all go through and not a mun shall be e hurt 1 this I 1 heard him say say in tile the temple of the lord was it not the ease case it was tha alie very moment the sahto begun began to cross the mississippi 1 river the clou d began to lo disperse dispel se and the lie light in the west wept bigan to break break forth mobs begun to disperse ez erch cli way ay on oil the right and ou on tile left to i let the eanls sa ills pass through unhurt that wa as the file sittia situation tion of affairs till nil fresh upon my dierno memory ry I 1 have not time thine to cuter into I 1 1 this part of our history in full I 1 merely wished wis hed I 1 ta 6 refresh your memories ind and 11 make you feel at ns I 1 1 do all the people did not pass through some half hearted cormons mormons Morn ions were left behind with wilh a sprinkling of truo true hearts and lie file lord Ws xv with ith them notwithstanding and they stood alere here to whip tho the devil and they did it first re rate a now let us aply here in ill tit th valleys of tile mountains and do all the good we can call lit L it t us fight if th alie te lord says so und tind blow and shatter liell hell from tile betot center r tp the lie circumference if he tells us to do so then it will be ill right but ir if he says let tile the saints paints go I 1 wl til you I 1 want to he be among the first train if possible I 1 want to bs ll 11 on hand to obey counsel when the lord speaks wo we have escaped cur biffi ullies in illinois mid and got a possession in these goodly valleys pulleys by obeying the commandments of lie ivon and what are our privileges beai we are nov organized as a tei ri government arid and acknowledged ledge d as such by I 1 the parent government th this is is tile the result I 1 es alt of hut hat wo we have passed through of course then if we carry out the samo same principle of progress before we betm be numbered as a free and sovereign state the inu mustard stalk must mastbe be again kicked this is iq logical it to 0 o us by tile ilie servants of god before we embraced nisin that we could bot become latter day saints without passing through much persecution if we do not pass through I 1 it it shows plainly to tile me that we ar not lutler day I 1 have known men converted to this gospel through the remarks of the priests of christendom A very intelligent man in new york for w lien hell the llie priest told lold him not to run after this deluded people saying they tire ire thieve and robbers replied you dont shy so why that is tile the peo pe I 1 have been hunting for a people that all of christians speak i against for I 1 hat is tile church of jesus clil chiist so sir I 1 am a mornion mormon right stia straight ight we ave have got I 1 all these t ings to contend with and it is all right I 1 brethren ami sisters for here is your blessing liere ii your crown llod and with bour our crown here is your I 1 elory alory you are all desh dashing ing this lubor labor for it and the longer I 1 lahr the more expel once I 1 have I 1 find we have to labor laboi with our own this kingdom ha got to 0 o be built up by manul manual libor as it the governor said lit in the llie legislature this win will ti viz our ca lays laj s in tile llie physical force of althis this people here is element in abundance all around us as much ns as wo we have a mind tn in r cording to tile the fulth faith expert experience nee and a ability that we possess from day to day I 1 I 1 brethren let us build a temple make farms and raise an ail abundance of tile thorgood good things of the car earth t I let ilet us go toworu to work and act according to the illions io revelations re lions we read from time to time let us esi publish home manufactories manu factories and us as I 1 have suid said numbers lumbers I 1 of bials limns ill this is wit winter I 1 t e r I 1 would to god we could say sayo to day that we will from this lime henceforth sustain ourselves by the help of god aud and abide by it dec Ded delfrate Frate out our own bodies with I 1 t alie 1 I workmanship handstand hand sand I 1 know as Moria sm is true und and my experience correct we shall that moment be inde in dependant p if wo we are not biot willing to fulfill tie the I 1 word of the lord by counsel and lid tile the experience we puss pass through lie will let t the devil punish us until we do do it what do we want of the gentiles I 1 would rather wrap myself up in a buffolo than go bick b ick amongst them again unless I 1 was counseled to do so we are doing first rate I 1 reel feel as though I 1 vas as doing first rate rale 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