Show THE ANN AL CON ERENCE SixtyFourth Session Opened at the Tabernafle A LARGE ATTENDANCE SOME EXCELLENT ADVICE GIVEN BY THE SPEAKERS Addresses Were Made by President Woodruff President George Q Camion Eldcrs A H Cannon M LW Merrill T W Taylor H J Grant Teasdnlc and John Henry Smitb To Meet Again This Morning Morn-ing The sixtyfourth annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints convened at the tabernacle at 10a m yesterday There was a good attendance and among those on the stand were the following Of the first presidency Wilford Woodruff Geo i Q Cannon Joseph F Smith of the quorum of the twelve apostles Lorenzo Snow Franklin D Richards Brigham Young Francis M Lyman John Henry Smith Geo Teasdale Heber J Grant John W Taylor Marriner W Merrill Abraham H Cannon Patriarch John Smith of the presidency of the seventies seven-ties Seymour B Young C D Fjelsted John Morgan B H Roberts Gao Reynolds Rey-nolds and Jonathan G Kimball of the presiding bishopric William B Preston Robert T Burton and John R Winder After the conference had been formally formal-ly called to order by President Geo Q Cannon the choir and congregation sang Redeemer of Israel after which President Joseph F Smith offered prayer pray-er The choir then sang Praise5 Te the Lord PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF made the opening address jn which he expressed his gratitude for the privilege privi-lege enjoyed by the Saints in assembling assem-bling and for the presence of many officials and members of the church The work of the Lord was progressing In conclusion he expressed the hope that the spirit of inspiration and revelation reve-lation might rest upon speakers and hearers during the conference ELDER A H CANNON next addressed the conference He was pleased to observe how richly the Lord was blessing the people particularly iri spiritual matters and it gave him great pleasure to know that the Saints were striving to live their religion faithfully The speaker dwelt at some length on the subject of faith and testified that the Lord was near to the people He heard and answered our prayers and gave to his children who served him faithfully and sought him constantly those blessings which would be for their temporal as well as for their eternal happiness He admonished the young to seek him while he was near for there were troubles coming upon the upol earth which would try the souls oral or-al men and those who leaned upon the testimonies of others instead of depending de-pending upon their own faith and works leant upon a broken reed In conclusion Elder Cannon prayed that the peace and blessing of God might rest upon all present during this conference con-ference ELDER TMARRINER W MERRILL was the next speaker He said it was a matter of congratulation that we had with us the first presidency and that we had heard the voice of Brother Woodruff who was so much beloved by the Saints We were fortunate in having a part in this glorious work in the Lord I was not necessary that any member of the church should ben be-n the dark Each could have a testi mony concerning the divine mission of Joseph Smith for himself We had seen some persons occasionally who presumed to have revelation to direct others We had seen men arise up in the ranks of the Saints with a feeling in their hearts that they were of more than usual importance and had the right in certain instances to direct the affairs of the church But sensible sensi-ble and thinking people looked upon that class with pity The Lord had his work organized his servants appointed ap-pointed to labor in the various callings of tIle church and each had his allotted otted place The training of the young in the work of the gospel was dwelt upon and examples cited for their guidance We wanted he said to see our young men valiant in the cause of God willing when called upon to go forth and proclaim the gospel tidings without excuse or hindrance We should teach our children the principles princi-ples of the gospel as fast as they were capable of comprehending them here a little and there a little a the opportunity oppor-tunity presented itself He knew there was a feeling in the midst of the Latterday Saints in some directions on the part of parentshow extensive he did not pretend to say that in regard to baptism their chil dren should be left alone until they arrived at maturer years and that they might then judge of the mater and what they wished to do for themselves The Lord had said this was wrong Our children were given and entrusted to us to bring up in the ways of the Lord and we should see that they I were not neglected in any religious I duty The speaker deprecated the too I common practice of card playing among young men even for nurnotes of amusement he believed if led to evil and should therafore be condemned There was no harm in dancing if conducted aright i was proper to have social amus mrnts and K < J Brings Br-ings of that kind but the great dang lay in the excess of these things and he warned the young people to be careful care-ful as to how far they went in thee directions There was he feared too much indifference at his time in reference refer-ence to the spreading of the gospel and the welfare of Zion Let us resolve therefor henceforward to labor with all our might and put forth our hand whenever the opporumty offered for the carrying of Gol message throughout through-out the earth Than the Lord vviuid reward us as we desorvcJ and his bKs sing would continue to ret upon tills great later Jay WIELDER < > WI-ELDER JOHN W TAYLOR was the next speaker He was thankful thank-ful for the privilege of meeting in conference with the Saints where temporal tem-poral affairs could be put aside for a season and the spiritual things of the kingdom of God could be solely considered con-sidered He read a portion of the first chapter of Pauls epistle to the Corinthians Corin-thians including the following vcrse I we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed He also read that part of the epistle of the same apostle to the Romans which treats upon baptism I bap-tism as being typical of a burial and resurrection This language he con i tended meant that the mode of admin istering that ordinance was by immersion immer-sion in water This was a part of the I gospel which was taught by Paul The speaker next referred to the incident in point related in the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when certain persons were baptized by Paul and received the holy ghost by the laying on of hands The administration of I the same ordinances baptism in water and the laying on of hands for the imparting im-parting of the holy ghostwere sustained I sus-tained by reference to the 8th chapter of the Acts which speaks of certain I I ministrations to believers in Samarja I Other passages were cited for the same I purpose Eider Taylor at the sane time dwelling upon the fact of these doctrines which formed a part of the system of religion taught by Paul were not taught by the churches of the day aside from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints The Lord I had established his church and king dom upon the earth He himself knew that the community of Latterday Saints were today but in their infancy and that they would grow stronger and stronger until the gospel had been carried unto all the nations of the earth The choir sang From afar gracious ous Lord Thou hast gathered thy flock Conference adjourned until 2 oclock p m Benediction by Patriarch John Smith |