Show AT THE TABERNACLE Earnest Advice From Apostle John Henry Smith THE CHURCH BUILT ON A ROCK President George Q Cannon Advises that Fastday be More Generally Observed by the Saints The rain of Sunday was anything but an inducement to attend tho tabernecle services ser-vices and in consequence the body of the full house was no more than twothirds while the gallery did not hold above two hundred people where at other times it has held that number of thousands On tho stand were President George Q Cannon 1 Apostles Heber J Grant Abraham H Cannon President Angus M Cannon Elders Henry S Richards C W Pourose Apostle John Henry Smith and Patriarch John Smith Tho prayer was a very eloquent elo-quent exhortation delivered by Elder Clark The music was as usual very fine the anthem which is a very beautiful piece of music being rendered in a style which is unexcelled and which shows to an advanatgo the care Prof Stephens has taken to make the choir a success APOSTLE 1O11S flENRT SMITH I desire that In the time I may occupy I may have your sympathy and the aid of your prayers and that I may have the ommunionship of the holy spirit I have often wondered why the Savior instructed his disciples not to consider a speech before be-fore hand It strikea one as singular in this day when all speakers make preparation prepara-tion for speeches To arise and nlace dependence de-pendence on the promptings from the spirit and to speak to instruct a congregation congrega-tion without preparation seems hard This is not peculiar among the Latterday Saints for all have been instructed that they should depend on the spirit of God If we cannot ba instructed by the holy spirit we should sit down and let another brother speak There are many things to speak of but if a man has not tne prompt ings of the holy spirit his speech wil not give satisfaction to any one Many thought tho doctrines of the Lat terday Saints would not stand civilization and the delusion would become manifest in n short time that if Joseph Smith was removed the church would fall to pieces This idea in another form is yet held by some They thought the death of President Young would make the church fall to pieces They thought the church depended on the leaders and if thdy were removed the church would not stand we would no longer hold together as we did at first But it was discovered that the death of the prophet did not affect its cause very much There appeared men who were made to lead the people While many were disappointed in the death of the prophet and many thought he couid not be killed the great masses readily understood their course and were not at all affected by his death Those days are not remembered by many Latterday Saints The leaders made known that the elders would still continue to preach and to gather together the elect of the earth The people amid all the troubles started west We were able to congregate together for many years under President Young Peace was here and when the clouds appeared in the sky and it was said we were in rebellion we lived happily as a distinct people Wo had among us it is true those who were not of us Some of them are still here and are at present living happily in these valleys In those times the necessaries of life were scarce we were surrounded by tribes of hostile Indians and it was then the power of our leader was particularly felt It needed the exercise of his great genius to keep the people together Had we been careless at that time women and children would have been sacrificed The wisdom which guided that man who was the leader in urging the people to build villages was not or man it came direct from God He guided the people who did not understand the country and he made provision for food and clothing It needed a master hand to guide the people He taught them to be economical with food and clothing Since we have been here states have grown up on all sides of us The tribes which threatened us on the north i and west have been rendered harmless We fed the Indians and clothed them as much as we were able Wo considered it a crime to kill an Indian unless in self defense The leader lived and worked to have peace He sought to remove those conditions which would not let the people see all things as they ought He believed it was possible to again scatter us if he was removed and he bound the people together He passed away peacefully at tee close of a V successful administration as president of the church The people who were not of us were congregating among us They did cot have our religion but we as a people were able to extract enjoyment from life The nation at last turned against us and we as a people had to pass through a terrible ter-rible strain The government was wanting want-ing to suppress certain practices among us and I do not believe tnere is a people en the face of the earth who would have endured the conditions we endured without the shedding of blood But wisdom and prudence were advocated and the people submitted to these persecutions While the people have been persecuted the battle has been fought without bloodshed blood-shed We have sought to have the principles princi-ples of our church made plain There has been no struggle outside judicial limits During these times there havo been changes in our leadership but I trust those changes have not weakened the faith of the people No other people which I have heard of would have submitted to the conditions con-ditions we have without being broken up We met the crisis like men and we have been placed on the rock of truth and if the Latterday Saints will live up to their faith they will always be on the right side We have passed through many things we have burled three presidents but we are till together and bound together with greater bonds than ever It makes no difference dif-ference who leads if we are in a condition to live near to God We are now surrounded sur-rounded by people who do not believe as we do yet they have as much right to be respected and protected in their belief as we have The world has F misunderstood us Jesus Christ Is accepted by the Latterday Saints and they believe in all principles which exalt men and have a disbelief those things which drag men down These beliefs make us love our fellow men Seeking to elevate men we havo lived together happily and though we have been misunderstood by men we have had the blessings of our consciences I know there is a God in heaven that Jesus Christ lived and died for us and that He has commissioned men to go abroad and tell people that there is a God in heaven This should be said in every part of the earth that the people may know that they have a chance to be saved PRESIDENT GEORGE Q OASXOX 1 do not wish to proong the meeting but there is a subject which was brought up at the meeting of the stake presidents at the conference which needs to have some attention at-tention paid to it The subject which V I wish to speak about is the observance of the fast days The first Thursday of each month has been set aside for lasting and it has always been a custom for our people on that day to carry to their bishops the food they would have eaten if they had I not fasted This food to be used for the V relief of the poor This custom has not V been observed as it should ue in the late years I think it is time something was said to remind the people that this custom should be strictly observed There are a number of poor in every ward of our city L and it costs us semiannually 536000 or annually 00000 to support these poor If on the fast days tho people would bring this food this expense could be almost dispensed dis-pensed with There would be almost enough to support all the poor people But there are very few people who are doing their duty They do not think of the poor pn the fast days In some of the wards there are not many poor to be supported And this is used by same as an excuse why the people should not bring their fast Co rings to tho bishop But fair u I 1 worthy of our attention If there are not I many poor in one ward the people of that V ward should take their offerings to the bishop tobe distributed In the other wards where there is a number of poor We should all see that this is done When we think of the poor we should give to them or give it into the bishops hands to give to them I hope brethren you will hold this and will relieve the sufferers of all the wards in the city Amen The anthem Song of the Redeemed was then sung and the congregation was dismissed with prayer |