OCR Text |
Show FORTY FIFTH AKNUAL CONFERENCE. CONFER-ENCE. The Forty-fifth annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SainU convened in the new tabernacle, in this city, on Tuesday, Tues-day, April 0th, 1S75, at 10 a m. There were present on the bUnd: 1 'residents Hrighatn You ng, George A. Smith and Daniel H. Wells, of the First Presidency; Elders Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, W. Woodruff, Wood-ruff, C. C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Eras-tua Eras-tua Snow, Franklin D. Richards, GeorgoQ Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., and Albert Carrington, of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles; John Smith, Patriarch; President Jo-eph Young, A. P. Rockwood and Horaco S. Eldredge, of the first presidency of the Seventies; Elias Smith and Elias Morris of the presidency of the High Priests' quorum; George B. Wallace, Wm. H. Folsom and John T. Caine, of tho presidency of this stake; Edward Ed-ward Hunter and Leonard W.Hardy, of the presidency of the Bishopric. There were also present quite a number of presidents, bishops, elders and other prominent members of the church from this city and other parts of the territory. The congregation was not as large as usual on such occasions, the unpleasant un-pleasant state of the weather, doubtless, doubt-less, preventing large numbers from attending. The regular tabernacle choir, under un-der the direction of Prof. Geo. Careless, Care-less, with Jos. J. Daynes as organist, were present to perform the musical part of tho services. The Conference was called to order by President Brigham Young; tho choir sang, "Joy to the world, the Lord will come," etc. President George A. Smith made the opening prayer, and the choir sang "The Towers of Zton," etc. President D. H. Wells arose and addressed the conference. He said it was the daily duty of the Latter-day Saints to carry out tho purposes of God as revealed to them; it was not so much a work ot the future as of the present; to live in purity to-day was required. The stream of life had not ceased to flow, but was continually con-tinually developing) the minds of those who were honest and pure in heart, and they should labor to divest themselves of every evil, for upon up-on them rested the responsibility responsibili-ty of bearing off the kingdom, to build temples, and do all othor things required by the revelations of Jesus Christ in spite of all opposition. What was a man good for who flew the track as soon as an obstacle presented pre-sented iLself ? The kingdom of God was lole given to the Saints, but not to a people who would give it into the hands of the ungodly. The Saints had to walk in the path which God had marked out, aud not undertake to mark out paths for themselves, for God's ways were higher than man's ways, and it did not matter what people thought; this did pot alter al-ter the fact. It was necessary to do what, was rpnuirpH nt nrMpnt nnrl also to lay a foundation for the future. Men had always been trying to improve im-prove on the plan of salvation as instituted in-stituted by the Almighty, but their efforts had failed, it was in the beginning, be-ginning, and always will be the gospel gos-pel of Jesus Christ. In social and political matters all that the Latter-day Latter-day Saints asked was to be accorded the rights they were willing to grant toothers. Tne Saints must become more self-sustaining, which would prove a path of prosperity, and the speaker could pronounce the blessing of God upon those who would labor in this direction. Elder C. C. Rich, Baid the time was short in which the Saints had to accomplish their work, in spreading the gospel and attending to the other duties of the church. There was no time to idle away. There was a remedy in the gospel for all the evils that existed in the world; dis-uninn was the great cause of trouble in the world, and tho SaiDts must adopt a different policy, and it was only in obeying the commandments of God that they would differ from the world. He rejoiced that the hand of the Lord had been over this people since the church was organized with six members. There was a necessity ! forthe Saints to put trust in heaven, and to cultivate faith so as to have power to accomplish the work assigned as-signed them. He prayed God to bless them; Choir sang the anthem, "0, praise the Lord." Adjourned till afternoon. Benediction by Elder Lorenzo Snow. 2 p. M. In addition to the congregation con-gregation of the forenoon, the children child-ren of the several Sunday schools of the city, to the number of about 3,000, "were assembled. Singing by the choir, " Come ye that love the Lord, etc. Prayer by Elder B. Young, jun. Temple song by the choir and Sunday school children. child-ren. Elder Orson Hyde arose and addressed ad-dressed the conference. He had never seen a more pleasing sight than he beheld to-day in hearing the children who had been born in this territory join in with those who were Older, in singing praises to the Ged ol Israel. As the settlements of the territory extended to the north and south, an element was niinglirjg with them which was called modern civilization, civili-zation, but which is apparently averse to moral purity. The speaker urged the young to avoid the bad habits of this class, and to take to learning all that was good. Ho highly reprobated reproba-ted the course of parents in allowing their children to absent themselves from Sabbath meetings, and to indulge in-dulge in games on the Sabbath dty; also referred to the practice of letting children stay out late in the evening, giving some excellent instruction on the subject. Spoke of the neglect of some to pay the teachers for the tuition of their children. He valued education more than money, He referred at some length to tho recent conversion among the Indians through visions they had seen as being be-ing a great testimony to the world of the truthfo Mormonism. Singing by the Sunday . school children, "Zion is Growing." Elder Geo. Q. Cannon ftllowed, aud said that allhougn the weather was inclement this occasion would long be remembered. The presence pres-ence ot tho children was in itself very inspiring, and he wished that more persons were present to witness the spectacle and hear the instructions whicn had been given. The difference differ-ence between the civilized and the savage was owing to their training; and it w;w better to have but few children and trainhem properly to fill their spheres, than to have many and neglect ne-glect to instruct them. He looktd upon free schools as a system of pauperism pau-perism which would instill erroneous ideas into the youthful mind, calculated cal-culated to render people dependent upon th state for all the necessaries of life, and they might as reasonably reason-ably exnect food or clothos from public donations as to attain education educa-tion from that source. He disliked Ja condition of dependence, and while j he would advocate the principle of i aiding the poor, ho objected to tho establishment of a system of depend-j depend-j ence among the people, who should endeavor to be self sustaining. j Singing by the Sunday school chil- j dren, "Our own Sunday school." i The choir then sang the anthem, "Daughters of Zton." Adjourned till Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. Benetlietiun by Elder Wilford Woodruff |