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Show THE FORTY-SEVENTH i Semi-Annual CONFERENCE of the Cbi-kcii op Jesl's Christ of Latter- : day Saints. The forty-seventh semi-annual conference of the church of Jesus Christ'of Latter-day Saints convened in the large tabernacle iu this city ou Friday, October Gth, 1S7G, at 10 a m. A large congregation was present, and the tabernacle choir was in attendance at-tendance under tho direction of Trof. Cieorge Careless, Of the church authorities there were present on the stand Presidents B. Young and D. II. Wells of the first presidency; Elders John Taylor, Wiliord Woodruff, Orson Pratt, sen., i Lorenzo Snow, 0. C. Rich, Joseph F. ' Smith, Erastus Snow, F. D. Richards , Geo. Q. Cannon and B. Young, jr., of the quorum of the twelve apostlae; ' John Smith, patriarch of the church; Presidents Jos. Young, sen., Albert j L3. liockwood, Horace S. Eldredye, ; John Van Cott and Levi Hancock oi the first presidency of the seventies; P-resideut Elias Smith of tho high . priests quorum; Angus M. Oanuou, " David O. Calder and Jos. E. Taylor " presidents of this stake; E. Hunter, L. W. Hardy aud R. T. Burton of the liresidency of the bishopric; and many other leading elders Irom the 1 various settlements. Conference was atled to order by President Brighnm Young. Ctioirsang the hymu yom menciug "Great Lord attend while Zion einus," etc. Prayer by President Presi-dent D. H. Wiills. Cnoirsaug, "Xiu-threat "Xiu-threat and glorious gospel light," etc President D. 11. Wells was the first speaker. He commenced b quoting die 133d psalm : "Behold now good and bow pitasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." xc. According to the scriptures this continent was the part of the globe where the work oi the last days ws :o commence, the country having ocen described by the prophets; and temples were to re built in which the viints would do a work for their dead. This work would soon commence in the temple now in process of erection at St. George. The tstabhsbmy.it m this work wua a tarlare, because the u,-Uoie world made war upon it. aud ii behoved every saint to strive to be come united with his brethren, so a.-io a.-io stand as ft solid phalanx against the powers of evil which were striving to trample tho kingdom of God into the dust. This was God's govern ment, aud through the various rami lications of the priesthood reached uvery family and individual in Hie community. The prophecies had dictated that the seed of Israel should be scattered among the nations of ibe Geutiles, and this had been fulfilled; it had been aUo prophesied that they should be Gathered in the last days, and this, too, v?as being fulfideo through the command oi Gud to tin elders ot his church, who were sent to call upon the people to gather from those nations to this laud o( promise. The speaker then instructed the saints how they should live when the had obeyed this cad and come tu get her, that tney might maintain Their position and bhscings iu tliL-choseu tliL-choseu land, above all to avoid being chosen land, above all to avoid being halt-hearted and luke-warm to the principles of life and salvation. Satan did not care as long as he could keep the saints from being united. What had the christian aecia accom plisiied towards stemming the tloud ui iniquity that rusiied on ut.obstruete through the earth? They had utterly tailed to do so throughout the eighteen centuries of the existence of caihu Christianity. Tno dr ire J eU.-;''1 "- to be pr.diK'id hy a nulty of edjrt On the part ot the righltuus w:,om ti,xl had called. G ,d had eet up his king dom in righteousness, and theautunr ity had been coufernd to carry on the work in the Lord's own way for the redemption of Hie bouct in .heart The giwpel must be in t ie hearts ol t-ie pe-aple or ttiy would not be able to stand; those who simply havccinpl) prulessiORd w.nild baukahdo and amount to nothing. A man wa-worlb wa-worlb notiiing who was destitute oi integrity. He ff:ir..d the insidumir designs o! the a tversary ana-'mg lb'-saints lb'-saints more than all the armed host-iu host-iu battle array. Hi deprecated a nypocriti.-al uairse of living and cx-iiurted cx-iiurted ail to wear a cheerful eouuUm ance and live unspotted from tin-world. tin-world. M'ju need not look didcrent from other men, but could nevrrthe-icas nevrrthe-icas be holy and pure iu tho siht ut heaven. '1 lie day was coming when the Lord would reign Irom tuo riven to tho ends or the earth, and a work Wiia being done to prepare for this grnat day. Elder Wilford Woodkitf llu u addrfs-cJ the conlerence. 'J'no gn.-'pi.'l m preached to-day was juH ivs true as when preached by Noah, Enoeh or Jesus, and the iipo-llea lo-pi-fjt d tlic -ame. pnwer and the same gilts God nevrr bad a people nn Him cartli without with-out com mi ungating with litem. The speaker then referred U) tin; various dispensations of tifl's providence provi-dence to his people in ddlen-rit generations, gen-erations, deprecated the idea lliil nii:n could live indcpenilently of (Jul and his spirit, and fitill walk aright in ti.e way of oalvation. Thy records oli past nations and people, and the account of tho gn at gifl-j of Gnd to rnun in former uispeiirtalions would , not alone quality a man to livfj no ...I. I... l. .w.l..rl ...lin.i..f inspiration to enable liirn to coinprw-hend coinprw-hend Irs true position and perforin Ins duties acceptably to hcavun. Through tho power ol innpiratinn, this territory bad been BeltlLd and culii vntf-d, the tab;rnai le and other liinldinga had been erected; anil in fulfillment of tho words of tho prophets proph-ets the people had mmo Uiyuttier and were enjoyinK tliese blea-ings. Wrre it not for the decree- of God concern 1 ing thin dipenialion, the aunts of today to-day would be dcHlroyd like the peoplr of God hud been iu foruierdispoiMa-tion. foruierdispoiMa-tion. But God had decried ditlr-ently ditlr-ently nonrortiiiiK Hie samta of thf prennt day. Tnn npeaker then ri!-(erred ri!-(erred fciilngi.-lically u tho labor and widnm of President Voung in (firming (firm-ing the TarioiH inttitutionn and ittle-fii'intH ittle-fii'intH of this territory, including Iho thfl teuiplrs and tho tabenmelo which ho bad di'Higiifd. Ho then boro hi 'fHtimony to tho truth of tho work in which the pniuirt wro engaged, and 'aincrmmg tlio judguiiiit-i which vtui'IcI follow tho testimony of the :l'l'-rn among tho nahoiiH of Die earth unbfn they ri'pontcd, nil of which hud 'ffi proplifMied ol by tho ancieni iroplmtn, aud would surely come to Ohoir Bang tlio (intlioiu "Of praise 'lorl in Inn holiufiM," etc. Adj'.urne(t ill 2 o'clock p.m. Itenedietion by I'jlder Jyjrcnzo Hhow. 2 p.m. Choir mtng "(Joinn all yn naiulf ho dwell on flarth," etc. Prayer by Elder Brigbam Young, jr. (Jliou mnjf "JJaniul's wisdom may I know' -itc. Kltkh Lokenzo Hxuw nddrffrd 'ho winlnrernio, taking Uir Inn text n portion of th !"ih chfipler ol altbew rnnUining tho pariihln o' he t-ri talent'; alo a pawflagn in Ht UikQ's &Mpt) concerning fuithfuinenn in stewardships. Latter-day Saints claiming to havo received authority from God to administer the ordi-l nances of his church, really occupied a peculiar position, and nssuiuin ; this relationship with the Lord, it ba-j camo their duly to inform themselves and prenare to carry out the profes-; eion they made. There were many ditticul ties that arose in the midst of the peoplo which might bo avoided if1 they were to reflect, and possess them- j selves of knowledge aud tho neees-' sary quahlicationi of their pos-itions. Some thought that thoir callings were I small and tieir field of labor narrow; that if their positions wero higher in the church they would bo more cautious in their daily course and more guarded in their conversation. It was necessary that each should be holiest and true in his calling, no mutter how low iu tho scale Ids duties inight lie, for his prospects wero just as great if he conducted himself uonorably as those of anyone else iu the kingdom of tho Almighty. If he wns "just in small things, God would give him the true and greater riches." It was the duty of all to iraprovo on their talents, and avoid dothfulncss in putting them to usury. Ho related an anecdote of an individual individ-ual who had been elected to minor office and had replied that ho would accept, saying, "If the office doesn't honor me, I will honor tho office. " Jesus Christ was a carpenter, and vhen the speaker was in Jerusalem he nad been shown the bench that the savior worked on, at least so it was said; but this humble positiou did nut disqualify the Savior for creating or -,..i o, .-,-,..1.1 nA n,; ui,,ini,l bo an incentive to all tho saints to lonor their callings, no matter hiw humble tbe might ba. "If yo are not faithful in that which is another man's, who shall yivo you that which is your own." If the saints wero not oetter than the thousand denominations denomina-tions that existed, they would come tar short of their anticipations ol reward. re-ward. They should not wait till they occupied some high position before they commenced to perform the duties du-ties of a Latter-day Saint; but keep iho spirit of honesty and righteousness righteous-ness iu their hearts, that they might in due time enjoy tho true riches ot eternal life. Eluek C. C. Riui next addrcescJ conlerence. The saints should be very thankful tnat they wero permitted per-mitted to live in a day aud age of the orld when the principles ul lit1 bad tiee.n revealed, and to assemble f"r the receiving of instruction. lie had oeen reflecting iu regard to theduth'- of tho saints. The same spirit should he enjoyed by them as was possessed ny Je.-us Christ. They had not come into the world to do their own will, but Lhe will of the father, who was willing ;o dictate them ai lie did the Savior when ho was on the earth. No one should expect to obtaiu the bles-ings of futurity on any other principle Ltian that which controlled tho lives and trials of others who had lived and jbtaiued life eternal. Snne thought that they had done so muc a that they had perlnrnipd their share. All such should immediately get rid ot this feeling, and strivo to do al! they could to redeem Z;on nnd build up the kingdom of God. He then bore testimony to the truth ot the latter day wort, and prophesied its uhiin..te triumph. Eluek F. D. Rieiumn said that die principles which had been intro-i intro-i duced bctore the conference to-day . vfero very sweet and precious to bun. Lnesainis lived not only lurinem-' -elves, but also for I tic reat of man kind, and their duties and relationships relation-ships were of such a uaiure that they were interested fur their fellowmen, and this occa3iumd a certain distrust iu Lie hearts ol some people, which very generally exi.-ti d twaids id! people who manilcstcd any special uiti-rrst for the Welfare of oti.ers, thie -olicitude- bang fr.pt'ully inipukd ;ii fii,(.r ti,.in pure nut d i-iuti-rett d motives. T.i:h t;wo t..,.linu CTl-ti-d towards the Savior and hn npj-n-fhowoik in wni'jh the minis were rtigag'.d was of sin. ii a charai ler tnat none but divinely ajip 'inh d pi r-.uii-coul 1 perform it. Hen: wero as -eiuhkd people from nearly ail parts ot the fturid, inclu ling toe ley r' gn'!ia ol Lie north. Tno sje'akrr a.-kul .v::o had called tht m t.-g- t:i-.-r in tui-remote tui-remote region (rum tneir place of nativity ? I'ne holy spirit wiin'h had neen n.urnl upon tnein ti.rniiLth their ol-edictiee to t'ne K''-pel. coiK'hidi.J by lirttinu ad to f.d'.hlu!-ne-J. Kl.i;i:n B. VorNo, jr., t-iid it was a iitMSiim fr liirn to tiftity eiu-ermng ihn-c tilings which be knew, lie W;,, d ui-fn.d tli.il tiio e.milfl wt re in p sei'in ol the oracles ot G l, but to a great extent did not appreciate their privilege in this n-p.'ct. lleg.iv. some instructions iu regard to the purity of heart requin I of every niernb. r of Z:on, sn .wmg th it thi.i purity aiiouM commence in liie h'iriie of the sainti. Choir Bang Iho anthun "U-autifiii are thy towers," etc. Conference adjruirntd till Saturday morning at to o'clu-k. Bene lielmu by ',::: r K Si if j w, |