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Show POLYGAMY IS IMPERATIVE. Sincere Latter-day Saints believe, and hope, that the missionaries who are sent abroad by their church arc engaged in preaching the gospel of truth to the world, These-good people at home contribute con-tribute to the sustenance of proselyting emissaries in foreign lands; and they do so with tho understanding that their representatives shall utter no falsehood. Many of the men and women who are in attendance upon this conference- have sons out in the missionary field. Naturally, Nat-urally, they live iu the hope that these same sons are exponents of iho truth, aud uothiug but the truth. Before these- missionaries' depart for their several fields of labor they re ceive final instructions at the president's presi-dent's office, and those tcachiugs arc imparted to them as a guide for their conduct and their utterances before the world. Tt is not to be supposed for a moment lhat these final instructions arc purposely disregarded Vjy missionaries; so that when they preach to the Babylonians Baby-lonians it must be concluded that they are obeying the counsel givou lo them by the men who send them abroad. As a sample of one of tho slock utterances utter-ances now put 'into the mouths of tho proselytevs for the church, perhaps we' can do no better, or worse, than to reproduce what President Soren Peterson Peter-son has been telling to people in the London (England) conference. Here it is: That plural mari'Iase Is a vital tenet of the church Is not true. r " Of celestial celes-tial marriage plurality of wives was an incident, never an essential. The world is learning, to its manifest surprise, that polygamy and jMormonlsro arc not synonymous terms. We find that President MoQuarrie of the Eastern Stales missiou has ex-' pressed himself in a similar veiu upou several distinct pecasion.s. These men evidently are obeying instructions from headquarters, or they would be recalled. That proposition is perfectly plain to one who is acquainted with the practice prac-tice of. the directors of this missionary service. Apostle Charles W.- Penrose is president of the European 'mission, under whose direct supervision Elder, Sorenson pursues his labors. This is what Mr. Penrose has to say concerning plural marriage, which is now so strenu ously denied bv Mr. Sorenson as a "vital teneLV of tho church: The Mormons claim plural marriage as an cssi-ntlal part oC their religious faith, and maintain that it is practiced under the direct command of Dolly. If wo .should tnko sitops to destroy any part of our divinely revealed creed, wo should hold ourselves up to the world as Mara and hypocrites, or. to tho Uelng whom wo worship, as defiant apostates. Wc did not originate tho doctrine of celestial marrlnKc: wc have no right and no power to abolish it. I If this shall provo to bo insufficient j to destroy the pretended accuracy- of tho assertions made 1)3' Missionary Sorenson, Sor-enson, lot Tho Tribuuo quote the highest high-est living authority of the Mormon church. On Sunday, ."July 7, 187S, Jo-soph Jo-soph F. Smith preached a sennou iu this city which was reported by Gcorgo V. Gibbs, and published in the Dcserct News of September 7, TS7S. This is what Mr. Smith" had to say in repudiation repudia-tion of the doctrine taught by tho missionaries mis-sionaries of today: j Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was n sort of superfluity, or non-essential lo the salvn-r lion or exaltation of mankind. In other words, some of the saints have said, and believe, that a man with one wlfo, scaled' lo him by tho authority of the priesthood for time and eternity. Avill receive an exaltation as great and glorious, If he Is faithful, as ho possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter my solemn ' protest against this Idea, for J know it Is false. I understand tho law of celestial marriage lo mean thai every man hi this church, who has tho nblllty to obey and practice it In righteousness and will not, shall bi damned. 1 say I undRrstand It lo moan this and nothing cite, and 1 testify hi the name of Jesus j that It does mean that. Js theer anything changeable or unsubstantial un-substantial about doctrines that aro testified tes-tified to by the' prophets in tho name of the Savior 7 If, according to the Mormon Mor-mon idoa, there is no permanency to God's laws, what is there upon this oarlh that man can place his trust in.' Apparently President. Joseph F. Smith was once convinced lhat "the salvation of mankind dopended upon obedience to the principle of plural marriage. That he" has not changed in this respect is amply proven in lhc fact that he has not excommunicated one Mormon who has taken, now wives since the manifesto. Why, having tho belief, which he holds, docs he instruct his missionaries mis-sionaries to utter falsehood to tho world? 3Iow do you good Mormon men and women like the idea of having your sons sent out into the world to preach that, which you know, and Joseph F. Smith declares, is not true? |