| Show jw ALL FOR THE OF ZION elder speaks OB the power of llie spirit the usual sabbath of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints were held in the meetinghouse meeting house on sunday afternoon at 2 elder david holdaway presiding prayer was offered by elder andrew watson the choir yang come all ye saints who dwell oa earth your cheerful voices raise tho sacrament iras by tho bishopric of alie Thi rdWard ELDER LEWIS P HARVEY alluded to his labors in the home missionary field in meeting with tho saints around their fi resides and doing all he could to comfort and encourage them in the things that pertain to salvation if we aro faithful in our callings we will be prepared to meet the trials coming on this people for we are going to bo tried to the uttermost in order that god may prove our integrity under every condition for many years past the gospel had been the speaker s great hope and he was greatly desirous to live up to the principles it embodied ha rolern bored fifty years ago when nt the waters edge ready for baptise how that the thought entered hio mind am I 1 ready to servo the lord in every condition to this he felt to answer yes the lord being his helper and he was pleased now to say that he had managed to prove true to the lord for those fifty years and his great desire now was to continue to the end he had suffered more than tongue can toll in the persecutions heaped upon the saints in missouri and he did not know that the lord would ever demand him to pass through such an ordeal again we are here simply for the love of the truth and in obedience to the command of the lord this is what we are living for and it should le our maia thought and labor to stand firm through the present scene of persecution the saints are required to live by faith that they might bo able to make the work of whole study and trust in the lord for divine help in every circumstance the spirit of the lord should at all times rest with us for our feet will then be upon the everlasting rock when jesus related his parable of the foolish man building his house upon the sand he did so to impress upon peter the importance of having the lords divine help the gospel caused us in babylon to yearn for the privilege of gathering to zion and we not only crossed the raging ocean and tracked the dreary prairie for the accomplishment of this but have passed through sore trials since being here viewing all this and knowing that god is still with us can wo afford to make shipwreck of our faith not at all but we must persevere to the end I 1 am oftentimes led to sorrowful contemplation when I 1 see aged men who have reared large families and have spent the best part of their years in the church leave the good old ship and go back into the beggarly elements of the world how much more pleasant the condition of the faithful elder who has kept fast hold of the truth and has raised his sons and daughters in the fear and admani tion of the lord all men are naturally spiritually minded and it takes honest men and women to be latter day saints it takes good men to buildup the church of god any person car tear it down I 1 know this is a day of trial and that it will take all our time and energy to endure to the end stumbling blocks are placed in tho way of the faithful that they might have moro reason to bo proud of their conquest in my labors I 1 have found men who have yielded to these temptations and have in consequence lost their first lovo for the gospel but when the ashes have been raked away there I 1 have found the spark of the truth and they bayo exclaimed yes I 1 lovo the gospel ever since I 1 embraced the gospel I 1 have experienced joy and satisfaction in all my varied conditions I 1 knew god has been my helper and that he will tako care of me for not a sparrow falls to tho gromad without the father knows it and eloa abo very hairs of our head are numbered wo have doubtless experienced perien ced times in our lives like paul experienced when he exclaimed when I 1 would do good evil presented itself but the victory comes when we resist these evil and manfully do the will of god the highest aim of my life is to comfort my brethren and administer consolation to the downhearted to help read tho clouds and cause the sunshine of truth to dawn upon choir hearts the speaker closed by invoking the blessings of god upon the people G next addressed the aa doting it always gives me peculiar pleasure to hear a missionary speak ono who is in the midst of his ministry and filled with the spirit of I 1 mission the influence he m carry with him in order to v t his fedow men is always pu and heavenly and appeals to the hi no matter how humbly and broken his language nor how ungainly his gestures if he have the spirit of god it will penetrate the hearts of those honestly seeking truth on the other hand a man may talk with all the pomp of rhetoric and elocution may intoxicate our senses by elocution and gesture ma e intellect the imagination y the admiration in turn ot his sermon be a failure fai luro failed to touch the spiritual there is that in the instructions f the spirit that no art cau which of you today to day for instance has not come with some desire in his heart with some question about which ho desires light and which he has made a matter of prayer it is not within the province of any man be he ever so wise to anticipate these varied wants and supply the balm of comfort to every mind nothing but the spirit of god can do this if therefore under circumstances such as today to day anyone should go away dissatisfied with the meeting let him not blame the speaker the blame lies with himself the spirit of god is ever ready to sow some seed of truth for instruction for corn fort and consolation wherever the soil is prepared let a man hunger after truth and righteousness and he will never go avay but how often does it happen that men leave a meeting full of harsh criticism on the day of of the peo pie present saw cloven tongues of fire resting upon the apostles and heard the plan of salvation made plain while others declared these men are drunk with hew wine I 1 remember having heard president young in the tabernacle on the return from the dedication of the st george temple if ever prophet spoke by the power of god it was on that occasion it wa as if living fire coursed through my veins I 1 beheld many others similarly affected when after meeting a number of us were exchanging cur experiences what was our surprise sur prisa to find one of our acquaintances quain come up with the remark did you ever hear such foolish talk from the stand before my only reply was and some said the apostles were filled with new wine thus it is in our meetings today to day some are moved to thank the lord for revealing precious truths to their minds while others 0 o anayas empty as they came it is not the speaker but the audience that makes the meeting the choir sang the anthem blessed be the lord god of israel benediction was pronounced by elder joseph B keeler |
