Territorial Enquirer | 1886-10-12 | Page 1 | An Epistle of the First Presidency

AN EPISTLE OF FIRST presidency to the church Chirch of jesus christ of let lat ter day saints dear brethren awl bofro six months have passed away since we re last hud the th pleasure of addressing ton on through our oar general epistle and ad we find ourselves face to face with the fifty sixth semi be m i annual boarer nee enee of the church in this disi ansa tion the past six months have beet been very vary fruitful in events io in which all of OB have licen deeply interested the has been baeli a healthful one ab nb CO worthy ot of note has affected oni oar unpleasantly the sod bum nier mer bus bits been both unusually dry and hot anti anil nhuy of the crops have not y yielded i folded I 1 as rood good a r return e turn KB its nevertheless our car land is still filled with wilb plenty inq ami in man an and beast have sufficient to supply their wants persecution AND ITS EFF ECTa 0 our or enemies luring during the past half bair bear have hare not slackened their activity in the work of persecution af it there has been tiny any difference it has been pursued with greater vindictiveness and more flagrant agrant ii disregard of law arid justice than at any time previous those who have been compelled to end en aure urethe ittle ties inflicted j them have submitted in nearly every instance with a cheerful equanimity and nd fortitude that must have won the admiration dati ration of heaven and of all just men that which has been accod furnishes but little causti cause for agrati gratification fi cation to those who have been engaged in ili the inhuman task of per ie batio g a people fur abo the practice of their heir t religion there have been but bat few persons in all who have been tried and convicted who have felt suf euf terrified at the prospect oct of punishment to express a willingness to accept the rulings of the court in tead stead of the law of god as the guide tor or their consciences the faith of the latter day sainte seems to grow stronger from these of ef forts to do destroy troy it and men women bud and child children rn who have been liying living in in the practice of the requirements require u iro menta ments of 1 their heir religion feel more determined than ever to maintain main itin their integrity and to do all that the lord requires at their hands bands with cheerful ch erfal willing ness whatever may lie be the conse conae luencen a point ol of view new this persecution cution is not without its ita effects upon those who have bare made a I 1 prete naB of 0 being faithful members of the he church iniquity js is being bein brought to light the wrongdoer is in being made mada to feel in a most remarkable manner that his hia sin will find him outa out and the evidence that god js is pleading with and awakening the consciences of those who have been living in sin bin is frequently furnished to na as there have veen been many violations of the tb law of god practiced among us which have been bidden from the public gaze the trials through which we are passing have the effect of causing these evils to be brou brought tord 1 to light it seems as though the be lord is tearing the covering coming not only from the oa ca eions of the tb earth but from the lat ter day saints and the time is not far distant in fact it has bas reached us as already in part when the sinner id in zion shall tremble and fear shall seizo seize upon the tb hypo hypocrite crita TIU or OF ZOOM ZOO X so far as we can learn there is in an increased disposition on the part of the faithful officers cors of the church to do all in their power to cleanse the warda IV ards and stakes in their char charge 9 a irom from those who w will il I 1 not conform to the requirements of the gospel greater strictness is being shown sod and the saints who lave have the love of the truth within them hem feel that the time has come to put kheiri fol lies and their sins sine far from them and to conform to a higher standard of th tb great t ot of this generation is yrea in its various forms satan knowing bow powerful au an agency this asin is in corrupting inea aud and women an I 1 in driving the spirit from thew them and bringing them under condemnation before the lord lieis it to the great oa ent extent possible it requires an incessant warfare to check its spread and to prevent the be people of god irom froat becoming its victims NO peo 10 pis ipe who practice or count counte ananca natice X these bias sins can be ba accepted of the lord or er find favor in his sight eight his anger will v fall upon them unless they thoroughly and heartily rep repent e nt of every much evil when we take lake into consideration the teachings we have reane upon subject th the into which we lave have enter d and the professions which we make should lave ime no ex istance among us it ib is sorrowful to contemplate that satan finds those among us wild who are willing to yield to bis big temptations and abul bring tn mis pry upon themselves and all connect td with then we solemnly call as WA lie VO done dona ou BO often before upon ill allalie be oft lepre of the church charch 0 to o set their facas like flint against practices of this eharth those who indalos in 1 thein must b be dealt with accordi according to 0 ilia IIA laws of 0 OW sod and they mast inest bg be de to ferl feel that it they hey do indulge ia in this wickedness t tibey a cachot have the fellowship ot of the saints 1 nor a standing in the church charch of chr chrtt it men sod and iv would on only profit 0 by Y the experience 0 of those YX wha h have fallen they would resist the allots of sin in and wit walk in the path 0 of i rho wages of sin bin is la at death gb the aha misery which it brings upon the guilty and upon nil all con tie t e d arith them furnishes famishes some ideal idoft 0 f the abe dreadful condition ot of the w wicked who the die in in their sins sins anti and do not obtain the forgiveness of their god 01 that men and women could be warned and thay would turn to t he lord nod and so boek k onto him bumble before alim put away their sins bins and obtain uia llis holy spirit to he be their guide and their compan ion ion then no matter what the circum might be in in which they were placed they would havo have the pence macs of 0 heaven ti eaven the joy of the holy gaoat and a mou science void of to wards god and man and this ie la th HIP condition in in which every latter day saint should live DIT BY tilt SITUATION the circumstances circum atances which surround Bur round u us St though hough in in many respects ecta pair ifal an and try trying n 9 are no not t such na as todis to dia co urge courage the faithful saint we have been t taught bug lit to such s scenes as those through which we wa are passing or at least just such lion as M we now have to contend with what we now behold is in direct ful ailment of the predictions of gods god I 1 servants auts to tons us in this generation and unless these events take place his word could not bo be fulfilled fullil led not only have the prophets in our day spoken about the events which should take place in connection with I 1 the he latter day work and the tion it would have to contend with but the prophets Prop hats of with accuracy and mi a attriess ate riess that the people ol of god should be few and their dominions should be small because of the wickedness of the tha the graat whore which should make war against them but notwithstanding i that the multitudes of the ha earth should fight against the church of the lamb ot of god the power of god would descend upon the saints and upon lipon his covenant people und sad they should be ba armed with righteousness and with the power of f god sad and great glory the tha scones scenes in which we are now taking part were known to men ot of god by th the espirit spirit of 0 revelation thousands of years year sago ago but while they predicted the troubles and I 1 cul cultrea ties with which the people of god ceplo w would have to cortezi contend in the last days in every everk instance in stanco they broke out oat in in language of encourage encouragement meat re spec the result of the struggle and predicted tho the completo triumph of gods god a kingdamo over all the appos powers power s 0 evil contest which h h ris is forced upon oswo us wa do not dot wage lk a d defenza 0 feted that ibao it is hope less aea the god of heaven is on 0 n our oar side aide ho he has made promises to zion which i cannot fall he is mightier than all of earths hosts hoses and by his wonderful haap providence dence can bring to pass in hia own way the fulfillment fulfilment ot ath pl arslain the w of his inspired servants upon this foundation tonn dation wo wa can rust reid se ours care no weapon thu that is formed against zion can prosper and every tongue that shall rise figal against not her in judgment ahall bo be condemned our enemies enemies gloat ove overt rf the pros roe I 1 ol of our destruction 4 evan evaa those he if who feel inclined to be b friend friendly lican can see no pros prospect i hect for our deliverance ex except cap t joy by the a abandon b an don kontof men t of our religion but it is better for us ui to dle die than to abandon our godl we cannot do this without throwing away all hope ros respecting thi future sod and the be great eternity that abat awaits us we ve know that there is no latter day saint who feels eela for one moment like yielding td the demands of the wicked our oar religion is ia given tou tossom to som puru God we have received it by the revelations revelation i of jesu sious to us when all the world was waa in darkness and straggling and con I 1 tending leading about doctrines and ordinal ces he con descended to restora the everlasting priesthood from t tha he heavens and his gospel in its i pur purity I 1 t and falness and power dwor wi we were leat left no longer to grope in theda tha dark rk and to follow the traditions of our fathers or I 1 the ha false teachings of uninspired ni eDThe Th path of salvation was wits plain ly marked boford us na cou confirmed firmed to us by the unerring teb of gods holy spirit our goals in walking in that path halo bin bein filled with in effable joy and ami peace whilo while others who hava baa the truth have won been and fearful concerning the events that wore were taking place and that were likely to take place we have bail bad a peace a satisfaction of mind and a contentment that have made oar position tion unique god has baa 91 given on unto is ua the frails of his gos goa pel in great abundance abanian ce we behold them in our family organizations we wd behold them in our wards and in our St stakes aies and in our entire church ilia his blessings bles aings have bave visibly rested upon us ns power has beau di played in our behalf every faithful latter aay saint has baa rejoiced in the shad dance of the gifts of the spirit which ile he has bestowed lanO and no promise thai that wai was medd ta thearic ancient leat saints or that has haa been made to ns asa upon the condition of our conr faithfully obeying the gospel has boon been with held from us we have been a poo pie greatly blessed of the lord and our oar berts shoula swen swell with gratitude sod end to our god for his abundant mercies merci 8 BEAR EACH dubicka we again call upon tho the presidents Prea identa of stakes and the bishops of wards to look carefully after the wants gfall of all who are within their jurisdiction and 2 land aland in need of assistance especial 1 11 should tho the families famil ioB of those who are in prison or who have been corn com pend to gee flee or who are cupon apon mis siona be tenderly cred for they need both aid and sympathy those upon whom the lie heavy hand of perse cution cation does doea not personally rest should be willing to share the burdens of 0 their afflicted br ethern a od raby contributing to the corat comfort ort und and see BUS ten cenance ance of those who are deprived of the society and guidance of husbands and fathers for righteousness sake by so BO doing they will jay up treasures in heaven en and share the reward for these trials the weight of this V per 0 r a een tion falls upon the women a and d children deprived of the pros presence e in 1 an and d support of their husbands abed and fathers upon whom they have been dicou to rely they are cempura dively bebless and naturally a prey to deep anxiety the care and training of the children thus bereaved do de dolves upon their bur denis den is made doubly heavy to bear the teachers Tea chera should be particularly diligent in visiting a seeh families land and in watching over their r welfare thus the hands of the mothers should be strengthened the young encouraged tua the wayward admonished and the heroin example of the tha heads of those households honse holda hold held up for or admiration and everything possible should be done to make their situation tolerable aud pleasant in this way we can bear each others burdens and so fal III fil the law of christ and witness to our god and to though we may not personally suffer tion our sympathy and faith are with those who are afflicted for adherence ence to their religion and that we are ready and willing to do our part apart and manifest our devotion to the cause of christ JUDICIAL MD oppression the district courts coarts of Utah still pursue their extreme vindictive and unrelenting course the law is per averted not justly administered the object appears to be not the e mahute nance of social purity nor the purita cation of alleged ayi evil but the opples sion bion anti and of individuals because of oc their religious position ithe iho latter day bain saints ts are under the most t sacred obliga tinos to do the will of god at the same game time they wish to td obey every valid law of the the land but bat by tho the strained later interpretation pre tation and d on warrantable unwarrantable app tea tion ot of the edmunds act men tire are made offenders because of their re ligizos scruples eo and rendered criminals finals when they are rigl fairly ame to the law defendants Daten danta to the evidence have lived with one wife are presumed to havo have cohabited with another wire wife and thus are convicted convict ad of cohabiting w with ith more than one woman when on the presumption is obliterated by the proof la in other eases when parti esin their desire to observe the requirements of the edmunds act have privately agreed to the voluntary relinquish ment of association as husband and wife the husband has not escaped tho the vengeance vange ance of the law thou though there are numbers of instances in stancer chor where I 1 such parties have honestly endeavored ende avord 8 to live within the law yet whenever indictments have been bean found hush husbands ands have almost invariably been convict ed and sentenced to the fell fall penalties of bf fine and jim we take this opportunity of recording conr high appreciation of the spirit cf self sac enc i i which has been manifested by pur our bisters throughout the entire era aade e ade they have fortitude a courage p a devotion deyo deyot tion ioa and love which must br ba the admiration ol of posterity they have not faltered in their devotion to the principles of righteousness have not shrunk from the consequences 1 attending colt to 0 god gods law aw aud and have been it a source of strength et and ad to their lius hand bands and lad their fathers there are numerous instances which have come to our knowledge of wives offering to malto make the most heroic alices to save their husbands from the penalties of the law contrary to the jurisprudence of centuries legal wives are sare compelled under threats of to testify agai against not their lawful Ins husbands bands and disclose family secrets that never be bated to the public eye this is a gross violation of thalah the lav under which they act aud opposed to family rights and by the system of so aa gre gation an kofl