| Show GROW > OF O MI r AND T MKS l = = Delivered lit the General Conference of the Churoli In I the Dlfooune Sat Tabornaolo Salt Lake City Saturday April 7th IBB4 by ELDER FRANKLIN D RICHARDS = = = = IagrOtTttt M ARTHIR UITIR Deloed hearers I rejoice greatly ln the opportunity that is I gIven ua In this The testimony thai has Conference lien given by the brethren who hale poken hu been to varied l and l dUeisi tied thai II would scent as lf I every i pricing mind l mu t have found tome could lake home o him that l he thing I set sod eel that In had been Mind I r + d M-ind enlightened In the knowl ol the truth The growth of the mof God In these latter dots brings t I rant day to day such new develop I rats of experience M to call forth also rrtnomlinic Initiuclluns lulled to our condition 10 that as varied as our e i ry untuned ate or miy he we get li upon line precept upon precept here I little and there A little for all UK conditions through which wo arc tought to pass and It brings lo those who are I uly living their religion In ceased testimonies of the truth Those w > 0 were In the world living honestly to lure God according to the light they lid prior to the revelations of the present I dispensation hy the Prophet 1 I Joseph were inn petition of Imllfica non Nevertheless there was a con Hint yearning for lomelhln more > u M hue did not yet possess and in linking around l and trying > to find that I i mithing else which would ullily the tumtn soul we could not find It among i ur lei owl They who claimed to be i teacher had It not to give to us V were told we limit not pry Into m > stetles and that what had been re ruled and laid down was all they had the right or the power to offer us When this Gospel cane to us And we sera permitted to look Into ll when our near kinsmen came nnd told 1 us that God had raised up a Prophet that lie had given new revel lIons that lie had revealed a record called the Hook of Mormon behold what did we find We found l that In searching these principle prin-ciple thus revealed there wai tint which satisfied thl hungering and thirst t log that we had alter something more We found tint giving obedience unto these principles there was gKen usln I turn from the hoavent A latlmony that made us lo know and that verified the word uf the I Lord wherein lie II had i I prombed that If any man would reader obedience to those doctrine he should I know and Hut knowledge sliould be increased in-creased Vo commenced thus search inn sod In that search we he Ixcn successful La find that which satisfies the soul even the most IntelliKent among mankind when the I > apply humbly at the deerl ol r Jesus J for Il the knowledge of the truth and the testimonies testi-monies of j Ills I i Spirit Hiding I a nllil I ment of 111 I promises at the very threshold of our search Into the order of the kl gdom of Got we were thus multlied thus fed thin strengthened nnd led to feel that for f these testimonies we could offer ourselves all that we were and l hid and lay our lives upon the altar for the knowledge which Cod I had I thus given unto us This was ll the solid I and satisfying start that we made In our search for the I truili And r oh I what blessing II gatelollo repentant sinner to know that by going don Into the water and coming forth out of the water under that hand of one author lcd of God his sins were forgiven and remitted and further to receive by the la that gift of the hr 1 loly Ghost which should abide with him It abode with IK and led 111 Irom knowledge to knowledge front faith to Will Increasing our light and It has been growing nl brighter and brighter ni Ilho faithful can testily to thin day With the knowledge of every new principle our joy has been Increased or cup has been filling up and If I we Iate been active laborers I In the I ministry I min-istry our Influence and power have been increasing and extending not merely with our fellow men on the I earth hut with the heavens no that the rnl 11 blessings and favor Intelligence and revelillon ti > which the Stints are entitled en-titled have been Increasing unit growing VI IJrrr rr unllilthe III r brighter i and brighter t until the present lime The great and grand object with lit li that they shall by our faithful lives grow brighter 1 still until time perfect day rl ro when what we now see In pail ue shall then see In full and when we having placed our evil propensities under our tent and triumphed over them by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by t f1 least II I our testimony shall obtain I tla crown In the kingdom of our God The path way to this is through obedience to every pnnull that has been revealed and that shall lie revealed making apart a-part ol our lives and l pracllre The I otd gracious y told the brethren I breth-ren In the early dais I hi I the Irlett hood bath continued through Ihe lineage line-age of your fathers for ye are lawful heirs according to the flesh and your lives have been hid fnmi the world with Christ in God What a glorious development de-velopment 11 hat Ihe Prletlhood comedown come-down from the days of the ancients through the dark and bloody Channels of war mid rumor of uar cusades and imMCUioni Yes certainly It n evident he I eye of lod I has been over us nml the eyra of Ills angels have watched over the continuation of the lathers down lluough the generations that liuvr come unto us Thill ll shown hy Ihe very foal Dial the Lord has cared for a lineage which I has given you and 1 me the right lo the Holy l rrieslhoodand has awakened our souls to trace back that lineage as tar as ll can be dlscov eyed by records I dreams or vMon or revelations or by the Urlm and 1 Thttinmini until we go back with our labors on that lineagi and thus return 1h ln achtnowlesigntent I the only grateful acknowledgment we can nuke to them for being our fathers and mothers and Riving lit such honor ante blrlh awl I at such a Inrush of time when the Priesthood t Is revealed again I and that we ran receive I vr Messing i ol 1 untold wolth that we nose ourselves Ihal I know the full aluo of unlll we overcome lint motUhty put on immor lahty and enter Into Ihr etallatlon which Is promised unto the fulthlul Speaking concerning the testimony of Elder Imail about those who hate sought to rise up and apiiear to the I word as bating a right lo tho Presidency Presi-dency they claim to have obe > ed all I rJJI hl il or revolutions which ol the were given to the Prophtt Joseph Ih 1 Prophet re celted the word of the lord that II was our duly In Nituvoo lo build n temnle which said lie l my iteople are alwaa l Ii rJe rommanded to build unto my holy name Yet concerning those who I mike the claim to being the only true I Lauer Jay Saints on earth we have not heard even of their undertaking to build a temple while I we have built half a dozen ol them I need not stop to talk About that We are on the road toe to-e In Intelligence In fellowship with Ihe angels and with the just made perfect and are already nude partaken In some measure of this powers of the world to come How glorious was alter that E I Ijili hid come and revealed this ancient order of things concerning the fathers and the children Ihe Temp e at Klitland In pursuance of what the Prophtt MaUchl had said he would do before the great and terrible day of the Lord low 1 our fathers that have gone before hale turned unto ut < And so have we turned as children unto our fathers I to lose I them I and lo seek after them and to know tlut we cannot be made perfect without them nor they without us It ton I glorious work People come Into the Church and gather with the Saints almost Iron the anliKxl They have recited the Holy Ghost and what I drrslt Jot It nukes Iholll just AS one of the Apoilles anckntly said God hath lent forth the Spirit of Ins Son Into their hearts crying Abba I ether l They oaturaliyinetina after the lineage II of their fathers and f If YIh hate not < Itthey persevere until they find one who shall teach Instruct and lead lend them along unto eternal life II they cannot hind their lineage they lee r l afflicted and distressed I and cut oil In their parts Tula u that feeling which comet upon Ihe people when they receive the Holy l Spirit Hut mikes them to cry Abba FMner They want lo know the spirit ol Ihe lather and the iloclrlnei of the Gospel revealed unto them Ue have great reason lo rejoice hl In Cod who has revealed io these things Soon alter the Prophet E IJ aim appeared l In the KIMIand tempe the Prophet I Joseph was led to teach us the doctrine ul baptism for the dead Oh what n world i of labor that has given us What a ihet it hat Imparted Many die tout Many felt that they would die cheeifully If they could give to their lathe land mothers who where dead Ihe blessing thai they enjoyed in the Church of Lhnsif Yet there are many who nave not yet put uhf the ways of the ienliles and have not come to this sensibility We have only just betun with 1 this labor ant pel haps some of us have not begun just right I recollect when the 1rophetjotepn first revealed the baptism hue the dead some went II I down In the river and were nap l < ed men for women and women forum I Hut the Lord I soon gave lo the Irophet i Joseph lo organise and syilemathsi lm II rlle whole I thing and to tie I roil about this order uf the lathers being turned and I united bound and sealed to the chi dren and the children to Ihe fathers sodas will i yet have the privilege ol 1 Melngour generations I connected back i If 1 f w e continue on and lulu ril eternal tile we shall nee them connected clear back no doubt to ancient Noah and to our more ancient rather 1 Adam In the eaily days ol tribulation In the Church iI the Loral r encouraged Ihe brethren by telling them that they were laying Ihe foundation ol a great and mighty work 1 recollect how it used to cheer soot In the midst of our t persecutions If I we are living cortectly before the lord our testimonies Increase our light gross clearer and clearer and we am strenghtened In the way of rlghleousnttt and truth I testify slut during the past year I have readied more abundantly Ihu freedom of Ihe Holy I Spirit mote blessing and mini fetlttlon ol the power ol God among the wople than before The blessings In the Increased low of the Spirit that hate come upon them since the dedication I lion ol the Temple I In I this city has been like an endowment of the whole people brethren and sisters cling lolL De diligent In keeping the commindmenls of God abiding In the covenants seeking seek-ing to do good and In soar temporal things to provide for jour wants and not depend upon tilling llabylon If prophecy Is I fulfilled In us today what about that prophecy that says that a great cry shall l comu un from Babylon greatll a merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over for no man buclh their merchandise any more Ilrother llrlgham tried InceMantly to pursuade Ul to establish home Indus tries here provide I our own boots and shoes and our own clothing and he talked to the sisters about making their I I own hat Instead ol sending our money abroad os we have done lime everything that I we wanted We hate been like a carcass with eagles I gathered around rl4II fir They have found that we are n good people to trade with We have had the credit of keeping our promises and we have earned a character In the East as btlngA people that have the fewest number of bad debit I of any territory or stale in the West They love to come and deal with us ersuading us to buy this tint and the other lnfr we would be constrained to make uur own bouts I Blues and clothes and patron lie home productions we coud soon get the balance of trade on to the other column 01 our ledgers Why cannot the Latter tlaY Saints lake this as apiece a-piece of counsel from the authorities ol the Church Let us also raise our own provisions There Is I no part ol the r7i Iol broad 1 land i of Zion that yields I better heat better grain of neatly all kinds belief potatoes or letter fruit We were renowned Irons ocean to ocean for our choice fruit until Ihe worms and Insects got Into It and made It undesirable undesir-able hut If wa calls turn lo the Lord i with all our hearts and put away our wrong dealing wherein we strew our ways to strangers He l will turn away the i destroyer for our oaken and wilt make everything again to bloom and prosier i lor us Then the merchants from abroad will be able to say that nobody I buys their goods because we will have the goods ol our own manufacture What lid the angel of the Lord who brought Gospel through the midst of heaven to every nation kindred I tongue and people soy He said Tear God and ule glory to Him for the hour ol I lit judgment Is come Do we not I tee thai Ills Judgments are spreading destruction nround u1 lint we have not vet had to Usle much of them He l hat keen r uncommonly merciful r unto us making our fields to abound with plenty and giving us to rest In peace here His I judgments are In Ihe earth and In all our calculations we ought to remember thinLet Let us keep In mind the parable of the rich man whoso ground brought forth plentifully and who thought to build larger barns to hold his produce He laid within 1 himself SouUlhou past much KIHHS laid up lOfVJJny years take thine ease eat drink and hi merry II What was the result The Lord laid to him Ihim fool tills night thy soul shall be required ol Ihee then whose shall those things he which thou halt provided We should be lrugal and enterprising prom ide fur our necessities and for those who may come loan and become an lnde I > Ir emit pooh Ie We can do It If I We will All these neusuiles come out of Ihe earth It 1 Is the larmer that should be the independent man get up an culll ale his Sand In the season Urn and at his convenience he can read his I newspaper and hit books Tliere Is no branch of human labor that gives a man such a variety of execute lor nil lilt acuities at does that of good agrtcul lure The firmer is l the man that should l be encoungeil The miners could not dig the mountains down nor open the bowels of Ihe earth If they had not bread to eat The gold and diver would have to lay there till eternity came and went h they did not have the victuals lo eat and clothes to weir teed dent Young was sensible and wise In this He I told us iI we would raise the bread l and dinner others would come and do the uncertain work of digging down Ihe hills My brethren and listen this our great work as I have said open new methods of conduct new featur of corresK > ndlng doctrine and pie < cpl 10 guide us ll we but keep out lamp trimmed and the lyk Ghost burning I in us to give Us understanding in a1 I our ways the pathway of our feet will grow brighter i dl brighter j I unto the perfect day May I the Lord l grant this I lo be the common lot ol His people ami the particular par-ticular lot of every man newt woman that will take the revelations of divine truth for the light of their counsel keep Ihe commandments and covenants they lave made diligently and faithfully I to the r God will rpa Ul according to 11 it own good pleasure accomplish Ihe work He hot assigned unto us IInlfl |
