Show AND prosperous SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM PREVAILS IN ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT AT ANNUAL conference declares decad res that every branch of vast 1 work of church ch has ha improved during past year and predicts greater improvement in the future salt lake city A spirit of optimism prevailed at tha eighty fourth conference of the church of jesus chrlie of latter day saints held in this city april eth to ath inclusive two be sessions salons baing being held each day president id joseph w ph P smith although buffering eTing from a heavy cold maue made the opening address and was in n a roost most optimistic mood declaring that the church la is stronger more unit oil ed and in a generally better condl tion today than it has ever been the president quoted statistics to show that every branch of the vast work of the church had improved d during u ring the past year and showed evidence of greater improvement in the future therefore the latter day saints sainta had reason to be optimistic At members embers were urged to put forth greater effort in an endeavor t fulfill their duty to the church they were shown wherein they erred and ad as to how they could better their physical mental and spiritual condition president smith spoke of those there who had worked against the interests ef ct the church and said that he believed that in time tima those who falsely ma aligned the people of gid would become ashamed ahamed of themselves and would cease to wag their tongues george albert smith member of the of apostles who spoke at the open session urged his bla hearers to take taka the words of the president home with the idea ot of improve ing their dally daily lives at the afternoon session charles W penrose of the first presidency and rudger clawson and heber T J grant of the quorum of twelve apostles were the speakers akeis chure church observance b servance marriage and prohibition being discussed apostle grant grani electrified the gathering with a powerful oratorical attack on the liquor traffic baffic and declared diat if the saints were given a chance to vote on an state wide prohibition there would PL bi an end of the liquor business in VA ut ih apostle Claw sons address was largely doe doc trinal dealing with th the e divine authority of the church and dwelling with emphasis upon the covenant of marriage tor for time and eterna eternity ty apos tj tie a penrose spoke of the divine origin brigi of the church and or of pie aln erent phases of 0 the mormon religion therein it Is different from ather denominations A feature ot of he conferee con conference feren was the ek excellent celle n f musical program many of af mhd I 1 leading musicians of othe he state and the west being present 1 two overflow meeting were 1 9 necessary sunday aft afternoon e it to accommodate those who could not even find room lif in the he doorways odthe of the thronged thron ged tabernacle one overflow meeting was necessary in the morning 1 MS x bora bers of the council of the twelve apostles were prominent among sundays speakers president jos joseph ep h F smith ed at the sessions ces in the he tabernacle president francis M 1 I lyman of the apostles quo quorum apostle george F I 1 richards ana apostle orson F whit ney the principal speakers in tha tb tabernacle at the morning meeting apostle A A W ivins was in charge of the overflow meeting in the morning at the assembly hall vital principles of the mornine faith were v ere expounded ht at the morning session of conference on sunday revelation the performing of miracles and the healing of the sick cpr calist among the subjects discussed attebe at the afternoon tabernacle meeting sermons were delivered by apostle david 0 INIc mckay Kay apostle joseph F smith jr aud and apostle jams E V tal r mage apostle heur heber J grant conducted the overflow meeting in the assembly hall with charles IL 11 hart joseph it geddes L N and walter P alonson as speakers elder benjamin goddard aks was la in charge of the open air meeting with andrew jensen samuel 0 ennion Yenn lorf andeer and german 11 ellsworth assisting the murray ward choir sang at the morning ai assembly hall meeting and the ogden tabernacle acla choir at the at af meeting the tabernacle choir rendered the musical program 11 in the tabernacle at the afternoon session absolon an exposi lion of the gospel and the word or of wisdom advice to teachers with a word of caution regarding the re responsibility spon lity that taht devolves upon them the duties of tue me church members and a refutation of those who seek to decry the bible and to cast doubt upon the gospel wore were subjects dwelt upon by the speakers among the interesting features sun duy day afternoon was aos the reading at tho the request of oc president dmit smith oe oc a ment front rom the church auditing committee the statement was read by apostle joseph F smith sinith jr thu the committee reported that ater after a careful and ant examination of the boks and accounts of tho p residing presiding bishopric they found them in 14 excel lc lent nt condition the committee stated that hat the accounts gave a full franx I 1 ind and intelligent statement or ol all re elpas and disbursements and added hat ha t the church was waa to be cong ratu abed for the business methods und ef e shown by the work of 0 the first presidency and the presiding bishopric ascii AB oil the opening day the ad tresses ses s made to tho the conference were it f an optimistic and happy nature E each ach sl speaker eaker tallied talked ot of the excellent of the th church affairs and pointed d out the matters which ho he 10 bp loved s should hould show nit an improvement in ht the coming year the musical programs were thoroughly appreciated the famous tabernacle choir WAS at its best beat fully people crowded every available inch of space in the great tabernacle at each of the two general sessions after every one of the general authorities ties of the church had been sustained by unanimous vote the last session ot of the eighty fourth foai ta annual conference of the mormon church closed monday afternoon the many visitors departed for their homes with the blessing of their president who attended every session of the conference and with tho the assurance that the tha conference just closed is the best and most promising r onil sing in the history of the church the great tabernacle was coffi comfortably filled monday morning wh when L president smith called the meeting to order seymour B young senior president of the first coun council ellof of seventies made the tha opening address ile he gave some interesting information regarding the spreading of the gospel among the nations of the earth elder elde brigham 11 roberts of tho the first council of seventies followed with an interesting resume of tho the churchs churche history as it taught the lessons of sacrifice and service to hu manity inanity lie he recalled the sacrifices made by the pioneers to bring the people from Aliss missouri ourt to utah and of the early labors of the missionaries throughout the world rulon 31 11 wells of the first council of sev seventies was the first speaker at the ater afternoon noon sessi session he said that the latter latac day saints ought not to pi preach anything that they lid did not at least make aake an aa attempt to practice lie he urged the saints to be engaged in lighting fighting sin bin but told them that at the tha same time they hey should be full of love and charity tor for their fellow men joseph W AleAl ln another member of the first council of the seventies said he was glad that the saints after attending conference always said that the conference in question was the tha best beat ever held lie he said this feeling indicated a sustained interest and progress on the part of the church members levi edgar foung oung took up a discussion of somo some qt Q the which william james and other noted palillo gophers haavald haa had said sald about the need of religion he said lie he was glad that joseph smith was not a schooled man because the little pedagogic ples pies would have stunted his being ile he wits was not schooled said the speaker that is wiy why he was a bredt 1 man charles W nibley presiding b bishop ish said that the world for somo some years past had bad been looking for an easy religion but he said the mormon religion was not that kind ile he said as taught by the mormon church was an exacting thing and urged men to ta live up to it man alan cannot be saved except babis by hla own own eker exertion tion said bishop nibley no one can bless your soul unless Y you on are willing to help yourself the lord cannot help a man who will not help himself we have a lot to do for ourselves we are working toward a united order it will come coma in time but even then the individual will still have to develop himself president patriarch hyrum hyram G smith affirmed the things which had been said during the conference and addressing himself to tho the young people of the church said that he would exhort the youth of zion to follow more closely in fit the footsteps of the older leaders of the church and not to forget the lord and their parents and the duties they owed to them apostle A W ivins then read the report ot of the church auditing committee which was read at the sunday meeting and naked asked the conference what it would do with the tha report on the motion of 0 president john W hart of rigby stake the report was accepted and a vote veto of thanks extended to the committee the authorities were then presented by apostle ivins and unanimously sustained III 1 I feer certain that the spirit of the conference Is pleasing to the lord said president smith in closing tho the meeting 1 I am satisfied that lie he approves of the counsel and admonitions given here may blay god bless israel and may the blessing rest especially on the presiding officers of the church and its auxiliary organizations |