Show utterances AT of SAINTS president joseph F smith declares church is in sympathy with movement for curtailment of liquor traffic record break ing attendance of conference salt lake city at the opening session of the seven seventy ty elgh eighth th annual conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in this city on oil april 4 it Is estimated that the attendance was larger than for any opening day in the past gitil few exceptions all the high authorities of the church were present in addition to president smith there were on the stand tho the counsel lors of the first presidency joh john R winder and anthon 11 lund all of the tha apostles were present save two tho file absentees were reed smoot who Is in washington and C W penrose who Is on a mission to europe president smith in his address at tile tho opening session declared that tile the church wa was s in sympathy with tile the movement that Is sweeping the country for a curtailment of the liquor traffic other speakers members of the quorum of twelve apostles apostal also urged the more general observance of the rules of temperance saying sating that the embargo laid on excesses in tile the word or of AVIs wisdom doln la Is a commandment riot not only with regard to strong drink but as well in respect to tobacco profanity arid and tea and coffee the church was declared to he be la in a I 1 etter better condition than ever before tile tho auxiliary societies were reported to be flourishing as never they had in tile tho past the testimony of president smith and other speakers was that tho the favorable conditions were a fact in a spiritual as well as a temporal way the laws laid down in the gospel are observed with greater fidelity than they have ever been it was asserted president smith in tho the beginning of his remarks extended a welcome to the saints it was extremely gratifying he e said to see so great an outpouring of people we have every reason said president smith to feel grateful to tile the lord for his mall manifold manfold blessing showered upon us its since our last conference the eyes of the almighty are upon his people and ho he Is 18 mindful of their welfare we do not claim any lionor honor for the deliverance of our people from enemies and opposition we thank god for his mercies and blev blessings sings the president said paid that it was written that woe is unto them by whom offenses come and a day of reckoning is sure to come the speaker said that lie he did not tor for an instant doubt the truth and divinity of tilo tho gospel that has been restored to man feeling reference was made to tho the brothers and sisters who had been called by death since the last conference saying that they had gone to await the resurrection on oil the subject of temperance th tho 0 president said 1 I believe the time is near at hand when we shall observe the laws of temperance in accordance with the word woid of wisdom we find that tile the lord knew better than we when lie he gave that revelation when see a man mail professing to bo be a member of the church befouling his mouth with tobacco and liquor it pains me greatly and my heart goes out to him in regret we believe in strict temperance we believe in abstinence sti nence from all poisonous and pernicious things just now there is a amov movement ement spreading over this country for the extension of local option arid and I 1 hope that every latter day saint will cooperate 0 with this temperance movement I 1 and my brethren are in harmony with the movement we think the people ought to have the right to say whether they will have drunkenness murder robbery and riot in their midst or whether they will have peace the president declared the th e auxiliaries I 1 of the church to be in excellent condition he said they they were active and energetic and declared that the spirit of contention Is not known among tho the latter day saints arid and is present only among those who have become apostates and have lost tile the spirit of the gospel president smith in making a partial report said that on december 31 1907 there were in tm the field 1810 missionaries during the year there were sen out elders anti and returned the returning fees of these being paid by the church F orty forty four sisters accompanied their husbands husban dd on missions president smith said that the elders who go out into tit the e field do 10 so at their own expense and support themselves while in the field john R winder of the first presidency spoke of t the lie work performed in the temple last year referring to the gasification felt at the additional interest taken in the work of redemption for the dead the work performed in the temple said mr air winder has often been so great that people ale have been turned away not infrequently ly president anthon 11 lund spoke on tho the principle of gathering lie said that moroni taught it to joseph before any one was baptized into the church president lund arid that revelations bearing oll oh the subject of gathering were given to the church during the first years of its existence at first orare was little to encourage enco tho the young prophet joseph in the belief that the gatherings of gods goda people would ever reach tho magnitude foretold in the revelations but it nas all come true the speaker said that the idea of migrating to utah lid did riot not originate with brigham young but with the prophet joseph who predicted that in those these regions a fruitful and pleasant place of abode would be found at the afternoon session apostle francis F lynian lyman spoke on the temperance question saying that the members bers of tile the church are it a temperate people and that this great wave of temperance Is sweeping the country no people are so well prepared as the latter day saints in further praise of the cleanliness of the lives of the latter day saints mr air lyman said that the opponents of tho the church may question our testimony but they cannot question our lives I 1 I 1 apostle john henry smith congratulated the mothers who had been given tile the opportunity of thoroughly instills in instilling stilli I 1 ig I 1 into n to their children the rules laid down in tile the word of wisdom in thas they were much more fortunato fortunate than many of those in ather faiths apostle heber J grant also spoke on the subject of temperance and of the tondi condition tion of the church and the nourishing flourishing condition of the auxiliaries second days session in all of the addresses at the sunday session the second day of the conference the speakers confined their remarks to a discussion of tho the doctrinal aspect of the mormon Alo church making comparisons ln in a general way between the mormon church and other churches faiths falth sand and creeds there was throughout the addresses an expression of gratification at the condition and continued growth arid and prosperity of tile church the speakers declared that the church Is in a more flourishing state today than it has ever been before and that tit the outlook for the future is more than bright apostles rudger clawson hyrum af smith george albert smith find and george F richards were the speakers at the al orning morning ses sion speaking of the members of the church apostle clawson said seventy years of training have inspired them with the spirit which is unconquerable qu erable the spirit that fired the heart of joseph smith the spirit that fired the heart of brigham hain young when lie he led his people into the wilds of the rocky mountains and there established a great and flourishing community intini ty the spirit that fired the heart of john taylor the champion of truth the spirit that fired the heart of wilford woodruff tho the great missionary sio nary the spirit that fired the heart of lorenzo snow who also carried the gospel to all the earth tile the spirit which fired the heart of the present leader of the church who has lived to see the happy culmination of his efforts to free the church from debt at the afternoon session apostle orson F whitney delivered a doctrinal address and among other things declared that the cormons mormons Mor Alor mons were not the enemies of the gentiles he gave the definition of the word gentile saying that in the ancient times it meant one who was not a jew and in the present usage of the word it means one who is not a mormon no opprobrium attaches to the designation lie ho said the mission of mormonism Is peace it alms to bini bind together all the people of every nation of the earth apostle david 0 mckay spoke on the subject of choice of service whether one shall serve the lord or the world apostle mckay said that it was the hour for tile the people on the sacred temple grounds which they would choose ile he believed in the gospel of doing and if the latter day saints at once would resolve to servo serve the lord much of happiness would result for in nothing Is there a source of so much happiness as in right living which means serving god the hour has arrived he said to choose between truth and error one cannot go on oil always serving part of the time the enemy and part of the time the church the lord said that no man can serve two n masters asters 1 and that lie he cannot servo serve god go 1 and 11 mammon amnion |