OCR Text |
Show , V if' 101 WOMAN'S EXPONENT. - ..... ejn - h'mttng, and the. minutes of the previousJi'llfeg" Minutes were also read ''"'we're read and accepted. Y. L. of the by the respective secretaries from the 1 th and 20th wards, and from the P. A. of the 5th, i$lhf 20th and 21st wards.- Sister Smith made a brief opening address and 1 or gave the meeting over to the sisters. Two testithree sisters in the congregation each bore a mony to the truth of the Gospel. Counselor S. M. Kimball said any one who could say this truly was endowed with the highest order of intelligence, and ivorlarig upon those principles revealed .through that source would take us into the presence of our Eternal Father. Several of the sisters in the congregation spoke briefly on the times, the training of the youth o Zion,'the redemption of the dead, etc. "The Spirit of God ike a fire is burning," was sung by the congregation, after which Dr. Elvira S. Barney, addressed the congregation, making" some very practical suggestions, and- giving spiritual advice; alluded to the condition of 'our young people, and "warned mothers to take special care of their daughters. Mrs. E. B. Wells spoke of her recent visit-tthe Penitentiary, and that th e bre thre n were fe e weU contented ; also Miss Shaffer, who had been sent there for contempt, was satisfied to re- main, as she was determined not to submit to the dictationrof the court. She referred to the hardships and experiences of the missionaries, and to the position theaints now- occupy compared to that of former days, when we were journeying and pioneering from Nauvoo to this valley. Mrs. E. S. Taylor gave a short sketch of her recent visit to the southern settlements of Utah County, also spoke of the strong faith of the peo. pie, and testified that this is the work of God, and all who are firm and faithful will come off triumph- o " ing . - , ant. ' ; ' . Meeting adjourned for two weeksr Singing, "Lord dismiss us," etc. Benediction by Mrs. E. B. - Wells. . . ; Synopsis df the minutes of the meeting held Nov. 14th, Counselor Elizabeth Howard presiding.. After singing, prayer by Mrs. Steele. Minutes of Margaret Singing. previous read and Minutes L. of.Y. meeting accepted. of the 20th and 15th wards, and of the P. A. from the 5th, 10th, 21st and 8th ' wards were read by the respective secretaries. - Mrs. Howard called upon Mrs. M. A. Freeze to address the sisters. She 'spoke of her absence from the city, but that she had enjoyed her work in the, Temple and earnestly desired to perform any part she was, called upon to take, and to remain faithful and true to her covenants, in the midst of the trials by which we, as a people, are surrounded. Referred to having heard President Brigham Young say that women were more spiritual minded than men, and believed herself that it, was so; thought this was a trying day, but did not think we had come to. the narrows yet, and those . who had not planted their feet on a sure foundation could not possibly weather the storm. Spoke of her great interest- in the young people, and the 7 regret, the felt that any should fall' into by and forbidden paths; urged the mothers to be more than ever watchful, lest . any be led astray. Mrs. M. A. Hyde, President of the Relief Society in Sanpete Stake, occupied a few moments, alluding to'her recent visit to the Lamanite sisters in Indiola or Thistle Valley, where they were organized and met together;" said one of the Lamanite brethren had urged her very much to visit them. She her visit to them exceed-lnglenjoyed and it. seemed to do them a great deal of good; they had a kind of too, and she felt they would go on better., Made some - good and very suitable remarks about the manners and deportment VfVur young ladies, and urged was-offere- d - y, , raiVT"T . shows what decided, women will always do' lor conscience sake where such women come to believe that theitv-Gorequires even the greatest sacrifices of uc aignmea in ; an tneir associations witrr xo -- :.lje alstf oore :fc'r'; testimony to the truth of the work, and affirmed her "knowledge of ' plural marriage, and that it was from God. M. E, Kimball expressed her pleasure in hearing, the voice of Sister Hyde, for she had known her in Nauvoo, and that 'she was one of the faithful ones. She spoke a few words and "then burst forth in the gift of tongues. Mrs. E, S. Taylor after Some preliminary re, marks, 'spoke, upon the duties of mothers, and advised, them to be as careful in educating their sons as their daughters in the ways of virtue; thought the Lord required as much purity from .the one as from the otherand that young girls were entitled to receive as much in that regard as was expected of them; thought that our children should never forget that they are chosen spirits, and should prove" themselves such by their purity -L- atter-day them. They are not the kind tofilter, and I am inclined to .think that some o those noble women can call them nothing less who spoke; in that convention, have away down in their "human hearts" a 'consciousness of great and painful self denials in connection with their marital experience'. For I think it would be hard to find a woman of that class who, by nature, .would not ask the whole heart of one honest' man; aud who would not shrink from sharing a. dear darling husband with even one sister woman" be she: never- - so amiable and lovely. This is my: measure of the heart of "a true, pure and refined woman ns God made her. You are a good judge, I appeal toyou and rest my case 011 your testing. Now, what sayest thou? But as I have said above, decided persons under thq influence of religious obligation, overcome the strongest sentiments of the. ' v heart. . We suppose only the faithful made declara tion of their sentiments on the question of plurality. ItTwould be far too much to sup pose that all and every Mormon wife was as ..satisfied and happy in her situation as those who so heartily defended the peculiar institu. tion. There may be some - uprisings in the mother s breast, who, like barah ot old ,shou!d lMrs. of life.'. '; ;':' ' ', Mrs. Mary Si Snow related some incidents in connection with her visit to the Eastern States ; she had been successful' in obtaining the records of her dead, and hoped "to be able to do a great work ' L L , in the Temple for them. t i e nteresting re marks" DrrE.BrFergusorimad concerning the eventful ttmes in which we are living, .and how awful it was to think of the scheme! that were laid for the overthrow of this truth, and Church, aud bore a testimony earnestly entreated all to prove faithful, etcr . ' . to-t- he MraMrrou'raHhotrchHH ... do their duty there would be no need of the different organizations; the ..teaching ought to be done at "home; very emphatically seconded the advice of Mrs. E. S. Taylor, and gave other - :' good "counsel. Mrs. E. B. Wells spoke of our departed sister, that we had been in the habit of seeing on thestandso many years,Sister Woodruff ;thought we should not one who had filled up her life with good mourrk-fo- r works and lived to' such a good old age; she nad passed through many severe trials and much hardship in this Church, because of the persecutions, but had earned a great reward, and would certainly get it; prayed that we might do as well as she had done, and enter- into that exaltation which we were trying to attain . Mrs. Howard felt that "the Spirit of the Lord had been with us; said she hoped from this time henceforth that no more of our sons and daughters would be led astray; gave good advice in regard to the training of our children. Meeting adjourned for two weeks. Singing, Benediction by Mrs. Julia Howe. -- - -- ' ' :. 1NTERFSTING E. B. w. CO R RE3PONENCE. Looking over some old manuscript, we came across these letters; one from an Eastern gentleman to his "Mormon" sister and her reply; and, as there were , many excellent items included in them that are just as good as when they were written,we concluded to publish them. The mass meeting referred to is the one that was held in me Salt Lake Theato-da- tre in November 1878 v Ed. y . Salem., Mass., Jan. 2nd, 18?9. Dear Sistek Peko: Your paper and extracts were duly received, and .read with 'interest as T had a desire to hear from the wives of Utah by their own mouths. The remarks of the speakers in convention or mass meeting, are certainly intelligent, indeed quite able, and exhibit a hearty acquiescence in "plural marriage" and a vindication of it, which" our New England wives would think very 3trahge ble but I was by no means surprised. It , whole-hearted.- I . start m ott-pri- ng o r - some r i r' wue lister uy a later . . bat all this and much more of the same sort cannot "settle the main question. Is this Mormon view of domestic life the correct marriage one. . as the minister Now, with says, I will write you a ..few, thonghts of my own, though aware of my utter inability to ' do the subject justice. in the first place my intention is to take Jesus of Nazareth for my teacher and master - . your,-indulgenc- and with my present convictions I cannot follow or acknowledge any other. Believing 1117 Jesus, I of course accept Moses and the prophets, although I consider that we are under the new covenant which has superseded the Mosaic, so we no longer have Moses as our teacher and lawgiver, but Jesus. Now, as to the claims of Joseph Smith to be a prophet from God, I cannot consider them well established and to my mind there are many reasons for rejecting them. We have no Bible prophesy, which can be construed to foretell the advent of such a prophet as Mr. Smith. ..With the ascending of Jesus came the promise " of his return, bu t no r promise of like a coming unto Joseph prophet who should introduce a new order of Smith, things He, Jesus, alsQ promised to send the Comforter (Paraclatos) which wa3 fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. r The apostles while they direct our eyes to the coming of Jesus to judge the, world. in righteousness, and establish'His Kingdom,give us no hint of the coming of a prophet like Mr. Smith. J esus by, the parable of the Nobleman illustrates his going and return. He leaves us in charge of his goods and places us under his instructions and we are to occupy' till he comes. He is the good Shepherd and we are to follow no other. This seems to leave no room to introduce any new order of things between His going and coming. The principles and teaching of Mr. Smith seem so discoidant when viewed beside those of Jesus and His apostles that I cannot receive them. To do so would seem to me like going away backward, instead "of forward to abetter dispensation. The new covenant under the Gospel of Christ Js pronounced a better covenant founded on better premises. Under the . . . |