| Show remarks by president lent brigham bowery july 5 by J V LONG it rejoices my heart to hear the brethren testify of their faith and arid good feelings and of their confidence in god and in their religion it is a matter of rejoicing to me to see those who profess to love and serve the lord live up to their professions br park very correctly observed that if this people will actually do the will of those who are placed to lead them they will be owned honored and blest of their god who dwells in the heavens 1 can say for one that I 1 cannot be pleased I 1 cannot be satisfied 7 71 I 1 cannot feel to fellowship this people as I 1 wish to doun do un less they live their religion and serve their god every day every hour and every minute of their lives there is no time allotted to us to use outside v of the limits of duty but in doing our duty in serving our god in living our religion in using every ever possible means to send forth the gospel of salvation to the inhabitants of the earth to gather israel and establish zion and build up the kingdom of heaven upon the earth are incorporated all blessings all comforts that men can desire it is a mistaken idea in the inhabitants of the earth to conclude that it will not do for them to yield obedience to the commandments of heaven fest it should abridge them in their comforts and in their ants for there is io tao real peace there is no real happiness in anything in heaven or on the earth except to those who serve the lord in his service there is joy there is happiness but they are not to be found anywhere else in it there are peace and comfort but when lle ile lie the soul is filled with joy with peace and arid with glory arid and is Is perfectly satisfied therewith a person even then has but little idea cf that which is in store for all the faithful thrust a man into prison arid and bind him with chains and then let him be filled tilled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity and that er prison its ils 0 I 1 is a palace to him again let a man be e seated aad upon a throne with power and dominion min ionin lonin in this world ruling his millions and millions and without that peace which flow flops a from the lord of hosts without that contentment and joy that comes from heaven his palace ii is a p ison lson his I 1 life ilfe ife is a burden to him lie he lives in fear in dread and in sorrow but when chena a person is filled with the peace and power of god all is right ri ht with him I 1 cannot be satisfied with myself neither can I 1 be he satisfied with this people unless they live in the enjoyment of the spirit of the lord jesus christ having the testimony of jesus within them when they live in that manner they are prepared to ludge fudge of all matters that come before them theca they are then capable of discerning between truth and error light and darkness they call can then readily discover the things that are not of god and distinguish them from those that are this ia is the only way for you to know that your our leaders are leading you in the path that pleads leads to heaven I 1 without yit Vit hout bout taking this course a people or nation ig is liable to be led astray by bv their leaders and thereby be prepared to be destroyed but when the people understand for themselves when they know and understand the things of god by the spirit of revelation they are not only satisfied but safe if this people will do as they are told will please those who preside over them they will do well for themselves and ic it they will do this from morning to evenin evening and from evening to morning all will bill he right and their acts will tend to promote the kin ein kingdom dam of god upon the earth As br wells lately observed here it is 13 very little dil difference Terence what comes or goes if the world are angry at us that only fits and prepares them for their destruction if they afflict the saints of god it prepares prep dres them for their reward it prepares the righteous for bliss and immortality and the wicked are the booner ripened for their doom jt at is very little torence difference di whether men came cone here aa as soldiers or aa as civilians all will promote the interest of the kingdom of god it will pro 0 anole the interests of the saints inasmuch as they are arc united and though the wicked in their ther eagerness to destroy the saints of god do not see this yet god will make it all turn for the good of his people true this people might have done better but considering all circumstances they have done as well as could be expected it might be shown to them and perhaps this congregation will acknowledge it that if this people had anvari invariably bly been careful to observe couns I 1 the they thes 1 y would have promoted the kingdom of heaven a great deal faster than they have awill I 1 will bring up a circumstance to illustrate this idea dea one relating to us in these valleys of the mountains it was just st now observed by br feramorz little that hib his i s feelings would be perfectly fecal y satisfied if he should never see another train irain of goods come in here for sale among this people I 1 would have been satisfied if that could have been the case from the beginning dill kia zia at a time here when a person could go with a of gold and say to a man roan can I 1 hire you to doome work for me I 1 have a sack full of gold and the man would say ano no I 1 cannot do it and every man a say no I 1 am too busy I 1 cannot do it and the person still saying 11 1 I have hats full of gold but it wasso was so plenty that men hai had such quantities of money that they were lugging duggin it about until their backs ached suppose that that money had been put into the hands bands of the trustee in trust and been used for the benefit of the kingdom of god would it not have been much better than to pay it to the merchants to carry out of the territory one merchant in a day and a half received for sales a large kettle full of money and in two days he took a great deal suppose that that money had bad been put into the hands of the trustee in trust and those associated with him they would have laid goods down at your doors for from thirty to forty per cent cert cheaper than you cot ot them but could the people see that 14 ivo iso their eyes were dim and they he y could not see their own interest if f the people had concentrated their means during the nine pine years past they would now have leen teen been worth millions where here they have only thousands allOS I 1 know that now as well as I 1 I 1 should have known it if jf the experiment had been tried and that result proven but no the people would pay their money to others to carry out of the country I 1 will tell an anecdote rd relating lating to the feelings of boms some in those days I 1 stepp stepped dil pil into a store at the time when money was so plenty and arid the store etore was crowded every map woman and child had bad their pockets full of gold A woman stepped up epand and said mr so arid and so have you any soap he replied 11 1 I do not think there is any she then asked have 3 you ou any sugar or coffee 5 ile he ansi answered vered P 11 1 I do not not hot know whether there is or not there was some this morning but I 1 think it has been sold 5 it was not long iong before a woman reached over and touched tile the one enquiring and said pres pros young has bought everything jevery severy thing of that kind that has been brought in I 1 reached over and tapped her on the shoulder and said what do vou you tell that lil ili infernal fernal lie for prest young has not bought a pound of tea a pound of sugar mr nr a pound olind of coffee since these goods came cam p il 2 the the people were then in such a state 0 of f mind that they would rather have given all tile tiie tiley had to tile the gentiles than for me to have h had al a pound of tea or the handling of their money they were not all possessed of that feeling but there were enough to influence the channel of trade and give it an unwise direction direction and if there are not now too many of that class I 1 shall shail feel thankful and we shall be able to hold the wheat and the cattle so that those who are passing through and temporarily soi so jou mourning jo aning i i in in our midst will have to pay a fair price for those articles but I 1 presume if the gentiles come some of you will run and sell your our wheat and your our cattle to them for a much te less 89 price than we would give yo yeu you it and ad be perfectly satisfied with it if there is not an in influence and practice of that kind I 1 shall be glad of it for nor it will prove to me that the ope believe wh what it they say I 1 arn am careful abo about lit t touching anything that is the object of peoples worship the gold the goods and the things of this world which please the eyes and entice eutice the affections of the people you who know me know that I 1 have not been under the necessity of askin asking g you to help me much instead of ahe cys living upon the people it is xv well weli ell eli known that they 1 have sustained the people suppose that I had not launched forth in business and that br kimball and aid others had bad hot not what would have been the result this community would have ben levim living in their log huts whereas they now have good houses and comfortable homes I 1 am decidedly in favor of practical religion of every dar day useful life lire and it if I 1 today to day attend to whai what devolves upon me to do and then do 10 lo that which presents itself tomorrow to morrow and so on when eternity comes I 1 will be prepared to enter on the things of eternity but I 1 would not be prepared for that sphere of action unless I 1 could manage the things that are now within my reach you must all learn to do this if the people take ailse a wisa wise course and let a few have the handling bandling of the wheat and other commodities that are for baley salem bale sale and let those who wish to buy come to them to purchase it would be much better letter for this thia people by pursuing that course our enemies would either be L under unde r the necessity of giving us a fair price or have to purchase their supplies in the state and haul them across the plains pains through the hills and aud over oser the mountains how do yo boj think they would prosper pro in that operation I 1 think they would soon become discouraged C and want to leave these regions it is an ignorant excitement which causes some people in the states to feel and act as they do do who is there of all who are really acquainted with our proceedings and arid will let good reason and good sense operate that has one word to say against a us no noone one but buethe the priests have hav e hollo hollond ed so much about these latter day saints the mormons cormons Mor Alor mons 1 as the they t term us as that they have become excited an and what is the tile reason of their heir outcry it is simply this we have the words word of eternal life al aid ard ald d the they have not we serve the god of h eaven and aith they ey serve s e somebody 8 ome body they know not who ao we have the true religion that the bible gives an account of and arid they seem to be entirely i ignorant of it and arid of the god of heaven beaven only onty let us its leave god out oat of our religion 0 and all would be right A great many have bald said to you and me just leave out joe smith the book of mormon alid and modern revelations and you yon will rill become popular y br clements said last sanday sunday that he told a priest that be could materially abridge that leaving out by saying just leave god out of the question and you will be hail hall fellows well metel metal met we are not dot goin doingo to leave out jos eph smith the book of mormon nor the gathering nor the building up of zion you hear brethren talk of coming to zion to enjoy the blessings of this land but do you not see that it is the shortsightedness shortsighted short sighted sightedness ness of iden men which causes their disappointment when they arrive here they read in the bible in the book of mormon and arid book boob of doctrine and arid covenants about zion and what it is to bo be but br park and others could not realize before they came here that they were the ones to help to buildup build up zion they gather here with the spirit of zion resting upon uio them and expecting to find zion in its glory whereas their own doc doctrine should teach them that they are coming hereto here to make zion we call can make zion or we can make babylon just as as we please we can make just what we please of this place the people can cai make zion they can make a heaven within themselves when people gather here they should come with a determination to make zion within themselves with the resolution that 11 J will carry myself full of the spirit of zion wherever I 1 go 0 and this is th the way in which I 1 will M OFil coIr control evil spirits for I 1 mean that my spirit shall have control over evil and do you not see that such a course will make zion this american continent will be zion for it is so spoken of by the prophets jerusalem will be rebuilt and will be the place of gathering and the tribe of judah will gather there but this continent of america is the land of zion the priests are angry because thy they th y are afraid that their religion L is nothing but a sandy foundation rationed ed fabric and whenever they medi meditate tate upon the subject and humble themselves and the spirit of ithe the lord finds its way to ilicia hearts arid and convicts them the truth then is made manifest before them and they begin to learn the falsity of their systems and when that spirit leaves them they become beco ire angry mormonism is declared to be true by hosts of witnesses and this makes the priests angry for this gospel bears its own weight and testimony and arid they know not how to gainsay it true I 1 have aimed to point out oat their errors but it is not you nor me that they are opposed to although they throw their darts at us but it is the IT spirit r it of conviction that goes with the i aport of this work for wherever it goes it strikes conviction to the heart and that is what disturbs the priests and the people the foolish and those who are controlled by the hissing his sings sins of the priests rage against the work of god and corrupt politicians urge them on there is not an honest man in the united states nor in the woi wol id but what if he could hear this doctrine taught without knowing that it was a mormon 2 who m ho was teaching ng it would drink down these principles they would swallow every word and say that is true you have more light than I 1 have 5 but if you say 6 mormon that sends the fat into the fire an and arrays their prejudices against you do you know this you elders voices yes 5 As I 1 have said before I 1 I 1 have often gone J and taught t persons the gospel gopel and they would drink do down ian its principles as eagerly as a thirsty ox would drink water but ut an ignorant prejudice causes all the trouble the excitement among tiie ilie tile priests and directed by politicians raises this erroneous prejudice and hue and cry you know that I 1 have said that if it was now my calling to go and preach the gospel I 1 could make as many converts as I 1 ever did for I 1 would go in such a manner that the bitterly prejudiced would have to labor hard to find out that I 1 was a mormon until I 1 had induced them to love the truth then they thay would say if that is Mormonism 1 I 1 want it persons who are as ignorant as jackasses jac kasses pass this city and they are so prejudiced that ahat they cannot see and hear bear well enough to report things straight but let persons of good understanding come here and hear the elders testify and stop to investigate and y every very hones theart among them will wil I 1 receive the tha t e gospel do you not know that they would the |
