Show REMARKS cy elder EZRA EZKA nowery monday afternoon april 6 1663 1803 REPORTED BY J V LONG I 1 feel thankful for the opportunity of meet lug jug in conference for I 1 feel that thereby I 1 may play be posted and instructed in those principles les ies that are necessary to qualify us in the E building uil ull ding up of the kingdom I 1 need not say eay that we we are a blessed people for we all know i it and to some extent we realize it at least I 1 can say for one or in other words I 1 can speak tor for myself so far as I 1 am concerned 1 ican can realize and I 1 fully believe more than ever I 1 have since I 1 joined the church of jesus christ of later latter day saints that god our heavenly father is with this people and that iva lva I Ps hand ii is over ua us to preserve us all ail births thedac theddy day long and as saints of the most high we ought to be grateful to the giver of all good for athe othe the many tokens of hla hia beneficent care it if we inquire after the welfare of the litter L A day saints we are told that all is peace and quietness how did we come by these glorious principles of life and peace annjoy and joy in the holy ghost where did they emanate from they came from god our heavenly j tather by embracing the gospel of jesus christ in faith and in sincerity and our testimony to this effect has been felt from t the rivers to the ends of the earth and by carrying out these principles the gospel has brought thousands ino inlo these valleys 1 1 I here is no necessity for the work of the lord jard to stop in its present condition and cir why so simply si maled because the of god as an orga organized body is just like the introduction 0 of the doctrine of plurality iu of wives it has got a first rate good I 1 start etar tandl tandi and I 1 know that the devil and all the emissaries from the infernal region reg lon ion cannot stop atop it the devil dont like it but he cannot belp help ibell himself hi amse af for the of cod will roll on oril as long tong n as there is an opposing power upon the earth and ar A then it will continue to spread after aft er every sp 9 p cles cies of opposition is banished 1 frana traca the earth 1 I the church of jesua jesus christ of latter letter day sainta hs has been organized thirty three years today oday to o day and according to the success and spread read of the gospel of the son of god at the time when it was first presented to the human family it v e may judge comparatively it will not rot take thirty three years more to redeem lon and to usher in that reign of righteous I 1 dess cess ai at d peace which we all anticipate and for which we all pray most devoutly in the days of jesus jebus there was waa just as 29 much opposition as there is today to today day then the work kork work had baa but burjust just commenced it was dinits in its infancy and iid ild did lid not god our heavenly father bear off his ilia kin adom then he ile certainly maintained it till be he saw that the priesthood 7 ud n ne 9 longer remain upon the earth ile he Ath t h enand e and ile he bears it off today to day and billao will so continue until his klig dom triumphs and those who aho get under the wheel will be crushed to powder my ais testimony nony ia it that this is the work of god that it emanated em an abed from the father of flight ll 11 ht and I 1 know that it will roll forth and prosper unil the kingdoms of this world be botne the kingdoms I 1 tt ct our god and of his christ I 1 know that god in ift able to make the 1 gathof wrath ot man nan praise raise him just the same now abiff was in A the daye days of the prophets ct of old who cin c in frustrate the thae work of gd it is written the wisdom of the wise shall perish and the understanding of the prud prudent ent sha shall shail 11 be hid it is a verily so in this age and generation for we see the elders or israel going f forth without purse and without scrip preaching in I 1 by the thae power of god the peaceable things of the ki kingdom bodom to abos ilo who lio sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and they con found the gainsayer and put to silence the faultfinder fault finder I 1 hen ben when I 1 see the wisdom that is displayed through the ministers of this church I 1 ask myself the question are a re we doing our duty as saints because it if we are not it is time we were waking up to a sense kense ct of our obligations to the Almighty and to ilia cause I 1 am fully Bati satisfied efre d that we are the happiest been eople people upon the face of the thae earth and it has been brou brought ht about ayour by our oar union and by our faith in god but have we A e been doin doln doing the best beat we could to live our rel rei religion igdon according to tb the e best light and knowledge we have possessed it if we have we have within us the satisfaction of having t done our duty now the thae order is to call a number of missionaries sion aries to go to the european nations and we are selecting our young men the sons of the apostles and elders of ruf israel so as to give them an experience in preaching the words of life and that they may feel their dependence upon god our heavenly father either these young men are going to gat gathen gather ier her the people home to zion that they may benj y the society of their bret brethren bren and friends here in the valley of ephraim and participate in the blessings of that counsel thit is so liberally imparted unto us by our leader we have nave come here to build temples and tabernacles for the purpose of worshipping wor shipping dg our god therein and if we vve do not do these triese things we shall fall short of accomplishing that great work that ia is laid u upon on us to perform then I 1 bay gay let us build buil t temples ein eln ples plea letus let iet us gather up our teams and send ro for r the poor and thereby accomplish the work k that god has set on foot in this burday notwithstanding we are weak creatures yet we can do some thin thid thing in the rolling forth ot of ibe kingdom of god I 1 wish a great many times that I 1 could do a great deal better than I 1 do but at any rate I 1 can say that I 1 am trying wih with all my soul to combat the powers ot of darkness and I 1 intend to outgeneral out t general gerneral the common adversary of our sonis supposing we are united as the tile beart heart of one man then what have we to do with the world A great many think that we nye want to fight the world but I 1 tell you it is all nonsense excepting so 0 o far as that spiritual warfare is concerned in which we are all engaged more or less our enemies imagine that we want to wage war with them but they are greatly mistaken for we are only at war bith with ith their corruption with their meanness and their degraded conduct we are upward and we have taken steps forward in the kingdom of god advancing from one degree of liast to another and the world are mad about it but we cannot help that our bu business siness giness is to serve god and keep his ilia commandment commandments and therefore we should endeavor to walk uprightly remembering that the promise is 1 I will no ith lold loid any good thing from them that walk uprightly do we expect to realize a funess of these blessings toda today to da day y no but we expect to 0 o realize some ot of them a little today to day and a little more tomorrow to morrow and thus go on from step to step and from grace to grace until we ire find ourselves safely landed ba babkin ck in the p presence of our Father in heaven As regards preaching tto to this people and gathering up tp the poor from i other lands I 1 can truly say that I 1 have never geen seen a time I 1 in my experience when there was such a willing spirit in israel as there is at the present time I 1 can truly say that we have raised the fifty three tea teams mathis this year just as easy as we did the thirty last year and there is quite a difference between thirty and fifty three and I 1 feel that this people people will win be more blessed in their biedo in their teams in all their stock and in their labor of every kind than they were last year did we mis mib our teams last year we might miss them from our sight eight but the lord so abundantly i blessed us that we scarcely ever heard them mentioned everything every thin moved on harmoniously during the entire season the lord blessed the seed that we put into the ground He watered the earth from the heavens and the saints of god felt amply rewarded for their labors to help to build up the kingdom of god though many may have felt a little mile fainthearted because of the war cloud that hag has hung bung over tvr us butah but wh ch has now burst without doing anybody any barm i tet let et I 1 feel to say that it if we go to war it will be in beit belt derence defence but at pre preterit present berit there is no danger of 0 a y serious trouble we delight not in the shedding of blood and my testimony before II 11 high nigh heaven before this people and before the nations of the earth Is that we are for peace and we intend to have ftp it if we have to fight for it lyou you know it may be pops po lle lie that a man may hare have to fight for his reli rell religion gion glon this may seem but if a man balg baa got wives children flocks herds herda and priesthood and gifts fro tro from m god arid and would not fight for them I 1 aou would id not net give much for him I 1 say we will fight like the angels of heaven and we will call upon our father in the heavens upon jesus christ upon the prophets and upon the spirits of just men that have perfected themselves in the gospel of the son of god and then by their help we will win every time and the devil knows it Is this boasting no not one particle but if we do boast we boast in our god and in those liberal principles which our father has revealed unto us brethren let us attend to our duties and let it ever be upper to build up the kingdom of god the promises have and are bt 11 being fulfilled I 1 have seen the wonder work working n g hand band of the almighty ever since I 1 ibave chave have bave b been e en in this church and I 1 have realized to some extent w when h en preaching the gospel that the power of god has accompanied my words the ne lord has sustained his bis work wherever the elders have gone forth preaching prea ching the gospel and d de he url will continue to do so he will feed them and clothe them and his work will roll forth under the administration of these young men the blessings of god will go with them this is my testimony to you young men who are called to go on missions jesus said to lis lia disciple disciples if it I 1 go away I 1 will send you another comforter and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment this spirit will go with these our young brethren and it will back up th their el r words when th thy stand ani and bear testimony to the truth then let us all try to keep this spirit within us let us also labor to build temples tabernacles and all necessary public buildings let ua labor to gather the poor and then the lord will blesa bless ua us in all things prosperity and peace will attend our every effort to build up gods kingdom on the earth may god bless blesa you brethren and bisters is my prayer in the name of jesus christ |