| Show ar U 1 33 10 WA U it at IS S A t by eldor elder J jojin 0 7 in cor eor vor ty or ic U d i tra taa wa jb e G A ithyl vay lay 19 jath iaal f i r retorted REPORTED BY DAVID NY EVA EVAS NS As we harej have just returned from a journey I 1 from the south I 1 presume it would I 1 be interesting to tc you to hear some little about how the saints generally are gett getting ingon on we have had quite a pleasant journey but rather a laborious one traveling thirty forty or fifty miles a day and preaching from once to three times a day but we have had very pleasant remarks feelings and associations during our absence we found that the president and those who were with him were welcomed and well received in every place we visited there seems beems to be an increase of faith among the saints and a desire to live their religion and to keep the commandments of god we also find that improvements are taking place in almost every place we visited they are improving in their farming operations their orchards gardens dwellings ac and some y places a we find are really very beautiful down in the far south in saint george and through that region of country the people eople are beginning to live easier and E etter better than heretofore so that the matter of living is no longer a problem with any of them in the early days of the settlement of that country a good many became dissatisfied and left george A used occasionally to go down with reinforcements ret expecting to find quite quits a large company but when he tried to put his finger on them like paddy paddys pad dys silea flea 1 11 they were not there at the present time however different feelings prevail there are many now who desire to go down there as a matter of choice and a great many there with whom I 1 conversed feel as though etwas it was as good a home as they could find anywhere in the valleys and they would not wish to leave unless counselled counseller coun selled to do so many of them stated that it took counsel to take them there and it would take coun bring them away I 1 noticed too that there was a very general disposition among the people to observe Te the word of wisdom of course we had to keep it we could not fors for shame bamo bame hame do anything else for while teaching other sito observe it we were morally hound bound to observe it ourselves and if we had been disposed to do otherwise we could hardly have helped ourselves for nobody offered us either tea teal coffee tobacco or 0 thern there sppmal fix 3 ts t s ral disposition alsto among the people to obey at t least a sst that counsel although they had not heard much preaching upon it until we went down and talked things over together we enjoyed ourselves hery tory much and the people expressed themselves as being very highly gratified they met us as you met us here herp with their bands of music aoh ach schools ea escorts and so forth and they made us welcome wherever we went and we WO found that it was indeed a very different thing to preach the gospel among the saints from what it ia is to preach it in the world instead of receiving appo and contempt we were received with kindness good feelings and anda ands a hearty welcome when I 1 wm waa at cinfel ence at st george I 1 felt that I 1 was among a very good people and that there was a great deal of the spirit of the lord there but when I 1 came to reflect on the circumstance cum stance I 1 was not surprised that there should be a good people there because where there is a people that have been called upon to undertake what they consider to be a painful or unpleasant task or mission and they go and perfonia perfo nin that mission without flinching they feel that they are engaged in the work and that his work and his commands and the authority of the holy priesthood are more to them than any thing else and they have the blessing sin of 0 f god resting upon them which produces peace and joy in the Holy Ghost that Is the reason why there is so good a feeling and so large a flow of the spirit of the living god through that district strict di of country but where there la Is a backwardness and a shrinking from duties assigned us there is a drying up of that spirit and a lack of the light life power and energy which the holy ghost imparts to those who fulfill fulfil the dictates of jehovah when I 1 reflect upon these things 1 I take this lesson to myself that it is ig a and pie pleasant zant th thing ng to obey the of the lord t hat that it is praiseworthy iv and honorable to t be found walk ing in the commands of jehovah and that it is a bless biess blessing to a all ill men to fulfill fulfil all missions and to discharge all responsibilities ties and duties that the lord lays upon them when selecting brethren to go down therel remember the bishops asked elili bail hati wanted A I 1 told th mant want edmen mon men of god m men en of faith falth go and a ivon albon I 1 a b barren arren rock and stay thero until told to leave it if we geta et a number of lof men of that kind to 16 go there is faith union power light truth the revelations of jesus christ and everything that is calculated to elevate exalt and ennoble the human mind and to hap pidy the saints of god these are my view views in relation ip tho the tho order of the kingdom of god T the e lord luord has established his kingdom on the earth and he has given us his servants to guide and direct us we as a people profess emphatically to be governed by revelation we do not believe in this simply as theory as something that would be beneficial to somebody bod else but as something that will be a blessing blessing to ourselves we believe that god has spoken that angels have appeared that the everlasting gospel in its purity has been restored we believe that god has organized his church and kingdom on the earth and that through channels which he has appointed and I 1 ordained irda ined he manifests his will first to the saints and then to the world and we believe that the more we adhere to the teachings of the servants of god the more we shall prosper both temporally and spiritually the more we shall enjoy the favor of the almighty and the more likely we shall be to obtain obtain for ourselves an everlasting inheritance in the celestial kingdom of our god we believe that the intelligence and wisdom of man cannot guide ua us and that we therefore need the guidance of the almighty and being under his guidance and direction it is our duty to submit to his law to be governed by his authority do his will vill keep his commandments commandments and observe his statutes that we may ultimately be saved in his celestial kingdom may god help us to be faithful in the name of jesus amen |
