Show I 1 R P E P m A AR KS by president YOUNG at Bount ifill may 1868 11 0 REPORTED BY EDWARD 1 SLOAN there is isa a large congregation of people before me who profess to be latter day saints though they are few in number when compared with the people at large but those who are here are here because of our religion it is very seldom that you find a person in our midst who is one of our citizens who has come here with any other object than to serve god be numbered numb cumb ered with his saints help bep hep to buill tauilo up zion and establish pace and andl righteousness upon the earth we look upon each other although as though we ou ought ht to be saints indeed but while we arlook are looking at our brethren and aud sisters we are very apt to behold their faults instead of their virtues we are all liable to err we are subject to weaknesses and arid leable liable to go astray to do that which we should not do and leave undone that which we should do this seems tobe to be interwoven with the nature of all mankind through therall the fall fail still we are here as latter day saints we have assembled ourselves together to become one to become the I 1 people of god the children of zion the children of light we are here for the express purpose of separating ourselves from the world and establishing that order of government that we read of in the holy scriptures and we desire to see beetho ehg glory of zion upon the earth that has been spoken of by the prophets of god the mass of the people in in christendom are taught taugh tto to believe in the bible and they are taught to believe that jesus is the christ the redeemer and savior of the world this is the tradition of our fathers this has been taught to us and the christian world have sou sought t to understand enough with regard to the pian plan of salvation to prepare them to enjoy the happiness and bliss of a world where righteousness reigns triumphant A portion of the christian world say they are preparing for the millennium and the second advent of the savior savi r but their lives and conduct do not a i er with their professions the they y are ta tau t to believe the sayings of jesus a ani ant e apostles and prophets st sufficient le b by Y and that they may bo be prep prepa lla lia to t enjoy enjoy heaven hereafter but the tin ave av no idea of making a heaven 1 hj on 0 e earth rth of building up the I 1 of god that jesus can come an andrt eive elve his own our traditions lia lla haro hare e beu ben been leu to try and get through this wrid having religion enough and belief er oiin in christ so that we could leave it i ud nd go where we could enjoy hc heavens aveni bliss forever the christian world have very limited ideas with regard to the kingdom of heaven on the eay eat eath th we as latter day saints have confessed before heaven before the heavenly hosts and before benore the inhabitants of the e earth a rt b that we really believe the scriptures ag as they arg ard given to us according to the best millet U tj kerstan starl stall ding and knowledge that we have baila of the translation and the spirit and nd meaning of the old and new testaments we have confessed before angels and men and have acknowledged by our acts t that hat we believe most assuredly that jesus has called upon us as his disciples those who will receive the truth obey his commandments observe his precepts and honor his laws to come out from the wicked to separate ourselves from sinners and from sin iffe if we have hav e not sot 1 confessed this by our acts as fellmy by our faith then we are mista kien klen Acer ning the gathering of our seive agether but we have confessed it p we e 10 lo do believe it and it is for us to lve lve ive ive according to that which we acknowledge we acknowledge the covenant under which belive we believe it and are honest bonesi in our belief and we will honor that coven covenant ant aut by obedience to the laws of god if we do not our words and our actions contradict each other by our acts by our coming to together ether by our leaving our homes our fr friends lends 1 and our birthplaces that were dear to us according to the customs and belief of the world we have declared our desire to serve the lord we have left the graves of our fathers as our natives here hero would woul d say who lay great stress on birthplaces as well as many civilized nations many have left fathers father saud aud and mothers brothers and sisters and some have husbands left and some have left wives and children what for because they believed in the words of jesus and his apostles as well as in the prophets and in the testimony of the prophet joseph and the elders who have neen been sent unto them this his people have confessed this and have shown to the world that they are honest in their belief and that they are willing tocarra to carry out ini in their lives the spirit and meaning of this faith Is not this the situation tion of the latter batters 1 day saints it is this taisia is our sion slon before the heavens and auli all the inhabitants of the earth amine arnine the feelings views wishes desires and aspirations of this people we see them wandering after almost everything but that which they should possess with all these professions and our wil wit dingness lin gness to forsake fathers mothers sisters brothers wives and ch children lidren ildron houses and homes and the comforts of 11 ilfe life for the gospels goshell 4 sake we are yet far from aspiring to the holiness and the purity an and perfection of latter day saints that Thai people should forsake everything on the earth that would natural naturally y be dear to them of a gordly nature for righteousness sake and then fall into luto a deeper vortex of folly and sin sio than they before is astonishing My mission to the people is s 1 deac teach aa them thera mith with regard to their everyday lives ii I 1 presume there are many here who have heard me say f years and years ago that I 1 cared very little littie about what wham wha will take place after the millennium elders may preach long discourses pori con berning what tock place ia in the tile days daj of ot adam what occurred before the creation and what wb atwill iiii take place thousands of years from now ow talking of things which have occurred or that will occur yet of which they are ignorant feeding the people on wind but that is pot not my method of teaching my desire is 19 t to 4 i teach the people what they should do 16 now and let the millennium take care of itself itself to teach ahem to serve seive god i and to build up his kingdom is my mission 1 I 1 have taught faith repentance baptism for the emission remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the re option Nep tion of the holy ghost these The principles you were taught taugh ain tin in foreign lauds lands maro you yow marp Xou are teaching them to your children were terre is scarcely a child in israel but ut is leoung forward with anxiety to the I 1 tim when he or she will be baptized thes thing understand alike we ha een eon baptized and aud have had hands laid upon u us for the reception of tile the hol hoi host Ghost we have been taugh tto exercise infalt and to enjoy the e gifts gi of 0 t the e gospel s el what hat has haa to be t taught a g now wow how 0 to live have t they e to b be e taug taught t to sen send for foi t the e elders eiders iders when t they h e y are sick and that the prayer of faith falth fait falt h will wiil III ili heal eai eat i them they understand these t things h ings lugs 1 we ve are to be taught with regard t to 0 our every day life ia in a temporal point po nt of view some may think they have the privilege of going to the gold mines or doing ii as they them please without being instructed concerning their temporal duties that no person has a righetto right to int eltre with I 1 their temporal matters yet YU we have been performing labors year after year yeav from the beginning of various kinds that the people cavot have not seemed to think have had anything to do with temporal temp orall matters I 1 commenced such labord labors iiii till the beginning of my career in the minis i try when the people believed and re gospel I 1 myrem my temporal labors they were baptized which is a temporal work by the laying on of hands another temporal labor they received the holy ghost when they received that spirit they saw they were to be gathered out from among the wi wicked c ked they saw the judgie judgments ats of god were to be poured out upon the ungodly this they saw in the vision of their minds they saw the saints were to be gathered out understanding this by the spirit which they had received what had to be taught to them then to gather up their little substance if they had a farm or possessions to sell them and gather ather athen up with their family an and friends fri friends enis engs and substance to the land 0 of zion and where is the land of zion it is wherever the finger of the lord has pointed out for his people to gather to that is the place to go to I 1 recollect a lady asking me in canada in 1832 or 33 how large jackson county was and when I 1 said perhaps 0 miles square said she suppose the whole world would embrace conr doctrine how would they get into jackson county my reply was that I 1 jackson county in that case would cover the whole world zion will expand as far as the necessity of the case requires it you need not fear but there will be room for you if you believe and gather with the saints we commenced teaching the people the doctrine of jesus and then we commenced to build up tha the kingdom of heaven on the earth we commenced this years ago have wei wet been successful in Irr part we have A few have been gathered together but bubb our work is not yet accomplished the lord never could teach his people while they were among the wicked how to live by them selves how to unite their efforts and their whole power for the establishment of his kingdom this kingdom is not of the world says jesus Itis it is different from any other kingdom that is now upon the earth and while the people of it are mixed with the people of other nations and kingdoms the lord could never teach them how to establish his king Klag kingdom dom he must get them away from the wicked gather them out bring them into a place he has reserved for them to gather together where he can teach team them of his laws As I 1 said once to my brethren in the school of the prophets 1 I have not asked you I 1 dare not ask you to fulfill fulfil almost the fint firt requirement of the kingdom of heaven almost the simplest principle and one of the first things that should ibe the observed I 1 hava havo not asked the people yet to perform this great labor I 1 will say it is a great labor and if I 1 were to refer reder it to couyou would say the same you may ask what it is isa it is to lovd dovd the lord thy god with all thy heart with all ali thy mind and with all thy strength and thy neighbor as thyself now is this not almost one of the first requirements that god bas bag made of his people and I 1 have not yet required it of the people love the lord lora ord thyl god with all thy heart and them thenis peak speak evil of thy neighbor no nol no Loveth love the lord eLord thy god with all thy heart heartt and aud speak that which is not true trum nop not no oh no love the lord thy god with all thy heart and take that which ia is not thy own no no nol noi no love the lord thy god with all chiy heart and seek after the riches of the world and forsake your religion no nov love the lord thy I 1 god with all thy heart and take his name in vain curse and swear no never if the tho love jove of god was really in the hearts of all who call themselves latter day saints there would be no more swearing no more lying no more deceiving no more speaking evil of one another no more running after the ungodly nor dealing with the enemies of zion no more running after the gold mines nothing would be sought after only tor build up the tha kingdom of god godi this we have not yet asked i but we do ask some things let us forsake those sins that are sd grievous and let ti astry I 1 try to do right before the heavens sandwith and with each other look at tit the elders elden of israel today to td day how many efthem of them I 1 are gone to hunt gold hundreds of them are running off to cheyenne to get work on the railroad where are their crops their flocks and their families all left that they may get a little wealth we have been crying to the people for years an and d years to cease the their stradi trading egand and trying to speculate with the enemies of this people we have said to them store up those things that the lord gives to us these are years of plenty these are the days when the abundance of the blessings of heaven are upon the soll soil we occupy treasure up your wheat or our traders will take our bourand flour and carry it to our enemies will go and borrow money of stran gers for the sake of speculating ng Is th this a fact I 1 do not know how it isherw is here hene 1 iu bountiful but it Is so in other places I 1 bountiful is a good and sug suggestive estive name la Is it an appropriate one have havo you here an abundance abunda uce of flour if so I 1 will call upon you for some for the public works there is nothing nor has there been for a long time to supply the public hands only what I 1 furni furnish sli sll out of my private storehouse store house if you have an abundance of beeves and flour and butt butter erand and eggs and other th things ings will you yoa furnish something for the public works but if you are as they are in many other places many duany of you sou ou have not got bread breadstuffs stuffs to last you ou q ane week if one half have breadstuff breadstuff breal stuff stumm a to last them till harvest it is more than they have in other places yet we have asked the people to save their wheat against such a year as last year or this year hero here are the devouring insects ready to take everything that we have llave these are things tile tiie people have got to be taught to observe there are certain rules in life and certain principles to be observed by this people they must cease trading with those who would destroy us to be called out from the wicked and then to take a course to call the wicked to us how inconsistent it is isi if the lord were wire tosy to say pay 1 I will let the wicked drive you again and I 1 will call you to an other place where there is ilo no one to disturb you how lop top loag would it be until the course taken ins jai by many would call the wicked in among us again to seek to destroy us the latter iatter day saints must stop till tili this 1 s course or they will wilt bring evil upon themselves aud and we will wiil have havo to leave these are the tha things we have to learn we have the privilege of choosing now it is in our pur hands it is within our power whether we will stay in these mountains and build up the zion of our god or make inake the wicked and ungodly ft fat by our la labor boNaud sand saud give them our possessions posses pious thib this manware ma many are doing by running in debt to our oun Ane mies and pursuing a course that is wrong if they do not cease it they will hai hak have hava ve cause to weep and mourn all latter day saints enter the new and everlasting covenant when they enter this church they covenant to cease sustaining upholding and cherishing the kingdom of the devi devil tand and the kingdom of this thin world they enter into the new and everlasting covenant to sustain the kingdom of god and no other kingdom they take a vow of the most eolo mon ron kind before the heavens and earthia and nd that too upon tipon the validity of their own salvation that they will sustain truth and righteousness instead of wickedness and falsehood and build up the kingdom of god In instead steaL i of lof the kingdoms of this world whenn when wa we came |