| Show lnier PETER ANNEAL OF or T tue THE CHUR chug CHURCH CH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS THE tre E fortieth semiannual semi annual conference of the church of jesus jesua christ of latter day saints convened on this thia the sixth day of october at 10 am in the new tabernacle on the stand were of the first presidency brigham young geoa smith and daniel H wells of the twelve apostles orson hyde orson pratt john taylor wilford woodruff charles 0 rich eich lorenzo snow erastus snow franklin D richards geo Q cannon brigham young jr joseph F smith and albert carrington patriarch john smith of the first seven presidents of seventies joseph young albert P rockwood jacob gates and john van cott of the presidency of the sigh priests quorum elias eilas smith of the presidency of this stake of zion george as B wallace and john T caine of the presidency of the bishopric edward hunter leonard W hardy and jesse C little there were also bishops elders and leading men from every settlement in the territory conference was called to order by president brigham young the choir sang lord we come before thee now prayer by elder albert carrington the choir sang great god indulge my humble claim PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG addressed the conference his in were practical and pointed showing that to truly worship god is to perform well our ou duties dut s in every position we may be placed lace I 1 in he exhorted the people to pay 6 diligent attention to the instructions that would be given during conference and practically carry them out his remarks were reported in full and will shortly be published ELDER ORSON HYDE the lord is perfectly capable of taking care of his people I 1 know that the work we are engaged in is true and the opposition of the world can never extinguish this testimony from the hearts of the faithful saints I 1 know that joseph smith was a prophet of god and that he faithfully laid the foundation of this great work laiso know that president brigham young is his true and legal successor and that under his direction the saints have prospered and flourished there may bo be some soine who murmur because he lie does not give lve ive revelations with thus saith the lord E ord but he who cannot see the voice of god in the dictations of the holy S spirit irit frit to his servant brigham must be blind blind indeed in relation to the late discussion on the system of plural marriage I 1 do not know that the perusal of the fhe arguments used made any difference to my feelings or views for although the scriptures are replete with evidences to sustain the position of the saints in that matter yet we have a more sure word of prophecy unto which we would do well to take heed elder hyde continued to speak for some time on the designs of the almighty and showed that the great plan of salvation for the human family is not only applicable to those who live on the earth during a dispensation of the gospel to man but the plan of redemption can be offered to and received by those who have died without a knowledge of its principles and aud that the labors of the servants of god do not cease here but become even more extended behind the vail he wound up by bearing a powerful testimony to the final triumph of the saints and the discomfiture of t their thein ein enemies PRESIDENT GEORGE A SMITH we should be prepared to receive instructions that the spirit of our heavenly father may be with us the path of zion has been one of great difficulties but there is a saying the fiercer the battle the greater the victory some people try to make themselves acceptable both to the righteous and the wicked the fate of such is darkness inevitably as the records of the past show I 1 have lately devoted some little time to examining the fate of those who once belonged to the church but who have left the cause of their fall in the first place generally result results ed from their infringing anthe principles of righteousness it is goad good to preach repentance at our conferences to tell the people to put away their follies I 1 am not simply a believer in this thi s work I 1 have a knowledge of it the prophet joseph was wag slain by the wicked after he had bad laid the foundation of the church the lord however caused his inspiration to rest upon his servant brigham I 1 consider it a great miracle that the lord raised up a man who has miraculously led the saints through difficulties and over superhuman obstacles st to a place where they can enjoy peace happiness and liberty I 1 warn my brethren to be faithful that they may gain the reward of the righteous which may god grant amen the parowan carowan choir sang praise ye yo thel thoL ordill prayer by elder john taylor thursday 2 p ar M the choir sang come como all ye yo saints who dwell on earth P prayer by elder orson pratt the parowan carowan choir sang oh lord responsive to thy call PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG requested the door keepers and those who are engaged in seating the congregation gre gation to see eee that a few seats be reserved in the front for tho the accommodation of strangers who may attend the conference he gave some texts to the brethren w who h 0 would speak unity of action the necessity of overcoming our traditions and the proper training and instruction of our children are subjects worth worthy 7 the attention of those who may a address the peo people pie the building of the temple m might g h occupy a share of attention by the speakers those however who may not wish to preach preach to any of these texts can preach from them the union of the sexes is also a subject which he would just as soon hear treated upon in this aa as in any other place the elders should never attempt to teach anything that they do not understand there ia is scope enough without this he delivered a very stirring ring hing and instructing discourse in which he showed that unless the people are inspired by the spirit of god it will be impossible to belve berve serve the almighty acceptably he spoke on the nature of what is called the one man power and other topics A synopsis of his discourse would give but a very inadequate idea of it it will shortly appear in the NEWS verbatim ver batum ELDER GEORGE Q CANNON the day in which we live is one of the most important if not the most important that man has ever seen on the earth it is the day in which the purposes of god shall be accomplished the subject of unity can not receive too much of our attention without unity of action in our temporal matters 6 rby our professions would be useless the r gospel gospel brings salvation in every situation of I 1 life ilfe I 1 fe it permeates the whole from the cradle to the crave therefore I 1 love it it is the gospel carried out which has built this city and the various cities and settlements throughout this territory our president has given us many wise counsels which we have not yet carried out no people on earth have been so wisely counselled counseller coun selled with regard to the affairs of life as the latter day saints in many respects we as a community are far from be being heing lg united as we should be considering 0 our r opportunities p p or unities many who claim to be latter day sin aln saints ts are so blind to the interests of everything connected with the kingdom of god that they are loud in their denunciations of the principle prin aiple of operation cooperation co it is opposed by individuals in the city who ought to be bo the foremost to sustain it but nevertheless it gradually gains influence and obtains more wide support from the masses of the people who as a body are in favor of it there is no man who has faith in the work of god who hesitates or feels doubtful respecting this princile tas ele yet it like other true principles as to meet with opposition it has been the same with nearly every other principle the lord has revealed it is gods will that we should be united in all things ings theford the lord said through joseph e except x ce t ye ar are e one ye are not mine I 1 d do 0 n not ot fear fea r the pressure from the outside world it will never triumph because we are willing to be led and counseled by the servants of god the world call us foolish and there is a class calling themselves latter day saints who seem to have caught the same spirit all the foothold that our enemies gain is the result su it of our want of unity we have been advised in relation to our grain gran about how to direct our labors and with regard to the railroad from ogden to this place I 1 have often regretted the indifference manifested by many parents with regard te to the education of their children education is of incalculable benefit to those who use it aright education ca tion should no not nod ai be confined to the school room children should be train ed to draw near to the lord when the father of a family is absent the son should call the family together fo family worship and should ask a blessing on oil their food many of our young people are ruile rude and unmannerly A great deal of the proper training of children devolves upon mothers sons and daughters will eventually bless fathers and mothers who have been strict with them in wisdom there is nothing more beautiful than well ordered society elder cannon continued to speak for some time interestingly on the importance of training the young conference adjourned till tomorrow at 10 the choir sang great god attend while zion sings 21 prayer by elder wilford allford woodruff friday ath 10 a im the choir sang beholds Be holdt the harvest wide extends prayer by elder john taylor the parowan carowan choir sang sweet is the work my god my king ELDER ORSON PRATT the great object of these conferences is that we may be edified concerning the things of god to examine ourselves to see if we bire are alive to our duties god has wisely designed that men should be placed in this probation that he may be prepared to obey higher laws we have a great variety of ideas and notions of our own but god designs that we should all be instructed in one grand system all nations have traditions that have been handed down to them from their fathers some of these traditions are erroneous and some correct and beneficial let us see whether some sume of our traditions are consistent with the laws of god we have been educated with regard to our property we have been taught that all men and women should use all their efforts to accumulate wealth for their personal aggrandizement this seems to be the main object of the people in all nations and in all classes of society they believe that wealth is power and happiness Is this a correct tradition it is in one sense and in another it is not god created man to eventually possess wealth it was he who created the th vast resources of wealth that so abound on the earth that same god that made those riches and endowed men with the power to accumulate them designed that they should be used for his own honor and glory he did not design that the ue uge of them should cause man to be lifted above his fellow but for him to do good in the use of them this is one of the traditions of which the latter day saints are called by the voice of god and revelation to free themselves to free themselves from selfishness and devote their substance to building up gods kingdom to feed the hungry and clothe the naked to use wealth for self aggrandizement only is a tradition which entwines itself around the hearts of the children of men probably more than any other jesus instructed his disciple s to pray that the will of god be done on earth as it is done I 1 is heaven this prayer is taught in all christian i nations the difference between the order of things in relation to property in heaven and the order existing on earth is very great the riches richea of eternity are for the saints of the most high god those who shall ahall be counted worthy to inherit the kingdom of god will be made heirs of god and joint heirs with jesus christ joint heirs to riches happiness dominion and glory this is the destiny of the latter day saints sainta how great then will wiil be your individual possessions there should therefore be a preparation in this life lire before such a condition of things can be entered upon we ive should have a very different order of things in relation to property from that which has obtained in the world worlo some have murmured concerning what they term of matters about property but there has been no strictness compared with what must ere long bo be in introduced I 1 trod who has violated the vote that was taken at one of our conferences that we would cease to sustain our enemies and that we would seek to sustain ourselves there are men in our midst who would like to see this people persecuted and driven if you trade with and sustain such characters here you will be miserable as well as accountable for the blood of the brethren providing it should be spilt split there are other traditions besides the one I 1 have referred to which need the attention of the latter day saints it is not considered dishonorable in the world for a young man to marry a young lady without the consent of her parents A young man who would do this is guilty of robbery of the meanest description no young man mau has any right to make any advances whatever to a young woman without first consulting her parents and aind no language could portray his bis contempt for a person who would take any other course it is true as was said here yesterday that our young men and young women are as a general rule virtuous yet the practice that has obtained here somewhat of young people staying out of evenings in by places courting and probably keeping up that courtship for years is highly reprehensible those who oppose the true order of marriage as revealed by god virtually shut themselves out from a prospect of having wives and children in eternity the speaker continued to speak for some time on the true order of marriage PRESIDENT GEO A SMITH the lord commanded the first man to take a wife and the commandment is applicable to every other man therefore those who do not obey it are living in persistent opposition to the will of heaven it wms was suggested atone at one of our conferences that all the unmarried young men over a certain age should pay annually to the P E fund till married those young men who are liable to this fine are reminded that the fund needs replenishing and he would advise those youn young ladies who are still single through tte the dereliction of such young men to stir them up and help collect the fines the principle of union in temporal matters is not only applicable to merchandise but to everything else we should unite so that we shalliot shall shail not vot build up merchant princes or an aristocracy of wealth in our midst let union be introduced in agriculture and agricultural machinery might be brought here that would reduce the labor of the farmer at least one half agricultural unions can be formed with success there is but little of anything raised here to be sent abroad some latter day saints have got wrong ideas on the mining question they seem to think that when they enter a mining camp they must drink swear ac this is a foolish tradition and if any latter day saints should enter into mining let them not be foolish enough to indulge in vicious practices that degrade them let us support our tanneries canneries tann eries and home shoe shoo establishments let letus us see that sheep herds cover our mountains and that the necessary roots ba be raised to support them during the tho ough it beason season and give the charge of the herds to men who know how to treat sheep and let the community own the herds thus with union factories and union sheep herds we will clothe our backs with our own wool we can just as well as not have coop co op butcher stalls unity can accomplish com all these things why should we not have union cattle cattie herds having one brand on each animal have |
