| Show sigi SEMI conference the forty eighth semiannual semi annual conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints convened in the tabernacle bait salt lake city october oth 1878 at 10 am as per previous adjournment president john taylor presiding present on the stand of the twelve apostles john taylor ord ora Who druff orson hyde orson pratt charles CRich C rich bich lorenzo snow franklin D richards richardd george Q cannon brigham young joseph F smith albert carrington counselor to the twelve daniel H wells 1 l patriarch john smith of the first seven ej presidents 0 of f seventies joseph young levi W han cock John and horace S eldredge of the th c ff presidency ea iden cy of tle the th e salt zak lake stake of zion anghis angua nil cannon david 0 calder and joseph E taylor odthe of the presidency of the priests quorum of this stake of ellas julias morris and edward of the presidency of the bishopric of the church edward hunter leonard W hardy and bobert kobert T burton the weather was wag beautiful and the tabernacle was crowded at the opening services ser vices every stake of zion throughout the territory being largely represented by presidents bishops and others conference was called to order by president JOHN joun TAYLOR the choir sang sing I 1 saw a might fly to earth bo he bent beat his way prayer by ELDER GEORGE CANNON I 1 I 1 the choir sang z j author of truth eie hie eternal real wor r W whose hogo hoge spirit breathes the tho active 0 ae ame flame ELDER okson tryde rejoiced in meeting with the saints on this beautiful ml morning the people in the country where he was wont to labor had a sufficiency of th the products of the earth to make them and happy we had been for many years yearb under the lash of the outside he did not look fb fofana of their influence until satan was bound and the the victory he to and quoted odeol on oot eol the tho john sohn J wherein jie jle baw saw a 06 beau 06 iu woman clothed withe with g glory ary with the moon under her headway head wag a crow crown idof of twelve twelver stars and whose ambition wig was nat far superior to anything of a terrestrial character ari ali becu p py y aai mai position the saints would have nothing to fean fear in id relation to tw witnesses of the book of he said mos most it of them had finished their mission and gone behind the vail vall their testimony was good go odin in its time and season but as the work proceeded other othen testimonies became necessary ary the servants of god had gone forth and testified before bufore the nations of the earth to tue tub tue truth of the book nook of mor mon mormon m 6 aud and since then the waster wister has b been en to destroy and man milb were his victims fallIng a prey to pestilence famine and other calamities ami ties he made a few remarks about the manuscript ot of the book of Mo mormon rhion now in the hands liand sot 0 da navid David thol thoi Whitmer whitmen he did aid not mot regard it as of any vital Import importance anco to the anle interests rests of the kingdom but simply asan as an interesting reli relio clod clor of early history tie the principle of love iove and binion among the saints was offar mora consequence tp us albe aube present plesent time i he then soke apke of the responsibility thau that rests reses upon those abose ww WN hold hoid the pil priesthood aua ana aud who should AM uso thair their influence to reprove ia in kindne kindness wherever bin sin adful fu practices came purview and wisdom dictated it dae jae spoke with feelings of gratitude of the rich rioh and harvest that god had bless blees iad sod ns tit tia lith with th this season and said sald if the hK ethren brethren would be prompt in the payment of dot their honest tithing the hands of the servants ser eer of god be strengthened and the b blessings 0 god would distil dastil upon the pt pho people o p 1 e ilke like the gentle dew he then a alluded 1 to the calamities and troubles that will wilk voon scon deluge the earth and reach kings and add rulers and the high ones who are aro high P according to the tho predictions of the prophets when the 06 only door of deliverance for those who wish to escape will be e in ELDER 0 0 rlou KIOH said the great object of our being gathered together was to secure our salvation bai bal and thia can cam only be obtained bb by y yielding to and carrying ing out correct principles principle we must not dictate the almighty tout b ut N learn earn by simple and chi childlike submission the grand principle of obedience which will inevitably bring upon ul u the blessings of god which he has promised prom nied fied to bestow upon his bis faithful children we hareno have no spare time timo to waste but should devote our time and means 0 o the building up of the kinga kingdom OM of go god d and if we we carried out the counsels of the servants of god our labors would be devoted in the right direction god had given us power to do the work that he require requires of bf usi us and it was as well weil for us occasionally to ask ourselves the question whether our labors are acceptable to the lord or not one duty required of us wap was to be baptized for our friends who have clied died without the them privilege of attending to that duty themselves and this must be done in A temple several of which we were now building we ve must also act upon a principle of union and not clash elaste indict in our daily labor but always be willing to act in concert with the counsel of the servants of god he closed his very practical remarks by bearing his testimony to the truth of the work of god in which he bad been actively engaged for a period of over 46 years pres president IDENT johw JOHN TAYLOR gave a few very to the ushers to keep kiep good order in the galleries and throughout the vast congregation instructing them not to permit unnecessary walking about i 1 the choir sang the anthem awake awake put auton on thy a strength fhi fil Con conference ferenci adjourned till two iwo od ode benediction by elder eider D H wells 1 ta ijo 6 2 rpm p in the tho choir sangi sang though trials way pre pro pres s on press on ye saints ot of god prayer by elder wilford woodruff 11 I 1 0 the choir eang bang we b here ere approach thy tabie table lord at thy command through chosen men ELDER GEO cleo Q CANNON read bead a portion of section ivill of the book of or doctrine and covenants he said that any one who was called to stand before such a vast congre gatior gatton would naturally feel his own nothingness and the necessity of reliance upon the inspiration of the that the people might be fed with the bread of life we had travelled as elders to the various nations of the earth published the first principles of the gospel of our lord and jesus christ and gathered the people together with tha these ege eie things thing san and d labors the elders of the church had bad become familiar familiars also with laying the foundation of settlements and organizing a system of government and by having so 80 many labors to perform in the temporal affairs of the people obtained an experience that perhaps no other body of men was as ever called to nil nii all these various labors we were now standing but on the threshold of our duties and responsibilities we wo now need statesmen and those who are capable of directing the people and und the madra affairs af of their daily life so as to make our temporal influence as powerfully felt as our spiritual influence lie he then spoke bf i the dangers that now beset and threaten our small republic wi and said our only safeguard was the principle of union though we mig might t he be numerically weak we should be actually strong if we could but become united in all our Me interests rests in the early existence of though so few in number the influence of began kan gan beban to appear and persecution set in for its destruction nothing but the union that was among this people preserved us upon the eart hand band god permitted ua to grow andin and in creages creases butil lio lie gayo gaye us a command to gather out of babylon to leave our bomes homes in the them east and come to the valleys of the mountains there was waa not only spiritual salvation connected with these movements but bat temporal salvation aleo also and we not accomplish our bur spiritual salvation without temporal acts and labors one design of the almighty in gathering together a great people in these valleys was to establish a government and dominion over dver which he should preside hence the necessity of our being so thoroughly organized that a power and influence would be developed which we had bad never attained to he referred with pleasure to the change that was taking place in the minds of the elders in regard to the necessity of a more strict and complete system of union but though the principle prin elpie of operation cooperation co or of the united order might be understood der stood by the leading authorities of the church it would not be easy to get the masses of the people to adopt it until they could be led to comprehend it he was happy to say that notwithstanding the many mistakes that had occurred in incur our past efforts the subject t of union in our temporal affairs had bad bee been n so thoroughly oan can canvassed cassed among the people that they were now both ready and willing to fall in with any that might be recommended to them by the leaders of the church hearg he suggested that a committe eor board of lra tra decomposed eom com posed of the best beat practical business men med of the territory be appointed to and aid the various branches af home hidu industry stry that may be introduced so that the tha benefits arising from home products may be used to enhance the interests of the whole community rather than the aggrandizement of a few the servants of god were endea to unite a people that ard are diverse in their babits habits and acts it required great wisdom to accod it nothing short ot of the wisdom of god could bring it about A perfect system of organization was what the Twelve Apostles were after and their labors would never cease until that which god had designed to bring about would be accomplished not only in relation to us as a handful of people but the whole family of our eternal father he had called us to and holy boly calling and while we owed our time and means la in thia this direction ye yet t we must not on any consideration considerations be careless and indifferent to the auli aulk lations we were under to our own families every member of which we were in duty bound to support cherish and instruct it if we gewere were only willing to receive and embrace these principles of union that are now burning in the breasts of the apostles god would abundantly bless the saints in everything that pertains to their present and future happl happi happiness new nem he concluded a very powerful discourse by showing g the vanities and evil of living for self and the g lory glory and honor bonor of laboring for the benefit of others and the salvation salvi tion of mankind the choir sang an anthem blo tle kle ithe mercies ra ercles of the lord rard j Confer conference ence enca was adjourned till fill tomorrow morning at 10 a m benediction by elder orson pratt SECOND DAY r i s s m i f r oct 7 10 a in conference was wag called to order by president john taylor the choir sang see how the tho morning sun pursues his shining way L prayer player Pra by elder lbert albert A carrington V t the choir sang kartali awake with angels anels join and chant the solemn lay ELDER orson OKSON PRATT read a portion of a revelation given to joseph smith the prophet on the ath day of april 1830 being the same day the church of christ was organized in this dispensation this revelation contains a message of salvation that was to be carried to all the inhabitants of the earth and the inevitable consequences that would follow their acceptance or rejection of the same bame were that whoever believes and receives thid the testimony of the servants of god in these days willbe saved and whoever r rejects eec bec t their testimony will be damned he then spoke of the testimony of the 0 the truth of the book of mormon twelve men boro witness their moir epes edes baw gaw tw and what their ears ean heard the angel of god appeared to three of them and not only presented the before them permitting them to handle them but told tola them that god had enabled his eer joseph smith to translate from these plates the BOW boob bf mor moni modi and commanded them to bear this testimony oiny before the world out of the twelve witnesses eleven had gono goue the way ot of allileah all ail flesh ileah and only one was now mow living whose name was david whitmer ha ho then rehearsed avery a very interesting conversation that he and elder joseph P F smith had recently held with david Whit whitmer meri mers who bore the same testimony which Is la contained in the book of mormon and which the speaker speak jr had bad he heard a rd b him im be bear 2 r 48 years ago the book of mormon had been translated into ten different languages and the testimony of those twelve stand in the day of judgment J against all those nations where this work Is 19 introduced trod ad they reject it the message oolite of life and ana salvation which those witnesses 1 ases testified to Is the i same that our elde eide elders eiders rw have carried and proclaimed for the last laa forty to arty years among many nations of the earth eaith he closed his remarks by blessing the in all their temporal and anu spiritual labors ELDER JOSEPH F briefly refe referred ried to the recent mission of himself and elder orson pratt frail to the states 13 tates he related some of the terrI terrible effects of the recent cyclone which bad had just before their visit passed over the country some of the them fearful conse qubia ces of df it were seen in the town of richmond missouri and in the very place where parley P pratt many years ago was wag a prisoner for the the place of his hia confinement was utterly swept away they also visited independence missouri and examined the very spot which god designated to his cleavant joseph smith many years ago for a temple the ground which was purchased for this purpose was waa entirely barren without a green leaf that he could gat gather her hen as a souvenir of the visit they also had an interview with wm E Mc Lellin ln one of the first council i ot of the twelve apostles Apo aties atlea who apos from the he church a great many years ago I 1 and who belleve believed of in the he mission mis i slob of joseph up to the time of his own apo abo apostasy staey stacy i he lie then said the chief object of 1 their mission east was waa to obtain if possible some dates and facts that pertained to the early history of the church which for the want of more correct records in that early day were lacking supposing that some things might bo be gleaned from the old settlers still living in that neighborhood but they found no one who could give them any in formation formati onor or who knew as much as ourselves sn on these matters they called upon his cousin joseph smith and had bad some conversation with him about what is called the inspired translation of the bible hy by the prophet joseph smith the speaker was well satisfied that the book so published is only a partial translation by br the prophet and merely contains the translation of king james with with some home changes in the firt first chapter of geneus and the chapter of Matt matthew hew bew which had been published by this church in the pearl of great price many years ago they also had the privilege of visiting the temple in kirtland and tua tha hill cumorah Gu morah besides preaching the gospel where opportunity offered the entire account of their visit and expert ence while east had teen been jeen written and und placed place d in the possession of president john taylor he then |
