Show ow APOSTLE JOHN BY ielli HENRI SMITH lna NOW DELIVERED at the annual conference held in the tabernacle logan logon cache county monday morning homing april 1885 REPORTED BY JOHN IRME IRVINE it asforis affords me pleasure to meet again with the saints in zion and to have the the privilege of mingling with the people le of god in a general re conference it r Is s sometime since I 1 had this privilege and I 1 can assure you that I 1 appreciate it very much I 1 do not think that it is possible possible for me to express in proper language language my feelings in regard to my mountain home I 1 never teamed arned but one verse terse of poetry in my life and that one I 1 have repeated many times and I 1 do not know but what it would be well tor for me to repeat it this morning the verse to which I 1 allude says there is a magical tie tio in the land of my home that the heart cannot break though the footsteps may roam be that land where it may at the line or the pole it still till h holds 0 ids the magnet that draws back hack my soul soui 11 such is the case this morning in arising I 1 ag to address you for a short time what at the lord may have for me to say to you I 1 cannot imagine for a few months past I 1 have not addressed a any congregations I 1 have bee been n visiting I 1 I 1 have been reasoning with my friends upon the principles of the gospel and seeking to enlighten them in regard to my position having accepted the gospel and dedicated my life ilfe to the preaching of the same I 1 was des deg desirous irous that my kindred di U d red should hear it I 1 have not been id idie idle e but have been laboring with zeal to impress upon them the nature of the I 1 latter iatter a ater day work I 1 did not go there expecting to make converts but to relieve my friends of prejudice I 1 have found so to speak that my utterances te rances have fallen on stony ground outside of my kindred and that while I 1 was received with kindness and trust that good may in time egme from my labors in certain directions yet vet I 1 cannot say as many have said that I 1 have accomplished much good and that I 1 have removed a world of pre audice audice lu dice I 1 trust however that I 1 may have done some good during the past few weeks among my kindred in the eastern states As you are aware in 1882 1 I was sent by my brethren to preside for a season over the european mission I 1 proceeded to my field of labor with some dubiety in n regard to my own self my former experience expeR experience ence upon the island of great britain had been such that I 1 was really fearful in regard to my health eor for tive live years after my first mission to the british isles I 1 had never passed a night inight in sound and perfect sleep I 1 suffered from a cold contracted during ithac mission on my departure in 1882 ISSI I 1 iho tho h wever my brethren promised me I 1 should hould go in peace that I 1 should en joy oy good health that the blessings of t the he bord lord should be around me and that I 1 should be enabled to accomplish uthe the object for tor which I 1 wab wag sent bent forth zand and while I 1 went with some foreboding for boding kith with regard to myself still it appears 1 J I had to return to areat great britain to lose that which had seized upon me on a former mission I 1 found upon my arrival in that land if a corps of very excellent elders the mission was in a very good condition t with an earnest and determined lot of missionaries who were willing to do anything that might be required at c their hands for the furtherance of the purposes of the lord I 1 found however upon investigation and mingle mingling with my brethren that the road beeme seemed to be hedged up in a manner so that they could not accomplish that which their hearts desired after visiting various conferences and giving the brethren such instructions and counsel as the spirit suggested sug ested as to the best method to reach the people getting their views and the result of their experience pern peri ence rence in of them having derence re tig rix been there for a year or two it was decided on the suggestion of be several veral verai that an effort be made to dis tribute more of the written word than had heretofore been done commini i were addressed to the presidency of the church and by their consent a system of tract distribution wa was s inaugurated and has been followed systematically from that day to this what the result may be in the future we cannot say nevertheless we have done the best we could in our ministrations trat ions among the people and have striven with the power that the lord has eiven us to warn our fel sel of the re establishment of the kingdom of god the elders that have been ent sent 1 to labor under my watch care and C counsel have been men of worth it is a matter of pride to me that those who have been sent to labor under my direction have been rood and humble men many of them have been young men ken 31 ien len reared reared in these mountains that tha t were taken from the farm from the stock range from the store and from the work bench they had haa received comparatively c little training in the ministry but buta a few weeks time has developed them and they have gone f forward or in faith 1 the lord has blessed them in their administrations I 1 have chave had much loy joy and satisfaction in laboring I 1 n with them and in all my ministrations and counsels to them I 1 believe ther the they avo to them and nought sought to t tae tas kage a bertot ell of tha I 1 r ability to carrr carry out these counsels and labor for sor forthe the ad avan cement of the ike work of the lord since I 1 returned home there has n nothing afforded me greater pleasure t than han during this confer conter conference ende to take I 1 into uto my arms and press to my breast t the he men that have been laboring 1 in the same cause as myself for f or I 1 respect res act and honor them as I 1 would my own grother brother these sentiments are from the heart in regard to them and I 1 trust that their experience with me and our acquaintance and the friendship that springs up amid adversity and trials may se be as lasting as life itself I 1 am pleased to report that in great britain we continue to do some baptizing during my administration in that land a little new ground or rather ground that had been worked years ago and been abandoned has been opened up in various places we have gained a foothold I 1 in n finland and a few have been ba baptized sized in that land brother Br fjelsted sent some gome native elders into that section of country some men tha that were inspired with zeal and who were humble and who were ready to meet a any t trial rial and difficulty that might come in ln th their airway way succeeded in opening a little door seed has been sown awa away north on the borders of prussia and russia an opening has been made through a native who had bad been ordained by brother J A smith of cache valley and there is a prospect of the gospel being introduced in that country we have also made a little blittle effort ta to introduce the gospel goshet in austria brother belsinger beisinger has been there and labored some time brother hammer was there also but w was as run off by bythe the authorities brother belsinger and brother jennings are now I 1 suppose in austria probably in bohemia I 1 felt while in switzerland in december thatis would be impossible for me to return home without another effort being made to open up the gospel to austria although the ther brethren had already alread y suffered considerable in that land the authorities there do not treat our elders as they should but buti I 1 trust that by wisdom and prudence the gospel may be preached and that the inhabitants thereof a fine race of people may sense their position and embrace the truth we rave gave have also made an effort to establish ourselves in turkey and I 1 trust that a work will be opened up there A few baptisms have already been made the brethren throughout the british isles have been making efforts to introduce the gospel in every corberand corn corner erand and place lace where opportunity presented itself itself I 1 would say however that the england of a few years ago is not the england of today to day while the same spirit of liberty the love of the rights of man ma may exist among the english people sally still that spirit of hospitality that characterized them years and years ago seems to be on the wane many people are out of employment the numbers that are wandering g arg around uina tina begging their breadS closes in a measure the hearts of the people and they feel that they cannot carry the loads that they have been carrying g still among the latter day saints the same hospitality is to be found their hearts are as warm today to day as they ever were we have made recently through the labors of brothers wilson and marshall two irish brethren an opening in the north of ireland and we trust that with care much good will result in that neighborhood some very fine people have embraced the Gospel there people in good circumstances and who inspired with zeal desire to spread the principles of the gospel and thus little by little we accomplish the object of our mission and the world is being warned when I 1 left england there were three valley elders in ireland and I 1 ho hope e others may be added to their number before long so thattie that the zhe work may spread at least in the protestant portion of that country I 1 am inclined to believe that there are hundreds and thousands of people in ireland who will receive the gospel my prejudices in regard to the irish people have been wiped away in mingling among them I 1 find them among the purest of the stocks upon the earth virtue is held at a high premium atmon among them the statistics of great britain show this fact that illegitimate births in ireland constitute 3 per cent in en england land band scotland nine I 1 say this speaks volumes for ireland and I 1 trust that the gospel may spread in that land and that thousands may receive its truths I 1 have visited nearly all parts of the mission at least where there are any saints and some portions where there aragione arai are none ione at I 1 might see sec some chance of making an opening in that country I 1 came very near having two of the elders starved by staying there I 1 was determined however to try and introduce the gospel there are some sections of the country that are protestant and I 1 trust there may be a time come when the gospel will spread among that people but I 1 regard italy as in such sucha a condition i that there are bu but t few chances at the present time for any open opening ng to be made the italians are bo bound u nd up in the religious faith that they h have ave been reared in or they are ingli infidel d ea almost entirely I 1 noticed in my mv attendance at the churches that they are usually well tilled filled with priests and beggars and that few comparatively speaking of the well to do classes or the middle classes or the better informed classes were paying any attention whatever ver to religious bb observance servance I 1 have haven also aiso so during m my administration in the british mission miss on sought to have the gospel preached among the french eople people le B rother brother bunot and brother west mado made an effort on tho island leland of 0 argir artir broiher brother hunot nae nag trag irai bent gent to france and he stayed there just as long iong ion lon as he could possibly live using his own means and striving by every means in his power to open some door to his countrymen brother bunot is a man who was educated for the cath ol 01 0 ministry a man of intelligence and learning and a humble man who did everything in his power to warn his countrymen ile he was not successful in accomplishing the desires of his heart on the borders of switzerland and france a number of the elders have labored and while lewe we have not reaped as we could have wished to have done still there has been satisfaction in the labors we have performed f for tor ar we realize that it is not only a day of gleaning lean and gathering the people but dut it is also a day of warning I 1 will say here that about the time our brethren in the southern states were murdered in cold blood a wave of hatred seemed to have been engendered n the minds of the people in every direction the press oi of europe teemed with the most horrid stories that can be imagined everything Evert Ever thing bing that had bad ever been thought of everything that had ever been manufactured manufactured for part izan purposes in our own land sa scattered broadcast throughout europe and the masses of the people were warned in every direction in regard to us and not only were they warned through the newspapers but lecturers began to take the neld field in every direction and incite the people not to avoid our meetings but on the contrary to follow us up and to mob us gan giving us u no 0 chan chau chance 6 e to 0 ex explain p lal lai n to t them he nr th the e princ principles p 1 e s of f t the he gospel os pe or re represent sen ben t ourselves a as we should ho uld this tr feeling eeg has been crowing growing in ja power from that time until the tile time I 1 left leftt that hatland land but as heretofore a cool wave will by and by come along and as a result of the heated condition of the people over the mormon problem and the efforts that have been made to impede the lords work people will begin to inquire thoughtful people will look into the truth and the work will continue to grow in the future as it has done in the past it is true that people do not come by hundreds and thousands to hear the good word of life and salvation but the eves of the world are directed to this our mountain home they recognize the force of the utterance of henry ward beecher when he said gentlemen say what you will but yonder in the rocky mountains is the phenomenon of the nineteenth century it is that people in every land and clime are turning their eyes towards this region of country and wondering what will be the upshot of the problem that is being worked out by the latte rd saints in their western home men of intelligence are traveling they are mingling among our people they see their industry they recognize the perseverance they have manifested they see the obstacles they have hav e overcome they recognize in them a growing race that knows no failure that meets no rebuff that cannot understand nor sense what defeat means and they see in the lat ter day saints the growth and development of a power that will accomplish its object in the eath earth and that object deity has designed I 1 it should accomplish the gathering in la of the honest in heart the establishment of righteousness ne the e com batting of wick th the e driving 1 ing back hack of the forces forbes of evi evl evil as they cluster around the hearts 0 of men and that are leading men step by tep kap to I 1 inevitable I 1 shame and destruction it affords afford me pleasure my brethren and sisters to again put my feet on the soil of america I 1 recognize in it the home of a iree tree man there maybe may be those who desire to pervert this freedom who may seek to engender strife and drive us from the soil upon which we ave there may be these those who seek to trample upon the rights and liberties of man but I 1 believe from the bottom of my heart that deity has stamped it upon this soil that he has written it throughout the universe that in this land his work should prosper that it should go forward and increase until its great destiny shall be accomplished that this is the spot chosen that here it will be nourished here it will grow here it will go forward and the nations of the earth will look upon it and recognize it as the great force that will conquer the earth and bring subject to it the powers that exist thereon and all this will ivill |