| Show M mi M A pa M 8 v BY tf in gou ROP uyi uri n H calnon I 1 T r DELIVERED in the tabernacle salt lake city sunday afternoon nov 1884 REPORTED BY JOHN there are a few moments remaining which it is desired I 1 should occupy it Is ver yer very y interesting to he hear ar the testimony of the elders who have been on missions and who have returned as our brethren who have spoken this afternoon and to me particularly so sofa in the case of young Toung men like brother leo clawson whose voice we have heard lizard and whose testimony has been given to us sending young men upon on missions is an excellent method of testing their integrity and also of giving ving them an opportunity alty of proving YO for r themselves w whether ether the testimony they have heard beard from front their parents and others is true when a young man leaves home to go to a foreign land in the midst of a coldhearted cold hearted and prejudiced world without purse or scrip with no funds in his pocket to depend upon to pay his way and has to depend upon his maker mater and upon the promises thich he has made be he is in a most excellent position to learn for himself the truth of the words of the savior and the truth of the testimonies that he has heard from his parents and friends I 1 re rejoice 0 ce exceedingly that our young men have this 0 it brines home to them in a most unmistakable and convincing manner the truth of those testimonies they have heard when a canhas no food to eat when he has no friends and Is a stranger ina strange land traveling as a servant of goche has a good 0 opportunity port unity of testing for himself whether there is a god and whether that god hears and answers his prayers in this way wy faith becomes knowledge because if it a man rays prays to god and isis asis asks for that which ee he wants and god gives it to him he then knows for himself that god hears and answers prayer Itis it is luthis inthis in this way that the knowledge of the gospel that we have received is perpetuated in our hearts and in the hearts of our children transmitted from one generation to another as it has been and is being done at the present time among these latter latten day saints today to day there is a host of young men growing up in this country who have in this manner proved for themselves the truth of that which I 1 am now speaking of it was in this manner that I 1 learned most convincingly in my youth that this was the work ot god I 1 believed it yes imay say I 1 knew it to be true but when i was sent out as a missionary without purse and scrip and compelled to feel after god and ask him for those thines q that I 1 wanted I 1 learned to my entire satisfaction that when I 1 did need gods goda blessings blessing sHe he was at hand to confer thereupon them thern upon me according to the desires of of my heart and tile tiie necessities of my case in this manner men who are now of middle age have grown up with this knowledge and the youth today are in their turn acquiring the same knowledge obtaining it through the means which god has appointed and in the manner he has designed there are two objects to be accomplished by the elders going out without purse and scrip upon the apostolic plan in the first place they learn for themselves that god lives and that he hears and answers prayer in the second place they test the world the savior says you re cel cei calvetti me and the same will feed you and give you money and he who feeds you or clothes you or gives you money shall in no wise lose his reward and aej he that boeth not these things is not my dis disciple ciple elpie by this you may know my I 1 disciples we test the world in this manner and prove whether they will receive the servants of god and supply their simple wants when they travel preaching the gospel without salary or pay of a pecuniary character but looking unto the lord for the reward that he has promised to bestow when a man has been gone as brother clawson clawso n has and as brother george goddard has brother clawson for two years and upwards he becomes acquainted with the lord be learns to know god is his friend and he through gh his life afterwards if it he cherishes that knowledge which he has then acquired is a faithful servant of god there are today to day hundreds of our youth scattered throughout the various fields acquiring this knowledge of god becoming familiar with the things of god learning for themselves that which they have been taught in theory and having it so thoroughly instilled into them and becoming so indoctrinated by these thede principles that they never will forget them my brethren and aud sisters we can rejoice lo 10 c exceedingly in the prospects before 0 r e us we may be hated as our brethren have described we may be maligned and calumniated and called all manner of evil names but with all these things we can ran rejoice ref nef bice because it is the tile legacy that was left to us and leatto every follower of jesus christ by himself when he was upon the earth ile he that lives godly in christ jesus paul says shall suffer persecution he did not say that they might m suffer puffer it he did not put it in a doubt ful manner but he said they should p suffer frer they shall suffer su persecution V we ie have proved the truth of ot that saying in of the Apost apostles lols but nitwit h standing sta adin all this wa wo can look around us and see what god Is doing for us we have the most abundant causes for thanksgiving and praise ile he Is blessing us as no other people today to day upon the face of the earth are being blessed outside of our community there is hatred there is animosity there is a beelin feeling of wrath entertained against us we are hated by those who know us not but inside there is peace there Is happiness there is joy there itier els eis is eaith balth growth and development a people growing up in these mountains that will yet astonish the world by the exhibition of those grand virtues that god is developing in our in midst dst ast through the teachings of the everlasting er gospel that we have received A union unparalleled unexampled at this time upon the earth exists throughout our settlements and in all our associations from north to i south from east to west a people dwelling together in peace and M love loving each other with an intensity of love begotten ol 01 god and that is unknown elsewhere the fruits of the outpouring 0 ot t the he spirit and power of god upon us M men e n say that this is imposture that these are the fruits of ignorance that the binding of this people together in the manner in which we are associated in these valleys is merely the result of the combination bina blua tion of shrewd men A most extraordinary tra ordinary spectacle this T that hat wherever you go throughout our settlements tle ments in whatsoever house you enter enter i if the owners are latter day sint saints bint you will find tind there the spirit of peace bace and of love a willingness to pd do 0 everything possible for each other and then when we contemplate the growth ozithe of the people in intelligence tome to me it is something marvelous what god is doing for us in this direction there is no community upon the face of the earth today to day andon anion among whom you will find so many men who have traveled who have mingled with people in foreign lands lanas who are so fd familiar millar with the religions and social usages and with the histo history of the people of other lands as you w will 1 find in this community of latter day saints scarcely a man among us now ot middle age who has not been in foreign lands who has not traveled throughout his own country and acquired a knowledge of human numan nature such as cannot be acquired under any other circumstances the effect of this upon the community I 1 can perceive wo we all can observe it wherever we go it is U uplifting 1 if ting the people not very rapidly it pi is true but still in such a manner that it is easily perceived you can perceive the effect upon the people of thet education tims lims amed liy hv our elders in ahl ahi hid arl larrat hi liln liin i the gospel abroad neatly ait all I ulus a ing missionaries express ey aa as our brethren have this afternoon brother clawson has said that he Is determined from anis time forward to do his share in helping forward the work of the redemption the human family when such return bringing with them the spirit that they have upon t their 11 e ir missions the spirit of god what a strength is to their bishops what a strength it is to their teachers what a strength it is to the entire priesthood in the ward where they reside or the stake to which they belong and when they come back as they do by scores this effect is felt throughout the entire body of the people and excellent results follow a higher tone is developed a higher standard is aimed at and there is an uplifting of the people as it were to that higher standard this is going on all ali the time and the effect is marked and already felt those who travel through our settlements see many things that strike theland the them mand and strike them more forcibly because of the different impression created by the falsehoods told concerning us these falsehoods have their good dood effect in this respect for when a man hears so much about the mormons cormons Mor mons he natu naturally fally faily pictures to himself the kind of society that he will meet when he goes anlon anion among them if he has never met mormons cormons Mor mons he be has an idea in his mind from what he has read or from what he has been told as to the kind of people he will meet when he sees them but he is thrown into mormon society he finds that they have no horns that they have no cloven feet that they do not garnish their conversation oaths and that if he had not been told these were mormons cormons Mor mons he would not have discovered it by any outward sh sign when be comes into our cities I 1 instead of seeing drunkenness instead of hearing blasphemy instead of seeing the profanation of all that is holy he sees a people dwell dwelling irig in peace hp sees quietude prevailing and the cohl con strikes him very forcibly why says he this is not that which I 1 expected to see these are not the people 1 L expected to meet this is not tae society for which I 1 looked when I 1 came into the settlements of the latter day saints in utah these very falsehoods therefore have the effect of Impress impressing irig where meu men have theop the opportunity port unity unito unItT of mingling with the people p more forcibly upon the mind than otherwise would be the case that which they see it takes tinie time however to remove prejudice to dias aluse peoples minds they think that there is something hidden something that is very bad that tea t they have not yet discovered and this sometimes remains in the mind a good while but as sure as its god lives so sure w will ill lii we ve live down these false charges and impressions and the day is not far distant when lovers of good government lovers of peace will turn their attention qt to these valleys in which we dwell and to this society of which ye ve farm a 4 part vor for here 10 a trouble in the future there i per rear therea ge very far off we can hear a faint rumbling of it as it were inthe the time will come as sure surl as we allye when distress and ca calamity lally will fall fal lupon upon the wicked and dun our own a nation has hag a great deal to answer for they have to answer for deeds tha that thal cannot be easily paid the blood of innocence has stained the soil of free i america the blood of a prophet of patriarch and of other righteous mei mea I 1 i and women who have suffered for their religion and for to no other cause than thant that they chose to es espouse 0 use the truth and to advocate it pi living liv ily lives ilves of purity offending no one that Is no one who should be bb offended breaking no law trampling upon no human right they were cruelly murdered and we as a people were driven out by vi violence piolenc driven out from the he midst of civilization driven out from ou rhomes and our hard earned possessions and 1 our track is marked with the blood and with the graves of mir own people peoples from the borders of civilization till we reached these hocky rocky mountains and for no cause for which we could be punished legally we broke no law we committed no offense against the majesta majesty of the law we have lived i lives 0 of purity as we do here in these mountains but prejudice was cre cret cres s abed men became excited knobs inous were form forme dand extermination was decided upon and there was no alternative pre j dented to us but this either to submit to be killed off men women and children from the face of the earth or to take our flight aal nal as best we could in our poverty I 1 t to some remote land where we coula could j worship god according to the dictates 1 1 i ot of our own conscience in peace and in quietude we wf chose the latter alter native we preferred to face the wit wilf berness with all its untold terrors we j preferred to come out among tribes of I 1 indians of which we knew nothing and live in their midst and trust to their mercies I 1 savages though they were than to r emain remain among civilized men aien men who called themselves christians we did this thirty seven j year years sago saxo ago i fifty four Y years e a r and a half have passed since t the he organization of the i church of jesus christ of latter day i saints and in this land there has uever never j been a man punished for killing a mormon never been a man puni dished for burning a mou mormons cormons Mor mons house never been a mau man punished lied for engaging in mobs and banding together for the extirpation of the mormons cormons Mor Mori mons and the destruction of their property and ind this too in this land of boasley boasted liberty beri this in this land the most glorious ackler the ulu canopy of heaven beaven the fl free freu VU that ihal ever existed the buat bust government ever formed by human wisdom this in this land with wIt tithe lithe the constitution alfree as free as god himself has revealed it so free that very avery human bein being may dwell under it without let or without interfering ter fering with the rights of his fellow man giving me the perfect freedom to worship god according to my own owa cox com conscience and giving no man the r right t t to 0 interfere with me in that worship sap a and ngi giving vinz every other man the same right and depriving me of the ri right to interfere with any other man in his worship if he worship according to tre the dictates 0 of his own conscience and does not noti interfere with the rights of his fellow man but in this land latter day saints have been murdered murdered for no other cause than because they believed la in god and believed he was a god of revelation and today to day utah exists because of this because of this spirit of persecution today to day utah Is a te territory 1 I a grand territory and we as a people are living in these valleys of the mountains tor lor that very cause we are a standing monument before god and before all men of the ichu inhumanity marilty of man to his fellow man this is the tha position that we occupy 1 will not these things be remembered yes they thes will and they will bring down the anger auger of a just god upon the nation it not for this alon alone anere are other thines things and the time will yit yet come when men will flee for safety to the laud land where the saints dwell for we design lesl lesi n by the help of our god to in maintain nta a freedom freedom for every man fre freedom elom for every creed freedom for every race who wherever rever we live and can have power all men shall have equal freedom with us they shall be protected with us in every human right in the exercise of every belief that they choose to indulge in as long iong |
