Show ad I 1 S 0 OU MR BM DY duila JOHN intaj yina TARR lailla delivered at malad oneida county idaho wednesday oct oos 1881 REPORTED BY G F GIBBS I 1 AM pleased to have the opportunity of meeting with you on we have been traveling during turing g t the 11 e summer t through brou gh many of the various stakes of zion and we thought that our labor would woula not he be complete compie comp hete Fete without visiting you we have general and stake conferences but the circumstances and numbers of the people do not allow of them attending these therefore we think it well to come among youat your own homes to see you and converse with you and to feel after your spirits and that you may see and talk with us and feel after our spirits that we may be mutually benefited and blessed and that we nye may be the better prepared to operate together jor gor for if it we can comprehend it we are engaged in a very great work not only we who are here tor for we form but a ver yer very Y very small smal i portion artion ot of the latter day saints but tto tio the e people that are latten latter r clay day saints in this territory an and those that are in utah and that are in colorado and arizona and those that are scattered abroad in inthe the different places throughout theearta the earth wherever a branch of the church is organized we de do not all comprehend this work in fact comparatively a very few do it is a work in which not 0 only nl the latter day saints are interested r e to d but b ut everybody else if it they ca could uld understand it but they do not and indeed I 1 we can hardly understand it ourselves we legeta get a faint glimpse as it were of certain truths mixed up with many errors which we nye have previously entertained but it Is very difficult for tor tor us to understand correct principles an and d if lf we would comprehend atves them er a at t all ali I 1 it must be by a life of devotion to god and by complying with his laws some of which brother joseph F has spoken upon this morning and which the other brethren P present r T en t talked t 1 ked about esterday yesterday T the h object that go god has in view is to benefit mankind as much as lies in ills his power we talk sometimes about moving heaven and earth but god has moved heaven and earth for the accomplishment of that object men in most instances have been blinded by the adversary who leads them captive at his will but they donot do not know it and he operates very frequently among us trying to lead us astra astray yand and we do not know it it is a very difficult thing for us to comprehend the position position that we occupy to god and to uis his church and kingdom god desires our welfare and he has instituted laws for that purpose he has introduced the everlasting gospel f for tor or that put purpose pose and he has restored the holy priesthood that existed anciently together with all the principles blessings powers rites ordinances and privileges that have graced earth from the commencement of time we can hardly realize this important fact butchen but dut when you reflect you will see some peculiar features associated with this work we all look upon joseph mith smith as bein being a prophet ot of god god called him to occupy the position position that he be did how long i ago 10 g thousands of years ago azo before this world was formed the prophets prophesied about his coming that a man should arise whose name should be joseph and that his fathers name should be joseph yoseph and also that he should be a descendant of that joseph who was sold into E egypt t this prophecy louwill you will find r recorded e c oart ed in the book of mormon ile he had very great and precious brecious promises made to bimby the lord lord I 1 have heard him say on certain occasions you do not know who I 1 am the world did not like him the world did not like neither the savior nor the prophets they have never liked revealed truth and it isas isias much as a bargain for the saints even to bear the truth in the commencement of the work the father and the son appeared to joseph smith and when they appeared to him the father pointing to the son said this ls is is 19 my beloved son hear him As much as to say 1 I have not come to teach and instruct you but I 1 refer you to my only begotten who is the mediator died Aled lator of the new covenant the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world I 1 refer you to him as your redeemer your high priest and and tear teacher hen her hear him rim 11 what next then came tame men who had held the priesthood before who were they moroni N an ancient prophet who had bad lived upon this continent and who had bad charge lof lot the records from which the book BOA of kornj mormon an was waa translated a IL fitting person to introduce the same principles again afterwards it was necessary t hat that the priesthood should be conferred and john the baptist came and laid his hands upon 0 n joseph smith and oliver oliver cowdery ter der y saying upon you gervan servants Ber I 1 lay my hands and confer upon you vou the aaronie priesthood bilich shall ghail never be taken from the earth again until the sons ot lev leivi offer an all acceptable offer offering ing lug before me that was the lesser priesthood the appertaining to the bishopric and why was john the baptist chosen to confer this priesthood because he was the last that held this holy priesthood upon the earth and why did he come because the priesthood administers in eternity both the amato alnio and sud and he holding the keys of that priesthood hood came and conferred it upon joseph smith when be he bad conferred this priesthood upon joseph smith other things had to be conferred I 1 that is what is called the meb priesthood but you understand but bat very little about that as the indian would say about so much muck mean meaning ipg the point of the finger it if you did jou you you would think and act differently from what YOU do who differenTly held the keys eys ays af of that priesthood peter james and john who were three presiding apostles did they confer this priesthood upon joseph yes yen and if you were in salt lake cit city and should go into the assembly nair hair hall nali you might see these things pictured out on the belling of that building what next they built a temple tempie by and by as we are doln doin doing now in kirtland ohio and in ta that at temple the lord lora jesus christ appeared to them again the account of which you may read for yourselves in the doctrine and covenants jesus appeared there and moses appeared there and moses conferred upon joseph the keys of the gathering bf bt israel from the four tour quarters of bottne ithe earth and also the ten tribes and you are here because that priesthood was conferred upon the elders who came to you with the gospel and when they laid their hands upon your heads among other things you received the holy ghost and the spirit of the gathering but you did not know what it was that was working in you like yeast sometimes under certain conditions producing an influence causing you to come to islon yet you could not help it if you had bad wanted ranted to help it you could not while yau were nvere living your religion and were governed thereby for that 5 spirit 1 rit drought brought that lu influence fluence and power along along and it carries it witult it wherever it goes and as men received the holy ghost so they received the spirit of the gathering which vas gag was wag conferred by moses upon joseph smith and by him upon others and which created that anxiety you all felt to eather cather bozion to Zion what next elijah was to come to turn the hearts ot the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fa theis fathers this has not been the case with this world generation after generation yet it must betor bet or tiie the same pro prophet het says that if it is not GOT god will smite the whole earth with a curse there is a very trite saying every man for himself and the devil for the whole and I 1 am inclined to believe that there is more truth than poetry in it god feels interested in the welfare of all mankind as peoples and nations white and black of all classes and conditions jew and gentile bond and free he does not run on a narrow track as we do we areton apt to feel as the man did when he prayed 0 lord bless me and my wife my son john john and his wife us four and no more mode amen that is the way we I 1 eel feel and if anything is introduced among the people that would be calculated to promote the general good the first thing we do isto is to screw ourselves up and begin to inquire how is that going to affect me I 1 wonder who cares about you it is not for you we are operating it is not for you god is operating it is not to make you rich or to exalt you particularly that god is operating but it Is in the interest of the whole human family that has ever lived or ever will live or that now live that Is there the religion that I 1 believe in ill I 1 do not believe in this narrow tucked up thing that you yau can pinch up and stick in your vest pocket and nobody noboa knows where it is we want something more liberal something that will reach the wants of the whole human family but satan has had so fio much power in the tho world and god has been trying to frustrate his designs and lse lie will do it as sure as god lives ile he will acebal accomplish I 1 lish that which he set out to to do when ile he organized zed this ear earth th and placed man upon it and ile he will keep striving and working at it until every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that jesus is the christ to the glory of god the father until every person in heaven and on tile tiie earth and under the earth shall be heard to say bies Bles blessing sinz and honor and glory might majesty and dominion be ascribed to him that sits upon the throne and unto the lamb for ever and ile he will do it in his own way and in his own due time and this principle hatI have spoken of turning the hearts of the fathers to the chi children chilgren laren etc is one of those methods by which he will do it how many thousands and millions of people have died without a knowledge of the gospel do you fou know Knon no you do not but as jesus has said wide videos Vid eis ets Is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there are that go in thereat they have found as the ante deluvia ns dida alda prison in which they are put and in which they will stop sto until they are redeemed by the holy lest nest priesthood As jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison after lie he was put to death in the flesh to those spirits that were sometime disobedient in the days of noah so those men that go the broad way will so go into the prison house bouse and they wui have to endure the wrath of god and whatever they think about it after many many 3 years sears ears shall have rolled away when the tile due time of the lord comes this very priesthood that the world have despised and refused to accept willbe will he their deliverers by goinz as jesus did and reaching preaching to the tile spirits in prison what else eise we will administer for them on the earth here is the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of tho children to the fathers lathers the ancient prophets Prop nets neta and patriarchs and men of god who held the priesthood and preached in and labored in time are now operating in eternity and those whose names I 1 have mentioned came to joseph smith and revealed to him what why the dispensation of the falness of times when god would not only cather eather all things in one but when temples should be erected and the dead as well as the living should be looked atter alter when saviors should come luponi mount zion alon and the kingdom be the lords others had their time they bad the mosaic time and moses who stood at the head bead of it came and conferred nis his authority upon joseph smith they had their prophetic time and the prophets came and conferred u upon on him the prophetic influences my they had the priesthood and those who held it ca came me and conferred it upon joseph they had the mel ana and the keys thereof and they ther came and conferred it upon him they thay had bad the cathering na dispensation and moses was appointed who held that in ills bis day clay to confer it upon joseph this is nalone naione dispensation I 1 but tile the dispensation of the lutness of times wherein all things n s are gathered together into one then the hearts 0 the fathers who are arc living in the heavens are arc turned to the children they are feeling f ce an interest in their welfare like a creat great many ganv men whom we know today good nien men but their sons do not doright do right adam had two sons oneff one of whom was a wicked man roan and the wicked one killed the good aoa one ono at this stage of tunings f I 1 suppose the thought be he had a good thing but heald not and then n he led th the e people into sin until they were prepared to be overthrown by the flood I 1 L suppose the devil laughed at the way things were going but jesus went and anti preached to those spirits I 1 in a prison and the people that are independent who think they can get along without religion or without god will find that in time or eternity they ahby will have to come to the priesthood of god I 1 will go back to the things I 1 was talking about concerning the hearts of the fathers being turned to the children etc this when fully accod dished will reach all men that have ever lived at the present time binic we are connected with it to a certain extent and the spirit of god leads us to build temples why is it th that thab a t you 0 u go 0 to work and build temple temples 1 you la hardly adly know you see them they are pretty nice bull buli buildings dings we talk about being saviors but are we saviors unless we save some bome somebody body no but we build our temples as the lord has directed and then we administer in them for the living and the dead and then we are saviors upon mount zion you here have this same kind of feeling have they not bishop tans fAns ianswer at yes s sir ir moses conferred that upon joseph smith and joseph coni cont merred conferred co erred it upon the elders and they preached to you and you received the holy ghost and when you gathered together they began to talk about these MD things as and ana that spirit rested upon you and you said 1 I want a hand ia in it I 1 want to receive receive blessings in that temple and I 1 want also to look to my fai fal faillers fathers liers family and those I 1 have b been een associated with who have died without the gospel and that is the meaning of the turning ol 01 the hearts of the fathers to the children etc the world word want io to know what mormonism is doin doln doing some of us hardly know but it is P known that we are building temples but the christian world do not know what temples are for ton if it temples were built for them they would not know how to administer in them and we did not know until god rev revealed daled it and unless elijah had come and conferred the keys it would not have been revealed hence I 1 was showing you who and what joseph smith was ile he hasin has introduced trod the gospel together with the dispensation of the tle the falness of d times line which embraces all other things t ill hil s then again did enoch build up a zion so we are doing what is it rhe the rho zion of god what does it mean the pure in heart in the first place in the second place those who are governed b by the law of god the pure in heair 1 are governed by the law of god shall we build up a zion we shall but wo we shil hull not every one of us have our own dav about it we shall feel that we need the will of god and we shall feel that we the priesthood under his direction to gulde guide and direct us not men who are seeking to aggrandize themselves but |