Show BY epst ile lie tle LT 21 Q CANNON I 1 delivered at the general confer ence once in iia the tabernacle salt g late lake cuy city sunday morn momi ing oct 9 1881 REPORTED BY RY IN the presence of so large an audience as we have here today to day every evert one ought to sit very still and repress every noise as much as pos possible bibles for the acoustic properties of this nacle are of such a character that the combination ot of sounds bounds big hig of feet crying of babies walking about of children drown the speakers voice however strong it maybe may be every person should therefore keep as still as possible no human power can make a congregation like this hear bear unless the congregation itself bits sits quietly and babies should not be allowed to disturb those in their immediate neighborhood it may be very interesting to the mother bhe she may think the music of her ba bys voice very those who come to hear are not interested in hearing it in coming together as we have done upon this occasion and during this conference we should be so united in our faith that when a speaker arises the people will draw from him that instruction which they need many of you have come long iong distances I 1 see some home here upwards of SOO miles from their homes and of course when men take sueh such in journeys journeys our traveling about miles in the round trip to come to conference ence there ere should be something imparted to f them that will be a profit to them that they may feel satisfied 9 when they leave here that the journey has been well taken now there are topics enough before u UP L s topics of great vital importance to us as a people which we should con sider aider and which upon occasions like this are appropriate for our consideration we have been told indeed it is a constant comment about us that we are a peculiar people ople opie we vve know this ourselves it Is a a very remark ahta ahll hl t 1 I 1 sul aul l I 1 lot lol me the world calls mor mormonism has gathered only here ardd arid the there re one out of the families of the earth and as the most of you who are adults well knows know you were as a general thing things di merent different from the krestof rest of your family in many respects it seemed as though you were waiting for something to come along a little different from anything that you had heard the systems of religion the ideas that were inculcated by your teachers and that you were i taught in your sunday bunday schools in your chapels and in your meeting houses and churches did not accord with your views concerning god and christ and the plan of salvation and yet had you been asked what you believed in where you should go to find that which you did believe in or to define your ideas of what you wanted it would have imen iwen impossible to have done to 60 yet there was a yearning in your hearts for something higher something nobler something more Godlike something after the apos tollo plan of salvation and andritta it is a remarkable fact that the elders of this cli cil church in their travels and administrations among the people though they have had great grent difficulties to contend with have had persecutions and all manner of bf evil things said maid about them have been frequently hobt ed and driven that notwithstanding they have had these difficulties to contend with it has been an n easy matter to bring those who are now latter day saints into this church chuich when the A elders found the honest in heart when they found men and women who were meek and lowly who were vere prayerful who believed in the bible who were willing to accept truth however it might come to them however unpopular its aavo 1 cate might be hen when ben they found people of this description they have never had any difficulty in gather ing them out the latter day sainta saints throughout ghouL these valleys from north to south have been gaa without much if any trou brou s ble on the part of the elders for the word of god has come to them in T the power and demonstration of the holy ghost and they have been convinced of the truth very frequently before they scarcely t yard pard tard it this is very remarkable remarkable liow low the hearts of the people have len ien leen prepared to receive the elders how liow their minds have been softened and how willingly they have received the and ani borne testimony to it when they heard it I 1 remember well my myown orji mothers experience 1 I was a little boy sitting beside her the first time F she he fhe saw an eider elder bhe she hod had never heard of the iatter latter day saints or cormons mormons Mor mons 9 she did not cot know that he was waa one she did not even know that he be was a professor of religion but she had been waiting for something my father and mother were both episcopalian but they had bad no faith in the system it was cold and inan inanimate mate there was nothing lifelike or godlike about it when he left the house she said to me cc george that ia hi a man of god 21 she bhe had bad a testimony to that effect although aa as I 1 have said she did not know he was even a professor of re that elder was president tay taylor or and when he began to talk afterwards 3 regarding the pr principles Inci ples pies of the gospel she was ready to he be baptized baptised red sed for it was that for which she had bad been waiting her heart was prepared for it and there are thousands and thousands of such instances sat FAt ances auces among the people called latter day saints god prepared their hearts before hand band and he be elders found them without much difficulty it la Is true they had bad to labor and contend with rot Po potherb therb herbs hersl but those who were the honest hearted sons and daughters of god who were willing to receive the truth receive dit without much difficulty as I 1 have said and it is a wonder ful fact that in accordance with the scriptures god Is gathering together a people to lay the foundation of this great work concerning which all the prophets have spoken god has predicted through the mouths of his holy Prop prophets bets and andt their beir words am are to be found in the Bible that in the last days davs there should be just such a work as that which we wi witness t that la Is one of a city and two of a family being gathered together in order that there might be a representation of all the families and races of men upon the earth to lay the foundation of this the greatest work that has ever been beep established upon the face of the earth and aad yet men talk of there being no evidence in favor of dior mormonism 29 2 9 they say where is the evidence of its divinity where is the evidence that joseph ain aio wa haq a prophet of god show usa us a sign anat in ai we may aw wh wb t her ther you are the mople people you profess to be wiy aly th hool heal noaa one of the greatest signs presented to all the inhabitants of the earth that ever was shown to man a an organization composed of people from every creed and it may be said from every civilized creed and from every civilized elvi civili lizec zeo race gathered together dwelling in union and in lovey loves love iove and worshipping wor shipping god goti according to the laws which re late has hag given with a one nes with a union with a love that la Is unexampled upon the oace face of the earth nowhere elge else can such a thing be found and I 1 often think when men talk about delusion and about the shrewd lead erm ere of this people and that by the power of their shrewdness and the strength of the imposture they are abie able to hoodwink the people and to lead them astray that it takes more faith to believe that theory than it does for the latter day saints to be lieve the truth as we have received it if this be imposture where is the truth the gospel of christ was to produce union its mission was to produce love to destroy strife to make men and women live together aa as brethren and Fil pel stere and it has done so for us and it is doing so and arld it will do so more and more ana and atwill it will build up a system such as cannot be found on the face of the earth and itis jula growing and increasing it ia Is like a little leaven and by and by it will leaven the tho whole lump and the influence and the power that will go forth from this people will be felt throughout the whole earth I 1 know it is a great thing to says say and men looking at us numerically think we are ex cee presumptuous to advance rueh euch an idea but it is nevertheless true the union of thit people the power which accompanies them and the effect affect of their example will be felt more and more mid and the truth will continue to ta spread until all honest bonest hearted will be convinced of the truth of the statements which are made concerning con the res of the everlasting gospel in its original purity and power and those who may not be prepared tore to receive it will sooner booner respect it and admire it and be willing tos tob to bare share in the benefits which will accrue from its establishment on the earth f now my bret brethren hren bren aej ant ani sisters there Is one thing above everything else that every speaker from this stand would like to impress upon your tour minds and that is when you go away from this conference that you carry with you the determination to live and to carry out in your lives the principles that you profess that is Js a all ail I 1 that we can ask of you live your religion that embodies bli all that can be gald said to you there is glory in it 11 there is happi happl happiness in it there is peace in it there Is virtue in it there is wealth in it there js exaltation in it there is no gift or bl blessing essing or power that it does not contain and that does not accompany it on the other hand band violate tile the principles of of your religion deviate hom the path that god has marked out and there is sorrow and misery for you if persisted in you have been gathered together in the most wonderful manner that any deop people ae ever were we taik talk about the gathering of the children of israel u udder der moses I 1 consider that that mighty movement fades away in comp comparison Arlson arison with the gathering that is now going on this people have been brought from the various notions of the earth and you have received a testimony from god concerning this gork vork work you know for yourselves jf you are living as you should do conc concerning eining ning these things how necessary it JL 1 then that you should carry out these principles ant the great difficulty we have to contend with is that we bring with us our traditions and preconceived ideas ideas and to overcome these is the great labor we have to contend with it is a labor that we should set ourselves industriously patiently perseveringly to acco let us be pure in cur hearts in our language in our conduct in everything that we think and say and do let us seek for purity let us inculcate purity iet jet ua us take the principles of the and teach them to our children and ind endeavor to make them better latter day saints than we are let us do everything we can in this direction and then if we do th this thib s there will bo be no vice in bijur land liquor saloons gambling house hoube 1 houses of prostitution and the other evils that abound in the world will wili not be found within our borders it should be our aim to so live that these things shall be repressed completely lied it ia is a shame lor jor anyone pr ra j g to be what e are to enter a liquor ool wr in r anize one or to patronize any of these evils nuli nv should withdraw the hand of fellow ship from all who do drunkenness certainly will never be countenance ed by the lord it is a gross vice and it will bring the loss of the spirit to everyone who indulges in it and so with these other vices to which I 1 have alluded no one can be a latter day aint who praet practices ices lees these things we should be honest we should be truthful our word should be like the words of the lord that thai is in our sphere when a man says a thing to his neighbor he should so live trint that hib hia neighbor can have havo confidence in him when he makes a promise that promise should be sacre sacred dand and if lie he cannot fulfill fulfil it let him explain tile the rodeon so that confidence may be preserved when we borrow we should repay when we deal WB we should be upright in our dealing I 1 would like it to be the case among us that when a man has a horse to sell seil that he will voli tell all he be knows about it and not endeavor to take advantage in any shape or form the i mame name with a wagon a cov cow a pa piece e ce of land or a house or anything else that a man mail will tell what he knows about these things so that confidence may be maintained there are some men of whom I 1 have heard who when they make a trade think that the one with whom they trade ought to have his olyn eves open and if he does not and Is Js taken advantage of because of his inexperience pr being too curindo cunin curin dm the one who gets the bargain is not to blame but to be congratulated on his hia good luck in deed there are some men aho who vho ji if they can tako advantage in thle thie way would think nothing of bowing down on their knees and thanking god for having made BO so ghou a har tar bargain hargain gain an now tow a man who calls bilm eif elf a latter day saint and w 11 do A thing of the kind grieves the tho spirit of the lord again if a man have pot an old wagon but hut my neighbor who has not my experience wants a wagon I 1 ican lean can ean trade that poor wagon to him I 1 can get a good price for it and I 1 shall eh all nil thank god if I 1 can do so I 1 tell you kweli things are very sinful art att and are afe not from god when we professing to be latter day saints do such things we grieve the spirit of god and cause satan to laugh these are practical duties I 1 would give more for a latter day saint who if I 1 employed him to do me a job and he did it jt right than I 1 would for a nan iman who would cofler a long prayer and tell the lord a great many things that might be very good and did not do the work honestly I 1 would rather hi bi ve a man that was honest in his hia dealings deal deai ings with his hia neighbor a man that if I 1 wanted to buy a horse I 1 could g to him with the full assurance that he be would do the square thing by me than I 1 would have a man who offers very long prayers if he be neglected this other duty duly I 1 tell you that the lord wants works from the people and not professions we have got lots of profession prof emlon emion there are some men very sanctimonious and nd because they can pray well and an a are looked upon as good latter da day y maints saints they think they are privilege leg ed to take advantage of their neighbor now I 1 tell you that we want a religion lou iou that is dif dil lerent to this we want a religion of honesty if I 1 say a thing to a man I 1 ought to live BO so that he will believe every word I 1 say if I 1 sell him a piece of property I 1 should tell him the truth about it there should be no concealment I 1 no lying or allowing tile the man to te be deceived it Is on that account that 1 despise des plse this trading some men live by trading and in the long run somebody is cheated in the community there are times of course when men can exchange property and both parties be bene berie fitted thereby if one man has a piece of property than another man wants and the other has a piece of property that suits the first party a mutual benefit results from the exchange there are other instances of this kind which frequently occur but it should be done on the square any man who takes advantage in this direction cannot be a latter day saint in truth and deed and god will hold him accountable for his conduct joma jama 1 e a religion of works and not of profession p r 0 k rs kt should be a religion that we can M y with |