| Show 1 REMARKS i made is president resident Fl wilford woodruff Woo drug V at carls aldr idaho aho bear lake stake on monday afternoon ft aa augat 10 1891 ay BY arthur WINTER I 1 rua aoa very pleased indeed to meet many latter day paints iu in this with iab so go tabernacle on a working day and I 1 y hope you will get paid for coming to I 1 if today I 1 have felt amply feair i I 1 myself for my journey from salt to the In instruct jr 1 ce city in listening abich our brethren have given unto us I 1 told brother cannon this A rating tb that if when ayoung man I 1 auld uld have bave attended a meeting ot of this I 1 nd and heard as aft pat have had given to ur as I 1 IOU have felt that iwas in heaven would have been satisfied that I 1 had ved what I 1 had prayed for and de erwi from my childhood when I 1 was hohoy y I 1 read in the new testament II 11 ruing ing jesus christ and his gost goat ft 19 and the gifts and graces that were manifested and I 1 felt that the pies there taught were the ones I 1 desired ie aired to live to bear taught I 1 prayed for this earnestly in my early manhood I 1 have read the bible through a good many times in my life I 1 have read the book of mormon through a number of times I 1 have also read the book of doctrine and Cuve covenants nants through a number of times ami I 1 have felt that god bad never given u unto stove us stronger principles and more glorious instructions in any of the revelations of god bod than are recorded in chebook of doctrine and covenants they are all by the same author but to different men and at alf different ferent times I 1 will read a few verses from the I 1 let section of the doctrine aud and covenants cienan this aphis section contains the prayer a and prophecy of the prophet joseph abi while e he was in liberty jail and the truths embodied therein are among the sub klimest that god has ever revealed to man for there is a time appointed for every ganv man according as his works shall be god shall ahall give unto you the saints knowledge by his holy spirit yea by the un unspeakable gift of the holy ghost that has not been revealed since the borla world was until now which our oar forefathers have waited with wilh anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times which their minds were pointed to by the angels as held in reserve for the fullness of their glory w A time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld whether there be one god or many gods goda they shall be manifest all thrones and dominions principalities pali ties and powers shall be revealed and set ton fori h upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of jesus christ and also if there be bounds set to the heavens or to the seas or to the dry land or to the sun stin moon or stars all the times of their revolutions all the appointed days months years and all the days of their days months and years and all their glories laws and set times shall be revealed in the days of the dispensation of the bulnes ot times according to that which was ordained in the midst of the counci of the eternal god of all other gods before this world was wa that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof when every man shall enter into his eternal presence and into his hia mortal rest how long can rolling remain impure anat power shall stay the heavens As aa well might ma man n stretch 3 fort forth h his puny arm to stop the mi missouri liver in its decreed course or to turn it up stream as to hinder the almighty y from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the latter day sainta Saint 4 behold there are ara many called but few are chosen and why are they not cho chosen chiseno seno because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to 10 the honors of men that ibey do not learn this one lesson that the rights of the priesthood Priest hooi are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness that they may be conferred upon us it to is true but bit when we undertake to cover our sins or to gratify our pride our vain ambition or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness behold the heavens withdraw dra w themselves the spirit of the lord is grieved and when it is withdrawn amen to the priesthood or the autho authority rity of that man behold ere he is aware he is left to himself to kick against the pricks ricks to persecute the saints and to fig tight 9 L against od gd we have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men as soon as they get a little authority as they suppose they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion hence many are called but few are chosen i who can comprehend this grand language scarcely any person the lord says in this revelation that whether there be one god or many gods gode they shall be revealed and all kingdoms thrones principalities and powers shall be revealed unto those who keep his commandments can we comprehend this why there is not an astronomer that can tell us sp arcely one thing that Is done in mars or venus or jupiter or in any of the planets aside from the earth here 11 aire re worlds upon worlds millions of them and what do we know about them our own little planet upon which we live is about as much as we can comprehend look at the extent of the blessings that are promised us these blessings and these revelations are re worthy the attention of the latter day saints in this revelation it is shown that the priesthood of which we have been speaking has power it has power with the geavene he avene it has power on earth and as was said this morning mornin git 11 does not make any difference what portion of that priesthood a man holds whether it is a president an apostle an high priest a seventy an elder a priest a teacher or a deacon when he goes before god in prayer with a P pure U re heart that priesthood has power W with th the heavens if a man magnifies that priesthood the blessings of god are with him the first sermon that I 1 ever heard beard in this church was in 1883 by old father zera pu lei pher who died in the south after having lived to be considerably over eighty years old that sermon was what I 1 had prayed for from froin my childhood when I 1 heard it I 1 had a testimony for myself that it was true I 1 received receive ct it with every sentiment of my heart he preached in a school house upon a farm that we owned I 1 in D oswego county new york he opened the door for any remarks to be made the house was crowded the first thing I 1 knew I 1 stood on top of a bench before the people not knowing what I 1 got up for but I 1 said to m my y neighbors and friends 1 I want you to be careful what you say as touching these men there were two of them and their testimony for they are servants of god and they have testified unto us the truth principles that I 1 have been looking for from my childhood pl I 1 went forth and was baptized I 1 was ordained a teacher I 1 was always sorry that I 1 was not a deacon first for I 1 had a desire to bear the priesthood in its various degrees as far as I 1 was worthy I 1 had had a desire for years not only to hear the gospel but to have the privilege and power of preaching it to my fellow men I 1 was a miller by trade and I 1 spent many a midnight hour in the mill calling upon the lord for light and truth and praying that I 1 might hear the gospel of christ and be able to teach it to my fellow men I 1 rejoiced in it when I 1 did receive it I 1 afterwards went with zions camp to missouri in the spring of 1834 with the prophet joseph his brother hyrum and over two hundred bundred of the saints sainte of god that was a great mission tome to me I 1 was with the prophet I 1 had bad read his revelations revelation I 1 had read the vision recorded in this book of doctrine and covenants and it had given me more light and more knowledge with regard to the dealings of god with men than all the revelations I 1 bad ever read in the bible or anywhere else I 1 had bad been taught that there was one heaven and one hell and everybody that was not sprinkled or baptized infants and all would have to go to hell it made no difference whether the individual had bad committed no wrong if he had not been received into the church by sprinkling aprin kling or baptism he would have to go to hell bell with the murderer with the whoremonger with the wickedest wick edest of men on theother the other hand everybody that was sprinkled would go to heaven no matter if they had bad never made a single sacrifice for the gospel of christ they would have the same glory glory as peter james and john who had ad sacrificed their lives for the gospels sake that was the kind of teaching I 1 heard in my boyhood I 1 did not believe one word of it then and I 1 dont now but this vision of which I 1 speak opened my eyes it showed me the power of god and the righteousness of god in dealing with the human family before 1 I saw joseph I 1 said I 1 did not care how old he was or how young he was I 1 did not care how he looked whether his bis hair was long or short the man that advanced that revelation was a prophet of god I 1 knew it for myself I 1 first met joseph smith in the streets ot of kirtland he had on an old hat bat and a 11 dastol in his hand band said he brother woodruff ive been out shooting at a mark and I 1 wanted to see if I 1 could hit anything and says he be have you any objection to it not at all says I 1 there I 1 is no law against a man shooting at a mark that I 1 know ov of he invited me to his house bouse he had a wolf skin which he wanted me to help him to tan he wonted wanted it to sit on while driving driling his hia wagon team now many might have said you are a pretty prophet shooting a pistol and tanning a wolf skin well we tanned it and used it while making a journey of a thousand miles this was my first acquaintance with the prophet joseph and from that day until the present with all the apost acles that we have had bad sandwith and with all the difficulties and afflictions we have have been called to pass through I 1 never saw a moment when I 1 had h a a any doubt with regard to this work I 1 have bad no trial about this while the people were apostatizing on the right band and on the left and while apostles were urging me to turn against the prophet joseph it was no temptation to me to doubt this work or to doubt that joseph smith was a prophet of god As I 1 have said while holding the office of teacher I 1 went to missouri in zions camp after arriving in missouri having gone through many tri alsand trials and tribulations and suffering from cholera which caused us to lay in the grave fifteen of our brethren we stayed at brother lyman tle while at lyman I 1 attended council meetings with the prophet with david whitmer with oliver Cowder cowdery yand aud other leading brethren of the church david W ditmer was the president of the fhe stake of zion brother joseph reproved him very sharply as well as some of the other brethren because of their lack in fulfilling the commandments of god and doing their duty while at that place I 1 had a great desire in my heart to go and preach the gospel I 1 went off one sunday night by myself into a hickory grove several hundred yards from the settlement and I 1 asked the lord to open the door for me that I 1 might go and preach the gospel gopel I 1 did not want fo preach the go gospel pel for any honor I 1 might get on this earth for I 1 thoroughly understood as far as a man could in my condition what a preacher would have to pass through it was not honor nor wealth nor gold nor silver that I 1 desired but I 1 knew this was the gospel of christ revealed eto to me by the power of god I 1 knew this was the church of christ I 1 knew joseph smith was a prophet of gound god and nd I 1 had bad a desire that I 1 might preach that gospel to the nations of the earth I 1 asked the lord to give me that privilege the lord answered that prayer and said I 1 should have my desire granted I 1 got up rejoicing I 1 walked about two hundred yards out in the open road and when I 1 got into the road load there stood judge higbee says he be brother woodruff the lord has revealed to me that it is your duty to be ordained to go and preach the gospel says 1 I has he yes yea well 91 says bays I 1 if the lord wants me to preach the gospel I 1 am perfectly willing to go and do that I 1 did not tell him I 1 had been praying for this the consequence was I 1 attended a council at lyman wight and was called and ordained to the office of a priest in the priesthood while other brethren were ordained elders I 1 was called by bishop partridge to go to the southern country coultry on a mission bishop partridge asked me a great many questions and I 1 asked him questions one it was then dangerous for any of our brethren to go through jackson county he wanted me to go to arkansas and the road led square through jack son county I 1 asked him if we should go through there 1 I had bad a companion with me an elder says bays he if yo you Q have got faith to do it you may I 1 1 1 I thought that was a curious remark from a bishop tk well W ell says gays I 1 the lord says we must travel without purse or scrip shall we do it 4 says he that is the law of god if you have got faith to do it you can do it he said he had hardly got faith to go into jackson county however we started and went through jackson county we came near losing our lives and were saved almost by a miracle we traveled through ar kansas and other parta but I 1 do not want to dwell on these things I 1 merely wish to say may that 1 went out as a P riest priest and my companion as an elder and we traveled thousands of miles and had many things manifested to us I 1 beshe to impress upon you the fact that it does dees not make any difference whether a man is IL a priest or an A postle apostle if be magn magnifies 1 flea his calling A priest holds the of the ministering of angels never in ilk my life as an apostle as a seventy or as an elder have I 1 ever had bad more of the protection of the lord than while holding the office of a priest A the lord revealed to me by visions 3 by revelations and by the holy spirit I 1 many things that lay before roe me 5 I 1 was one once moved upon to go and w warn a rn old fath father e r hakeman hakem an living on I 1 pettyjohn petty john creek arkansas he had been in jackson county during the he persecution period his wife died there his ie farally consisted of five sons all aa over six feet tall most of them haa had been whipped with hickory gads by mobs and he went south into arkansas taking his sons with him we went a good deal out of our way for the purpose of father hake man I 1 had a A vision 8 io D the D night ight prep pro re in which was manifested to mo me the trouble that lay jay before us but that the lord would deliver us we arrived at his bis house on sunday morning he was waft taking breakfast we had had breakfast at the place where we stayed ovet over night I 1 saw a book of mormon on his shelf he did not seem to pay a y any attention to us or to take any inter est in us UP I 1 took up ade book of ofa mormon and said you have a very good book here J yes said BAN he be it but it is a book that came from the devil that opened my eyes he ae had been an elder he had been in zion he had been persecuted there and driven out but I 1 found that he har had apostatized and he was our enemy I 1 sw he would jo do anything he could against us we left him and went to brother hubbard hubbardd Hub bards Is and stayed w with ta him three weeks during which we took look our axes and cleared some land Ito bin I 1 was strongly Im impressed messed oree times to go up and warn father flakeman mak emaD at last I 1 did so accor r ding to the commandment of god to the third time I 1 met |
