| Show sunday services religious services were held at the tabernacle salt lake city sunday september ep aber IS 13 1891 commencing at 2 isa 1 president augus angus M cannon dinia abe e choir sang school thy feelings prayer grayer was offered by elder H P bards ards he a choir sang t to the brightness of zions glad morning ahe fae priesthood of the twentieth lard officiated in the administration the sacrament JOHN NICHOLS ll reseed ased the congregation follow is a brief synopsis of his discourse falls to my lot to address the large bly convened in this house to e in the worship of god I 1 i the faith and prayers prayer of those ant t that I 1 may speak in unison the spirit of god it is a little f three months since I 1 had the of meeting with the saints in ite returned from wt to great britain it is custom y tor for elders who havle have been abroad returning to give an account of lr ir experiences in the world adof e of the objects acts that took me abroad ato to obtain genealogical information t would enable me to do a work perking to the salvation of my progeny ve the journey of the party with m I 1 traveled overland was without bial I 1 interest with one exception the way to new york we stayed a on t time at kansas city which is a short distance from a spot of ric interest to the latter day jt we took occasion to visit it ivcak ot of independence jackson uty aty missouri in that town is aled the spot of ground which was lied out by the finger of revelation i place on which a holy temple is to erected acted in the due time of the lord r gi servants of god in accordance hell divine vine commandment dedicated 9 ground round for that sacred purpose i temple lot which occupies an eted position in a lovely region ihnen n we visited it covered with t grass gram and a number of trees j to in on it a small smal I 1 wooden structure id by a sect known as the hed ft the site of the great temple he e future occupies an elevated and commands a magnificent view a region legion ot of country of great beauty e are wooded hills covered with tty trees while the grassy slopes r clothed with rich verdure relieved r aw lovely flowers As we stood on sacred spot we could in im at least see the noble of the future in all its mag keence cence with its promised pillar cloud by day and pillar of h by night while from the t of heavenly intelligence light awad d radiate to illumine the bole earth when the law shall go 90 from zion and the word of be lord from jerusalem rhe fhe libation liza tion of these hopes a theme of esy will we anticipate come ht abre necessary work of male a is completed we were more in ted edin in that sacred theme because we were on a mission on behalf of our forefathers A question that has been agitating the religious world for or some time of late was solved by the prophet joseph smith over fifty years ago this is the question to which I 1 refer caig Is there a chance of salvation for the dead after this life Is ie there an opportunity for the countless millions who have passed to the beyond who have no opportunity to carry out the commands of jesus in the mortal sphere TIP I 1 do not pay that joseph smith originated the theory of salvation for the dead thata that a work is to be performed in behalf of the dead as well as the living is revealed by the scriptures the servants of god go abroad and proclaim the gospel bof pel A few receive the message have faith in christ and his atonement repent of their sins sine are baptized by immersion for the remission of them and have hands laid upon their heads that unto them may be imparted the holy ghost but the majority reject the revealed truth the same plan of redemption is carried to the spirits of those who have diet died without a knowledge of it the speaker here quoted from the first epistle of peter ad chapter verse same epistle eth chapter and ath verse also first cor chapter showing that the gospel was preached to departed spirits epi ritt and that the object of this labor was to lead them to reformation also that ordinances were performed by the living in behalf of the dead every part of the gospel being essential to salvation the latter day saints are engaged in performing a vicarious work for their progenitors for this reason they build temples iu in which these holy rites are performed and traverse sea and land to obtain the necessary nece seary data to enable them to perform this labor intelligent ly this is as we understand it iu in fulfilment fulfillment of the prediction of the prophet malachi through whom the lord declared that before the great and dreadful day of the lord should come he would send fiend el elijah jah the prophet to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children lest he come and smite the earth with a curse elijah came to joseph smith and oliver cowdery in the temple erected by the saints in kirtland and con berred upon them the keys and authority to open and conduct the latter day dispensation to the dead and unite in one common bond the church in the physical and spiritual spheres epherem ephe rep elder nicholson Nich then proceeded to show that substitution one I 1 intelligent being representing and acting for another permeated the whole plan of christianity it was indeed the basis of the system I 1 christ having died in behalf of all mankind the speaker said he had elaborated upon the theme of application of the gospel to the condition of the dead moie more than he intended but it was associated with the late visit to the old world ane saints would perhaps be Inte interested Asted in learning something concerning the condition of the min field bold in great britain A formet experience of six years in the ministry rendered it easy to corn compare pare the situation of the past with the present especially as an opportunity was given by appointment of apostle brigham young to visit the field during the recent sojourn in 14 england 11 gland among the parts where conferences were attended were birmingham newcastle district manchester district and london the numbers of the church had greatly dwindled the old having emigrated and there being comparatively few additions open air preaching was not conducted to any extent the people either assumed a threatening attitude or were coldly indifferent to the message of the gospel except on some special occasion such as conference people gave no heed to invitations to attend meetings held in halls when they did drop in they generally never returned the exceptions to this rule being few in consequence the elders were mostly driven to the only recourse left delivering tracts from door to door they would deliver a great many hundreds without having an opportunity of conversing with the people many of whom treated them insolently and slammed the doors in their faces yet the brethren kept bravely on doing what they conceived to be their duty in observing this condition it bb aks a been a q question fuestion as to whether the nation is not now in the position tion of having rejected the gospel on n an average it is believed that it takes several elders one year to make one convert not a few of the baptisms reported being those of children who have just reached the years of accountability or of people who have bave been formerly connected with the church unfortunately no detailed record has in the past been kept of the labors of elders formerly in the field and their successors go over i ibe he same ground in many instances with barren result it appears like plowing harrowing and planting a farm for a long period with little or no crop us as a return for the labor expended the president of the mis sion apostle brigham Young remarked to the speaker that he could keep up the work if the brethren at home so desired but if they wished him to go over the field arid and close it up be believed he be could do it in about one year A good work is being done in rectify ing the church records in great britain ain this was made necessary by the fact that the names of many people had been reported who had bad been dead for years while others had bad left the church or could not be found anywhere after a diligent search by bi the elders some borne of the brethren seeing that additions to the church were so scarce now compared with those made in former years were asking themselves the question as to whether the fault lay in them elder nicholson cholson Nl stated however that as a whole the missionaries now in the field were a noble body of men they were whole in the work operated intelligently and were exceedingly industrious they are proving the world there is a revelation however which says that when thoresent those sent out with the divine message go to a man with it and he reject them they are not to go again to that man and that the same process of warning proving and when rejected ret retreating renting applies also to villages and cities when this is done they are to lay the matter before the lurd lord in the way prescribed and leave the subject in his bands elder nicholson made some remarks about the great advancement van vail cement made by the mother country in the matter of intellectual development while there was waa a decadence of human amman sympathy and of morality he bore testimony to the truth of the gospel and expressed himself to the effect that his appreciation of the home and associations of the sal saints ants had been increased by his visit abroad the choir sang the anthem gathered saints benediction by patriarch john smith |
