Show DISCOURSE VeN delivered vered by Pre president sint joseph F smith aundray aa at a conference stakes of zion mon in awona aamna of ef abw jour how held at apache county Art arisona sona in attempting to say aay a few words idelle an interest in your feelings and to your faith and aad brayere pr ayere tor for I 1 am 6 the favor of the dependent p adent upon for what wha t I 1 shall say to you it to is vt very ry pleasing to contemplate the work of god in w which blob we are engaged it Is fa worthy of our most moat careful thought and attention for it not only by the spirit of in seeks to give us a knowledge of those prin necessary to our salva chiples which are uon and aad exaltation in the presence of god but it woke seeks by an org organization animation aniza tion which god has revealed and established in the earth to discipline us and to give us experience and understanding in relation to the working and binding effects of those principles the goo gospel I 1 itself Is a code of laws phroh which originated in the heavens and which to is given to me men on the earth to enable them thern to ASS assimilate themselves to those who are in heaven that in the observance of the laws and plea pies which they are governed by we may be like unto t them hem and become fitted to dwell with them when we shall nave have done with the things of time the principles of the gospel are not only perfect in themselves but bit the organ organization tion of the abe chu church rob is also perfect t in itself and the order of government which god h has as instituted for his peo people pie isa is a pattern of that which is in the heavens we are told in the revelations that in this church there are two priest hos hoods the edeo and the haronim Aaron lc and this priesthood is an appendage to to the isedee priesthood which is the first or greater and which is after the order of the son of god there are numerous offices connected W with ith these two priest hoods such an aa apostles patriarchs high priests pl ests seventies elders priests Toj teachers and deacons the priesthood of holds the presiding power end and authority and by virtue ot of a mans possessing the keys and authority of the priesthood he is able to minister in all the let leeser ser offices of these theme two priest hooda because the greater always comprehends the leer weare we ww are also told that the office of it ft a bishop belongs to the lesser or priesthood and that whenever there are found in the church legitimate descendants of aaron then the bishops will be chosen from his seed because this office bol belong tu to them by right and when a literal descendant of aaron la is found to officiate in the office of bishop he will do so without counselors but he will be chosen and ordained and set apart to officiate in this office by those who hold the Melchised edeo eo priesthood he will not be able to seize the office by reason of his being a descendant of aaron any more than a person is in entitled to any office in the priesthood because he is born in the church all persons have to be set apart and or bained to ta these offices effim and callings by those who bold the authority so that thai if there was a descendant of aaron here whom it was thought proper to choose to fill the office of bishop in the church and to sit as a common judge in the midst of the people he would have to be called and ordained to that office and set apart to officiate in it by the presiding officers of the priesthood the office of bishop or presiding officer in the lesser priesthood is to look af after ter and take care of the temporal affairs of the church hence it becomes the duty 0 of r the bishop to look after the xa feathering of the tithing of the people and abd other contributions which are made for the building oi of temples and houses of worship for the sending of the gospel to the nations of the earth for the gathering of the poor for the main t ie nance of the ministry for the support of if the poor to look after such as are in need and to minister unto them according to their necessities but it is in the duty of him who holds the high 0 priesthood which is after the order orde r of the son of god to preside over all the officers of the priesthood and over all the members of the church when he is chosen and set apart to pre preside elde for instance the presidency of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is composed of three high priests who are chosen from the body of the high priests eata and who are sustained by all the priesthood and members of the church and whose names are presented before the assembled congregations of the saints every half asli year for them to manifest their will faith and confidence toward them as the presiding officers of the whole church it is in their duty to preside over the church it is their duty to preside over the twelve apostles it I 1 their duty to preside over all the be high priests over all the seventies and over all the stakes and wards of zion in tack fact it to is their duty to preside over all the branches bran chee of the church in every land and clime this presiding council to is set apart for this purpose and to Is sustained by the voice of the people not only in the general conferences halt half yearly but in all the stakes of zion at their quarterly conference the presiding authorities the church are present ed before the people that they may sustain or reject them as they we see fit the twelve apostles are a traveling high council called and appoint ed to officiate in the ministry and in the preaching of the gospel of christ in all the nations of the earth as well as in the stakes of zion under the direction of the presidency of the church the seventies are quorums each of seventy elders who are chosen and ordained for the purpose of assisting the twelve apostles to carry the gospel to the nations of the earth wherever the apostles have not power or time to carry it themselves they are therefore auxiliary elders chosen to be assistants of the twelve apos ties in spreading the gospel that gospel may be preached to the people that they may understand the truth as it 16 to is in christ jesus and that they may grow graw up in the knowledge of god and in an un of those principles which are calculated to save them as brother george Reynold sone of the First seven presidents of the seventies has been preaching the first principles of the gospel to us here this afternoon these are all general authorities of the church and it to is their duty to labor for the welfare of zion everywhere wherever they are called and appoint ed by their presiding officers to go then we come to an organization w which we call a stake this meeting is a gathering of latter day gain saints to who are members of tour four separate stakes of Zion located in arizona we have here the presidents of these tour four staked with their counselors counselor 3 and a number of the bishops and other officers we have come here to hold a conference to teach and be taught and to rejoice together in the truth we have come to be taught in relation to our duties as aa presidents of stakes as counselors as high councilors councillors Counci lors as bishops etc the organization pation of a stake la Is a perfect pattern of the general organization of the church As god organized the whole church with three presiding high priests and with twelve presiding high or a traveling high council so we have three high priests to preside over a stake and twelve high councilors councillors Counci lors to sit with them in judgment on matters which may be appealed to them from the bish bishops bp le court or may come before them originally the bishops are appointed to preside over wards in a deike A bishop presides over one ward he has no j jurisdiction arts over another ward he cannot 0 into anther another ward and act there a S V ishop because he be is not set apart for that purpose he has been appointed blahon over a certain ward T there here he has authority to preside dew but his jurisdiction and his authority do not extend any farther so with the president ol of a stake the president of the snowflake stake of zion has authority in the snowflake stake but he has no authority in any other stake where he is set apart to preside dewith with his bis counselors there he has jurisdiction according to the rights and powers which pertain to his presidency aucy now as the maidenly Mai presidency dency of the church of jesus christ of latte rd saints presides over the twelve over the presidents ot of stakes and over the bishops of wards through all the lengths and breadths of zion and throughout all the world so the presidency of a stake presides over the bishops in the stake and over the high council and over the high priests and over the elders and over all the people within the borders of the stake to the same extent precisely in their sphere and calling as the jurat presidency over the me church the presiding authority ot of a stake is independent of that of all other stakes but is not I 1 independent of the presiding authority of the church notwithstanding the organization of a stake is as perfect and complete as the organization of the entire church yet it would not be complete it if it were not inseparably connected with the presiding authority of the church so 80 also a bishop cannot act independently of the presiding authority of the stake he is ie amenable to that authority in all he is responsible in the discharge oi of his duties to the presiding officers of the stake in which he be to ie bishop he Is ig not independent of him either in the management of his hie spiritual epin tuai affairs laffaira ot of hla his temporal affairs afi airs he is in amenable to the presiding authority of that stake as an that presiding authority is amenable to the prodding presiding authority of the church when the presidency of a stake counsel a bishop with regard to temporal affair afi aire the bishop should bould understand undena tand that it to ia their right to look into his hie affairs as aa a bishop to scrutinize his hia acts as aa such each and to investigate everything that he does as aa bishop they not only have the right to do this but it is their duty to do lt it as much as it is ia the duty of the general presiding authorities of the church to look aiuto the actions and conduct of the presiding authorities of the stake and the presiding authorities of the stake have no right to question their authority to do wit thic neither has the Bisho bishop pADY any right to question the authority of the presidency of the stake to inquire into his affairs and tp look after his doings and see bee that they are right A bishop should feel proud to acknowledge the right fight of the presidency of the stake to enquire into his hia official acts and not only that he should feel fee proud that he has someone to rely upon to ask counsel of and to see that he does norgo nor go wrong now as we have no literal descendants of aaron in the church we have no bishops Bishope acting without counselors but as we are informed that a man who holds the off office ce of a high priest has authority to officiate in the lesser leaser offices of the priesthood it is proper to choose a high priest or to choose ari an elder and ordain him a high priest and ordain and set him apart to act wo as a balshi bishap p in the church by reason of his hiff authority as a high priest and he two counselors and they act together as an commod judge or as a common court in the midst of aln to sit in judgment upon difficulties between br brethren ethrem and to judge between brethren with regard to tOi their moral and religious dubiec and to see that all wrongs are put right not only BO but it is their duty to look after the poor and see that they are fed and clothed to look after the fatherless and see that they are provided for to gather the ti things of the people and to take care of those ti tit bings things and to hold them subject to the orders order of the presiding bishopric or of him who presides over the pre presiding siding bishopric the president of the church for remember while we have two authorities apparently running along laterally in the church it must not be lost sight eight of that the greater always presides over the lesser so eo that altho although tigh the presiding bishopric has great authority in the church and is entrusted with the management of the temporal affairs of the church controlling cont roling the bishops with regard to these matters still the presiding bishopric is controlled by the presidency of the church as are all the other bishops Bie hope so bo it is in a stake of zion the bishops who are entrusted wito with the gathering of the ti things of the people and holding them subject to the orders of the presiding or the presiding authority of the church do so eo under the supervision and counsel of the presidency of the stakes in which they live I 1 want the bishops to understand that it la Is the duty of the presidents of stakes to look after them and aino it if necessary to see aee that they make their tithing haystacks and their wheat bins just net right so that the bay and wheat will not be wasted they are placed to preside over you and to counsel you in regard to the management of your bishopric when bishops try it a case alere may be an appeal from their otake judgment to the presidency of the stake and the high council they hoedl a supervisory power over your decisions deci Blore and they can reverse them if they eee roper or they can sustain them thus you will find the order of the priesthood that god has established from thi the deacon unto the presiding auth authority rity in the church all working io harmony one with the other no daubing clashing no contention content ioD but each one acting in his own place each ones duty defined and if each one will keep in his own sphere and attend to kilo his own duty there will be no trouble and no difficulty with regard to the rights of priesthood or presidency I 1 have hare heard in my time lime of bishops who felt that they were only amenable to the presiding bishopric if there to Is any bishop here that Js is possessed of tw that erroneous idea I 1 want him to become dial ofis essed of it remember that you are to the and euper supervision vision of the presidency of your stake and the preal dency of your stake is ie aln amenable enable to the presiding authorities of the whole church we want you bisho to say to the presiding authorities in your stake we have so go and go 0 o describing the articles on hand here we have received so BO much here are am the books containing our account counte ac and they are all open to you and we invite you to come and look after us and see aee that we attend to our dutt right and help us keep things straight if you can A for sometimes it is very difficult for bishops to keep things straight in facts fact it is sometimes very difficult for men to keep themselves yen straight here is where the trouble lies if you will show me a man who Is really capable of keeping him self straight in every particular I 1 will show you a man if he is a bishop that will be able to keep himself straight as a bishop and he will keep his bishopric pretty straight too so with the president 01 ol a stake and with a high councilor etc but if you find a man that to is ua not capable of keeping himself straight then it is in difficult indeed for him to keep his public affairs straight Bret brethren brell and sisters I 1 felt like re ferring briefly to this subject A great deal may be said mid in relation to the authority and rights of the priesthood it is the grand principle of government and of by which the energies and forces of the people of goil god in all ages have been und and will be directed it is that principle by which god almighty governs throughout all his universe I 1 it t is in the principle rin ciple by which the |