Show I 1 DISCOURSE iveree atthe general conference of f church in theT a Tabernacle T asah t Lakel Lake City sund sunday y amo morning april p ST WILFORD WOODRUFF g REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER s highest calling the lord ever any human being to in any age file e world has been to receive the ly priesthood with its keys and pow and ad to be called to go forth to the abitanta abi tants odthe of the earth and teach them prin principles caples of the gospel of jesus rist t and to qualify and prepare them r a part in the first resurrection and to back into the presence of god their tor ator to dwell in glory worlds with and end the lord bestowed that sing that priesthood and that er in the beginning of creation father a r adam was called of god and orned d to the fullness of the mel sedek priesthood ordained to the best office ce and gift of god to man on earth adam bestowed that bless apon seven of his sons letb enos d 3 canaan enoch and ulelah luse lab they were all ordained b priests by their father adam and hessed sed the privilege viege and the right to ioder stand the gospel of jesus christ pia to fo give it to the human family so nit they might quality qualify and prepare Hm elves selves for eternal life in tracing gracing te history of the dealings of god with in from that day tp to this we find the rd has in various dispensations and pis les given unto the sons of men that aing israel had it in the beginning faoa abraham isaac and jacob down 1 until moses who traveled with the dren n of israel forty years in the berness erness they had the gifts ats and ices of that priesthood bestowed ge bestowed stowed a them and they had the privilege magnifying their callings and lg themselves for eternal life but yael ea would not accept the Melchi sedek chood and therefore it was taken aiom them and the lesser priesthood conferred upon them while they traveled ed in the wilderness it is not sary tor for me to spend time in tracy H this priesthood through the six h thousand and years tha past and gone it has been manifest in every age aad dispensation when god has had peets and apostles on the earth esig christ came into the world in the veridian ter dian idian of time he was the great agh I 1 priest to israel he was the son agod the savior of the world he as a ris his apostles he oriani organized zed his ircy he bestowed upon these apostles all the gifts a and d graces belonging to the A apostleship post lesh ip in that dispensation p pensa tion it seems that they we were recalled called to la lay down their lives for the word of god and testimony of jesus christ the he savior himself was put to death the apostles were all with one exception put to death in their day and time until finally the priesthood was taken home to god and remained there for a length of time but my views are that whenever the inhabitants of the earth were prepared for the gospel of jesus christ and the power of the priesthood it has been bestowed upon them in the days of the savior and his apostles john the revelator while upon the isle of patmos gave an outline of great events which were to transpire in the last jast dispensa dispensation of the falness of times other prophets and apostles who spoke as they were moved upon by the holy ghost left on the pages of history a record of what the lord would do in the last dispensation among the great events that the reve altor saw was the one described in the irth chapter of his revelation and which is often quoted by our elders because it is very applicable and I 1 saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people nn mw saying with a loud voice fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come if this revelation had not been fulfilled neither you nor I 1 would be here today this tabernacle would not be erected this city would be still part of the great american desert as we found it but in the fulfillment of the revelations of god these things have been done and some ot of us have lived to see them the angel of god did visit joseph smith the prophet of god who was raised up by the power of god as a prophet seer and revelator and who organized the church of jesus christ in the earth from that day until this the work has progressed and the gospel has been beached pe ached the holy ghost has been with the people the lord almighty has set his hand to carry out the great pro gramme to establish the zion of god in the earth and to prepare the people lor for the coming of the son ot of man these are my views with regard to the calling of men in this dispensation gold and silver may pass away houses and lands may perish all temporal matters will pass away but the priesthood never salvation never the kingdom of god never and prophecy will never fall unfulfilled we have hail had apostles now for upwards of sixty years many have died and gone to the other side of the veil vei and those upon whom god be stowed the glory and power of the organization of the church have sealed their testimony with their blood as the ancient apostles did they have gone home to receive their reward but that organization has remained the holy priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained upon their heads and will remain upon the heads ot of thi this s people until the coming of the son of man therefore I 1 say to the latter day saints we are in this organization today I 1 do not pretend to say exactly the number that we have in the priesthood but we have from fifteen to twenty thousand elders in this church we have many various various organizations of the priesthood and churches are org organized anid throughout the world as far as we have had an opportunity I 1 have been called these apostles have many of the elders have to go to the nations of the earth and the islands of the sea to preach the gospel to our fellow w men what greater calling can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation do we prize these things in their fullness I 1 do not think we do nevertheless so far we have been enabled to maintain our position and to go forth and our missions as far as we have had time and opportunity certainly there has been nothing in this work that I 1 have had greater consolation in than in preaching the gospel to my fellow men and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of god both for the living and the dead I 1 may say the same with regard to my iny brethren who are called to perform those ordinances there wash was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our sons and our missionaries abroad I 1 wilt will say for myself and when I 1 say it for myself I 1 think I 1 speak for a great many others there is no I 1 have ever had that has b EMU ter than that which has come i having sons receive the hol holy V fri priesthood iest hood and go forth and administer among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation it is a glorious gift to the sons of men it is what men have not enjoyed before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost then should we we not prize these things yes we should the lord in the dispensation of his provi dences has given to us an army of sons soni and daughters and our sons are called to go to the nations of the earth we want to instill into their minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth and and the saving of souls from sin you give unto any soul the principles of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him and you become an instrument in the hands of god in the salvation of that soul there is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it this is our position today in these mountains we have been led here by the power ot of god led by a prophet seer and revelator president brigham young who was full of the holy ghost and full of revelation appointed ot of the lord and who magnified his calling up to the hour of his death we came here and found a barren desert from that day till this it has been a continual growth and increase until we have arrived at a point where we have a tabernacle as a shadow in the daytime from the heat and for a covert from storm and from rain these thi things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient prophets and patriarchs who foresaw the work of god in the last days I 1 want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among us I 1 want them to comprehend and understand the blessings that are within their reach the lord has given us a large number of sons and daughters they have got to take the places of their fathers the same as the sons of adam had bad in his day and generation A great responsibility rests upon them the lord requires at the hands bands of our sons that they shall bear off this kingdom of our god while they dwell in the flesh that they may be justified the lord told oliver cowdery and if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people and bring save it be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy with him in i the kingdom of my father 00 it requires light knowledge and understanding it requires the spirit and power of god for ps us to comprehend our position our blessings and our gifts that god has placed upon us I 1 feel to rejoice and thank god myself that I 1 have lived to see what I 1 do in these valleys oi of the mountains mountain that I 1 have lived to see these multi multitude tut that fill these tabernacles and temples and labor here in the building up of the kingdom of god the lord has been very merciful to me and my life has been preserved to pass through these things and I 1 still remain in the midst of this people I 1 have to acknowledge the hand of god in the whole ot of it I 1 suppose you have to do so with ith rega regard rd to your lives the fact is there is n not ot a blessing that god has bestowed upon us from the be beginning gre i ng but has been the jilt gilt of god we should understand this we have preached the gospel to every nation kindred tongue and people I 1 le as lac far as the lord has opened doors for for us and we have had the privilege of going still the world today is lull of people people who have not heard the gospel of jesus christ t and while the priesthood rests s upon our shoulders we are still under ale r obligation and are still held responsible for the salvation of the children of men as lar far as we have the privilege of bestowing these gifts upon the sons and daug daughters liters of adam only think that by embracing the gospel of christ we can become heirs of god and joint heirs with jesus christ that we can have part in the first resurrection and come forth out of our graves and be clothed with glory immortality and eternal lives and pass into the presence of god and the lamb and aad dwell with them eternally in iii the heavens who comprehends this do the inhabitants oi of the earth they do not t satan has warred against us from the 1 organization ot this church to try and destroy this people but so far we have been preserved we should be thankful for these blessings I 1 realize myself that we are dependent upon the lord in all things the lord is our preserver he is the author of our salvation jesus christ has laid down his life to redeem us by his bood and through that we have these blessings bestowed upon us among other things we live in a generation in which the lord has enabled us to rear several temples some in these mountains and some before we came here and hundreds and thousands of people go into these temples to redeem their dead this is a blessing the he latter day saints should prize it is is a duty that is required at our hands to do what we can in this direction it is a blessing that the inhabitants of the earth have not had for centuries until this dispensation pensa tion I 1 hope that no man who has got a record of his fathers house will go down to his grave without having attended to this work how would I 1 feel after living as long as I 1 have with the privileges I 1 have had of going into these temples to go into the spirit world without having done this work I 1 meet my fathers house I 1 meet my mothers house I 1 meet my progenitors and they are shut up in prison I 1 held the keys of their salvation and yet did nothing for them what would be my feelings or what would be their feelings toward me they would not like it I 1 teel feet that while the lord has given us this blessing every man and woman in this church that has any faith at all in god and in the gospel should attend to this duty jesus christ while his body lay in the tomb went and preached to the spirits in in prison that were drowned in the days of noah by the flood because of their wickedness and abominations they had been in prison for a long time and he went and drenched ore ached to them that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to god in the spirit joseph smith hyrum smith david patten and the apostles and elders who have been true and faithful u unto nto death have also gone to the spirits in prison in their day and ti time in e and preached the gospel of christ to their fathers houses and to those who are shut up in prison and they are laboring laborin Lr there for the salvation of the children of men these are glorious principles principles which the latter day saints should not neglect while they have the privilege vilee and power As I 1 said in the beginning there is no calling a man can be called to any greater than to have this right and privilege to go f forth 0 rt h and save the souls of men save them by preaching the gospel to them by ad ministering the ordinances of the house hous e of god to them that they may be prepared themselves to go into the kingdom of he avenand into a del celestial estial glory there a are re three glories paul in speaking that subject said there is one glory of the sun and another flory glory of the moon and another glory of 0 the stars for one star diff ereth from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead 1 these glories overshadow the whole human family now how much better it is for a man to receive these ordinances that he may go where god and christ avell dwell which is the highest glory but jesus said in his day straight is is the gate and narrow is the way which unto life and few there be that find it while broad is the way that to destruction aa afi many there be which go in thereat think many times that we ourselves do not prize the blessings that we enjoy and that are within our reach our he hearten uto should be set upon the building up or of the kingdom ot of god the zion of goa 7 and the work ot of god while we are here and have power to perform these things it is our duty as the presidency and as apostles not only to labor ourselves but to send forth the elders eiders of israel nations of the earth to proclaim the gospel doors are open today among many of the nations for the spread p read of the gospel of christ and tb bring ang the people unto christ that they also may receive these blessings brethren and sisters this is the way I 1 feel this morning of all people under under heavens we should be the best the most righteous and the most true and nid faith ful to god and to our fellow men we should be true and faithful to the priesthood while we have it resting restine upon upon us and true to our labors I 1 rejoice at our condition today I 1 rejoice at the peace that has come unto us by the power and blessing of god I 1 rejoice at the change that is taking place in the world we are visited now by hundreds of people from the nations of the earth they are coming to behold the glory of f zion they come to enquire at our hands con berning various matters and there is very different feeling to what there WW vm |