Show REMARKS made at the semiannual semi annual conference in the tabernacle salt lake hake city 7 utah tuesday morning october aith 1897 by PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW brethren and sisters and friends I 1 hope during the short time that I 1 ad awaa you this morning I 1 may have the of your prayers and the ex eise of your faith at A these gene general ral conferences conference 8 it is 18 ha privilege of everyone who attends receive instruction suited in vidual needs and benefits of great worth and if we pay proper attention ta wl lat is said and exercise the proper anath fi there will be no disappointment 1 vow now I 1 wish to read a few verses doctrine and covenants OM g the te alon which describes one of the oaut important events of our day the veil was taken from our minds soma na the eyes of ou our r understanding pa opened we saw the lord stand g upon the breastwork of the pulpit us and under his feet was a leaved work of pure gold in color like amer his eyes were as a flame of mlle abre e and the hair of his head was wate white like the pure snow his countenance shone above the brightness of and his voice was as the ie sun un mound und of the rushing of great waters aven ven the voice of jehovah saying I 1 a the first and the last sun he who liveth I 1 am jwj who was slain I 1 am your adte with the father behold your are forgiven you you are clean im fore me therefore lift up your heads aad ad rejoice let the hearts of your hj in thren rejoice and let the hearts of A people rejoice who have with thear ml might ht built this house to my abade jetsie for alor behold I 1 have accepted 1466 house use and my name shall be here igal J j will manifest myself to my peo to in mercy in this house yea I 1 will appear unto my servants and speak bem with mine own commini voice it f keople will keep my command mento and do not pollute this holy tea the hearts of thousands tens g of thousands shall greatly dice in consequence of the blasa 1 dybich shall be poured out tand nd endowment 1 with which my sr I 1 have been endowed in this B and the fame of this house camal spread to foreign lands and this ft bf tinning of the blessing which be poured upon the heads of my even so amen aft have heard brethren and sisters client principles explained to esterday fr arday and this morning by he It richards ichards and our hearts havi have made e to rejoice in the conte bontem m of the positions trtat we oc 00 the prospects that va ifft 0 before of the glorious records that aad I 1 hope all have made in it t to Is strange that there are at have come to an under that god has revealed him swat people that his him voice hard so I 1 have just ut read rad to yoland for what he has accomplished through the holy priesthood that he has caused to be conferred upon many of his servants thirteen hundred or thereabouts of the servants of god are now traveling through the world as oracles of godana testifying of these mos most t extraordinary facts and are promising in the name of the almighty by virtue of the divine authority they possess that those who will obey the gospel which they are authorized to administer shall receive a knowledge of these important truths it is a marvelous fact that there are thirteen hundred men who are now promising in the name of the lord and explaining how every person may know and know effectually know by revelation that their promises are of the almighty that they have authority to thus prophesy prophesy of that which I 1 is most important in fact there could be nothing of greater importance to mortal man than that which pertains to their prophecy and all men have a right or the privilege of ascertaining in a very simple way whether that prediction is from god this is indeed strange and wonderful it is strange and wonderful to the world because such things have never been heard of or known for centuries what is their prediction that is of such high importance to all people why this having stated before the congregations of the world that they are authorized to preach the gospel of life and salvation that they are authorized to promise the gift of the holy ghost that shall lead into all truth and show things to come and shall testify in reference to their authority then to make this prediction that such as will obey the simple principles of the gospel shall receive a perfect knowledge a knowledge not by the reading of books the scriptures or any past revelations that may have been given but they shall receive a knowledge of this from god himself well now all that Is required of these individuals divi duals to know that which pertains to their salvation exaltation and glory IP IF simply to do that which has been made plain very plain indeed by jesus christ and by the apostles as contained in the scriptures of truth to perform a few acts in relation to the principles of life or a few acts that will put them in possession after 1 roper croper preparation of this important knowledge jesus jeslis christ went down into the waters of baptism andaas and was immersed there by john the baptist who had authority thus to do and many others in the days of the apostles performed those ordinances that pertain to the everlasting gospel they we opre re baptized tor for the remission of their sins by one that possessed the authority which those elders that I 1 mention now new possess they possessed the authority to administer those ordinances immersion ir water for the remis rion of gins the laying on OB of hands handa for tike the of the holy chort these simple acts were actually performed by the apostles in fortner former days and by the seventies that were sent forth and by all who were sent to preach the fullness of the gospel all that these elders require in order that their predictions may be fulfilled is that people now shall do likewise ajesm said saia on a certain occasion elon oc that he would build his church upon revelation that is peter having received a revelation that jesus was the son of god and so saying jesus replied upon this rock will I 1 build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it at the system of salvation and exaltation and glory was of such a character that there was this grand feature about it all persons might receive a perfect knowledge of its divine source when we take into consideration the difficulties those have to meet who obey these principles we see the necessity that they should havi have a perfect knowledge of that which they have received and thus the lord be stows upon them the means by which they can contend against the difficulties and the persecutions and secure the TAles blessings sings connected with these promises when people follow the counsels of these servants fit of the lord who are abroad preaching the gospel it if they do not come to a knowledge of the truth of these promises from heaven after they have obeyed they ought to declare deblare this they should announce this failure to their friends and to the public I 1 suppose I 1 am now addressing six or eight thousand veople people and probably three fifths of them have come from the distant nations of the earth to these mountain vales and these are the principles that we taught them that they should receive a knowledge of this work they should receive the holy ghost that would testify to them of the truth of the saying of these elders that they had authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel now I 1 ask why are you herec why are you sitting upon these seats why are you teaching your families and friends that these principles are of god that joseph F smith anith was a prophet of god that jesus came down and talked with me people the sons and daughters of ta god dd as s he did in former days wado why do you teach these principles and why do you sit here instead of repairing to your homes and declaring that you never received any such divine testimony as was promised you u I 1 think if strangers came to me as elders now go to the nations and testified to me that they had auth authority dri to promise that the holy ghost would rest upon me after repe repenting of my sins forsaking them and obeying their message and I 1 did not receive any extraordinary or miraculous manifestations I 1 certainly would set not leave my friends country and ham bow as thousands and thousands ht done but it Is in a fact that I 1 aw speaking to thousands here that icv come from long distances diC aae JIT nations of the earth that are here and have been here for years and years why Is it they do not rise up and deny that they or their friends ver over received this testimony in these verses that I 1 have read in your hearing it Is declared that the son of god appeared in the kirtland temple sixty one years ago and spoke there to his friends years ago on my palestine tour I 1 was one day upon the mount of olives where jesus left the earth and ascended to ills his father witnessed witness od by persons that were there present and I 1 did not doubt that I 1 was at the place where as I 1 read in the testament that jesus took his departure from while I 1 looked around and gazed about I 1 believed that I 1 was there at that place I 1 believed that jesus did acu actually ally take farewell of the world and go to his father because certain individuals say and did make a declaration that that was the fact bowl now 1 did not see these persons that testified to this extraordinary occur rence I 1 saw no such persons because it was over eighteen hundred years ago that this extraordinary circumstance occurred but this that I 1 have been reading in your hearing occurred in this age I 1 was personally acquainted with the parties who saw this wonderful manifestation intimately acquainted quain ted with joseph smith and oliver cowdery CoWd ety I 1 was acquainted with joseph smith tor for years and I 1 know brother oliver cowdery to have been a good man honorable honest and truthful although years after this oliver cowdery left the church for a while ile he became proud and exalted and left the church but the spirit and the testimony never left him and after suffering the afflictions of the lord he repented and was very glad to come back into the church and he got baek back just in time to go into the other world and that is just about the whole of it so ao tar far as oliver cowdery was concerned well now these things are worthy the attention of the latter day saints and when we take them into consideration and bring brine them home to our understanding what follows why that we should be the best people that god has bob upon the earth and far better than any other the lord has given us a prophet to give counsels in reference to that Which pertains to the general interests Int orests of the latter day saints continually and he has blessed him abundantly there is not one t that hat can dispute the honesty and integrity of brother wilford Cour four president ident we know mm him years and years he has been testifying of these things of which I 1 have been speaking ana he says he knows them he says he understands them distinctly and we ourselves should know them perhaps not quite as extensively as he known thern for instance an astronomer may know a thousand things in a ference to the revolving of the earth in its orbit around the sun end and know a great many facts in reference to the sun gun that thousands are ignorant of arid yet these thousands that are per ia ignorant of those many things know one thing ahli ag that this astronomer knows they know that there to is a sun tw see there is a sun they know it just jost as well as he knows it in reference ence e to this gospel and our prospects th the next life there ar are e thousands that know it just juat as well as president preside woodruff knows it and when the resurrection to is spoken of they know it just as well as president woodruff knows it in reference to mormon tam I 1 asit called there are thousands that know it just as 81 a joseph ab smith knew it they knew I 1 tt has revealed it to thetas theba Is and that knows th the a vt V t ait 1 n i know it fully I 1 know it distinctly I 1 know there to is a god just as well as an any man knows it because god has revealed himself to me I 1 know it positively I 1 shall never forget the manifestations fe of the lord I 1 never will forget them as long as memoir memory endures it is in me there thare is something to labor for there is something to sacrifice for when the elders go forth among aifong the nations they dare to say this they dare to say that god has revealed himself tiey dare to say that god has spoken to his sons and daughters as he did in former days and they dare to say that he has heard the prayers of the house of israel he has heard the prayers of the honest in heart and ile he has come down as aa he did in the days of israel when they were in egyptian bondage to deliver them he has come down to relieve the distressed and to confer upon them knowledge intellectually spiritually and to place them in a country where they can be blessed and saved from that half starvation in which many have been found where the reached them L well these are glorious principles that god has revealed to us and our prospects are grand and glorious why we could talk through all the days the weeks and the months about the grand things that the lord has prepared for those that are faithful and continue to the end there should be greater union in our midst than we find today there Is a perfect union I 1 in the quorum of the twelve should there not be a perfect union in that quorum most assia assuredly every one would say yes a perfect union in the quorum of the twelve apostles and whoever i may be appointed to fill the places of those that are vacant this union will still stil continue with us and there is also a perfect union with the first presidency and should there not be every one will say certainly there should be and should there not be a perfect union with the seven presidents of the seventies there most assuredly should we should there not be a perfect union with the high councils of the various stakes of zion certainly there should be and there is a way to accomplish that union and the same way with the various other organizations and quorums qu should there not be a perfect union with the presidencies cies of stakes certainly and if I 1 were a president of a stake I 1 would not rest day or night until I 1 had union with my counselors should there not be a union with the bishop and his counselors most assuredly there should be well what is more important should there not be union in the family should there not be union with the husband who is the high priest in his family and expects to be with them in the next life should there not be a perfect union with him and his wife or wives and his sons his daughters his sons in law and his daugh ers in law most assuredly there should and why should any man be satisfied why should any husband husban dand and father of a family rest satisfied until he effects a perfect union that is just as far as a perfect union can an be accomplished complis hed and in this matter the father should make himself just as aa perfect as a man canan can in this life be made perfect lefore before his family and the wife should make herself J just as perfect asla asa woman can possibly do in this life and then they are prepared to make their children just as perfect as they are willing and are capable of being made perfect and the father and the mother should be very careful the wife should never in the presence of her children speak disrespectfully of het her husband if she thinks her husband has done wrong he might have dons done she should never speak peak of it in t the presence r s e n ce b of her child children reh dighe houed houd Is a of the presence of et 1 1 her children and there ten tell him of bv h 7 faults in a pleasant way but never is the presence of the children speak dia rtin I 1 respectfully of the |