Show PREACHING ANI AND opposition prom from communications received at this office every week it appears that the elders of the he church of jesus christ of latter day saints are meeting with much opposition in many places some of this takes the form of newspaper articles in which the teachings of mormonism are and held up to public ridicule or vile slanders published of the adherents of that particular faith no wonder if a traveling elder seeing the power of the adversary over the hearts of men at times feel discouraged and like elijah of old when his mighty testimony in words and deeds seemed in vain give way to despair A more extended experience peri ence however in the service of the lord brings encouragement by close observation it will almost invariably be found that where there are many adversaries a wide door 1 is also open opan for the gospel the latter fact very often accounts for the violence of the opposition there is this peculiarity about the gospel that it commands itself to every honest heart when preached under the influence of the holy spirit those who give prayerful attention to it always find in it that for which their souls are longing man conscious cons conscious cigus of sin and guilt needs salvation living in a wol ld where perfect happiness seems impossible he asks for knowledge as to whether death is the final chapter in his history in the gospel he finds what he des desires irei that points out how to obtain pardon peace and holiness it opens to his mind a clear lip view of the beyond and brings ufa lift eternal to those sitting in the shadow ot death for this reason the messenger of the gospel fulfills his duty when he fearlessly and clearly points out gut to aft fellow men the truth as revealed in the word of god and as he himself h haft experienced it it does not devolve him to refute every slander he hears or to explain every difficulty th the ingenuity of scholarship may be able to put in his way As long as he la is breaking the bread of life and distributing it with free hand among those who need it he ts is fulfilling his anis m slon sion the preaching of the gospel and the theological discussion of doctrine axe are widely different wets acts no more related to each other than the serving of an enjoyable feast to those who need it is to the chemical analysis in ina a labora tory of the food the nea need of the world is not the chemical analysis of the gospel but the gospel itself among newspaper articles on mor monism we notice one in which the author amthor atter after having in a general way denounced the faith of the saints and ad the pe people otle makes the subjoined sub joined appeal to his readers go to utah if you want to you wilt find good people there who are chris chri fians you will find a prosperous country rich in natural resources which are am being rapidly developed where gentile enterprise and intelligence pred ate but dont I 1 pray you dont jol the mormons cormons till you see them in their pulpits and become acquainted their history and their literature f the writer of this paragraph evidently believes that mormonism can caa not stand the test of close investigation but he is mistaken the cormona themselves very often have given the same advice the advice of philip ta W nathanael come and see with the A result that seeing has become be biving lieving it will invariably do so in the case of those of whom it can be aalde behold an israelite indeed iri in chook la Is rn camhe |