| Show ijuin at the tabernacle salt lake city sunday aate afternoon r noon february 1898 1 by GEORGE Q CANNON 6 S BY ARTHUR WINTER do 0 not know anything more inter g to which we can listen than i testimony of the elders who have ox abroad preaching the gospel to jar them testify concerning the divin poi of the work in which they are en ed and to relate their experience ming the gospel and also the sites which they bear concern tbell air prayers being answered and dawer of god that has been kanii in their behalf all this is ex ariy riy y interesting is an age of unbelief and seep doubts concerning the existence j are prevalent and the great of the people even among pro of religion axe are destitute of 16 faith it is therefore sidelight yf listen to men and especially men who can testify that god and ana that they know it I 1 somei wonder what the condition of the I 1 would be and what would beof it it if it were nut not for the latay saints they are the only peo a an organized capacity that I 1 r anything about who believe in and d itt in his power as did the ana whose testimony has come down mr in the scriptures there is xen gen etith among the latter day saints course there are those who as her knight has said after missions grow careless and berent t I 1 am happy however in the th f that these are not very numer taut there them should not be any among ed 0 will yield to that ien they have had experience such obtain I 1 often think ib floine e of our missions are too short ak men do not wet ret thoroughly n to the harness and they do not r into the spirit of the ehfe work as should do I 1 believe however that changes bluges which have occurred of attention has been 70 years by which yi to the commandment of god ng preaching aging the gospel with alth purse and scrip to is having a most bent t effect when a man has to de 1 M up upon n the lord for his food his ter hi his Is friends and for the assist which ich he needs to enable him to ana the duties that devolve upon vt is very likely to compel him to c unto the lord with great falth faith i he has his prayers answered so R and d in so marvelous marvel oua a manner ue knows for himself that there to is I 1 and that he hears and answers uk amy my first mission was a lengthy I 1 was us a little over fave year away WW jame me I 1 I 1 have always bp been n thank i it t it was so long althon Ith ollah eh I 1 for home a groat great dl del during ater cpr pert part of ohp sion I 1 elhat which the brethren have arv abhat it te Is not a good thing to the harness when out ow com eomy home I 1 felt that it was an obligation resting upon me as one bearing the priesthood to do all in my power to help establish the righteousness of god in the earth I 1 am thankful that I 1 did have that spirit and that I 1 have had it since that time it is wrong for young men when they come home to become careless and feel well ive finished my mission now there to Is no special obligation upon me now and I 1 can take it easy that is a wrong feeling my experience has proved that there is greater happiness purer joy and more delight to be obtained in serving god and being active in his work than can be obtained in any other direction I 1 am sure this is the experience of others also who have kept keit on the harness the idea which many people indulge in that there to Is something irksome about about religion something that deprives one of enjoyment to is a mistaken idea there to is nothing irksome nothing that re requires quites the sacrifice of proper enjoyment in keeping the commandments of god the latter day saints have proved this we illustrate the great truth that a people carf caa be a profoundly religious people and at the same time be a very happy people I 1 do not believe there to is any happier people on the earth than the latter day saints I 1 have seen the latter day saints in the most trying circumstances destitute of the comforts and of many of the necessaries of life and they have been a happy people under those clr cir gladness filled their hearts it was not gladness produced by external circumstances but it was the gladness of the heart produced by the influence and power of the spirit of god and that to is always true happiness happiness that depends upon external circumstances to is not genuine happiness there must be the fountain of it within us and wherever we go and have that spirit within us we shall be happy we may be in a most disagreeable situation as an far as externals are concerned but if we carry within us this fountain of which I 1 speak and which the spirit of god furnishes we can be truly happy this has been the case with this people we should culli i I 1 vate this and teach it to our children it it to Is not necessary to break the laws of god or to forget our obligations to him in order to have enjoyment I 1 am thankful as I 1 have said that there is a generation of men growing up who know that god lives it to Is a I 1 blessed thing our god has not gone lon on a journey ite he has not gone to sleep he to is not like the god of the 1 priests of baal whom elijah mocked because they received no response from him it to Is not so with the god of heaven and we are living witnesses of this it is a great blessi blessing nr in the midst of our trials and perplexities to know that we can call upon god and he will hear bear us nis his ears earn are ever oner boen no if as th the mist we WA make our bed in hell bell he Is there we may be on the sea ippa or on the land by night or by day in adversity or in prosperity H U I 1 Is always near to listen to in the psalm it to is said whither shall I 1 go from thy spirit or whither shall I 1 flee from thy preg presence if i I 1 ascend up into heaven thou art there if I 1 make my bed in hell behold thou art there if I 1 take the wings of the he morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me if I 1 say surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light about me yea the darkness aideth not from thee but the night chineth as the day the darkness and the light axe am both alike to thee and he has P promised that I 1 ever we ask him in faith in the name of jesus he will grant unto us if it is in good for us this to is a most precious i promise and we should live so ks to have a realizing sense of it continually if we are in such a position that we cannot get down on our knees wo cad pray to him in our hearts und he will hear us and he will grant thu desires of our hearts unto us As individuals and a as a people we cultivate this habit of praying to him hijii inconstantly constantly this my brethren and sisters is our strength it if we will make use of it we should also have the gift aft of prophecy like the elder who hate hab been alluded to here who said to a family who were vere in danger from a cyclone dont leave the house I 1 promise you in the name of jesus that you will be safe if you will stay in the house what prompted ulm liim to say that the spirit it of god them spirit of prophecy rested upon him just an aa it did upon paul when he was on board the ship and he said that not cot a soul should be lost the elders of this church have a right to that spirit and they thep enjoy jt it to a very great extent it is one of the gifts of the Goepel and instances innumerable might be mentioned where that spirit has saved the people elders have been about to go on vessels with companies of salris and the spirit has said to them do not go on that vessel and by that their lives have been saved one instance n comes to my mind where president woodruff was about tu to embark on EL a ves vessel rel with a company of saints and the spirit said to him DC rot not embark on that and it only went a fer miles down the river when n it was totally destroyed it to is a le te thing that notwithstanding the be many phout thousands ands of latter dayi day saints who hav traveled on the ocean there a s not on record an instance of a company of latter day saints being lost in their journeying on the ocean there wa w gp a sad mad catastrophe occurred on we the missouri Mia river but there are reasons for that which those who are ta familiar millar with th the circumstances have described that is in the only instance in our history where such an acci accident dant hs has occurred it to is miraculous that there should he be 0 o many thousands of people immigrated to this land covering do long a period for our emigration from europe commenced in 1840 and it has haa been continuous from that time to the present and yet nothing serious hap pen them but there has been and to is a protecting care over this people because the elders who have had charge of companies have generally been men of god who have sought to know the mind of the lord and who have been led by revelation from him in this manner this whole work has been carried on from the be beginning inning the servants of god have nought to know the mind and will of god cod and they have obtained that knowledge whereby they have been enabled to lead the people these valleys valley have been settled in this way and by this spirit we therefore are living s of if the truth that god lives and that he bestows bestons mis gifts as in ancient days upon his servants we prof ss pa as the ancients did to have the delfs of the th spirit of god we teach the people to seek tor for these gifts we say hat god is the same today that he ae was yesterday that in him there Is no variableness nor shadow 0 t f turning but men want to know wh alv if this be the ease there is not more knowledge more revelation more of these gifts from him the absence of mee me e gitta gifts to is due to unbelief men do not seek for these things because they do not believe in them and they have past cast out every man that professed to believe to in these principles and in this power they have been prompted by satan who would have destroyed this bhole church long ago it if god had per it but he has restrained satan tan because this is the dispensation of the fullness of times nes and aad the promise has gone forth that this gospel shall not be taken from the earth again and the church will not be destroyed but this spirit of satan that you see manifested is the spirit that crucified the son of god and that slew his apostles and that has slain the prophets in our day ft is the spirit that drove this church out from tt the te midst midat of civilization and compelled us to take refuge among the indians in Ws this fax far distant region it is the same spirit that has annihilated every principle of faith in men it has been a constant warfare to maintain the principles of the gospel and to declare them tp the people men who have gone forth to preach this gospel have been exposed to violence in every form not only have their characters been maligned and their names cast out as evil but bodily violence has been extended to them it Is only the power of god that has kept this church in existence up to the present time but it taju la to existence god has revealed the gospel he has restored the ordinances emd and the gifts and he has communicated his nond and will to men once more and there are men on the earth who 60 knox W hese things now our young men and all who have bave in the work of god a missionaries should not allow them s elv es to be diverted from these labors labor and to have another spirit take possession s of them I 1 can bear testimony t to 0 all there ought to be po no necessity for at however bo wever because the men that have gone gatie forth to preach the gospel ought to know for or themselves how much hap alnesa pl nesa they have had in that labors labor but ado I 1 ao bear testimony that through my efey notwithstanding maave standing the trials and I 1 have had to pass 1 I have been happy in the principles of the gospel fravle t have thanked god and do every time I 1 think of it that I 1 arn am a latter day saint because the knowledge know lede of the truth hand and the spirit of god have gladdened my en tire existence and I 1 rejoice in it as much today I 1 am thankful to say as I 1 ever did in my life I 1 know there foz ore that there to la no path that we can pursue there are no labors that we can perform that will be so replete with happiness and bring such peace and joy as keeping the commandments of god and being zealous and faithful in his work this is my testimony and I 1 have had abundant opportunities in my life to prove it my life has not run in one channel it has not been surrounded by one set of circumstances but it has been greatly varied and in this variety of circumstances I 1 have proved it and in saying this I 1 know I 1 only give voice to the testimony of hundreds of others in this congregation who have had similar experience there is therefore every incentive for us to be faithful to the cause of god and get all the benefit and bless blessing and all the gifts that can be obtained I 1 am very desirous that the latter day saints should keep their second estate every one who is present before 1 me kent his and her first estate the lord has ham revealed reveal pd to us ua that before we came here we had an existence our savior existed before he came in the flesh so did all of us our spirits existed with him The evidence that we kept our first estate is found in the fact that we are here possessing tabernacles before man was placed on earth there was a rebellion in heaven not only has that fact been revealed I 1 to us but it is to be found th m the bible also the lord has revealed to us however some other things connected with our pre existence he has told us that the plan of salvation was discussed in the councils of heaven lucifer a son of the morning not the son thought he bad a better plan than that which the father and the lord jesus were in favor of he told the father that he would save all mankind by taking away from us our agency and all he asked was that god would give him the honor bia the savior was willing to come and do als is the father wished this tha made lucifer angry and it is written that he led away after him one third of the hosts of heaven no doubt he was waa a personage of great influence and of great sophistry for he succeeded in convincing one third of the entire family of god that his plan was tip the better plan he rebelled an and d was thrust out and the punishment was that hp and his followers should not have tab and from that day to wa ibis they have striven continually to get possession of human tabernacles WP we read of legion of devils being iti a person and when the savior was 1 to east them out they begged tnt tb v might enter into the swine therefore I 1 say the evidence that we i 1 ot ni gilr frit estate tate Is to be found in I 1 the ohp fart that wp we are here today with aph ther may have been and a wore warp differences of degree in I hiir f jofh iab P aft d our zeal some no doubt 0 at t th that 3 t broat pt crisis were more valiant 1 11 1 11 than others but that we an T imort rt wi nii estate Is evidenced bv ilip I lip hp fart fant that we are here W we b ave vp been sent rent our n derev for the express purpose of be iff tested testa test A and proved we have had abia second R ennd estate printed unto us that it mav b apo whether we shall ak kepp pr P it or not A vell veil hs been drawn bt wepT laiq i rind and our father in heaven th that P t h to our vre pre ent lif afo is eone aled from us there iq a person of mature vear corhn haq not had ome come mo aniva n P hadow of something so thit bi b i nemi pt at some previous time he ba coned not recall but our anre sant ganto has been con ollor r from us up and wisely so sat no dolbt for tf if it had not bean we khoii ld become so tired of th rist nep and its trials that wo T P rot be contented here we wa P pt o 1 loft f to exercise our suren cV ao a a wo we AM alin in our farst estate at the taio of nf ivr trial to see whether wp we |
