Show REMARKS 1 by elder fa N it to cm in a S if 4 py gei CW mec MCC od oct sti sli at h r V t J gad ai ree REP REPORTED REPORTED sted BY G I 1 wayt WATT IN I 1 appreciate very highl highly y the ille privilege that I 1 have this morning and that I 1 haye have had during this conference in meeting g with the saints it is the first F fall fali all ail C conference on ference ferenee I 1 have had the opportunity of attending for sixteen years these are indeed precious privileges which god our heavenly father has given unto us these opportunities 0 which we ve now have of assembling ourselves to together jether aether and dismissing tile the cares that press us from week to week and month to month casting them aside to concentrate our minds and our thoughts upon the things of his kingdom devoting our attention to those heavenly principles which have produced so much happiness liap alid and peace in our midst it is good for mysto u sto s to thus devote a portion of our tur time to the worship of af our god I 1 do not know how the conference felt but for myself after the vote was waa taken yesterday to continue our conference a week or a month if it were necessary or as lon long iong as tha servants of god should feel inclined to continue it I 1 experienced a great relief in my feelings IL 1 felt that that restraint was removed which had bad to a certain extent oppressed us with the view of hurrying through t the e business and getting done by this ei evening I 1 thought thathy that it was wa s ri rigilo right gIlt and I 1 felt a spirit of freedom that I 1 had not experienced before and I 1 presume that all the saints feit felt alike on this subject there is nothing more important forus for us to attend to than that which we are enk engaged acred atred in today to day we cannot think of anything that is of greater importance to us u s as individuals and as a people than this ber ser service vied it is work a labor of love that our heavenly father father has guaranteed unto us the privilege of performing the organization that we nye now behold the wonderful fruits and results which have attended us from the beginning bea beg inning and that are so delightful to td contemplate contemplate today to day havet haven have all sprung from t the c service that we are now engaged in we may devote time as it is necessary we should to the labors of this life to plowing to sowing to harvesting to building settlements to accomplishing ac complis accomplish ing lug the labors that devolve upon us of a temporal charae charac character tei tel these labors are important and necessary but they are no more necessary than those that we are now engaged iii in they are no na more necessary than that we should assemble ourselves together frequently to listen to the word of god to be instructed ted in the principles of liag and salvation by those who have been our fathers in the gospel it is necessary that we should examine ourselves bring ourselves to the light 11 lit of truth to learn whether we are taking tiding tating the right course like the mariner when he returns to port he Oni compares his ship chronometers chrono meters with the correct time on shore to see whether they have hav han e been keeping true time and are in good condition to enter upon another voyage 0 to enable him to obtain ills his bearings bea rills correctly that he may not lose himself when he is on the trackless ocean we can come ico me to conference in this manner and examine ourselves like men returning in 0 from a mission after an absence of years among the nations they come b ack aek desirous of comparing themselves with their brethren in zion dion saying like paul of old that they have indeed no not run in vain ascertaining for themselves that the spirit that they have been possessed of and the course that they have taken are the spirit and course that their brethren in zion have been possessed of and taken there is a great deal of profit to be derived from associations of this thit character it i Is necessary that we should hould be brought very tery frequently to a sense of our condit condly tion of our dependence upon god of our relationship to him of tile tho obligations that rest upon us as his children and servants er and handmaidens hand maidens we cannot do this as we should when NIl vil lell we neglect opportunities like this but we ve come to ether and our hearts are filled with prayers and anxious desire before for his holy spirit to be poured out upon us we then eap cap see if we have erred if we have gone astray if we have done anything wrong and displeasing in the si sight ht of or our father these things are brought to our minds and we see ourselves in the light of the holy spirit we renew our strength before fore b the lord lorf and our determinations to o forth and serve him with greater 50 0 ill lii gence and faithfulness in the future than we have done in ln the past there is a mine of wealth in the gospel of jesus christ that is yet cai corn n undiscovered by us wesee we see the world around ft roun us digging here and there and wandering over balleys and mountain sin search of hidden v treasures they spend their theli days and night nigh tsin qin twin searching for those things and in iian glan by what means they their ean dan obtain 0 ta in them but bu we have in the gospel of the lord jesus christ which has been re healed unto us an inexhaustible mine of wealth that is eternal there is room for ua us to continually y exercise every faculty of our minds and of our bodies in searching out dut the deep and inexhaustible haus tible riches of the gospel of jesus christ which has been committed unto us we have to some extent of this wealth we already have realized to some extent its richness s its I 1 abundance and what we have already air edy obtained of it should be an incentive to us to be still AM more diligent and persevering 0 in seeking with earnestness and faith unto god to give lve ive unto us Q of f his hia po power jand more and more of his spirit and of that wealth which he alone possesses that we may g on increasing in eternal eternal riches on earth tp be prepared to enjoy them throughout eternity that mail man is truly rich whatever his hia worldly circumstances may be who improves in the opportunities he be has and who seeks with all diligence to obtain all the blessings that pertain bertain unto the holy religion of our lord and savior jesus christ there are those bo however weyer wever whom I 1 have met with who profess to ta be good latter day saints who seem to be satisfied with the protes profession sion slon of their religion Iwho who seem to be satisfied with the fact that what is called mormon font ion is superior to everything else that is taught among men I 1 presume they are of that class of whom pres pros young has spoken men who have been compelled to bow in submission to the truth because they could not contradict nor gainsa yit and that they have become connected with this system bas lias seemed to be for them but is i it fc enough in one sense it ift ought to be enough for us its to know that we ve have received the truth and be satisfied with it yet we should continue to seek with energy and faith to partake of those blessings and of that power which our father and god has to bestow upon us if we would seek to be possessed of these things with the baine balne diligence the world seeks for earthly riches there is not a soul within the sound of my voice but what will be refreshed hed filled and satisfied with the blessings god will bestow upon him or upon her it i is s a characteristic of the gospel ospel g of jesus christ to not be easily exhausted on the contrary it is always attractive you h hear ear car it ift today to day as you ou heard it thirty years or thirty nive five years ago and it possesses as many charms and as many maily attract attractions igns now novas as then repeating it does not wear it out does not make the subject threadbare does not deprive it of its interest but on the contrary its interest increases as years roll over our heads as they pass by our interest in the work of god and our love for it and our appreciation of its greatness increase in this respect it deflers from everything else we inow know of it satisfies ev every ery cry want of mans nature Is there a want you can think of is there anything in in fact connected with mans existence here spiritual or temporal mental or physical that the gospel of jesus christ does doe no satisfy if there is JE have failed to discover il itt it comprehends ends everything it gives light and it gives intelligence it gives ives wisdom upon every department OF of human life it satisfies every longing desire of the soul before the gospel reached you my brethren and sisters who have reee rece received gy ved it if since you were of mature years there were wants that existed which now no longer exist there were longing desires which you indulged in and na which were ungratified by y that which you could obtain from the world that are today to day gratified to their fullest extent there is no desire of your your heart there is no feeling of your soul foul that cannot be satis satisfied fied fled legitimately and consistently with your nature in the gospel of the lord jesus christ you know how you were those of you who embraced the in babylon you know how you were when the gospel found you there was to quote a familiar expression an aching void within you there were desires of your soul or of your spirit which could not be gratified ratified by the chaff and husks fed unto you by the so called teachers of the day there were aspirations for knowledge for truth and for god that nothing could satisfy you sought ill in vain for their ratification gratification you se searched archeA on the tile right hand land and on the tile left you bod inquired ired here and there but you could not get the knowledge you needed there was no one who could give you tile the satisfaction you yo u yearned after but ho no sooner did you hear the truth ao no sooner did y djou ou hear hed ithe the soun dof the everlasting gospel and the voice of a man endowed with the P priesthood riest hood than you felt thai tha you had found the pe pearlon arlot arlof great price you yon felt that the desire of 3 your our heart licar was about to be gratified and that if this religion proved pro veu ved true if ii these statements and testimonies ti could be relied upon then that which you had so long sought forand desired was within wl thin your rasp grasp men may strive to repress s these yearnings and desires desire after knowledge as priests and teachers do today to day throughout the earth they may ridicule and deny their existence but there is that within us aa a children of god which speaks louder and has more force potency and elect than the traditions of our fathers or tile the teachings of our former priests and teaches teachers ever eveir had there is the voice of nature there is tile the voice of heaven in our hearts which calls for revelation from fr om pod god which calls for knowledge h now ledge which calls for certainty which calls for something that is tangible and that can be relied upon and which man with his man made systems and with his hia fooleries fool eries erles cannot ratify gratify nor supply by any means in his power 0 we hear bear men constantly talk taik about the delusion that exists here and about the folly of men seeking for revelation and knowledge from god the man must bo be an idiot idio who talks so be who makes such assertions does not understand the human character if be he had studied himself ho he would have seen that there was wag something within himself which claimed more than that which man can give that there was a voice within him which demanded and called loudly for truth tangible reliable truth something that could be be understood der stood and that came from god if this were not soi SQ why do we see so many men running hither and thither after knowledge after spirit rappers astrologers fortune tellers and ahre ts to tell them their fortunes and reveal something relating to the future they will do anything that will give them any idea i a of their future these may be the perversions of odthe the feeling yet you see the manifestations of this want cropping aut out in various forms all over the earth eartly among every people and even among the heathen when it is not governed by truthful principles it is found running astray J and leading leadin men and women astray who allo are ard guided by it wherever human nature exi exl exists exits ts there is found a desire for the knowledge of the truth li a want irant of that which pertains to god and to eternity and this want or desire cannot be repressed there is no power on earth that can repress it mens traditions may stifle ift itt but when the spirit bpi rit is allowed ate freely and unrestrained it breaks through all these barriers and brushes aside these cobwebs to seek for truth pure truth as it comes from the eternal and when it once obtains a taste from the fountain of truth and can drink freely it is refreshed and the one great desire of the heart is ig satisfied this is as it ha has been with us my brethren and sisters hence the contentment that prevails through our valleys and settlements hence the peace that is to be observed in our families peace broods over Zion ion lon iou there is life and buoyancy in the hearts of the children of f zion why is this it is because we have received that which we have desired because we are living in harmony with tile the laws of our being belig it is because the wants of our nature are being gratified ratified through the gospel of our lord jesus christ if there be any amono among among us who are not satisfied if there be an any among us who who are wandering bitker hither and ana thither looking for something that they do not have they are the ones who have committed sin and transgression they are the ones who have grieved grieved the spirit of god the they are the ones who have forfeited their claims upon god for his spirit and HIS love and they hor for go 0 with their bleir souls unsatisfied seeking for i contentment but blit finding it not if there be any among us who are thus seeking they form a class that is distinct from tile the faithful humble saints of god who live their religion and antwork work it should be a cause of thanksgiving 0 and gratitude with us that god ou our r haae heavenly father iu in the abundance of his goodness and mercy has revealed unto us nis his everlasting gospel that in his kindness he has S sent int ills liis his holy angels from the heavens with the he truth and the power and authority to administer the truth and the ordinances pertaining to the truth unto the inhabitants of the earth yes god in his mercy has visited our planet where darkness reigned where confusion and ignorance had spread their dread con consequences se quen ces and all were like the blind roping groping for the wall when the voice volee of god dod sounded fro from m the aud broke the long iong silence had ex existed isted for forso forgo so man many generations bro brigham has said that in bf his young days when he looked at the inhabitants of the earth he was reminded of an ant hill in a state of excitement w with ith the an is ts running hither and thither without aim or purpose now this was the condition ot of ourselves and fathers when the tile soun sound dof of the everlasting gospel came to t theearta the earth the inhabitants of the earth were running hither and thither and there was no one to guide them no one to control them no voice to be heard among the chilgren children of men saying with authority here is the way walk ye in it there was none to say thus saith balth the lord not q a voice inspired of god to be heard from pole to pole from east to west but all were ignorant all were confused cont conf used all were |