| Show SUNDAY SERVICES religious services were held in the tabernacle sundays july 1887 commencing at 2 pm president angus M cannon presiding the choir sang the hymn come all ye sons of zion and let us praise the lord prayer was offered by patriarch lo 10 renzo D young the choir sang how great the wisdom and the love that filled the courts on high the sacrament was administered by the priesthood of the first ward ELDER JUNIUS V F WELLS was called and addressed the congregation he rejoiced in the tb opportunity of meeting with the saints to worship god and partake of the sacrament and to te learn of those principles that bring salvation it was a glorious thing to understand the plan of salva salvation tiou and oneff one of the greatest comforts a man could have was an abiding faith la in the great hereafter A testimony that the trials of mortal existence would be lett left behind and a conviction that tae course of afe life men pursued herel would secure a better place on in eternity induced them to live lives of truth honor hono and raud integrity the latter day saints had gathered in utah had bad settled its valleys built dwell dwellings ingi and meeting and schoolhouses and had erected temples in which i to perform sacred rites the desire to receive the salvation promised by the gospel of christ had hay been the incentive to cause the saints to perform so great a work 6 i in the midst of professed christendom there were doubts as to the course which men should pursue to be save saved dand and many were the different sects of professed christians which had been organized joseph smith I 1 when a boy had bad seen this condition andaas and was deeply impressed callon to call on the te lord he followed the injunction of the apostle james and went out into the woods and pleaded with god to bear his petition he was attacked attack eol by the powers of darkness which greatly op oppressed him but he persisted gis in bis prayer and was relieved by the appearance of two heavenly beings one of whom said pointing to the kotlier other this is my moved beloved son hear him cord the personage indicated was the lord jesus who told joseph that he be had beef been chosen as the instrument in the abe hands of god to promulgate rom his gospel in the latter jays days which gospel would grow row and usher in the reign of the prince of peace following this vision came figr further ther revelations from the lord and the princ principles aples of the gospel were made plain 1 a ined tol Josephs com comprehension re hension he fe learned a r to understand under understand stang the scriptures through the inspiration of the rol holy spirit by which the things of god bouli could be made known the principles of faith repentance baptism and laying on ot of hands for the abe gift of the holy ghost were revealed to him those principles had been taught singly by one or another of the Christ christian iau denominations but never since the uni vei sal apost apostasy had they been taught in combination or in strict conformity with the teachings of the apostles angels had come to earth notwithstanding ta anding such an idea was ridiculed by nen men today to day and instructed men in the things pertaining to everlasting salvation joseph smith was ordained by an angel who had bad lived on the earth and who alo himself had the holy priesthood which he conferred on joseph this angel was john the ba baptist p ti bt peter james and john had als also 0 be stowed on joseph the higher priesthood this doctrine of immediate revelation though a startling one to the world appealed to thinking honest men as reasonable and as being in accord with the teachings of the savior the latter day saints now give to the world that doctrine and appeal to their fello fellow w men to accept the gospel promising as servants of theMos tHigh that those who obey it will receive a testimony of Us its truth f from rom heaven this promise had been realized by those who had believed and obeyed the gospel the speaker had himself a testimony that the principles of the go gospel el as taught by the salute saints awu uld of bring salvation that they constituted the laws of life this testimony was his hope and it was his bis object to secure the blessings that followed obedience to the truth those principles comprehended all that eternity could promise havin having faith in the creator of the universe as the power that controls the destiny of mankind the next principle in the order of the gospel was repentance of sin it was unreasonable reason aole to expect that men could pro progress ress except by conforming with laws aws that brought an increase of intelligence telli gence repentance or ceasing to do wrong bronc was one of these laws it was a fact that must be accepted anat all men were prone to sin and as no do sinful person could enter into the presence of god it was necessary that sins sias should be swept sweat away the latter day saints had obeyed this doctrine they had endeavored to pat at away all sinfulness they had teen been called the off 01 the earth 11 the appellation was undeserved on the contrary they were g the honest bonest liard bald work inz ins god fearing people of the oarth earth and had assembled in the vales of the rocky mountains where they bad baa become comparatively independent the speaker had once heard a man prom aromi I 1 nent in flawn financial cial circles in new york sa say y he felt indebted to the mormons cormons Mor mons for 0 mandof many of the poor of the old world and making them pentland den dent tand land for giving sl vinto to the world a practical morality it was good to hear honest expressions of this kind nowhere in the world was there a coffi community into whose hearts and lives were implanted the principles of morality to the extent that they were among the latter day saints sin was not tolerated among them whenever it was known the body of the saints in good standing were honest bonest and virtuous in their actions there were some who managed to elude detection and escape punishment but the great majority of the people endeavored n dea deavo voted red to be pure and there was waa no menace to a free government in the growth and advancement of such a people it was rather a guarantee guar antey ot of the permanency of liberty the mission of the latter day saints was to proclaim the gospel of christ to all the world no matter how great the labor involved that man iwas not a worthy servant of god if he would not make the sacrifice required by the almighty the history ot of the latter day saints was evidence that they had never shrunk from their duty though they had come up through great tribulation it was ug t their air duty to continue faithful ittia al and maintain true principles p les at any cost there was n athing noth lne to seek for in this life alone b but ut all that was worthy reached forth into eternity there was nothing praiseworthy that was not included in the gospel of christ there was no truth that was not embraced in it there was no path of honor outside the speaker bore testimony that the principles embraced in mor mormonism I 1 were the truths of heaven his hearts desire was to see the church of christ advance in the earth and to aid in that advancement it would benefit all mankind and his prayer was that the saints would be preserved in faithfulness in the great work of salvation for all mankind forcy years ago this day the pioneers entered great salt lake valley having crossed the trackless prairies in search of a place where they dould could worship god in peace how wonderful has their history been and how gre creatis atis the work they have accomplished complis hed I 1 they have performed a labor that will never be swept from the earth and their names will be ever spoken of in reverence and praise the pioneers were men of hardihood integrity and truth they had devoted their lives for the benefit of their fel no greater work could an any y man perform for this let ift their names name and memories be honored this day the people would celebrate and praise god with of joy but that their hearts are bowed down with pain at more serious and sad reflections but out of the persecutions of zion wo wo eld aid come a glorious blessing for the good fot for god baat waat was at tile the head bead and hischa 0 na would be raised in behalf of his peo aiple tle let the saints give him their hearts devotion and he will give them lifes greatest victory the choir sang an anthem and benediction was pronounced by elder jas L mcmurrin |
