| Show remigious IOUS sunday services p religious eig lous services were held in the tabernacle sunday july ath 1889 commencing at 2 p in counselor charles W penrose te nrose presiding the choir and congregation sang lord we come before thee now at thy feet we humbly bow prayer by president I 1 N hinckey of millard stake the choir sang we here approach thy table lord at thy command through chosen men the priesthood ot of tile the nineteenth warl wari officiated in the administration of the sacrament ELDER MORGAN RICHARDS JR JB was called to address the congregation I 1 rejoice with you he said in the great work called by the world I 1 mormonism and instituted by our father in heaven I 1 rejoice that I 1 am connected with a people who are everywhere considered to be deluded in regard to their religious profession if it is a delusion that has brought the latter day saints from many parts of the earth into the valleys of these mountains and placed them in a position to be evil spoken of by the children of men who have made their partial acquaintance I 1 feel to say with others who have expressed the sentiment before that it is a very happy delusion I 1 have long since been led to the conclusion that the gospel of jesus christ revealed through joseph smith the latter day prophet is the only perfect system extant for which as an individual I 1 feel very thankful to god the children of men had been drifting in darkness until there was no hope for them except in in the restoration of that gospel in this gospel there is perfect for those who have embraced it with honest hearts and made their covenants with god as they should be made we are able to announce to the world that the great work instituted through the instrumentality of joseph smith had its origin in heaven that its author is the creator of heaven and earth and the spirits of all mankind this is the testimony that weare able to bear to the world without any reservation whatever I 1 rejoice in the liberty that we as latter day saints possess I 1 feel that we are untrammeled that we have a glorious future before usand that no power or powers beneath the heavens will be able to stag stay the progress of the work of go god I 1 doubt doubt not hot the final triumph of this work it cannot be damaged or submerged by things which are inferior to it I 1 would ask those people who are not of us to investigate the profession of the latter day saints sainte to investigate the revelations that they have received for their guidance and 11 find nd if they can anything thai that savors of evil my own testimony is that there is no evil whatever either in the inception character or purposes of the work with which we are connected it lias no place there it tolerates no sin no impurity but is calculated to raise mankind from every condition which leads to sorrow and misery mankind have no occasion to be afraid of mormonism would that all could feel as we do in this regard As an institution there is no greater friend to mankind on tae ane face of the earth it et sympathizes with their weaknesses and would lead them onward and u upward from a degraded condition and place them in a position of happiness and peace we hear heiti of some of our young men we have such in parowan carowan Pa rowan and I 1 presume you have bave also in salt lake city who begin to think that the gospel offered to them by their parents and by the saints of god is not what they considered it to be formerly I 1 have considerable sympathy for boys when they get into this condition because I 1 was once in it myself indeed I 1 had gone so far in the expression of my views that my connection with the church was severed I 1 remained outside the pale of the church for about twelve months by the end of which time that testimony came to me a light and intelligence from my heavenly father chich enabled me to see my arrop error and from the period of my restoration to a standing and fellowship in the church and kingdom of god I 1 have rejoiced exceedingly because of this I 1 feel very charitably disposed toward young people who do not comprehend the worth and greatness of the latter day dispensation but I 1 would ask is the fault always with the young I 1 am very often compelled to doubt it I 1 fear that as parents we have not been strictly regardful of our duties and example in connection with this treat reat work we have not exercised er vently our efforts in behalf of our ons ions and daughters in order to in them to the of joseph smith and the pur oses which our father made known know n ih rough him to the sons and daughters of men I 1 fear that we have nit ourselves been consistent latter day saints and hence do not feel to blame our young people entirely do we show that regard for the su sunday n school which we should by way of example and encouragement to our children many men sit back upon the sabbath morning and do bothin nothing and if they got get washed ant and dressed for two meeting think they have done splendidly do bishops guard the interests of the sunday schools on the sabbath morning or have a prayer meeting or do they prefer to allow some other appointment to stand in the way of tho the sunday school I 1 believe that we do not manage well with our families in these matters we do not succor and support the institutions bf zion as we should I 1 pray my to god our eternal father r to bless baess and encourage you in your r work and if we have erred in the past way lay he so direct us that JD in he aie future we may be more diligent it in n every respect APOSTLE APOSTLE HEBER J GRANT also addressed the meeting I 1 am pleased once more to have the opportunity of meeting with the latter day saints in this his building I 1 rejoice in the testimony odthe of the gospel which I 1 possess and take pleasure in listening from time nae to time to the testimonies borne and the counsels and instruct ona given by those who speak to the people there is nothing in this life so dear to me as the testimony of the gospel of christ there Is M no desire taht I 1 have which is as F strong as the hope that my mind may never become darkened that JL I may never depart from the path of truth and become an alien to the principles which we as latter day Oal lits have espoused no 0 o man among this people can grow and increase in the light and testimony of the S spirit irit of god and in the power and a ability to do good unless he is humble bumble in his heart and ready and swilling 7 willing at all times to seek 8 ek for the guidance and direction of the holy spirit next to the of sin there is no more fruitful cause of apostasy apo stacy among the latter day saints than the get ting mg into that position when we put our trust in the arm of flesh I 1 farray believe that tha t one of the greatest st benefits that accrues to us through prayer is that of keeping us humble in 0 o our hearts that no man who honestly on estly bows down every day of 1118 is life ani supplicates es god gocr in sincerity for the light of his holy spirit cirit to guide him will ever be wine COMO proud and haughty on the contrary nt his heart will become filled lied with meekness humility and childlike simplicity it is because lecausi of this oneness of purpose and action amongst the latter er day saints at large that the Qc is made ag against ainest them that at they are priest bidden and ave ve no mind of their own no doubt cuba the same complaints were made of our lord and savior jesus christ and his followers because they hey were one in spirit in the testimony mony of the gospel and in laboring for io the spread of that gospel upon the me earth you find the same desires besires and the same feeling feelings animating animating the hearts of the latterly atter aay saints no matter from what wt part of the world they have come the e same love and fellowship exist 1119 in their hearts for each other he people mingle together they become conae united there is a love and fellowship howship existing between the a from england denland and the native of the sandwich islands which athing nothing but the selfsame testimony and a atrue true knowledge and light of that bat gospel which makes us brothers add sisters could possibly effect tain tell it Is a surprise prise to me that any in igent man can make a claim chev the latter day saints that J y are an ignorant and deluded people ale without minds of their own that they are led and directed by rbell n who are cunning and shrewd llad who 00 them because preside over of oan leala the advantages stages nt ages which they the hope to gain it seems to akle 0 te that hat if any man of candid mind W 0 uia examine into the history of latter day saints converse 11 al h those of the church of god 1 1140 ano had embraced the gospel in A foreign lands and bore their testimonies as to the sacrifices which they were called upon to make when they accepted that gospel he would find them to be the most independent people on the face of the earth go where you will that is the testimony they have that the moment they embraced the gospel their friends and associates and in many cases their own fathers mothers brothers and sisters turned toward them the cold shoulder and even treated them with contempt and scorn cast them out as a thing of evil what did these meu men and women do they asserted their manhood and womanhood and showed that they were possessed of force of character that they had the courage of their convictions than this there is no greater courage many more men are possessed of physical courage than of the moral courage to dare to do right and express their opinions whether popular or unpopular go where you will from one end of this nation to the other seek for the men with moral courage in the halls of Con gressin the legislatures throughout the various states of the union and what do you find men almost without number voting time and time again against their honest convictions because they fear they might not be returned to office how different is the case of the latte rd saints I 1 instead of in many instances caring for affluence and wealth keeping to family and friends and the comforts of this life they gathered to utah and suffered hardships poverty and privations because of the testimony they had received jesus tells us that if we are not willing and ready to leave father and mother our houses and lands and follow him we are not worthy of the gospel the latter day saints by their acts by their history have shown toabe to the world that they have avi an independence of character and the ma manhood chood and womanhood to follow their convictions vict ions to leave behind bahi nd them family and friends all those things which are near and dear to the human heart and gather to these mountains for the purpose of keeping the commandments of god do the elders of israel when they go out into the world to preach the gospel hold out flattering inducements to those whom they meet to become latter day saints no on oil the contrary they tell them that if they embrace the gospel they may elpe expect e t that their friends and associates will turn against them and that their names will be cast out as evil that is the kind of promise they make to them the prophet joseph smith has been callei an impostor well if he was he took a very peculiar course in 16 order to get the people to follow him he told them that they would be persecuted that they would be driven from city to city from county to county from state to state and that finally they would be driven out from the confines of the united Sta states testo to come to these mount mountains aiDS and be a great people men do not generally start out to deceive others by promising them any such inheritance as this of trouble oRble tr sorrow and affliction if a man is an impostor he usually tries to hold out inducements to get people to follow him it is said that joseph smith was not a true prophet I 1 have just quoted one prophecy of his which has been fulfilled to the very letter and in addition to that he predicted the day would come when the whole of the united states would be arrayed against the latter day saints this seemed a very strange statement to make and one which no doubt almost everybody laughed at that in this the greatest of all nations and the one in which the greatest liberty prevailed a nation where it is one of the fundamental laws that there shall be no interference with religion such a thing should take place has it been fulfilled yes take up the daily newspapers and you find the heading in large bold type the united states of america versus the church of jesus christ of latter day saints but no amount of privation of driving from place to place of pain and hardship of crossing rivers in the dead of winter of making time after time homes in which they hoped to dwell and yet being driven from them could daunt the latter day saints in their onward progress in their hope of attaining that perfection and knowledge which would eventually lead them back into the presence of god let a man travel from one end of this territory to the other let him go into Cai canada iada into mexico idaho wyoming colorado arizona nevada or in fact any other place where the latter day faints are located and he will find a kind benevolent and temperate people he will find no paupers haupers pau pers and where the lat ter day saints alone are situated in any county he will discover no drinking saloons no houses bouses ot of ill III fame no gambling peace and plenty will be found reigning among them it has been said that the elders of the mormon church not only lead in ecclesiastical matters but control all the civil and political affairs of the people it has been asserted against the latter day saints that no man mail can obtain a political political oli office of any kind except he ee be chosen by the leaders of the church many persons say we have no objection to your religion but it is the mingling of your religion and your politics the mixing of your civil government with your religious government that we are opposed to we think that by so doing you threaten the welfare of the state and that your actions are contrary and in direct opposition to the fundamental principles of liberty and freedom upon which this government stands at the present time these claims are made against us because there are none of the lat ter day saints who have arrived at manhood and have been married but who have received provided abe they y are married properly in the te temple PI e or one of the houses bouses of god the higher priesthood we 0 are all members of the priesthood and if you undertake to separate the priesthood so called from the people you cast out the entire people from taking any interest whatever in politics while I 1 deny most emphatically that there is any ani mingling ling in the sense in which chic t the e world puts it of church and state amongst the lat ter day saints I 1 do not deny for a moment that if I 1 as a member of this church have any power or influence which I 1 can wield in the endeavour to get the best man to serve the people I 1 shall exercise it as long as I 1 live with regard to the remarks of brother morgan richards as to the teaching of the children of the latter day saints I 1 certainly endorse his statements I 1 believe that in the great majority of cases where the young men and women among us 1 17 ive turned to the right or left and gone away from the faith of their fathers it has been due to the parents in byj byl example and precept the princ principles les of f the gospel give your c children ildren the testimony of the gospel let them build on the rock of eternal truth on the testimony of jesus the savior and redeemer of the world and then if some scientific fallacy comes along which they are not able to answer they will know as peter knew that J jesus esus was the christ and all the scientific knowledge of the world cannot overturn that testimony |
