Show semiannual SEMI ANNUAL conference SAINTS IN SESSION IN SALT LAKE CITY pres dent sm th pres des at open ng of seventy F fth semi annual con ference of church of jesus christ of latter day sa ants the seventy fifth semi anual con ference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints was begun in the tabernacle in sa t lake city thursday morning october 6 there was scarce ly a vacant seat in the immense audi j bonum when at 10 15 clod dent joseph I 1 smith arose and an j bounced that the conference would open with the sing ng by the cho and congregation of the hymn beg n n ng come let us anew our journey pursue pres dent smith made the open ng address he said he was happy in the privilege he enjoyed at the open ing of the seventy fifth semi annual conference of the church and was pleased at seeing such a large depre sen tation of the brethren on a weel day when all lines of bus ness and al the industries were being carried on Not withstand ng severe droughts in southern utah new mexico old ico canada and other locations the season had been an abundant one and of late the droughts had been broken by cop ous ra ns so all the stal es were enjoying a reason ab e rity I 1 fiust said he that the sp nt ual conditions of the lutter day have been as good as the temporal con editions have been and that we are progressing and growing in the knowl edge of the and in fa s before the lord n keep ng h s corn mand menta and his laws as be hai prospered us for after all t e great is the faithfulness of the people to the covenants they have made with the lord and which is their righteousness president smith said the church has in the united states canada and ico fifty five organized stakes of Z on these have fifty five pres dents and counselors there are high priests who s t in counsel with the presidents and counselors in all the affairs of the church there are he said about twenty organized miss ons throughout the world presided over by pres dents and counselors and these miss ons are supplied with el ders and seventies that are sent out to preach the gospel numbering at present in the ne of 1 e ders there are organ zed wards presided over by bishops with 1 bishops counselors it devolves upon the bishops of the wards to 1001 after the poor and to administer to the sick and affa affi acted it is also their duty to 1001 after the spiritual v cifare of the people to see that they are living moral pure and upright 1 ves that they are faithful in the discharge of their duties as lat berday saints that they are honest in their dealings one with another and with the children of men generally gner ally and with all the world there are in the church quor urns of seventies and these constitute a body of some elders whose special duty it Is to respond to the call of the apostles to preach the goa I 1 pel and to go on missions without purse and without script president smith then explained the duties of the members of the two or ders of anesti and mel chi sedek in conclusion he said it did not make any difference what the world says about the latter day saints for they know what their mis sion is and propose to fulfill it by the help of aim gaty god that missi n was to save men from evil from en r from wickedness and from the power of darkness first counselor john R winder made a brief talk on the trials anbu lations and successes of the church miss oganes he rejoiced that con verts were being made in all parts of the earth 1 counselor and bistor an anthon H lund d scour sed on ohp priesthood he said there was no priestly caste in the church as the priest office was conferred on bearb every male member worthy to receive it at the afternoon session elder david H cannon president of the st george temple was the first speaker he being folio ved by pre dent jame A leishman of the logan temple both speaking of temple and ot the benefits that have come from be ing baat zed for the dead president john D T mcallist r of the manti temple urged that al mar nages should tal e place in the temples president francis M lyman dent of the quorum of twelve apostles arost les made a strong talk tor the introduce intro duc tion of fruit and vegetable canneries and the building up of industries he said utah should not only produce evereth ng it consumes in the way of food products triple ments and machinery but should sup ply the people of other states much fruit and vegetal es were go ng to waste because there was no way to can them the m II 11 who have made the money in utah mines should spend son e of their money in promoting manufactories he ad the saints to get out of delt del t and stay out in order that they gut b prepared when a sea on of dullness sets in as it is apt to do in the course of a few years both the morn ng and ate noil sessions of tie second days meeting of the se enty fifth semi annual con ference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints were mainly de voted to the div ng of testimony by presidents of stakes as to the ss of the wort of t e chuch chu ch mon es given at the conference hive shown that in severa of the old ea tabi shed stal es in utah the churco populate on la e ther stat conary or growing i ery s they also have shown that ii seme of the miss on fields the ea tern and cal for n a miss ons with headquarters 11 bew boik and san franc few converts have been made during the past six months or offset this discouraging condition con diton it s stated that some of the new stakes in idaho and wyoming are growing rapidly and that the missions in canada and mexico are making a good showing the fact of the poor lowing of ress in some of the older stal es la ac counted for by the fact hat many of the younger members are moving to other stakes going out to secure homes in new countries elder will am budge president of the bear lake idaho stake told of the wort in that state instead of the one stal e which w as organized when he first went to idaho there are now ten these stal es are all growing numerically and prospering elder A onzo A hinckley president of the mallard stake followed he had been presiding over the stake for two years he sa d the stal e boundaries were identical with those of mallard county utah and in it were 5 members of the church and about 1 gentiles of the 5 fully one fifth were in the priesthood and al though chucci population was not in ng numerically the members of the church in the stal e were growing in spirit lal ty he said the mormons and gentiles were living together in the utmost harmony and among the latter were many good conscientious men and women apost e rudger clawson gave a general talk on a n and repentance H urged more on to the ardi manees of the for the salvation of the living and the re demotion demp tion of the dead and of the lay ing on of hands for the reception of the holy ghost on saturday there were no regular sessions of the general conference at the tabernacle but in the morning an imports i cating of the pr estwood was held in assembly hall the distinguishing features 0 the sunday assi n of the con terace were he on of a statement made by a woman at a meeting held in denver recently bat young mea and yo ing women when away from utah were ashamed that they lived in the state the appeal ance ot apostle reed smoot in the conference aad his advocat of the leipen ng of the woo len mills atiat have been ej for years and the sustaining of all the officers of the efured by a unanimous vote pres dent joseph P i said the presidents of missions were under strict instruction to glaid direfully cire fully the health ot missionaries and to send them home when ill they were to be the j adges of what was best to be done in their respective fields the body of the church sho ild cheet fully indorse the r action in the cases of lonar ies and refrain from criticism of those sent home elder A H woodruff formerly pies dent of the northern states mission with headquarters at ch cago told of the work in that field he said the people of chicago aru not natural re 1 bious and are too much absorbed in the affairs of the world to pay on to the salvation of their im mortal souls elder joseph A mcrae president of the colorado mission with head quarters at denver told ot the work in anat field while there had not been is many converts as expected the p ale had shown a friendly spirit toward the miss oganes at the closing of the conference president jos ph I 1 seiti called down b essi jigs on ei incle ling those who would wipe the saint out of existence the conference then closed its de liberat ons with the sing ing of an anthem |