Show preliminary conference MEETINGS anu THURSDAY oct 1882 in response to tho the published invitation ta ti on of the first presidency quite a number assembled nt at the tabor nacle attend the services atory to the opening of the semiannual conference on friday tho the oth tho the congregation was called to order by president john taylor the choir sang let lot zion in her beauty rise her light begin to shine ere erelong long corking hor king will rend the skies majestic and divine the opening opening prayer was offered by president aco Q cannon the choir sang tho the hymn glorious things of thee are spoken zion city of our god lie ile whose word cannot be broken chose thee for his own abode PRESIDENT taylor tayl OR addressed tho the congregation I he ire re said that considering the inclemency of the weather it had bad been thought advisable to hold but a short abort meeting this morning in the afternoon the meeting will be held in the assembly hall it might perhaps be injurious to the health orsome of some of eur aur aged brethren and sisters to prolong the services and t therefore he after afler the choir has sung again we will be dismissed to meet at pm in the assembly hall the anthem glory to god in the highest was sung and the benediction was pronounced by prest jos F smith ASSEMBLY HALL pm president taylor called the congregation gre gation to order and the choir sang the hymn come holy ghost our hearts inspire let us th thine ine influence prove source of the old prophetic I fire are fountain of light and love prayer by apostle lorenze lorenzo snow the choir sang 10 jesua jesus the elver giver of all ne enjoy Y our lives iye t to thy honor we wish to employ PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF addre addressed spied the congregation this church was organized upon the earth fifty two years ago go I last ast april this dispensation is is a most important one the gospel of jesus christ the duties of the offices of the priesthood and mans relationship ioia to god in a state like tho the present are subjects that had bad required the deepest interest of every man who has attained to any proficiency in n them no man since the azy days a of father adam ever had power to organize the church of god upon the earth save he first received it from on high the lord never did anything in in the creation or redemption of the world only n apon n the principle odthe of the priesthood he me has always the speaker believed operated in all things under and by this power the and chize dec priest hoods had both been restored to joseph joeeph smith before he be attempted to perform any work in the borno of jesus christ the church was organized after ancient pattern and the world was wits afraid of it the world marveled how a young manlike man like joseph smith should organize a church so perfectly er but he fie knew no more tal than an anyone else about thelrue the truo organization before it was revealed to him he ile had bad to do instruction by revelation ro no man has wisdom to direct in the affairs of the Chur churchard chand kingdom of god uni unless es he is guided by inspiration three y years before adam adams death he be called hars liis is posterity together in the valley of adam and blessed them and prophesied what should befall them down to the latest a age e those portions of the prophesies lles A that have not been fulfilled will as surely beas beasso some mc portions that have already been fulfilled the keys powers and blessings pertaining t to all former dispensations all belong to the present which makes this tho the d dispensation a e at on of tho the fullness of time the gr greatest t of all ages a ea if this was not the work of got god it would have been overthrown a long time ti ago it requires faith in men to fa face cc tt the pes of the world the nearer we get to the lord the more faith wo we have tho the further from him we get the darker and more fearful we become the jews slew the messiah and the apostles went back to their nets they considered the work was all over but christ made himself manifest and when they received the holy ghost they went forth to preach the plan of salvation to their fellows but there was no dispensation so important as this how can mormonism niam stand in opposition to the will of fifty millions of people in america if it is not tho the work of god this kingdom the zion of god will be established in the earth in ia spite of the feelings of men the lord has called out from tho the nations of the earth men whom he be hag has commanded to build temples and redeem the dead lead and the world docs does not like it if wo were like tho the world the world would not net oppose us but wo we know our cause is divine and god has backed up our testimony now for half a century it has been said that joseph smith Bric Brig haro liam youn young and othera others bought th tho olives lives and injury lury ii of their fellow men but the speaker had traveled with joseph smith and brigham young thousands of miles been with will them in otheir their counsels and knew that they never counseled counge led any wrong doing there lias has been much said about the mountain meadow massacre but though this people were charged with it t they were veto innocent when john D leo lee made his first report to president young the latter said lie was sort sorry y such a tiling thing ever happened hap ened in this territory lee liello lied to president young saying that he ile lee had hotl nothing HIT to do with the tile massacre the leaders of this people have labored to save men and not to destroy them president young waa was very much con berned on account of the commission of the deed named the yoke the jews placed themselves under by taking upon themselves tho the consequences of shedding the blood of f tho the savior was still heavily borne by russian and other eastern jews the speaker desired that the saints obtain more faith to combat with the emergencies in tho the near future th tho arditi traditions ns of the sectarian world are contrary to tho the revelations of f god upon the shoulders of the saints rests the work of the carrying out of the purposes ur poses of god fie ho docs does not fook look to talmage D beecher or any of the popular men or any other people on earth to do it the tile world dont understand that the priesthood is restored and they do not understand our motives and principles the eyes of the cheav ens and the angels are over this people and we arc are expected to do a greater work than was expected of any an y generation jesus declares dec lares tl that at any man who will thrust in liis his sickle and reap the same is called joseph smith used to eay say he wished to god he be could liis his feelings but the could not stand stan d it the revelation given in answer to joseph smiths prayer when in liberty libe jail contained much useful information the priesthood priesthood is to bo be used only for t the e accomplishment of the purposes poses of god and when man un undertakes supposes Sur to build himself up by the use thereof he soon pulls himself down with this peo pie le the motto should be tho ti a kingdom om of god or nothing we will be held accountable for the priesthood and tho tile use we put it to the difference difre rence between us and the world is because became we having the i le spirit of god have been born again god has re reestablished established ilia church upon tho the ancient foundation of apostles christ jesus being the corner cornerstone stone what was death to paul after ho be had bad received the spirit of god when men have the spirit irit of their calling why dont they tiey fear r death when a child the speaker a often prayed that lie might live to see a prophet or an apostle and felt to rejoice when he saw one men arc are on a mission here and the mission of tho the saints is to preach the gospel to the people an and ito to redeem the world by the power p ower of f god when men pass the other i side of the vail they retain the intelligence telli teRi gence obtained here let every one Tence oo 00 faithful to his mission on earth the speaker was sorry for the corruption of the government of the united states for it would inevitably work their destruction no man mail can sow evil and not reap evil he was 20 years old in innus anuw england before any murder was ever committed there and then the people were so shocked that it caused burn nurn numbers bets to mourn how V many murders occur every week now god requires a great work at our hands a work of redemption to the nations of the tile earth may ilay the spirit of god be with the people APOSTLE LORENZO SNOW next spoke he said that the lat ter day saints obtained their information ma tion relative to the building up of the church and kingdom of I god Us I from the revelations of god through His servants ho wished to call the R attention of the congregation to a passage in the book of esther ther relative to our arese prese present nt and perlia Ps future history wo find a history of gods dealings with former generations erat crat ions ions given in the bible in tracing that history something peculiar strikes me of f th the Q provinces of the united nations of the medea medes and persians none were without somo some of the israelites A decree had been passed that on a certain day they should all be destroyed st consequently there waa was much lamentation but the lord had cance conce alei a deliverer the individual esther who was to bo be made the deliverer was instructed to effect the deliverance of the people by asking the king to set aside the decree but this wag not in accordance with the customs for it was death to any person who entered tho the kings palace unsent for she sent sint word vord to the people of certain provinces inces to fast and pray after the people had fasted and prayed esther entered the palace and the deliverance the children of israel at the red sea was another ano ther instance of the manifestation of the tile power of god today to day the saints are being hedged up on almost all sides and if wo ro know we are the people of god we also know a deliverance live ranco will be wrought out for the av avertine artine ef of the crushing blows that are and ant will bo be aimed at them the saints do not fear the future of their course so long as tile principles of tho gospel are adhered to when noah preached tho the gospel to the people the antediluvians had an opportunity of avoiding tho the evils which were to come corno in the destruction of the world to today day mankind also have a similar opportunity the world supposes the saints Saint swill will at some timo time bo be disunited and live as 03 the world do daniel said ta una kingdom was not to be left to an other people which fact was understood by tile saint saino and there no fear of disunion among this people as long aa as the world brought so much pre pressure sure to bear upon them the work of the tile lord relating to the last days lays had been commenced joseph smith had been authorized to organize tho the church according to revelation and the gospel was being preached to the nations for a witness every man mail who holds bolds the priesthood must first bo be destroyed before the destruction of the thing called Mor mcgould mc be deflected shadrach and abednego boldly told king chad nezzar they would not bow down own to the god that had been set up on the plain and as a result th cy were cast into the firak krcs let tl this is peaple mcp pcp ale bo be united more than th alicy cy arc are and the lord will bo be pl pleased med t to cause the people to bestow upon us popular favor as they now abuse ua us and deprive us olour rights A ram will surely be found caught in the thicket in the due time of the lord but now was tho the day when humility and faithfulness were necessary among the people may God blesa the interests of his ilia cause and kingdom and may the tile people be ever willing to stand steadfast through the trials which the lord designs to send upon them there was nothing ing to live for but everything t to d die lc for but god did lid not d design i ign t anat at tho the saints should be destroyed tho the choir sang san the anthem sing to the lord in joyful strains benediction by prest joseph P smith |