Christ, upon the Holy Ghost, the tes-
timony of the Father and the son. This
power has been with us. That is why
we are here today. That is why this
stands here today, in ful-
fillment of the predictions of the pro-
phets of God in ancient days. It is
why the Zion of God is planted here in
these valleys of the . It has
all been by the power of God, and not
of man.
I hope we may contemplate our posi-
tion, and realize the condition we are in
and the obligations we are under to
God. I feel thankful that I have the
privilege of meeting with the Latter-
day Saints. I have met with this peo-
ple nearly all my life when I have had
the opportunity. I embraced the Gospel
the first sermon I ever heard. That
was in 1833. From that day till this
I have rejoiced in the Gospel of Christ,
and in meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, wherever my lot has been cast.
I came to these valleys with the Pio-
neers, led by President . He
finished his work, as
finished his. But President Young
labored more years than was the lot
of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith, how-
ever, labored long enough to perform
the work that he was ordained to. He
organized the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in the earth—a
thing that all the nations under heaven
could not have done. There was no
man on earth could have done that,
only by the power of God. Joseph
Smith was the man appointed and
called of God, and he was a noble man;
yes, a glorious man, a man filled with
the wisdom and power of God. His
life was short, but see what he did dur-
ing that time! During the fourteen
years he labored for God in the flesh
he brought forth more than any other
man that ever lived, excepting the Sa-
vior. The organization of the Church
itself was one of the most glorious
works a man ever had the privilege of
performing among the sons of men.
Then he brought forth the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, containing the
revelations of God to us. Well, he laid
down his life for the word of God and
testimony of Jesus Christ. He was
martyred. His brother was
martyred. Christ was martyred. His
Apostles were martyred. Several have
been martyred in these last days, be-
sides the Prophet.
We should not forget these things.
Let us labor faithfully and pray unto
the Lord for wisdom day by day, that
we may have power to conquer and
overcome. When I get through I
want to go where the Savior is, where
the Prophet is, and where our people
are that have gone who have been true
and faithful. If I miss that, I miss
the object of my creation; and
so will any other man who has
received the Gospel. We should
be very careful what we do, and watch
over ourselves and our course in life,
that we may be justified when we get
through.
I want to ask this congregation a
question. Can you point me to any
emperor, king, priest, denomination or
power on the face of the whole earth,
outside of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, who has power
to go forth and redeem one of their
dead? There never was a soul any-
where that could do this until God or-
ganized His Church upon the earth.
One of the leading principles with
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Wilford Woodruff, and the
Apostles and leading men of this
Church, has been the redemption of
their dead. The Lord said He would
raise up saviors in the last days upon
Mount Zion while the kingdom should
be the Lord's. This is a duty resting
upon all Israel, and one that we should
comprehend. The signers of the
Declaration of Independence and the
men that laid the foundation of this
great American government know full
well that there has not been a power
on the earth where they could apply
to have this principle carried out in
their behalf, only the Apostles that
held the keys of the kingdom of God in
this generation. They have gone to
them and plead with them to redeem
them because there was no other pow-
er on earth could do it, and this has
been accomplished. This principle is
today with the Latter-day Saints.
There is no more glorious principle
given to man than the power which
you have while holding the Priesthood,
to go forth and redeem your fathers,
your mothers, your progenitors. It will
stand with you in the morning of the
resurrection. Such principles are wor-
thy of contemplation. There is no man
living that can point to any church or
people that have this power on the
earth, but the Latter-day Saints.
Whether the world believe it or
not, it is true. I remember very
well the first word that was given
to us by the Prophet Joseph
Smith after we returned from our mis-
sion in . He called us to-
gether and told us that the Lord had
revealed to him a principle whereby
we could go forth and redeem our dead.
It was like a shaft of light from the
throne of God to our hearts. It opened
a field wide as eternity to our minds.
The first thing that entered into my
mind was that I had a in the
spirit world. She died when I was 14
months old. I never knew a mother.
I thought to myself, Have I power to
go forth and seal my mother to my
? The word was, yes. Well,
I attended to that, and to everything
else, with the help of my friends, un-
til I have thousands of my dead rela-
tives on the list that I have redeemed.
These are blessings the world do not
comprehend. We should lay this to
heart and not neglect this work. I
do not want to go into the spirit world
and meet with my progenitors who
never heard the Gospel in their day
and generation, and have them tell me,
"You held in your hand the power to
go forth and redeem me, and you have
not done it." I do not want to meet
that. I do not want the Latter-day
Saints to meet it. I think we are do-
ing pretty well. We have four tem-
ples reared in these valleys of the
mountains, and they are fairly well
occupied by the Latter-day Saints.
But we want to continue this until we
have redeemed all within our power to
redeem. If we will carry this prin-
ciple out, we will have the blessing of
it. It will be with us in the morning
of the resurrection, when our fathers
and mothers and our progenitors come
up with us because we have redeemed
them. Jesus Himself went and preached
to the spirits in prison, that they might
be judged according to men in the
flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit. [1 Peter 4:6] That principle was manifest
in that day; it is with us today.
Brethren and sisters, you have my
faith, you have my blessings, and my
desire for your welfare. I want to see
Zion arise, and the glory of God rest
upon her. I have faith to believe that
what has been promised concerning
this people, and concerning our poster-
ity, will be fulfilled. The Lord will not
desert Zion. It will continue to grow
and increase and have power in the
earth, until the of the . We have been called to this work.
It will rest upon our shoulders, and
afterwards upon the shoulders of our
children, as those raised up through
the loins of , and
in former times. God bless you, and
give us all wisdom to guide and direct
us. This is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christ, upon the Holy Ghost, the testimony of the Father and the son. This
power has been with us. That is why
we are here today. That is why this
stands here today, in fulfillment of the predictions of the prophets of God in ancient days. It is
why the Zion of God is planted here in
these valleys of the mountains. It has
all been by the power of God, and not
of man.
I hope we may contemplate our position, and realize the condition we are in
and the obligations we are under to
God. I feel thankful that I have the
privilege of meeting with the Latterday Saints. I have met with this people nearly all my life when I have had
the opportunity. I embraced the Gospel
the first sermon I ever heard. That
was in 1833. From that day till this
I have rejoiced in the Gospel of Christ,
and in meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, wherever my lot has been cast.
I came to these valleys with the Pioneers, led by President . He
finished his work, as
finished his. But President Young
labored more years than was the lot
of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith, however, labored long enough to perform
the work that he was ordained to. He
organized the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in the earth—a
thing that all the nations under heaven
could not have done. There was no
man on earth could have done that,
only by the power of God. Joseph
Smith was the man appointed and
called of God, and he was a noble man;
yes, a glorious man, a man filled with
the wisdom and power of God. His
life was short, but see what he did during that time! During the fourteen
years he labored for God in the flesh
he brought forth more than any other
man that ever lived, excepting the Savior. The organization of the Church
itself was one of the most glorious
works a man ever had the privilege of
performing among the sons of men.
Then he brought forth the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, containing the
revelations of God to us. Well, he laid
down his life for the word of God and
testimony of Jesus Christ. He was
martyred. His brother was
martyred. Christ was martyred. His
Apostles were martyred. Several have
been martyred in these last days, besides the Prophet.
We should not forget these things.
Let us labor faithfully and pray unto
the Lord for wisdom day by day, that
we may have power to conquer and
overcome. When I get through I
want to go where the Savior is, where
the Prophet is, and where our people
are that have gone who have been true
and faithful. If I miss that, I miss
the object of my creation; and
so will any other man who has
received the Gospel. We should
be very careful what we do, and watch
over ourselves and our course in life,
that we may be justified when we get
through.
I want to ask this congregation a
question. Can you point me to any
emperor, king, priest, denomination or
power on the face of the whole earth,
outside of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, who has power
to go forth and redeem one of their
dead? There never was a soul anywhere that could do this until God organized His Church upon the earth.
One of the leading principles with
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Wilford Woodruff, and the
Apostles and leading men of this
Church, has been the redemption of
their dead. The Lord said He would
raise up saviors in the last days upon
Mount Zion while the kingdom should
be the Lord's. This is a duty resting
upon all Israel, and one that we should
comprehend. The signers of the
Declaration of Independence and the
men that laid the foundation of this
great American government know full
well that there has not been a power
on the earth where they could apply
to have this principle carried out in
their behalf, only the Apostles that
held the keys of the kingdom of God in
this generation. They have gone to
them and plead with them to redeem
them because there was no other power on earth could do it, and this has
been accomplished. This principle is
today with the Latter-day Saints.
There is no more glorious principle
given to man than the power which
you have while holding the Priesthood,
to go forth and redeem your fathers,
your mothers, your progenitors. It will
stand with you in the morning of the
resurrection. Such principles are worthy of contemplation. There is no man
living that can point to any church or
people that have this power on the
earth, but the Latter-day Saints.
Whether the world believe it or
not, it is true. I remember very
well the first word that was given
to us by the Prophet Joseph
Smith after we returned from our mission in . He called us together and told us that the Lord had
revealed to him a principle whereby
we could go forth and redeem our dead.
It was like a shaft of light from the
throne of God to our hearts. It opened
a field wide as eternity to our minds.
The first thing that entered into my
mind was that I had a in the
spirit world. She died when I was 14
months old. I never knew a mother.
I thought to myself, Have I power to
go forth and seal my mother to my
? The word was, yes. Well,
I attended to that, and to everything
else, with the help of my friends, until I have thousands of my dead relatives on the list that I have redeemed.
These are blessings the world do not
comprehend. We should lay this to
heart and not neglect this work. I
do not want to go into the spirit world
and meet with my progenitors who
never heard the Gospel in their day
and generation, and have them tell me,
"You held in your hand the power to
go forth and redeem me, and you have
not done it." I do not want to meet
that. I do not want the Latter-day
Saints to meet it. I think we are doing pretty well. We have four temples reared in these valleys of the
mountains, and they are fairly well
occupied by the Latter-day Saints.
But we want to continue this until we
have redeemed all within our power to
redeem. If we will carry this principle out, we will have the blessing of
it. It will be with us in the morning
of the resurrection, when our fathers
and mothers and our progenitors come
up with us because we have redeemed
them. Jesus Himself went and preached
to the spirits in prison, that they might
be judged according to men in the
flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit. That principle was manifest
in that day; it is with us today.
Brethren and sisters, you have my
faith, you have my blessings, and my
desire for your welfare. I want to see
Zion arise, and the glory of God rest
upon her. I have faith to believe that
what has been promised concerning
this people, and concerning our posterity, will be fulfilled. The Lord will not
desert Zion. It will continue to grow
and increase and have power in the
earth, until the coming of the Son of
Man. We have been called to this work.
It will rest upon our shoulders, and
afterwards upon the shoulders of our
children, as those raised up through
the loins of , and
in former times. God bless you, and
give us all wisdom to guide and direct
us. This is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
