The subject President Young wished me to speak of is in regard to our
temple, which we shall soon commence to build—what course we shall
take, and what kind of materials it shall be built of; whether we
shall build it of the stone that is got in the Red Butte Canyon, or of
adobies, or of the best stone we can find in these mountains. For
instance—at Sanpete there is some splendid stone; and inasmuch as we
intend to build a house unto the Lord for Him to accept, for His
angels to come to as ministers to give instructions, I can feel,
myself, as though we are perfectly able to build one, of the best kind
of materials, from the foundation to the tip top. We are able, and we
have strength and union, and we have bone, and marrow, and muscle, and
we are able to commence it next year.
I merely present these things for the brethren to consider and reflect
upon. We can go to work and make an adobie house, and lay the
foundation of stone from Red Butte, and then we can plaster it outside,
and make it like the Tithing office. I would like to see something
pretty nice, something noble, and some of the most splendid fonts that
were ever erected. I know for a certainty that our President is
perfectly able to give us the design of this contemplated house, and
all other necessary instructions. What we need is to receive those
blessings that we all want, and this must be felt more, especially by
those who have come in this present season. These blessings are just
as necessary for those who go South, as for those who go North, it
makes no difference. They will all, however, get their blessings, and
enjoy their privileges in obtaining those things. We have plenty of
time, and there is no particular hurry, but it is for every man to
walk up to his duty in the time being, and then when tomorrow comes,
walk up to it tomorrow, and so let us do all we can, for we have got
considerable over one thousand years to work, and when we have worked
one thousand years, there will be another, and another, and we shall
be at work to all eternity. There is no end to our work for the living
and for the dead. Let us try and be active to do whatever we find to
do today.
Let the brethren go and get farms, and locate themselves, and raise
good fields of grain, that they can bring in the firstfruits of the
earth. This is what is required to be done at the present time. Take
this course, brethren, and then everything you possess will prosper,
and you will be abundantly blessed. It is just as necessary to be
engaged in one thing, as it is in another. It takes many kinds of
materials to build a house, so it requires all kinds of materials to
build another earth like this, it requires the same kinds of materials
to make one man as it takes to make another. But let us try to temper
ourselves according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the plan of
salvation.
We will bring up a few comparisons. Now supposing brother
Tanner goes into the shop, to make a scythe, and he takes the
materials necessary for the formation of that scythe, is he dictated
to by it, as to how he shall mold it and fashion it? Would you have
the scythe rise up and say—Brother Tanner, what do you do so for? Why
do you strike me on the back? Well, it is just as ridiculous for you
to undertake to dictate to President Young, or those whom he sets to
work. It is not for you to dictate to them. Upon the same principle,
supposing I have a lump of clay which I put upon my wheel, out of
which clay I want to make a jug; I have to turn it into as many as 50
or 100 shapes before I get it into a jug. How many shapes do you
suppose you are put into before you became Saints, or before you
become perfect and sanctified to enter into the celestial glory of
God? You have got to be like that clay in the hands of the potter. Do
you not know that the Lord directed the Prophet anciently, to go down
to the potter's house to see a miracle on the wheel? Suppose the
potter takes a lump of clay, and putting it on the wheel, goes to work
to form it into a vessel, and works it out this way, and that way, and
the other way, but the clay is refractory and snappish; he still tries
it, but it will break, and snap, and snarl, and thus the potter will
work it and work it until he is satisfied he cannot bring it into the
shape he wants, and it mars upon the wheel; he takes his tool, then,
and cuts it off the wheel, and throws it into the mill to be ground
over again, until it becomes passive (don't you think you will go to
hell if you are not passive?), and after it is ground there so many
days, and it becomes passive, he takes the same lump, and makes of it
a vessel unto honor. Now do you see into that, brethren? I know the
potters can. I tell you, brethren, if you are not passive you will
have to go into that mill, and perhaps have to grind there one
thousand years, and then the Gospel will be offered to you again, and
then if you will not accept of it, and become passive, you will have
to go into the mill again, and thus you will have offers of salvation
from time to time, until all the human family, except the sons of
perdition, are redeemed. The spirits of men will have the Gospel as we
do, and they are to be judged according to men in the flesh. Let us be
passive, and take a course that will be perfectly submissive.
What need you care where you go if you go according to direction, and
when you get to Coal Creek, or Iron County, be subject to that man who
is placed there to rule you, just the same as you would be subject to
President Young, if you were here, because that man is delegated by
this Conference, and sanctioned by this people, and that man's word is
law. And so it is with the Bishops; they are our fathers, our
governors, and we are their household. It is for them to provide for
their household, and watch over them, and govern and control them;
they are potters to mold you, and when you are sent forth to the
nations of the earth, you go to gather the clay, and bring it here to
the great potter, to be ground and molded until it becomes passive,
and then be taken and formed into vessels, according to the dictation
of the presiding potter. I have to do the work he tells me to do, and
you have to do the same, and he has to do the work told him by the
great master potter in heaven and on earth. If brother Brigham tells
me to do a thing, it is the same as though the Lord told me to do it.
This is the course for you and every other Saint to take, and by your
taking this course, I will tell you, brethren, you are on the top of
the heap. We are in the tops of the mountains; and when the stone
shall roll down from the mountains, it will smash the earth,
and break in pieces everything that opposes its course; but the stone
has to get up there before it can roll down.
We are here in a happy place, in a goodly land, and among as good a
people as ever the Lord suffered to dwell upon the face of the earth.
Have I not a reason to be proud? Yes, I am proud of the religion of
Christ, I am proud of his Elders, his servants, and of his handmaids,
and when they do well I am prouder still. I do not know but I shall
get so proud, that I shall be four or five times prouder than I am
now.
I want a vote from the congregation concerning the temple, whether we
shall have it built of the stone from Red Butte, or of adobies, or
timber, or of the best quality of stone that can be found in the
mountains. It is now open for discussion.
Our temple block is 600 feet square, and according to the number of
people that compose the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
we are able to build a temple that size, and do it easier than we
built a temple at Kirtland. I put the motion which is before you,
that we build a temple of the best materials that can be furnished in
the mountains of North America, and that the Presidency dictate where
the stone and other materials shall be obtained; and that the
Presidency shall be untrammeled from this time henceforth and
forever. I want every brother, sister, and child to vote one way or
the other. All in favor of this motion raise your right hand. [It was
unanimous.]
- Heber C. Kimball