I have a few words of counsel for the returned missionaries, and all
the Elders of Israel may heed them if they feel disposed to. You hear
the Elders, when they return and get up in the stand, tell what happy
days they have experienced on their missions; how they have enjoyed
themselves, the Spirit of the Lord has rested upon them, how they have
spoken to their own astonishment, words have been given them that
never entered their hearts before, and when they have lifted up their
voices in the name of the Lord to testify of the Gospel of the Son of
God they have astonished themselves, and so on; you know what they
say! Now, I wish to make this request: that the Elders who return from
missions consider themselves just as much on a mission here as in
England or in any other part of the world. There is no people need
preaching to more than those who live in this Territory and in these
mountains. The Latter-day Saints, or those who profess to be, need
talking to just as much as a child who begins to prattle and run
around the house. It gets into mischief continually and its mother has
to keep talking to it to keep it from meddling with things that it
should not. It does not know how to guide itself, and wants guiding
and correcting all the time; but not more than the Latter-day Saints
who gather together. Now, Elders of Israel, if you have the harness
on, keep it on and lift up your voices to the people here and teach
them the way of life and salvation; and teach obedience to the
Priesthood, that they may receive the blessings which are promised to
them who believe and obey the Gospel as it is revealed in the latter
days. Will you hearken to this counsel, my brethren? I have not the
least objection to the sisters considering themselves on missions to
teach their children the way of life and salvation.
I feel like saying a few words about seeing so many empty benches
here; but there is some excuse for this, for if you were to take this
congregation, small as it seems, and try to put it into the common
halls where our brethren have preached, you would find a portion of it
out of doors; and very few meetinghouses in the eastern country would
hold the people who are here this morning. Still there could be a
great many more here. It is true that many attend Sunday school with
the children in the morning, but if children who do not attend school
were to receive proper teaching from their mothers, they would be at
meeting on Sunday morning. Mothers, will you be missionaries? We will
appoint you a mission to teach your children their duty; and instead
of ruffles and fine dresses to adorn the body, teach them that
which will adorn their minds. Let what you have to clothe them with be
neat and clean and nice. Teach them cleanness and purity of body and
the principles of salvation, and they will delight to come to these
meetings. I attribute the wandering of our young people to the
teachings of their mothers. You see young ladies here wandering after
the fashions of the world; I attribute it to their mothers, and the
mothers know but little more than their daughters. If you will take
this counsel, and begin and teach your children as you should, we will
have more here of a morning than we have generally. There are a great
many people in this city who should attend meeting on a Sunday
morning—enough to fill this house, besides those who go to Sunday
school. When they were in the lands where they were hated and the
finger of scorn was pointed at them, they delighted only in the
society of their brethren; and when they had an opportunity to escape
from their arduous labors, they would travel day or night to meet with
the Saints. But here everything is so free, so easy and delightful,
that they are here, there and everywhere but where they should be. A
few Latter-day Saints, however—and I think the majority of them, are
doing the best they know how. But our brethren, when they return from
their missions, complain at what they see, and I do not wonder. Will
you, Brother Dewey, set the example and come to meeting every Sunday?
Or shall I, in a few Sundays, hear that you are gone on a pleasure
excursion, that you are riding out here or there? How will it be with
Brother Shipp and others who have been speaking? How long will it be
before we hear that you have gone on the railroad to Wasatch or
somewhere else on a pleasure excursion, or to your farm or to visit
your brethren? There is one thing that we have to meet with here. In
our community we have a few from the Society of Friends; we commonly
call them Quakers. As far as I have known them, and I have known them
as long as I can remember, if they do not work or visit on the
Sabbath, they will mourn the whole week. They are so free and
independent that they want to show the whole human family that they
have no more regard for one day than another, and especially the
Sabbath day. We have to meet with this influence here as well as other
things; and unless our Quaker friends who come into the Church are
continually led they will never come to meeting; they are sure to be
fishing, going after hay or hunting their cattle; and these practices
have their influence on others.
I wish to say to the Elders and mothers in Israel: teach your children
as they should be taught and you will find they will never stray from
the path of rectitude. There is more depending upon mothers than is
generally supposed. You may take any nation in the world, and just let
the mothers say there should not be a soldier in the army, and kings
might call for soldiers, but they would be disappointed if they
expected to obtain any. Mothers bear more influence in the nations of
the earth than they are aware of. Take my counsel, and teach your
children how to live, teach them to pray, to come to meeting; teach
them to love the Lord and to believe and read the Bible, and when they
grow up they will delight in doing right.
As for the so-called Christian world, all I wish to say about it I can
say in a few words. Yesterday, when talking about the priests, I
discovered there was considerable humor in our beloved brother who has been speaking to us this morning, and I joked him; and I will
joke him again a little more severely, by telling a little anecdote of
Sir Francis Train; you have all heard of George Francis Train, I call
him "Sir" Francis. He says, in speaking of a certain dignitary, "Just
sit down and tell me all you know in five minutes!" I make that
application to all the so-called Christian divines—sit down and tell
all you know about God, heaven and hell in five minutes; you can do
it, it does not require any more time, for you know nothing. They say
they believe the Bible; but if, when they open and read it, anyone of
them can discriminate, and tell what part to believe and what to
reject, let that man come forth, speak by the power of God and draw
the line that we may know the truth; but if they have no revelation on
the subject, let them lay their hands on their mouths, and them in the
dust, and cry, "unclean!" So much for the so-called Christian world.
As I said to our brother yesterday, I have been routed from a good
home and plenty of means five times; but I never was routed from home
and possessions without priests led the mob, never! And yet among the
priests of the day there are a great many good, honest men. But in
most of the communities in the world, those who are unruly, boisterous
and wicked, can commit acts of wickedness, and those who are just will
stand and look on until the evil is performed and wonder what is going
on. There are thousands and thousands of people in the United States
who deprecated the injuries that we received from the hands of mobs;
but what did they do? Stood and looked on until all was over, and then
said, "I pity them." How much did they pity us? We had to pity and
take care of ourselves, and we have learned to do it; but we do not
say that all people are mobbers, or that all will persecute, for they
will not; and I meet with a great many ministers who are gentlemen,
who have hearts within them, and I bid them God speed! Do what good
you can.
How often I have talked about the missionary system of Christendom! It
is true that we do not believe in it exactly as they do, for we
believe in sending out men without purse or scrip, that they may prove
the people and see who will or will not feed a servant of God; and in
this manner our Elders have traversed almost every nation on the face
of the globe. But these Christian Missionary Societies have done an
immense amount of good, and they will have the credit for it. God has
got their credit marks, and he will justify them as far as they go;
but when light comes into the world that they have not conceived of,
and they reject it, what will be their condemnation? Let the Lord
judge.
Now, you Elders of Israel, I turn to you again—you missionaries. I see
a few of you here who have just returned home, but a good many are
wanting. There are places here for all, but they are not here. They
have been home a few weeks and what are they doing? Visiting with
their families, or perhaps gone to the canyon after wood; and those
who have just come home complain of the coldness of the people and
that many are turning away from the commandments of the Lord. I say to
those who complain of these things—see that you do not do likewise!
Come to meeting and be ready to talk here. Our religion, our Gospel,
is not to train a few men in all the sophistry that learning can
impart, and enable them to address a congregation and nothing else;
but our ministers or preachers work all the week in the store,
at the mechanic's bench, on the farm, in the canyon, or at whatever is
wanted to be done, and when Sunday morning comes they get up here and
preach a sermon; and if they cannot do that, we consider they do not
possess the spirit of their mission. It is not so with the world. Our
Elders must support themselves with their hands, as Paul did. I do not
care whether they are tent makers or boat makers, let them earn their
own living. I have. For my part, I consider that the honor God
bestowed upon me in calling me to the holy ministry was enough for me
to think it was my duty to support myself in this ministry and do
honor to the cause, without asking any people for help. I have done
so. I did, I believe, have a few shillings given to me when in
England. When I landed there I had five shillings left. I stayed there
a year and sixteen days, and when we left one of the best ships in
Liverpool docks tied up eight days for the sake of bringing us home;
and merchants and banking houses were at our service. I did business
there in printing and dealing, and so on; but it did not tarnish my
hands, nor stain my spirit, not in the least, and it would not today.
We must live, and we must sustain ourselves, and come to meeting, and
be ready also to attend ward meetings. Do not come and ask me if you
may go to preach, pray or lay hands on the sick. Ask God to give you
faith to perform your duties, to walk humbly before him, and to build
up his kingdom on the earth. That is your duty. Yes, preach every
night, we need a reformation here. Attend meetings in the various
wards. Take your turns around from one ward to another. Preach to the
people until they get the spirit of their mission and calling. We all
have a mission as much at home as in a foreign land, and may God help
us to improve upon and magnify it!