Providence seems to smile upon our gathering together for a conference
at this time. Indeed, as a people, if we take into consideration all
of the blessings of our common salvation, we are today highly favored
of the Lord, in every general respect. I think our hearts ought to be
moved by a sense of gratitude for all of His many blessings to us,
both temporal and spiritual. Our brethren here have gone to and
improved the condition of their tabernacle, so that we are very
comfortably situated. The singers, I think, feel that they have got
into the right place; a good table is also provided for the reporters.
I take this opportunity to invite reporters of any and all newspapers
that may be present, who wish to do so, to come forward, take a seat
at this table and report the proceedings of our conference. The only
favors we ask at their hands is that they will please report us
correctly.
We have been striving half a century to inform the world of the
principles of our faith, and we have not tired at it yet; we are still
sending missionaries to the four quarters of the earth. We have sent
them without stint of numbers to the people of this great nation, the
United States; have endeavored to inform them ever since the year
1830, and especially since the endowment at Kirtland in 1836, when the
Apostles, High Priests and Elders went forth into all parts of this
nation, as far as permitted, and as fast as they had opportunity, to
inform the people of the principles of our faith. But it seems almost
impossible to get to their ears, and much less likely to reach their
hearts. It appears to have been easier for us in an early day to
receive that measure which the Lord had revealed for our benefit than
it is now when He is giving us so much that the new wine cannot be
received into the old vessels, and if it could we do not know what the
results would be. In these our times, some of the feeble and
fainthearted, will no doubt think that because of the efforts at
persecution against us we have reason to be very sad, to pull
long faces and be cast down because we are oppressed. Brethren, not
so. Do not think of it a minute. So long as we are dealt with in a
milder manner than our Master was, we have reason to be thankful and
ought to go on our way rejoicing. So long as we are not dealt with
more harshly than our brethren have been in former periods of time and
in this dispensation in which we live, we have reason to be thankful.
We lament the absence of our brethren of the First Presidency, and
several of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. We would be glad and
thankful if we could have them all with us, but we are pleased that so
many of us can be with you as are here. We hope that the conference
will result in the strengthening the good resolutions of every
Latter-day Saint—in invigorating the energies of all who are in
anywise afflicted, or oppressed with temptations and trials of any
kind. The Lord told the brethren in his day—those whom He appointed,
laid His hands upon and ordained to the Apostleship—that this would be
their heritage; that they would be vilified and hailed to prison, and
that men would think they were doing God service in taking their lives
from the earth. And, said He, is the servant greater than His master?
No. He told them that when they experienced these things, they were to
lift up their heads and rejoice; for great was their reward in heaven.
Therefore, we have the assurance that if we are true and faithful, we
shall suffer trials and temptations as they did in former days, and as
Joseph and Hyrum, and the brethren of the Apostles, with a host of
Elders, have done in these latter days for the principles of the
Gospel.
These things, however, should not move us, or they should only, if
they move us at all, strengthen us to stand true to the holy faith of
the Gospel, to the principles, ordinances and institutions which the
Lord has revealed unto us. We may expect to meet opposition on every
hand, but our opposition may come in a different form from what our
brethren have formerly had to endure; we should, however, be armed
with the spirit of divine truth, so that we may comprehend our duty
under every circumstance and every condition in life. I know some of
the brethren feel that it is a very serious thing to be cast into
prison. Why, there is many a thing worse than that. It is a thousand
times better to go to prison than to deny the principles of the
Gospel, and to be forsaken of the Holy Spirit. What did Brother
Brigham say before he left us? When Congress passed the law of 1862, I
heard him make this remark—rather startling at the time—that a man who
would not be willing to pay his fine and take a term of imprisonment
for a real good, virtuous woman was not worthy of a wife at all. Well,
let us learn to look at these things in a proper manner, and be
thankful that our conditions are no worse. Let us look to God
continually; He will guide and control all things for the good of His
people.
There is a portion of the writings of the Apostle Paul to the
Ephesians, that seems so appropriate to our condition, that I propose
to read in the hearing of the congregation a part of the 6th chapter,
commencing at the 10th verse:
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of righteousnes;
"And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace;
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God:
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints."
I have read these words because of their remarkable adaptation to our
present condition and circumstances.
I feel, in attempting to address the Saints, a very great degree of
helplessness, and of dependence upon the enlightenment and aid of the
Holy Spirit in order that I may speak to you a short time unto
edification; for without the spirit of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit of
divine truth which is sent forth to testify of God and of the truth to
the hearts of the honest in the earth, our labors will be of very
trifling account. But if we have the aid and help of that Spirit, then
we may be edified and rejoice together as the children of God—both he
that speaketh and he that heareth.
It would seem that after the very elaborate and comprehensive epistle
that has been communicated to us by our brethren of the First
Presidency, in which they seem to cover many of the circumstances
which now attend upon God's people, and in which they also give to us
such words of exhortation and instruction as, if followed by us, must
not only make us understand better our condition, but know better how
to occupy our positions with credit to ourselves and to the acceptance
of God our heavenly Father—I say it would seem, after reading that
epistle, and having it impressed upon our minds, as I am sure it must
be upon all who listened in spirit and in truth, as if it were
scarcely necessary that anything more should be said to put us right
in regard to our duties and give us understanding concerning them, or
strength in the performance of them. But we each of us have a
testimony of the truth of the Gospel and of the work of God to bear to
our brethren and sisters, and I feel a desire myself, in common with
my brethren, to communicate such things as may be given to me, so that
we may be encouraged in the work in which we are engaged; that we may
feel our good resolutions strengthened within us, that we may be led
to realize in whose name we trust, in whose strength we stand, and
that we may be able also to realize, as the Apostle Paul did, when he
wrote, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Our condition is a very peculiar one in regard to this nation, and yet
it is no more strange or peculiar than has been the condition of God's
people in other ages which are re corded in history for our
comfort, encouragement and consolation. Therefore, I feel this morning
like speaking a little about the nature of that which is called crime,
which is charged upon us.
We are told by men in high places that it is the highest duty of good
citizens to render obedience to the laws of the land in which we live.
Now I can scarcely believe that any professor of religion—any honest
religious professor of any Christian denomination in these United
States—can honestly and solidly endorse that sentiment, much less
anyone who is clothed with the ermine and is honored with a seat upon the
judicial bench; yet it is from judges that we hear this. A great
apostle of the law, the greatest, the ablest and most popular
delineator of the law from the days of Justinian of ancient Rome down
until his day, was the renowned Mr. Blackstone himself. When portions
of various nations had settled together in the island of Great
Britain—some from the northern states of Scandinavia, others from
Brittany, and the different parts of the German or Saxon nations and
had collected the laws of those countries for the purpose of having
them assimilated, so that those people who came from their various
countries should have one established usage of law for the regulation
of all their civil and criminal procedures in the adjudication of
their difficulties with each other, the learned Chancellor Blackstone
undertook this great task, and from the alembic of his intelligent and
powerful mind brought forth and enunciated his views of the law. These
views have been held to be the basis of all legal administration; the
fundamental principles of jurisprudence among all Christian nations
ever since he published them.
This celebrated gentleman who is considered to this present day as one
of the greatest, if not the very greatest legal light of the age, laid
it down plainly and emphatically, that man had no right to make any
laws contrary to or in conflict with the law of God. I wish every
lawyer throughout the nation would read it and understand it; for when
they depart from that rule they become apostate from the faith of true
legal jurisprudence as laid down by this distinguished apostle of the
law; and furthermore, he held that the laws which should regulate or
constitute the jurisprudence of every nation were derived from and
based upon the laws revealed by God, through the Prophet Moses. This
gentleman stated and laid down as a fact that the Ten Commandments,
the ancient law of God, were held by him to be the basis, and
fundamental principle of all law, justice and administration that
should be had among the human family. He claims that as the basis of
his work. Then no man who is a true lawyer, after the order of the
celebrated Blackstone, can say in truth that it is the highest duty of
a good citizen that he should observe in all things the laws of the
land, unless it be first established that those laws are consistent
with the laws of God.
Now, then, wherein are we transgressors? I wish to call your attention
to this a few minutes, because I desire my brethren and sisters to
understand whenever they are called in question before the tribunals
of this nation—I want our boys and girls that are growing up around us
to understand what is the nature of that which is called crime, which
is alleged against their fathers, and in which their mothers are
participants. It was never alleged against us as men of
Israel, as "Mormons," if you please, that we were violators or had
been, violators of the law of the land until July, 1862. It was never
proven and cannot now be shown that we, as a people were violators of
any law of the land whatever. In 1862, a law was enacted against
bigamy, or polygamy. The term bigamy had always been used before, but
now it was coupled with polygamy in order that it might be made to
reach, and be understood by everybody as intended for, the Latter-day
Saints.
Now, then, to come at the matter in question, what is the crime, if
any there is, in this doctrine of heavenly marriage as we hold it, the
doctrine of the eternal covenant of marriage, incident to which is
plurality of wives? When we married our wives at the first—we were
New Englanders, Britons, Scandinavians, &c.—we were married until
death should us part. That was the period for which we made contract,
whether we went into the church and had the ordinance solemnized by an
ecclesiastic, or whether it was done before a justice of the peace,
judge, or any civil magistrate. When the law of God came, before the
doctrine of the eternity and plurality of marriage was taught to us,
the Lord gave us a revelation, in a very early day, in regard to
members of other churches being rebaptized. Some of them doubted the
need of being rebaptized. They said we were baptized into the Baptist
church; we were sprinkled in the Methodist church, in the
Presbyterian, in the Congregational: why be baptized again? The Lord
in answer to this question told His people that all old covenants He
had caused to be done away; but "behold!" He said, "I give unto you a
new and everlasting cove nant." Therefore, all had to go forth, who had
been baptized by men having no authority to administer, and be
baptized by one who had authority, in the name of Jesus, for the
forgiveness of sins, and for admission into the Church of Christ. By
and by, when we had walked before the Lord for a number of years, He
revealed to us the laws of marriage. Well-regulated parents do not
teach their children when they are dandling them on their laps the
nature of the covenant, or the ordinance, or the duties of marriage.
They wait until they grow up. It is proper that they should wait until
their children have attained to years of judgment, understanding, and
perhaps to the age of puberty. So the Lord, in dealing with his
children did not reveal this eternal covenant of marriage until his
people had lived a while in keeping the first laws and ordinances of
the Church, and learned to walk in the light of the Holy Spirit, and
to purify themselves from the various besetments with which they were
attended when they went into the waters of baptism, and become better
prepared for more exalted principles and truths. One of the last great
principles that the Prophet Joseph was commanded of God to teach us,
was the law regulating the eternity of marriage; that whereas, we had
taken our wives only until death should us part, we should now
understand that we were, while in the flesh, laying the foundation for
eternal dominions, crowns and exaltations; that our wives and our
children were given to us of God for the purpose of laying the
foundation of a kingdom; that we shall have, if we are faithful and
obedient, the covenant of eternal life ourselves and the power to seal
the same upon our generations, that they may become, as
Abraham's, like the sands of the seashore for number.
The Latter-day Saints claim to be the children of Abraham, and if they
are the children of Abraham, they will do the works of Abraham. It was
difficult for men and women from all parts of the world, who had lived
in the monogamic order all their lives to accept this doctrine of the
eternity and plurality of marriage. It was "a new and everlasting
covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned, saith
the Lord." This was the obligation that was laid upon the Prophet
Joseph, and through him, upon the true believers of the Church, even
all who were worthy to accept of these obligations. It was herein that
the Elders and their wives extended their faith, enlarged their
obedience, and accepted the terms of the new and everlasting covenant
extending not through time only, but eternity also.
Now, I ask, who is injured by a man taking a second wife, when the
wife he now has is agreeable and it is mutually understood between her
and him and the newly affianced; it being entered into with a mutual
understanding and a mutual agreement according to the law of God—I
ask, who is injured?
Wherein consists the crime of bigamy? It is this. When a man takes one
wife he covenants to adhere to her until death do them part. He
violates that covenant when he takes another woman, unknown to his
wife; he thus practices fraud upon her. This is where the crime comes
in. Fraud is perpetrated upon his own family. I want the old and the
young to understand it; I want to come down to the root of the matter,
and find out and show up what the crime is, if any, that is charged
upon us. This crime of taking another wife when a man has one is
called bigamy; and there are laws and penalties against it. With the
Latter-day Saints there is no fraud practiced, the second wife being
accepted with the mutual consent of the first, and in accordance with
the revelations of God. There is in that no crime at all, unless some
law of God is violated, or somebody is injured in the matter. If this
transaction that I have just named violates the law of God, or if it
injures or infringes upon the rights of a brother or a sister, then
there may be some ground for pronouncing it a crime, but belief in,
and practice of, the eternity and plurality of the marriage covenant
do not violate the law of God, because He has commanded His people to
accept and obey it. Neither is it an infringement upon the rights of
others, neither men nor women, but gives all women an opportunity to
become honorable wives and mothers, and thus to shut out what is
politely called the social evil, with all its horrid concomitants of
seduction, feticide, infanticide and all the train of sexual
monogamic evils which haunt and infest Christendom.
If, then, we violate no law of God nor right of our fellows, wherein,
I ask again, consists the crime of our religious faith? It is in this:
that Congress forbids it; just as Darius forbade Daniel praying to
God, and because he persisted, cast him into the den of lions; the
same as Herod caused all the male children to be slain, hoping to kill
Christ our Savior in his infancy; the same also as Nebuchadnezzar cast
the Hebrew children into the flames because they worshiped the living
God rather than his idol. Wherein consists the crime of Daniel praying
to the God of Israel? Simply be cause King Darius forbade him doing it.
What constituted the crime of the Hebrew children in worshiping the
God of Heaven? Solely because Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to worship
the golden image, which they would not do. What is the intrinsic
nature of our crime in believing and practicing the eternal covenant
of plural marriage as revealed by the Almighty, and as we are
commanded to do? Simply and solely this: Congress passed a law making
it a penal offense to do so. This is all the criminality there is
about it; and the question remains for each one to answer, Shall we
obey God or man?
What is liberty—the liberty that you and I and all men are entitled to
enjoy? It is that we do not violate the law of God, or that we do not
infringe upon the rights and liberties of our fellow creatures. That
is true liberty. Upon that hang also the law and the prophets.
In the establishment of this principle of the Gospel, the marriage
covenant, it is intended only for God's people, and not for the people
of the world. They do not want it. They would like to have that
liberty which is not liberty but license—by which they can continue
and perpetuate seduction and adultery among them—keep up their houses
of prostitution and their places of assignation. It is a part of the
business of both high and low to keep going this degradation and
destruction of the female portion of the race, and it is because the
people of God have taken a course that every righteous woman may have
an honorable husband, become an honorable wife and have a position in
the family and household, that our brethren are hailed to prison;
be cause they are faithful to their families; because they have
taken wives in order that they may rear up children, have a generation
to bear their names and their priesthood, and to become a people
devoted to the living God.
I want to say in this connection, as I wish all to understand it, that
when we adopted this principle by the revelations of God, there was no
law in the land against it. Understand it, brethren and sisters. But
it is now as in ancient times, when the captives of Judea were carried
into Babylon. Their captors found excellent qualities in them, as some
say now they like our industry, our enterprise and our virtue "outside
the marriage relation," but we want you to put away this commandment
of the Lord and "become like us," "be as we are," then we will
like
you, and we will be hail fellows well met.
The representatives of the country at Washington have discovered
something or other in these mountains that is displeasing to them;
that we are increasing; that we delight in our children, and do not
take measures to prevent their coming forth, as is very frequently
done in the world; that we are willing to take wives and support them
rather than to indulge in whoredom and the like; and they said, "This
won't do." Hence they went to work and passed a law against us, that
would prevent us carrying out the principles of our religion. I want
these young boys and girls, as well as the older ones, to know that
God has never given us a law that was in conflict with any law of the
land; but that Congress has enacted laws to make us criminals. There
is no crime in that which we practice, inasmuch as no man is injured,
no woman injured, and no person's rights are invaded; on the
contrary, our people are called upon to exercise a great amount of
self-denial and self-abnegation, that all may be blessed, and that the
charity of the Gospel may be extended to all the human family, as God
has designed and ordained. Thus, we are not violators of the law of
the land, but the lawmakers of the nation make us transgressors. God
commands us to keep His law. The people through their representatives
say we shall not. That is all there is in it. They undertake to say
that we shall not observe the law of plural marriage, and in
consequence of this they are hailing us to prison. Our outgoings and
incomings are watched by marshals, so as to find something upon which
to bring us before a commissioner or before a grand jury; not for any
crime we have done, but because we have obeyed God, which Congress has
said we must not do—making a law against us—whereas we are violating
no law.
I do not love to talk against my fellow men; I simply present these
things to you to show up the real state of the case. It is unpleasant
for me to say that the men of the Congress of 1862, and that of 1882,
were not men of the most immaculate virtue. It is understood
throughout the land that nowhere on this continent is the practice of
whoredom and of the seduction of women carried on to a greater extent
than in the city of Washington, and by those men who go there to make
laws against this people. What attitude does it place the people of
this nation in, and the Congress of the country, in relation to us and
this law we are undertaking to keep? Why, as soon as the Lord has
established His Gospel and covenant, the spirits of the other world
are seeking to come and dwell among us; they desire a parentage among
the Saints of the living God, where they can be welcomed with filial
love and not repulsed by feticide, where they can be brought up in
the fear of God, with a hope of returning pure to the Father's
presence, without being lost by blood guiltiness or other crimes while
in mortality.
How do you think the spirits contemplate the necessity of a birth in
the nations of the earth where so much harlotry and whoredom exist? I
tell you this very presumption of the country in which we live, that
we shall not have these children to dwell in our midst and bear the
name of Christ in the earth, is a presumption against the very
heavens, and against those spirits of the just who are waiting to be
made perfect through their sufferings in the flesh.
Ah! says one, you folks in the mountains, numbering only one hundred
and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand, need not talk in that kind
of way; for here is a great nation of fifty-five millions of people
who say you shall not do this thing, or, if you do, you cannot have a
home with us. Well, we will admit that about two hundred people of the
United States say to everyone of the Latter-day Saints that we must
put away this doctrine, or we cannot dwell in this land. Well, that is
a terrible majority against us: but let us look at this a little. I do
not think that we need be very badly scared. You recollect at one time
a young man was with Elisha the Prophet, when a large host compassed
the city, both with horses and chariots, and a battle was imminent. It
was turbulent times with Israel then, worse than it is with us now.
The defending army was a very small one, and the heart of the young man began to falter. He could not see how the few of Israel were
going to prevail against their numerous enemies. Whereupon Elisha
prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he," the
young man, "may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man;
and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire round about Elisha. Fear not, said the Prophet, "for they that
be with us are more than they that be with them."
Now, it is so with us exactly. All the fathers who have gone before,
the Prophet Joseph, and Hyrum, the Apostles and Patriarchs, the
Elders, High Priests, and hosts of others, say nothing of the fathers
of our generation hundreds of years back, are all around us, waiting
and watching and anxious to see us go forward and triumph; so that we
have many more for us than against us, the fifty-five millions to
the contrary notwithstanding. Therefore, we have no occasion to let
our hands hang down from fear, or our knees to tremble; not a bit of
it. On the contrary, I tell you, my brethren and sisters, that one of
the greatest evils existing in our midst today is that there are too
many of us. You may think that is a hard saying; but there are
decidedly too many of us. There are people among us who are committing
all manner of sin and transgression—people who drink with the drunken
and spend their substance with harlots and in riotous living. All such
should be severed from the Church, unless they repent speedily. The
numbers should be reduced, like unto the army of Gideon. The Lord told
Gideon that he had too big an army, and it was reduced, (in the manner
related in the seventh chapter of the Book of Judges) from two and
thirty thous and to three hundred, which was all the Lord wanted. The
others were told to go home, and Gideon, by following the instructions
of the Lord, put all the hosts of the Midianites and Amalekites, who
were said to be "like grasshoppers for multitude," to flight.
That is just what is the matter with us. There are too many with us
who are not living as Latter-day Saints ought to live. Again, there
are many who walk in other men's light. If they whose duty it is will
only put away from us those who will not serve God, we shall find
ourselves strengthened in the work in which we are engaged. If we will
but do what is right, we need not fear what our enemies can do. The
Lord only wants the honest, the obedient, the faithful, and He will
"turn the world upside down, waste the inhabitants thereof," and
glorify Himself by His people.
I have referred to the instance of Gideon on purpose to remind you
that the work of the Lord is not upheld by strength of numbers, but it
is by the Spirit of God—the spirit of obedience, which is better than
sacrifice or the fat of rams, and that the wisdom of God is better
than strength or weapons of war.
Men of intelligence—politicians from European countries as well as our
own—have visited this country, and I have heard them tell President
Young that we had a very strong government in this Territory. We all
know that: but it is good to have wise men visit Utah from abroad and
see the excellence and strength of its government.
I would say to the people of the land—inasmuch as they are making this
bugaboo about polygamy—not to be deceived. The Governor has told men
upon the streets that he did not care anything about poly gamy; (we knew very well that he did not by his conduct;) but it was the
power of the Church that must be broken. Must it? This is the work of
the Lord, and there need not anybody mistake it. The order of God's
church and kingdom is the strongest government ever known on this
earth, and if the people of this great nation entertain any fears of
the consequence or effects of such a government, why, I ask, don't you
of the nation, you of Congress, you of the Cabinet, if you please,
embrace this order of government and establish it over the nation! You
can do it. You can repent of your sins, every one of you, and be
baptized for a remission of them. You can adopt and extend this strong
government which God has established in these mountains, and if you
will do it, God will establish you and the government and this nation
never to depart from before His face; and you shall be made the means
of helping to bring everlasting righteousness—the millennium—upon this
land, and of causing the Spirit of God to rest down upon all flesh. Is
it not worth your while to engage in a thing of this kind?
But, ah! The terrible fact exists that the blood of the prophets is
upon this nation, although the nation has not shed their blood, yet a
sovereign state permitted it, and the nation have not washed their
hands from it. This accounts for the terrible hardness of heart that
is to be found in this country.
Were it not for a lying press and a corrupt people in our midst, who
incite ignorant people to send petitions against the "Mormons" to
Congress by the bushel, the nation could not be wrought up to such
frenzy, nor to make such laws as the Edmunds law against us. But they
do these things because their hearts are hard, and because the blood
of innocence rests upon them this nation have yet to rise up and rid
themselves of this blood, and place the responsibility where it
belongs, or they will have to suffer as accomplices after the fact for
these terrible things done in their midst—this people driven from city
to city, despoiled of their goods; driven into the wilderness to this
country, to find a home in which they could dwell in peace. Blessed be
God for enabling us to find it out! We have had a home of peace and
rejoicing, and we have been blessed in all things. Have we need today
to be terrified? Do our hearts need to palpitate for fear? We have had
a United States army camp in our midst already, and we have no
occasion to fear now; God will work out the deliverance of His people.
The Lord never more thoroughly frustrated the design of an army than
in the instance of that which came out here, and never was there a
time when He caused the gain of the Gentiles to be scattered among His
people more effectually than He did with the goods the army brought to
this country.
Shall we fear today? Let us look back to Israel and see their
deliverance—as related in the Bible and Book of Mormon—see what He did
in former times. The secret of success is obedience to the
commandments of God, and to the covenants we have made with Him.
It does not become me to say what I will do when I am brought to the
judgment seat to be tried and sentenced. A man don't know what he will
do. Let us recollect the instance of Peter, who walked with Jesus by day and by night. In the light of these things it does not do
to boast what we will do; but I hope by the blessing of God to remain
firm and immovable when these things look me in the face. I ask God to
give me grace sufficient that I may keep His commandments, honor every
law He has given, or shall give, and stand firm to the truth under
every circumstance in life.
I pray that the blessing of God may be upon you. Be true and faithful
to God. Let the brethren attend to those things which the First
Presidency have pointed out in their epistle in regard to
transgressors, and they that fear not God neither regard His precepts
and laws. Keep the commandments of God, and let us teach our families
to do so also, that we may grow strong in His righteousness; then we
shall find it is no matter how many there are against us, we shall
know that there are more for us than against us. He will bring us all
right up to the test, and will find out what is in every man and what
every man is able to endure. Our sisters think that they had all the
hurt of this matter, that the men had it nice and fine; but I tell you
the men will get their full share, and you sisters will get even with
them, if you will only abide true and faithful.
May the Lord grant His blessing upon each as we have need; I ask it in
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
- Franklin D. Richards