We have heard a very beautiful relation from Elder T. D. Brown, of the
mission at the South. It seems that everything we undertake in
righteousness prospers, and the Devil and his agents cannot help
themselves, if we are faithful.
The Zion's ship that was spoken of today, which runs in Snag harbor,
has prospered from the first day it was launched, and every man and
woman who stick firmly to that ship will prosper from this time
henceforth and forever. That I know, for I have been on board that
ship, and am now sailing upon it.
The first time I went to England, I was on board of Zion's ship, and
Joseph came to me while I was sailing, and put into my hand a rod; and
I presume, if I have dreamed once of being aboard of that ship, I have
dreamed it a hundred times. I have been in it in the midst of dangers
and in the most dangerous places. I have seen trees and stumps,
mountains and rocks, and everything else that could be placed in her
course thrown before her to stop her in her course; but she can sail
through a mountain or on dry land as well as upon the water. I have
this in dreams; and I will say to the brethren, Just so long as you
keep aboard of that ship you will prosper. I do not care whether it is
in the midst of the Lamanites or among the Jews—whether it is in Italy
or in Denmark, in Europe or in America, we will prosper, and I know
it. That is my testimony.
As brother George A. Smith was saying, there are some who want to
enjoy ancient "Mormonism" —that is, as "Mormonism"
used to be when it
was a small sapling. But it is now becoming a lofty tree, and its
branches are beginning to shoot forth all over the nations of the
earth; ancient "Mormonism" has grown to such a degree. Many have been
in the background, and have left the tree, and it has grown to that
extent, they do not know it. That is the trouble with them: they don't
know what "Mormonism" is. But this is "Mormonism," and this
is the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and President Young is
the true and legal administrator and delegate sent from God, and we
are his brethren, and he is on board of Zion's ship, and he is the
captain; and if we will stick to it, we shall never run foul of the
rocks; and whoever he tells to take hold of the helm, he will tell
them in what direction to steer; and she is such a good sailor, and so
true to the helm, she will run right between or over all snags.
Do you believe it, you old "Mormons?" ["Yes." ] Well, then, why
don't
you grow with the tree, and with the branches thereof? Brother Brown
would grow faster living on bread and water, and water and bread, with
a little milk. Gentlemen, if you don't look out, the ship will get out
of reach, and the tree will grow out of your knowledge, so that you
will forget what manner of a tree it was; because, as the tree grows,
it changes in size and appearance, just the same as a child as
it grows to manhood; and if you had not been with him all the time,
you would not know him, although he were your own son.
The text that President Young gave us bears upon my mind considerably,
and it is a thing we ought to take into consideration; not me alone,
but every man and woman that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints; not only those who are indebted to the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund, but all ought to throw in their mites and enlarge
this Fund. The means can be paid in here, and the poor can be brought
out from the nations. Hundreds have come on this year on the strength
of this Fund. It is the duty of those who have been brought out by it
to go and work forthwith for means to pay their indebtedness. It does
not belong to you, but it belongs to those who have made the Fund: it
belongs to that Company, and to every individual, if they have not
placed in it any more than a picayune or a halfpenny.
Look at the poor in old England. I have heard that some have feelings
against me, because I have spoken of the poverty of the people in that
country. I know more about its poverty than the natives of the country
do. Those who come from there don't know as well about it as we do. In
the last letter that came from my son William, he wrote that, "I feel
to weep and mourn and lament, when I behold the poverty of the people:
they are starving to death, and there are scores and hundreds of my
brethren in the poorhouses of the country: the husband is put in one
poorhouse, the wife in another, and the children in another."
That is the case with our brethren there; and while you are here in
the midst of luxuries—while you are enjoying these blessings of the
Lord, can you see your own brethren afflicted? It is not only so in
England, but in Ireland, in Scotland, in Denmark, and in Sweden, and
in all the nations of the earth. Do they enjoy what we enjoy? No.
Although there are some who want to return to their native country, to
enjoy their own habits and customs, yet there is no rational man or
woman who wants to return.
Brethren, did you ever reflect upon these things, and try to find out
what you could do? Supposing there were not any more Saints than what
are in this room today, if we were to put forth our hand as one man,
what could we accomplish? There are people enough in this congregation
to accomplish more than the whole Church has, if they would only
believe and act upon the instructions given them. Solomon says, "The
liberal man deviseth liberal things; and by his liberality shall he
live." I have proved the truth of this saying to my fullest
satisfaction and to my astonishment, time and time again. When I have
been poor and penniless, and could not raise five dollars, I have gone
to work, by the counsel of my President, and built me a good house,
and furnished it; and says brother Brigham, "You shall build that
house, and you shall have your fit-out." I did it according to his
word, and it was clear of debt, and I had a good fit-out.
I have done the same here upon the same principle; and said the
President, "Brother Kimball, take one load of rock, and a load of
sand, and a load of clay, and say to the masons and joiners, Go
ahead; for I never built a house yet, but I was better off when I had
done it than when I began." And brethren and sisters, that is the
reason I keep on building. [Voice; in the stand: "You will get poor if
you stop." ] Therefore I go ahead. Many will sit down and count the
costs—how much it will cost to put a potato in the ground, and then how much it will take to raise a hill around it; and they find
out the expense is so great, they will never plant a potato nor make
a hill, and they never will accomplish anything. Do you know that is
true?
Let us go to work now and enlarge this Fund, and let us do it at this
Conference; and let those who are indebted to it go to work
immediately and pay up. We shall probably hold this meeting for a
time, and your hearts shall be enlarged; and if you could only go home
while they are enlarged, and all the puckering strings loosened, and
back the thing right up, the Perpetual Fund would be rich. I know that
men and women have consciences that want to screw this way, and twist
that way, and every way under God's heavens, before they can come to
the right thing. If you want to grow and thrive, and want to have the
Spirit of the Lord, and the Holy Ghost to be with you, and have dreams
and visions, and gold and silver, and herds and flocks, wives and
children, and every other good thing, go ahead in every duty, and
never falter one moment, and tell the Devil to kiss your foot.
The Devil is on the puckering line, and he will pucker every Saint and
every man there is upon the earth, so that they would let their
fellow beings lie down in a furrow of the field and starve to death;
and these are your brethren and sisters, if you only but knew it, just
as much as your brethren and sisters are according to what you call
the flesh. This is the feeling of many—"Well, if I could only get dad,
and mammy, and granddad, and uncle John, and aunt Nancy, and Sally
here, I would not care a damn for all the rest." Who cares about
having only Nancy and Sally? Let us have Susan and Polly and Timothy
and Andrew out, too. What do you say? [Voice in the stand: "Let us
bring them allYes, let us bring them all out. The wars,
distress, and confusion among the nations are increasing the value of
provisions. It was just as much as you could do to live, when you were
there.
What do you say, brethren and sisters? I do not want you to say
anything, unless you go ahead and do what you say. Shall we go ahead
and enlarge these funds, and pay up our debts? [Voice in the stand:
"Aye." ] Well, all who are in favor of paying up your debts to the
Fund, to the Church, and everybody else, I want you to signify it by
raising your right hands, and then say, "Aye." ["Aye." ] And
when you
come tomorrow, bring along your pennies, and let us keep gathering and
enlarging the pile, and keep enlarging it, and gather the Saints
together from the four quarters of the earth. We are the persons to do
that business; and when we have accomplished our part as servants in
the flesh, God will send angels he has had in reserve to accomplish
what we cannot accomplish. But he will make us buckle up to the work;
and if we should happen to lie down and sleep before we have done all
we might do here, he will tell us to awake and go about our business,
and accomplish that we might have done while we were in the flesh. You
have got to do it, as sure as the sun ever rose and set; you may wait
as long as you have a mind to before you begin.
My feelings are for us all to concentrate our energies with the head
of this Church, and put the wheel in operation, that, when another
year comes, we may see a hundred times more come out by the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund than we have ever seen.
I believe I have stuck to the text pretty well. May God bless you, and
help you to be faithful and fulfil your covenants, from this time
henceforth and forever. Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball