I do not know but the people feel tired. I have been tired a great
many times, but I always stick to it till I get over it; and I don't
know of any other way for you to do.
We have had the Gospel of salvation preached to us today. You Elders
take the words of Paul where he says—"For I am not ashamed of the
Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans,
chap. 1, verse 16.)
We know the Gospel is true, and so did Lucifer know it; but did that
save him? No, it did not; but it was the power of God unto damnation.
The Gospel that we have heard today will be the power of God unto
salvation to every man and woman that has heard it and will practice
it and live up to it: then I will warrant every one of you to
be saved in the kingdom of God, and a part in the first resurrection,
with power to enjoy it. What we have heard today I know to be true by
the Holy Ghost and the revelations of Jesus; and I know it by every
sense that is within me, from the crown of my head to the soles of my
feet; and so do you, if you have the Spirit of God.
Now, when I take a text, I take the whole of it and apply it to the
whole. It is as President Young was saying this forenoon, the Lord is
a holy and just being; but where is man? Going forth in the name of
the Lord, preaching the Gospel and promising those who obey it the
gift of the Holy Ghost? Where is the man that has authority for laying
hands upon the sick and manifesting the gifts and graces of the
Gospel? There are none except the Latter-day Saints. The moment a man
complies with these requirements he becomes a sheep in the sheepfold,
and all who do not comply will be damned. Will the condemnation of
those who violate the law, after having covenanted to keep it, be
greater than that of those who have not received the Gospel? The
moment a young man leaves the Church, he is then a traitor to the law
of laws. You know the law of nations is that when a man becomes a
traitor to the law of the land, all he has is confiscated, and he is
punished accordingly; and so it is in the Church and kingdom of God.
Brethren, my advice to you who have lived here for years—to those who
have come here with handcarts and wagons, is, Go to work and prepare
yourselves for the winter. Go and lay up your grain, that you may not
be poor and destitute next spring, and have to beg your bread. This is
very necessary for us to do. Some will say, I wish you would not talk
about wheat any more; for if we have more bread than we want, we have
to sell it and buy clothing. I wish to say to all such, Go and get
some sheep and make some clothes for yourselves, and be independent of
those that come here to sell goods. Some of the merchants have been
here from nine to ten years and although we have made them rich, yet
when all hell was boiling over against us, they would not say a word
in our favor; and you need not go down Whiskey Street more than twenty
rods to find them. I will see them in heaven, or in that other place,
which they say has no bottom in it, before I will patronize such men
any more.
Now, if hell has no bottom in it, those who were sent there would
crawl out at the other side. If the inhabitants of the earth could be
persuaded of the absurdity of the sectarian notions, they would not
care much about the hell they believe in. You know, if sectarianism be
true, the wicked will have to go down and down, and never stop! I
would not suppose they would ever stop falling in a pit, if the bottom
was out.
I do not wish to dwell upon these absurdities, but I desire you to go
to work and save your grain against a day of famine. I am told that
flour is now selling at $3 per hundred, and wheat at 75 cents per
bushel; but then some say they cannot get the money to buy it with.
You can, if you will work for it, and work cheap enough; but if you
want and demand from $2.50 to $4.00 per day, you won't get it.
My advice is, Take care of yourselves; and when you sustain
yourselves, you sustain President Young and Brother Wells; and when we
sustain ourselves, we sustain each other. We should be like unto a
tree whose limbs are all united; for we shall never gain the victory until we become one—of one heart and one mind. While you are
trying to gain the victory, the Devil will try to get your blessings
from you. The blessings are yours, but look out that the Devil don't
get them away from you.
I expect that many of you who have come in from Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, England, and the United States, will turn away. I expect to
see this, and why? Because some of you will see some faults in the
Presidency of the Church, the Twelve, and the brethren. Perhaps you
will go to work and get a pile of firewood, go to bed at night, and
when you get up in the morning half of it will be stolen. Probably you
will get a hundred of flour, and three-fourths of that will be stolen;
you will then get a pig, and that will be stolen. In the next place
you get a cow, and when you get up in the morning you will find her
milked. Then you will say we have had enough of this milking business,
and you will find fault with the authorities because of these things;
and very likely there are some of you who have come here for the
loaves and fishes, and to steal from others. If you have, repent; and
if you have not, you used to practice those things where you came
from, therefore you have need to repent and do right.
The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
forsakes evil and does right—who walks in the ways of righteousness
and truth.
I have been irritated frequently with the conduct of the brethren, and
I have often thought that if I could get hold of them I would cuff
their ears. We have some of those loose, careless characters here, I
have no doubt. The difficulties with many are that when they came here
they brought themselves, and the worst characters they will have to
deal with will be themselves.
I have frequently taken in brethren that have come in with the
handcarts, given them wood, flour, and meat and vegetables; and they
are welcome till they get settled, and then they must go to work and
earn their own living. I have had such men around me, and they said
they never saw the like in their lives. They were not worthy of my
hospitality. I have eaten some of their oatmeal porridge when I was
over there. I did not get much meat in those days; but now and then we
got some meat pie, as they called it, but there was precious little
meat in them. They were like the bean porridge that President Young
and I got in Vermont, and I would have defied anybody to find a bean
in it!
It is no disgrace to be poor. I have been so poor that I could not get
up in the morning! That may seem funny, but it is true. I have lived
in Vermont when I did not have half of what they have in Europe, and I
have seen as poor people in the United States as I ever saw in the
cities in England; and they are the ones that receive this Gospel.
Now, here there is not one man in twenty but has got a good farm and
raised from one hundred to a thousand bushels of grain. What have they
to complain of? They complain because our Father in heaven is too kind
to them. Are there still vacant lands here? Yes, enough to locate
every man upon that will come into the Church for five years to come.
There never has been so much grain raised in these valleys, since we
have been here, as we have raised this year; and still, if you don't
look out, there will be suffering here before another harvest.
I have not sold my wheat or flour to the world, and I am inclined to
think that I shall not do it yet. I will try to be a savior to my
brethren and to all the house of Israel. We should all do this, and
take an industrious and saving course. I will say, Let our
brethren go and glean, that they may help themselves to some bread.
Brethren, I will not continue any longer; but my heart feels to bless
this people, the elect of God, the righteous sons and daughters of the
Most High, with their seed after them, forever. Father, give thine
angels charge over them to bear them off victoriously, that their feet
may never slip nor their tongues speak guile, but that they may become
one in their purpose.
I hardly ever pray but I pray for the valleys in which we live, and
that the indignation of the Almighty may rest upon every enemy. This
is a choice land, and we are in the chambers of the Lord; and I tell
you, if you besmear the chamber, you will never be permitted to go
down into the parlor. Woe unto them that attempt to corrupt and work
wickedly in the chambers of the Lord.
Brethren, be faithful and humble, and you shall be blest. Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball