We have come together this morning for the purpose of holding our
General Conference, and to attend to matters of business that pertain
to the whole Church, not only for the people in this Territory; but we
have met to do business that concerns all nations and people, both the
living and the dead, or those who have passed behind the veil; and I
feel to rejoice in the privilege we now have.
I know that this is the kingdom of God. It is that kingdom which was
shown to the Prophet Daniel, as recorded in the second chapter of his
book. This is the kingdom that was set up in the days of Jesus, and it
is the kingdom that our Father and God set up after he organized this
earth; and he is the King: but there are and will be tens of thousands
of kings this side of him, and will be a perpetual increase of kings
and priests in the kingdoms of our Father.
I desire to express my feelings in a few words upon those things, that
you may know how I feel, and understand that I view this kingdom as
something that pertains to or that will affect all the creatures of
God in this creation—yes, the thousands and millions of beings who
have not yet appeared upon this stage of action. It is that kingdom
that concerns every man that ever did or that ever will live.
I wish to encourage you Elders and all good Saints to live so as to
get that Spirit that is promised to the faithful; and let us lay aside
our selfishness, and become interested in the general welfare of the
kingdom of God; for it is something that should interest every man and
woman in the world.
This Church is that Church which has been spoken of by the Prophets,
and this people constitute that king dom that was to come forth
in the latter days. We are members of this kingdom, and we proceeded
from the King of this earth. We are all his sons; and when, through
our obedience, we become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ, we in reality become princes, for we emanated from that King;
and he is our Father and God, and he will call every son and daughter
of Adam to an account for their deeds. It does not matter whether they
belong to the Church or are outside of the fold of Christ, our Father
will call them to give an account of the deeds done in the body; and
the spirits of men that were in existence before they inhabited these
bodies have got to be responsible for the acts that are wrought in the
flesh. This is upon the same principle that President Young commits to
me the care and supervision of a house—for instance, the sanctum
sanctorum—a holy place, where the ordinances of God are administered.
He commits that to me, and holds me responsible for its safe keeping.
So it will be with you and me; so it will be with all men and women in
regard to their works on the earth. There will be thousands of men
brought to an account for their conduct towards women, for in many
instances it is shameful.
We have come here today to worship God, to speak of his purposes and
designs, and to bear testimony of his work. It is rainy and rather wet
and unpleasant, and therefore we cannot do much else; and we shall
stay here until the Spirit indicates that it is best to adjourn; and
when that will be I cannot now tell. But I hope none of you will be
troubled upon that point, for President Young will hold it as long as
it is interesting and the Spirit of God shall dictate to him. In
referring to the sons and daughters of Adam, and to this great work
which I have already said concerns us all, and especially the Elders
that have come into the Church in the beginning, and who hold this
Priesthood which God has revealed through his servant Joseph. I wish
you to understand that all that is connected with you—your wives and
children—should interest you in their welfare and in the prosperity of
the work of God; and you will be interested in proportion to the light,
knowledge, power, and spirit there is in the Elders; and that spirit
will rest upon the Elders, their wives, and children. Their animals
and all they possess will be quickened by it.
You can read in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that the Lord spoke
to Thomas B. Marsh and the Twelve Apostles, telling them that they
held the keys of the kingdom with the First Presidency and the fathers
from the beginning of the creation.
"For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are
appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the
power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last
time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times. Which
power you hold, in connection with all those who have received a
dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation; For
verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have
received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent
down from heaven unto you." (Doc. and Cov., sec. 104, par. 12.)
The Lord told us there that the fathers are interested for us just in
proportion to the interest we feel for this work and for the Church
and kingdom of God here upon the earth. I want you to think of that
and reflect upon it. You need not doubt in relation to the truth of
what the world call "Mormonism," for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, established and organized through the
instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, is the true Church of
God. With it is the Priesthood and power of God; and you might as well
try to doubt that the sun shines, for it is truth; and although all
hell may deny it, and all the men upon the earth, that will make no
difference, for it is from God. The Lord called that man, and sent his
angels to ordain him and confer upon him that authority necessary for
the building up of the kingdom of God; and it was through him that we
received all the authority we hold, and through us every soul of you
who have received the truth received it—through that Priesthood which
came from God through Joseph Smith; and you grew out of that
Priesthood, and none of you have a particle of power except that which
comes through that medium. It came from Jesus to Peter, from Peter to
Joseph, and from Joseph to President Young and his brethren, and from
us to you. You hold that Priesthood and authority in connection with
them; and except you are connected with them, you cannot have any
Priesthood or authority. You must honor that tree with which you are
connected; for, if you dishonor that tree, you dishonor yourselves,
and I would not give a farthing for your authority.
These are some of my views upon the subject; and I feel to say that
this work will roll forth with greater power hereafter than it has
done in times past; and my prayer to my Father in heaven is, Let thy
work roll on, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. That is the way it has got to be, for things must eventually
be done here as they are in heaven. We have got to do right, and we
cannot do this except we honor our callings and Priesthood; for we
are like a great tree, having roots, body, great and small limbs; and
I want to know what the difference is between one limb and another, so
far as honor is concerned? All should be honored in their place and
calling. Let every man honor the head, the body, and every member
that pertains to that body, if you wish to honor God. Now, can I rise
up and chastise the limb that I am connected with? No, I cannot; and
the limb will die quicker without my interference, if there is
anything wrong about it. Could a man rise up and chastise President
Joseph Smith when he was alive? No; no man had the right. Well, then,
can any man chastise President Young? No, sir; but it is the duty of
all to honor the head and the body with which they are connected.
Upon the same principle, the smallest member of the body should honor
the part to which it is attached. You know two feet are required to
carry two legs, and two legs to carry a body; and so it is in the
Church of Christ.
The Apostles and Prophets used to talk in this way, presenting figures
and comparisons for the purpose of conveying things to the minds of
the people more forcibly. Now, let every man take a course to honor
one another and the Priesthood they have received. "Well," says one,
"I will honor the First Presidency of the Church; but I don't want
anything to do with the Twelve: they are not of much account." That is
the way some of you feel. Now, if you treat these men in this way, how
long will it be before you will treat President Young in like manner?
The course for us to take is to honor the Priesthood which the
Almighty has given to man. How can you honor God except you honor
that Priesthood? This is well worth your consideration. You all sprang
out of that Priesthood as one limb of a tree comes out of the main
body. This is honorable in all men, and I feel to say, Let every man honor his calling, and his fruit will appear.
Will a good apple tree produce a thorn or a thistle? No, it never
will. But notwithstanding this, I believe there are a great many
thistles that call themselves apples; yes, many that are briars,
thistles, and other useless things they ought not to be. I frequently
think of these things. I consider our Priesthood and the vows that we
have made with God. "But," says one, "we have made those vows with
our
brethren, and not with the Lord." Let me tell you that it was the
brethren in authority in the Priesthood who called you into the house
of the Lord; but you made your covenants with God. The brethren were
merely the witnesses of those things which you did—of the covenants
you made with the Father, with the Son, with the Holy Ghost, and with
all the heavenly hosts; and your brethren stood as witnesses for God,
and you will have to give an account of the way and manner you keep
and observe those covenants.
There are many who think these things are of no account; but I will
tell you, brethren, that you will be straightened out when the Lord
appears, taking vengeance upon those that will not obey his Gospel. In
that day the wicked will be as chaff or stubble, and they will be
destroyed from the earth, and their tabernacles dissolved; but the
righteous will receive new bodies, and they will inhabit a new earth,
and eternally enjoy the favor of that God who sent his Son that you
and I might be redeemed and brought back into his presence.
There is a great deal for us to do, and I wish you would all think so,
and have these things before your minds continually. How can this evil
be remedied? I say, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, Wake up
from your slumber, and get within your souls the Spirit of the Most
High God; and the more you have of it, the more you will feel the
necessity of being wide awake and attentive to your duties.
Your eyes have become dim because of your dullness and inattention to
your duties. The Scriptures say—"Let thine eye be single, that thy
whole body may be full of light." The reason we do not see things as
they are is because we have become dull and stupid, and do not
understand the things of God. It is said in the Scriptures that the
eyes of certain characters are like the fool's eyes, reaching to the
ends of the earth; and like the door upon its hinges, doing no good,
but just swinging backwards and forwards. Brother Benson, won't you
shut that vestry door, and open it again? [Which he did.] Now, don't
you see, brethren, that has neither lost nor gained anything; but it
will soon wear out. This figure I wish to apply to you indolent
persons, and thereby show you that you ought to go to work and
improve—bring about something for the honor and glory of God, and the
adorning and building up of his kingdom. I do not want you to be like
the sow that has been taken and washed clean, and then as soon as the
door is open she goes into the dirtiest mudhole there is in the
neighborhood. But as you have been washed in the waters of baptism
and entered into the fold, I want you to remain clean and pure, and to
labor for the welfare of Zion and the upbuilding of the kingdom of
our God. If you act like the sow, then your last end will be worse
than your first.
You have entered into the kingdom, and should be like a little child,
humble, meek, and passive in the hands of your superiors.
You will remember that when those commissioners came to make peace
with us, we came up from the South to see them, to find out what they
wanted. The night we arrived in the city, I dreamed that there
was an awful flood, and that the floodwood had stopped up the stream.
I watched it; and after a while the floodwood gave way, and it came
down Emigration Canyon, and went in a southwesterly direction. I then
looked round to see what the effects were, and all at once this whole
city and adjacent country became full of hogs. I spoke to the
President and the brethren who were with him, and said—"The country is
full of hogs," and they were frothing at the mouth just like mad hogs
do; and I saw them running after the brethren, who got on the walls
and fences in different directions, and they were jumping up at them,
but their mouths were full of froth; and I was pleased to see that
there was not one of those hogs could bite any of the brethren.
By-and-by our attention was called to other business, and when I had a
little leisure I looked round and said to the brethren—"Where are
those hogs gone?" We looked around us, and lo and behold there was not
a hog to be found in the country!
But while they were here did they not froth at the mouth? They did,
and they jumped and made a terrible stew; but I do not know that they
have ever hurt anybody. They have not had the power to meddle with or
hurt anybody except those who wanted to be meddled with. Now I
consider that those men and women who have suffered themselves to be
overcome by these hogs are no better than the hogs themselves.
This may be considered a very good introduction, in my way, to this
General Conference.
I do not know that I ever felt better in my life than I do today. I
feel that I can touch a little thing here and another there, and I see
before me ten thousand times more than I speak of; and among the many
things that I can see, one is, that all the hogs are going to leave as
fast as they can! If the Elders and Saints will only do right, all
will be right for them and with them; and they ought to know that the
responsibility is upon their shoulders.
If you, brethren, go and sell your wheat, that will not be laid to the
sisters, excepting in those cases where the men are under petticoat
government. Those who do this are taking a course that will bring
sorrow upon themselves; yes, those who trade away the staff of life
will suffer pain, sorrow, and nakedness, and many things that have not
entered into their hearts to think of.
Since the Latter-day Saints have been in these mountains, there has
never been such a deep designing and well-got-up scheme to draw grain
out of this Territory as there is now; for there is a branch of a
store in almost every settlement, and they are buying wheat and
sending it to Pike's Peak, and they are getting it at a very low
price, too. I am afraid this is going to bring trouble upon you,
brethren and sisters. President Young has talked and talked upon the
subject of saving your breadstuff, and the Twelve have borne testimony
of it in all your settlements day after day and year after year; and
yet many of the people don't care any more about it than if we had
never spoken upon the subject.
There are some who have listened and
laid up their grain. Look at the men who have done this, and you will
find men that have got power with God and man. Let us try to improve,
and get as many to do this as we can, and we shall do well. We cannot
get everybody to do it, but we can use an influence with a few. There
are a great many here who have lived from hand to mouth all their
lives, they have been accustomed to get their wages on a Saturday
night; and let their wives have them; then their wives would go and pay such a portion for the week's provisions—so much for ale,
so much for the priest, the tithing, and other things; and they don't
know how to get along any other way.
How can you be saviors, except you lay up knowledge of the things of
God? And how can you be temporal saviors, except you lay up
provisions? Jesus says, Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its
righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you. The Lord
is not bound to feed us, except we take care and do our part. Do you
imagine that the Lord will go and raise you a crop of wheat, without
your first going and ploughing the ground?
You have heard President Young say that none of us know enough to make
a spear of grass grow, and this we all know to be true; but I will
tell you what you can do. You can obtain the ground, plough it, drag
it, sow the seed, and dedicate it to your Father and God. Then, when
you find it necessary, you can irrigate it, and you will be pretty
sure to get a good crop of wheat, or corn, or whatever you may choose
to plant.
There are a great many that are going into speculation nowadays.
Some of our Elders are becoming merchants, taking the Gentiles' goods
and peddling them off for wheat, and then turning it over to our
Gentile speculators who have persecuted us. Well, you will see that
pretty much everyone of them will lose the Spirit, except they
repent.
Now, you have been told again and again to take care of your cattle,
and send back for your goods. This has been done this year by a number
of the brethren, and it can be done by the majority of the people.
There was a train of goods came in a few days ago: the cattle started
from here last spring, and they have come in better condition than
any other cattle that have crossed the Plains this sea son. The same
thing has been done before. The year the pioneers came in, we bought
oxen, mules, and horses; and some of the cattle we brought in with us
went back to the Missouri River the same season, and they got through
about three weeks before we did, for we had to stay back and help our
horses. When we struck the Platte River on our return, we found that
there was no substance in the grass; the frost had killed it. But in
the spring, when cattle go down from here, the grass is fresh and
good, and the cattle get fat; and then on their return they get into
the "bunchgrass country" before the frost comes, and you know
bunchgrass is good all the year round. I want to see the people go
into this business forthwith.
I cannot do much, but I have had it in my heart ever since I have been
in this Church to do some good, not only to myself but to this people;
and I want to honor this Priesthood, and to see the day when this
people will circumscribe and circumnavigate the whole world; and I
want to see the kingdom of God govern and rule the world, and this I
will see with mine eyes, if I am faithful; and if I am not faithful, I
shall be sure to see it, and that to my sorrow.
I desire to be humble and faithful; but I am like you—I have my
weaknesses to contend with. We seem as if we must have something to
excite us to good works—to encourage us to press forward in the good
work of our Heavenly Father; and I consider we have everything to
encourage us to do good—to practice virtue and righteousness.
Brethren, I feel to bless you with the blessings of Almighty God, that
the Spirit of God may run through your bones like blood running
through your veins, to cheer up your hearts. And I ask my Heavenly
Father to bless you; and he will do it, if you be faithful and
diligent. He will bless the virtuous, the upright, and those
that honor their calling, and that honor this Church; and he will
honor me forever, so long as I do right and honor the Priesthood;
and he will honor my wives, my sons, and daughters, if they will
honor themselves; and I will honor them. The men who honor this
Church, and try to promote its interests, God will bless; and if they
honor God, they never will take a course to crush their brethren:
they will honor their Presidents, whether they be Apostles, High
Priests, or Elders.
Uncle John Young is a Patriarch in the Church of God, which office he
received honorably, for he is an heir to it through his father; and
he may bless all the people with the blessings of the heavens and of
the earth, and they will only get what they live for. This is the
promise of God to his Saints.
The Spirit of the Lord giveth line upon line and precept upon precept,
here a little and there a little for the comfort of the Saints. These
are given to you to improve upon. I feel this spirit of improvement,
and desire to advance and see my brethren advance in the things of
God.
I pray God to bless you all, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball