I hope to have the power and ability to speak loud enough for all to
hear what I have to say.
I have been very much instructed during this Conference. I have been
enlightened to a certain extent with regard to the authority of
certain persons holding office in this kingdom. I have reflected much
upon the Holy Priesthood and its various offices, but I feel that I
have become more fully educated in the knowledge of the rights of men
holding the Priesthood during this Conference. I rejoice in being
where we can receive a correct education in regard to the things of
the kingdom of God. I might truly say that I am astonished at some
developments which are made before the people at different times.
Brother Joseph Young remarked that there was no law against doing
good.
There were remarks made last evening in regard to the mass Quorums of
Seventies that are organized in the different settlements, and also in
reference to the High Priests, of which there are Branch Quorums in
the various settlements. It has been found that where there has been a
President and Bishop in a Branch, it has been a cause of difficulty,
and it was considered by Elder Hyde and others that this practice
ought to be abolished. I have asked myself the question whether when
we have received such blessings as have been conferred by the
Priesthood of the Most High, we should come down from our
exalted position, or whether we should not have the spirit of
forbearance, the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost in our midst to expand
our minds, to enable us to understand our duties, or shall we take a
course to deprive ourselves of the blessings of the Melchizedek
Priesthood, as did ancient Israel? This is what you are virtually
doing in your neighborhoods where you exclude the Presidents of
Branches. We are a people who expect to expand in our minds, to
establish on the earth the kingdom of the Great God, and we are a
people that never expect to retrograde, but to have all the keys of
the Priesthood; to go forward conquering and to conquer until the
whole of the inhabitants of the earth shall be redeemed and brought
into subjection to the will of God. It is very natural that the
Presidents of the Seventies should feel after the condition of their
members. These Quorums are divided up and scattered through the
different settlements; one man belonging to one Quorum—another to
another; therefore, we find various Quorums represented in the
different branches of the Church throughout this Territory, and it is
right and proper that the Presidency of these Quorums should have some
organization by which they can feel after their members and know their
standing, that they may be reported up to headquarters from time to
time. There is no law about this; it is by permission, and it is
right. Now is it not possible that these organizations can be kept up
without causing friction or difficulty between the brethren? If we are
guided by the right spirit, I think they can.
Is it impossible to have a President and a Bishop in the same Branch
without there being strife and contention among the people? There has
been too much of this, but with the instructions that we are receiving
we can improve.
I would not bring this before the public, if it had not been brought
there already, for I am ashamed of such things, and I dislike to see
them exhibited before the public, only as it becomes necessary for
their correction. It appears to be the opinion of some that these
things must be so, but I contend that it need not be so, and it is
only the ignorance of the people that gives rise to this spirit of
contention in certain places. And I feel now that after attending a
Conference of this kind and receiving correct instructions upon all
these points, there need be no more contention. It has been necessary
to bring this before the Conference that we might receive instruction
in reference thereto.
Well, brethren, it is evident to me that we have not progressed as far
as I thought we had in the knowledge of the Priesthood, its officers
and their respective duties. We have many blessings bestowed upon us
by our Father in Heaven, and he is willing to bestow more, if the
people were willing and capable of receiving them. I feel the same as
brother Heber said that there is a great majority that are willing to
do right, and that the predominating influence is for God. I feel it
is so, and I bear my testimony to it. Then let us step forward and
take hold, prove to God and angels that we will strive to overcome
this spirit of contention that is in the world, and each and all
magnify our callings, get together and consult for the interests of
the kingdom and for each other's welfare, that we may act in unison in
all things that there may be union throughout the house of Israel, and
in all the branches and settlements of Zion.
This kingdom is a school to all of us; we are learning our duties, and
we should strive to improve and progress in everything that is good,
and I think the great majority are improving, and it should be
our determination to reduce those things to practice that are for our
benefit and salvation.
When we came here we resolved to do this, and let us now carry it into
practice in our daily lives. Let us consult the general welfare, and
do what we do for the benefit of the kingdom of God. We can shut out
the blessings of the Almighty by our own acts, by our strife for power
and influence. But this is no way to gain permanent influence, and as
we have seen today, and during this Conference, by the instruction
that has been given, we are the individuals who shut out the influence
of the Holy Ghost and the blessings which we might otherwise enjoy.
My advice is to have no contentions about who holds the most
authority, for if you contend about your Bishops and Presidents, the
first thing you know is that you have no President at all, and instead
of going ahead (it is as brother George A. Smith said) you have to
come down to a wheelbarrow arrangement. I do not like that kind of
doctrine; it is contracting instead of expanding. I want to see Israel
expand and become capable of receiving those blessings which are in
store for the faithful.
We have to commence this work in our own bosoms, for this spiritual
warfare is like the temporal, which was so beautifully illustrated by
brother Hyde yesterday. The first fruit he tasted in the orchard he
thought to be the best, but it got better and better as he tried the
pipping and greening, and these principles are like the fruit trees
in the orchard, they require digging about and cultivating, in order
that those principles may dwell in our bosoms continually for our
social welfare. Let us labor to eradicate the tares, the chaff, and
the miserable traditions which control our nature and acts to a great
degree, and let us see if we cannot get a little of the Holy Ghost to
dwell in our minds, to enable us to live according to the principles
of our holy religion; let us strive to expand and go ahead in doing
those things that are necessary to enable us to progress in the way of
intelligence, to gain that knowledge of the truth which is in
readiness to be poured out upon us from the Almighty.
Shall we spend our time like the world, or shall we live and labor to
build up the kingdom of our God? Now all you that freight for the
Gentiles, that go out on the road in the employ of the Gentiles
driving stage, or trading and working at the beck of the Devil, to
promote the Devil's kingdom; let me exhort you to turn about and not
continue to mingle with the wicked. You had better never see a dime in
the world. Need I say anything else when there is the pride of Israel,
of those who have enlisted in the cause of King Emanuel engaged in
trading and doing the works of the Devil, and thereby encouraging and
aiding in the building up of his kingdom? Need I say a word against
our brethren going and engaging themselves to do this when they so
well understand that it is not the Mission of the Latter-day Saints to
labor for anything but the upbuilding of the Church and kingdom of
God? Here is the Mission of the Saints to go and aid in the gathering
of the poor, to labor here for the building of the Temple wherein we
can officiate for the dead and prepare to redeem Zion and to build up
the waste places thereof, and to establish the principles of
righteousness and truth upon the earth. Let our enemies learn their
true position; let them herd their own cattle, delve in the earth for
themselves, gather their own straw, make their own mortar, build up their own cities, but let us raise our own cotton, indigo,
tobacco, build up our own cities—even the cities of Zion for the
honor and glory of God; if all our labor be in the right place we
shall become independent of our enemies, make the desert become
fruitful and blossom as the rose. Here is work enough for the Saints
without working for the Devil or his agents or imps. The Lord has
commenced his work and has planted the standard of Zion and there is
plenty of business to do suppose that all Israel should go into it. If
it were correct for men to go and devote their time, talents, and
strength in working to build up Gentile cities where would be the
interests of the kingdom? If it is good for you to do this it is good
for others, and if it is good for you to sell whiskey it is good for
me. The truth is that we can exercise a better influence without
having anything to do with these things. I have no desire or wish to
do any such thing. But some will put the cup to their neighbor's lip,
ruin their neighbor's children by such practices. It is not in the
economy of Heaven made necessary for anyone to take such a course.
There is plenty to do to occupy all the talent, ability, and
intelligence of all Israel without taking any such course as this, and
of that nature too, which instead of promoting evil will tend to
virtue and righteousness and finally to exaltation, things which will
tend to the enlightenment of the mind and to the advancement and
spreading abroad of the principles of salvation and eternal lives. It
is for us to be engaged preparing ourselves for those ordinances which
we look forward to with such earnest anticipation, and anxious desire
to administer and officiate for our dead, that they may come forth in
the first resurrection, and enjoy the blessings purchased by the
Redeemer of the world.
I do not know but we are now building up a Temple in which may be
revealed the keys of the resurrection of the dead. We are building up
a Temple to the name of the Most High, and there is plenty of business
for every individual who lists to do his part. Do not let us pander to
the Devil, nor strew our ways to strangers, but let us take that
course that will be best calculated to establish the principles of
righteousness upon the earth, to establish the reign of the kingdom of
God.
The scepter of this Church and kingdom has been wielded by the
Almighty power of God, and it will so continue, for the time has come
when the Lord has commenced to get a foothold in the earth, and we
have been called from the midst of the Gentiles to establish a nucleus
of power for the benefit of the pure in heart. What better are we if
we go on in wickedness encouraging the power of the Devil, than those
who know not God? We might as well have stayed in the world. Then let
us understand our high and holy calling, and also strive to understand
the calling of the servants of God, and keep ourselves unspotted from
the world and its wickedness, and keep in our possession the Spirit of
the living God. We see the judgments of the Almighty spreading through
the land, and what assurance have we that we shall not be afflicted
unless we live so as to be without condemnation? Do we think that we
shall be shielded from the judgments of the Almighty if we lay
ourselves liable by the same acts as the world? If we do we are
mistaken, for if we are guilty of the same crimes and wickedness the
results will be the same with us as with the world, with the exception
perhaps that the judgments will overtake us a little quicker, for
they will commence with us. For it would thwart the purposes of the Almighty to let the wicked get a foothold and predominate in
the midst of Israel, where he intends to prepare his people for the
building up of Zion and the New Jerusalem.
Brethren and sisters let us be energetic in the discharge of our
duties which now devolve upon us in our various locations. Let us be
industrious and useful in our day and generation, and not lend our
means or talents to build up interests opposed to the kingdom of God,
but let everything that we can command be devoted to the upbuilding
of that kingdom, and in this we will meet with the approbation of our
Father in Heaven, and then will be found place for the power, the
knowledge and intelligence which the Lord will take from the world and
bestow upon us if we are worthy to receive them. The times are
pregnant with great events, and the Lord has no desire to take back
this knowledge from the world, if he can find a place to bestow it.
Then, let us be wise and faithful that this knowledge may not be
taken back, but see that we do those things that are good, not wasting
our time with the vain philosophy of the world. Let us prepare to
enjoy all those things that have been conferred upon man from the
beginning of time, that we may secure the truth that has been
revealed, that this intelligence may find place in the midst of the
Saints of the Most High God, and that we may improve and advance from
one point to another until we shall combine all the knowledge and
intelligence which have been revealed, and receive that which the
Almighty is ready to bestow upon us, that we may thus perfect our own
being and progress in the knowledge of God and in the things
pertaining to our existence here and hereafter.
The Apostle said, "If in this life only we have hope we are of all men
the most miserable." That might be true then, but I hardly subscribe
to it now, but I contend that the course which the Lord has marked out
tends to happiness and exaltation here, saying nothing of the life
which is to come. The Gospel is calculated to make good men of bad
men, it introduces good instead of evil, happiness instead of misery
generally, and it is also calculated to draw out the capacities of men
to the fullest extent for the benefit of man. Let us participate in
those enjoyments that we may prepare for the life to come, is my
prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
- Daniel H. Wells