We have had a few remarks from brother Joseph Fielding, and I can say,
with the best of feelings, that they are good and true. I am witness
that this is the road that brother Fielding has traveled in this
Church and kingdom, striving to do right all the time. It was in the
spring of 1838 that he was ordained a High Priest, and it will be
twenty-four years next April since we left England, after performing
the first mission that was ever sent out to England. He was ordained a
Priest, I think, in Canada, and he traveled with me on that mission
to England. His life has been an upright one, and I know that he has
made a statement of facts, and he has told the things that are in him,
and his determinations are good, and they are dictated by the right
spirit. I take pleasure in making these statements, and I would say in
my heart, and my prayer is, that every man here may live in the manner
that he has done and be as good a man as he is. His salvation is sure,
if he continues in welldoing, and everything that he is capable of
presiding over will be given to him, and this will be the portion of
every other good man. It is goodness that makes about all the
difference between one man and another. You find one man a little
better than another, and one woman a little better than her neighbor.
What is it that makes us better? It is the righteous acts that we
perform, and that we work out before God. Jesus says, "Work out your
salvation as it is my will to work within you." Then, again, we are
commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. All that
hinders us and prevents us progressing faster, and going on from one
step to another even as it was with our Father, even the Father and
God pertaining to this earth, is our lack of confidence in the
Almighty, and our slothfulness in the things of God. Joseph the
Prophet said that our heavenly Father went on from one degree of
knowledge to another until he obtained the knowledge that made him
God. So also will it be with us, we shall have to advance from one
degree of faith to another until we get that knowledge that will
prepare us for exaltation in our Father's kingdom. But we must first
prove ourselves in this state of probation, then we rise from step to
step till we reach that position that is promised to the people of
God.
Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and light; and I and my Father
are one." On one occasion the widow came and begged that her two sons
who were with Jesus might sit one at his right hand and the other at
his left, and Jesus asked her if they could walk with him in the
regeneration, for said he, "Are ye able to drink of the cup
that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with." Those who can walk with Jesus in the regeneration now,
will receive the great blessings that are promised to all the faithful
children of God. What is regeneration? It is a cleansing, purifying
process, by which persons are enabled to advance in the knowledge of
God and grow stronger in the principles of eternal life, to become
better, more truthful, more worthy of a benefactor's blessing. Then,
we may ask, what is degeneration? It is departing from the good old
way, imbibing evil, becoming impregnated with falsehood and all other
evils that are calculated to produce a deterioration in both the body
and spirit of man.
This is a wicked and adulterous generation in which we live, and but
few of them know what they are doing for themselves. To me it appears
that they are taking every possible step to degenerate themselves and
those around them. I know what the world is; I understood it to a
great extent before I came into this Church. It was a common saying
among the good people where I lived, that it was impossible for a man
to be honest and get a living. How did they get a living, think you,
where they did not believe in being honest? By living in
deceitfulness, by lying, by pilfering from their neighbors. That was
the way they managed, and it is so managed at the present time. There
are but few things but it is possible to adulterate in this age of the
world. Our tea is adulterated, our ginger and pepper, and almost
everything that we have to purchase is treated in the same manner, and
I think we may safely conclude that this is an adulterous generation,
and by their evil practices they are bringing upon themselves swift
destruction. They have commenced the work of their own extermination,
and who can help it? No one, except the Almighty. They are now doing
that upon each other which they had in their hearts to do to us; they
have got the same hatred towards each other which they formerly had
towards us, and the Lord will let them have their full share.
I noticed the other day when reading about the war, that one man said
the war could be completed and wound up in thirty days, everything
settled and the South entirely subdued. They think that the great
number of men which they have in the field are going to wind it up
quick. But I can tell you that they do not take the right course to
accomplish that; they let the Devil lead them, that is what I mean. If
you are looking forward for peace and thinking that peace will soon be
made, you are mistaken. The Lord is permitting things to be prolonged
as they are, for the purpose of getting his people out from Babylon,
just as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plains
that were round about them; for he kept back the destruction till he
got Lot out, and so it is now in these days.
Well, now, what course shall we take as Saints? It is for us to do our
duty in all things; to do our best for the spread of truth, for the
gathering of the poor. If we were to do our best we could send a
thousand teams this season to gather the poor; but I can say that we
shall do all that is required of us, and that will be satisfactory and
pleasing to our heavenly Father.
Some say it is rather discouraging to gather this people, because so
many of them apostatize and deny the faith, but we should remember
that Jesus says—"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net,
that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when
it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered
the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the
end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked
from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire:
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." —Matthew xiii., 47-50.
Now, supposing I should be at the expense of gathering ten persons and
bringing them home to Zion, and by so doing I save one righteous man,
will not that secure me a reward hereafter? I say it will. What did
the Lord say to Oliver Cowdery about laboring all the days of his
life in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dark and benighted
world? The following is from a revelation given in June 1829, to
Joseph Smith, Jun., Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer—
"And now, Oliver Cowdery, I speak unto you, and also unto David
Whitmer, by the way of commandment; for, behold, I command all men
everywhere to repent, and I speak unto you, even as unto Paul mine
apostle, for you are called even with that same calling with which he
was called. Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh;
wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent
and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he
might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance. And how
great is his joy in the soul that repenteth! Wherefore, you are called
to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should
labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring,
save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in
the kingdom of my Father!
"And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have
brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your
joy if you should bring many souls unto me! Behold, you have my gospel
before you, and my rock, and my salvation. Ask the Father in my name,
in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy
Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the
children of men. And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can
do nothing." [Doc. & Cov., s., xliii, p. 3, 4.]
These are my feelings and always have been since I became acquainted
with the principles of eternal life; and I know that this is the
spirit that rests upon President Young, and also upon all faithful men
and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is
our duty to feel for those that are scattered abroad in the world, and
that are poor, but who desire to gather to the promised land. We used
to pray, O Lord, put it into the hearts of thy people to do unto us as
we want to have them do. Now it is our turn; we are gathered home to
Zion, and we are able to assist our poor brethren that are poor and
unable to bring themselves. Where is there a people upon the face of
the earth that are blessed like unto us; and then, again, I may say
that a great many do not realize nor appreciate the blessings they
enjoy, but they consider this a hard country to live in. There are
very few people in this country but are much better off than they were
in the country where they came from. There are hundreds and thousands,
and I think I may say tens of thousands that were poor and penniless,
and that were dependent upon their everyday labor for their living,
and if they did not labor six days in each week they had to go
without something that was actually necessary to make them comfortable, and unless they were at their work every day they could
not get enough to eat. Scarcely any of them ever owned a cow, a horse,
a sheep, pig, or chicken in their lives. Brother George D. Watt here
knows this to be true, for he has seen enough of the poverty of his
native country to understand exactly how it is. Is it any crime to be
poor? No, it is not; I have seen the day when I was just as poor as I
could possibly be as regards the comforts of this life, and I honestly
consider that it would be a pretty hard case for a man to be poorer
than I have been. Some people when they come here think it rather
shameful to speak of how poor the people are over in the old country.
Bless you if you had not been poor and oppressed—down in the depths of
poverty, you would not have heard us at all when we went to proclaim
the Gospel. That is the case with those who are well-off as a general
thing. But if you were not all poor when the Gospel found you, I will
guarantee that you have been since. I never knew a man who came into
this Church rich but who had to become poor, that he might rise up
with the rich and be exalted in the kingdom of God.
We have been led here by the hand of the Almighty, and settled in a
barren wilderness a thousand miles from everybody that are called
civilized. We came here because we were driven from our homes; hence,
we came to these mountains because we were compelled to, for we could
not live in the United States any longer, and you that have been
driven from the days of Kirtland to the present time know that we
could not live any longer among the enlightened and civilized of the
United States. After Joseph and Hyrum were mobbed and slain by their
enemies, there was no longer any home for the Saints in the States. We
could not stay in Kirtland to make a permanent home there, although we
succeeded in building a Temple, and in it received our blessings from
the Almighty. Here is President Young, myself, and others that used to
lie upon Joseph's floor every night to preserve his life from his
enemies, and that too among the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists,
and devils, and there are a great many men and women who know it. We
had to flee and leave all we had behind; brother Joseph, brother
Brigham, and many others, father Smith among the number; and some of us
had to watch while Luke Johnson helped the old man out of the window.
Then how much safety was there in Missouri, Illinois, or anywhere else
in the Eastern States? Could we stay there, gentlemen? No, no better
than we could be in a smelting furnace without burning. Was there any
revelation that we should come to the mountains? Yes, and there were
predictions in the old Bible that we should come here, and now we are
here we are comfortable and blessed above all other people upon the
face of the earth, I do not care where you look. You may look to the
east, to the west, to the north, and to the south, and in all nations
you will find them ready to go to war with each other. And you may
calculate that there will be war upon war, and that things will
gradually grow worse; therefore we should always endeavor to do
right.
When I reflect upon the instructions of President Young, who is our
leader, I see the importance of our sustaining him in all his plans
and designs, for he is God's delegate, and he represents the authority
of Heaven; and we Elders and Apostles are his associates, called to
represent Heaven, to preach the righteousness of Christ, and to strive
to do here on the earth as it is done in the heavens, and, hence, we should so live as to be the true representatives of Heaven,
of happiness, glory, immortality, and eternal lives, for we have those
principles to teach. All these things are before us, and one man can
go forward and attain these things just as well as another, and one
man can obtain these blessings of life, of peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost just as well as another.
Some may think that they are kings and priests, others that they are
queens and priestesses, and put others down as servants, and thus make
themselves judges of their brethren. But I am now speaking more
particularly of men that are unrighteous, of those who will tread the
poor man under their feet; and what will be the consequence of
oppressing the poor? I would rather be in the place of the oppressed a
hundred times than in that of the oppressor, "For with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again." These are the words of
Jesus, and although uttered many years ago they are still in full
force, and I know it; and that saying will be fulfilled to the very
letter, I have seen it in a thousand instances, and I know it will
always be fulfilled. I never knew a man get a prejudice against his
brother unrighteously but went the downward road, and the other
against whom the prejudice existed invariably rises up above his
enemies, for there is no other way to carry out the principles of
righteousness, than to do unto others as we want others to do unto us,
and thus fulfil the law of Christ.
Now, in the doctrine and practice of plurality, one woman will
sometimes think that she is queen, and that the others have no right
to speak or to do anything without her consent. If I had a case of
that kind to adjudicate, I should be very apt to say to the woman,
"Serve her faithfully, bear with her patiently, and the day will come
when you will sit above her, no matter where she is now." And so it is
with the Elders of Israel, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The Lord will rule that which is righteous, and if he does not give
you your rights in all things in time he will in eternity.
If you will look in the revelations, you will find the principle
taught just as I teach, and I can say further, that there is not a
hymn composed by the Saints but teaches some principle of truth just
as clearly as the Bible teaches truth. Therefore, let us be alive to
these things, and remember that we are exhorted to be one. Jesus
prayed that his disciples might all be one, as he and his Father were
one. Then, let us step forward and do this without waiting to be
commanded, without any compulsion, otherwise we shall be considered
slothful servants.
Well, now, this is the course for us to take. Let us be one in all
things, that the blessings of the heavens and of the earth may be upon
us continually.
If you want to know my views in reference to merchants and their goods
coming here, I will tell you that I wish there could not any more
goods be brought here. Why, can you get along without them, brother
Kimball? I can, by the help of God; I want but little to be
independent of every merchant that comes into this city. Why, this
last year my family have made over eight hundred yards of cloth, and
that will clothe a great many people; and dresses made of that kind of
cloth are as far ahead of those you buy in the store as your silks are
of the Indian blanket. Then consider what a blessing it is to the poor
of this community to be able to sleep in nice, comfortable, warm
woolen blankets; how much better than either the cotton or linen that
is brought from the States. Then there are the coverlids, the
bonnets, and many other necessary articles that can be made at home
just as well as not. You can see ladies with the nearest kind of
bonnets on of their own make; and if they want a new bonnet for the
baby, they know how to make it. There are their undergarments, worn
by the people here generally; they are made of wool, and that is
produced here. What a blessing it is to be able to supply ourselves
with so many of the necessaries and comforts of life here in these
mountains! Some of you have got an idea that wool will not do; but let
me inform you that when Peter came and sat in the Temple in Kirtland,
he had on a neat woolen garment, nicely adjusted round the neck. What
do sheep wear next the skin? Wool, of course. What do goats wear?
Hair, for that is their nature. These are facts that are apparent to
all who will look.
To return to the subject of the garments of the Holy Priesthood, I
will say that the one which Jesus had on when he appeared to the
Prophet Joseph was neat and clean, and Peter had on the same kind, and
he also had a key in his hand. John also came and administered unto
Joseph Smith, and remember that Peter, James, and John hold the keys
pertaining to their dispensation and pertaining to this, and they came
and conferred their Priesthood and authority upon Joseph the Seer,
which is for the gathering together of all who seek the way of life.
What is there that we cannot make within ourselves? There are but few
things. If we have a desire to be released from bondage and
oppression, we shall labor to produce what we need. I intend to have
cloth, that has been made here, from head to foot. What are we going
to do? A great many may say that they always wish to have their
carding, spinning, and weaving done so as to be ready for the winter,
and be at liberty to go to the parties. That is very good. But there
is one other matter I wish to speak of in this connection, and that is
that President Young wants this people to bring up some carding
machines from the States, so that we can go forward and be in a short
time perfectly independent of the world. This is the course for you
and I to take; and, also, to lay aside our vanity and foolishness, and
that which destroys the body. I have observed a great deal of the
follies of people in my experience. If we will do right, our children
will be a great deal stronger than we are in body, limb, joint, and
muscles, for many of us have been weakened by folly, just as the
present generation of young people are ruining themselves with their
foolish fashions.
I have often had my feelings hurt when I have seen men grunt and
grumble at every little trial, and then to see their wives, and many
in fact that are not wives, murmur and find fault with their
circumstances. It is true that some are doing all they can for the
good of the community, but it is not so with all. Let us all labor
and strive the best we can to build up the kingdom of our God here on
the earth.
May God Almighty bless you, my brethren and sisters, may the blessing
of peace be with you that you may enjoy the good Spirit, a spirit of
integrity and faithfulness, and may that Spirit rest upon all the
Saints in the mountains and throughout the world, is my prayer. Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball