Discourse 1847-12-23
W. Woodruff feels thankful to converse about the things of the King[dom] & grow more interesting every day, has many things in his mind dayly. the year
that is past & gone I consider is the most important since the K[ingdom] of God has been on Earth. some h[av]e ret[urne]d from years soldiering, & some from mountains,
who h[av]e suffered in the service of the U. S. the & of the Lord has been with us this Summer, his peace has been brooding over our heads, & those
of the Batta[lion] h[av]e been preserved. many who [h]av[e] gone into the Mexican War h[av]e suffe[re]d immensely, & we can rejoice in their preservation of our
brethren. God is with his ppl today. his mercies [a]r[e] over us to day, & it is a satisfaction, & ought to cheer the Saints da[y] by da[y] they [a]r[e] blessings &
a consideration to this p[eo]pl[e]. there is more power with God da[y] by da[y]. this ppl will shortly see a fire in Zion & hypocrites will tremble.
I rejoice in this thing, in going my journey to the mountains this year [h]as been a good school to me. as we cannot be in 2 places at once
I want to be where the Lord wants me to be. I never saw more of the power of truth visible in the councils of Israel & the day is at hand
when the L[or]d will [h]av[e] a pure p[eo]pl[e] to gather tog[ethe]r to worship his name, & if you will be righteous you will see the da[y], that you can see the
Saints & the Spirits of just men made perfect. I feel that there is a Sp[irit] taking advance of what we [h]av[e] been. I hope the S[ain]ts will be faithful
& let no man take their crown. we [h]av[e] been favored with living in this da[y] on the Earth & we [h]av[e] to prove ourselves. there [a]r[e] no bless[in]gs that
ever were but what shwe shall [h]av[e]. If we get a [Celestial Kingdom|Cel[estial] K[ingdom] ] we ought to be passive in the hands of the L[or]d. we ought to be always on hand to do what
the Lord wants us to do. the L[or]d is opening a door for our Sal[vatio]n & glory & I do pray that no Sp[irit] may gather with this ppl unless they do
intend to keep the law. there is a reality in the blessgs of the L[or]d. I rejoice that I [h]av[e] formd such Society on the Earth. the [Elders of Israel|El[ders] of Israel] will
be more & more called on to preach to the p[eo]pl[e]. we [h]av[e] got to war with the elements & the powers of darkness & all Eternity is in pain.
we [h]av[e] tasted the Gospel & no [know] of its Sweets. I know there [a]r[e] 10s of 1000s ready to rece[iv]e the Gospel. we sho[ul]d be always willing to [h]av[e] our
feelings useful in the service of the L[or]d. we ought to live to keep the commandments of God, that then we may receive the blessings that [a]r[e] in store
for us. Amen.
