13^th Sunday It is the most beautiful & warm weather that
I ever saw in the winter time. The camp of of the
Saints met at the stand for A meeting to day meeting opened
by singing, & Prayer by W. Woodruff, the meeting was then
addressed by President Kimball then addressed the meeting
And said that he wanted to give an exhertation And a word of
caution And after reproving the saints said many flattered
themselves that they were going to lean upon others to save
them without doing any thing themselves but they will
get disappointed, for to bring up a figure he said you migh[t]
graft ever so many sproughts into a tree if they did not adhear
to the tree they would remain there dead sticks stick-
ing out of the tree they would be dead themselves, not
bring forth fruit, & do the tree no good but ownly scar
it up, & those scars would remain untill the dead sticks
were broakke off & the skcar healed over or other grafts
put in that would bring forth fruit. So it was with all
who leaned upon others to save them & would not
harken to their council & take their advice & no man
can save them if do not save themselves And many
other remarks of Interest he made.

W. W. Phelps then read the V chapter of Math as he
had translated it from the greek

W Woodruff Advised the people who were going to
settle on the east side of the river not to settle on the
bank or in the bottoms so that the first flood need
not wash them into the Mo river.

Meeting was dismissed
After which in company with Mrs Woodruff I went to
Br Pulsiphers And soon Presidents Young & Kimball came
& attended to sealing four couple in matrimony, we had
A feast of spruice beer & cakes on the occasion

during the evening I attended the meeting of the Seventies
being 3 of their presidents present, Joseph Young Z. Pulsipher
A. P. Rockwood the House was crouded to excess the meeting
was opened by singing & Prayer. And was then addressed
by A P Rockwood who spoke upon the government of
children that Parents ought to set A good exhample before
their children & not nickname them but call them by
their proper name for the way that Parents set their
children going in life they are apt to go through & if they
start with Jim, Jo, & Pall, they are apt to go through
life so.

Br Pulsipher followed & made many
interesting remarks. And He was followed by President
Joseph Young who reproved them in the spirit of the Lord
against the spirit of dancing & warned them to forsake all
sin & be faithful in all things He spoke in the spirit and power
of God feeling the responsibility he was under when He closed
his remarks W. Woodruff arose And said that should
I say that I did not desire to address the Seventies I should do
dishonor to my own feelings for I do desire it at this time.
All who know my course when I have been at head quarters with
the Presidency either with Joseph, Brigham, or others of the twelve
know that I have never put myself forward to preach or teach
the people, why hath it been so, because I have had file leaders
between me and God whose business it is to lead teach & instruct
the inhabitants of Zion And I have felt it more my duty to sit
& hear while with them at head quarters than to put myself
forward to teach yet when I have been called upon to speak
I have endeavoured to do the best I could, but when I have
been abroad in the vineyard I have had the spirit of my
mission & been much blessed in bringing souls into the
kingdom of God. And I do feel it a privilege to address
the Seventies at this time. Br Young asked me to speak in
the fore part of the evening But I desired to wait untill the
Presidency of Seventies had address them And I can now see
that it was wisdom for I should not have had the same
matter before me that I now have, I have A number of things
resting upon my mind which I wish to lay before you. Your
President Joseph Young has spoken to you in the spirit & power
of God to night has warned & exhorted you not to defile
your Priesthood & calling & not to have your minds all taken
up with fiddleing & dancing. I have taken up more real injoy-
ment this evening in hearing the teaching giving by your
Presidency than I would in hearing A million of dollars worth
of fiddlestrings worn out, you must not think hard of
Br Joseph Young because he reproves, rebukes, & ehxhorts you
with all long sufferings & doctrin, for their is an almighty
responsibility resting upon his shoulders As the seenier President
of this August body of Sevenenties ordained unto the Apostle-
ship And the Lord will hold him responsible for the manner
that he watches over the Seventies And he is stired up from time
to time by the spirit of the God of Israel to reprove you And
the rebukes of A friend are far better than the kisses of an
enemy And you must not think hard of Br Young if he
does reprove you for he does it for your good. It is for better for
you to spend your time getting instruction & council than in
fiddleing & dancing for while the latter is of no profit to you the
former you will need when you are seperated far from your Brethren

and abroad among the nations of the earth amid the
Judgments of God which are laying waste the people & while
you have to dodge between wind & water to save your head
in the midst of persecution a[f]ter persecution & mobs while
you are offering salvation to the people. I have meditated
much of late concerning the responsibility we are to God
under to God inasmuch as we bear the priesthood & are
numbered among the Lords Anointed As Angels are
watching us & bearing a report of us daily to God should
the Lord come down to see us, to see for himself if the
report of [us] was correct, what would the Lord think of
us & how would we like to hear the record read in the morning
of the resurrection containing an account of An assembly
of the Lords Anointed At winter Quarters, upon whom
all heaven leaned & depended upon in carrying out the
purposes of the Lord in the Lord last dispensation & fulness
of times And fulfilling the epectations of Abraham, Isaac
& Jacob & all the Holy Prophets & Apostles since the world
began in gathering the Jews & rebuilding Jerrusalem gathering
the Saints & rebuilding up Zion preparing the way for the
endowment of the ten tribes of Israel in the north country
& the covertion of the Lamanites in the west, & the
warning of all the gentile world that they may be left
without excuse when the Judgments of God cleanse the earth
from sin, wickedness, & pollution, And that our prayers
should ascend into the heavens for the Lord to avenge the
Blood of the Prophet Joseph & other Saints who have been
martered & slain by gentile mobs in the last days, while
there is so much depending upon us & our prayers should
we be satisfyed with the record of this city of the Saints in the
eternal world kept by the Angels of Heaven If we should
hear read before an assembled world that the inhabitants
of winter Quarters who were the Lords Anointed during
the winter of 1847 & 8 spent nine days of their time
in fiddleing & dancing whare they did one in prayer &
praise to Almighty God, I say would we be satisfyed
with such record? No we would not, then let us turn from
such scenes of folly & spend more time in meetings
for preaching, exhortation, & prayer before the Lord
Br Joseph exhorted the Elders "not to defile their Priesthood."
I will here say If any man wants to feel the pangs of
Hell let him Have the Priesthood & let him have
immortal glory, eternal life, Thrones power domin-
ions exhaltations with all the blessings of Abraham,
Isaac & Jacob in view, then let him break the
law of God & defile his Priesthood And in a moment
He falls from his high esstate And all of his exhalted
hopes vanish in a moment & when his eyes are open
to see things as they are He sinks in darkness & wo
& the vary sight of the blessings which he has lost causes
A hotter Hell through his soul than fire and brimestone
many other remarks were made by the speaker After which
Br Cumings addressed the meetings & spoke of his mission to England
made some vary appropriate remarks after which the meeting closed