8th I spent most of the day in the at night I attended the
Meeting of the Missionaries & Bishops. Presidents & were
present also W. Woodruff & of the Twelve
W Woodruff arose & called the Names of the Bishops & Missionaries most
of which answered to their names. F. D. Richards opened By Prayer & singing
W. Woodruff arose & said I feel as though I want to say a few word
it has seemed good unto the Lord to call a portion of us through
the mouth of his servants to go forth unto the inhabitants of this
to preach the gospel of salvation & repentance unto the people. we
have met each week to give a report of our procedings but
have not here to fore been associated with the Bishops in our meeting
I stand connected with you as a missionary & realize that those
who have assembled here this evening should stand as the candle &
light of the Lord. I have never felt more responsibility resting
upon me than at present. God has an object in sending us to of Repentance to the people & so had the servants of the Lord who
sent us forth. I feel that it is necessary to purify ourselves & get
the spirit of God before we can properly go forth to preach to the people
if we will get the darkness & fog from ourselves we can take it
From the people & the Elements will be clear. I feel to purify myself I
have felt the spirit of God resting upon me of Late & I feel that there
is great things awaiting us. The of this Church has
had the Head Heart & soul ake for a long time it has
caused their hearts to ake to see the Apostles & Elders of this Church
who bear the priesthood forget their calling & turn from the work
of God unto Folly & have their hearts set upon the things of the world
We may use the sledge hammer to much but we should be right
ourselves when we reprove others. The Bishops & Missionaries in
some instances have manifested a feelings for the mastery to know
who should be the greatest but they would not have this feeling if
they had the spirit of God. The Business of the Missionaries is
to call upon the people to repent & live their religion & the Bishops
should unite with them in the spirit of God to carry out this Great
work. How Long shall we see the Presidency of this Church weighed
down to the Earth with a Burthen which the Elders & people should
bear. Aris up ye Bishops & missionaries & put on the whole [Ephesians 6:11] & the people will live their religion when you live it yours
yourselves then the burthen will begin to lighten upon the presidency
some time when we sharply rebuke the people we are not right ourselves
thies things are true. It is time we arose in the spirit & power
of our calling & help bear the burthen that is resting upon the shoulders
of Presidents & . No man could live with the
Load resting upon him that is now upon the head of those men
unless he was nerved up & sustained Daily by the hand & . I feel brethren that there is sumthing important awaiting
us. The more I humble myself before God & get the Holy Ghost the
more my heart is drawn out towards the presidency of this
Church. I have never seen the day in my life when I have
felt to prize the society & council of those men as I do at the
present time, this people have not prized them & their teaching
as they ought & if they do not more appreciate their labour
& keep their council better than they have done they will
be taken from us. Brethren lay aside all your selfish feelings
& you will see that God will be with us let us wake up ourselves
& then the people not for this winter ownly but let the
last during our lives. Presidents Young & Kimball are present
& I would like to hear them teach & council us this evening but
I presume they feel as though they had taught us so long & so much
which we have not improved upon that they feel discouraged in
teaching us, & think we ought to know how to walk aright. But
I do not wish to occupy your time the spirit says I should close
May God Bless you Amen
President Young sung "O Happy souls who pray" then said
Brother Woodruff has given us a good testimony a Living testimony
in the spirit & power of the Holy Ghost. Now any of the rest of
you who have the Holy Ghost arise & speak to us those things which
will Edify. & then spoke a Few moments
then President Young arose & spoke to the people the following
is a synopsis of his remarks as I reported them all Brother Kimball
President arose & said, I dont expet to speak much to night
I have learned to governed myself in talking as well as in other things
it may be asked if this is a new work it is not a new work but our
is the work we begun in when we embraced the gospel. I
have pointed out the errors of the people all the time & shown the people ther
faults & told them what to do, but here is the difficulty as soon as the Elders
come home from their missions in a few days they lay down their
while they should keep oit on all the time & keep it bright but their minds
are engrossed with the things of the world & lie down & go to sleep theyir ownly
ambition is to know how they can get theis House built or a farm, Horses
cattle &c, their whole soul is in the work of the world not the building of
the Kingdom of God but any man that gets property upon this principle
it will carode him he has not wisdom to use it. I have told the people
a hundred times they do not know how to get rich. The way for the
people to get rich is to do the will of God & they must be governed by the
revelations & spirit of God. Brother Woodruff has told us here to night
how it is when I look upon the conduct of the people before the refer
mations commenced as I was teaching them the way of salvation daily
& they would not give heed to it pained my heart & I felt as if I
should die but when Brother steped forward
& took the Burthen off from me I was relieved But it has cost
him his life. Had he not have taken that burthen upon him he would
have lived a few Years longer in our midst. I have felt that unless
this people would awake & live their religion I must go down to
the grave. But the burthen of this people was taken from me & rested
upon him & it has not yet returned to me although he is dead should
it returne to me as it has been I shall soon follow him to the grave
for I could not live long with that wait upon me. When you first
recieved the gospel did ^was^ not your heart filled with love & you put on
the gospels armour & would it not have continued with you all the time
if you had lived your religion all the time but you have had bad
feelings in your Breast & against your Neighbour but if the had continued with you it would have overcome those evil
feelings and what if we were all to put our armour off & partook
of the spirit of anger & Hatred God would spue us out of his mouth [Revelation 3:16]
& we would go down to hell together & He would raise up another
people to do his will. After all the stuper that has rested upon this
people they have been gaping for more revelation I do not mean one
man but I mean the whole people while they have already a great deal
more than they are worthy off & if this people do not wake up &
live their religion The Lord will take away the sources of revelation
which they now have from the people, it is not a few men that have
got to live their religion but it is this whole community. If we as
a people will return unto the Lord I know he will receive us with
open arms. I am glad that this winter has commenced without
Fidling & danceing. But would their be any harm in going into the
Hall & haveing a dance if we felt right & kept the spirit of God with
us, No there would not. But as soon as we should open this door
how many would keep the armour on & live their religion & keep
the spirit of God not many, some would but many would say come
let us go & take a drink & begin to get the liquor in them & then they would
say come Brother Brigham I am ready for any thing stand out
of the way here. Hurrah for Hell sware a little, Dam a little steal a
little gamble a little, & raise the Devil. But we will stop Fidling &
danceing untill the Brethren get power to overcome these things & keep
them under their feet. I do not intend to start danceing again untill the
the people will learn to do right, & live their religion. have to war with the
weakness of man, I am incompassed with it, I know what it is to fight it all the
time. If you are going to continue a make up your mind
to live your religion. If the people will do this it will be as Brother Woodruff
says the darkness will pass away & I can live long among this people &
so can brother & other men But if this people will go on lieing
stealing swearing & whoreing I do not want to live but I want to leave
the people & go to God & let the wicked go to Hell. I hope that God will
send the wicked that will not repent ^go^ down to hell quickly & be burned up
that they may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. [1 Corinthians 5:5] When I first came into
this Church I was an enthusiast & thought I would never keep an account
never put pen to paper nor never say this or that was mine but it is the
Lords we never can be of one heart & one mind untill we can say that all
we have is the Lords & that we are ^ownly^ his servants & stewards to controll it accord[ing]
to his will. When the Lord gives me property He gives me wisdom to use it.
We have individual rights & shall have to all Eternity. what are those rights
If I have any property Horses cattle, waggons or any thing els my neighbor
has no right to stell it from me. and if the people have the they would know that it was not right to take any thing which belonged
to another without liberty but let it remain whare it is. We are accounting
for our time to the Lord now if you have a months leasure time & you gambele
that away & do not bring to pass any good you might just as well throw
away $20, and you are accountable for theis waste of time. I am often
asstonished at the folly of this people many women are asking their
husbands for some new thing they want a dozen new Dresses & many
unnecessary things but does a person want of Doz new Dresses if this
people would ask for those things which are necessary & do right you would
soon see the people get rich. but what are you doing? are you rich No. the
Lord can send the grasshoppers crickets & Locust they are his Armies & can
eat us up and kill our cattle. He can give us much or little as He pleases
If our eyes are single to the glory of God & we do our duty, the Lord
could make us as rich as what would do with it aggrandize
yourselves, no you should not, but send out millions of men to gather
the poor & send men with Mules loaded with gold to buy the Nations
but now we are poor & we can comparitively do but little. Now I am here with
Brother Kimball If you wish to ask any question we can answer right but
for me to teach the Bishops there duty it is folly for I have taught them
over & over for years. Now if I was going to a ward meeting to preach
and the bishop was to oppose me unless it was my duty to reprove him I
should sit & laugh at him but not contend with him. But when their is any
difficulty betwen a missionary & Bishop or any two men they should not
contend about it before the people but talk it over among themselves
& settle all diference of opinion in the spirit of God & not labour for
the mastery
President H. C. Kimball followed & said I am one with President
& so was . He to[o]k hold of the work to wake up the people
with all his might & it killed him. If President Young was to ask me
to go forth in the safme way I would do it but it would cut short my
life as it did his. I have never felt as though Jedediah was dead
the Saviour said thatose that abide in me will never die his spirit is
with us & he can do more for us now than he could before. The spirit of God
is poured out upon some men mightily. The refermation is doing good
& the people are doing better & those who get the spirit of God will stand
& those who do not will fall. The people are forsaking their sins
Their are things in Embrio which will try this people & those events will
ripen as theis dPeople do and all will have to get the spirit & revelations of
Heaven in order to stand, & thes things will be among all Nations &
know it as well as knew it would be a hard winter. I want you
to wake up yourselves & then wake up your wives & children & stop your lying
& stealing & take that Burthen upon your Backs which belong to you then the
& Twelve will ownly carry their own burthens. The time has come
or is near at hand when many that have trifled with the priesthood & the
things of God will be destroyed & go to Hell cross lots & those who are
not faithful in magnifying the priesthood it will be taken from them
& given to others and that quickly and I know it for Angels, Prophets,
& Holy men say it & it will be fulfilled. As to I am tiered of it
I never want to see another man dance untill he can do it by the power of
God. I felt that spirit once & Brother shouted Hosanna for we was
both filled with the spirit. Neither do I want to see any more feasting
at present. I dont want to see any more Jealous feelings some of
our Bishops get Jealous of the servants of God no man would be if
He was filled with the Holy Ghost. I would chastize a man if He stood in
my way when I know that I am a messenger sent of God. President
Young says if the people do not do right He will not stay long with
them but shall go the other side of the veil if He goes I shall not
stay long behind him because we will not have one between us
and if you dont do your duty we shall go soon. I have had many
men try to stand betwen me & president Young & when I have
been to see him many have snubed me but I have seen enough of
this. And that man that will try to do it He must look out
for God & his angels will smite him. I have no objection to men
coming to President Young to comfort him & do him good & when
he gives them a wife give him $10 or $20 dollars according as He
may value his wife. But men must not try to separate us if they
do they will be cursed. I understood that Brother Woodruff got
a whiping from one of them lately But I tell you that although
He is a small man He is all gold & you will find it so in the end
& you may be thankful to ever get as good a place as He will get
for he is the pure gold & I wish you would get as good as He is
the Bishops will not repeat what the missionaries say for they
are Jealous. But if you will get the spirit of God upon you there
will be no Jealous feelings in your heart. you want the spirit
of God & the of the priesthood to rest upon you as it did
upon & does upon the Presidency & Twelve, take that priesthood
upon you which belongs to you & magnify it. The Missionaries
want to wake up then wake up the Bishops & then wake up the
people & all live your religion & all will go well and if you
will live up to your priviliges here & get the spirit of this
it will reach all over the Earth & go to the ends of the Earth & the wicked
will not have power over us but this work will go from Zion through
all the world as the sap of a tree will go from the trunk to the end of evry
limb & twig. I want to see the power of God among this people that
they may have faith to remove mountains if necessary but the power
of God will ownly increase as the spirit of God increases among the people
if we will do orur duty ^&^ if the United [States] should be the aggressers the Lord
would say if they came against us Let my servant Brigham send 200
men & they would lick them up, for God would assist to fight our
Battles with the storm hail & snow, & they would be destroyed. I know
this would be done but we must get the faith of the Ancients
As to Brother have to say that He is just as good a man as
ever was on Earth. Now wake up Brethren & see that you purify
yourselves before you try to purify others then go forth & lift up your
voice like a trumpet & call upon all men to repent get full of the
Holy Ghost & there is not a man that will do it but what will be filled
with Prophesyings as were the ancient Nephites, and little Boys 4 years
old will prophesiey. I do not wish to go to a feast or a dance until this
people reform. and when there is men enough here to bring forth
this & men will not prosper untill they do their duty
to God & each other. I have no desire to attend any recreation untill
this people are filled with the & power of God & I do not
think that President Young has. if you will rise up & do your duty
you will be blessed & no man that rises up against us in this place
will prosper if we do our duty & we wash our feet against them
I believe in washing our feet against our Enemies. The spirit of God
has been upon us for more than a year & the people would play laugh &
trifle about it but if they had the spirit of God & done their duty they would
have seen it this has been my feelings all the time I have felt that the
people were trifling with the things of God. Brother is fallen a
mighty man is taken from us but his power is here it still rests upon
Brother Brigham & myself & when we lay hands upon ^another^ hi man the spirit
of God & of Jedediah will rest upon him in full force that he may do the
work & fill his place as a counciller to the president & I know it. May God
Bless you Amen
Elder followed in bearing testimony. took minutes
He was followed by
& then Brigham Young said why we take the Elders for Missionaries
who have just came in is that we can set them to work while their
is on for it has generally been the case that soon after the Elders
come in they throw down their armour & some are so far left to
themselves they do not enjoy the spirit of God. In answer to the
question of Brother Savage about people restoring what they hav stolen {from [illegible shorthand]}
in the first place I would say I would not steal but whare it cannot be
restored I would say put it into the to gather poor for I would
not have any thing to do with it
then spoke after
which , , & were
called to go out on Missions. The Bishops with ther council the High Priest
& their council, The First Presidency of the & the Presidents of Elders priests
Teachers & Deacon all are requested to meet with the Missoionaries in
this place on Monday evening each week. Benediction by
