QUARTERLY CONFERENCE Of the Y.M.M.I.A. of Weber County. APOSTLE WILFORD WOODRUFF gave utterance to the great pleasure he had derived from the exercises of the day. He also paid a tribute to the efficiency of the services of Elder Jos. A. West, whose absence at this meeting he regretted. Re- ferring to the testimonies borne by the young Elders and their counsel on religious topics, he compared them favorably with the learned rhetorical sermons which a Henry W. Beecher and other worldly divines might deliver, but without interesting or edifying the Saints of God. The Mutual Improvement Asso- ciations are powerful contributors to the welfare of the people of Isra- el and the promotion of the inter- ests of the Kingdom. Apostle Woodruff then declared that there is no people on earth that can less afford to waste time in reading novels, stories, and other trashy, valueless literature than the Latter-day Saints. Their sole oc- cupation should be the pursuit of truth and the acquisition of knowl- edge. If a Saint gets tired reading the Bible and Book of Mormon, let him obtain historical works, such as Rollins' Ancient History, where they can learn the ways in which the Lord dealt with the various na- tions of the earth in the days of old. Many useful lessons can be learned from the history of old Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Thebes, Memphis, and other great and pow- erful cities and peoples of ancient days. Study of history is beneficial because instructing, while reading of fiction is detrimental, because de- moralizing. The work of improvement in these associations is greatly needed to assist in building up the last Kingdom of God in the dispensa- tion of times. Somebody has got to bear it off amidst all these tremen- dous events hovering on the thresh- old of the future. It is our young men that have got to do it, and therefore the speaker takes a great interest in their work. Joseph Smith had all this in his mind and he often spoke about the Kingdom of God to be established in the Rocky Mountains. How great and astounding the contrast between 1847 and nowadays! And as it grew and increased, developed and progressed in the past, it will de- velop and expand in the future, and all the powers of earth and hell can- not hinder it. This these young Elders have to help bring about, therefore they have no time to waste in foolishness and idleness. They are heirs of the priesthood and the instruments in the hands of the Almighty to accomplish His great purposes. He felt to say to the young men and women, "God bless you!" They would be clothed with power and glory of God and would have a great work to do amid all the wars, bloodshed, pestilence, earthquakes, tempests, and devastations about to come. The speaker closed with a prayer that the Lord may continue to bless and prosper the associations of the young.