Discourse 1884-11-02
Pres W Woodruff desired to speak to the Saints in regard to a few
of the mysteries of the Kingdom, which God had sestablished in this
our time & on the temporalities of the people. He showed the necessity
of establishing Home industries, the need of which may not be so appa-
rent now as it will be & portrayed the probability of a coalition between
the political parties of this nation which would be dis^as^trous to their
interest & existence, then commerce & industries would be destroyed & the
importation of goods would cease. We should be wise & prudent & pro-
vide against this evil day & store up grain against the day of famine. He
favored the raising of stock & swine, also cereals, wheat beans & other hardy
products & thus fortify ourselves against the day of trouble, when the judge-
ments shall overtake this nation. He feels a change will take place in this
nation, which has the most liberal government on earth, in which
however the blood of the elders have been spilt, which had not been
done in any other nation on the earth & because of this God had de-
creed to destroy this nation. He dwelt at some length on the signs
of the times & depicted the corruption of this nation. He set forth
the folly of going into debt & advised the Saints to pay their debts &
be wise. He referred to some remarks made by Bp Farrell
in regard to the young men in Smithfield some of whom were
rude & rebellious. He queried if his boy was one of such. He
described his character from which it was found he was not one of them.
He spoke of the interest felt in the spirit world in our welfare &
were anxious that we see after their welfare & perform these ordinances
of the Gospel for them, that are necessary for their Salvation & exaltation.
He referred to the anxiety the Prophet Joseph felt in this matter & on
the importance of the labors in the Temple. He treated on the law of adoption
& cautioned the Saints to be careful in this matter. He thought there had
been too much wildfire in this affair & cited a case in point.
Speaking of the redemption of the dead, he stated that the oldest member
of a family holds the key for the redemption of the dead. He illus
trated the course to be pursued in redeeming the dead, to seal together
those who are equally meritorious & who died without the Gospel.
He mentioned many items of great interest respecting this great
subject & touched on many interesting things pertaining to the best inter-
ests of the Saints.
