PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
delivered the following discourse:
My brethren and sisters and friends:
By way of introduction I desire to say
that I feel to thank God and all my
friends for the blessing I enjoy at this
time—for the privilege, once more, of
entering this Tabernacle and behold
ing the faces of the Latter-day Saints.
And I feel a good deal as
Mark Antony did when he went to bury
Caesar. "I come to bury Caesar," said
he, "not to praise him." I come to
see the Latter-day Saints, but
not to preach to them. You have
plenty of Apostles and Elders to
preach the word of the Lord unto you.
But I have long desired to again enter
this Tabernacle of the Lord and see
the Latter-day Saints. It has been
some three years, I think, since I have
met with the Saints of God in this
house; and I will tell you how I felt
about coming to Conference. I felt
that it would not be doing our great
and mighty nation any harm—a nation
of sixty millions of people—for two or
three old men, seventy-five or eighty
years of age, to come into this Taber-
nacle and look at the Latter-day
Saints, and at the faces of their wives
and children. I do not know that I
have a wife or child here. If I have,
they will be able to see how old I have
grown since we last met. Some of us
have tried to keep the law to such an
extent that we have almost forgotten
how our wives and children look. I
feel, however, to say, God bless the
Marshal and officers of the government
as far as they can exercise mercy,
charity and humanity toward
the Latter-day Saints in ful-
filling their duty as officers
of the government. I feel thankful
to-day for this privilege, and I feel at
peace with all mankind. I am at
peace with all my friends. As to my
enemies, I do not know that I have
any. If I have, I hope that we may be
at peace upon the principles of the
Gospel of Christ, of righteousness and
of truth.
Now, with regard to preaching to
you, my brethren and sisters, that is
a subject I have thought very little
about. I have preached this Gospel
for some fifty-four years, and have
learned by experience a great while
ago that it is no use for an
Elder in Israel to decide in his mind
what he is going to say to the Saints
of God. This is the way I feel to-day.
And I will say this, that there are
times in a man's life when he cannot
help reflecting upon the past. That is
my condition to-day. Since I have
entered this Tabernacle, and looked
upon this congregation, my mind has
reverted to my life from
the time I became a mem-
ber of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, and this engen-
ders in my bosom some very solemn
reflections. Fifty-four years ago this
last spring I traveled a thousand miles
with the Prophet Joseph, and his
brother Hyrum, Brothers Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A.
Smith, and a great many other men—
some 205 in all—mostly Elders in
Israel—for the redemption of our
brethren—to assist them in the midst
of persecution. Our Prophets and
Patriarchs, many of them, have passed
away. They are on the other side of
the vail. Since we came into these val-
leys forty years ago the twenty-fourth
of last July—I drove President Young
into this valley in my carriage, and he
was sick at the time—eleven of the
Apostles have passed away. They are
in the spirit world mingling with the
Gods, where they can plead for their
brethren. These are reflections that
rest upon my mind as I occupy this
stand where I have met day after day
and year after year with these noble
men. President John Taylor, who was
our last President and Apostle has also
taken his departure. The last time I
was in this house I met here
with him. His work is finished.
He has gone into the spirit world,
where we shall all go very soon. Some-
times, in my reflections, I feel some-
what lonesome when I think these
matters over. I feel as if I had lived
two or three generations since the
days of Kirtland and Nauvoo, or since
the establishment of this Church and
Kingdom with which I have been as-
sociated for so many years. I realize
myself that I shall not dwell a great
while upon the earth. I do not ex-
pect to dwell a great while longer
with the Latter-day Saints. I
have lived to the age of four score
years, and when I contemplate the
multitude that has passed away since
we entered these valleys of the moun-
tains, I can only expect to take my
turn with the rest. But I will say this.
I rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ;
I rejoice in the work of God; I rejoice
in the principles of eternal life, light
and truth, which have been revealed to
the Latter-day Saints.
We have been called as a people to
pass through a great deal of affliction
in our day and time. But this eternal
truth remains on earth and in heaven—
that the God of Israel has set His hand
to establish His Church and Kingdom
upon the earth, and to fulfill the reve-
lations contained within the Holy
Bible, the Old and New Testament, as
well as other records which have been
given concerning the last dispensation
and fulness of times.
We are all of us, brethren and sis-
ters, dependent upon God our Heav-
enly Father for all our blessings, both
temporal and spiritual. Indeed, while
I contemplate our progress, our ad-
vancement, and the signs of the times
in which we live, I feel that we, as
Latter-day Saints, should try to fully
realize and comprehend our responsi-
bility before God, before each other,
before the heavens, and before the
earth.
I have for a long time had a desire to
mingle with the Latter-day Saints, and
to take part in their institutions—the
Sabbath schools, the Mutual Improve-
ment Associations, and with the var-
ious organizations of the Church.
But for several years I have been la-
boring in other portions of the coun-
try, and have been deprived of the
privilege of meeting with the Saints so
far as this portion of the Territory is
concerned.
I have desired from my youth up to
become acquainted with the truth as
contained in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. From my youth up I have had
a desire to live and find the people of
God on the earth. I have lived to see
that day. I have lived to see Proph-
ets, Apostles and inspired men. I have
associated with them for many years
of my life. This has been a great
pleasure to me, and a great satisfac-
tion to my own spirit.
And I desire to say to the Latter-
day Saints, that we should remember
that we are sent here on a mission;
that we have been born in the flesh in
this last dispensation of the fulness
of times. We have been called to
labor in the vineyard of the Lord,
called to preach the Gospel, called to
warn the nations of the earth, and
many of them have been warned. We
have traveled by land and by sea; have
visited many foreign nations, also al-
most every part of our own nation,
and some of us are drawing our mis-
sions to a close.
I have a desire that the Latter-day
Saints should try to live their religion,
and endeavor to do what is right; that
they should have faith in God, and in
the revelations of God, and in the
principles which have been revealed to
the Saints for the salvation of the hu-
man family.
We have a great many organizations
in the Church and Kingdom of God,
and have had almost from the be-
ginning. They are so organized
that all men and women, whether
young or old, have a place of useful-
ness. We should try to improve our
time, our talents and our opportunities
while we are here upon the earth. I
realize that this world is not our abid-
ing place. We have an evidence of
this every day of our lives. We are
called to bury our Prophets, Apostles,
Elders, fathers, mothers, wives and
children, all of which shows us that
we have no lease of life. We should
therefore improve our time to-day.
I have felt to give the Latter-day
Saints my faith and prayers in all their
labors and exertions to build up the
kingdom of God. I try to build it up
to the best of my ability in accordance
with the light and truth and knowledge
which God has given me.
This is the first time that I have en-
deavored to speak in public for a good
while. I have not been laboring in the
midst of congregations like this. I
have just passed through a week of
sickness, which laid me prostrate. I
feel the effects of it in my lungs, and in
my system, yet I feel all right in my
spirit. I felt as though I desired to
look upon the faces of the Latter-day
Saints, and hear the testimonies of
my brethren. They have heard
my testimony in years past.
I have the same testimony
to bear to-day. I bear record before
God, angels and men, that the fulness
of the everlasting Gospel has been re-
vealed in these last days through the
Prophets of God; and that Joseph
Smith was raised up by the power of
God as a Prophet, Seer and Revelator.
He laid the foundation of this Church
and Kingdom in its perfection, as it is
at the present time. He brought forth
the record as contained in the Book of
Mormon, in fulfillment of the predic-
tions of the Prophets of God;
also the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, which contains
those grand and solemn revelations,
and those principles of eternal truth,
so precious to the Latter-day Saints.
These things are true. We should
study them; lay them up in our hearts,
and practice them in our lives. This
is the kingdom of God and the Church
of Jesus Christ. The Lord Almighty
has set His hand to carry out the great
programme of the last dispensation
and fulness of times. If this had not
been true, Utah to-day would have
been in all probability a desert as we
found it in 1847, when first we came
here. God has been watching over this
people, and will continue to watch so long as
we continue to do our duty. So long a[s]
we humble ourselves before the Lord,
so long as we keep His command-
ments, so long will the hand of God be
over the Latter-day Saints; Zion will
arise; Zion will be clothed upon by
the power of God. The Lord is watch-
ing over her; the heavens have been
watching over this people, and have
been from the beginning. We have the
blessings of God with us. They are
manifest in our temporal and spiritual
affairs.
As I said in the beginning of my re-
marks, I realize that the voices of
those we were accustomed to hear in
the past are hushed in death. We
shall hear them no more. The rest of
us will follow in their train. We
shall all pass away in our time, and we
have a long eternity before us in the
world to come. Those that have
passed away have closed their work
here and are laboring to-day on the
other side of the vail.
You have had laid before you, dur-
ing this Conference, some things per-
taining to the redemption of our dead
and some things in regard to the [build-]
ing of temples. These, brethren and
sisters, are important works. They
are works which we do for others that
they cannot do for themselves. This
is what Jesus Christ did when He laid
down His life for our redemption, be-
cause we could not redeem ourselves.
We have fathers and mothers and
kindred in the spirit world, and [we]
have a work to perform in their [behalf].
As an individual I have had great [in-]
terest in this work of redeeming the
dead, and so have my brethren and
sisters. This is a labor we must [con-]
tinue as far as we have opportunity.
This principle was taught by [the]
Apostle Paul. He asks, "If the [dead]
rise not at all, why are they then [bap-]
tized for the dead?" [1 Corinthians 15:29] This is a [work]
that rests upon the Latter-day Saints.
Do what you can in this [life,]
so that when you pass to the
other side of the vail [your]
fathers, mothers, relatives and friends
will bless you for what you have done,
and inasmuch as you have been in-
struments in the hands of God in [pro-]
curing their redemption you will be
recognized as Saviors upon Mount
Zion in fulfilment of prophecy.
I hope that our institutions—[those]
that have been referred to in our
Epistle—the Relief Societies, Sunday
Schools, Mutual Improvement Asso-
ciations, etc., will continue to do good.
They have done a great [deal of]
good, and still have the power to do
more. These institutions [belong]
to the organizations of the [Church]
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day [Saints.]
The brethren and sisters should [con-]
tinue to labor in them in behalf [of the]
rising generation of this people. [The]
Mutual Improvement Assoc[iations]
are good schools in which to [prepare]
our young men for the [vineyard of]
Christ. So also are the various [quo-]
rums of the Priesthood, and we [should]
all labor to the best of our ab[ility to]
fulfill the duties devolving upon us.
I feel the effect of my sickness[; I feel]
it upon my lungs, and do not think [it]
necessary to continue my rema[rks. I]
am glad to see you, and say God [bless]
you, and I pray that God may [pour out]
His Spirit upon you, that we may [mag-]
nify our calling, do our duty, keep [the]
commandments of God, so that [when]
we get through our work we [may be]
satisfied with our history. [I]
feel to bless this cong[regation],
as far as I have the [right]
and privilege to bless, in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The La[tter-]
day Saints have been trying to do [their]
duty, but there is room for all to [im-]
prove; let us walk uprightly and [labor]
for the truth, [an]d for the [inspiration]
of Almighty God to assist us in [all we]
endeavor to accomplish. I [pray our]
Heavenly Father to uphold and [sus-]
tain you, to bless you and your [fami-]
lies, to bless you as husbands [and]
wives and children and as Latt[er-day]
Saints, or any other capacity in [which]
we are called to act. This is my [prayer]
in the name of Jesus Christ, [amen.]
