Discourse 1889-10-06
Sunday after noon, Oct. 6. .
The following passage from the
sixty-eighth section of the Doctrine
and Covenants was read by Presi-
dent George Q. Cannon:
My servant, Orson Hyde, was called
by his ordinance to proclaim the ever-
lasting gospel, by the Spirit of the
living God, from people to people, and
from land to land, in the congrega-
tion of the wicked, in their synago-
gues, reasoning with, and expounding
all Scriptures unto them.
And behold, and lo, this is an ensam-
ple unto all those who were ordained
unto this Priesthood, whose mission
is appointed unto them to go forth;
And this is an ensample unto them,
that they shall speak as they are
moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
And whatsoever they shall speak
when moved upon by the Holy Ghost,
shall be scripture, shall be the will of
the Lord, shall be the mind of the
Lord, shall be the word of the Lord,
shall be the voice of the Lord, and the
power of God unto salvation:
Behold this is the promise of the
Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
President Woodruff then said: I
have traveled over one hun-
dred and fifty thousand miles
preaching the Gospel to large
and small congregations, to saints
and to sinners; and I have
never yet seen the day, on arising to
my feet, that I have known what I
was going to say to the people. And
this is the case with the Elders gen-
erally in their ministrations. You
who have attended the meetings of
this Conference perceived that we
called upon brethren from the right
and left to speak to us; and if you
have any discernment you certainly
can testify that they spoke by the
Spirit and power of God.
I have attended Conferences dur-
ing my whole life, in company with
the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery,
the witnesses of the Book of Mor-
mon, with the first Twelve Apos-
tles, all of whom are in the spirit
world, mingling with the Gods; and
I have never attended a Conference
when I have felt better and been
more edified in listening to the re-
marks of the same number of men,
than at this Conference. The Elders
have spoken by inspiration, and
they have declared unto us
eternal truths. As I said last night
at our Priesthood meeting so I
would remark here, no man that
God ever made, beginning with
Father Adam down through the
history of the world, that has ever
been called to build up the King-
dom of God, and preach the Gospel,
has been able to perform that work
only by the Power of the Holy
Ghost; neither can any man do it
today. We are all dependent upon
the Holy Ghost. And what is the
Holy Ghost? The testimony of the
Father and the Son. It is one of
the God-head—God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
Will the Holy Ghost deceive any
man? It will not. When a man
speaks as he is moved upon by the
Holy Ghost, it is the spirit of in-
spiration; it is the word of God; it is
the will of God. It cannot lie; it
cannot deceive. It leads into all
truth and reveals to man the will of
his Maker.
Jesus instructed His disciples to
take no thought what they should
eat, or what they should drink.
They were traveling without purse
or scrip, as many of us have done
in our time. The Lord knew they
would have need of something to
eat; and He knew that somebody
would be raised up to supply their
wants. He also instructed them to
take no thought what they should say
when having to appear before magis-
trates and rulers; for the same
should be given them the hour it
was needed.
This is the condition of the Lat-
ter-day Saints. The Apostle has said,
"He hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things
which are mighty; . . .
and things which are not, to bring
to nought things which are." [1 Corinthians 1:27-28] This
has been the case in the dealings of
God with man of all ages; and it
certainly is the case in this our day.
When I look upon the ten thou-
sand faces of Latter-day Saints be-
fore me the present time; and when
I contemplate what God hath
wrought in establishing this people
in the midst of these mountain val-
leys; and when I bring myself
face to face with the wonderful age
we live in, and sense the
mighty responsibilities that rest
upon us, as watchmen upon
the walls of Zion, and as
watchmen to this generation—when
I contemplate these things, if any
man under heaven feels his weak-
ness, it is Wilford Woodruff. And
in saying this of myself, I know I
am expressing the feelings of my
brethren associated with me in ref-
erence to themselves, as Counselors,
as well as the sentiments of the
Twelve respecting themselves, and
those of every Elder of Israel who
appreciates his calling in Christ
Jesus.
We have been called from the
plow, the plane and the anvil, and
the various avocations of life; and
without preparation the Elders of
this Church are sent forth, by com-
mand of Almighty God, to
preach to and warn the nations of
the earth. Joseph Smith has
been referred to by some of the
speakers, and their testimony
of him is true. A greater prophet
than he, excepting Jesus Christ, I
do not believe ever lived. In saying
this I give it as my own personal
views. I don't believe God ever
raised up a greater prophet, save
Jesus himself. The dispensation he
was called to usher in is the great-
est ever given to man; and it re-
quired just such a man to stand at
the head of it—a man who was true
to God and his brethren; who was a
seer and revelator, and whose faith
in God was such that he never
wavered or doubted, but persevered
himself and encouraged others to
move forward in the great work be-
fore them. The world called him
illiterate and ignorant. However
they might regard him, our testi-
mony of him is that he
was taught of God Himself
and of the angels who visited
him; and that he fulfilled certain
revelations and predictions referring
to this age, as contained in the Bible
and other records of Divine truth.
And, as has been stated during this
Conference, he brought forth the
Book of Mormon—the stick of Joseph
in the hands of Ephraim—in fulfil-
ment of the testimony of Isaiah,
translating that record through the
Urim and Thummim, thereby reveal-
ing to us the history of the early in-
habitants of this Continent. That book
informs us that two distinct nations
inhabited this land, the founders of
both of which were brought here by
the power of God from the eastern
continent, the first, known after-
wards as the Jaredites, tracing their
origin to the tower of Babel. They
