Discourse 1892-06-12
REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER
I arise with a heart full of gratitude
and thanksgiving to my Heavenly
Father for preserving my life until I
again have the privilege of visiting St.
George and beholding the faces of my
brethren and sisters with whom I
stand connected in the new and ever-
lasting covenant—a covenant which
will last not only in this world, but in
the world to come.
I think you are all acquainted with
my motto with regard to public speak-
ing. No man, in this generation or in
any other, can preach the Gospel or
edify the Saints of God unless he is led
by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost;
and what little I may speak to you
this afternoon, I need and desire that
Spirit. I hope I may have the faith
and prayers of the Saints of God unto
this end.
I have some things upon my mind
that I would like to speak of this after-
noon, if I can get the spirit of them.
I will say that some of the most inter-
esting history of my life has been the
time that I have spent here in St.
George, and in the Temple of God
which is built here. There is no eye
that has seen, nor ear that has heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of
man to conceive, the future reward
that will be given these people who
dwell here and who have labored in
the Temple of God. For myself, I can
say that I feel under deep obligation
to the people who dwell here—an obli-
gation that I feel will last with me
throughout all eternity. In my early
days there were two things for
which I desired to live. One was
the redemption of the dead—my
father's house, my mother's house,
and the progenitors who are in the
spirit world, and who never heard the
Gospel. I have been preserved in the
flesh, as one of their descendants, to
hold the keys of their salvation and
redemption, the same as you have for
your progenitors, whom you are called
to redeem and labor for here in the
flesh. This has been a work that I
have greatly desired to do for years
that are past and gone, and through
the blessing of the Lord and the as-
sistance of my brethren and sisters
who dwell in St. George, I have lived
to see it accomplished to a great ex-
tent, which I look upon as one of the
greatest blessings God ever bestowed
upon me. So I look upon it with re-
gard to all of us.
The Lord has had certain purposes in
gathering us together, and the redemp-
tion of our dead is one of them. And
when I reflect upon the work which
the Latter-day Saints have been called
to perform in these latterdays, I re-
joice before the Lord that I have lived
in this day and generation, and that
I have been numbered among the Lat-
ter-day Saints who have been called to
perform these great and mighty works
which are necessary to be performed
before the coming of the Son of Man.
The building of these Temples in these
mountains of Israel is among the mar-
velous events of the day in which we
live. Of course, we built Temples be-
fore we came to these valleys; one
in Kirtland, and one in Nauvoo.
I was not at the dedication of the
Temple in Kirtland; but I was present
at the dedication of the Temple in
Nauvoo. The history of these Tem-
ples you have before you. You know
the Prophets were slain, and the Lord
required the building of that Temple
at the hands of the Saints before they
were driven into the wilderness.
There was a certain revelation given
that inspired in a great measure the
Elders of the Church of God to per-
form that work. They labored with
all the power they possessed, and they
accomplished that work. They went
into that Temple and received ordin
ances and endowments before they
left to go into the wilderness. These
Temples that we have build here stand
as a monument before God, angels
and men, to the faith and works of the
Latter-day Saints.
Brother George Q. Cannon has re-
ferred to your labors in settling here.
You were called to come here by the
servants of God. You left your homes
to come here and you have done what
was required of you in this mat-
ter. You have had power to
finish the Temple, and you have had
power to go in and redeem your dead.
A great many of you have done this,
and I hope all of you will continue as
long as you have any dead to redeem.
Never cease that work while you have
the power to enter into the Temple. I
have greatly rejoiced in my work in
this Temple, and in the blessings that
I have received at the hands of the
Latter-day Saints here. Gold and sil-
ver are no comparison to these things.
I have had some thousands redeemed
here. I have had baptisms, ordina-
tions, washings and anointings, en-
dowments and sealings for them, the
same as if they were standing in the
flesh themselves. I shall go and meet
them on the other side of the veil. You
will go and meet your relatives. You
will hold the keys of their salvation to
the endless ages of eternity, if you at-
tend to this labor for them.
There is no principle on earth that I
rejoice more in than in the power that
we hold as Latter-day Saints to build
these Temples, to go into them, and to
redeem our dead. It will require im-
mortal bodies, immortal spirits, im-
mortal revelations to enable men to
comprehend the full extent of this
work; they cannot comprehend it in
mortality.
Now, I desire to live to see the Salt
Lake Temple finished. I want to be
with my brethren the Apostles, the
High Priests, the Seventies, the
Elders and all the authorities of the
Church when that Temple is dedicated
to God. We have been as long build-
ing that Temple as Moses was leading
the children of Israel through the
wilderness to the land of promise, and
I would like to see it finished.
I view our position as Latter-day
Saints, and all that is transpiring here,
as well as our history before we came
here, as in fulfillment of the revela-
tions of God. A great many of our
friends felt bad when we had to leave
our lovely Nauvoo to go into the
wilderness. It was a great trial to
them. But had that not taken place,
the Bible and the Book of Mormon and
many of the revelations in the Doc-
trine and Covenants would have fallen
to the ground unfulfilled. This is the
place pointed out by the finger of God
for the people to stand in holy places
while the judgments of God go forth in
the earth. It is marvelous in my eyes
that I have lived to see the Temples
that have been built in these moun-
tains of Israel and the mighty work
that has been performed in them, con-
sidering the condition in which we
came here. A little handful of men,
in poverty and affliction, came into
this barren desert. I brought
President Young in my carriage
into the valley of Salt Lake.
He was sick, and he asked me to
turn my carriage so that he could get
sight of the valley. I did so. He cast
