To the Officers and Members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The near approach of the date for the dedi-
cation of the Temple of our God moves us to
express with some degree of fullness our feelings
to our brethren, the officers of the Church, who
with us bear the Priesthood of the Son of God,
and to the Latter-day Saints generally; to the
end that in entering that holy building we may
all be found acceptable ourselves, with our
households, and that the building which we shall
dedicate may also be acceptable unto the Lord.
The Latter-day Saints have used their means
freely to erect other temples in these valleys,
and our Father has blessed us in our efforts.
Today we enjoy the great happiness of having
three of these sacred structures completed,
dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein
the Saints can enter and attend to those ordi-
nances which He, in His infinite goodness and
kindness, has revealed. But for forty years the
hopes, desires, and anticipations of the entire
Church have been centered upon the comple-
tion of this edifice in the principal city of Zion.
Its foundation was laid in the early days of our
settlement in these mountains; and from that
day until the present, the eyes of the members
of the Church in every land have been lovingly
directed toward it. Looking upon it as the
Temple of temples, the people during all these
years have labored with unceasing toil, undi-
minished patience, and ungrudging expenditure
of means to bring it to its present condition of
completion; and now that the toils and the
sacrifices of forty years are crowned so success-
fully and happily; now that the great building
is at last finished and ready to be used for
divine purposes, need we say that we draw near
an event whose consummation is to us as a
people momentous in the highest degree? Far-
reaching in its consequences, as that occasion
is certain to be, what remains for us to say in
order to impress the entire Church with a sense
of its tremendous importance?
On this point, surely nothing; yet may we
offer a few words upon a phase that directly
touches it. No member of the Church who
would be deemed worthy to enter that sacred
house can be considered ignorant of the prin-
ciples of the Gospel. It is not too much to pre-
sume that every one knows what his duty is to
God and to his fellowman. None is so forgetful
as to have lost sight of the admonition that we
must be filled with love for and charity toward
our brethren. And hence none can for a
moment doubt the supreme importance of every
member of the congregation being at peace with
all his or her brethren and sisters, and at peace
with God. How else can we hope to gain the
blessings He has promised save by complying
with the requirements for which those blessings
are the reward!
Can men and women who are violating a law
of God, or those who are derelict in yielding
obedience to His commands, expect that the
mere going into His holy house and taking part
in its dedication will render them worthy to
receive, and cause them to receive, His blessing?
Do they think that repentance and turning
away from sin may be so lightly dispensed with?
Do they dare, even in thought, thus to accuse
our Father of injustice and partiality, and attrib-
ute to Him carelessness in the fulfillment of His
own words?
Assuredly no one claiming to belong to His
people would be guilty of such a thing.
Then must those who are unworthy cease to
expect a blessing from their attendance at the
Temple while sin unrepented of still casts its
odor about them, and while bitterness or even
an unforgiving coolness exists in their hearts
against their brethren and sisters.
On this latter subject we feel that much might
be said. In the striving after compliance with the
apparently weightier matters of the law, there is
a possibility that the importance of this spirit of
love and kindness and charity may be under-
estimated. For ourselves, we cannot think of
any precept that at present requires more
earnest inculcation.
During the past eighteen months there has
been a division of the Latter-day Saints upon
national party lines. Political campaigns have
been conducted, elections have been held, and
feelings, more or less intense, have been en-
gendered in the minds of brethren and sisters
upon one side and the other.
We have been cognizant of conduct and have
heard of many expressions that have been very
painful to us and have grieved our spirits.
We know they have been an offense unto the
God of peace and love, and a stumbling block
unto many of the Saints.
We feel now that a time for reconciliation has
come; that before entering into the Temple to
present ourselves before the Lord in solemn
assembly, we shall divest ourselves of every
harsh and unkind feeling against each other;
that not only our bickerings shall cease, but that
the cause of them shall be removed, and every
sentiment that prompted and has maintained
them shall be dispelled; that we shall confess
our sins one to another, and ask forgiveness one
of another; that we shall plead with the Lord
for the spirit of repentance, and, having obtained
it, follow its promptings; so that in humbling
ourselves before Him and seeking forgiveness
from each other, we shall yield that charity and
generosity to those who crave our forgiveness
that we ask for and expect from heaven.
