The Latter-day Saints are somewhat peculiar from other religious
denominations; one of their peculiarities is this, that no man knows when
he comes into this Tabernacle who is going to speak here. This is true, as
a general thing. This is my personal experience. I have traveled one
hundred and sixty thousand miles in the last sixty years of my life. I
have been in the Church about that length of time. I have traveled
among the nations of the earth, the islands of the sea and in my own
country. I have preached the Gospel, and I have never known, whenever
I arose to speak to the people, what I was going to say. I have been de-
pendent upon the inspiration of Almighty God, as have all the Elders in
this Church. Brother Penrose has remarked concerning our manner of
preaching. Whom has the Lord called, from the creation of the world, to
do this work? He has called, in a great measure, the weak things of this
world. You may trace this in the whole history of the dealings of God
with men. When He wanted a king in Israel, He chose a boy—David, one
of the sons of Jesse. [1 Samuel 16:1-13] Who were the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom He chose to stand by Him and to preach the Gospel? They were
illiterate fishermen. [Matthew 4:18-22] Men in this day have been called from the plow, the
plane and the hammer, and the various occupations of life, and thrust into
the vineyard of the Lord. Why have they gone? Because they knew for
themselves—every man has known who has embraced this Gospel and
done his duty—that he has had to depend upon the Lord. That is the
only dependence that we have. I never in my life, except in one or two
instances in my early preaching, attempted to prepare anything to say to
the congregation, and when I did I never touched the subject at all.

I will say to our friends who are present, you see a city here, you see a
tabernacle here. How did this come about? I came here with President
Young, in 1847. We found a barren desert—as barren as the desert of
Sahara. It was in keeping with the name it bore—the Great American
Desert. How is it to-day? There is a city here, and we are building a
Temple. We go into temples to attend to ordinances for the living and
the dead, as has been told us to-day? These Elders of Israel have been
called by the power of God to go forth into the world and preach to their
fellowmen, and they have promised them in the name of Jesus Christ that
all who received this Gospel should receive the Holy Ghost. If this were
not true, and the men and women they baptized received not the Holy
Ghost, could they not have found it out before this time? Had not the
Lord Almighty backed up this testimony of His humble servants, Utah
to-day would be as barren as we found it in 1847, so far as the Latter-day
Saints are concerned. But by the power of God men have received this,
and by His power they have been gathered here.

I will say another thing. The prophecies of Isaiah would have fallen
unfulfilled, as well as the prophecies of many other Prophets, had not
these things taken place. Since the creation of man the Lord has never
brought judgment upon any generation, upon any city, town or country,
that I have ever read of, whenever they have been ripened in iniquity,
until He has fully warned them by men raised up for that purpose, and
they have rejected those men. Take those ancient cities, when they be-

The Latter-day Saints are somewhat peculiar from other religious denominations; one of their peculiarities is this, that no man knows when he comes into this Tabernacle who is going to speak here. This is true, as a general thing. This is my personal experience. I have traveled one hundred and sixty thousand miles in the last sixty years of my life. I have been in the Church about that length of time. I have traveled among the nations of the earth, the islands of the sea and in my own country. I have preached the Gospel, and I have never known, whenever I arose to speak to the people, what I was going to say. I have been dependent upon the inspiration of Almighty God, as have all the Elders in this Church. Brother Penrose has remarked concerning our manner of preaching. Whom has the Lord called, from the creation of the world, to do this work? He has called, in a great measure, the weak things of this world. You may trace this in the whole history of the dealings of God with men. When He wanted a king in Israel, He chose a boy—David, one of the sons of Jesse. Who were the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He chose to stand by Him and to preach the Gospel? They were illiterate fishermen. Men in this day have been called from the plow, the plane and the hammer, and the various occupations of life, and thrust into the vineyard of the Lord. Why have they gone? Because they knew for themselves—every man has known who has embraced this Gospel and done his duty—that he has had to depend upon the Lord. That is the only dependence that we have. I never in my life, except in one or two instances in my early preaching, attempted to prepare anything to say to the congregation, and when I did I never touched the subject at all.

I will say to our friends who are present, you see a city here, you see a tabernacle here. How did this come about? I came here with President Young, in 1847. We found a barren desert—as barren as the desert of Sahara. It was in keeping with the name it bore—the Great American Desert. How is it to-day? There is a city here, and we are building a Temple. We go into temples to attend to ordinances for the living and the dead, as has been told us to-day? These Elders of Israel have been called by the power of God to go forth into the world and preach to their fellowmen, and they have promised them in the name of Jesus Christ that all who received this Gospel should receive the Holy Ghost. If this were not true, and the men and women they baptized received not the Holy Ghost, could they not have found it out before this time? Had not the Lord Almighty backed up this testimony of His humble servants, Utah to-day would be as barren as we found it in 1847, so far as the Latter-day Saints are concerned. But by the power of God men have received this, and by His power they have been gathered here.

I will say another thing. The prophecies of Isaiah would have fallen unfulfilled, as well as the prophecies of many other Prophets, had not these things taken place. Since the creation of man the Lord has never brought judgment upon any generation, upon any city, town or country, that I have ever read of, whenever they have been ripened in iniquity, until He has fully warned them by men raised up for that purpose, and they have rejected those men. Take those ancient cities, when they be-