THE SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE.
FIRST DAY.
THE Forty-seventh [forty-sixth] Semi-Annual
Conference of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, con-
vened this morning in the New
Tabernacle, , at 10
o'clock.
ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF
said the gospel of Jesus Christ was
just as true to-day as it was in the
days of Adam, or as it was in the
days of Nauvoo. God never had
had a people on the earth, but what
he always held communication
with them through his servants
the prophets. The gospel had been
restored in this our day, as the
fulfilment of prophecy given in
the scriptures. The Bible was the
record of the dealings of God with
the Jews, and those revelations
given through John the Revelator
on the Isle of Patmos, pertaining to
the restoration of the gospel and
the plagues, pestilences, and fam-
ines that were to deluge the earth
in the last days, would every one
of them be fulfilled. The Book of
Mormon is a record of a portion of
the House of Israel that inhabited
this continent, and the dealings of
God with them through his ser-
vants the prophets. The Book of
Doctrine and Covenants contained
many revelations that God gave to
his servant Joseph Smith, many of
them having been given before the
church was organized. What made
Joseph Smith what he was, was
the power of God, and the Gospel
of Jesus Christ.
By the power of God this people
was enabled to receive the testi-
mony of his servants. By his pow-
er this people had been gathered to
this Territory. The once desert
plains we now inhabited had become
fruitful. By the power of God we
were here living in peace, and had
been sustained to bring about his
purposes. The word of the Lord
had gone forth that he would sus-
tain his people who had received
the testimony of his servants and
keep his commandments. If the
Lord had not kept his promise we
should long since have been scat-
tered before our enemies. Let us be
encouraged and pray for his holy
spirit to be with us, that we might
keep his commandments, for Zion
must be built up. The unbelief of
the world would not prevent the
fulfilment of prophecy, and unless
the people of this continent repent-
ed of their sins, believed on
Jesus Christ and were baptized for
the remission of their sins, they
would be visited by the judgments
of God, according to the predictions
of St. John.