Elder W. Woodruff: We say we meet
together to worship the Lord and to do
a great many things for Him; but we
meet together for our own benefit. The
Lord has obtained His glory and we
have not; and He has placed us in this
life to obtain our exaltation. This is
what we are striving to obtain, and
why we meet to worship God. I do not
know that we can do anything for the
Lord, only to be obedient to His will;
and if we are obedient it is for our own
benefit. When we build school-houses
and meeting-houses, it is for ourselves
we build them. If we plant orchards
and vineyards they are for ourselves;
and all we do in the great work of God
in these last days is to obtain salvation
in the presence of the Lord. If we are
counseled to cease from evil, it is for
our own benefit. We have offered the
nations the gospel and they have re-
jected it. Does it injure us? No; it
injures them; for they are under con-
demnation for refusing that which is
for their own good. We have embraced
the gospel, and we are blessed with
peace and comfort and consolation; we
have had the benefit of it in this life
and it will bestow upon us eternal life
in the world to come. You cannot
make a wicked man happy by giving
him property and riches. There is no
people on the earth that enjoys so much
happiness as we do. We have had hard
labor, and with it the spirit of peace,
and we rejoice in the principles of eter-
nal life. Our minds change as do the
appearance of our faces. If we had a
picture of our minds, as they were a
few years ago, and were to compare it
with them now we would see a decided
advancement in knowledge.
We have been taught by our early
traditions that the Lord has nothing to
do with temporal things. This is a
mistake. The world and its fulness are
all temporal; and the Lord made them.
This is a temporal kingdom, and must
occupy a power on the earth. When-
ever a Bishop is placed over a people,
and he enjoys the spirit of his calling,
his counsels to that people will be right;
and the people should sustain that man,
and they will be blessed in so doing.
Pres. Young has labored for years to
get the people to have a correct under-
standing with regard to temporal things.
We have formerly sold our grain for
naught; but within the last year or two
it has been worth something; and if we
would be counseled in all things we
would be blessed more abundantly,
temporally and spiritually; and this
course would lead us to the possession
of eternal life.