other relatives, into the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have also
held the keys of the dead of my 's
house, and, through the mercy of God
and the assistance of my friends, I
have been enabled to redeem some
three thousand souls of the Woodruff,
Hart and Thompson families, through
the ordinances for the dead, for which I
feel to praise the Lord. For as
says: Why are you baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not at all? [1 Corinthians 15:29]
Thus I have given you a few extracts
from my journal, which is only a limited
account of the labors of one man out of
thirty Apostles, one hundred and fifty
Patriarchs, some five hundred High
Priests, five thousand Seventies and
twenty thousand Elders, besides the
Lesser Priesthood, and two hundred
thousand members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now,
with these reflections resting upon my
mind, and knowing that the work and
labor in the Church and Kingdom of
God will augment and increase from this
time forth with greater rapidity than it
has ever done, until the coming of the
Son of man, and thoroughly compre-
hending the fact that myself, with many
of the leading men and fathers in Israel
will soon pass to the other side of the
veil, my spirit is ready to cry out, "Where,
O where, O Lord, is the material which
thou hast ordained to step forth and
take our places and the places of the
fathers in Zion, to take the Church, the
Zion and Kingdom of God, and bear it
off triumphant, and prepare it as the
Bride, the Lamb's Wife, for the coming
of the great Bridegroom?" I will confess
that I know not where to look for this
element, if it is not to be found in the
young men who dwell in these moun-
tains of Israel. I am satisfied it can not
be found anywhere else upon the face of
the whole earth.
With this great fact and eternal truth
standing boldly before my face, what
can I say to my young friends, young
brothers, young men of Zion? You are
stepping forth into manhood as members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints. Many of you are already
bearing the holy Priesthood and officiat-
ing in its various offices. Many of you
have parents who have labored faithfully
to build up the Church and Kingdom of
God on the earth, and have finished
their testimony, and to-day are in the
spirit world. Many of you have parents
still living who will soon close their tes-
timony and also pass away. So far as I
am concerned, having reached my four
score years, I do not know that I shall
ever be permitted again in the flesh to
meet with the young men in Zion, in the
capacity of a mutual improvement asso-
ciation, or in their public assemblies.
So far as that is concerned, it mattereth
not. But I wish I had power to express
myself as I feel to the children, to the
young men and women of the Latter-
day Saints, who dwell in these moun-
tains. I wish the veil could be lifted
from off their eyes, that they could see
what lies before them, that they could
see their destiny, that they could see
unto what they are ordained. I wish,
my young friends, that you could com-
prehend the magnitude and value of the
great work which the God of Heaven is
about to place upon your shoulders.
Could the visions of your minds be
opened to see the great work your
Heavenly Father, the Father of your
spirits, ordained you to before the world
was, to enter into the flesh on the earth
in the last days, and take the Kingdom
of our God and bear it off triumphant,
and prepare it for the coming of the Son
of Man! I say, if you could see these
truths and comprehend them, you would
labor with all your might, mind and
strength to prepare yourselves and qual-
ify yourselves, not only with the Priest-
hood, but with the powers of that Priest-
hood and with the power of God, to
enter into the ministry and labor by
faith, that you may be able to stand true
and faithful to God and to your cove-
nants. For you stand on the earth in the
day when the judgments, wrath and in-
dignation of Almighty God are about to
be poured out upon the wicked of all
nations.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world,
the light that shineth in darkness, and [John 1:5]
other relatives, into the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have also
held the keys of the dead of my 's
house, and, through the mercy of God
and the assistance of my friends, I
have been enabled to redeem some
three thousand souls of the Woodruff,
Hart and Thompson families, through
the ordinances for the dead, for which I
feel to praise the Lord. For as
says: Why are you baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not at all?
Thus I have given you a few extracts
from my journal, which is only a limited
account of the labors of one man out of
thirty Apostles, one hundred and fifty
Patriarchs, some five hundred High
Priests, five thousand Seventies and
twenty thousand Elders, besides the
Lesser Priesthood, and two hundred
thousand members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now,
with these reflections resting upon my
mind, and knowing that the work and
labor in the Church and Kingdom of
God will augment and increase from this
time forth with greater rapidity than it
has ever done, until the coming of the
Son of man, and thoroughly comprehending the fact that myself, with many
of the leading men and fathers in Israel
will soon pass to the other side of the
veil, my spirit is ready to cry out, "Where,
O where, O Lord, is the material which
thou hast ordained to step forth and
take our places and the places of the
fathers in Zion, to take the Church, the
Zion and Kingdom of God, and bear it
off triumphant, and prepare it as the
Bride, the Lamb's Wife, for the coming
of the great Bridegroom?" I will confess
that I know not where to look for this
element, if it is not to be found in the
young men who dwell in these mountains of Israel. I am satisfied it can not
be found anywhere else upon the face of
the whole earth.
With this great fact and eternal truth
standing boldly before my face, what
can I say to my young friends, young
brothers, young men of Zion? You are
stepping forth into manhood as members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Many of you are already
bearing the holy Priesthood and officiating in its various offices. Many of you
have parents who have labored faithfully
to build up the Church and Kingdom of
God on the earth, and have finished
their testimony, and to-day are in the
spirit world. Many of you have parents
still living who will soon close their testimony and also pass away. So far as I
am concerned, having reached my four
score years, I do not know that I shall
ever be permitted again in the flesh to
meet with the young men in Zion, in the
capacity of a mutual improvement association, or in their public assemblies.
So far as that is concerned, it mattereth
not. But I wish I had power to express
myself as I feel to the children, to the
young men and women of the Latterday Saints, who dwell in these mountains. I wish the veil could be lifted
from off their eyes, that they could see
what lies before them, that they could
see their destiny, that they could see
unto what they are ordained. I wish,
my young friends, that you could comprehend the magnitude and value of the
great work which the God of Heaven is
about to place upon your shoulders.
Could the visions of your minds be
opened to see the great work your
Heavenly Father, the Father of your
spirits, ordained you to before the world
was, to enter into the flesh on the earth
in the last days, and take the Kingdom
of our God and bear it off triumphant,
and prepare it for the coming of the Son
of Man! I say, if you could see these
truths and comprehend them, you would
labor with all your might, mind and
strength to prepare yourselves and qualify yourselves, not only with the Priesthood, but with the powers of that Priesthood and with the power of God, to
enter into the ministry and labor by
faith, that you may be able to stand true
and faithful to God and to your covenants. For you stand on the earth in the
day when the judgments, wrath and indignation of Almighty God are about to
be poured out upon the wicked of all
nations.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world,
the light that shineth in darkness, and