to themselves in the spirit, and
in order that this work may be
done, we must have Temples in
which to do it; and what I wish to
say to you, my brethren and sisters,
is that the God of heaven requires
us to rise up and build them, that
the work of redemption may be
hastened. Our reward will meet us
when we go behind the vail.

"Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors; and their works
do follow them." [Revelation 14:13]

We have labored in the St. George
Temple since January, and we have
done all we could there; and the
Lord has stirred up our minds, and
many things have been revealed to
us concerning the dead. President
Young has said to us, and it is verily
so, if the dead could they would speak
in language loud as ten thousand
thunders, calling upon the servants
of God to rise up and build Tem-
ples, magnify their calling and re-
deem their dead. This doubtless
sounds strange to those present who
believe not the faith and doctrine of
the Latter-day Saints; but when
we get to the spirit-world we will
find out that all that God has revealed
is true. We will find, too, that
everything there is reality, and that
God has a body, parts and passions,
and the erroneous ideas that exist
now with regard to him will have
passed away. I feel to say little else
to the Latter-day Saints wherever
and whenever I have the opportu-
nity of speaking to them, than to
call upon them to build these Tem-
ples now under way, to hurry them
up to completion. The dead will
be after you, they will seek after
you as they have after us in St. George.
They called upon us, knowing that
we held the keys and power to re-
deem them.

I will here say, before closing,
that two weeks before I left St.
George, the spirits of the dead gath-
ered around me, wanting to know
why we did not redeem them. Said
they, "You have had the use of
the Endowment House for a num-
ber of years, and yet nothing has
ever been done for us. We laid
the foundation of the government
you now enjoy, and we never apos-
tatized from it, but we remained
true to it and were faithful to God."
These were the signers of the De-
claration of Independence, and they
waited on me for two days and two
nights. I thought it very singular,
that notwithstanding so much work
had been done, and yet nothing
had been done for them. The
thought never entered my heart,
from the fact, I suppose, that here-
tofore our minds were reaching after
our more immediate friends and
relatives. I straightway went into
the baptismal font and called upon
brother McCallister to baptize me
for the signers of the Declaration
of Independence, and fifty other
eminent men, making one hundred
in all, including John Wesley, Col-
umbus, and others; I then baptized
him for every President of the Uni-
ted States, except three; and when
their cause is just, somebody will
do the work for them.

I have felt to rejoice exceedingly
in this work of redeeming the dead.
I do not wonder at President Young
saying he felt moved upon to call
upon the Latter-day Saints to hurry
up the building of these Temples.
He felt the importance of the work;
but now he has gone, it rests with
us to continue it, and God will bless
our labors and we will have joy
therein. This is a preparation ne-
cessary for the second advent of the
Savior; and when we shall have
built the Temples now contemplated,

NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, ETC. 229

to themselves in the spirit, and in order that this work may be done, we must have Temples in which to do it; and what I wish to say to you, my brethren and sisters, is that the God of heaven requires us to rise up and build them, that the work of redemption may be hastened. Our reward will meet us when we go behind the vail.

"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."

We have labored in the St. George Temple since January, and we have done all we could there; and the Lord has stirred up our minds, and many things have been revealed to us concerning the dead. President Young has said to us, and it is verily so, if the dead could they would speak in language loud as ten thousand thunders, calling upon the servants of God to rise up and build Temples, magnify their calling and redeem their dead. This doubtless sounds strange to those present who believe not the faith and doctrine of the Latter-day Saints; but when we get to the spirit-world we will find out that all that God has revealed is true. We will find, too, that everything there is reality, and that God has a body, parts and passions, and the erroneous ideas that exist now with regard to him will have passed away. I feel to say little else to the Latter-day Saints wherever and whenever I have the opportunity of speaking to them, than to call upon them to build these Temples now under way, to hurry them up to completion. The dead will be after you, they will seek after you as they have after us in St. George. They called upon us, knowing that we held the keys and power to redeem them.

I will here say, before closing, that two weeks before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, "You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God." These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others; I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them.

I have felt to rejoice exceedingly in this work of redeeming the dead. I do not wonder at President Young saying he felt moved upon to call upon the Latter-day Saints to hurry up the building of these Temples. He felt the importance of the work; but now he has gone, it rests with us to continue it, and God will bless our labors and we will have joy therein. This is a preparation necessary for the second advent of the Savior; and when we shall have built the Temples now contemplated,