LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR.

home to receive their reward; but that organization has remained; the
Holy Priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained
upon their heads, and will remain upon the heads of this people until the
coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, we
are in this organization to-day. I do not pretend to say exactly the num-
ber that we have in the Priesthood; but we have from fifteen to twenty
thousand Elders in this Church; we have many various organizations of
the Priesthood, and churches are organized throughout the world as far
as we have had an opportunity. I have been called, these Apostles have,
many of the Elders have, to go to the nations of the earth and the islands
of the sea to preach the Gospel to our fellow-men. What greater calling
can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands
power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of
salvation? Do we prize these things in their fullness? I do not think
we do. Nevertheless, so far we have been enabled to maintain our posi-
tion, and to go forth and fulfill our missions as far as we have had time
and opportunity. Certainly there has been nothing in this work that I
have had greater consolation in than in preaching the Gospel to my fellow-
men and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of God,
both for the living and the dead. I may say the same with regard to my
brethren who are called to perform those ordinances.

There was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our
sons and our missionaries abroad. I will say for myself—and when I say
it for myself I think I speak for a great many others—there is no joy that
I have ever had that has been greater than that which has come to me in
having sons receive the Holy Priesthood and go forth and administer
among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation. It
is a glorious gift to the sons of men. It is what men have not enjoyed
before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost. Then should we not
prize these things? Yes, we should. The Lord, in the dispensation of His
providences, has given to us an army of sons and daughters, and our sons
are called to go to the nations of the earth. We want to instill into their
minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth
and the saving of souls from sin. You give unto any soul the principles
of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him, and you
become an instrument in the hands of God in the salvation of that soul.
There is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it.

This is our position to-day in these mountains. We have been led here
by the power of God—led by a prophet, seer and revelator, President
Brigham Young, who was full of the Holy Ghost and full of revelation,
appointed of the Lord, and who magnified his calling up to the hour of
his death. We came here and found a barren desert. From that day till
this it has been a continual growth and increase, until we have arrived at
a point where we have a tabernacle as a "shadow in the daytime from the
heat * * * and for a covert from storm and from rain." [Isaiah 4:6] These
things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient
prophets and patriarchs who foresaw the work of God in the last days.

I want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among

LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR. 307

home to receive their reward; but that organization has remained; the Holy Priesthood has been given to the sons of men and has remained upon their heads, and will remain upon the heads of this people until the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, I say to the Latter-day Saints, we are in this organization to-day. I do not pretend to say exactly the number that we have in the Priesthood; but we have from fifteen to twenty thousand Elders in this Church; we have many various organizations of the Priesthood, and churches are organized throughout the world as far as we have had an opportunity. I have been called, these Apostles have, many of the Elders have, to go to the nations of the earth and the islands of the sea to preach the Gospel to our fellow-men. What greater calling can any man have on the face of the earth than to hold in his hands power and authority to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation? Do we prize these things in their fullness? I do not think we do. Nevertheless, so far we have been enabled to maintain our position, and to go forth and fulfill our missions as far as we have had time and opportunity. Certainly there has been nothing in this work that I have had greater consolation in than in preaching the Gospel to my fellowmen and in administering unto them the ordinances of the house of God, both for the living and the dead. I may say the same with regard to my brethren who are called to perform those ordinances.

There was something said yesterday by the brethren with regard to our sons and our missionaries abroad. I will say for myself--and when I say it for myself I think I speak for a great many others--there is no joy that I have ever had that has been greater than that which has come to me in having sons receive the Holy Priesthood and go forth and administer among the nations of the earth the ordinances of life and salvation. It is a glorious gift to the sons of men. It is what men have not enjoyed before us for the last eighteen hundred years almost. Then should we not prize these things? Yes, we should. The Lord, in the dispensation of His providences, has given to us an army of sons and daughters, and our sons are called to go to the nations of the earth. We want to instill into their minds the importance of these blessings to the inhabitants of the earth and the saving of souls from sin. You give unto any soul the principles of life and salvation and administer these ordinances to him, and you become an instrument in the hands of God in the salvation of that soul. There is nothing given to the children of men that is equal to it.

This is our position to-day in these mountains. We have been led here by the power of God--led by a prophet, seer and revelator, President Brigham Young, who was full of the Holy Ghost and full of revelation, appointed of the Lord, and who magnified his calling up to the hour of his death. We came here and found a barren desert. From that day till this it has been a continual growth and increase, until we have arrived at a point where we have a tabernacle as a "shadow in the daytime from the heat * * * and for a covert from storm and from rain." These things have all been prophesied of thousands of years ago by the ancient prophets and patriarchs who foresaw the work of God in the last days.

I want to say a few words to our young men who are rising up among