DISCOURSE BY ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF,
DELIVERED IN THE 13TH WARD ASSEMBLY ROOMS, SALT LAKE CITY,
.
(Reported by David W. Evans.)
THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN—THE SAINTS' DUTIES.
My address this afternoon will be
intended for those who profess to be
Latter-day Saints—those who have
entered into co[v]enant with the Lord
our God. I am surrounded with
those who know by experience that
we are dependent upon the influence
and inspiration of the Holy Ghost to
enable us to teach the things of the
kingdom of God. My faith is that
no man, in this or any other genera-
tion, is able to teach and edify the
inhabitants of the earth without the
inspiration of the Spirit of God. As
a people we have been placed in
positions the last forty years which
have taught, in all our administra-
tions and labors, the necessity of
acknowledging the hand of God in
all things. We feel this necessity
to-day. I know that I am not quali-
fied to teach either the Latter-day
Saints or the world without the
Spirit of God. I desire this this
afternoon, and also your faith and
prayers, that my mind may be led in
a channel which may be beneficial to
you. In my public teaching I never
permit my mind to follow in any
channel except that which the Spirit
dictates to me, and this is the posi-
tion we all occupy when we meet
with the Saints, or when we go forth
to preach the Gospel. As Jesus told
his Apostles, Take no thought what
ye shall say, it is told us, Take no
thought what we shall say; [Luke 12:11-12] but we
treasure up in our minds words of
wisdom by the blessing of God and
studying the best books. [Doctrine and Covenants 88:118]
We are told in the 24th chapter
of Matthew that Jesus, on a certain
occasion, taught his disciples many
things concerning his Gospel, the
Temple, the Jews, his second com-
ing and the end of the world; and
they asked him—Master, what shall
be the sign of these things? [Matthew 24:3] The
Savior answered them, but in a very
brief manner. As my mind runs a
little in that channel, I feel disposed
to read a portion of the word of the
Lord unto us, which explains this
matter more fully than the Savior
explained it to his disciples. That
portion of the word of the Lord
which I shall read, is a revelation
given to the Latter-day Saints,
March 7, 1831, forty-two years ago
next March. It commences on the
133rd page of the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants.
-[The speaker read the revelation,
and then resumed his remarks as
follows]-:
I want to ask who are looking for
the fulfillment of these events, and
who upon the earth are preparing
themselves for the fulfillment of the
word of the Lord through the mouths
of Prophets, Patriarchs and Apostles
for the last six thousand years?
Nobody that I have any knowledge
of, without it is the Latter-day Saints,
and I for one feel that we are not
half so much awake as we ought to
be, and not half as well prepared as
we ought to be for the tremendous
events which are coming upon the
earth in quick succession in these
latter days. Who can the Lord ex-
pect to prepare for his second coming
but his Saints? None. Why?
Because, as is said in this revelation,
light has come forth to the inhabitants
of the earth, and they have rejected
it, because their deeds are evil. [Doctrine and Covenants 45:28-29] This
message has been proclaimed among
the Christian nations of Europe and
America, and in many other nations,
for the past forty years. Inspired
men—the Elders of Israel—have
gone forth without purse or scrip
declaring the Gospel of life and sal-
vation to the nations of the world,
but they have rejected their testi-
mony, and condemnation rests upon
them therefor." As the Prophet
said, "Darkness covers the earth,
and gross darkness the minds of the
people." [Doctrine and Covenants 112:23] Who believes in the fulfill-
ment of prophecy and revelation?
Who, among priests and people to-
day, has any faith in the sayings of
Jesus Christ? If there be any peo-
ple besides the Saints whose eyes are
open to the great events which will
soon overtake the nations, I would
like to know and visit them. I
would to God that the eyes of the
Latter-day Saints were open far more
than they are to those things that
rest upon them! The Lord is look-
ing to them alone to build up his
Zion here in the mountains of Israel,
and to prepare the bride, the Lamb's
wife, for the coming of the Great
Bridegroom. I believe in the ful-
fillment of the revelations which the
Lord has given to us, as much as I
believe that I have a soul to save or
lose, or as much as I believe in the
shining of the sun in the firmament
of heaven. Why? Because every
word that God has ever spoken, whe-
ther by his own voice out of the hea-
vens, by the ministration of angels,
or by the mouths of inspired men,
has been fulfilled to the very letter as
far as time has permitted. We have
fulfilled many of the sayings of the
Prophets of God. The revelation I
have read this afternoon was given
forty-two years ago. Has there been
any sound of war since then? Has
there been any sound of war in our
land since that period? Has there
been any standard lifted up to the
nations, any gathering together of
the people into these mountains of
Israel from nearly all nations? There
has. We have had a beginning, the
fig tree is leaving, putting forth its
leaves in the sight of all men, and
the signs in both heaven and earth
all indicate the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. [Doctrine and Covenants 45:37-38]
When my mind, under the influ-
ence of the Spirit of God, is open to
comprehend these things, I many
times marvel and wonder, not only
at the world but also at ourselves,
that we are not more anxious and
diligent in preparing ourselves and
our families for the events now at
our doors, for though the heavens
and the earth pass away, not one
jot or tittle of the word of the Lord
will go unfulfilled. [Matthew 5:18] There is no pro-
phecy of Scripture that is of any
private interpretation, but holy men
of God spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost, and their
words will be fulfilled on the earth. [ 2 Peter 1:20-21]
We are approaching an important
time. As Jesus once said, The
world hate me, and without a cause,
therefore I have chosen you out of
the world, and the world hate you
also. The servant is not above his
master, you are not above me, they
have hated me and they will hate [John 15:18-25]
you. The Lord has chosen the Lat-
ter-day Saints, and through them
has sent a message to all nations
under heaven. The Zion of God is
opposed by priest and people in every
sect, party and denomination in
Christendom. The Elders of Israel
have been called from the plow,
plane, hammer and the various oc-
cupations of life, to go forth and
bear record of these things to the
world. We have followed this up
until the present time for more than
forty-two years—forty-three years
next April. The kingdom has stead-
ily grown, and while we have la-
bored we have seen the fulfillment
of the word of the Lord. The sea
has gone beyond its bounds, there
have been earthquakes in divers
places, and there have also been
wars and rumors of wars. These are
only a beginning, their fullness has
not yet opened upon the sons of
men, but it is at their doors; it is at
the doors of this generation and
of this nation. And when the
world rise up against the kingdom
of God in these latter days, should
the Saints have any fears? Should
we fear because men, in their secret
chambers, concoct plans to over-
throw the kingdom of God? We
should not. There is one thing we
should do, and that is, pray to God.
Every righteous man has done this,
even Jesus the Savior, the Only Be-
gotten of the Father in the flesh,
had to pray, from the manger to
the cross, all the way through; every
day he had to call upon his Father
to give him grace to sustain him
in his hour of affliction and to enable
him to drink the bitter cup. So with
his disciples. They were baptized
with the same baptism that he was
baptized with; they suffered the
same death that he died, being cru-
cified as he was. They sealed their
testimony with their blood. Never-
theless all that Jesus said concerning
the Jews has had its fulfillment to
the present day. This should be a
strong testimony to the whole infidel
world of the truth of Christ's mission
and divinity. Let them look at the
Jewish nation and the state of the
world, in fulfillment of the words of
the Savior eighteen hundred years
ago in Jerusalem. It is one of the
strongest testimonies in the world of
the fulfillment of revelation, the truth
of the Bible and the mission of Jesus
Christ. The Jews have fulfilled the
words of Moses, the prophets and
Jesus, up to the present day. They
have been dispersed and trampled
under the feet of the Gentile world
now for eighteen hundred years.
When Pontius Pilate wished to re-
lease Jesus Christ, saying that he
found no fault in that just man, the
high priests, scribes, pharisees and
other Jews present on that occasion
cried, "Crucify him, and let his blood
be upon us and upon our children." [Matthew 27:22-25]
Has it not followed them to this
day, and been manifest in their dis-
persion, persecution and oppression
through the whole Gentile world
for eighteen hundred years? It has.
And they have to fulfill the words
of the Lord still further. As I have
been reading to you to-day, the
Jews have got to gather to their
own land in unbelief. They will
go and rebuild Jerusalem and their
temple. They will take their gold
and silver from the nations and will
gather to the Holy Land, and when
they have done this and rebuilt their
city, the Gentiles, in fulfillment of
the words of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and
other prophets, will go up against
Jerusalem to battle and to take a
spoil and a prey; and then, when
they have taken one-half of Jeru-
salem captive and distressed the
Jews for the last time on the earth,
their Great Deliverer, Shiloh, will
come. They do not believe in Jesus
of Nazareth now, nor ever will until
he comes and sets his foot on
Mount Olivet and it cleaves in twain,
one part going towards the east, and
the other towards the west. Then,
when they behold the wounds in his
hands and in his feet, they will say,
"Where did you get them?" And
he will reply, "I am Jesus of Naza-
reth, King of the Jews, your Shiloh,
him whom you crucified." [Doctrine and Covenants 45:48-52] Then, for
the first time will the eyes of Judah
be opened. They will remain in un-
belief until that day. This is one of
the events that will transpire in the
latter day.
The Gospel of Christ has to go to
the Gentiles until the Lord says
"enough," until their times are ful-
filled, and it will be in this generation.
Forty years have passed since the
revelation I have read was given to
the sons of men. We are living in
a late age, although it is true there
are a great many vast and important
events to transpire in these days.
But one thing is certain, though the
Lord has not revealed the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of Man
shall come, [Matthew 25:13] he has pointed out the
generation, and the signs predicted as
the fore-runners of that great event
have begun to appear in the heavens
and on the earth, and they will
continue until all is consummated.
If we, as Latter-day Saints, want
anything to stir us up, let us read
the Bible, Book of Mormon and the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
they contain enough to edify and
instruct us in the things of God.
Treasure up the revelations of God
and the Gospel of Christ contained
therein.
As an individual, I will say that
I feel a great responsibility resting
upon me, and it also rests upon you.
Joseph Smith and Brigham Young
alone have not been called to build
up in the latter day that great and
mighty kingdom of God which Dan-
iel foretold, and which he said
should be thrown down no more
for ever. [Daniel 7:13-14] I say, they were not called
to be the only ones to labor in
building up that great and glorious
Zion, which was to become terrible
to all nations; nor their counselors,
nor the Twelve Apostles; but this
responsibility rests upon every one
of the Lord's anointed upon the face
of the earth, I do not care who they
are, whether male or female, and
the Lord will require this at the
hands of all the Latter-day Saints.
I therefore desire that we may be
awake to these subjects, and to the
position we occupy before God and in
the world.
The inhabitants of the earth may
hate and oppose us, as they did
Jesus Christ, and as they have all
inspired men, as they did Noah,
Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the pro-
phets who ever lived. They have
always been a thorn in the flesh to
the world. Why? Because they
had enough independence of mind
to rebuke sin, to maintain the
promises of God unto man, and to
proclaim the declarations of the Al-
mighty unto the inhabitants of the
earth, fearless of consequences. The
last song sung here was, "Do what
is right, let the consequence fol-
low." That is what I say to the
Latter-day Saints. Let us do what
is right, maintain our religion be-
fore God, be valiant in the testimony
of Jesus Christ, and prepare our-
selves for his coming, for it is near,
and this is what God requires at our
hands. He leans upon no other
people; he expects from no people
but those who have obeyed his Gos-
pel and gathered here, the accom-
plishment of his great work, the
building up of his latter-day Zion
and kingdom. And, as I have said,
this responsibility rests not only upon
Prophets and Apostles, but upon
every man and woman who has en-
tered into covenant with him. I
say that we are too near asleep, we
are not half awake to the position
that we occupy before God, and the
responsibilities we are under to him.
We should be on the watch tower.
Who is going to be prepared for
the coming of the Messiah? These
men who enjoy the Holy Ghost and
live under the inspiration of the Al-
mighty, who abide in Jesus Christ
and bring forth fruit to the honor
and glory of God. No other people
will be. There never was a more
infidel generation of Christians on
the face of the earth than there is
to-day. They do not expect that
God will do anything in a temporal
point of view towards the fulfill-
ment of his promises; they are not
looking forward for the establish-
ment of his kingdom, or for the
building up of his Zion on the earth.
Their eyes are closed to these
things, because they have rejected
the light. When Joseph Smith
brought this Gospel to the world,
there was a great deal more faith in
God, a great deal more faith in his
revelations, and, according to the
light they had, a great deal more
pure and undefiled religion than
there is now. We have carried the
Gospel to all Christian nations who
would permit us, and they have
rejected it, and they are under con-
demnation. Our own nation is un-
der condemnation on this account.
This land, North and South America,
is the land of Zion, it is a choice
land—the land that was given by
promise from old father Jacob to his
grandson and his descendants, the
land on which the Zion of God
should be established in the latter
days. We have been fulfilling the
prophecies concerning it, for the
last forty years. We have come up
here and established the kingdom;
True, it is small to-day, it may be
compared to a mustard seed, but as
the Lord our God lives, the little
one will become a thousand, and
the small one a strong nation, and
the Lord Almighty will hasten it
in his own time, and the world will
learn one thing in this generation,
and that is, that when they fight
against Mount Zion, they fight against
the decrees of the Almighty and the
principles of eternal life. [Isaiah 60:22]
I rejoice before God that I have
lived to hear the principles of eter-
nal life proclaimed to the sons of
men; I rejoice that I have lived to
see this people gathered together, I
rejoice in coming to the land of
Zion with the Saints of God. When
we came here twenty-four years ago,
we were a little handful of men,
pioneers; we came to a parched and
barren desert. Since then we have
built up six hundred miles of cities,
towns, villages, gardens, farms and
orchards; and while doing this we
have had to contend with the opposi-
tion of both priest and people. Have
they prevailed? They have not, and
they will not. Why? Because he
who sits in the heavens, the Lord our
God, has decreed certain things and
they will come to pass; because the
Lord is watching over the interests
of this people. He requires us to
work with him, he is at work for us.
It is our duty to build these temples
here—this in Salt Lake City, another
in St. George, in Logan or wherever
they may be needed for the benefit of
the Saints of God in the latter days.
I think many times that many of
us will get to heaven before we shall
want to go there. If we were to go
there to-day, many would meet
their friends in the spirit-world and
it would be a reproach to them, for
you, Latter-day Saints, in one sense
of the word, hold in your hands the
salvation of your dead, for we can
do much for them. But I think
many times that our hearts are too
much set on the vain things of the
world to attend to many important
duties devolving upon us connected
with the Gospel. We are too much
after gold and silver, and we give
our hearts and attention to temporal
matters at the expense of the light
and truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
We have not much time to spare
as a people, for a greak work is re-
quired at our hands. I know that,
without the power of God, we should
not have been able to do what has
been done; and I also know that we
never should be able to build up the
Zion of God in power, beauty and
glory were it not that our prayers
ascends into the ears of the Lord God
of Sabaoth, and he hears and answers
them. The world has sought our
overthrow from the beginning, and
the devil does not like us very well.
Lucifer, the Son of the Morning,
does not like the idea of revelation to
the Saints of God, and he has in-
spired the hearts of a great many
men, since the Gospel was restored to
the earth, to make war against us.
But not one of them has made any-
thing out of it yet—neither glory,
immortality, eternal life nor money.
No man or people ever did make any-
thing by fighting against God in the
past, and no man or people will ever
make anything by taking that course
in the future.
This is the work and kingdom of
God; this is the Zion of God and the
Church of Christ, and we are called
by his name. The Latter-day Saints
have to abide in Christ, and we can
not do that unless we bring forth
fruit, any more than the branch of the
vine can unless it abide in the vine. [John 15:4]
To abide in Christ we must enjoy the
Spirit of God, that our minds may be
enlightened to comprehend the things
of God. When I look at the history
of the Church of God in these latter-
days I many times marvel at what
has been done and how we have
progressed, considering the traditions,
unbelief, failings, follies and nonsense
that man is heir to in the flesh. We
have had a great many traditions to
overcome and the opposition of the
world to contend with from the
beginning until to-day. Brethren and
sisters, we should be faithful. The
Lord has put into our hands the power
to build up his Zion and kingdom on
the earth, and we have more to encou-
rage us than was ever possessed by
any generation that has preceded
us. We have the privilege of build-
ing up a kingdom that will stand for
ever. Noah and the Antediluvian
world did not have this privilege.
Enoch built up the Zion of God a
little while, and the Lord took it
away. Jesus and the Apostles came
here. Jesus fulfilled his mission,
preached the Gospel, was rejected by
the Jews, and was crucified. His
disciples had a similar fate, and the
Gospel was taken to the Gentile
nation, with all its gifts and blessings
and power, and Paul the Apostle of
the Gentiles warned them to take
heed lest they, in turn, should lose it
through their unbelief.
You know how it has been with
them—that there has been a falling
away, and that for seventeen hun-
dred years the voice of a Prophet or
Apostle has not been heard in the
world; and now again, in these lat-
ter days, the Lord Almighty, re-
membering his promises made from
generation to generation, has sent
Angels from heaven to restore to
man the Gospel and has given au-
thority to administer the same.
The Revelator John, says he saw
an angel flying through the
midst of heaven, having the ever-
lasting Gospel to preach to them
that dwell on the earth, to every
nation, kindred, tongue and people,
saying with a loud voice, "Fear
God and give glory to him who
made the heavens, the earth, the
seas and the fountains of water, for the
hour of God's judgment has come." [Revelation 14:6-7]
Oh! ye Gentile nations, wake up
and prepare yourselves for that
which is to come, for as God lives
his judgments are at your door.
They are at the door of our nation,
and the thrones and kingdoms of
the whole world will fall, and all
the efforts of men combined cannot
save them. It is a day of warning,
but not of many words, to the na-
tions. The Lord is going to make a
short work, or no flesh could be
saved. If it were not for the mani-
festation of the power of God what
would be the fate of his Zion and
people? The same as in the days of
Christ and his Apostles. The Lord
has had Zion before his face from
before the foundation of the world,
and he is going to build it up.
"Who am I," saith the Lord, "that
I promise and do not fulfill?" [Doctrine and Covenants 58:31] The
Lord never made a promise to the
sons of men which he has not ful-
filled, therefore Latter-day Saints,
you have all the encouragement in
the world to sustain you in the faith
that the Zion of God will remain on
the earth. The work is in our
hands to perform, the God of hea-
ven requires it of us and if we fail
to build it up we shall be under con-
demnation, and the Lord would
remove us out of the way and he
would raise up another people who
would do it. Why? Because the
Almighty has decreed that this work
shall be performed on the earth, and
no power on earth or in hell can hin-
der it.
I would here say to our delegate
to Congress, when you go to Wash-
ington, have no fears with regard to
the opposition of men. You have
every reason to go in confidence,
and do your duty, knowing that
the Lord will stand by you, and so
has every man in the Church and
kingdom of God, I care not where
we are placed or what God requires
at our hands. He is at the helm,
and he has protected us until to-
day. Where should we have been a
few years ago when the army was
sent to destroy us, if it had not been
for the protection of the Almighty?
We should not have been here.
And so it will be in days to come.
The world hate us because the Al-
mighty has called us out from the
world to proclaim his Gospel and
build up his kingdom. Let us be
faithful, for the Lord is going to
protect us, and build up Zion. He
will also gather Israel, rebuild Je-
rusalem and prepare the way for his
second coming, in the clouds of
heaven. Then let us, Latter-day
Saints, wake up to our duty. Think
nothing too hard that the Lord re-
quires of us. Let us build this
Temple that we may attend to the
ordinances for the living and the
dead. If we not do this we shall be
sorry. When I see men who have
received the word of God, and tasted
the powers of the world to come, and
then turn away, I think of the par-
able of the five wise and five foolish
virgins. [Matthew 25:1-13] It will pay us to be wise
and to have oil in our lamps, to have
fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and
to live our religion and keep the
commandments of God day by day.
Brethren are passing away. I have
been away three or four weeks on a
visit to the people in the upper settle-
ments, and since my return I hear of
this man and that man dead, whom I
saw well and hale before I went away.
So it will be with us in a little while.
We shall pass away and go to the
other side of the vail, and the burden
of the building up of Zion will rest
upon our sons and daughters. Then
rejoice in the Gospel of Christ. Re-
joice in the principles of eternal life.
I am looking for the fulfillment of all
things that the Lord has spoken, and
they will come to pass as the Lord
God lives. Zion is bound to rise and
flourish. The Lamanites will blos-
som as the rose on the mountains. [Doctrine and Covenants 49:24] I
am willing to say here that, though I
believe this, when I see the power of
the nation destroying them from the
face of the earth, the fulfillment of
that prophecy is perhaps harder for
me to believe than any revelation of
God that I ever read. It looks as
though there would not be enough
left to receive the Gospel; but not-
withstanding this dark picture, every
word that God has ever said of them
will have its fulfillment, and they, by
and by, will receive the Gospel. It
will be a day of God's power among
them, and a nation will be born in a
day. Their chiefs will be filled with
the power of God and receive the
Gospel, and they will go forth and
build the new Jerusalem, and we shall
help them. They are branches of
the house of Israel, and when the
fullness of the Gentiles has come in
and the work ceases among them, then
it will go in power to the seed of
Abraham.
Brethren and sisters, let us remem-
ber our position before the Lord! Let
us try and keep the faith, let us labor
for the Holy Spirit, that our hearts,
minds and eyes may be opened, that
we may live by inspiration, that when
we see dark clouds rising and evils
strewing our path, we may be able to
overcome. The Savior was tempted,
so were his Apostles, and if we have
not been we shall be. As the Lord
told Joseph Smith, "I will try and
prove you in all things, even unto
death. If you are not willing to abide
my covenants unto death, you are
not worthy of me." [Doctrine and Covenants 98:14-15] Did Joseph
abide unto death? I think he did,
and he with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, will sit at the right hand of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and will re-
ceive his glory and crown. He was
true and faithful unto death, and his
testimony is in force to-day, in lan-
guage as loud as ten thousand thun-
ders. Whether it is believed or re-
jected it will have its fulfillment on
the heads of this generation.
By and by great Babylon will fall
and there will be wailing, mourning
and sore affliction in her midst. The
sons of Zion have got to stand in holy
places to be preserved in the midst of
the judgments that will shortly over-
take the world. We can see how fully
the revelation, calling us to go to
the western countries, has been ful-
filled. [Doctrine and Covenants 45:64-71] In less than forty years, a
standard has been lifted up, and peo-
ple gathered here from France, Eng-
land, Scotland, Wales, Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, and almost all the
nations of the earth in fulfillment of
that revelation. When it was given
no man among us knew anything
about Salt Lake or the Rocky Moun-
tains; but it has been fulfilled before
our eyes. We have come up here,
and in so doing have fulfilled the re-
velations of God, so far. Let us
continue, I pray God my heavenly
Father that he will bless the Latter-
day Saints; that he will give us his
Holy Spirit and wisdom, that our
eyes may be opened, that we may
have faith in the things of God. Let
a man lose the Holy Spirit and what
faith has he? None, either in God
or in his revelations, and that is what
is the matter to-day. You may take
the best friends we have outside of
of this kingdom, and you can hardly
get them to believe that God has any-
thing to do with the affairs of men,
or that he has power to do anything
for them, either as individuals or na-
tions. If their eyes were open one
moment they would understand that
God holds them all in the hollow of
his hand, weighs them in the balance
and that they cannot make a move
without his permission. They would
no longer wonder why the Latter-day
Saints have faith in God if their eyes
were open so that they could under-
stand the work and things of God.
They can not understand it, they
cannot even see the kingdom of God
unless they are born of the Spirit of
God, and they cannot enter into it
unless they are born of the water and
the Spirit, according to the words of
Jesus to Nicodemus. [John 3:1-5]
I have a desire that we may be
faithful in our mission and ministry,
as Elders of Israel and as Saints of
God, that we may do our duty, and
maintain our position before the Lord.
Let our prayers go up before him. If
I have any forte it is prayer to God.
We are not called to build up Zion
by preaching, singing and praying
alone; we have to perform hard
labor, labor of bone and sinew, in
building towns, cities, villages; and
we have to continue to do this; but
while we are so engaged, we should
not sin. We have no right to sin,
whether we are in the kanyon draw-
ing wood, or performing any other
hard labor, and we should have the
Spirit of God to direct us then as
much as when preaching, praying,
singing and attending to the ordinan-
ces of the house of God. If we do
this as a people we shall grow in the
favor and power of God. We should
be united together, it is our duty to
be so. Our prayers should ascend
before God, and I know they do. I
know that President Young is prayed
for—I know that his counselors and
the Twelve are prayed for, and that
the Church and kingdom of God is
prayed for. We should continue this,
and if we pray in faith we shall have
what we ask for. The Lord has
taught us to pray, and I rejoice that
I have learned to pray according to
the order of God, for in this we have
a promise—that where two or three
agree in asking for any thing that is
just and right, it shall be granted
unto them.
May God bless you! May he give
us wisdom, and his Holy Spirit to
guide us, that we may be enabled to
be true and faithful to our covenants,
and be prepared to inherit eternal
life, for Jesus' sake. Amen.