REMARKS
Made by President Wilford Woodruff,
at the St. George Stake Conference,
held at St. George, and
.
REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER
I arise with a heart full of gratitude
and thanksgiving to my Heavenly
Father for preserving my life until I
again have the privilege of visiting St.
George and beholding the faces of my
brethren and sisters with whom I
stand connected in the new and ever-
lasting covenant—a covenant which
will last not only in this world, but in
the world to come.
I think you are all acquainted with
my motto with regard to public speak-
ing. No man, in this generation or in
any other, can preach the Gospel or
edify the Saints of God unless he is led
by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost;
and what little I may speak to you
this afternoon, I need and desire that
Spirit. I hope I may have the faith
and prayers of the Saints of God unto
this end.
I have some things upon my mind
that I would like to speak of this after-
noon, if I can get the spirit of them.
I will say that some of the most inter-
esting history of my life has been the
time that I have spent here in St.
George, and in the Temple of God
which is built here. There is no eye
that has seen, nor ear that has heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of
man to conceive, the future reward
that will be given these people who
dwell here and who have labored in
the Temple of God. For myself, I can
say that I feel under deep obligation
to the people who dwell here—an obli-
gation that I feel will last with me
throughout all eternity. In my early
days there were two things for
which I desired to live. One was
the redemption of the dead—my
father's house, my mother's house,
and the progenitors who are in the
spirit world, and who never heard the
Gospel. I have been preserved in the
flesh, as one of their descendants, to
hold the keys of their salvation and
redemption, the same as you have for
your progenitors, whom you are called
to redeem and labor for here in the
flesh. This has been a work that I
have greatly desired to do for years
that are past and gone, and through
the blessing of the Lord and the as-
sistance of my brethren and sisters
who dwell in St. George, I have lived
to see it accomplished to a great ex-
tent, which I look upon as one of the
greatest blessings God ever bestowed
upon me. So I look upon it with re-
gard to all of us.
The Lord has had certain purposes in
gathering us together, and the redemp-
tion of our dead is one of them. And
when I reflect upon the work which
the Latter-day Saints have been called
to perform in these latterdays, I re-
joice before the Lord that I have lived
in this day and generation, and that
I have been numbered among the Lat-
ter-day Saints who have been called to
perform these great and mighty works
which are necessary to be performed
before the coming of the Son of Man.
The building of these Temples in these
mountains of Israel is among the mar-
velous events of the day in which we
live. Of course, we built Temples be-
fore we came to these valleys; one
in Kirtland, and one in Nauvoo.
I was not at the dedication of the
Temple in Kirtland; but I was present
at the dedication of the Temple in
Nauvoo. The history of these Tem-
ples you have before you. You know
the Prophets were slain, and the Lord
required the building of that Temple
at the hands of the Saints before they
were driven into the wilderness.
There was a certain revelation given
that inspired in a great measure the
Elders of the Church of God to per-
form that work. They labored with
all the power they possessed, and they
accomplished that work. They went
into that Temple and received ordin
ances and endowments before they
left to go into the wilderness. These
Temples that we have build here stand
as a monument before God, angels
and men, to the faith and works of the
Latter-day Saints.
Brother George Q. Cannon has re-
ferred to your labors in settling here.
You were called to come here by the
servants of God. You left your homes
to come here and you have done what
was required of you in this mat-
ter. You have had power to
finish the Temple, and you have had
power to go in and redeem your dead.
A great many of you have done this,
and I hope all of you will continue as
long as you have any dead to redeem.
Never cease that work while you have
the power to enter into the Temple. I
have greatly rejoiced in my work in
this Temple, and in the blessings that
I have received at the hands of the
Latter-day Saints here. Gold and sil-
ver are no comparison to these things.
I have had some thousands redeemed
here. I have had baptisms, ordina-
tions, washings and anointings, en-
dowments and sealings for them, the
same as if they were standing in the
flesh themselves. I shall go and meet
them on the other side of the veil. You
will go and meet your relatives. You
will hold the keys of their salvation to
the endless ages of eternity, if you at-
tend to this labor for them.
There is no principle on earth that I
rejoice more in than in the power that
we hold as Latter-day Saints to build
these Temples, to go into them, and to
redeem our dead. It will require im-
mortal bodies, immortal spirits, im-
mortal revelations to enable men to
comprehend the full extent of this
work; they cannot comprehend it in
mortality.
Now, I desire to live to see the Salt
Lake Temple finished. I want to be
with my brethren the Apostles, the
High Priests, the Seventies, the
Elders and all the authorities of the
Church when that Temple is dedicated
to God. We have been as long build-
ing that Temple as Moses was leading
the children of Israel through the
wilderness to the land of promise, and
I would like to see it finished.
I view our position as Latter-day
Saints, and all that is transpiring here,
as well as our history before we came
here, as in fulfillment of the revela-
tions of God. A great many of our
friends felt bad when we had to leave
our lovely Nauvoo to go into the
wilderness. It was a great trial to
them. But had that not taken place,
the Bible and the Book of Mormon and
many of the revelations in the Doc-
trine and Covenants would have fallen
to the ground unfulfilled. This is the
place pointed out by the finger of God
for the people to stand in holy places
while the judgments of God go forth in
the earth. It is marvelous in my eyes
that I have lived to see the Temples
that have been built in these moun-
tains of Israel and the mighty work
that has been performed in them, con-
sidering the condition in which we
came here. A little handful of men,
in poverty and affliction, came into
this barren desert. I brought
President Young in my carriage
into the valley of Salt Lake.
He was sick, and he asked me to
turn my carriage so that he could get
sight of the valley. I did so. He cast
his eyes over the valley and looked for
some little time. When he got
through he said, "Brother Woodruff,
drive on. Here is our home. This is
the place God has pointed out for us to
plant our feet. I have seen this place
before." He began to recover right
from that time. Well, we camped
there, and we visited around some.
President Young said, "Now, breth-
ren, go where you please; go north, go
south; go to any part of the country,
and when you come back you will say
this is the place." Men came from
California, among them Brannan, who
urged us strongly to go to California,
saying that it was such a fine country,
and we were there in a barren desert.
But President Young said, "This is
our home. Here we shall build the
Temple of God and the city of our
God." I think this has been plainly
fulfilled. The inspiration of the Lord
was with President Young all through
his life, and the result of it is manifest.
I traveled with him in the first settle-
ing of this country. Where is there a
man that has the spirit of inspiration
but can see the hand of God
in these things? We have had
our day of affliction, of perse-
cution and poverty. All earth
and hell, if I may be allowed to use
such an expression, were combined
against the Prophet Joseph Smith,
from the time this Church was organ-
ized until he was slain in the flesh,
and the same spirit continued through
the life of Brother Brigham Young.
But we came to these valleys of the
mountains, and from the day that we
planted our tents in Salt Lake City
there has been a degree of prosperity
resting upon this people, and it has in-
creased year by year until to[d]ay. The
Lord has been with us. Blessings
have been poured out upon the Latter-
day Saints, and we have had plenty of
food and raiment. But I hope that
none of us will get proud and lifted up
in our hearts so that we shall forget
the hand that has given unto us these
things.
This is a dispensation in which the
Lord has set His hand to establish His
Church, to build up His Zion, to warn
the world, to prepare the nations for
the judgments of God, and to prepare
His people to be united together as the
bride, the Lamb's wife. My faith
centres in the promises of God.
There is no power on the face of this
earth that can break this Church. Why?
Because God holds it in His hands.
He is the Author of it, and He has
promised, through the mouths of scores
and scores of prophets, that it shall
stand. It is in fulfilment of these
promises that you are blessed here with
a Temple and have power to enter
therin to attend to the ordinances of
the House of the Lord. And when you
reflect upon these matters, and see how
far these things have been fulfilled,
can you not have faith to believe that
the Lord will carry it out to the end?
I certainly have. I know it is the work
of God. And the Lord has chosen this
people, out of the whole human family,
to stand in the flesh, keep the com-
mandments of God, and go forth to
warn the world by the proclamation of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ that they
may know and understand the judg-
ments of God which await them. The
Latter-day Saints have been working
at this for sixty years, and we have not
got through with it yet. Behold what
is taking place in the earth today! It
really seems as if the day had almost
dawned upon us when there is no other
place of safety for the human family
than the land of Zion. Three elements—
fire, water and wind—seem to have
been chosen to go forth on a mission to
visit the nations. Cities are burned up,
and floods and whirlwinds aweep away
towns and villages and the inhabitants
are destroyed. Are not these things
all proclaimed by the revelations of
Gou [God]? They are, and they will come to
pass.
Brethren and sisters, this is the mis-
sion given to us in the last days. And
that man is a very foolish man who
will divide upon any principle against
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have
had more sorrow over one apostate in
this Church than I have in attending
the funerals of all the patriarchs and
prophets and Latter-day Saints that I
ever followed to the grave; because when
I see men and women die who have
been faithful I know they have gained
a victory. That is the way I feel to-
day. We must work together for the
welfare of Zion.
I am glad to see you and to spend a
few days again in St. George. I want
to do what good I can. I expect we
shall all meet the other side of the
veil with those who have gone before,
and have joy and rejoicing in the Gos
pel of Christ. We should be faithful
to the Lord, and we should not forget
our prayers. Our sons and daughters
should be instructed in these things,
and we should labor for their welfare.
What joy and consolation it gives a
father or a mother to have good boys
and girls, who keep the word of wis-
dom, attend to Sabbath schools, re-
member their prayers, and follow in
the footsteps of their fathers; while it
gives us sorrow when we have sons and
daughters that turn away from this.
But I have hope and faith that the
sons of Zion will rise up and magnify
their callings. I do not believe that
they will disappoint our Heavenly
Father.
Seeing a portion of our gallery oc-
cupied by a quite a number of our La-
manite brethren and sisters, I feel dis-
posed to make a few remarks.
The first time I ever saw Joseph
Smith was in April, 1834. I met him
in the streets of Kirtland. He invited
me to his house. I stopped with him
while preparing to go up to Zion in
Zion's camp. On Sunday he called a
Priesthood meeting. They all gather-
ed in a little cabin. There I first
heard Joseph Smith speak pub-
licly, also Hyrum Smith, Oliver
Cowdery, Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Parley and Orson Pratt, and
William E. McLellin. The Prophet
called upon the Elders to bear testi-
mony of the Gospel of Christ, and
they arose one after another and bore
a short testimony. Then Brother
Joseph arose and said: "Brethren, I
am very much edified and interested
in listening to your testimony. But I
want to tell you that you know no
more concerning the result of this
work and what lies before you as
the Elders of Israel and before this
people, than a parcel of little children."
I expect they were all a little startled
by it. He told them this work
would fill the whole earth, and
that all nations would have to
hear the proclamation of the
Gospel. He further said: "This work
will fill the Rocky Mountains with
tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints,
and there will be joined with them the
Lamanites who dwell in those moun-
tains, who will receive the Gospel of
Christ at the mouth of Elders of
Israel, and they will be united with
the Church and Kingdom of God, and
bring forth much good." I little
thought, when I listened to those
words, that I should ever live to see
the fulfilment of these words of the
Prophet. I little thought that I should
ever visit the Rocky Mountains, or ever
see the Lamanites of whom he then
was speaking. These men before me
today bring to my mind sayings of the
Prophet. His mind expanded on that
occasion and he had a good deal to
say with regard to the progress of this
work, what the Elders of Israel would
have to pass through, and the work that
God would require at their hands in
the redemption of the Lamanites and
the honest and meek throughout the
world, and in the building up of the
Zion of God on the earth. But I have
lived to see these days. I have lived
to see the Lamanites in these moun-
tains. I have visited a great many
of them—tbe [the] Zunis, Lagunas, Moquis,
Navajoes, Apaches, and a great
many of these Indian tribes. I have
preached the Gospel to them, in con-
nection with my brethren, through in-
terpreters. I have spent many inter-
esting days with these Lamanites in
the mountains of Israel. I spent three
days in the wilderness in Arizona with
Petone, the great war chief of the na-
tion. I preached the Gospel to him.
He called his tribe together, stood upon
his feet some two hours or more, and
told his tribe all that we had said to
him. This tribe was looked upon as a
very dangerous one in the midst of the
nation, and this Petone had engaged in
a great deal of warfare.
I rejoice that I have lived to see this
day; that I have lived to see the
Rocky Mountains; that I have been
gathered with the Latter-day Saints
here. A great deal has been doue [done] by
this people, but much more will have
to be done. We tell sometimes about
dreams. I had a dream one night
about our Temple in Salt Lake. I
thought the Temple was dedicated and
organized, and we as the Elders of Israel
were laboring there for the redemption of
our dead, and suddenly there was a door
opened in the west, and an Indian
chief came into the Temple, leading a
vast host of his tribe, and took posses-
sion of the Temple, and I thought they
performed more work in one hour than
we could do in a day. This made a
strong impression oo [on] my mind. I am
satisfied that although we have done
a little for the Lamanites, we have got
to do a great deal more. I believe I
sealed the first Lamanitish man and
woman together that ever were sealed
in this dispensation. It was in the
Endowment House, and quite a num-
ber of brethren and sisters were pre-
sent. The man's name was Laman.
I believe the day will come when these
Lamanites, with the dark skin that
rests upon them, will enter into these
Temples of the Lord in these moun-
tains and do a great deal of work.
They will come to an understanding of
the redemption of the dead. They
will have wisdom given unto
them. They will have light
and truth given unto them,
and the spirit of their forefathers will
be manifest unto them. I am
thankful that I am able to see
these Lamanites here. The Prophet
of God saw what would come to pass,
and he told the truth. As Elders of
Israel we have fulfilled, in a measure,
many of the Prophet's sayings in rela-
tion to these things. We have traveled
to the nations of the earth, as he said
we should do, and this Gospel has
gone to a great many nations. More
doors will be opened in the due time of
the Lord. When these judgments of
God are manifest in the earth, the
honest in heart and meek of the earth
will have their eyes opened and they
will be very glad to flee to Zion. I look
back to the days when we first went
to New England to preach the Gospel,
and when there were Saints in almost
every city there. And when we went
to England in 1840 we baptized over
seven thousand in one year. So it has
been more or less through the world.
There have been people prepared to
receive this Gospel and to work for the
Lord. And we are only in the begin-
ning of this work, as it were. The day
will come when many will seek a place
of safety, that they may stand in holy
places while the judgments of the Lord
pass. Our young men will rise up in
those days. They will remember their
prayers before the Lord. Their minds
will be opened to see the work that lies
before them. A great deal has yet to
be done, although the Lord will make
short His work in the earth, lest no
flesh be saved. I am thankful that
there is as much done as there is;
thankful that we have had the privi-
lege of opening our mouths among the
nations of the earth and the islands of
the sea, and preaching the Gospel.
What greater work can any man be
engaged in than the saving of the
souls of men? No matter how poor
we may be, it is a glorious work and a
blessing to any man. When I look
upon the Apostles and the Elders and
bring to my mind the labors they have
performed, the miles they have trav-
eled, the souls of men they have
brought into the Gospel, I feel that it is
a work worthy of all acceptation of
angels or men.
I pray the Lord that we may have
power to convert these Lamanites to
the Gospel of Christ. It is true it has
been a hard work up to the present to
get their minds open to comprehend
these things, though many of them
have been baptized; yet a great work
is to be done among them. Our
brethren should remember this, and
treat them kindly. Let us do what we
can to make them happy and comfort-
able while we are with them. It is
our duty to do what we can for their
benefit, and to give them the Gospel.
God bless you and guide you in the
ways of life. Amen.