President Wilford Woodruff then ad-
dressed the conference. He said in sub-
stance: No man occupying the place
that I do at this time, addressing a body
of Latter-day Saints, could answer his
own mind or the minds of those who hear
except by the inspiration of Almighty
God and the assistance of the Holy
Ghost. If I were to tell this congregation
which has assembled together as a Mu-
tual Improvement Association of the
young men and maidens of Zion that I
was not deeply interested in your welfare,
I should deny the faith. Indeed the cir-
cumstances in which we are placed
causes me as well as my brethren to have
the deepest interest in the rising genera-
tion who dwell in the mountains of Israel.
I will tell you why: I realize the fact that
this world with all its kingdoms, thrones,
principalities, and powers, with all its
wealth, seas, rivers, lakes, its shipping,
telegraphs, railroads, its mines, its gold
and silver, the whole of it has to go into
the hands of the young men and maidens
who dwell upon this earth, who stand in
the midst of some fourteen hundred mil-
lions of the human family.
Had I the power to tell by the visions
of heaven, by the revelations of Jesus
Christ, what will take place when this
generation of young men and women
shall have passed through another thirty
years of this life, I do not think it would
be wisdom for me to reveal it to the
world. Nevertheless, I will say that no
generation of young people before this
has had greater evidence of the revolu-
tions, changes, sorrows or afflictions that
will overwhelm the world, that will over-
take the inhabitants of the earth, than
those which are to come to pass in their
time. The sorrowful fact is before us
that never in our history has such a flood
of crime and the power of the evil one
trying to destroy the children of men been
so rampant as now. One thousand mur-
ders are committed to-day upon the face
of the earth where there was a hundred,
years ago, or even when the Book of
Mormon was translated into the English
language by the servants of God. The
same in regard to suicides. Look at the
black catalogue of crime in our midst to-
day. Why, the world will not realize all
this unless they look at the signs of the
times, and read them. The signs of all
heaven and earth indicate to us that the
end is approaching—that the Son of Man
is at our very doors.
To the sons and daughters of Zion I
would say: I have done my mission to
the world. I have traveled far enough to
make a journey around the world six
times within the last fifty or sixty years of
my life in preaching the Gospel to the na-
tions of the earth. My mission is now
over in that respect, and in the few days
I have to spend here I want to use my
voice in the cause of the sons and daugh-
ters of Zion.
Those who have obeyed and served
God have always been unpopular with the
world, in every age, from the time of
Christ Himself. The Lord raised up a
Prophet in the nineteenth century. Joseph
Smith, the Prophet of God, labored with
us for fourteen years after he had orga-
nized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints; he established a work which
will stand until the coming of the Son of
Man. I myself have traveled with him
thousands of miles, and spent a great deal
of time in his company. But he is now on
the other side of the vail; so are also those
Apostles who were then with us, among
them Brigham Young, John Taylor, Geo.
A. Smith, the Pratts, and many among us
now will soon follow them. But the
Church and kingdom of God is here and
will remain to the end.
I would say to the young people of
Zion. "The God of heaven has laid upon
your shoulders the honor and responsi-
bility of bearing off this kingdom in your
day and generation. You are called to
build up Zion, to manifest your faith, to
keep the commandments of God, to ad-
minister in the ordinances of the House
of God both for the living and the dead.
This is the work your fathers have laid
upon you. Rise up an[d] magnify your call-
ing prepare yourselves for the great work
of God Almighty which rests upon you.
If you are unpopular and persecuted—
what of it? What if your names are cast
out as evil among men? There is a God
in Israel. He holds your destiny as well
as that of all nations under heaven, and
He will not fail or disappoint any of His
Saints." To those who are engaged in
the primaries, in Sabbath schools, in
young men's and young women's mutual
improvement associations, let me say,
"We cannot be divided in these matters."
Having spoken of the excellent work
which these institutions had accomplished
in the past, President Woodruff alluded to
the Relief Societies, which he said had
been a great blessing to this people.
It has not unfrequently been said by
this and other nations, "You Mormons
are not fit to live." Hard things have
been said against us; and there have been
so many lies told about us that nobody
knows what is truth.
Some time ago I came down here with
a whole car load of ministers on their way
to attend a conference, and as we passed
by the Sixteenth Ward schoolhouse one of
the gentlemen sitting at my side remark-
ed, "Mr. Woodruff, what is that build-
ing?" I replied that it was one of our
schools. "Schools!" he exclaimed, "do
you have schoolhouses?" I replied that
we certainly had—that we had twenty
Church schoolhouses in this city. "Why!"
he rejoined, "I am surprised; I did not
know before that you 'Mormons' had a
schoolhouse; I did not even know that you
taught anybody!" A man of his standing
should have known better but that is just
the way with the world today.
Do not be discouraged or fear that the
Lord will fail any of you. This kingdom
will increase in power and glory, the king-
dom of God will increase until all those
gathered together are prepared for the
coming of the Son of Man.
God bless you and all those who are
laboring in these Societies. You are up-
on a good mission. Here you have
an army of young men, maidens and
children; to save them is your mission,
and God will bless you in it. May our
heavenly father pour out his spirit upon
Zion, prepare Jerusalem for the return of
the Jews, gather together the scattered
from the nations of the earth, and prepare
all for the coming of the Son of Man.