PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
Historical incidents—Keys of power from Joseph to
the Twelve—Founders of our nation inspired—
Afflictions awaiting the world—Importance of re-
deeming the dead.
At the close of this Conference I
have a desire to bear my testimony
before you upon a few principles. I
have rejoiced very much during this
Conference in listening to the testi-
mony of the Apostles and Elders who
have spoken. It has brought to my
remembrance a little of my history.
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
In April, 1838, while in the town of
Kirtland, in walking across the street
I met two men who held the Apostle-
ship. They said to me, "Brother
Woodruff, we have something that we
want you to join us in." Said I, "What
is it?" "We want another Prophet to
lead us." "Whom do you want?"
"We want Oliver Cowdery. Joseph
Smith has apostatized." After listen-
ing to them, I said to them: "Unless
you repent of your sins you will be
damned and go to hell, and you will
go through the fulness of eternal
damnation, and all your hopes in this
life will pass before you like the frost
before the rising sun. You are false.
Joseph Smith has not apostatized.
He holds the keys of the kingdom of
God on earth, and will hold them until
the coming of the Son of Man, whether
in this world or in the world to come."
I am happy to say that those men did
repent pretty soon, turned to the
Church, and died in it.
I feel thankful today that Joseph F.
Smith is with us as a son of Hyrum
Smith. He bears a true and faithful
testimony of his father. I would to
God that Joseph Smith had a son in
the flesh who would do as Joseph F.
Smith does here—bear testimony to
the truth of his father. The Prophet
Joseph Smith has no son that stands
in the midst of the Church of God and
bears record of his father. He never
has had; possibly never will have.
I will give you a testimony here that
will show you where I stand with re-
gard to this matter. Joseph Smith
never ordained his son Joseph, never
blessed him, never set him apart, to
lead this Church and kingdom on the
face of the earth. When he or any
other man says he did, they state that
which is false before high heaven.
The last speech that Joseph Smith
ever made to the quorum of the Apos-
tles was in a building in Nauvoo, and
it was such a speech as I never heard
from mortal man before or since. He
was clothed upon with the Spirit and
power of God. His face was clear
as amber. The room was filled as
with consuming fire. He stood three
hours upon his feet. Said he: "You
Apostles of the Lamb of God have
been chosen to carry out the purposes
of the Lord on the earth. Now, I
have received, as the Prophet, seer and
revelator, standing at the head of this
dispensation, every key, every or-
dinance, every principle and every
Priesthood that belongs to the last
dispensation and fulness of times. And
I have sealed all these things upon
your heads. Now, you Apostles, if
you do not rise up and bear off this
kingdom, as I have given it to you,
you will be damned."
I am the only witness left on earth
that can bear record of this, and I
am thankful that I have lived to see
the day in which I stand. I am thank-
ful to see the sons of these Prophets
and Apostles holding the Holy Priest-
hood in our day and generation. I do
not believe the day will ever come—
it is too late in the day, in my opinion
—when any Elder in this Church will
be called to stand before any two of
the Apostles with us today and give
unto them the declaration that I gave
unto the two Apostles I have referred
to. I do not think any of the Apostles
will occupy that position. I have faith
to believe that these men who bear
the Apostleship will hold it and live
their religion. They have been called
and ordained of God for this purpose.
I do not think that one of them will
apostatize. I believe they will be with
you and with this Church while they
stand in the flesh, true and faithful
to God.
Brother Cannon has been laying be-
fore you something with regard to the
nation in which we live and what has
been said concerning it. I am going
to bear my testimony to this assembly,
if I never do it again in my life, that
those men who laid the foundation of
this American government and signed
the Declaration of Independence were
the best spirits the God of heaven
could find on the face of the earth.
They were choice spirits, not wicked
men. General Washington and all the
men that labored for the purpose were
inspired of the Lord.
Another thing I am going to say
here, because I have a right to say it.
Every one of those men that signed
the Declaration of Independence, with
General Washington, called upon me,
as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ,
in the Temple at St. George, two con-
secutive nights, and demanded at my
hands that I should go forth and at-
tend to the ordinances of the House of
GENERAL CONFERENCE.
God for them. Men are here, I believe,
that know of this, Brothers J. D. T.
McAllister, David H. Cannon and
James G. Bleak. Brother McAllister
baptized me for all those men, and
then I told those brethren that it was
their duty to go into the Temple and
labor until they had got endowments
for all of them. They did it. Would
those spirits have called upon me, as
an Elder in Israel, to perform that
work if they had not been noble
spirits before God? They would not.
I bear this testimony, because it is
true. The Spirit of God bore record
to myself and the brethren while we
were laboring in that way.
What has been said with regard to
this nation and to our position is com-
ing to pass. All the powers of earth
and hell will not stay the hand of
Almighty God in the fulfillment of
those great prophecies that have
to come to pass to prepare the way
for the coming of the Son of Man.
You who have gathered here are my
witnesses of this. I feel as though the
day has come when every Elder and
every Latter-day Saint ought to stop
and consider the position he is in and
the covenants he has entered into. Is
there anything on the face of the earth
that will pay you to depart from the
oracles of God and from the Gospel of
Christ? Is there anything that will
pay you to lose the principles of sal-
vation, to lose a part in the first resur-
rection with the privilege of standing
in the morning of the resurrection
clothed with glory, immortality
and eternal life at the head of
your father's house? No, there is
nothing. I feel sorry many times when
I see men who have the Priesthood
forget almost that they have any in-
terest in the work of God.
I feel to thank God that I have lived
as long as I have, and to see as much
as I have in fulfillment of the words
of the Prophet of God. His days were
few. The lives of great men have been
strange. The idea of Jesus Christ, the
Son of the living God, only laboring
three years and a half in the ministry
and then He was put to death! His
Apostles, too, were put to death, ex-
cepting John the Revelator, and they
would have killed him if they could
have done so. He lived because God
wanted him to live. We live in the
last dispensation and in the midst of
the great work that all the Patriarchs
and Prophets since God made the
world have spoken of. Afflictions and
tribulations await the world. The
destroying angels have got their sharp
sickles in their hands, and they are
going to reap the earth. Everything
that has been spoken by the prophets
under the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost will come to pass in the genera-
tion in which we live. Do not forget
it. I thank God we are as well as we
are; that we have as many as we have
who are united together in the Priest-
hood. Let us try to live our religion,
do our duty, and magnify our calling
while we are here. The eyes of all
heaven are over us. The eyes of the
world are over us. The eyes of the
angels are over us. The Lord has
looked upon us and upon the house of
Israel to be saviors of the nations.
We are here to fulfill these principles.
I pray God my Heavenly Father
that as Elders of Israel and as Lat-
ter-day Saints we may prize these
principles, and that we may do our
duty what time we spend here in the
flesh. These Apostles and all the
quorums of the Priesthood have a
great work upon them. Every father
and mother has a great responsibility
resting upon them, to redeem their
dead. Do not neglect it. You will
have sorrow if you do. Any man will
who neglects the redemption of his
dead that he has power to officiate for
here. When you get to the other side
of the veil, if you have entered into
these Temples and redeemed you[r] pro-
genitors by the ordinances of the
House of God, you will hold the keys
of their redemption from eternity to
eternity. Do not neglect this! God
bless you. Amen.
The anthem,
God of Israel hear our prayer,
was sung by the choir.
Benediction by Elder C. W. Penrose.
Conference adjourned for six months.
The stenographic work in taking
the account of the proceedings was
done by Arthur Winter.
JOHN NICHOLSON,
Clerk of Conference.