have had no use for Brother Merrill,
for Brother Edlefsen, for Brother
Roskelley, for Brother Leishman, or for
any of the men in this temple at
Logan; for all ordinances would be
stopped throughout the land of Zion.
Confusion would reign throughout
Israel, and many men would be made
prisoners. This trouble would have
come upon the whole Church, and we
should have been compelled to stop the
practice. Now, the question is,
whether it should be stopped in this
manner, or in the way the Lord has
manifested to us, and leave our
Prophets and Apostles and fathers free
men, and the temples in the hands of
the people, so that the dead may be re-
deemed. A large number has already
been delivered from the prison house
in the spirit world by this people, and
shall the work go on or stop? This is
the question I lay before the Latter-day
Saints. You have to judge for your-
selves. I want you to answer it for
yourselves. I shall not answer it; but
I say to you that that is exactly the
condition we as a people would have
been in had we not taken the course we
have. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:15]

I know there are a good many men,
and probably some leading men, in this
Church who have been tried and felt
as though President Woodruff had lost
the Spirit of God and was about to
apostatize. Now, I want you to under-
stand that he has not lost the Spirit,
nor is he about to apostatize. The Lord
is with him, and with this people. He
has told me exactly what to do, and
what the result would be if we did not
do it. I have been called upon by friends
outside of the Church and urged to take
some steps with regard to this matter.
They knew the course which the Gov-
ernment were determined to take. This
feeling has also been manifested more
or less by members of the Church. I
saw exactly what would come to pass
if there was not something done. I
have had this spirit upon me
for a long time. But I want
to say this: I should have let
all the temples go out of our hands; I
should have gone to prison myself, and
let every other man go there, had
not the God of heaven commanded me
to do what I did do; and when the
hour came that I was commanded to
do that, it was all clear to me. I went
before the Lord, and I wrote what the
Lord told me to write. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:16] I laid it before
my brethren—such strong men as
Brother Geo. Q. Cannon, Brother Jos.
F. Smith, and the Twelve Apostles. I
might as well undertake to turn an
army with banners out of its course as
to turn them out of a course that they
considered to be right. These men
agreed with me, and ten thousand
Latter-day Saints also agreed with me.
Why? Because they were moved upon
by the Spirit of God and by the revela-
tions of Jesus Christ to do it.

I leave this with you, for you to con-
template and consider. The Lord is
at work with us. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:17] He is doing things
here that you do not comprehend.
Make these matters a subject of
prayer. Do not worry; do not feel bad
about them.

I rejoice that God has revealed to us
the gospel. I rejoice I live in a day
and generation when we have the
Church of God on the earth. We
have had prophets and apostles among
us. They have worked here in the
flesh and saved many souls. They
have died and gone to the spirit world.
Joseph Smith holds the keys of this
dispensation. He will hold them to
the endless ages of eternity, no matter
who may lead the Church after him.
The Lord has given us power to come
here and build temples. We have
three temples erected in these moun-
tains, and many of the dead have been
redeemed in them, and they will have
a part in the first resurrection. There-
fore, we ought to be thankful to the
Lord. We want to continue in these
temples. We want them to be oc-
cupied by the Latter-day Saints.
We want our brethren and sisters to
continue to go there and redeem the
dead and bless the living. The Lord
will take care of you and your families.
He will take care of Zion, and of this
generation, and He will fulfil all that
He has said.

I say, God bless you. And He will
bless you if you will hearken to His
counsels.

I want the Latter-day Saints to stop
murmuring and complaining at the
providence of God. Trust in God.
Do your duty. Remember your
prayers. Get faith in the Lord, and
take hold and build up Zion. All
will be right. The Lord is going to
visit His people, and He is going to
cut His work short in righteousness,
lest no flesh should be saved. I say to
you, watch the signs of the times, and
prepare yourselves for that which is to
come. God bless you. Amen.

THE DESERET WEEKLY.

have had no use for Brother Merrill, for Brother Edlefsen, for Brother Roskelley, for Brother Leishman, or for any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion. Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole Church, and we should have been compelled to stop the practice. Now, the question is, whether it should be stopped in this manner, or in the way the Lord has manifested to us, and leave our Prophets and Apostles and fathers free men, and the temples in the hands of the people, so that the dead may be redeemed. A large number has already been delivered from the prison house in the spirit world by this people, and shall the work go on or stop? This is the question I lay before the Latter-day Saints. You have to judge for yourselves. I want you to answer it for yourselves. I shall not answer it; but I say to you that that is exactly the condition we as a people would have been in had we not taken the course we have.

I know there are a good many men, and probably some leading men, in this Church who have been tried and felt as though President Woodruff had lost the Spirit of God and was about to apostatize. Now, I want you to understand that he has not lost the Spirit, nor is he about to apostatize. The Lord is with him, and with this people. He has told me exactly what to do, and what the result would be if we did not do it. I have been called upon by friends outside of the Church and urged to take some steps with regard to this matter. They knew the course which the Government were determined to take. This feeling has also been manifested more or less by members of the Church. I saw exactly what would come to pass if there was not something done. I have had this spirit upon me for a long time. But I want to say this: I should have let all the temples go out of our hands; I should have gone to prison myself, and let every other man go there, had not the God of heaven commanded me to do what I did do; and when the hour came that I was commanded to do that, it was all clear to me. I went before the Lord, and I wrote what the Lord told me to write. I laid it before my brethren--such strong men as Brother Geo. Q. Cannon, Brother Jos. F. Smith, and the Twelve Apostles. I might as well undertake to turn an army with banners out of its course as to turn them out of a course that they considered to be right. These men agreed with me, and ten thousand Latter-day Saints also agreed with me. Why? Because they were moved upon by the Spirit of God and by the revelations of Jesus Christ to do it.

I leave this with you, for you to contemplate and consider. The Lord is at work with us. He is doing things here that you do not comprehend. Make these matters a subject of prayer. Do not worry; do not feel bad about them.

I rejoice that God has revealed to us the gospel. I rejoice I live in a day and generation when we have the Church of God on the earth. We have had prophets and apostles among us. They have worked here in the flesh and saved many souls. They have died and gone to the spirit world. Joseph Smith holds the keys of this dispensation. He will hold them to the endless ages of eternity, no matter who may lead the Church after him. The Lord has given us power to come here and build temples. We have three temples erected in these mountains, and many of the dead have been redeemed in them, and they will have a part in the first resurrection. Therefore, we ought to be thankful to the Lord. We want to continue in these temples. We want them to be occupied by the Latter-day Saints. We want our brethren and sisters to continue to go there and redeem the dead and bless the living. The Lord will take care of you and your families. He will take care of Zion, and of this generation, and He will fulfil all that He has said.

I say, God bless you. And He will bless you if you will hearken to His counsels.

I want the Latter-day Saints to stop murmuring and complaining at the providence of God. Trust in God. Do your duty. Remember your prayers. Get faith in the Lord, and take hold and build up Zion. All will be right. The Lord is going to visit His people, and He is going to cut His work short in righteousness, lest no flesh should be saved. I say to you, watch the signs of the times, and prepare yourselves for that which is to come. God bless you. Amen.