The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-04-22
SUNDAY SERVICES.

The afternoon services In the Tab
ernacle yesterday were opened by
the choir singing the. hymn COM
mencing:
Our God, we raise to thee
Thanks for tby blessings free
We here eLjoy,
In this ia distant land;
A true and chosen band,
Led hither By thy h.nd,
Would sHg for joy
Prayer by Elder George B. Wal
lace. Singing by the choir OF the
hymn beginning:
Sweetly may he blessed Spirit,
On each faithful JsUm shine;
May We ever gr>ce inherit;
Lord, We ct ek boon divine.
Elder JOSEPH II. FELT was first
called upon to address the congrega-
ton. In doing so he felt pleased 10
NEST once more with his friends,
hut realized his weakness; but if he
depended upon his own strength he
would indeed be weak: he made a
practice OF relying on his father in
heaven and the faith and prayers of
his brethren and sisters. While be
had been away, though but little
over seven months, the time had
seemed long; yet he had eoj yed
his mission, and had received an
additional ties timOny to the truth OF
the work in which he labored He
b ID hn S.lir fC
peculiar people, because they be-
lieved in the holy word as written IN
the Scrip ures. and he thought no
man had a right to misinterpret
thu m He rejoiced in the peculiar
ties which characterized the gospel
he had ben preaching, of the bless
ings and gifts which follow obedi-
ence to the ordinances, and which
belonged to the church in the days
OF Jesus r vealion especially was
emf yed by tn 81 who live their re-
ligIOn, and by lt the mind aud will
of G d was always knO Vn 60 them.
He had had CLEANS Of sunshine and
times of gloom while absent, but
when be felt depressed he tent his
knees and supplicsted the thr)na Of
God for help and he always recs ived
it. His belief in the efficacy of
prayer was t opg While on his
mission he had carried the gospel t.
many who had never hea d of it.
and 20 many who had never even
heard of The Mormons. He and bis
compsn on. NJ. w. D lton, had trsv
81 ~
houses and by the firesides of the
people Of New Mexico, telling their
hearers of the plan Of salvation,
asking them to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and search the Scrip
lures. They met with opposition.
and that too from the ministers; and
the use of schooIh ouses to preach In
was denied them, b .cause, as one OF
the priests sad, It won d destrc y the
harmony of the church; but the
preaching Of Jesus and his apostles
the harmony of the Phar-
isees and those of that class, and it
to be the trouble with
every dispensation. The speakers
testimony was the same as that of
all the inhabitants Of Utah and in
many countries of the old werld,
pamely, that Joseph Smith was a
prophet. He and others knew this,
Notwithstanding they had never
seen him; but how did Peter know
that Jesus was the Son Of God?
Flesh and blood had not revealed it
to him, but the Spirit of his Father
who was in heaven. G. ID is uns
changeable, and if revelation WAS a
means of obtaining knowledge from
heaven in olden times. why should It
not be now? By faith and prayer
the blessings of God are earned He
advised all to receive the gospel, and
receive that reward Jesus promised
on the Day of PenJecost. The same
gifts and powers vouch.afed in
Christ's days to those who were
baptized, were all enjoyed by those
who were born of the water in our
time, one of which is the power of
seeing the past, the present and the
future. For the rake of the tru hs
and beauties ofthe gospel the Saints
were willing to endure persecution
and opposition. For this he had
gone from home; he knew 1t was
call from God, who would uphold
and shield him from harm. He had
been privileged to baptize nine per-
SONS, one of whom was previously
Jealous Methodist and afterwards
diligent worker in the Baptist cause.
Elder Felt narrated the battling and
of this individual, who,
whenever the proposition to baptize
him was made, wanted more time to
mink, and when at last he gave In
his name for baptism, he was firm
In his belief that the work was of
God. This was the knowledge
gained by all Lstter-dsy Saints. once
game d it was Ineffsceable; it cannot
be destroyed; it is lasting. He WA
glad to return, feeling that he had |
The appreciation of the elders of
Israel; was sorry to see so many i'm
nerted in business and neg ecting |
the duties of the priesthood. How
lifficuit IT was to serve God and |