Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1896-04-25
THE S. |. Tabernacle CHOIR
Californians Received Them
With Outstretched Hands.
An Address by APOSTLE Heber j..
Grant-The Farewell Concert in the
Evening.

San Francisco, April 2i-The San
Francisco Chronicle contains an extend.
ed account in Monday mornings issue
of the services held at the Mormon mis-.
sion on Sunday, when the choir attend
ed and Apostle II. ]. Grant spoke The
Chronicle said:
A glimpse Of the solemnity, the earn
estness which characterizes the service
held in the great Mormon temple at
Salt Lake city was given yesterday to
the vast 'concourse which attended the
services of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints at Metropolitan hall.
Although the visiting members of the
great choir numbered but one-third of
those who take part in the home services
the effect and the work was so far above
anything ever ever heard in San Fran
cisco that it was a revelation in praise
service.
The opening chorus was the "Hosan-
nah" written for and sung al the dedi-
cation of the Mormon temple, which has
cost millions of dollars and was forty
years in course of construction.
With outstretched hands Joseph Shep-
herd, who with Henry S. Tanner, rep
resents the Mormon mission on this
coast, offered the morning prayer, and
instead of using the usual form said:
"Join with me in calling upon the Lord"
The choir sang "Hark, Hark, My Soul"
Apostle Heber J. Grant, who reached
here yesterday from Salt Lake, was then
introduced and said; ain sending mis-.
sionaries into the world we have nc de-
sire other than the salvation of man
kind; no desire but that the world may
know and understand what we believe,
and Judge us not by the reputation
given us by an unknowing public, but
by our own doctrine, our lives and our
work. The tree should be known BY
the fruit it yields. We wish to promul-
gate the plan of life and salvation as we
understand it."
After assuming that the majority of
listeners believed in God and Jesus
Christ as the Savior of mankind, Elder
Grant read the articles of faith of the
Mormon church. He analysed them as
he read and explained that while the
Mormons believed in God, Jesus Christ
and the Holy Ghost, they did not be-
lieve that all three were one.
He continued: 1--WE believe God to
be person having parts, body and pas.
sions as the man of today" and in sup
port of the assertion quoted from frs,
Hebrews, which tells of man being Gre
ated in the image Of God. He recount
ed that the Mormon creedteaches atone
ment through Christ, but does not CON
fine its work to the living and those who
have heard the gospel
He said: "Nearly all the work done in
our great temple is for the atonement of
the countless souls who have died with
out even hearing Of the gospel. We
claim that when Christ arose from the
tomb and before he assembled into
heaven, he preached redemption TO err
ring souls buried about him" In sup
port of this he read from John ii: Ir-I7.
The speaker held that if vicarious
atonement for the dead were denied then
the cornerstone of redemption was
swept away, for Jesus performed the Vi
carious work for mankind by laying
down his life. Baptism for the dead,
he commended, was known in the ancient
days.
Then followed an interesting account
of the belief in regard to the visit of
Elijah to Joseph Smith whose prophet
ic words he said had been fulfilled to the
letter. He felt that, like Jesus, their
prophet had been malighned and misrep-
resented, but, like Jesus, the time was
coming when he would receive all the
justice that was his due.
He reeounted the sufferings, the per-
secutions of the Mormons, and said
notwithstanding all that, when a de-
mand was made by the United States
after the Mormons had been driven
from Missouri, for 500 men to fight for
California, the men was furnished, and
that was because our religion says that
our constitution is God-given, and the
--e-laxes his country next to his