Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-26


slows upon them the means by which
they can contend against the difficult
ties and the prosecutions and secure
the blessings connected with these
promises. When people follow the
counsels of these servants of the Lord
who are abroad preaching the Gospel,
II they do not come to n knowledge Of
the truth of these promises from
heaven after they have obeyed, they
ought to declare this: they should
announce this failure to their friends,
and to the public. l suppose. am now
addressing Elk or eight thousand peo-
pie, and probably three-fifths of them
have come from the distant nations of
the earth. to these mountain wales.
and these are the principles that we
taught them, that they should receive
a knowledge of this work, they should
receive the Holy Ghost that would
testify to them OF the truth of the
saying of these Elders that they had
| authority to administer the ordinances
of the Gospel. Now. 1 ask, why are
you here? Why are you sitting upon
these seats? Why are you teaching
your families and friends that these
principles are of God. that Joseph
Smith was u Prophet of God, that
Jesus came down and talked with His
people, the sons and daughters of God
as He did in former days? Why do
you teach these principles, and why do
you sit here instead of repairing to
your homes and declaring that you
/ never received any such divine testi-
mony, as was promised you?
think II strangers came to me, as
| Elders now go to the nations, and
testified to me that they had authorl-
| ty to promise that the Holy Ghost
| would rest upon me after repenting
of my sins, forsaking them, and obey
ing their message, and did not re-
ceive any extraordinary or miraculous
manifestations. l certainly would not
| leave my friends, country, and home.
as thousands and thousands have
| done. But 1t Is a fact that / am
| speaking to thousands here that have
come from long distances, from many
nations of the enrth, that are here
and have been here for years and
| and deny that they or their friends
ever received this testimony? In
these verses that L have read in your
hearing, 1t is declared that the Son of
God appeared in the Kirkland Temple
| sixty one years ago. and spoke there
| to His friends.
Years ago on my Palestine tour,
was one day upon the Mount of Olives,
| where Jesus left the earth and as
| cended to His Father, witnessed by
| persons that We're there present, and |
did not doubt that l was at the place
! where. as l read In the Testament,
/ that Jesus took His departure from.
| While looked around and gazed
about, l believed that / was there at
that place; l believed that Jesus did
actually take farewell OF the world
and go to His Father, because GER
tain individuals say and did make a
declaration that that was the fact.
NOW did not see these persons that
testified to this extraordinary occur
renee. saw no such persons; because
II was over eighteen hundred years age
that this extraordinary circumstance
occurred. But this that have been
reading in your hearing, occurred in
THIS age. was personally acquainted
with the parties who saw this wonder
ful extraordinarily ac-
quainted with Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery. l was acquainted with JOSEPH
Smith for years. And know Brother
Oliver Cowdery to have been a good
man, honorable, honest, and truthful;
although years after this, Oliver Cow
derry left the Church for a while. He
became proud and exalted, and left
the Church; but the spirit and the tes
timony never left him, and after suf.
ferlng the Affections of the Lord. h,
repented and was very glad to com,
back into the Church. and he got bach
Just in time to go into the other world
and that is just about the whole o.
It so far as Oliver Cowdery was con
cerned.
Well now these things are worthy tn,
attention of the Latter-day Saints, anC
when we take them into consideration
and bring them home to our under
standing, what follows? Why, tina
we should be the best people that Coo
has upon the earth and far better thai
any other. The Lord has given us 1
Prophet, to give counseis in reference
to that which pertains to the genera
| ytf TO ne hA \ Eos. lnx LOT,
tinually, and He has blessed hin
abundantly. There is not one tina
can dispute the honesty and integrit,
of Brother MILFORD Woodruff, our Pres
ident. We know him. Years AM
years he has been testifying of thes
things of which have been speaking
and he says he knows them. he say
he understands them distinctly; AM
we ourselves should know them. Per
haps not quite as extensively as h
knows them. For instance, an astron
omer may know q thousand things il
reference to the revolving of the cart
in Its orbit around the sun, and know
great many facts in reference to TIL
sun that thousands are ignorant of
and yet these thousands that are per
fectly ignorant of those many things
know one thing that this astronome
knows, they know that there is a sun
they see there is a sun; they know !
Just as well as he knows 1t. In refer
ence to this Gospel and our prospect
in the next life, there are thousand
that know 1t just rs well as Presiden
Woodruff knows II; and when tn
resurrection is spoken of, they know l
Just as well as President Woodruff
knows II. In reference to Mormon
ISM" us II is sometimes called, Their
are thousands that know 1t just a
well as Joseph Smith knew it. The.
know 1t because God has revealed 1t t
them perfectly.
There is no man that knows TIL
truth of this work more than i do.
know II fully; / know II distinctly.
know there is God just as well a
any man knows II, because God has re
vealed himself to me. ] know 1t posi-
lively. l shall never forget the mani
festations OF the Lord; I never vii
forget them us long as memory en-
dures. 1t is IN me. There is something
TO labor for. there is something to sac
riiloe for. When the Elders so fort
among the nations, they dare to sa,
this; they dare to say that God ha
revealed himself. They dare to sa,
that God has spoken to His sons ant
daughters as He did in former days
and they dare to say that He ha
heard the prayers of the house of Is
rael, He has heard the prayers OF tn
honest In heart. and He has com
down MS He did In the days of Israe
when they We're In Egyptian bondas
to deliver them; He has come down 4
relieve the distressed and to confe'
upon them knowledge. intellectually
| enirit,t,ltu und rInco tbpp, in