Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-14

righteousness. II we want Il great peo-
pie, we must begin in the city, and
the result viii extend to the state and
10 the nation. With the individual
Is the unit--under 5proper control, the rest
must necessarily follow. The spirit
of self government should be develop
ed, beginning with the city. The ten
dency Is to pay attention to national
and state affairs, to tire detriment OF
te municipality, a great transition is
going on, and immense changes are
| being effected Public ownership of
utilities, will soon be the order, when
4 monopolies Will not control as they
4 do To-Day, and then will valuable fran
Il rhises belonging to the people not be
\ thrown into the lap OF greed and graft.
ELDER o. f. WHITNEY.
Elder orson Il. whitney was the
/ next speaker, addressing the meeting,
4 In part as follows:
/ l have a testimony concerning the
work OF God My heart Is filled with
OF His Church. 1t seems as il / had
always been III fellowship with tho
saints. l can not conceive how could
| get along without the gospel. There
was Il time in my life wnen / was
more or less Indifferent to religion, but
| God In His mercy broke through tnaf
crust OF Indifference and let light into
/
OF truth and righteousness, and today
| can not Understand now 1T would
| be possible TOR me TO be indifferent to
| spiritual things, or to be heglectful of
the blessings Of God.
When our blessings have taken
wings and have flown, it Is then that
| we know their value. do not want
to lose my membership in the Church
| in oruer that / might be taught the
worth of the privilege OF enjoying 1t.
a man who has u good Wife may not
realize her worth until She is taken
away by death; u woman may not
! know how self-sacrjflcing has been her.
husband until the grave claims him.
We should appreciate our blessings
while we have them and before they
are taken away from us. / want the
light that have to grow brighter and
| brighter.
Many have said that they would give
| much il they could only know that
| the gospel as taught by the Latter
day SAINTS Is the truth. A man who
had lett the Church said that he would
| give everything that he possessed If he
could feel sure that Mormonism was
not the work of God, His conscience
| brought him great anxiety. What Il
commentary on a wrecked life! He
represents Il class of people who do
| not know that this is Gods work but
fear that 1t Is. When a person has once
become enlightened and the light goes
out, the darkness Is tenfold Such a
one wants to be placed where he was
before he received the light 1t Is far
better never to have received the testi-
mony of the Holy Ghost than to have
received it and then lost it.. There is
but one way to keep the light of the
gospel burning, and that is to live by
every word that proceeds from the
mouth OF God.
God commands, yet men obey not.
Then they say In their hearts, This is
not the work OF the Lord. But God
never fails to fulfil His promises. When
looked-for results do not come, the
trouble is not with Jehovah but with
men. There are thousands in this
Church who can testify that when they
had repented of their sins and had
been baptized they received the Holy
Ghost. Every time a sincere man pays
his tithinG he receives an immediate
blessing, which is the Spirit of God
10 some this may seem of no conso-
quence, but it Is more precious than
silver and gold, houses and lands. When
the Savior was about to go away from
His disciples He wanted to give them
something of great value, Did He pro-
mise them riches and honor, thrones
and power? No. He gave them some
thing greater than these. He said,
will send you another Comforter, even
the Spirit OF Truth, that proceedeth
from the Father. That was the most
precious thing that our Lord could
leave behind Him.
The most important man in any age
is he who can answer this question:
Men and brethren, what shall we 10
to be saved p The poet and philoso-
pher the musician and painter may do
their wondrous works, but greater than
they Is he who can solve the problem
involved in that question. There will
come a time when all earthly things
will pass away. In that day what VIII
remain? Eternal life, the greatest gift
of God. 1t is the Prophet Joseph Smith
who Is the most important man IN
this age. for he answered the question
proponnded to the Apostle Peter and s
pointed out the things necessary to
obtain salvation. Through repentance
and baptism for the remission of sins
we may begin that course which will
lead us to eternal life. Let us so live
that the Spirit of God will abide with
us always and never grow dim May
we never deem anything as essential
as our membership in the Church OF
God
After the singing of an anthem en-
titled "Iion," the benediction was pro-
nounced by Elder George r. Emery.
EVENING SESSION.
The third and final session Of the
conference was held in the Assembly
hall, at o'clock in the evening. This 1
meeting was devoted to the interests of
the priesthood quorums of the stake
The Twenty-second ward choir as
sisted by the orchestra. sang True TO
the Faith" Prayer was offered by
Bishop George r. Jones of the Twenty
third ward. Singing. How will the
saints rejoice to tell and count their
sufferings Ger
President Nephi L. Morris spoke as
fotlows: This is a special conference
of the priesthood of the stake, to which
the public has been invited. and we are
pleased to have so large an attendance
mere to listen to the plan devised for
the strengthening of the priesthood.
About year ago Elder David o. Nc
NAY of the quorum. of apostles began
n Weber stake a movement for MAX |
ing the quorums more efficient The |
result of this was a very large increase |
IN attendance and interest on the part !
OF those holding the priesthood. The |
general authorities have decided to |
Z make this movement universal |
throughout the Church. A COMMITTEES |
consisting of members of the apostles
quorum, the presiding bishopric. and |
some Instructors in the Church schools |
had been appointed to prepare outlines
or Ssufy for the use Of all the quorums,
O. Il y