THE GATHERING OF ISRAEL.
BY APOSTLE M. F. COWLEY.

(Continued from Page 351.) One feature of the pleasantry which aracterizes the Saints of God is their ustom, in their mountain homes, of ming together in a social capacity and -ining in the dance. In this capacity, sin gatherings of more weighty impornce, the old and the young, male and male, mingle together; that parents ay rejoice in the innocent recreation of eir children, and that the children may e under the guiding influence of their arents. Strange as it may seem to the orld, even to those professing Chrisanity, and a consequent belief in the ible, such a condition is in fulfillment - a sacred prophecy, and is found in the irteenth verse of the thirty-first chap-r of Jeremiah, and reads as follows: Then shall the virgin rejoice in the ance, both young men and old together; or I will turn their mourning into joy, ad will comfort them, and make them ejoice from their sorrow." And all his was to be at the time of their getting p into the high mountains, and express■g their praises to the Almighty in the eights of Zion. Closely connected with ne foregoing prophecies is one found in saiah, thirty-fifth chapter, first and enth verses: "The wilderness and the litary place shall be glad for them; and he desert shall rejoice and blossom as ne rose. And the ransomed of the Lord all return, and come to Zion with songs nd everlasting joy upon their heads; hey shall obtain joy and gladness, and orrow and sighing shall flee away." Alost the entire chapter has a bearing pon this subject. It speaks of streams reaking out in the desert. The Lord as so abundantly blessed the labors of His people in that once barren region, hat truly the desert does rejoice, and lossom as the rose. That Salt Lake alley was a most forbidding place canot be denied. James Bridger, an old rapper who had seen Salt Lake Valley, efore the Pioneers, was so confident of he perpetual sterility of the soil, renered so by having little or no water, carcely any rain, and frost nearly every month in the year, that he said to Presdent Brigham Young, I will give you thousand dollars for the first corn that -an be produced in Salt Lake Valley." Our geographies designated that counry as the Great American Desert. Danel Webster, the great statesman and rator, earnestly opposed the annexation of that section of the country to the United States, on the ground of its almost utter worthlessness, claiming it vould be a financial burden to the government. Notwithstanding these forbiding aspects, the Prophet Joseph Smith predicted on the 6th of August, 1845, that the Latter Day Saints would become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. This prophecy vill be found in a work entitled "A New Witness for God," by Elder B. H. Roberts, which work also contains many other predictions of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and shows their fulfillment.

The following clauses in the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter thirty-five: "For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, and the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty lands springs of water," have been fulfilled in the settlement of that country by the Latter Day Saints.

As the judgments of God come upon the earth, the gathering of Israel will be

accelerated, and the words of the Prophet Isaian will be fulfilled in asking the question, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as a dove to their windows?" (Isa. 60:8.) As they come together from their long dispersion, and from the north country, in times of famine, pestilence and bloodshed, the Lord will strengthen them by saying, "Fear not; I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back; bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name." (Isa. 43:5-7.) How universal will be this gathering from all points of the compass, and will apply to all, who are truly called by the name of the Lord!

This gathering in the future will be attended by greater power than heretofore, and no power will be able to impede the progress of this great work. Hear what Jeremiah says, "Behold, I will gather them from out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them and their children after them." (Jer. 32: 31-39.) Ezekiel also prophesies in similar language, "And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people and there will I plead with you face to face." (Ezeknel 20:34.)

The same prophet also predicts the gathering of Israel in unmistakable terms, in chapter thirty-six, verse twenty-four: "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into

your own land."

their Messiah and the principle of gathering, which He offered unto them.

By reading the book of Zachariah we learn that when the Jews have gathered to their promised land, in the last days, and the armies of the Gentiles surround them, that the Messiah will appear unto them on the Mount of Olives. Looking to the fulfillment of these great predictions the feeling pervades the hearts of the Jews, to a very great extent, to furnish means for the purchase of the land of Palestine, that they may return and re-build the city of Jerusalem.

When the twelve Apostles at Jerusalem requested of the Savior to know the signs of His second coming, He gave them various signs, among which was the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, and consequently its restoration to the earth; the raising up of prophets to warn the people, without which the comparison of the days of Noah, and the days of the second coming of the Messiah would not be complete.

To counterfeit the work of God, through prophets that should be raised up, false prophets and teachers should also arise, kingdom should arise against kingdom, war, pestilence and bloodshed should desolate the nations of the earth, the gathering of Israel should be going on, as proven by the prophecies heretofore quoted, and when the signs of His appearing should appear in the heavens, "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. 24:31 see also Mark 13:27.) This is the dispensation of the fullness of times in which all the keys, power, and authority enjoyed by all previous dispensations have been restored to the earth, and this includes the keys of the gathering. Under date of April 3d, 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were the recipients of many glorious visions and revelations committed to them at Kirtland, O., in the Temple of the Lord. They solemnly testify as follows: "After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us, and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the north." (D. & C., Sec. 110:11.)

The foregoing glorious predictions are chiefly from the Old Testament, but the New Testament also contains many very definite predictions upon this glorious subject; indeed, in the last days, when the Gospel should be restored to earth by divine revelation the dispensation From that time the spirit of gathering thus established was to be designated as has rested richly upon the Saints of the a gathering dispensation, as stated by Most High, and tens of thousands have Paul in Ephesians, chapter 1:9-10: gathered from many nations of the earth, "Having made known unto us the mys- and will continue until they are assemtery of His will, according to His good bled in the places designated for them to pleasure which He hath purposed in occupy. Since that time also the spirit Himself; that in the dispensation of the of gathering has been working among fullness of times, He might gather to- the Jews, and when all things are regether in one all things in Christ, both vealed it will undoubtedly be true that which are in heaven, and which are on the spirit of gathering is working among earth; even in Him." This is in beauti- the ten lost tribes of Israel: looking to ful accord with the prophecy of Isaiah the restoration promised to them in the before quoted, that all who are called by predictions of their fathers. Thus in the name of the Lord should be gathered the purposes of God will be accomplished together. Jesus offered the gathering to the gathering together in one all who the house of Judah in His day, but they will serve God and keep His commandrejected it. He said unto them, "O, ments, that they may "learn of His Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the ways and walk in His paths," that the prophets, and stonest them that are sent earth my be "filled with the knowledge unto thee; how often would I have of the Lord, as the waters cover the gathered thy children together, as a hen mighty deep," and when no man shall doth gather her brood under her wings, say to his neighbor, "know ye the Lord," and ye would not! Behold, your house for all shall know Him, from the least is left unto you desolate; and verily I to the greatest. say unto you, ye shall not see Me, until the time come when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." How terribly have these words been fulfilled upon them, by rejecting

Reports from the field are very encouraging. The hot season is passed, the health of the Elders is improving and all are hard at work.

LATTER DAY SAINTS

SOUTHERN STAR

Published Weekly by Southern States Mission, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Chattanooga, Tenn.

speaking of the condiTHE WORTHY tion of the American POOR, populace, Abraham Lincoln said: "God must love the poor, He made so many of them." It will be remenubered that the early settlers of America were people who had been oppressed and driven in foreign lands, and many of them landed without food to sustain life until more could be raised. Hard work and economy was the keynote to prosperity, and as a result New England teems with farms, factories and other enterprises which give employment to the inhabitants. As explorers proceeded to the interior the facilities of the country were made known and the sound of the ax replaced the howls of wild animals and savage Indians. These pioneers were poor, but they were honest and grateful. They were always ready to assist a neighbor in time Jetter. of trouble. Many of those pioneers were Entered at the Post Office at Chattanooga, Tenn., as prosperous, and bustling cities now second class matter. place quiet forests.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1899.

ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

1. We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

8. We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordipances of the Gospel.

4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Chost.

5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by "prophecy, and by the laying on of hands," by those who are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church-namely, Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, etc.

7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.

8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this (the American) continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

12. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law. 18. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, "We believe all things, we hope all things," we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. JOSEPH SMITH

re

When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, most of its members were poor. It was revealed that a great work should be done by them; that they should carry the Gospel to all nations and gather of all nations to the land, Zion. In the infancy of the Church it seemed impossible for such a work to be accomplished, and it was even predicted by Grant that he would outlive the Church. Grant lies mouldering in the dust and the Church of Jesus Christ has an aggregate total of about 325,000. When persecution became unbearable the people left the homes that they had comfortable by their hard work and sought a place where they could, for a time at least, enjoy peace, and worship God without becoming an object of contempt to their neighbors. Finally in mid-winter they were compelled to leave Nauvoo, "the beautiful," and seek a home among the Indians. There was not intense sorrow over leaving comfortable homes; the people knew they were accepted of the Lord and "all who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

After a long and tedious march they finally rested in the Great Basin. Many were sick, others hungry and poorly clad, but they were worthy poor and the windows of heaven were opened to them and they helped one another and helped themselves, and by the help of the Lord have established an "ensign to the nation."

An Elder laboring in North Carolina visited a home for the poor and was very forcibly impressed. The home was lo cated in a cozy spot, surrounded by fields of grain and waving corn, skirted by beautiful woods, giving it, on the whole, a very healthy and home-like appearance.

The main building is situated in the center of the grass covered grounds and on either side are cottages for poor. The Elders were informed that the great maority of the people were of the class who thought the world owed them a living, and when kindness was shown them they were as void of gratefulness as though such a faculty was a part of their being. At meal times they went to the kitchen and received their portion of food. To see a crowd of miserable, lazy creatures with no ambition but to live and be a burden to others made a lasting impression on the Elder.

In the Church of Jesus Christ the poor are looked upon as a blessed people. When John desired a sign of the divinity of the mission of the Savior, the Master said, "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have

the Gospel preached to them." This see as one of the signs of His divin "preaching the Gospel to the poor.”

Not only did the Savior establish H divinity in this manner, but after Gospel had been preached and accep by the poor they were provided for blessed.

In Acts vi.:1 is recorded account of murmurings of the Gree against the Hebrews, because their w ows were neglected in the daily ministr tions. "Seven honest men, full of t Holy Ghost and wisdom, were appoiLE to remedy this evil."

In writing the Corinthians (I. C. xvi. :2) Saint Paul reminds them of 2 mer instructions, wherein they were con seled to lay by their surplus that the should be no gatherings when he can The Saints at Galatia were instructed r garding Paul's call to the apostleship these words: "And when James, Cept and John, who seemed to be pillars, p ceived the grace that was given unto they gave to me and Barnabas the rig hand of fellowship; that we should unto the heathen, and they unto the c cumcision. that Only they would should remember the poor; the sa which I was also favored to do."

Two forcible points are presented this passage: first it was the counsel the "pillars" of the church, and secon. ly, it was not only Paul's exhortation, b also his desire to provide for the poor.

Christ said: or ye have the p with you always, and whensoever ye w. ye may do them good; but Me ye har not always." Inis is certainly true t day and the Elders who have gone un the world to preach have not neglects the poor and many of them have be gathered to the valleys of the mountais where they have prospered. Many hav been lifted from positions where they e vied the horse they tended as it was card for and well fed, and made to feel the they were in reality sons and daughter of God. Some have become proud a careless about their duty, and as a res the poor are not being assisted as the should be.

Not long ago missionaries were sex among the Stakes of Zion warning the people and calling them to repentanc This has a significance, for in all cases recorded calamities have followed the warning voice of the servants of God Today the authorities of the Church ar calling on the people to pay their tithing and fast offerings, and if this is done it is predicted that the Saints and Churc will soon be out of bondage.

Apostle Clawson at the April Confer ence said if the people would pay their fast offerings it would be ample to feed the poor, and the reason the poor are neglected as they are is because the Saints neglect their duty.

There are thousands of poor people here in the south who desire to emigrate, and are making many sacrinces in this regard, and if all would unite in performing their duty, paying tithing, observing fast days and sending the fast offerings to the Conference Presidents the people would be blessed and the righteous de sires of our hearts would be granted.

Think of the blessedness that would result if all would attend to these small duties. Think of the joy that must come to a widow's heart when a crowd of merry boys bring wood to her yard, cut it and store in a nice place, and what can bring more joy to the boys than to receive a warm shake of the hand and "God bless you" from the grateful widow? What a contrasted pen picture could be drawu from the latter happy sight and the "poor farm, home" where many complain and are not contented with what is given them.

"MORMON" FAITH.

By ELDER BEN. E. RICE. (Continued from Page 347.) "There are no people in the world who have stricter ideas and rules concerning morality than the Latter Day Saints have. Sexual relations outside of marriage are considered a deadly sin. Violations of chastity are viewed as next to murder in enormity. Chastity is enjoined upon both male and female. A young man should be as pure as a young woman. One has no more license than the other as to morals under Mormon teachings. We believe that the union of the sexes in marriage is essential to perfection. Neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord' (I Cor. xi:11). The celestial kingdom where God and Christ dwell is a state of perfection. Those who enter into that glory will be perfect. Therefore we believe in celestial marriage, which is eternal marriage the marriage that was solemnized between Adam and Eve by the Almighty in the Garden of Eden. They were immortal beings. Death had not entered into the world. There was no sin, therefore there was no death. The immortal pair were made one flesh. No man could put them asunder. That was an eternal union. If they were separated by death, which was the wages of sin, they were re-united through the atonement of the Savior, and thus restored to their former condition. So, in the resurrection they will not be married or given in marriage, for they were united in celestial marriage before they became mortal. The Lord has revealed in this age of the world that order of celestial or eternal marriage, so that what is sealed by it on earth is sealed in heaven, and remains in and after the resurrection. The husband will be restored to the wife and the wife to the hus husband, and together as one they will enter, if worthy, into the fullness of the glory of the Lord. If a man thus married should temporarily lose his wife by death, and should marry another by the same law, they would both be his in the world to come. Previous to the enactment of laws forbidding polygamy and punishing it as a crime, the Chuch taught the doctrine of plural marriage, and to a small extent, comparatively, it was practiced under the most sacred covenants and obligations of chastity and purity. But since those laws, after much litigation and much suffering on the part of many persons, were declared constitutional by the supreme court of the United States, the practice of marrying more than one wife, in violation of our laws, has ceased; the President of our Church issued a manifesto to this effect. No matter what may be preached or published to the contrary, what I say to you is the truth, which you can depend upon. Polygamy or plural marriages are forbidden by the constitution of the State of Utah and a penalty of $500 fine and five years' imprisonment is imposed upon those who violate this provision. One of our doctrines is that we must obey the constitutional laws of the land. We, therefore, submit and leave the result with the Lord. But what God hath

joined together, no man can put asunder. Therefore, marriages solemnized by His authority and commandment will continue, if the parties are faithful, in this world and in the world to come. But the parties are under solemn obligations to preserve themselves for each other only, and sexual crimes and immoralities are viewed by the Latter Day Saints with the utmost abhorrence."

is a progressive age, and as people become elevated in society and their position in the eyes of mortals becomes greater, they want new and "elevated" ideas on religion. Many of the doctrines taught by the reformers, which were in their natures simple and plain, have been surrounded by so many new rites and ceremonies and changed a little by various organizations until they bear very little resemblance to the original.

It is no secret with the world that ideas must change with the times; consequently we who are in possession of the sacred truths, made plain by new revelation, need not be surprised to see opinions on many important questions become the same as ours. Now that the kingdom of God has been established anew, and the power of satan diminished to an extent, he will exert greater power in forming deceptions to entrap those who are trying to obey the laws of the Gospel. One of these traps is the creating of laws and ordinances as nearly like those given of God as possible, that by so doing many unsuspecting may be ensnared and led to destruction. These laws are daily becoming more like the laws of the true and everlasting Gospel, and while very little understood by the majority at present, it time that the only difference between the will not be surprising to see in a short world is the authority to act in His name. Church of Christ and the churches of the

"What about heaven and hell? Do you believe when people die they go either to heaven or to hell, or do you deny hell and disbelieve in the devil?" "We believe in a personal Satan, as we believe in a personal Deity. The being who deceived Eve and tempted Jesus is a fallen spirit, the embodiment of the principle of evil, as God is the embodiment of all that is good. A principle in the abstract is of no force or effect. There must be some being through which it is manifest. We do not believe in the mythological evil one with horus and hoofs, nor in a literal bottomless pit of fire and brimstone. But we believe that there are many evil spirits who, under that being called the Devil and Satan, tempt human beings and lead them astray if possible, and who are enemies to Christ and to the truth. They will eventually be banished from this earth when Christ's work of salvation is complete. Hell is a place and condition of torment, in which the suspense and remorse and anguish of souls of the wicked, waiting for judgment and not knowing what their fate will be, is as 'the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not quenched.' This they will endure as long as justice demands, and until they repent and turn to God and are perfectly willing to obey Him. When they are released, in future ages, their destiny will be as they have fixed it themselves by their own acts and according to the ex- days ago while I was perusing a promiThis was suggested very strongly a few ternal principles of justice and mercy extended by the all-wise Judge, the eter- given quite a lengthy argument on tithing. nent theological journal, in which was nal Father. We believe in heaven as a We know that heretofore there has not place and a condition. This earth, when been a sect on the earth, beside the Latit is redeemed and restored to its para-. ter Day Saints, who have seen the necesdise state, will be a heaven. Sin, dark- sity and virtue of paying tithing. Now ness, sorrow, pain and death will be a sectarian paper gives the astonishing banished from it. The righteous in their announcement that it is a law of God, glorified, resurrected state, will dwell practiced by the saints of old and asks upon it in everlasting peace and joy. why it cannot be kept today. Then folAfter it has been purified with fire and lows the real intent for which the article made a new earth, righteousness will was written, that is the use to be made of dwell in it. The thorn and the brier the tithing paid. It was to be given to having departed, the fig tree and myrtle tree will bloom and bear fruit in eign, and was to take the place of ice the support the ministry, both local and forthe place thereof. The enmity between cream socials, entertainments, etc., which, man and brute will be no more. There it was discovered, were rather worldly. will be nothing to hurt or destroy. The While the principle itself which they were flowers of Eden will blossom, the tree advocating was a divine law of God, we of life will bear its glorious fruits, the see how that without the necessary guide river of life will flow forth from the of authority, assisted by continuous revethrone of God; the globe itselef will be lation, it was perverted into a money as a sea of glass mingled with fire. Christ making scheme, for the purpose of filling will dwell upon it as King; the Father the pockets of a hired ministry, and savwill visit it and grace it with His pres- ing them so much trouble in pleading with ence. Everything that is upon it, above the people for cash. throne of God; the globe itself will be sanctified, beautified and glorified, and praise to God and the Lamb will ascend from every part and from every creature, Satan and his hosts will be vanquished, and Adam and his posterity will be redeemed from the curse and everything that hath breath will glorify the great Creator; every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and He will be all in all."

It is so with many other principles, and while it is easy to detect the fraud on the face of many of them, with others it is not so easy. Miracles and signs cannot be taken as an infallible guide, because to satan also much power is given, even to the producing of supernatural fire.

But to the seeker for truth God has

promised His aid, and even though the world be full of counterfeit gospels, the Gospel of the Son of God may be detected from them all. There will be in none of them that serene, peaceful spirit and perfect, Godly unity found in the kingdom of God, and which may be detected by those who are honest in heart; but beneath all their beautiful surface coverings will be found the poison serpent, hypocrisy, concealed by the craftiness of false teachers and designed to overthrow the work of God.

The young man who prefers to owe a tailor rather than to wear a suit which has been taken from the counters of a clothing store, says that he never cared for a counter fit anyway.-Boston Advertiser.

At these conferences there are so many subjects discussed that they cannot fail to be edifying to all of the people. If only one subject were introduced and all of the speakers dwelt upon it, perhaps it would not be so interesting. I am glad to be associated with my brethren and sisters in this general conference. I have had a good many reflections in listening to the remarks we have already heard. They have brought many things to my mind of a former date and of former times here in this country. While it is the privilege of all Latter Day Saints to have evidence for themselves of the truth of the Gospel and of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph, we are not only instructed and reminded on these subjects, but are reminded of affairs that pertain to us of a temporal character. The Latter Day Saints are growing and spreading abroad.

I met a gentleman on the train the other day from San Francisco. He was born and raised there; and he had not heard anything about our people; and he seemed very anxious to know something about the doctrines of our Church. I said to him: "We have a mission established in California; we have Elders laboring in the city where you hail from; you can hear our Elders any Sunday if you will inquire after them; and you can become acquainted with the doctrines of our Church." He remarked that he supposed nearly all of the Latter Day Saints lived in Salt Lake City, and that during the last forty years there had not been much growth among them; that there had not been much expansion. I remarked to him that I was surprised that a man of his intelligence was not better acquainted with this people.

Forty years ago I suppose the majority of the Latter Day Saints were located in this valley-Salt Lake Valley-but to day they are spread abroad, and I advised the gentleman to get our Church works and read them; and it was a good opportunity to bear my testimony to him of the Gospel. I believe there are many hundreds of thousands of good honest people in the world that have but a very limited knowledge, and perhaps no knowledge at all, of the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We would naturally suppose that everybody had heard of us from what has been said and published concerning us; but there are a great many people that have not time to read these things. It is on a par with our conferences. A great many of our people right here in the city do not have time to come to conference; they are too busy, but they don't know anything of what is being done. Thus it is with the world; a great many of them don't know that such a people exists as the Latter Day Saints in these mountains; and they have no idea of our expansion, our growth, and our develop ment in this country.

I said a few moments ago that the Latter Day Saints may satisfy themselves with regard to the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph; and what does it require to become satisfied? It requires time and attention and a prayerful and thoughtful consideration of the doctrines of the Church, and of the Scriptures, that which is written in the Bible, in the

pled with my experience, that if the poor were properly looked after in every ward and the people were particular to understand the necessities of the poor, every ward (there would be some exceptions) could support its poor without turning them on the county or Church for support. There are places in the Church where comparatively there are no poor. Well, the responsibility rests upon the people to contribute of their offerings for the benefit of the poor just as much as if they had plenty of poor to consume all they gave in. The counties have plenty of use for their means. We have lived here a good many years, and in some places it is difficult to travel

because of the conditions of the roads and highways. The counties have plenty of places to put their means for the benefit of the great public. They can make our highways such as they are in the older countries.

Book of Mormon, and the Church publications. Entreat the Lord in regard to it and no man will be turned away. It is said: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you; ask and ye shall receive." Do this that as members of the Church you may be able to give a reason for the hope that you have and have a testimony of this work. There are a great many conditions existing among the Latter Day Saints on which we may improve. Apostle Lund referred to home manufacture. But little has been said about it of late years. There was a time when there was quite an excitement raised throughout the country about home production. I presume these things are going forward I heard day before yesterday from an gradually, as we can find a great many eminent financier, a remark that struck things of home production throughout me with considerable force. He was the country. It is a good thing and we telling me how to get out of debt. It should encourage it, sustain it, think may be that you would like to know, for about it, study about it, not only here, I imagine a good many of our people here but in all of the organizations of the are in debt. This brother of long expeChurch. It is a grand thing to be self-rience, who had passed through the mill, supporting. An individual, a family, or a community that is self-supporting is the best off. They are easiest in their circumstances.

I believe we have made many mistakes in the past as a people and as individuals; and there is no doubt but that we will continue to make mistakes from time to time, because our judgments are not perfect, and we follow the solicitations of our families and our friends, and indulge in things that we should not indulge in. It is my opinion that we are being led to habits of extravagance and the result will be serious. It militates against us, and it militates against our improvement and our advancement. I was thinking while Brother Lund was talking about the poor being employed, that if every man and woman in the Church (because there are sisters that manage things for themselves), that are able would employ some one or two or more as their circumstances would warrant there would be nobody looking for work; everybody would be employed. There are people that have natural endowments enough from the Lord to direct the labors of others to their own profit and to the profit of those whom they employ. This is a matter for consideration by those who have means, to employ some of our poor. In some of the counties they begin to feel like throwing the poor on the county to support. They say: "We pay our taxes to the county and the state and the poor should receive consideration from our officials in the county capacity or in the state capacity, as the case may be. I do not think this is the proper thing. I do not think there should be anybody foisted upon the county for support. If we turn the poor off, peradventure the Lord will turn us off, for He said: "The poor ye have always, but Me ye have not always." I do not believe we can afford to turn the poor off on the county for support. I believe if the Latter Day Saints would turn their ear to the Lord and listen to the counsel of His servants that there would be means provided in all the settlements of the Saints to provide for the poor. They should not be turned on the Church either for support, but they should be provided for as the Lord has directed. It is my firm conviction, cou

I

told me how to get out of debt and how the people could get out of debt. listened with a good deal of attention, because I thought it was worth something, and something that all of us ought to know, for a great many of us don't know and have it yet to learn. It was simply this: "Stop immediately from going into debt. Don't get into debt another dollar until you get out and are free." That is a simple way, and it might prove to be an easy way, too, if we would do it. Stop going into debt; don't buy anything you can't pay for from this time henceforth until it can be said, "Israel is free; there is a free people, untrammeled, not in bondage up there in the mountains; they are lenders, not borrowers; they will lend you money if you will give them good security." This is the situation the Lord will bring us to bye and bye, when He educates us a little further and takes us through the school of experience. We will come to this because the Lord has designed it. It is said that the people of the Lord will be a rich people. I believe this. I have heard promises from our eminent brethren of experience to the effect that the Lord would help us this one time if we would help ourselves in the future and cease our habits of extravagance. Everywhere, in all of our homes, we should cease these habits of extravagance; learn to economize; lear to save; learn to be prudent, wise and judicious in the administration of our affairs.

And young people that are of a marriageable age should get married. I don't mean to become engaged and then wait two or three years, or one year-to become engaged and think they are just about as good as married. I advise that they get married when they are of a proper age, and when they are married to cease as soon as possible to work for wages. Go out and do something for yourselves. Go somewhere; there are many opportunities in the west and in the south. We receive letters from people all over the country telling of opportunities for young people to commence in life, settle down and become independent; where they can make themselves homes and rear their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. This idea of people always working for a salary

with nothing else to depend upon, I don't believe is a good thing for young people. I believe they ought to become independent, and not depend always upon someone else for a livelihood. It is true it is very pleasant to be in the city; it is very pleasant to have the society there is in the city, and to have the amusement and the natural advantages that accrue to the people; but the question is, can you afford it as young people? I know there is an idea growing up in the midst of the young people that they cannot get married until they have as much as their father or their mother; they must have a nice home, well furnished, before they can take a life partner. I believe this is wrong. I believe young people of a proper age ought to get married and they ought to depend upon themselves; and a young man should marry a young woman that is willing to put forth her efforts to help. Get a helpmeet; one that will help to make your advances in life; help to make you a home; help to sustain the family; and will do something for the good of the community. This would be my advice and my counsel to our young people. Cease entertaining this idea that you cannot get married until you have a home furnished and everything pertaining to it; nice surroundings, nice lawn and all such. Make the lawn yourself, and make your home just as beautiful as you desire. It is a good thing to have these surroundings; it is proper; but when it comes to putting off the important things in life, the important matters, for a few years, until circumstances are such that they can marry, I don't believe it is a good thing. This is the way of the world. They have grown up with that idea in our large cities. Young people become enamored of city life. It is a good thing to have cities, but it is a good thing for young people to reflect and think over these things: and when they earn a dollar they should know how it comes. People who earn their money know just exactly how it comes, and they know better how to save it. These things should have the consideration of the young people. They should also be considered by the parents, because parents sometimes feel: "O, I don't want my son to go away off out there, and I don't want my daughter to go away from me and go out in the country somewhere;" and young people get discouragement many times from their parents. These things I know to be a fact, and I do not believe they have good results.

Our people are a growing and prosperous people, and we should observe the counsels of the servants of God in regard to these things. This is a matter that is becoming more or less in disuse among the Latter Day Saints-to listen to the whisperings of the Lord through His servants. I repeat, it is becoming more or less in disuse among the people! and the older ones are educating the young people that it is not so very important to listen to the counsel of the servants of God. But I want to say unto you that according to my education and experience in the Church there is no other way whereby we may be saved: there is no other way whereby we may be exalted; there is no other way whereby we may obtain eternal life. We must yield to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit; we must yield to the counsels of the Priesthood, no matter what the world may think in regard to these things. It is a principle that God has established in the earth; God has established it and we

cannot change it. Those that will listen, and turn their ears to the Lord will be on the right side bye and bye; when the sheep are separated from the goats, those who have listened to the whisperings of the Lord through His servants will be found on the right side; and they will be remembered, and they will have said to them: "Come ye blessed of my Father, etc." According to my education and experience in the Church, and according to the teachings I have had and the suggestions through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, there is no man, I don't care what his standing is; he may be a President of a stake, or an Apostle, no matter, he cannot safely gainsay the counsel of the Priesthood. If he does he will have it to meet some day just as sure as the sun rises and sets. I know this as well as I know that I look upon this congregation. We must observe the will of the Lord; we must observe the counsels of the Priesthood, no matter what the world may think in regard to these things; and we can do this in all humility and maintain our right and manhood, and maintain our fellowship with each other and with the Lord; but when we turn away from these things we are like the sow that was washed and returned to her wallowing in the mire. The Lord has established His work; He is about to establish His kingdom; He has revealed the everlasting Gospel; and He has revealed the principle by which you and I may go back into His presence; but when we turn a deaf ear to these things, through some motive or other that may arise in our minds, we will have to atone for it sooner or later. Write it down in your journals if you please, because there are eternal principles of truth revealed to the Latter Day Saints! We are in advance of the world in regard to these things. The Lord has been merciful to

us.

He has given us line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little and there a little; not given it to us all at one time. We did not have everything revealed in the days of the Prophet Joseph; but we do not live up to what was revealed in his day. There are a great many things revealed to His servants from time to time that immediately concern the people. Many of the revelations in the Book of Covenants concerning the people at the time they were given, and there are revelations given that concern the people today. The Bible is an excellent record, a good book to study, a good book to become acquainted with. The Book of Mormon is an excellent record, and precious truths are contained in it as well as in the Bible, and the Book of Covenants is an excellent book given from the Lord, but the whole of them together are not all that we need, because as circumstances and conditions change with the people, the Lord has His mouthpiece to say what shall be done and how it shall be done and on what occasions it shall be done. That is not written perhaps at all. You may hunt through and through these books, and you would not find what you want to know. What shall we do? Turn our ear to the Lord and to the counsels of His Prophet and of His servants, and then we will be in harmony with the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in harmony with the Lord; but when we depart from this and go astray, we are liable to be led into the dark. and when those who have been in the light get in the dark, O, "how great is that darkness!" These are matters for our

consideration. In our secret places we should sit in judgment upon ourselves and ask ourselves such questions: How has been my course today; has it been approved of the Lord? We may know by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit whether or not our course has been approved by the Lord; and if we feel condemned, then we may know that there is something wrong with us. We want to be wise and prudent; want to be kind and good to one another; and learn to love one another; to love the Gospel and the work of God above everything else in the world. We get into a certain groove and think we must hang to that groove, and we cannot be pulled out of it. It is not a good thing for any of us to get into grooves. Here are the living oracles of the Church that God has placed here to regulate all of the affairs of the people, not only in spiritual things but temporal things as well-in building up the various cities, in opening and developing the country. Who knows better than the Lord? And may not His servants have the whisperings of His Holy Spirit to direct them? Certainly; that is what the Lord has placed them in the Church for; and that is why we vote to sustain them in their position. We sustain the President as President of the Church in all the world. But how do we sustain him? Do we consider our vote? Do we consider the covenants we have made with the Lord when we turn a deaf ear to the counsels of the Priesthood?

the

Brethren and sisters, let us be just, let us be true, let us be kind, and give to the poor; and let us pay our tithing as well as our offerings. This is the will of the Lord; and who among the Latter Day Saints is any poorer for having paid his or her tithing? Nobody who has done this and contributed to the building up of the kingdom of God and to spreading of the Gospel in various lands. Let us not forget the Lord in our tithes and our offerings. If we do, peradventure, He will forget us. If we want to be remembered of the Lord we should remember Him in our tithes and our offerings; devote ourselves to the work of the Lord and the Lord will be merciful to us.

From Pine Mountain, Tenn. (BY P. P. BAIRD, JR.) Written for The Southern Star.

As I never saw any report in The Star from this section, I will write a few lines. Hearing of an appointment, I proceeded to the school house and was elated with the simple manner in which the Elders presented the first principles of the Gospel. There was not a large crowd present, but it seemed as though everybody was desirous of hearing. As soon as the meeting closed everybody started for home. I noticed that the Elders stopped in the yard, and asked where they were going. They told me where they were going, and as my home was on the road, I invited After dinner we them home to dinner. directed the Elders on their way and have since been visited many times by them. My father, mother and wife are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I am what might be called a "dry land Mormon."

Our home is a home to the Elders and we always like to have them with us.

Honorably Released.

President J. B. Erekson, Ohio.
Nathaniel Porritt, South Carolina.
W. C. arver, East Kentucky.