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will be called upon occasionally to interest the Latter-day Saints. We think they will be pleased with this opportunity of hearing this choir, which has been employed in the Temple here for about six years.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you and pour out His spirit upon us this day, that we may greatly rejoice, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

ELDER JOHN W. TAYLOR. Restoration of the Gospel and the obligation to preach it-Missionary work in Colorado and adjacent districts-Promises of the Lord fulfilled-Signs follow the believer-Beneficial effects of opposition-The Kingdom to cover the earth.

I am requested to make a few remarks this morning, and I ask an interest in the faith and prayers of the Latter-day Saints and their friends, that what I may say might be dictated by the Spirit of God, because I feel that where a man speaks under that influence he will always speak right, and when he does not speak under that influence he will always speak wrong.

You are no doubt aware that I have been away from you for a little time in the State of Colorado preaching the Gospel. I do not think I could say anything more appropriate this morning than to dwell a little while upon the missionary labors in that district, as there are many here whose sons are in that land spreading the truth. We all heard the very interesting remarks yesterday of President Cannon regarding the restoration of the Gospel to the children of men, and its effects upon us. Inasmuch as the Gospel has been restored it has become our duty to preach it in all the world, for a witness unto all nations. The words of Jesus Christ are fulfilled, for in His day He said, speaking of the Gospel, "The kingdom of God shall be taken from among you and it shall be given unto a people bringing forth the fruits thereof." After Christ was put to death, Peter, after the Savior had been resurrected, asked Him the question: "Comest thou again to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus had taught them to pray in this wise: "Our Father who art in heaven, Thy

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earth as it is in heaven, etc." And they were praying for the kingdom to come, but when Jesus answered Peter regarding this question, He said: "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons.' Now, today all of the sectarian world, are praying for the kingdom of God to come upon the earth. President Cannon announced yesterday that the Gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored in its fulness to the Prophet Joseph Smith; that the day had arrived which had been spoken of by the prophets, and which all the holy prophets since the world began desired to live in, even the time of the restitution of all things. Inasmuch as the Gospel had been restored in these last days, we have also received the same injunction that was received in former days, for Jesus said unto them: ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." We have received the same commandment in our day. Jesus said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." It was only a short time ago that an eminent evangelist announced from this stand that ordinances were unnecessary such as baptism, etc., for salvation. But God the Eternal Father has given the same injunction in this our day as He gave in the days of Christ and His Apostles, and when we go forth, we say unto them: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." These are the words which we speak unto the children of men. Jesus spake further and He said: "In my name they shall speak with new tongues: they shall lay hands on the sick and they shal recover; if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them, etc." We promise the people these same blessings today.

There are about thirty of us out in the Colorado mission today. We are at present branching out into New Mexico, the northern part of Arizona, and in Wyoming a little. The Lord. has blessed us, and He has prospered our labors. We have an excellent lot of young men out there preaching the Gospel. We preach in the old-fashioned way, without purse or scrip; and they feed us, and they clothe us, and they give us money, and we are blessed of the Lord. And those Elders whose par

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ents can not afford to send them money are the best missionaries we have in the field. It is an injury to keep sending your sons money, because they begin to depend upon the money instead of the Lord. In olden times the Gospel was preached according to this counsel: Jesus says, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent me, and he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he that giveth drink, even as much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones of mine, shall in no wise lose his reward." These were the qualifications of the servants of Goa in the days of Jesus, and today possess the same qualifications, and we receive the same instructions. Jesus says, "Freely ye have received, freely give," or in other words the Gospel cost you nothing, do not charge other people anything for it. This peculiar means of preaching the Gospel is the test Christ is going to make of the children of men whether they receive the truth or not, for He said-you will find it in the 25th chapter of Matthew"When I come in all my glory and all my holy angels with me and I sit upon my throne of glory, I will separate the goats from the sheep; I will set the sheep on my right hand and the goats on my left hand; and to the "oats upon my left hand, I will say: I was sick and in prison and ye visited me not; I was naked and ye clothed me not; I was hungry and ye fed me not. And they will say: when wast thou an hungered and thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and we came not unto ye? I will say inasmuch as ye did it unto even one of these my brethren, ye did it also to me. And to those upon my right hand I will say, that inasmuch as ye have ministered unto one of these of my brethren, ye have ministered unto me. Enter thou into the place pre pared for thee before the foundations of the world." I say this is the way Christ is going to judge the world, for He gave a special commandment that when you should go into a house or a city you should enquire who is worthy to receive you, and if they do so, let your peace rest upon that household and say unto them, "the kingdom of God is nigh unto you; but if they reject you

shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them, for it shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the city of Sodom or Gomorrha than for that city or household that rejecteth you."

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This is the course we pursue in preaching the everlasting Gospel and the Lord has blessed the labors of the young men and has led them to the honest in heart. Some 260 or 270 have been baptized, and we have organized branches of the Church in Denver, in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, near Durango, and we have members of the Church in Grand Valley, and a number of other places. Our brethren are laboring diligently, and they are being ceived kindly by the people of Colorado. The people there are similar to those here. They have had the courage and fortitude to get out of the crowded cities of the East and come West, and wherever their lot is cast they are tilling the soil, raising cattle, horses and sheep, and going down into the bowels of the earth and mining, and they are a prosperous and big-hearted people. We went there a little less than two and a half years ago, when we were without a friend, and we have been blessed and prospered, and the Lord has verified His promises in our behalf. He says, "I will send mine angels before your face to prepare the way before you, and I will be upon your right hand and upon your left hand and bear you up." Has this been verified? Yes. He says further, "When you lay hands upon the children of men, I will cause that the Holy Ghost shall descend upon them." Has this been verified? It has. And, also, the blessings of the Gospel which is not in the power of man to confer upon the children of men, because every good and perfect gift comes from God. We have enjoyed the gift of tongues; we have enjoyed the gift of prophecy; and we have enjoyed the gift of interpretation of tongues; and we have enjoyed that knowledge promised by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when He says, "He that doeth the will of my Father shall know of the doctrine whether I speak of God or whether I speak of myself." Has God verified this unto the children of men? He has. And there are those under the sound of

voice on whom these young Elders, of whom I have been speaking, have laid their hands upon, and they received the Holy Ghost, and they could testify that what I say is true! This is the foundation of the kingdom of Godthe testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the same today as it was in the days of the ancient Apostles. The Savior thought He would find out whether Feter had a testimony or not, and He said, "Peter, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?" Peter said, "Some say that thou art Jonas, others Elias, others one of the old prophets raised from the dead." But, said the Savior, "whom sayest thou that I am?" He wanted to know what Peter thought of this. Peter answered, being filled with the Holy Ghost: "Thou art Christ the Son of the living God." And Jesus blessed him, and said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven, and upon this rock will I build my church (the rock of revelation) and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Is this correct? It is correct. This is why the persecution of the Latter-day Saints only increases their numbers. At present we have a considerable agitation against this people regarding political matters. I have noticed, as president of the Colorado mission, that according to the reports from our Elders our meetings have double the number of attendants that they had before this agitation, and they sell double the amount of Church literature that they did before. And I wish to tell the Latter-day Saints present that it is not only the converts of this people that are our friends. When we went into Colorado we were entire strangers, but after we began to lift up our voices, we found many friends. Many are friendly that do not care, for special reasons, to have it announced. I have had conferred upon me all manner of favors and courtesies by friends that have been raised up of God; the people are friendly to us-those who see what has been done by the people who inhabit these rocky mountains from Mexico to Canada, and who have made a sterile desert to blossom as the rose. Today I could take a buggy in the northern or western part of the State of Colorado and travel from one end to

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the other and stop every night with a friend of the Latter-day Saints. While we have probably 260 converts, we have thousands and thousands of friends raised up by the Lord. My testimony to you is that there is not one man out of a hundred, when he hears this Gospel preached in its purity, but what says in his heart, "that is true," but he has not the moral stamina to embrace it; but he has the courage to provide for our wants, and they do it freely. I rejoice in this labor in connection with my young brethren. I can do but little. One man can do but little in this great world of ours, it is so large. labors are confined to a very narrow compass, but nevertheless we can all do something. I can say, in connection with my brethren, that the Lord has blessed us in our labors. I have been blessed and have felt free in my spirit, that is, as free as it is possible for a man to be who is laboring under a burden of debt as I am and away from home principally and with no opportunities to satisfy my creditors. But having been called by the servants of God to go and preach the Gospel, I go forth and do the best I can, knowing that God will overrule all things for my good in so doing. In the various nations of the earth the Lord is blessing the brethren; He is verifying His promises to the children of men.

I know that this is the work of God; I know that the Lord has again established His work in the day and age in which you and I live, and I know that every man that will humble himself and go down into the waters of baptism with a desire to serve God and keep His commandments, forsaking all his sins, that he will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost when the hands of the servants of God are laid upon him; he will know that God lives and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, as you and I know it, because we have been founded upon the rock of revelation. We have received the spirit which takes of the things of the Father and reveals them unto the children of men, and we have a perfect knowledge that God lives. That is what Inspires this people through all the troubles and vicissitudes of life which they have had to endure since the year 1830. That is why we feel that we "are not ashamed

of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation unto all those who believe and obey it, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, "the just shall live by faith." We live in a day of revelation; we live in a day when no man neea be in the dark; we live in a day when no man, if he be humble and faithful, need say "know ye the Lord, for all shall know Him." All can have a testimony of these things, as God is no respector of persons.

I feel to rejoice in the large attendance at this grand conference. I know that our first aim and object should be, the kingdom of God or nothing. I believe it is the desire of this people as a rule, that this kingdom shall roll forth until it shall cover the whole earth. There was a great and mighty prophet that lived in olden times by the name of Daniel, who prophesied that the Lord would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed or given into the hands of another people. It was like unto a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and it would roll forth until it should cover the whole earth. Is this little stone rolling forth? Yes. Will this be its destiny? It will. Will you and I endure with it? That depends upon whether we keep the commandments of God or not, and whether we keep our garments pure and unspotted from the sins of this wicked and adulterous generation in which we live. Malachi says, “Behold the Lord, whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His Temple; but who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap?" Who will stand when He appeareth? It will be those who have their lamps filled with oil-the oil of the Holy Ghost. Those who have this Spirit and are walking in the ways of rectitude and are obedient to the commandments of God will be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ, for He will come to purify the sons of Levi as gold, seven times purified in the fire. Are we prepared for this test? We may be if we will improve a little day by day. I know as far as I am concerned there is great room for improvement, and I

hope that you can see that there is some room for improvement with you. I know that God loves those that are humble and contrite in their spirit. I know that God loves those who work for the redemption of mankind. I know God loves, and is pleased with, His children whose greatest desire is to build up His kingdom here on the earth-who are energetic, and he blesses them with His Spirit. We hear remarks sometimes by some of our cold-blooded people. They will say, "He is enthusiastic." There never was a man who spoke by the power of the Holy Ghost but what he was enthusiastic. The blacksmith never made a weld until the white sparks began to fly. I know that the children of men never were converted until they saw that the power of God rested with His servants, and the Spirit of God went down into their hearts like fire. John said, "I baptize you with water, but there is one coming after me who will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost." Has that fire been given unto this people? It has. How were your bosoms swelled with joy, when you heard the sound of the everlasting Gospel! It has the same effect wherever the elders of Israel go, because they know they are servants of God. "My sheep hear my voice," but the stranger will not because he does not know His voice. When a servant of God enters a house and says by the authority of the Priesthood, "peace be unto this house," does peace rest upon it? Yes. I heard a woman testify that Brother Franklin D. Richards entered her house in Illinois and said in a humble, gentle spirit, "peace be unto this house," and the moment he spake those words the spirit of God came upon her and went through her whole system from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet, and such peace and such joy she never had experienced. This is what was spoken of by Christ: "Peace on earth, good will to to man." It was the spirit of God that bore testimony to that woman that Brother Richards was a servant of God. It is the spirit of God that converts the people. There never was a man that converted another man to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is impossible; it is the spirit of God that converts men. Every conversion that has ever been made in

the Church of Christ has been made by God, otherwise they will not endure. That which has not been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise will not be enduring, but will pass away.

I rejoice in preachng the everlasting Gospel; and I rejoice in being with you here in the land of Zion. I can see that Zion is prospering, and growing, and that the blessings of God are upon her from the north to the south, and from the east to the west; and I hope she shall continue to grow and spread until all shall be accomplished that God desires we shall accomplish; that the blessings of God will rest upon her sons and upon her daughters; that they may build upon that sure foundation of truth, that the towers of Zion may rise and shine until she becomes the glory of the whole earth. God is directing this work, and is directing His servants. I know that His servants are inspired by the gifts and powers of God to counsel this people in the ways of truth and righteousness; and He will inspire every man acording to his station and circumstances in life if he will yield obedience to His commandments.

May God bless you in all of your affairs; may He temper the elements for your good, that Zion may grow and be. come the pride of the whole earth, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

ELDER HEBER J. GRANT.

Nothing can be attempted against the work of God that will not advance it-Futility of seeking to convert apostates-A prophesy fulfilled-The leaven of the Gospel in the world.

It is a source of great pleasure to me to meet once more with the Latterday Saints in a general conference of the Church. I have listened with very much interest and pleasure to the remarks that have been made by those who have spoken thus far in our meetings. In standing before you this morning to bear witness of the goodness of the Lord to His people and to me as an individual, I desire most earnestly and humbly that what I may say may be for our mutual benefit; that it may strengthen us in our desires to serve God and keep His commandments. If I know my own heart, I believe it is set upon the advancement of the 'hurch and Kingdom of God. I know

that there is nothing on the earth that I rejoice over so much as I do in the fact that I am associated with the servants and handmaidens of God in the Church of Jesus Christ; and I do not believe that there ever is a day that passes over my head that I do not thank God for the restoration again of the plan of life and salvation, and that I have been made a partaker of the same. I supplicate Him earnestly that my mind may never become darkened, that I may never depart from the truth; that I may never forget any of the covenants that I have made, but. as I grow in years and increase in understanding, that I may grow in a testimony of the Gospel and in the desire-not only a desire but in doing it-to labor for the onward advancement of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

When I look around and see the mistakes that I have made, and those that my brethren make from time to time; when I realize how many of those who have been wonderfully blessed of the Lord have fallen by the wayside, it fills me with humility; it fills me with the spirit of meekness and with an earnest desire that I may ever seek to know the mind and the will of God and to keep His commandments rather than to follow out my own desires.

In listening to the remarks that have been made here this morning by Brother John W. Taylor with regard to the political agitation that is being stirred up, or at least the agitation that is being stirred up because of the political affairs in Utah, and his testimony that the meetings held by the Elders are doubly as well attended as they were before this agitation; and that they are now selling double the amount of tracts to what they did before this agitation, it furnished one more testimony to ne of the truth of the sayings of those who have been inspired: "that nothing can be done against the work of God but what shall redound to its advancement." I have recently had the privilege of visiting three of the conferences in the Northern States mission, and we had exactly the same experience as that related by Brother Taylor. Some of the first meetings were very poorly attended, but when it was announced that some remarks

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