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be obeyed, if we expect to reach the celestial glory. Besides these precious records that we have-the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price-there must be some other power among the people of God. These books alone will never save this people. I expect some of you may be shocked at this statement. It is nevertheless true. All these works, divine as they are, pure as they are, cannot save this people. There must be something else; and God has placed in His Church the living oracles, to guide and govern the Church. We know by experience that unless we had had the living oracles, we would have been in the worst possible position. For instance, where is there a commandment given concerning the migration of the Latter-day Saints to the valleys of the mountains. Of course, the Prophet Joseph prophesied concerning it, but there was no command given. The Lord, however, through His living oracles, revealed to the Church His will concerning it, and under the leadership of the living oracles the Church came to these valleys. Almost every day we are doing acts under the direction of the living oracles which are essentially necessary for the people of God, but which are not commanded in any of these books. There is nothing foreshadowed in the records concerning many acts that are performed from time to time by the direction of the Lord through his living oracles. has placed them in the Church to guide the Church. This book (pointing to the book of Doctrine and Covenants), divine as it is, is insufficient. It reveals certain things, but does it reveal the polity of the work? Does it reveal the mind and will of God concerning His Church? Only so far as it goes. There must be a stream of living revelation flowing from God to His servants whom He has placed to preside over His Church. It was needed this afternoon to fill up the quorum of the Twelve. We had to know the mind and will of the Lord concerning that important thing. Is there anything in any of these books which says that George Q. Cannon should be an Apostle, of or Joseph F. Smith, or any these

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men who are Apostles? How is this determined then? comes through the living oracles, the authority that God has placed in His Church to govern and dictate. Of course, these books, as I have said, are of inestimable value to us

as a people, because they contain theword of God. And that which is written. agrees with that which is unwritten. There is no clash; there never will be,. because they come from the same source. They are both true, and there is no conflict between two truths. That is our position.

I think it is of great importance to us as a people to know what we shall do. Are we content to aim for telestial glory. I never heard a prayer offered, especially in the family circle, in which the family does not beseech God to give them celestial glory. Telestial glory is not in their thoughts. Terrestrial glory may be all right for honorable Gentiles, who have not faith enough to believe the Gospel and who do right according to the best knowledge they have; but celestial glory is our aim-I perhaps should not say it is the aim, for sometimes it is not, but it is the hope. If into a family that had just offered prayer, and had asked God to lead them into the celestial kingdom, an angel should enter and should say to them that their prayers were useless and that they would never attain unto celestial glory, what a feeling would be produced in the breasts of that family! How sorrowful and afflicted they would feel! Yet, as I have said, while it is the aim of many, they do not act as if it were their true aim. They either misconceive the nature of the duties they have to perform to attain to celestial glory, or else they are very blind indeed.

I ask again, what is your aim, or my aim? What do I desire? If I desire celestial glory, the highest law that God has revealed I will be willing to obey, and to observe every word that proceedeth from His mouth. I do not want to speak of myself, but if there is a law that God has revealed and it is necessary to be obeyed before celestial glory be I reached, want can to know it and obey it. All that

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for brethren talk about their willingness to lay down their lives for this Gospel; but I have always been afraid to say much about this on my part, for fear if I should be put to the test I might not be able to stand it. At the same time the desire in my heart, although I may not express it, is to do everything that God requires at my hands. I would like to be valiant enough to die if the time ever came that I had to die for it. God help me at such an hour. I never yet have shrunk nor had fear in this respect; but I do not know how soon I may, for I am a poor human being. But I rejoice in the Gospel, and I feel that if there is anything of earth that the Lord has given me control of, I would like to put it where He wants it. I want to help forward His work in every possible way, not only by my means and my ability, but by whatever I have; for I want celestial glory. I crave that with all my heart. I feel as though, with God's help, I would make any sacrifice to obtain it, and obey any law, be it ever so high, so far revealed.

this earth is to get celestial glory. I do not want my second estate to be a failure. I want to keep it as valiantly and as correctly as I hope I did my first estate. I believe with all my heart that I kept my first estate. I believe that Satan, with all his blandishments and sophistry, had not the power to induce me to follow him. Now I am here on the earth, and God has revealed to me why I am here. He wants me to be true to Him in the midst of these trials and temptations, and in the midst of the darkness that prevails. He wants me to be unswerving in my integrity and in the keeping of His laws. He wants me to come back to Him as His loyal, faithful, obedient child. He not only wants me to do this, but He wants all of us to do so; to say to Satan, We will not be deceived by you, but we will endure all things for the sake of our Father and the glory that He has in store for us. This is my desire; and it is your desire, when you are aroused. You have shown it as far as you have gone. But something comes along that you hesitate about, and you say in effect, "that law is a little too high for me, my faith is not sufficient to obey it." We heard Brother Clawson this morning repeat the expressions of some concerning the law of tithing, and those expressions illustrate what I am now dwelling upon. A commandment has been given, a law has been proclaimed, and some have not seen the necessity of obeying it. They seem to be content with what they have done. Brethren and sisters, when you know that your eternal exaltation depends upon obeying law, will you hesitate and say "I have not faith enough for that; it's too high for me; it requires too great a sacrifice on my part, and I cannot receive it; the laws of the terrestrial kingdom are more suited to my faith and my desires, and I am willing to be content with that glory." Will you, I repeat, hesitate in rendering obedience, and argue thus to yourselves?

I want to bring this home to your minds this afternoon, my brethren and sisters. Personally I have never felt to say what I would do in the midst of trial. I have heard

We have not got all yet. I expect higher laws will be revealed to us as we ascend nearer and nearer to our Father in heaven. Therefore we should prepare ourselves for this, and as fast as we can be willing to obey the laws that God reveals to us. You have heard during this conference considerable on the subject of tithing. In one sense it is a small matter to pay tithing. I consider it like the A. B. C. of the Gospel. The promises concerning it are great, and it is such an easy matter to give one-tenth of all we have. Then why is it dwelt upon so much during this conference? Because this people called Latter-day Saints are defaulters, because they have utterly failed in keeping this law. It is just as necessary that we should warn you about tithing as it would be to warn you about the necessity of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, if you had not received that ordinance. If this congregation had gone as far as baptism and then had settled down and not desired the laying on of hands, we would preach to you with all our might, and impress upon you the importance of being obedient to that ordinance. And you would not be surprised at that. If

you heard us talking to people who were in that condition, you would say that we were doing perfectly right in impressing them with the solemnity of the holy ordinance of laying on of hands, for they could not have the Holy Ghost without it. Now what shall be said of tithing? I say to you that in your non-payment of tithing you have stopped your progress and you have disobeyed a command of God just as much as if you had refused, after you had been baptized, to have hands laid upon you; just as much as you would have done, after having received the Gospel, had you refused to gather to Zion; just as much as you would if you came to Zion and refused to go into the Temple and have saving ordinances administered to you there, such as the ordinance of marriage for time and eternity and other things. You may or may not think as I do, but I know I have taken the correct position in this matter. Here we have had the word of God through the Prophet Joseph for sixty-two years, and here President Snow, the man who now stands at the head, comes forward and tells the the Church that they are defaulters in this thing, that they have not obeyed this commandment, and that God requires obedience to it. Not only so, but he tells us that we are in danger of being scourged of the Lord for this disobedience. I believe it with all my heart. I believe that this sequence will follow our neglect, and that the anger of God will be kindled against the people, unless they obey this law. It is in our path of progress, and is to be obeyed, not evaded and taken advantage of. Men will take advantage of this law in many ways. They will pay a tithing that is not true. They will not do as Brother Joseph F. Smith said this morning his mother did, pick out the best; but they will pick out something that is practically worthless, as though they were making a bargain with a hard man and glad to get the advantage of him. That is not the spirit of tithing. No blessing will attend the payment of tithing under such circumstances. Men must feel that they are doing this to comply with the law of God, and that for complying with this law they will be rewarded.

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I hope that the Saints will take this view of this law and understand us aright. What do I care, what does President Snow care, what do any of us care, whether you pay money or not? We are able to live without getting anything from you. I thank God that this is the condition of most of us, and that we can live without being a burden to the people, and at the same time do our share in helping the work along. It is not for this that we talk like we do, but it is because of the importance of it to you, so that you may carry this out in your lives, and then get faith enough to do something higher. It has required faith to obey some laws that have been revealed in the past, and it will require faith to obey other laws that will yet be revealed. The heavens are full of truth and of everything that is good and noble, and many things are revealed to the servants of God which they are commanded not to reveal to the people. Why? Because it would try their faith. Joseph had things revealed to him that he did not make known. I heard him once say on the stand, that if he were to tell what the Lord had told him, there were certain persons, and he mentioned their names one of whom was an that would go around

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the streets of Nauvoo seeking his life. I was a boy at that time and I wondered what it could possibly be that would prompt those men, one of them especially, to do such a thing. But there are things which God reveals pertaining to the celestial glory and to the higher worlds that the people are not yet prepared to receive. We will all have to grow in faith before these things can be made known. Paul, we are told, saw things that were unutterable. When the Lord visited the Nephites they had things shown to them and their little children spoke things which could not be written. So it is now. The heavens are full of knowledge. To God in his exalted condition, dwelling in the midst of eternal burnings, surrounded by concourses of holy angels, we are by comparison almost insects in his presence. But we are his children. We have within us the elements of Deity in their inchoate state, to be developed as time passes on and as we obey the laws of God.

think we have taken a great stride when we have obeyed baptism and had hands laid upon us and received the Holy Ghost. We think, Oh! what a wonderful thing has come to us! Well, it is wonderful. But, my brethren and sisters, that is just the beginning of what there is in the future. The heavens are full of light and intelligence, and a little of it has been communicated to us.

We should live so as to keep in this path of progress, and not stop at tithing, feeling that that is too great an obstacle to get over, and therefore cease to progress. If you do, your faith will wither, the Spirit of God will withdraw from you, and you will be in the dark; and in the resurrection, as I have read, you will be quickened by that spirit a portion of which you have had here. If you have had only a portion of the terrestrial spirit, you will get a fullness of it there. So with the telestial, and so with the celestial. You are all going to be resurrected. The earth is going to be resurrected. It will die; but it will

be quickened again, and it will be celestialized and glorified, as we will be. We ought to be numbered among the church of the first-born. I pray God that this may be our happy lot; that we all may live so that we shall be counted among the members of the church of the first-born, and that we shall receive a fullnes of celestial glory; which I humbly ask, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

The choir sang the anthem:

Heavenly Father we would worship thy Great Name this Hallowed Day.

The solo parts were rendered by Sisters Lizzie Thomas Edward and Mabel Cooper.

Benediction was pronounced by Elder Francis M. Lyman.

Conference then adjourned for six

months.

The stenographic work in taking an account of the proceedings of the Conference was done by Arthur Winter. JOHN NICHOLSON,

Clerk of Conference.

DESERET SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.

Its Semi-Annual General Conference.

The general annual conference of the Sunday schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was held at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday evening, April 8, 1900, at 7 o'clock. There were present of the general superintendency, George Q. Cannon and Karl G. Maeser, most of the members of the Deseret Sunday School Union Board, and aids, several of the Apostles, and many Stake superintendents, ward officers, and Sunday school work

ers.

The conference was opened by the Tabernacle choir and congregation singing, "Do What is Right."

Prayer was offered by Elder George Teasdale.

The choir sang, "Prayer is the Soul's sincere desire,"

General Secretary Horace S. Ensign called the roll, which was responded to by thirty-four Stakes.

The secretary then read the annual financial and statistical report for year ending December 31st, 1899. After which he presented the general Sunday school authorities, and they were sustained as follows: Geo. Q. Cannon, general superintendent Karl G. Maeser, second assistant general superintendant; Horace S. Ensign, general secretary; George Reynolds, general treasurer; Leo Hunsaker, assistant general secretary and stenographer.

As members of the Deseret Sunday School Union board: George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, George Reynolds, Thomas C. Griggs, Joseph W. Summerhays, Levi W. Richards, Francis M. Lyman, Heber J. Grant, Joseph M. Tanner, George Teasdale, Hugh J. Cannon, Andrew Kimball, Joseph F. Smith and John W. Taylor.

As aids to the board: L. John Nuttail, James W. Ure, John F. Bennett, John M. Mills,, W. B. Dougall, Wm. D.

Owen, Jr., Seymour B. Young and Geo. D. Pyper.

General Treasurer George Reynolds made a report of the nickel fund donation received during the last four years.

A kindergarten class of eight little girls from the Eleventh ward, under the direction of Sister Louie B. Felt, sang two selections very sweetly, which were greatly enjoyed by the audience. GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT GEO. Q. CANNON.

From our statistical report it is seen that we number nearly 120,000, the aggregate, but if we

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all the reports in from various schools there would be upwards of 121,000. The interest in the Sunday schools is growing. Every meeting that we have of this character shows the importance, the growing importance, of this institution among the people, and it is bearing abundant fruit. There are a great many reasons why we should be zealous in this direction. The reports that come to us from the presidents of missions concerning the ignorance of some of our young men who are sent out to help them ought to stir us all up to diligence in imparting a knowledge of our principles to the rising generation. There is a great field, notwithstanding we have labored for so many vears in this direction, there is a great need that the children, the young people of this community, be instructed thoroughly in the principles of our religion. I feel to congratulate you on your labors, and I can say truly that there is much cause to rejoice in what has been done. The publications of the Sunday School Union are of such a character as to be of great benefit. I wish to call attention, particularly, to the Leaflets. I do not

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