cwn souls. They have been careless and indifferent concerning the salvation of themselves and their families. President Young used to say that there were many men that were willing to die for their religion who would not live it. So there are many men willing to make great sacrifices for the salvation of others who are apparently indifferent about that which is necessary for their own salvation. This is not right. It is a personal matter with us as to whether we are preparing ourselves and our families for the coming of the Lord. Are we doing all that we can to prepare ourselves and our households, so that when He comes we shall not be caught unprepared?

This talk that we have heard so much of concerning tithing is a preparatory step. I believe President Snow has been moved upon by the power of God to stir this people up to diligence upon this point. There are other things contingent upon the payment of tithing. President Snow has told us this afternoon what one thing is, and that we should prepare ourselves for it. We are not groping as blind men to find the path, for the Lord has made the path plain before us. We are not in the dark; but it is necessary that we should exercise faith in God and beseech Him continually to give unto us the strength and grace necessary to perform the labors that have to be done in order to prepare ourselves as we should do.

There is one labor that has rested upon my mind with great weight for some time. I have looked at the nations of the earth and have examined somewhat into the labors of our Elders. We have about eighteen hundred Elders preaching the Gospel in various places, and they are doing the work most thoroughly. Men and women have gone forth and have spent their time with the greatest pleasure, forsaking home, leaving business, and devoting themselves for years to the warning of the people concerning the calamities that the Lord is about to pour out upon the nations of the earth. Both men and women are doing this work with all diligence and faithfulness. I was told a day or two ago concerning a young lady who is out in the ministry. Her brother has just returned from a mission. In coming

from his mission he had called upon her and they had visited some places together. I asked her parents why she did not return with her brother. They said she did not want to return. She has only been out eighteen months, she is busily engaged in the work of the Lord, and she feels desirous to complete her mission before she returns home. This spirit is on our sisters, as well as on our Elders, and they do all in their power to warn the people, until in some lands and some cities there is scarcely a house that has not been visited or that has not had a tract delivered to it. According to the last report received from Great Britain, two hundred and seventy-four Elders are laboring in that land, with faithfulness and assiduity, spending time and means and in a certain sense wearing themselves out in order to deliver the message of salvation that God has committed to them. This work has now been going on for upwards of sixty years, and there is scarcely an ear that has not heard the message.

Concerning the missions in this country, this land has been warned now for seventy years. God commanded the Elders in early days to warn the people, and away back in Kirtland and Missouri He said that the leading Elders of the Church had done their duty, and there was none of the blood of this generation on their garments; but those who had not labored as they had done were to continue in the field until it could also be said of them that their garments were clean from the blood of this generation. In that early day the Lord spoke in this manner. casion He said: "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned, to warn his neighbor.

On one oc

"Therefore they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads."

The Lord appeared to be determined to cut his work short in righteousness. I do not wish to detract from the labors of the Elders in our own land; but this land has been warned. I feel that we can stand before the judgment seat of our great Creator free from the blood of this generation in these United States. It is true, we have not told every man, woman and child about

sionary fields might leave this nation, and go to peoples who have never heard the sound of the Gospel; I would carry the tidings of salvation to lands that áre now locked in tyranny, where the people cannot breathe the air of freedom; and I would risk imprisonment, and even death, in order that these peoples might be warned. No doubt thousands of them are praying to our heavenly Father to send them the truth of heaven; for there are other souls who want the truth besides those who have received it. When this Gospel was first carried to Europe thousands were praying for God to send the truth to them. When they heard the message they received it gladly. So in other places where the Elders have gone. But there are many nations yet to be warned, and we have this work to do. I will not say that we ought to do it before the Lord comes, for I do not know when He will come. But this duty is incumbent upon us; for by people out of every nation under heaven Zion is to be built up. Every land and every nationality will have to contribute of its strength and numbers, in greater or less degree, to fulfill the words of God concerning the building up of Zion. Oriental lands now untouched by the Elders of the Church have to be penetrated and the honest souls sought out. In this work God will precede His Elders. He will send His angels before them, as He has done, to prenare the people to receive them and to listen to their message.

My feeling is that we should withdraw our efforts to a great extent from the countries where we have been spending so much time and means with so little fruits. Let the Gospel be sent to lands afar off, where tyranny reigns; and when the Gospel goes there, God will soften the hearts of the rulers, and greater freedom will follow. It has been so in Germany; it will be so in Russia, in the Latin countries, and in the countries of eastern Europe. God is working with the nations, and He will work with us if we will do our duty. Then we can stand before our Father with our skirts clean from the blood of this generation, having done our whole duty.

If it should cost us our liberty, as it may do at times; if it should cost us our

lives, as it may do, to carry this Gospel to every land, it would be no more than others have suffered in the same cause. God has said in this Book of Doctrine and Covenants:

"And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it again, even life eternal:

"Therefore be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy."

"Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake, for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again;

"And whoso is not willing to lay down his life for my sake, is not my disciple."

It is a test by which His disciples may be known. But while we should not shrink from complying with every requirement, we ought to avoid persecution and death by every means in our power that would be honorable and consistent with our duties and obligations. But in preaching this Gospel to the nations of the earth, we ought not to be afraid of our liberty or our lives. It has cost the liberties of Elders in Austria, Norway and other places albut it ready; has been followed by greater freedom. The efforts of the Elders have been crowned with success in this respect. It has seemed as though the preaching of the Gospel has had a loosening effect in many places upon the people.

In this connection I think we should teach our young men all the languages of the earth. Let them seek by study, by faith, by the gift of tongues and by the gift of interpretation to understand the languages of men. Our Mutual Improvement associations should devote themselves to the study of languages, that we may have a people here familiar with every language spoken under heaven. What was the gift of tongues given for if not for this? Was it give

that has ever taken place upon the earth; but if we will do our duty on the lines that I have been speaking, how much more influence will we have and how much more will our God be glorified! The world will see and wonder at what is done by those who are laboring in the Lord's name, without taking any credit to themselves, but ascribing all power and success to Him and His Holy Spirit. These will be additional testimonies to the inhabitants of the earth that God is in this great movement, and that he is preparing the way, as the prophets have predicted, for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Before closing, I wish to say, my brethren and sisters, I hope you will take these things to heart and prepare yourselves. If you are not living as you should do, regulate your households and strive to live according to the commandments of God and the counsels of His servants. Bring your lives into complete subjection to the will of God. If there is anything in you or in your families that is not in accordance with the laws of God, divest yourselves of it as fast as you can by faith and prayer. Let us be a holy people. Oh! when I hear the brethren spending time talking about the Word of Wisdom, I feel to say, are we still little children that we have to be talked to in this way meeting after meeting? It is disgraceful that a people who know as much as we do should have to be talked to about those little habits concerning which

God has spoken so plainly. The law of tithing ought to be so understood that every man, woman and child would obey it gladly, for it is accompanied by great promises, and it will prepare the way for greater things, as President Snow has told us.

I pray God that that which has been said during this conference may sink deep into all our hearts. I pray God to bless you all, to be with you, to fill you with the Holy Ghost, to preserve your lives, to preserve your generations, that you yourselves or some of your posterity, if you should happen to pass away before that time, may be numbered among the Saints of God who shall enter into that millennial glory which is prepared for the faithful, and that none of us may ever be destitute of a man or men to stand before the Lord, bearing the Holy Priesthood, throughout all the generations to come, until time shall be no more, which is my prayer for you all and for myself, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sister Lizzie Thomas Edward and the choir sang the anthem, "When Thou Comest."

The final benediction was pronounced by Elder Francis M. Lyman. Conference then adjourned for six months.'