Angus M. Cannon

“ We know it is essential we should be faithful in all things: pay our tithes and offerings, and let children be witnesses of our faithfulness to God and His kingdom, and although they may wander for a season from the true path, their hearts will warm towards us in days to come, and they will remember the examples and precepts of their fathers and mothers, and they will say, I will return to the God of my fathers, the communion of whose spirit I enjoyed in childhood before I knew sin. ”

“ There is only one way by which we can ensure eternal life, and that is by abiding by all the cousnels [counsels] of God, seeking to cherish in our hearts the quiet, peaceable influences of the Holy Spirit, which will grow within us until we become fully developed, perfect men and women, in the likeness and stature of the Lord Jesus. And our children will also partake of this influence. Will they all do so? They will, unless they are inclined to be wilfully wicked, or we neglect to afford them such care and attention as is due to them. ”

“ And the Lord's manner of instruction is to give line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until we become perfect in the knowledge of his laws. Under these circumstances we will not refuse to go and proclaim the Gospel to the world of mankind, without purse or scrip; we will not refuse to contribute of our substance to build temples to His name, neither will we reject any of the counsels of the Almighty. Are we not to have the full liberty of our agency? ”

“ This work in which we are engaged is the kingdom of God, and those who are found keeping the commandments of God will be possessed of His Holy Spirit, they will know the voice of the good shepherd, and the place where they have been fed, and them he will seperate [separate] from the ungodly, the disobedient and the wicked even as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats. The Holy Spirit is given to men, who have rendered obedience to the requirements of the Gospel, to enable them to comprehend the will of the Father, or that they may know the voice of the true shepherd ”

“ These very men had the chance to redeem them. The Messiah himself stood before them inviting them to be taught in these principles of salvation. The burden of his soul was to draw men to him that they might be fed with the bread of life. ”

“ And I will tell you, my brethren, that our children will respect and honor us; and when we sleep we will be numbered among the blessed dead who die in the Lord; we will rest from our labors, and our works will follow us. There is no consistency in our acts when we say, we will receive this principle or doctrine, and reject another. If we have the Spirit of the Lord within us, we well know, as has been said, that Jesus is the Christ; but if we lose claim to the Holy Spirit we can no longer testify that Jesus is the Christ and that His Apostles are his ministers. ”

“ And when we shall have arrived at that state of perfection, seeing as we are seen, and knowing as we are known, we shall not need Prophets to teach us, for we will then see alike, dwelling in the presence of God. ”

“ Then if we would have our sons be faithful, and not infidel in their hearts, let our acts conform with our doctrine, let them understand from our conduct and the spirit within us, that we love God more than we love anything on earth; that we revere His Apostles, from the fact that we listen to their counsels and carry out their instructions. ”

“ They may be found in groups and on street-corners, idling away their time, and assailing the characters of those God has called to lead us, ever ready to cast doubt into the minds of the honest; while their children, as a general thing, become like unto them—distrustful, disobedient, and in time alienated from God. ”

“ Are we possessed of the same humility, of the same love, and of the same undying devotion, as when our enemies were driving us from the rear, and apparently nothing but destitution unto starvation presented our front. ”

“ When our enemies have expelled us from our homes, and deprived us of the sustenance we had provided, God has blessed the endeavors of his people in cultivating the soil, and he has rebuked the destroyer, and where sand and aridness seemed to prevail, the earth has been made productive, and we have reaped abundance. ”

“ If we do we shall prove ourselves no better than the world of mankind whom we have left. We have come here and demonstrated that the Lord has blessed us—for he has demonstrated this to our heart's content ”

“ Moses was raised under peculiar circumstances, having been taught in all the learning of the Egyptians—a people who were estranged from God and received the best education that the Court of Pharaoh could afford. ”

“ And when once bereft of this we enter into temptation, and by and by fall into darkness, and will be found walking in bye and forbidden paths, and our sons and daughters begin to view us with distrust, and they say in their hearts, "Surely, father must have lost faith, for he does not practice what he once professed." ”

“ When our enemies have sought to follow us, he has rebuked them, and the divisions which they would introduce in our midst, to enfeeble us, he has caused to be visited upon those who have sought to destroy us. ”

“ And they will repent of their folly, and like the Prodigal Son of the Scriptures, they will learn to appreciate the good by the things they suffer. Let us not be filled with jealousies, and vanities and strifes. ”