Brigham Young

“ I am sorry to see any one so enveloped in ignorance as to see nothing else but the enjoyment of this world, or to hear them say, "Oh this is all that I can ask for, I want my riches and finery that I may enjoy the society of the rich and gay, and I want to lavish upon myself and family all that heart can wish." ”

“ You step into a room and you perhaps see a mother attending a sick child of a few weeks or months old; and helpless and totally dependent upon others as the infant is, it is no more so than we all have been, for every member of the human family passes through the same process that we behold day after day in our own houses and in the houses of our neighbors. An infant, if sick, cannot tell what ails it, cannot make any signs whatever to tell what is the matter or what remedy is necessary in its case. But it grows, and as it does so it increases in intelligence ”

“ Perhaps some in this house will live until Jesus and the Saints come, but I expect to sleep. I have no promise of living until then. I can say with regard to parting with our friends, and going ourselves, that I have been near enough to understand eternity so that I have had to exercise a great deal more faith to desire to live than I ever exercised in my whole life to live. The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible. ”

“ I have asked the people of the world sometimes what will become of the infants who die. Take the masses of the human family, and I do not think that any rational person amongst them will, for a moment, admit that they will go to a place of punishment. But whatever opinions may prevail on this subject, the fact is they return to the Father, as Jesus says, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." ”

“ And let me say to my brethren and sisters, that it is not the design of the Father that the earthly career of any should terminate until they have lived out their days; and the reason that so few do live out their days, is because of the force of sin in the world and the power of death over the human family. To these causes, and not to the design of the Creator, may be attributed the fact that disease stalks abroad, laying low the aged, middle-aged, youth, and infants, and the human family generally by millions. Some think that not one-half of those born live to the age of twelve years ”

“ We behold the starry heavens, but we know nothing of them comparatively. We behold space, but cannot comprehend it. We have an existence here on the earth, but the generality of mankind do not comprehend the nature or object of it. ”

“ Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds, and our ears are saluted with the expressions, "My head aches," "My shoulders ache," "My back aches," "I am hungry, dry, or tired;" but in the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; and we have the Father to speak to us, Jesus to speak to us, and angels to speak to us, and we shall enjoy the society of the just and the pure who are in the spirit world until the resurrection. ”

“ And again, the operations of disease are alike on no two persons on the face of the earth, any more than the operations of the spirit of God are alike on any two persons. There is as much variation in these respects as there is in the physiognomy of the human family; hence, when disease seizes our systems, we do not know what to do, and death often overcomes us, and we bury our friends. This is hard for us, but what of it? We will follow them, they will not come back to us. The time will come when they will come back, but that will be when Jesus comes. ”

“ But take the human family, the great mass of human beings who swarm in creation, and convince them that their state would be better when they step from this to the next world, and let them have no knowledge beyond this and the crime of self-destruction, which has been mentioned here to-day, would be far more prevalent than it is now, especially among the wicked. ”

“ Their sorrow and grief are unto death. Our trials are to make us perfect and to prepare us for the reward of the just. Is there a female here that has had a glimpse of even the glories of the next world. ”

“ She has now gone to try the realities of another existence—to another department of the life and the lives that God has bestowed upon His children. This life is preparatory to a more exalted state of existence. We have a certain amount of intelligence here, but in the life to come we shall have more. We see the life and growth of the human family, and to those ignorant of the object of our creation, the process presents a very strange phenomenon ”

“ God has revealed some little things with regard to His movements and power, and the operation and motion of the lightning furnish a fine illustration of the ability and power of the Almighty. If you could stretch a wire from this room around the world until the two ends nearly met here again, and were to apply a battery to one end, if the electrical conditions were perfect, the effect of the touch would pass with such, inconceivable velocity that it would be felt at the other end of the wire at the same moment. ”

“ When we pass into the spirit world we shall possess a measure of this power; not to that degree that we will when resurrected and brought forth in the fullness of glory to inherit the kingdoms prepared for us. The power the faithful will possess then will far exceed that of the spirit world ”

“ His power is around them and defends them; and when they pass into the spirit world they are out of the reach of the power of Satan, and they are not liable to be tempted, hunted, and chased as the wicked are, although the wicked may rest and enjoy far more there than here; but a person who obeys the Priesthood of the Son of God is entirely free from this. Where the pure in heart are the wicked cannot come. ”

“ They swarm in the Courts of Heaven; there are myriads and myriads of them there already, and more are going continually. What are you going to do with them? Perhaps I might say somebody will have the privilege of saying to our young sisters who have died in the faith, "I design so many of these children for you, and so many for you, and they are given you by the law of adoption, and they are yours just as much as though you had borne them on the earth, and your seed shall continue through them for ever and ever." ”

“ I say also to my young brothers and sisters, live your religion, and try to fill up the measure of your creation in usefulness; you have a work to do to prepare for a more exalted sphere than this. Outsiders have a great deal to say about the trials of our females. Are the trials of our females to compare with the sorrows that the wicked world have to pass through? ”

“ The whole wicked world is in this condition of mind, no matter who they are, from kings, queens, and emperors on their thrones down to the laborer in his humble cot; but true happiness is unknown amongst them. ”

“ We have no lease to our lives. Who knows but some one of us will meet with an accident going from this house and will be in eternity in half an hour from this time? This life is given to prepare for the next. ”

“ I am poor, I am afflicted, I am sorrowful, I am without friends and home, and am here on the earth like a lost one and know not what to do;" and make them understand that their condition would be so much better when they pass the veil and many of them would be guilty of self-destruction. The Lord has, therefore, wisely hidden the future from our view. ”

“ They do not enjoy themselves, and all their pleasures leave a pang or sting behind. The rich and great may pass a few hours in visiting their friends, or they may glut themselves with the luxury of the earth, but all this leaves a sting behind. ”

“ However, here we are, and we have to meet with these obstacles, and if we are not able to overcome them we have to yield, and this is why we lose our children, our young men and women, and those near and dear to us. We do not know what to do for the sick, and if we send for a doctor he does not know any more than anybody else. No person knows what to do for the sick without revelation. ”

“ It may be thought by some that when young persons die they will be cut short of the privileges and blessings God designs for His children; but this is not so. The faithful will never miss a blessing through being cut off while here. ”

“ You might say to her, "You have not finished your work, you might do a great deal for your dead relatives," but her reply would be to this effect: "There are plenty on the earth, if they will believe, to perform all the ordinances necessary." "Well, but you have not entered upon your womanhood, and have not become a mother in Israel." ”

“ It is not encumbered with this clog of dirt we are carrying around here so that when we advance in years we have to be stubbing along and to be careful lest we fall down. We see our youth, even, frequently stubbing their toes and falling down. ”

“ And when there we may behold the earth as at the dawn of creation, or we may visit any city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand how they are living here on these western islands, or in China, we are there ”

“ Doctors, by their study of the science of anatomy, and by their experience, by feeling the pulse, and from other circumstances may be able to judge of many things, but they do not know the exact state of the stomach. ”

“ How many there are who say, "I wish I was better off, for I am in a sad condition!" Is this the case with most of the human family? It is, and the majority say in their hearts, if not with their tongues, "I wish I was in different circumstances ”

“ This is what the faithful Saints are coming to; they will possess this power, and if they wish to visit different planets, they will be there. If the Lord wish to visit His children here, He is here; if He wish to send one of His angels to the earth to speak to some of His children, he is here. ”

“ They move with ease and like lightning. If we want to visit Jerusalem, or, this, that, or the other place—and I presume we will be permitted if we desire—there we are, looking at its streets. If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior ”