Brigham Young

“ We do not ask any odds of them, nor of hell, nor of the world. We only ask favours of our God; and He is the Being we serve: to Him we go; and we do not pray to a God without body, parts, passions, or principles; for we do not serve such a personage. We serve the living and true God, who has body, and parts, and passions, and feelings for His children; and the wicked may help themselves the best they can. ”

“ The principles of life and salvation are the only principles of freedom; for every principle that is opposed to God—that is opposed to the principles of eternal life, whether it is in heaven, on the earth, or in hell, the time will be when it will cease to exist, cease to preserve, manifest, and exhibit its identity ”

“ Jesus said that a man would give all that he had for his life; and in our day there are a great many who will do almost anything to preserve their natural lives. To accomplish this, they will bow down to the whims and sayings of designing men, of the priests of the day, and to the laws and customs of individuals. Were it not for this, you would find that there would be millions embracing this work where there are now but hundreds; for there is no freedom only in the Gospel of salvation. ”

“ It is my greatest joy to see this people engaged in their religion, faithful to their calling, true to their trust, and fervent in spirit. And when I see the brethren and sisters striving to add faith to faith, and good works to good works, and feeling to renew their obligations, and covenants, and labours day by day, it is satisfying to me,—it is joy and peace. ”

“ Did not your friends say to many of you, before you left your homes, that you were foolish —that the world would despise you and hate you? Did they not ask you if you could not see that troubles were coming upon the Saints, and say that you were very unwise in going with them—that you had better stay where there was safety? They can see nothing more than natural things; they do not understand the ways of God; they are unacquainted with His doings, with His kingdom, and with the principles of eternity. ”

“ There is not an individual upon the earth but what has within himself ability to save or to destroy himself; and such is the case with nations. Is there liberty or freedom in destruction? No. When you look at things naturally, which is as far as the natural man sees, a person who takes a course to destroy himself temporally would be considered very unwise. And to the natural man we are taking an unwise, an unnatural course, wherein our religion is obnoxious to the Christian world. ”

“ If I call upon my friends to join me in a short excursion, to form a social party at my residence, or to unite upon any festive or memorable occasion, I never know where to stop in my feelings until every Latter-day Saint is invited. I wish those who do not receive invitations to go into the kanyon to understand that it is not because we have any feelings against your going there, nor is it because we wish you to tarry at home, nor because we not desire your society. But is it consistent for all the people to go? ”

“ The wicked can see no further than this world is concerned. We understand that when we are unclothed in this present state, then we are prepared to be clothed upon with immortality—that when we put off these bodies we put on immortality. These bodies will return to dust, but our hope and faith are that we will receive these bodies again from the elements—that we will receive the very organization that we have here, and that, if we are faithful to the principles of freedom, we shall then be prepared to endure eternally. ”

“ We have been accustomed to seeing a hundred to our one, with their guns to shoot us, and their knives to cut our throats. Do people imagine that they can kill "Mormonism?" I may die for my religion, and who cares for that? Brother Carrington has told you that God can carry on his own work, and the spirit of Joseph which fell upon me is ready to fall upon somebody else when I am removed. ”

“ This is the case with all the nations of the earth. Do you see that equality among them that you see here? Where is there a people or nation that does not oppress each other? When our Elders go forth and preach the Gospel, if it was in their power to cast from the people the yoke of bondage, instead of our gathering into the Church, from the British Isles, for instance, two or three thousand or ten thousand a year, we would gain our million a year. ”

“ I say, let us live our religion, serve our God, trust in Him; and when we are called to contend against the enemy within ourselves, contend against him manfully, just as we would against an open enemy,—contend against those passions that rise in the heart, and overcome every one of them. ”

“ So far as the natural man is concerned, it appears that the Latter-day Saints are very unwise to embrace in their faith those obnoxious principles that render them so odious in the eyes of the political and Christian world—the popular world. The Latter-day Saints see further; they understand more than what pertains to this world. The Gospel of life and salvation reveals to each individual who receives it that this world is only a place of temporary duration, existence, trials, &c. ”

“ We all naturally know—we can naturally understand that man cannot stay here always. The inhabitants of the earth are continually coming and going. This is not our abiding place. All can see naturally, if they would but observe the facts before them, that this world is but of short duration to them. ”

“ But do not be snooping round, pretending to be Saints, at the same time be receiving such men into your houses and such spirits into your hearts, as many do. Well, all that is necessary, and it will be so; but the time will come when "judgment will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet;" and if it is not hailstones, it will be some other kind that will sweep away those who make lies and love them. ”

“ You will hear some of the brethren say, as brother Carrington as just said, that there are times when the blood courses like lightning, upon seeing men who are opposed to us—who are striving with all their powers to destroy this people. Can they destroy us? No, they cannot. There are a great many in this congregation who are witnesses that the Devil has been warring, with all his imps arrayed against this work, ever since the organization of this Church, and trying to obliterate it from the earth. ”

“ Can you fellowship those who will serve the Devil? If you do, you are like them; and we wish you to go with them; for we do not want you. We wish that all such men and women would apostatize and come out boldly and say, "We are going to hell upon our own road;" ”

“ We cannot live here always with our bodies full of pain and subject to decay. Deprive us of food and we die; deprive us of water, and after a short time we die; deprive us of air, and we live but a few moments. ”

“ If we had permitted such a course, a great many would have gone that were not wanted there, as there are persons who would like to put fire into the kanyon and destroy the timber, or create a disturbance, if they could get a chance. We expect those who go to observe the instructions on the tickets they receive, and to go, tarry, and return in harmony and peace. Let all who go observe good order and try to make themselves happy. If I were to satisfy my feelings, I would invite the whole of you. ”

“ All things are temporal, and all things are spiritual with the Lord; there is no difference with Him, neither is there with any person who has eyes to see things as they exist. To those who have their minds open to eternal things, spiritual and temporal things are all one. ”

“ No; they have lost ground all the time. This people, with brother Joseph at their head, and with all the powers of Satan, earth, and hell for him to contend against, have built up the kingdom of God and spread the principles of the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. ”

“ Two weeks ago to-day, I mentioned the course of some individuals in this place who are writing slanders concerning us, stating that a man cannot live here unless he is a "Mormon," when at the same time they come here to meeting with perfect impunity. ”

“ They may lie and write lies, and they may stay here, if they behave themselves; but if they do not stop their devilish conduct they will be overtaken; for we will make their words true in regard to their being in danger, if they persist in their efforts to bring destruction upon us. ”

“ We will therefore gather up some that ought to go—some who can conveniently go, and leave the rest, with precisely the same good feelings towards those who tarry at home as those who go into the kanyon. ”

“ No; the Latter-day Saints know better. We will lay the foundation to dwell eternally, and that, too, in the heavens, with beings superior to those with whom we associate in our present situation and circumstances. ”

“ They say that it is with great difficulty that they can live with the Saints, when at the same time no one has molested them during all the time they have been writing lies to stir up the wicked to destroy us. They pass and repass in our streets with the same privileges that other citizens enjoy ”

“ Thousands and thousands more are for us than those who are against us, and you need not have any fears. They may be permitted to kill our bodies, but that is yet to be determined. They try to fire a pistol ”