Brigham Young, Jr.

“ What is there that would induce a man to sacrifice that feeling of joy which he experiences when preaching the Gospel in the nations? I have heard Elders testify, and it is their general experience, that when abroad preaching, depending for their food upon strangers, unsustained and unsupported, save as the providences of God opened the way before them that they have had a feeling of peace and joy such as they never experienced before in their lives, and which they would not lose for all the wealth on the face of the earth. ”

“ We have not only to build temples, but cities; we have to redeem the earth, and we have a vast amount of physical labor to do, that our progenitors did not have the privilege of doing, it was never offered to them, but it has been laid before us in plainness and simplicity. We can understand the principle of baptism for the dead, it has been made plain to us, and administering it, and performing the various duties that will arise in building up the kingdom of God, will give us labor for centuries. ”

“ We have our free agency, to think and act just as men think and act, independent of the promptings of the Spirit of God; but that is not our object, our aim is to do the will of God; and brethren, if we could only see the labor and toil that we have to perform before we accomplish our salvation, we would bow in humility before God and pray him to give us strength as our day.
Look at the immense number of people who have lived on the earth since its creation! In what relationship do we stand to them? ”

“ They are perfectly willing that God should guide this great ship Zion, they are willing to act under his direction; and no matter who the man is, nor where he comes from, if he identifies himself with this people, he must be willing that God should lead and guide him, and to obey every word that proceeds from His mouth, or he is not the man to help to carry on this work.
To say that we are a perfect people, I can not do it, neither can I say that I am a perfect man. I am just as full of weaknesses as any other man, and so are my brethren with whom I associate ”

“ There is not one, for they are all established by the wisdom of men, and men's ways are so different from the ways of God that it is impossible, with all their intelligence and knowledge—and we know they possess a great deal—for men to establish a government after the order of God. In some minor particulars such a government might not be far out of the way, but in all the essentials it would be dissimilar. It is the same with us, the Latter-day Saints, without the inspiration and wisdom of Heaven to guide us, we can not hope to carry out and accomplish God's purposes. ”

“ That may be true, and hence the proof is more striking that the work we have done has been directed and dictated by the wisdom of the Almighty, and in its accomplishment the very spirit, energy and determination which our leaders have exhibited were required. You might have ransacked the world from one end to the other, and you could not have found educated men—men brought up in colleges—who would have come out and taken the axe and the plow, driven the teams, made the roads, led the people and located them as our leaders have done. ”

“ We know that naturally our hearts are far removed from God; and, speaking to the ancient Saints, one of the Apostles told them they were blinded in part, and saw through a glass darkly. This is our condition, then how necessary it is for us to seek continually for that Spirit which will enable us to live as Saints of the Most High should live, and to labor so that we may establish a kingdom on the earth which God will delight in, and which, when the great men of the earth see, they will be willing to acknowledge the wisdom manifested therein, and to glorify God for the same. ”

“ It is not anything new to you and to me to be told that the kingdom of God is on the earth, or to hear the principles of salvation proclaimed by the Elders; but it is good to have our hearts warmed and inspired, and our desires to be diligent and faithful renewed and strengthened. ”

“ It is the peace of God, and when a man possesses it, his thoughts are not as man's thoughts, and, inspired from on high, he goes forth freely, ready to endure any trial and to make any sacrifice to declare the principles of life and salvation to the people. ”

“ If our ways were as God's ways, we would do as he would have us do; but it is evident to all who are acquainted with the actions of the human family, not excluding the Latter-day Saints, that the mind of man is not as Gods mind. ”

“ If it does not manifest independence of character for men and women, who have been honest and upright all their days, to leave their relatives, neighbors, friends and associates, by whom they have always been respected, to join the Latter-day Saints and be called everything that is mean, where will you find it on the face of the earth. Such men have joined the Church in the States, and Bishop Hunter is an instance. He was respected and honored by his neighbors, and was known to have been an honest, upright, God-fearing man all his days ”

“ But it seems that, in the providence of God, things have been ordered as they are, that is, he has suffered the wickedness of men to transpire in the nations of the earth, and he has suffered priests to be raised up to blind the minds of men. ”

“ Such men as those I am referring to, could not have trusted implicitly in the arm of Jehovah, when on the plains, to protect them from the savages, the storms, and all the dangers incident to such a journey; they could not understand and comprehend the necessity of faith in God under such circumstances, their education and worldly wisdom would have rendered it next to impossible, and it required the very men who have been our leaders to do the work that has been done, and it needs them still. ”

“ Many of us have not had the educational advantages enjoyed by the wealthy in the outside world, having belonged to the laboring classes—to what is termed the down-trodden portions of the population of Europe and America, and I say thank God for it, for as a general thing the educated classes are fast becoming unbelievers in the Old and New Testament. ”

“ If we do, we shall not only deprive ourselves of a great privilege and of great glory, but we shall deprive others, perhaps, to some extent, of receiving that which is theirs by right; they have lived for it, and they are entitled to it at our hands. ”

“ I believe that the atheist—the man who has no belief in God, or faith in any religion, would like the best berth to be had, either on a sailing vessel or steamer, if he saw any chance to obtain it. The Latter-day Saints have good berths in view. ”

“ Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful, let us be true to the covenants we have made, for if we are, we insure to ourselves life and salvation; but, on the other hand, if we are recreant, we shall go to destruction. This is the testimony of modern as well as ancient revelation; and we need not take our own works to convince the people of the error of their ways ”

“ What an immense labor opens up before us when we think of these things! Millions and hundreds of millions of men and women, just as good as we are, according to the knowledge they had, must be administered for by us, and we have to build temples in which the work for their redemption may be performed. ”

“ This is the way that all Latter-day Saints should always feel, and they who take this course are continually in possession of the spirit of peace; they are worthy the name of Saints, and the Scriptures inform us, that from such no good thing will be withheld, and if a man wants anything that is bad he is not a Saint, he does not belong to that catalogue. ”

“ They might have done these things if they had been willing to bow in obedience to God; but they are too highly educated, they are too full of the wisdom of the world to seek unto God, in lowliness of heart, for his Spirit to guide them, as our leaders have done. ”

“ I have heard men of the world point out to President Young and other leading men in this Church the course they should pursue under certain circumstances, to ensure the approval and friendship of, and to give satisfaction to, the leading men of our nation and the nations abroad ”