Daniel H. Wells

“ Unbelief in God is the crying sin of this generation. They do not believe in the things of God, nor in the principles which he has enunciated, and which he is endeavoring to establish through the instrumentality of those among his children who have rendered obedience to his Gospel, and who live in accordance with the principles thereof upon the earth. We have the privilege of promulgating the work of God, and of establishing his kingdom here among the children of men ”

“ Well, the time has come when it seems as if the cup of their iniquity is about filled, and when the Lord thinks it is enough, and he has seen fit to commence his great latter-day work with a proclamation of the everlasting Gospel among the children of men, with a view of reclaiming them from the path of perdition, and of saving all who will yield obedience to his requirements. ”

“ We have the opportunity to grow and increase in grace and in favor with the Lord, and in faith and in good works, and becoming better than we now are, and of becoming more useful; and as we do so, why, the kingdom will grow faster, and things will prosper more with us. We shall have greater power with the Lord and in the world, and the purposes of heaven will roll on and come to pass faster than they have done. ”

“ Whether we ourselves, individually, stand firm and steadfast, makes no difference, the work of God will go forward anyhow. But we have the blessed privilege of assisting, and of being co-workers with the Lord, if we are disposed to be so. Then let us look to it, that we do not fail, for upon this depends our own salvation and exaltation in the celestial kingdom. We have now an opportunity for laying a foundation for hereafter hearing the welcome plaudit—"Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things, now will I make you ruler over many things." ”

“ Is there any necessity for the Lord to commence such a work? If we are to believe our surroundings, and what we see, hear and learn every day, there is great necessity, for there can be little doubt in the minds of any reflecting person that we live in a very wicked, unbelieving, and perverse generation. ”

“ There still remains a great work to be done; and it is incumbent upon us to do it, as brother Woodruff has said, while we have the opportunity in the flesh. Before we go behind the vail we should lay a foundation to progress upon after we have finished our course here. We, by our works, as well as by our faith, while in this life, should lay a foundation for exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Father and our God. ”

“ Well, if it is to be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man as it was in the days of Noah, why the wicked will again be destroyed, and the righteous saved. This is a preparatory work, and if the people reject the Gospel that the Lord has revealed from heaven, they may expect to be over-taken, sooner or later, by his judgments. They are already being poured out upon the earth. We see and hear of them occasionally, but the world is filled with unbelief. ”

“ Even of meat we have not any but what can command a market, and at a price sufficiently high to justify the raising of it, and the taking care of, and increasing and multiplying the flocks and herds, and then using them wisely. ”

“ Many things prophesied of in ages past and gone are actually transpiring to-day, yet the people generally do not comprehend them. But the majority of the Latter-day Saints do, and they know that the time of the second coming of the Savior is approaching. ”

“ There is plenty of labor here for all if they will do it, and if they will put themselves to work in those channels that are necessary. There are some kinds of business that are overdone. A good many of our young people, and others to, instead of turning their attention to the cultivation of the earth, or to the manufacture of things that are actually needed for the welfare and comfort of the community, seek to become clerks and to pursue some kind of a calling that is not productive. ”

“ Talk to people generally, in the world, about such things, and they say—"Oh, they are accounted for upon some natural principle." It is so with all of the signs that the Lord has given, or that he will give, that have been prophesied about—they can all be accounted for upon some natural principle. ”

“ It is not going to take so much stone to go on with in proportion, as it has taken for the foundation, for the walls will not be so wide; and although the work is expensive, yet it can be done. We have mechanics who are perfectly competent to do it, and the plan will be given as fast as laborers to do the work are ready. ”

“ The earth is now filled with violence and evil as it was in the days before the flood, and the Lord has said that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. ”

“ Yes, each and every one can do something, and if the Latter-day Saints will be united in this thing we shall see the construction of this Temple go on rapidly. We are abundantly able to do it—we have plenty of mechanics and laborers, and abundance of the means necessary to sustain them. ”

“ Though in this respect we have no reason to complain, for they have come along about as quick as we have been able to stand it. But the work will continue to increase in greater ratio than it has hitherto done; it is bound to, and cannot help it, any way in the world. ”

“ Such a course increases the consumers, but not the produc-ers, and we have no surplus here of those things necessary to support and sustain people. If men were to go into various branches of manufacture, they would help to create a market for home products, and that would stimulate production, the production of fruits of the soil as well as other things. That would be good economy. We, at present, have no surplus of the products of the soil in these valleys of the mountains ”

“ This is one thing that we can do, and it is required of us, and the responsibility of accomplishing this task rests upon our shoulders. Of course we have other duties to perform. Every person who lives in this Territory, here in Zion, who professes to be a Latter-day Saint, has responsibilities of various kinds resting upon him. ”

“ He can do something, and if he will lay the matter before the members of his ward he will find that he can get very liberal contributions in labor, and in provisions and other means necessary to pay the hands who work steadily on the Temple. ”