George Q. Cannon

“ And when we look at the blessings we enjoy, as Saints of the Most High, from the stand point from which the Latter-day Saints should view this work, how can we limit the feelings which should animate our hearts continually with praise to our Father and God? ”

“ If we will let our imaginations stretch into the future, there will be no time when we will arrive at such a condition that we will, through weariness, relax our efforts and our exertions, and cease to feel thanksgiving and gratitude ”

“ But this is not the case with us; unto us are extended promises which have never been extended to any other people who have lived upon the earth from the days of Adam to this time; unto us a promise is given that this kingdom shall stand for ever, that it shall not be given into the hands of another people, that it shall roll forth, increase, and spread abroad until it fills the whole earth—until all the inhabitants of the earth can dwell in peace and safety under its shadow, being freed from misrule, oppression, and every evil that exists among the inhabitants of the earth ”

“ Now, the day has come when we, as a people, will have to listen to the voice of the servants of God, to the instructions of the Almighty through his servants, and obey them as implicitly as though God was in our midst. Yet, how often is it the case that, when we have counsel imparted unto us, we feel as though we had some suggestions to make that would make that counsel better and more applicable to us. ”

“ While we feel as though we could sing Hosannah to God and the Lamb, they cannot see anything to cause us to have such feelings, because they have not access to that power—to that fountain of knowledge, of light, and wisdom, which our God has opened unto us as a people. We have, then, in addition to the temporal advantages which God has bestowed upon us, abundant cause for gratitude on other points. ”

“ How grateful we ought to be every day that we live, that our Father and our God has provided a way and means of salvation for us, that before we were born and took upon us the form of mortal men and women, the Lord in his mercy, and in his wisdom and kindness, had provided a way whereby we should be redeemed from the power of Satan, from the power of death, and be brought back into his presence, and be clothed with immortality and all the blessings which attend such a condition. ”

“ When unprejudiced strangers look upon us, they see our temporal advantages, and they think we are a blessed and happy people; but there are other blessings that we enjoy. We enjoy promises which are extended unto us, of which strangers know nothing—of which they have not the least conception; blessings and promises which no man can comprehend, except they who have received the Spirit of God. We have blessings, we have favors, we have causes of peace, of which the human family know nothing. ”

“ Unless we appreciate these blessings, it is not likely they will be increased upon us—it is not reasonable that greater blessings than those already received will be bestowed upon us; but if we are humble, meek, and filled with thanksgiving and gratitude to our Father and God under all circumstances, appreciating and putting a high value on the mercies he extends unto us, it is more than probable that those blessings and mercies will be increased upon us according to our wants and necessities, and we shall still have increased cause for gratitude and thanksgiving before him. ”

“ It should be a subject of thanksgiving and gratitude to us that we have the privilege of comprehending the truth sufficiently to derive the full benefit of the salvation which is offered unto us through the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; because we are assured in the word of God that there is a class, who through their sinfulness and neglect of the privileges and opportunities granted unto them, and their disobedience to the requirements of God, are cut off from the full benefits of that salvation which they would enjoy were they more obedient. ”

“ While our hearts are burning with joy, with happiness and with peace; while the Spirit of God is descending upon us and we are filled therewith, they who look upon us cannot see or comprehend the spirit that we are of—they cannot understand the feelings that animate our hearts, they only see us as natural men and women ”

“ In looking forward to our future generations for the next thousand years, we are not under the necessity of beholding, in vision, our posterity straying into darkness in such a manner as to close the heavens and shut off the communication between God and man. ”

“ God has taught us differently: he has taught us that instead of the heavens becoming more closed, and communications less frequent and seldom received, truth will be more abundantly bestowed on man; instead of angels ceasing to communicate with man, angels will communicate with him more and more until man shall bask in the full light of eternity. ”

“ There is no time that we can conceive of throughout the vast ages of eternity, if we continue our onward progress, when we will become cloyed in our religion and in our worship of God; it will not be a matter of form with us, a duty that will be wearying and onerous upon us ”

“ When we have the Spirit of God resting upon us, and our minds are enlightened by it, I presume we do to some extent; we feel then that we would constantly witness unto God by our acts that we really appreciate his kindness in permitting us to come forth at such a time and be associated with such a people. ”

“ But when the counsels of God come to us through his servants, and they are contrary to our prepossessed notions, we forget that the inspiration of the Almighty is with our brethren, that the power of the Highest is with them, and, as Brother Snow alluded to Jonah this morning, if we do not go to Tarshish, we frequently go somewhere else to avoid doing the things that God requires at our hands. ”

“ The blessings of air, of water, of the earth—the blessings that all the family of man enjoy in common one with another—because they are so widely spread and so universally enjoyed, are not appreciated as are other blessings which are more confined in their application and in the result which attends them to the children of men. ”

“ If we take a course of this kind, you can readily perceive how harmoniously every thing connected with the work of God will roll forth; beauty and order will be witnessed in all the ramifications of the kingdom of God at home and abroad, and salvation will be extended unto us. ”

“ He is angry with those who do not acknowledge his hand in the various dispensations of providence meted out to man.
It is right that we, as a people and as individuals, should be continually grateful to God for what he has done for us. ”

“ These are the prospects that are extended to us as individuals and as a people. Hence, I have said that we have greater cause than any other people that ever lived to be thankful to our Father and God for what he has done for us and promised unto us ”