Joseph F. Smith

“ It certainly cannot be in consequence of the lack of evidences of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, as there are so many such evidences transpiring every day in our experience; in fact the whole spectacle of this latter-day work is overwhelming in undeniable proof to the people of God, at least, that it is His work; while the whole world, on the contrary, are arrayed against it, because they cannot see the light. ”

“ I am not astonished when certain men get mad, or that their souls are vexed within them, that their minds are, perplexed, and that they feel wrought up with anger against a people who have never injured them or theirs. ”

“ For it is a living fact, a fact that fills the hearts of the righteous and God-fearing with unspeakable joy and the hearts of the wicked and ungodly with consternation and jealous fear that this work of God, this work of redemption and salvation in which we are engaged, is moving forward and is destined to continue in its onward march until the kingdoms of the world shall be subdued and brought under the law of Almighty God. ”

“ And because the Book of Mormon is a true and authentic record of a people who once lived and flourished on this American continent—and because God Himself has undertaken, through us, His weak and erring children, to establish His rule and government on the earth in answer to the prayers of His Saints, ancient and modern, and according to the counsels of His own will—because it is verily so, devils rage and the wilfully wicked are angered and seek the life and liberties of the Saints, and the destruction of the work of the Lord ”

“ Neither is there a word of counsel, of admonition or reproof within its lids, but what is calculated to make a bad man a good man, and a good man a better man, if he will hearken to it. It bears the mark of inspiration from beginning to end, and carries conviction to every honest-hearted soul. ”

“ You who have obeyed the requirements of the everlasting Gospel, and have been chosen out of the world, having received the gift of the Holy Ghost, through the laying on of hands, it is your privilege to receive the witness of the Spirit for yourselves ”

“ These predictions concerning the triumph of the cause of God over wickedness, and the triumph of the Saints of God over the wicked who contend against them, were uttered by Joseph Smith in his youth, in the early rise of the Church when, to all human appearance, their fulfillment was absolutely impossible. ”

“ And although many in their day and time have arisen either to ridicule or disprove the truths it contains, their efforts have been futile, resulting only in their own dismay. It cannot be disproved, for it is true. ”

“ Yes, he knows that this will eventually be the case, better than many who profess to have received the Holy Spirit in their hearts; and, therefore, he is diligently seeking to stir up the hearts of the wicked to fight against the Saints of God, until they are discomfited, and Zion is free. ”

“ Our Elders have been sent out as missionaries to the different nations now for the last 50 years, during which time they have testified to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and have invited investigation of its pages. ”