Orson Hyde

“ Now then we have considered the poor, we have sent our teams, our oxen and all that was necessary to bring them to our houses. And I will here observe that I wish, that inasmuch as they have come to our mountain home, to the thresh-hold of Zion, that every man would so conduct himself as to meet with the approving smile of Heaven, then their light would break forth and shine in the darkness as resplendently as the noon-day sun. We all want our brethren and sisters at home ”

“ If we would raise some and devote a little time to the proper culture of it, attend to each department in its season, the rotting, the hetcheling and the spinning and weaving we should be much better off than we now are. But no, it takes us the whole time, and it seems that we must devote the entire season to raise and take care of our grain, and especially the wheat. The time has now come for us to classify our labor and change our policy. ”

“ Take the poor home to your houses, and God Almighty bless you from this time henceforth and for ever. It is our imperative duty to walk in the light, to see that our pathway is clear and plain before us, and let us so live that it may be clear. ”

“ Where you find a man who has plenty of grain to serve him from three to five years, and plenty of teams and wagons too, tell him to go to work and build for his family a comfortable dwelling house, and point out to him that he is in this way finding employment for the mechanics, making his family comfortable and building up Zion. Teach each man to work at his trade and calling, and let the farmer take hold with his might of that which is his profession, but have a little time to breathe and rest. ”

“ And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters: and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink: for they are worthy. ”

“ There we behold the finger of God; it is plain and legible to every heart that is inspired of the Almighty, that is filled with the love of God, and burning with the light of truth.
On this occasion there is a scripture that occurs to my mind, where our Savior in his parables puts forth a sentiment like this, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."—Matt. ”

“ Our teams are now returning; I met some of them as I was coming to Conference, and I felt to say the Lord be praised, you have performed a good mission, and the Lord has blessed our labors and also the labors of those who have been out on the plains. I feel that the crops that have been raised in such great abundance with so little labor have been by the goodness of the Almighty, and I feel that we have worked ourselves almost into life everlasting. ”

“ We talk of subduing nations, of becoming kings and priests unto God, but amidst all our great talk we have not subdued the vermin with which we are pestered in our newly created homes. We sometimes talk about messengers coming from heaven to visit us, but I doubt whether the angels will come to commune with us until we are in a different situation. ”

“ The Savior taught a great deal in parables, and the servants of God in these days teach by parables and comparisons in order that we may understand the more clearly, and that we may take a larger view of things than we should or could from the plain, simple statement of facts in common language. ”

“ We have a rope factory, and we have hemp growing in our county, and we have made many attempts to raise flax, and we do raise a little but we never use it. It is either left in the sun till the coat is burnt off, or we allow it to be trampled down in the yard by the cattle. In this country we cannot rot the flax in the dews, we must put it into water, a shallow pond is the most suitable, so far as I understand the matter. Now, it is better for each of us to raise about ten acres of wheat, and then devote the rest of our time to the flax and hemp. ”

“ Brethren and sisters, I do not wish to occupy more than my share of the time, therefore my remarks I bequeath to you with the best feelings of my soul, and I feel that if the services of such an humble individual as myself can be of use, I shall feel ever ready to render this service. ”

“ As short sermons seem to be the order of the day, I may be allowed to touch upon that which will benefit myself, that which will increase our faith and tend to our education and good, that we may go to our homes rejoicing in the truth and in the privileges of the new and everlasting covenant. ”

“ But I tell you what it is, the nerves have become settled, and those who sought to make us drink the dregs are drinking them now, and they will continue to do so until the dregs are all drunk out. I have no feeling against any one, and I regret exceedingly that these of whom I speak should have brought upon themselves these terrible calamities which now afflict our once happy country. ”

“ In the vicinity where I have been laboring for the last two years and-a-half, I have seen the evil of spreading out so far. We are and have seemed to be anxious to take up all the land that we could find, and then keep putting in seed until the first we put in is ripe and ready for harvesting. ”

“ This has been the case with all of us, more or less, in fact it has been so much so that neither man nor woman has had time to clean out the filth and bedbugs, so much so that they have got the upper hand of us. ”

“ I have a text about sending to the Missouri river to bring home the poor. The Lord says, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive ”