Orson Pratt

“ I know of a great many improvements upon the old condition of things which has existed among our fathers—the Gentile notion and idea of each one holding separate and individual interests, without being accountable to anyone. That is the old system. We have made many improvements, but we have not carried out in any one solitary instance in any settlement I am acquainted with, the order of things laid down in the revelations, contained in the Book of Covenants. ”

“ I am, and I presume a great many others who are acquainted with the revelations of God, as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants, are looking for the period of time to come, in the history of the Latter-day Saints, when we as a people shall possess a very different country from the one we are now inhabiting. We do not expect to go to the Sandwich Islands, neither to the Society Islands, neither to any of the islands of the oceans, nor into South America, nor Central America, to carry out the order of things which we expect to enter into in all its fulness. ”

“ Now I consider, that notwithstanding all our deviations from the perfect law that God has given, notwithstanding the condition of things pointed out so clearly in the Doctrine and Covenants in regard to holding stewardships and inheritances, and giving an account of those stewardships and inheritances, according to the perfect order, —I consider we are doing pretty well, in a great many respects. We have progressed; we have made improvements; we are in a more united condition than we were 45 years ago. ”

“ We wish to know what the counsel of the servants of God is concerning us; and yet, hardly know which way to turn. We see a united order established in one place, according to one principle; we go to another part of the land, and we find an order established on a little different principle; and we hear of another, all differing somewhat. And so on until we visit nearly all the settlements of these mountains. And as was stated this forenoon, they differ as do the elders themselves in their views.
Now what has the Lord said in this parable of the vineyard? ”

“ George, after a pattern in part, of a celestial order. But by and bye, when we build a Temple that is never to be destroyed, it will be constructed, after the most perfect order of the celestial worlds. And when God shall take it up into heaven it will be found to be just as perfect as the cities of more ancient, celestial worlds which have been made pure and holy and immortal. ”

“ One perhaps may follow a certain branch, calculated to prepare him to act in a certain position in his future life; while another may adopt an entirely different course of study, by which he could be of benefit to Zion. But there will be equal privileges and blessings bestowed upon the Latter-day Saints.
Now about these stewards. They have to be accountable; and if they gain anything in their stewardships over and above that which may be necessary to conduct the business of stewardships, and also to support themselves, if there be a surplus of means, what will be said? ”

“ In this way each man will give an account of his stewardship, as the revelation says, both in time and eternity. And he that proves himself a faithful and wise steward in time, will be counted worthy to receive not only a stewardship but an inheritance in eternity. ”

“ With this we will purchase the land, and go down and inherit it, as a strong and powerful people, receiving our stewardships. And we will not spread forth in that land three or four miles apart, and think we are crowded when people come and settle within a mile of us; but we will settle in such a manner as to make a very dense population. It is a country that is susceptible, almost every foot of it, to agricultural purposes; and we can settle with a very large population upon every square mile of country. And we will extend our borders around about the great central city, not stake, of Zion. ”

“ And I expect that when we go from these mountains, by hundreds of thousands, down to that land to purchase it and to occupy it, that we will take with us a great deal of gold and silver—for the Lord will in those days make his people very rich, in fulfilment of another promise made in the same revelation, in which he says, that we shall become the richest of all people. ”

“ When this shall be done, the people will be, as the parable says, like unto one body—all equally poor, or all equally rich; in other words, they will be persons that can claim no property as their own, everything being consecrated. And the land being purchased, will be held on a different principle, from what it is now. To-day fifty thousand dollars worth of real estate property is the most that can be held by a religious organization ”

“ This order of things will be remedied; and the youth of God's people will have equal opportunities, to develop themselves; not that they will all gain the same ideas exactly; not that they will all advance in the same direction in education, and to the same extent. ”

“ I expect that this people, if they do not become a "strong nation" in one sense of the word, they will be a great and strong and powerful people upon the face of this land. This is one of the things your humble servant is looking for. ”

“ It might be said to one to unite him to the stewardship, without having any greater means to extend his operations, for the time being; and again, it might be deemed wisdom to assist another to the amount of five, ten, twenty thousand dollars or so, by way of extending his branch of business, because in doing so it would be the means of not only benefitting himself and family but the people of Zion generally. ”

“ God will assuredly raise up a man like unto Moses, and redeem his people, with an outstretched arm, as their fathers were redeemed, at the first, going before them with his own presence, and will also surround them by his angels. ”

“ There will be a portion of the avails of these stewardships, that will be consecrated to the Lord's storehouse, and which will be used for the building of Temples, and for beautifying public places in the city of the New Jerusalem, and making that a city of perfection as near as we possibly can.
Now, there will be this difference between that city and the cities and Temples which are being built. The cities and temples which we are now engaged in building, we expect to decay; we expect the rock and the various building materials will in time waste away, according to natural laws. ”

“ But we expect, just as much as we expect the sun will shine, when it arises on a clear morning, that the Lord will by and bye, take us back to the land referred to by Brother Snow, this forenoon. We do not expect that when that time shall come, that all Latter-day Saints, who now occupy the mountain Valleys, will go in one consolidated body, leaving this land totally without inhabitants. ”

“ But let no person set any stakes, in regard to this matter, that because he may have entered into a special order, introduced in one settlement, that all others are wrong, because they do not do likewise; they should not find fault with their brethren, neither be discouraged in well-doing. ”

“ The time will come for the Saints to receive their stewardships, when they shall return to the lands from whence they have been driven; but the inheritances will not be given, until the Lord shall first appoint to the righteous dead their inheritances, and afterwards the righteous living will receive theirs. ”

“ Not as it is now: some obtain great learning; while others are obliged from their childhood, from the time they are six or eight years of age, to work to that extent that they cannot devote any time to acquire an education. ”

“ And when it shall be ascertained that an individual has consecrated everything he has, inquiries will be made as to the size of his family, and land will be apportioned to him accordingly—not to deed him the property, according to the Gentile practice ”

“ And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things. And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly ”

“ Neither in case of death will the heirs of such trustee have any claim whatever on the property; the power regulating such matters will then be vested in the proper authority who will mete out even justice to all parties. ”

“ These persons, therefore, will be in the same condition that all the rest of the people are in. The properties they hold will not be their own, although it may be called so, as far as that is concerned. ”

“ When this is done, he takes his stewardship, each man having his own table, without being necessitated at all to eat at his neighbor's. People will build their own houses, etc., when needful, provided they are able to do so, if not, what assistance they require will be rendered them. ”