Wilford Woodruff

“ The grave finds a home for all flesh, and no man can take his houses and lands, his gold and silver, or anything else of a worldly character, with him. We brought none of these things with us when we came from our previous state. As Bishop Hunter says, babies are born without shoes and stockings. All the knowledge that we can accumulate from experience and observation, and from the revelations of God to man, goes to show that the riches of this world are fleeting and transitory, while he that has eternal life abiding in him is rich indeed. ”

“ This people and these Elders who bear the Melchisedek Priesthood, through the providence of Almighty God, will not be called upon to go forth, like David of old, and shed the blood of their fellow-man in their own defence. ”

“ Our aim is high, our destiny is high, and we should never disappoint our Father, nor the heavenly hosts who are watching over us. We should not disappoint the millions in the spirit world, who too are watching over us with an interest and anxiety that have hardly entered into our hearts to conceive of. These are great and mighty things which God requires of us. We would not be worthy of salvation, we would not be worthy of eternal lives in the kingdom of our God, if anything could turn us away from the truth or from the love of it. ”

“ That will be the case with all of us—we shall be called upon to judge this generation. We should as Saints of God, never allow ourselves to wish the destruction of those who oppose or persecute us, but leave them in the hands of our God, to deal with them as he in his justice and mercy may see fit. ”

“ I will repeat what I have often said—there is no power beneath the heavens that can remove Zion out of her place, or destroy this Church and kingdom, as long as the people do the will of God, for he will sustain, them, and overrule the acts of their enemies for their good and for the final triumph of his truth in the earth. ”

“ We should be men and women of integrity to God, and to his holy Priesthood, true to him and true to one another. We should not permit houses and land, gold and silver, nor any of this world's goods to draw us aside from pursuing the great object which God has sent us to perform. ”

“ Remember, my brethren, the greatest gift that God can bestow upon us is eternal life, and it is worth more than all the houses and lands or the gold and the silver upon the earth. For by and by we will go to the grave, and that puts an end to worldly possessions, as far as our using them is concerned. ”

“ The course that we are pursuing is being watched with interest by all heaven. There are fifty thousand millions of people in the spirit world who are being preached to by Joseph Smith, and the Apostles and Elders, his associates, who have passed away. Those persons may receive their testimony, but they cannot be baptized in the spirit world, for somebody on the earth must perform this ordinance for them in the flesh before they can receive part in the first resurrection, and be worthy of eternal life. It takes as much to save a dead man as a living one. ”

“ We see good houses, pleasant homes, and the inmates thereof, enjoying the necessaries and comforts of life. We have places to rest, we have places to lay our heads. How different are the circumstances that surround us to-day in comparison with our situation before we came to these valleys, and in comparison with the experience of many of the ancients. Jesus himself, the son of the living God, had not where to lay his head. The foxes, he said, had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had not a place to lay his head. ”

“ Brother Taylor feels the same towards this nation. We should all have the same feeling, and if we enjoy the Spirit of God, we can overcome that feeling which arises in the hearts of men to resent a wrong, to return evil for evil. Joseph went to God, and he opened his mind by vision, in which he saw the destruction of our nation ”

“ There are a few of us still living in the flesh and able to mingle with the people, but our orbit or circuit has become so extended that we are a little like the courts—it takes us a long time to get around to visit the people.
You have had excellent counsel this morning from our brethren. They have taught us a portion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we should treasure up. We occupy a different position from any other generation; there has never been a generation since God made the world that has been called upon to perform the work that the Latter-day Saints have. ”

“ When we came here the ground was all that we had to lie upon, and we were glad and felt to rejoice in our hearts that God had brought us to a place where we could lie down if it was upon the ground, in peace, free from the persecution of our enemies. God has proved us in days that are past and gone. He has now given us a country and a home. It has been well said that we should be careful lest these conveniences and comforts, by which we are now surrounded, should draw us from the things of God. ”

“ He knew what the result of the shedding of his blood would be upon the human family, yet he was sorrowful because he knew that before he should come again as their Shiloh, the Jewish nation would be trodden under foot of the Gentiles. The result of their treatment of the Savior of the world still afflicts them. In many countries they are still persecuted and deprived of the right of citizenship, and are not permitted to purchase land and hold it as personal property. ”

“ That very act levelled Chief Justice McKean to the ranks of the common citizen from which he never rose again, and he has since passed away, and like others, is in the hands of God. Brigham Young will rise in judgment against him and against all men who have persecuted and maligned and abused him. ”