Wilford Woodruff

“ The vision of his mind was opened, and the angel showed unto him the condition of the nations of the earth, and said, "This record which I now commit unto your hand contains the words of life—the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Lord is now about to establish his kingdom upon the earth. The world are in darkness; the Gentiles have departed from the Gospel of Jesus Christ; they have forsaken the light, the glory, and the power of the Priesthood of the Son of God, which was given to and enjoyed by the Gentile nations when Israel was cut off." ”

“ We have our leading men and our Governor, all of whom have proceeded out of the midst of us. Our judges, our wise men, and our rulers are those that have come out of the house of Israel; and this is a blessing and a privilege that Israel have not enjoyed for many generations. We see that the Elders have gone forth and laboured for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, and for carrying out the purposes of our heavenly Father, and for the accomplishment of the great work of the latter days.
We have the greatest reason to be thankful of any people upon the earth ”

“ The Presidency of this Church are good men; they are filled with the Spirit of the Lord continually—with the spirit of teaching—of counsel; which, if we follow, will lead us on to eternal life: therefore we are blest and saved when we obey their teaching. ”

“ I pray the Lord, my heavenly Father, to grant us his Spirit, that we may prize our blessings, keep our covenants, and continually have his favour, and continue humble and faithful; and that he will pour out those judgments upon the wicked, proud, and the rebellious which they desire to inflict upon the people of God ”

“ There is one characteristic connected with the work of God that has been manifested in its establishment in these last days, as in all former periods, and that is, that whenever the Lord has attempted to establish his Church and kingdom upon the earth, he always makes use of instruments whose peculiar circumstances in life will naturally lead them to acknowledge the hand of God in all that is manifested unto them. ”

“ The Lord has chosen men like Joseph and Hyrum, the Smith family, and the Twelve Apostles; and they have been humble men in this Church and kingdom; and almost all the officers have been called from the labouring class, from the plough, from the hammer and the anvil, and from nearly every occupation; and their words have pierced the honest in heart, for they have had all the power, blessings, and knowledge which the Lord has given unto them, and they have given the honour and glory to God. ”

“ The whole people have a vote in the selection of their officers; and if they appoint wicked men for their Governors and for their rulers, and then those rulers go to work and rule unrighteously, tyrannize over the poor and humble, and sacrifice human life to satisfy their wicked ambition, at whose hands will the Lord require the blood of the innocent? ”

“ Those things should increase our faith before the Lord, and give us confidence in his promises, and it should inspire our hearts to diligence in the fulfilment of every duty required of us.
The Lord says, in the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that this Gospel shall be preached in all the world; and he commands his servants to call upon all nations to repent and obey the voice of God—to receive the Gospel and the words of eternal life. ”

“ There is a marked difference between the work of God and the work of men or the work of the Devil, and that difference is manifest in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ”

“ In those revelations are promised many great and glorious things, and the pattern is given and the foundation laid for a great and mighty work—a work not to be accomplished in ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years, but a work that embraces the gathering together of all things which are to be saved, both in heaven and on earth, and the establishing of the kingdom of God, to remain for ever ”

“ We have had the holy Priesthood conferred upon us, and the power of God has surrounded us, so that we have been preserved thus far from the hands of our enemies in the midst of the many circumstances in which we have been placed. ”

“ I also look at what has taken place with this people; and I can clearly see the fulfilment of the word of God spoken by the angel to Joseph before the Church was organized. The angel foretold the very scenery that I behold to-day; and from that time to the present, this people have been fulfilling what the angel told the Prophet would come to pass, after he gave to him the plates containing the record of the Book of Mormon. We are daily working for the fulfilment of those things that were predicted from twenty-five to thirty years ago. ”

“ The opposition that we have had and the persecutions we have passed through have been alluded to by brother Taylor, and all those matters are in fulfilment of what the angel told brother Joseph; and as long as Satan rules in the world, this spirit of mobocracy will manifest itself, even until the scenery shall be wound up, and until He who holds the keys of the bottomless pit shall bind him with a chain, cast him into the pit, and shut him up, and put a seal upon him. ”

“ Governor Ford said, when speaking to the brethren in Nauvoo, that almost every man he talked with would say it was a pity the Smiths should die under the pledged protection of the Governor of the State; but yet they were glad they were dead. Will not God require an atonement at the hands of such men? ”