RESULT OF NOT OBEYING THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT—LOST IN A SNOWSTORM—SAVED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER—REVELATION TO MISSIONARIES NECESSARY—REVELATIONS IN THE ST. GEORGE TEMPLE.
I will now give an example from my own experience of the result of not obeying the voice of the Spirit.
Some years since I had part of my family living in Randolph, Rich County. I was there on a visit, with my team in the month of December.
One Monday morning my monitor, the Spirit watching over me, said: "Take your team and go home to Salt Lake City."
When I named it to my family who were at Randolph they urged me strongly to stop longer.
Through their persuasion I stayed until Saturday morning, with the Spirit continually prompting me to go home. I then began to feel ashamed to think that I had not obeyed the whisperings of the Spirit to me before.
I took my team and started early on Saturday morning. When I arrived at Woodruff, the Bishop urged me to stop until Monday and he would go with me.
I told him, "No, I had tarried too long already."
I drove on sprightly, and when within fifteen miles of Wasatch, a furious snow storm overtook me, the wind blowing heavily in my face.
In fifteen minutes I could not see any road whatever, and knew not how or where to guide my horses.
I left my lines loosely on my animals, went inside my wagon, tied down the cover, and committed my life and guidance into the hands of the Lord, trusting to my horses to find the way, as they had twice before passed over that road.
I prayed to the Lord to forgive my sin in not obeying the voice of the Spirit to me, and implored Him to preserve my life.
My horses brought me into the Wasatch station at 9 o'clock in the evening, with the hubs of my wagon dragging in the snow.
I got my horses under cover and had to remain there until next Monday night, with the snow six feet deep on the level, and still snowing.
It was with great difficulty at last that I saved the lives of my horses by getting them into a box car and taking them to Ogden; while, if I had obeyed the revelation of the Spirit of God to me, I should have traveled to Salt Lake City over a good road without any storm.
As I have received the good and the evil, the fruits of obedience and disobedience, I think I am justified in exhorting all my young friends to always obey the whisperings of the Spirit of God, and they will always be safe.
The Spirit of God will rule over and guide all men who will permit it and seek for it, and this is especially necessary for young Elders who are laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. For the Lord knows where the righteous, honest and meek of the earth are, and will lead the Elders to them.
I have already related a remarkable instance of this in my own experience, when the voice of the Lord came to me in the town of Hanley, England, in 1840.
In that case it dictated me quite contrary to my expectations, for I had appointments out for a week ahead. But I obeyed the voice of the Spirit, went south as I was directed to, and my readers know the result.
I will refer to one more instance in my experience upon the subject of revelation:
All the Latter-day Saints understand that we build temples for the purpose of administering ordinances for the dead as well as for the living.
The Lord has opened the way in a remarkable manner for many of the members of the Church to obtain records of the names of their dead for several generations.
I had also obtained a record of somewhat over three thousand of my father and mother's families.
After the dedication of the temple at St. George, President Young appointed me to preside over it. When we commenced work in the temple I began to reflect: "How can I redeem my dead? I have some three thousand names of the dead who have been baptized for, and how can I get endowments for them?"
I had none of my family there, and if any had been there they would not have been able to get endowments for so many.
While praying to the Lord to show me how to redeem my dead, the Spirit of God rested upon me, and the voice of the Spirit said to me, "Go and call upon the sons and daughters of Zion in St. George, to come into the temple of the Lord and get endowments for your dead; and it shall be acceptable unto me, saith the Lord."
This filled my soul with joy, and I saw that it opened a field as wide as eternity for the salvation of our dead and the redemption of man, that we might magnify our calling as saviors upon Mount Zion.
On my birthday, March 1, 1877, the day that I was seventy years old, one hundred and fifty-four sisters at St. George went into the temple to get endowments for the same number of the female portion of my dead.
This principle was received by President Young and adopted from that hour, and through the kindness of friends I have had nearly two thousand of my friends receive endowments in the temple of the Lord; and thousands of others have received the same blessings in the same way.
President Young received revelations in the temple, and there are yet many revelations to be received in the last days, concerning the redemption of the dead and many other subjects, but they will all be manifest in due time through the proper authority unto the Church and Kingdom of God.
There are many other manifestations of the power of God and the revelations of Jesus Christ to us in our lives. We have been called by revelation to give endowments for many persons now dead, who, when living, were honorable men of the earth, and some who were prominent in our nation, but who were not members of our family.
But I have said sufficient upon this branch of the subject.
PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS AND THEIR FULFILLMENT—PREDICTIONS IN MY OWN BLESSING—GOLD-DUST FROM CALIFORNIA—TAUGHT BY AN ANGEL—STRUGGLE WITH EVIL SPIRITS—ADMINISTERED TO BY ANGELS—WHAT ANGELS ARE SENT TO THE EARTH FOR.
The duty of a Patriarch is to bestow blessings upon his posterity and the children of men.
In a revelation (Doc. and Cov., sec. 107) the Lord says that "Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were all High Priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessings. * * And Adam * * predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the last generation. These things are all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time."
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were patriarchs, and blessed their posterity. All that Jacob said and sealed upon the heads of his twelve sons has been fulfilled to the very letter, so far as time has permitted.
We also have patriarchs in our day. Father Joseph Smith, the father of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was the first Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He gave a great many blessings unto the Saints, which are recorded, and many of them have seen their fulfillment.
When he put his hands on the head of a person to bless him, it seemed as though the heavens were opened, and he could reveal the whole life of that person.
He gave me my patriarchal blessing in the Temple of the Lord at Kirtland, on the 15th day of April, 1837.
Many marvelous things which he sealed upon my head, for which I could then see no earthly chance of fulfillment, have already been fulfilled to the very letter.
One or two instances I will name. He said I should have access to the treasures hid in the ground to assist me in getting myself and others to Zion.
When in Cambridgeport gathering up the Saints, in 1850, Alexander Badlam went to California on business, and the Saints who were digging gold filled a little sack with gold dust and sent it to me to assist me on my mission.
By the sale of this treasure from California I was enabled to emigrate myself, family and a number of others to Zion in the mountains.
He also said I should have power to bring my father and his family into the Church. This was fulfilled when I visited them during my mission to the Fox Islands, as previously related.
My father gathered to Salt Lake City with the Saints, and he died there, aged 83 years.
The Patriarch also said that I should be wrapt in the visions of heaven, and an angel of God should teach me many things. This was literally fulfilled.
Again, he told me I should be delivered from my enemies (who would seek my destruction) by the mighty power of God and the administrations of angels. This was marvelously fulfilled while in the city of London in 1840. Brothers Heber C. Kimball, Geo. A. Smith and I went to London together in the winter of 1840, being the first Elders who had attempted to establish the gospel in that great and mighty city.
As soon as we commenced we found the devil was manifest; the evil spirits gathered for our destruction, and at times they had great power.
They would destroy all the Saints if they were not restrained by the power of God.
Brother Smith and myself, were together, and had retired to our rest, each occupying a cot, and but three feet apart.
We had only just lain down, when it seemed as if a legion of devils made war upon us, to destroy us, and we were struggling for our lives in the midst of this warfare of evil spirits until we were nearly choked to death.
I began to pray the best that I could in the midst of this struggle and asked the Father in the name of Jesus Christ to spare our lives.
While thus praying three personages entered the room, clothed in white and encircled with light.
They walked to our bedside, laid hands upon our heads and we were instantly delivered; and from that time forth we were no more troubled with evil spirits while in the city of London.
As soon as they administered unto us they withdrew from the room, the lights withdrew with them and darkness returned.
Many other sayings of the Patriarch Joseph Smith in my blessing have been fulfilled in my experience, but I have said sufficient on this subject. All the blessings that are sealed upon our heads will be fulfilled, and many more, if we are faithful and live for them.
In closing my testimony I wish to say that I do not think that the Lord ever sends an angel to the earth to visit the children of men, unless it is necessary to introduce a dispensation of the gospel, or deliver a message, or perform a work that cannot be done otherwise.
It required an angel of God to deliver the gospel to Joseph Smith because it was not then upon the earth, and that was in fulfillment of the word of the Lord through John the Revelator (Revelations xiv. 6). And so in regard to the administrations of angels in all ages of the world; it is to deliver a message and perform a work which cannot otherwise be accomplished.