Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Part 12

There is yet another line of evidence to be adduced in support of the great truth that the church has never been disorganized in this dispensation, and therefore has never stood in need of a "reorganization."[A] That evidence is based upon the favor and blessing of G.o.d which has followed the church of Christ led by the Twelve Apostles from Nauvoo, and their successors in the leadership of the church.

[Footnote A: Josephites try to make it appear from a statement in the general epistle of the Twelve issued in 1847, to the effect that they were about to "reorganize" the church with a President and two counselors, that President Brigham Young and his a.s.sociates considered the church disorganized, (see discourse by Alexander H. Smith. _The Saints' Herald_ supplement of June 24th, 1893.) But it will be observed that the reorganization contemplated in the epistle of the Twelve is limited to reorganizing the First Presidency, the only quorum that was disorganized. For the same purpose, reference (see same discourse) is made to the re-baptism of the saints after their arrival in Salt Lake valley. But this was merely a renewal of covenants, which to make more impressive was accompanied by baptism; and neither reflected discredit on the first baptisms of the parties--from which is always reckoned the standing of the person in the church--nor carried any idea with it that the church had become disorganized.]

The first thing to be considered as indicating the favor of G.o.d which attended the church under the Presidency of the Twelve Apostles, is the fact that the church was held together through that trying period immediately following the martyrdom of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum.

Though aspirants arose on every hand to usurp authority and deceive the saints, calm and unmoved stood the quorum of the Twelve, as watchmen upon the towers of Zion. They sounded a warning when danger arose; they reproved the saints with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost to do so; and members of their own quorum did not escape this reproof whenever pride or vain ambition or any other evil was seen in their conduct. The fear of man was taken from their hearts.

Conscious of the rect.i.tude of their own intentions, and strong in the favor of G.o.d, they neither trembled at the frowns of men in high places, nor fawned at the feet of those in power. With manly courage they put their trust in G.o.d, and sought only to do that which the inspiration of G.o.d dictated. The saints recognized in their deportment the conduct of true shepherds, ready to lay down their lives for the flock of Christ, and they trusted them implicitly.

Thus trusted by the saints the Twelve went on building upon the foundation laid by the prophet Joseph. They took steps to push the building up of Nauvoo, but their chief interest and their most strenuous efforts centered in completing the Temple and Nauvoo House.

The work of G.o.d so well begun by Joseph Smith, instead of being r.e.t.a.r.ded by his martyrdom, seemed to receive fresh impetus; as if the blood of the martyrs had already added new strength to the church. Men who had thought the whole of "Mormonism" was comprised in what they called the "genius" of Joseph Smith, looked on in astonishment as they saw the church become more firmly established after his taking off than while he lived. They soon began to see that Joseph Smith a martyr was more potent than Joseph Smith alive.

The quorums of the priesthood were greatly increased; the number of missionaries multiplied. Not only was the welfare of the church at Nauvoo the subject of the Apostles' care, but the branches scattered throughout the states of the American Union and Great Britain received their watchful attention.

The Temple was completed, many of the servants and saints of G.o.d received their washings, anointings and blessings therein, in fulfillment of the great desire of the prophet Joseph.

This accomplished, and mobocracy again raising its horrid front, to plague the church, the Twelve turned their faces towards the west; for they remembered that Joseph himself had prophesied that the saints would yet be driven to the Rocky Mountains, and there become a mighty people.[A] Isaiah, too, long centuries before this time, had declared that it should come to pa.s.s

[Footnote A: Under date of _August 6th, 1842_, Joseph writes in his history: "I prophesied that the saints would continue to suffer much affliction, and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and a.s.sist in making settlements and build cities and see them become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains."]

In the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.[A]

[Footnote A: Isaiah ii, 2.]

It gives evidence of divine inspiration in the Twelve that in the midst of their perplexities at Nauvoo, during the last year the church remained there, their hearts were inclined to lead the church of G.o.d to the place indicated as its abode in the last days, both by ancient and modern prophecy.

That great exodus of the church from Nauvoo, with the subsequent journey of the saints across the wilderness of Iowa and the great plains which form the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, is one of the most remarkable events in either ancient or modern history, when considered in the light of the circ.u.mstances under which it took place--a people well nigh stripped of all their worldly possessions, teams and wagons improvised with such animals and materials as in the hurry of their departure, under the menace of mob violence, could be gathered together;--indifferently clothed and provisioned for contact with the hardships inseparably connected with such an enterprise, and the lapse of time ere they could replenish their scanty stores;-- making their way through an unexplored wilderness, a great part of which was desert;--seeking a destination a thousand miles from the frontiers of civilization;--absolutely without any base of supplies, trusting solely to the providences of G.o.d for their daily needs;-- warlike tribes of Indians on every hand--and yet, under the direction of the Apostles, they accomplished the great enterprise with little loss of life, and in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time!

This exodus and the subsequent settlement of the saints in the valleys of Utah, confirmed the greatness of President Young's genius in the minds of the men of the world, but to all who have an abiding faith in the divinity of the great work of G.o.d in the last days, it bears witness that the Lord was with President Brigham Young and his fellow Apostles, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; and confirms the faith of the Latter-day Saints, that their leaders held divine authority, and were the proper men to preside over the church of Christ after the martyrdom, of the prophet Joseph.

Not only was the exodus from Nauvoo successfully executed, but the location of the Latter-day Saints in the Rocky Mountains was equally well carried out. Removing the church to Salt Lake valley resulted in founding commonwealths throughout the inter-Rocky Mountain region; for the saints settling in the mountains made it possible for others to establish homes there also; and it must be remembered that the Latter-day Saints have not only settled Utah but have formed extensive colonies in Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado.

The church while in the eastern states never numbered more than three or at the most four stakes of Zion. But since coming to the west the stakes of Zion have increased to thirty-six, each with its high council, its high priests' quorum, its several elders' quorums, and stake organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement a.s.sociations for both s.e.xes; and quite a number of the stakes have church academies where theology is made a leading feature of the curriculum.

Within these thirty-six stakes are about five hundred organized wards, presided over by bishops, who are a.s.sisted in their labor of preserving the saints in the faith, looking after the poor, and keeping down iniquity, etc., by local quorums of priests, teachers and deacons. In addition to all this, there are ward organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement a.s.sociations for both s.e.xes, and Primary Societies for children. In each ward, also, is a Sunday School for the instruction of the youth. Throughout the stakes of Zion there are 504 Sunday Schools, with a total membership, including officers, teachers and pupils, of 72,519; in the libraries of the Sunday Schools are 23,541 volumes; and more than fifteen thousand dollars is expended annually in Sunday School work.

In the organized stakes the saints number about two hundred and fifty thousand; and though but few individuals among them can be considered wealthy, yet they are a prosperous, contented, and therefore a happy people. A greater per centage of them own the homes they live in and the lands they cultivate, than is the case with any other community in all the world; and they are freer than any other people on earth from those difficulties arising in the industrial world which embitter the relations of employer and employed. Peace is in their habitations; G.o.d is honored at the family altars, as well as in the public sanctuaries; faith and confidence in G.o.d abound on every hand, and everywhere one may see evidences that G.o.d is with the people. He has neither forsaken them nor their leaders, as He would have done had they turned away from His gospel, trampled His church under their feet, or blasphemed His priesthood by employing it to fleece the saints and aggrandize themselves.

Such is the condition of the work of G.o.d within the organized stakes of Zion--such are the results attained, the development as to organization, increase of numbers, and temporal and spiritual prosperity. But while this great work has been going on at the gathering places of the saints, the foreign work of the church has not been neglected. On the contrary the work of preaching the gospel to the world has been made to keep pace with the development of the work at the gathering places of the saints. Among the first acts of the Twelve after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum was one to greatly increase the numbers of the seventies--the quorums of the priesthood which more especially const.i.tute the foreign ministry of the church.

At the October conference in 1844 the quorums of seventies were increased from two to ten. Since that time the seventies have been increased, until now[A] they number one hundred and seven quorums, comprising a body of seven thousand men, whose special calling it is to preach the gospel abroad. Josephites complain against the church for thus increasing the number of quorums of seventy; and mark it down as a violation of the order of the church, and quote as proof the following from the Doctrine and Covenants:

[Footnote A: 1894.]

And these seven presidents are to choose other seventies, besides the first seventy, to whom they belong, and are to preside over them; and also other seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it.[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. cvii, 95, 96.]

This they say limits the number of quorums to seven, and therefore no more than seven ought to be chosen. The prophet Joseph, however, when the first quorums of seventy were being organized said:

If the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the duty of the seven Presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain other seventy and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until if needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are one hundred and forty and four thousand thus set apart for the ministry.[A]

[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith, under date of May 2nd, 1835. _Mill.

Star_, Vol. XV, p. 261.]

Not only have the quorums designed to form the foreign ministry of the church been greatly increased, but they have been employed. Since the death of the prophet Joseph, in addition to maintaining the missions in those countries where proclamation of the gospel had been made during his lifetime, missions have been established in the following countries, and tens of thousands of the honest in heart gathered out of them:

_France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, Jersey Islands, Hindostan, Malta, Cape of Good Hope, Mexico, among a number of Indian tribes in the Western States and Territories in the United States, Sandwich Islands, Samoa, Friendly Islands, New Zealand, Turkey_, and the mission has lately been reopened in _Palestine_.

In a number of these countries periodicals have been published. This is the case in France, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.

The Book of Mormon since the death of the prophet Joseph has been translated and published in the following languages:

_French, German, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Welsh, Swedish, Spanish, Hawaiian and Maori_.

It has also been translated but not yet published in Hindostanee and modern Hebrew. And thus the testimony of the Nephites to the great truths that the Lord is G.o.d, that Jesus is the Christ, and the gospel the power of G.o.d unto salvation to all those who believe and obey it, is being sent to all the world in well-nigh all the languages thereof by the church of Christ; and the saints are ridding their garments of the blood of this generation both by preaching the gospel by word of mouth and also by sending forth the written word.

The phase of the great Latter-day work which seemed most to occupy the attention of the prophet Joseph Smith in the last year of his life, was that which relates to the salvation for the dead. Of this he preached most frequently; often was it the subject of his correspondence, his whole mind seemed given to it. Elijah had visited him in Kirtland Temple and had restored the keys of the priesthood which "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse." "Therefore," said Elijah, "the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."[A] No wonder then that this matter occupied his mind when the keys for the salvation of the dead were placed in his hands attended with all the responsibility that attaches thereto. Following are his views upon the greatness, importance and future prospects of this work for the dead:

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. cx.]

The earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect, without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time; and not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and the prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings, in this dispensation of the fullness of times.[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxviii.]

And this is the work the prophet of G.o.d had in mind to do for all the generations of men from Adam to the present dispensation! No wonder it was the controling theme of both his tongue and pen; his meditation by night, his thought by day. And as a proof to the world that the keys of the priesthood which administer in these holy ordinances for the dead were committed to the Twelve and have been with the Presidency of the church from the days of the prophet until now, I point to the four magnificent temples reared by the saints in Utah to the name of the most high G.o.d--erected for the express purpose of performing this work which so burdened the mind of the prophet Joseph in the last year of his life.

Josephites of course profess a belief in this great feature of the work of G.o.d--in baptism for the dead and the sealing powers linking together all the dispensations that have been given to man, and all the families and kindred of the earth; but where are their temples in which this work is going on? Show me thy faith by thy works! Mr. Smith claims to have been ordained by his father to be President of the church, to have inherited his father's priesthood and office, but where, I ask, is the evidence that he has inherited his father's interest, anxiety, and activity in respect to his greater part of the work of the dispensation of the fulness of times--the work that touches the interests of the generations of men that are past as well as those that are now alive, or shall live in the generations to come?

When Elijah's cloak fell from his receding form to the shoulders of Elisha, not only the material garment fell upon him, but also the spirit and the power of Elijah was upon Elisha, and he did the works of the departed prophet. So has it been with those who have succeeded to the Presidency of the church since the death of the prophet Joseph.

Great as the work for the living has been since then, still greater has been the work for the dead; in proof of which I give the following information respecting the work done in the temples of G.o.d. The report from each temple dates from the commencement of work therein up to December 31st, 1893.[A]

[Footnote A: I am indebted to the Presidents and Recorders of the respective temples for the information here given.]

_St. George Temple:_

Baptisms for the dead..........................264,158 Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead......43,753 Endowments for the dead........................112,350

_Logan Temple:_

Baptisms for the dead..........................239,480 Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead......43,433 Endowments for the dead........................107,456 Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead......30,072 Sealings (children to parents) for the dead......6,735

_Manti Temple:_

Baptisms for the dead..........................157,989 Ordination to the priesthood for the dead.......28,076 Endowments for the dead.........................67,062 Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead......23,800 Sealings (children to parents) for the dead......4,449

_Salt Lake Temple:_[A]

Baptisms for the dead,..........................21,750 Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead,......4,980 Endowments for the dead,.........................3,643 Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead,......3,700 Sealings (children to parents) for the dead,.......973

[Footnote A: Dedicated April, 1893, the report is for 8 months.]