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PRESIDENT WOODRUFF was the first speaker. His remarks were as follows:
I want to say to my brethren and sisters and friends that through your prayers and faith I am here this morning. I have been considerably under the weather, as the saying is, for a little time past, but I am glad to meet with you and feel to say a few words to you this morning. I know it would not be wisdom for me to attempt to occupy a great deal of time or say a great deal. First, I will say that I have followed the reports and sayings [of] the Apostles and Elders from the commencement of this Conference until this morning; what I have not read myself has been read to me, and it has been a great deal of consolation to me. I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, the God of heaven is at work carrying out His purposes in fulfillment of revelation and prophecy and inspiration, which He has given through His Prophets and Apostles and Patriarchs from the creation of the world until this hour. And the Lord is not going to fail on His part in any of these things. It is for us as a people to do our duty, to labor for ourselves and for our fellowmen; to occupy the time that we have here, to the best advantage we can, in trying to honor the Priesthood and people, to build up the kingdom of God, to set a good example, and to establish righteousness. And I want to say to the young men and maidens, my young brethren and sisters, who may be present here this morning, I want you to make your aim high and realize that you have your generation, that you have your times granted in connection with your fathers and mothers in the building up of the kingdom of God. Do not spend your time in the follies and frivolities of this world, but try to improve your time. You occupy one of the most important dispensations and generations God has ever given to men, and I have a great interest for the rising generation. I know for myself, and not for another, that the Lord has raised up our children, our sons and our daughters, to stand in the footsteps of their fathers in the winding-up scene of the great work of the Zion of our God. I realize that they do not comprehend, in
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fact there are very few who comprehend today the position we occupy, and the responsibility we are under to God and the Holy Priesthood, who have raised us up and placed us here in the midst of a generation of men and women, children of men, upon whose heads are going to rest great responsibilities, in the great events which are to follow each other in quick succession in the day in which we live.
As far as I am concerned, I do not know, it has never been revealed to me, why my life has been preserved, while the Lord has taken away Prophets and Apostles and other men of God, who have spent three or four, ten or twelve, fourteen or fifteen years in the capacity of the building up of the kingdom of God. Our Savior Himself was only three years and a half in passing through His experiences of teaching the people, the organization of the kingdom of God, the choosing of the Twelve Apostles, His crucifixion, His death and His resurrection. The Prophet Joseph spent about fourteen years in translating the Book of Mormon, the history of the Jews, the House of Israel on this continent, and the dealings of God with that people. He performed that work, and brought forth the book of Doctrine and Covenants, a code of revelations as great in language and principles, and the account of as great and important events as have ever occurred on the earth. He performed all this work in about fourteen years and a half. My brethren, the Apostles, two or three quorums, have passed away since my ordination; nearly all but myself up to a certain period, have passed. I am not speaking these things boastfully, but I am here, and it is my duty while I remain here, to try to say something that will be of interest to the Latter-day Saints. I am interested in your welfare, in the welfare of Zion. It is the Z[i]on of God, planted here by the hand of God, and the Lord has guided and directed it, and will continue to do so.
You have Apostles with you, you have High Priests, and Seventies, and the other bodies of Priesthood, and they have a great responsibility resting upon them, in the capacity in which they labor. I have a great desire, what time I do live, to see the people progress, to become united, to comprehend and to understand the spirit and power of God and their calling; you should do this, and you have got to do something of this kind, in order to carry out the purposes of the Lord. You stand here in the mountains of Israel, raised up by the Lord. You have done a great work here, and there is a great deal more to do. You are redeeming the dead and the living, and sending abroad thousands of the Elders to warn the nations of the earth of those events which are to come upon them and upon us. Therefore, the Elders should try to be faithful, and we should watch over our sons and daughters, give them good advice, and set them a good example that we may have no regrets of their falling into principles and practices which are not right and righteous before God, on account of our example.
I say, God bless you; labor for the Holy Spirit, labor for light and truth, for revelation and inspiration, learn the mind and will of God concerning yourselves and the truth of the work of God on the earth. Keep your eyes open to see, your ears to hear, and your hearts to understand the truth, and that you may see the hand of God visible throughout this land and throughout this nation, and throughout the world, which will be more and more visible from this time to the winding-up scene. God bless you, amen.