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April 159, 1846 10 am

meeting at the stand. Pres[idents] O. Hyde W. Woodruff, J. Young, H. Clark

The meeting was called to order by El. Hyde. the choir sung a hymn. Prayer was made to our Father in heaven after which
the choir sung "The Lord will comfort Zion." W. Woodruff arose & s[ai]^d br. sis & friends I arise bef[ore] u with very peculiar [illegible]
& with a heart full of grati[tude] to my H Father—yes I rej[oice] that while the Temple of the Lord stands bef me point^d to heaven.
We live in one of the most important periods since chaos rolled out & if I must have chosen my time to dwell on the
Earth it is the time that we r now in, to live in our age of the world the most important we need no fiction for
reality has spoken in the loudest thunders & we of all want to see from da[y] to da the rise & progress of the Ch[urch]
[o]f the LDS. the many 1000^s of S[ain]ts that r now dwell[in]^g on the Earth—they have been seek^g after this time even in the
days of old.

there r 1000^s of S[ain]ts now bef me who have sought the same thing. the Gospel of J C. which he
preached & tried to open the eyes of the Jews that they might see the Gos of their forefathers, & he even gave up his
life in the [FIGURE] [cross]. I have perused the rev[elatio]^ns of J. C they were prin[ciples] that r set forth in divine truth. I am like one of
old who s[ai]^d Lord they have digged down the altars, &c [##1 Kings 18:30##] by & by Elijah found there were 1000 of similar S[ain]ts in existence
when I became the El[der] of the LDS. I have heard within the last 12 yrs w^t I never expected to see or hear
I have seen & heard the great & grand principles of the Gospel. it is true ye L D S have had to pass thru a
narrow path, & you never co[ul]^d rece an exalt if u never walked such a road. have the Bible the B of Mor
& u will find they have had to walk the same road. it was their dom[inion] & exalt. & glories & they overcame
by their works on the Earth—all will centre in a grand focus. let us bear oppression, bec[ause] our lives have
been harassed. others have been in the same way & the reward is at the end of the journey. there has been
a miracle wrought in these days if there never was one bef, in rearing a temple as it were with a sword
in one hand & a trowel in the o[the]^r while I have been away in the same labor of love we have sent up our
prayers to our Fa[the]^r in heaven in your behalf & we have end[eavore]^d to bear off the word of the Lord & we have
not lab[ore]^d in vain. the work of the L[or]^d has never been more prosperous in England than at this time
we had represented in good standing bet[ween] 11 & 12000 & they r ab[ou]^t emigrating to Cal. they have only our
S[ain]ts in England all in union we have pub[lishe]^d 3000 D. & C^s & sold 1000 bef I left—I sent the proclamation on to
all the m[embers] of Parl[iament], circulated it in Wales, to the Jewish Rabbis. We have not been idle in the Land
I feel more & more conf[i]^d every da[y] of my life & when the report reached us that they were burning out the
S[ain]^ts & rather than to shed blood to go to the Rocky mountains it made a revival among them & they felt as a
general thing that it was fulfilling the B of Mor

I feel to say that I rej[oice] in the same faith & prin[ciples] that I
have done for the last few yrs. I dont profess to preach here bec[ause] u have had the Shepherds of Israel to lead u
& that in the B of Mor, D & C & every eternal principle that emanates from God & that we may have