To the Officers and Members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The near approach of the date for the dedi-
cation of the Temple of our God moves us to
express with some degree of fullness our feelings
to our brethren, the officers of the Church, who
with us bear the Priesthood of the Son of God,
and to the Latter-day Saints generally; to the
end that in entering that holy building we may
all be found acceptable ourselves, with our
households, and that the building which we shall
dedicate may also be acceptable unto the Lord.
The Latter-day Saints have used their means
freely to erect other temples in these valleys,
and our Father has blessed us in our efforts.
Today we enjoy the great happiness of having
three of these sacred structures completed,
dedicated to and accepted of the Lord, wherein
the Saints can enter and attend to those ordi-
nances which He, in His infinite goodness and
kindness, has revealed. But for forty years the
hopes, desires, and anticipations of the entire
Church have been centered upon the comple-
tion of this edifice in the principal city of Zion.
Its foundation was laid in the early days of our
settlement in these mountains; and from that
day until the present, the eyes of the members
of the Church in every land have been lovingly
directed toward it. Looking upon it as the
Temple of temples, the people during all these
years have labored with unceasing toil, undi-
minished patience, and ungrudging expenditure
of means to bring it to its present condition of
completion; and now that the toils and the
sacrifices of forty years are crowned so success-
fully and happily; now that the great building
is at last finished and ready to be used for
divine purposes, need we say that we draw near
an event whose consummation is to us as a
people momentous in the highest degree? Far-
reaching in its consequences, as that occasion
is certain to be, what remains for us to say in
order to impress the entire Church with a sense
of its tremendous importance?
On this point, surely nothing; yet may we
offer a few words upon a phase that directly
touches it. No member of the Church who
would be deemed worthy to enter that sacred
house can be considered ignorant of the prin-
ciples of the Gospel. It is not too much to pre-
sume that every one knows what his duty is to
God and to his fellowman. None is so forgetful
as to have lost sight of the admonition that we
must be filled with love for and charity toward
our brethren. And hence none can for a
moment doubt the supreme importance of every
member of the congregation being at peace with
all his or her brethren and sisters, and at peace
with God. How else can we hope to gain the
blessings He has promised save by complying
with the requirements for which those blessings
are the reward!
Can men and women who are violating a law
of God, or those who are derelict in yielding
obedience to His commands, expect that the
mere going into His holy house and taking part
in its dedication will render them worthy to
receive, and cause them to receive, His blessing?
Do they think that repentance and turning
away from sin may be so lightly dispensed with?
Do they dare, even in thought, thus to accuse
our Father of injustice and partiality, and attrib-
ute to Him carelessness in the fulfillment of His
own words?
Assuredly no one claiming to belong to His
people would be guilty of such a thing.
Then must those who are unworthy cease to
expect a blessing from their attendance at the
Temple while sin unrepented of still casts its
odor about them, and while bitterness or even
an unforgiving coolness exists in their hearts
against their brethren and sisters.
On this latter subject we feel that much might
be said. In the striving after compliance with the
apparently weightier matters of the law, there is
a possibility that the importance of this spirit of
love and kindness and charity may be under-
estimated. For ourselves, we cannot think of
any precept that at present requires more
earnest inculcation.
During the past eighteen months there has
been a division of the Latter-day Saints upon
national party lines. Political campaigns have
been conducted, elections have been held, and
feelings, more or less intense, have been en-
gendered in the minds of brethren and sisters
upon one side and the other.
We have been cognizant of conduct and have
heard of many expressions that have been very
painful to us and have grieved our spirits.
We know they have been an offense unto the
God of peace and love, and a stumbling block
unto many of the Saints.
We feel now that a time for reconciliation has
come; that before entering into the Temple to
present ourselves before the Lord in solemn
assembly, we shall divest ourselves of every
harsh and unkind feeling against each other;
that not only our bickerings shall cease, but that
the cause of them shall be removed, and every
sentiment that prompted and has maintained
them shall be dispelled; that we shall confess
our sins one to another, and ask forgiveness one
of another; that we shall plead with the Lord
for the spirit of repentance, and, having obtained
it, follow its promptings; so that in humbling
ourselves before Him and seeking forgiveness
from each other, we shall yield that charity and
generosity to those who crave our forgiveness
that we ask for and expect from heaven.
Thus may we come up into the holy place
with our hearts free from guile and our souls
prepared for the edification that is promised!
Thus shall our supplications, undisturbed by a
thought of discord, unitedly mount into the ears
of Jehovah and draw down the choice blessings
of the God of Heaven!
As your brethren, sustained by your vote
and in your faith as the First Presidency of the
Church, we have this to say to the Latter-day
Saints, in our individual as well as our official
capacity: If there is a single member of the
Church who has feelings against us, we do not
wish to cross the threshold of the Temple until
we have satisfied him and have removed from
him all cause of feeling, either by explanation
or by making proper amends and atonement;
neither would we wish to enter the sacred por-
tals of that edifice until we have sought an ex-
planation, or amends, or atonement, from any
against whom we may have either a real or
fancied grievance.
In now announcing this course for ourselves,
we say to all the other officers of the Church
that we desire them to follow our example. We
wish them from the highest to the lowest and
throughout all the Stakes and Wards of Zion to
take heed of this counsel. Let them invite all
who may have feelings against them to come
forward and make them known; let them then
endeavor to correct any misapprehensions or
misunderstandings which may exist, or give re-
dress for any wrong or inury that may have
been done.
We say the same—and when the officers have
taken the course indicated we wish them to say
the same—to the individual members of the
Church. We call upon them to seek to have the
fellowship of their brethren and their sisters, and
their entire confidence and love; above all to seek
to have the fellowship and union of the Holy
Ghost. Let this spirit be sought and cherished
as diligently within the smallest and humblest
family circle, as within the membership of the
highest organization and quorum. Let it per-
meate the hearts of the brothers and sisters, the
parents and children of the household, as well
as the hearts of the First Presidency and Twelve.
Let it mellow and soften all differences be-
tween members of the Stake Presidencies and
the High Councils as well as between neighbors
living in the same ward. Let it unite young
and old, male and female, flock and shepherd,
people and Priesthood, in the bonds of gratitude
and forgiveness and love, so that Israel may feel
approved of the Lord, and that we may all come
before Him with a conscience void of offense
before all men. Then there will be no disap-
pointment as to the blessings promised those
who sincerely worship Him. The sweet whis-
perings of the Holy Spirit will be given to them
and the treasures of heaven, the communion
of angels, will be added from time to time, for
His promise has gone forth and it cannot fail!
Asking God's blessing upon you in your
endeavor to carry out this counsel, and desirous
of seeing it take the form of a united effort on
the part of the whole people, we suggest that
Saturday, March 25th, 1893, be set apart as a
day of fasting and prayer. On that occasion
we advise that the Presidencies of Stakes, the
High Councils, the Bishops and their Counsel-
ors, meet together with the Saints in their
several meeting houses, confess their sins one
to another, and draw out from the people all
feelings of anger, of distrust, or of unfriendliness
that may have found a lodgment; so that entire
confidence may then and there be restored and
love from this time prevail through all the con-
gregations of the Saints.
Wilford Woodruff,
George Q. Cannon,
Joseph F. Smith,
First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.