I have an anxiety—a strong desire, to see the people of the Latter-day Saints —the inhabitants of Zion, rise up and put on their strength. I desire to see them increase in the knowledge of the truth, in faith and good works, and in the knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God.

Many things have been shown to me by vision and by revelation. I know that the Latter-day Saints have need to repent of all their darkness, all their unbelief and all their disunion that they have in Zion. Our power, our salvation, our exaltation, our re- demption, our glory and our prepa- ration for the coming of the Son of Man, depend entirely upon our own acts.

It takes independence of mind, honesty of heart, faith in God, and firmness of character to live the life of a Latter-day Saint, in the face of a frowning world, and in the midst of trials and troubles and persecution.

To-day we occupy a peculiar position as a people—as Latter-day Saints here in these mountains. Here is a people growing up in the earth who are organ- ized into a Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How did the organization of that Church come about? Why, the God of heaven has proclaimed through His prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others, whose writings are contained within the lids of the Bible, that in the latter days He would set His hand to call forth His Church out of the wild- erness and out of darkness and error, and establish it upon the foundation of truth, Christ Jesus being the chief cor- ner stone. The God of heaven also proclaimed through Daniel, 4,000 years ago, that in the latter days He would set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed; and the kingdom should not be left to other people, but it should break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it should stand forever.

There is no power organized beneath the hea- vens that can stay the hand of Almighty God. He has set His hand to carry out His purposes. The world hate this people, because the Lord has called them forth out of the world, the same as He called His disciples of old. This is the position we occupy to-day as His people.

We, as Latter-day Saints, are called upon to build up Zion. We have been gathered to be instructed by inspiration and through the medium of the Holy Priesthood in the principles of eternal truth.

I say to the Latter- day Saints, you are required by the God of Israel, your Heavenly Father, by his Son Jesus Christ, by the holy angels, and by every principle of eter- nal truth to exercise faith in the revel- ations of God, for they will be fulfilled as the Lord lives. God is with this people. But we are required to heark- en to his voice, obey his command- ments, and humble ourselves before Him.

God is our friend, our law- giver, our deliverer. If the Lord can- not sustain His work, we certainly cannot. But He can. He has always done it, and will do it to the end. Therefore I say to the Saints, fear not. Trust in God. Let not your hearts be faint. Let your prayers ascend to the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth day and night. Ask what you want. When you do that, the Lord will answer your prayers, if you ask what is right. There is where our strength lies. It is in God.

But I do look upon the Latter- day Saints as occupying a most glori- ous position in this day and age of the world. This is the first time since God created the world that he has ever es- tablished a dispensation to remain on the earth until the coming of the Son of Man—to remain in power and strength and glory, until the Millennium, until He reigns whose right it is to reign. Behold what lies before you! Behold the power of God! Behold the prosperity of Zion! Behold the bles- sings which have rested upon your houses, your lands, your flocks and herds, your children—the blessings of the earth as well as of the heavens—in this mighty barren desert! Then why should we have any doubts or fears with regard to the Kingdom of God? No! As a people we should rise up in faith and power before God and make our wants known, and leave our destiny in His hands.

I pray God my heavenly Father, that His blessing may rest upon us as Lat- ter-day Saints; that we may compre- hend and understand our position, our duties and our responsibilities to God. When I look, brethren and sisters, up- on this handful of men and women here in these mountains of Israel, say 150,- 000, out of the fourteen hundred mil- lion people that dwell on the earth; when I realize the responsibility that God has laid upon the Latter-day Saints, the responsibility of building up this great Kingdom of our God, of proclaiming the principles of eternal life, light and truth to the world; when I reflect upon these things I ask my- self the question—What manner of men ought we to be?