9 September 1873


Wellsville Relief Society; Wellsville, Utah Territory

[. . .]

Present on the the Stand—from Salt Lake City Sisters—Eliza R. Snow and Louisa Green [Lula Greene] Richards [. . .] Sister E. R. Snow said she wished the faith and prayers of the Sisters she did not stand as a public lecturer—but wished to do the Sisters good as she had no doubt that all present professed to be Latter day Saints she had enlisted in the Gospel for time & all eternity that she might gain a full crown of Glory! she did not covet the perishable things of this life—she knew the more we met together the more we loved each other—Joseph Smith believed the Relief Society to be a part of the Priesthood as much as the Elders Chorum [Quorum] only that it belonged exclusively to the Sisters—shen [she] then alluded to the first organization of the Relief Society in Nauvoo—Bro Joseph Smith said in one of the Meetings that he should not be long on the earth as the Lord had a mission for him else where—he also said that no Sister should be admitted into the Society if her moral character was questioned—the Presidency should impart Knowledge and the members should be united—we should eradicate from our minds anything that grieved the Spirit of God—for the sake of dollars & cents She hoped none of the Sisters could be induced to trade with outsiders—we should keep the Kingdom of God constantly before our eyes it is wisdom that the Sisters meet often together to be instructed and to learn how to manage their temporal affairs and make good honorable women—it is nessessary to instruct the young and to teach the children honesty—but in [p. 60] order to have our children honest we must be honest ourselves never promise to a child without fulfilling that promise and if you tell a child to do a thing see that its done—teach them to be agreeable & Kind and treat everybody with respect—she would rather see our young ladies learn housekeeping and good manners with the principles of the Gospel than all the college learning they could get without them—teach your children they are born to usefulness and not ornamental alone—now is the time to fortify ourselves against outside influence—we have had persecution but now it comes in a different shape in flattery & Kindness—she then spoke on the duties of young Ladies in the Relief Societies—in all her travels she never saw fashion carried to such a disgusting extent as in Salt Lake City—wives can influence their Husbands and make it up hill buisness for them—they were ordained from the begining to be helpmeets unto their Husbands be sure to encourage have the right Kind of sympathy the speaker had Sisters complain to her of their Husband’s mistreatment and say they could bear it no longer she tells them the Lord will give them strength according to their burdens and when he saw it was enough he would remove the difficulty—the best way to meet trouble is to go through it as we might meet with greater difficulties if we go round it—are we happier than we was ten years ago—if not we are not enjoying the happiness it is our priveledge to enjoy—if there are any Sisters that wish to learn Midwifery or to become Physicians they have the previledge of learning in Salt Lake City at the expense of the Relief Society if they were not able to pay their own expenses—we should all remember that we are daughters of the most high and should endeavour to honour that calling—we should all patronize the Womans Exponent by subscribing for it as well as writing to it—she would like the young women to learn to be buisness women—prayed that we may all be faithfull in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Sister L Green Richards bore testimony to Sister E R Snows remarks [. . .] [p. 61]

Source Note

Wellsville Ward, Cache Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records (1868–1973), vol. 1 (1868–1886), pp. 60–61, CHL (LR 10009 14).

See also Emmeline B. Wells, “Pen Sketch of an Illustrious Woman,” Woman’s Exponent 10, no. 3 (1 July 1881): 17.

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9 September 1873, Wellsville Relief Society; Wellsville, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed March 19, 2024 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1870s/1873/09/1873-09-09