15 March 1875


Salt Lake City Eleventh Ward Young Ladies; Eleventh Ward Schoolhouse, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory

Sister Eliza R Snow said I am happy to see our bretheren present they do not intimidate but wrather [rather] strengthen us by their pr[e]sence I know no seperate intrest between man and woman, but where there efforts are united they can do much to build up the kingdom of God They can do a great deal more than where they labour seperatly. Punctuality is the key to confidence and is essentual to all business and we all want to become business men and women Those, not accustomed to meet with the young sisters cannot realize they the joy they have in thier associating to gether [together].

Retrenchment was not instituted by man or woman but by the holy Ghost, and nothing was more needed; The children of Zion though born in the Priesthood have not embibed the spirit of it; thier sp[i]ritual natures and education have been neglected and it is easier to convert the heatherns [heathens] than they I have grieved over this and saught to know the cause and I have come to the conclusion that parents came here to enjoy the blessings of the gospel in peace and it was necessary that they use thier energies to get a sustanance They thought thier children were born heirs to the Priesthood and would be prepared to fill all positions consequently thier spiritual culture was neglected. If our children obtain blessings they will have to live for them. What they need now is to be in the proper channel to receive the spirit of God The Lord could not have conferred a greater blessing upon the young than this institution My idea of Retrenchment is very extensive—To retrench from all evil, all feelings of the world, all selfishness, and all that would draw our minds from God. When our associations were first organized they met with opposition and it required stamina to carry them on right here among Saints and many in consequence fell away, but thank God we can see some of the effects of our labor. Many would not send thier children to theese Associations, and now that they have a desire to do so, their children are grown out of thier reach and filled with a spirit of the world. I am proud of my young sisters in this ward for they have been faithfull. You do not realize the extent of your mission and the influence you have. You should [p. 260] [have?] your mark far above the world. Realizing this should you drink in to it? It is too degrading for us Lattarday Saints to look to the world for our fashions and manners; we can accept all that is good for that belongs to Saints The Lord desires a peculiar people. Have we courage enough to go to meeting and speak of the goodness of God and Dare we be that peculiar people? Man is destined to thake [take] the higher positions in life and the woman the lower. But are we less important? What sort of mothers will some of our daughters make those who follow after evry fashion untill we cannot distinguish them from the children of the wicked? A mother should be the most intelligent being upon the earth and be prepared to instruct ther children for she has power to make them the noblest of God’s creatur[e]s or fit only for the lowest depthes Sister Snow spoke some length on the importance of home industries urging upon the sisters the necessity of organizing themselves for the purpos of carrying on home “Home manufacture.[”] Advised all to plant the mubbery [mulberry] treas [trees] and prepare for silk culture. Said we would be in bondage untill we stop all unnecessary expenditures. Go farward my young sisters and God will bless your efforts to build up his kingdom

[. . .] [p. 261]

Source Note

Eleventh Ward, University West Stake, Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association Minutes and Records (1871–1969), vol. 1 (1871–1877), pp. 260–261, CHL (LR 2569 17).

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15 March 1875, Salt Lake City Eleventh Ward Young Ladies; Eleventh Ward Schoolhouse, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed March 19, 2024 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1870s/1875/03/1875-03-15