10 May 1876


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

[. . .]

The Pres [Sarah Graham] then presented before the meeting Miss E R Snow who arose and said my Sisters I am trully thankfull to have this priviledge of meeting with you and behold<ing> your faces, but wh[i]le listneing [listening] to the minutes of your last meeting I thought I could Not say any thing better than the remarks in; and to look back since the organ<ization> of this Association and see the progress that they have made there certainly is No person but can lift up their [p. 120] hearts in gratitude to God for his spirit that has been with them, they will become mighty women in the kingdom of God this is what they were born for, the Lord makes use of verry week [weak] instruments to perform his purposes, knowing this my sisters what have we met together to day for? is it to learn how to amass worldly goods; how to become more fashionable in the world, or is it to find out how to fill the Greatest position? No we have come together, because we are mortal beings and because God has spoken and we have list[e]ned and it is to worship that being who lives above, and who is this being that we worship. our Father we are his children, and he has called us to as[s]ist him in building up his Kingdom on the Earth and to estamlish [establish] peace on the earth, Our Father has called us to do this and we have met to worship him, and to stir up each other to our duties, and these young sisters why are they Organized? because God has revealed it to President [Brigham] Young and it is to place them in a position that they may obtain that Comforter that Jesus spoke of to his deciples that was to bring all things to their reme<mbrance> and Not only the young but the old sisters need the[i]r Comforter to comfort and console us, for there are all kinds of trials and temptations all around us and the evil Spirits are continualy trying to lead us astray and to lull us to stupidity and we Need to be armed continualy by the Power of God, and for this purpose God has caused this Organization to be made, God teaches us the principles of the Gospell, but he does Not force us to obey he presents them before us and we are left to choose either the light or darkness, and we should be punctual in our appointments, I wonder if there was to be a gold mine here today and we could draw out gold. I wonder if we would Not have been here more punctual. I always criticise myself this way to see which is uppermost in my mind I try to keep myself intent on the kingdom of God, and to have that uppermost in my mind continualy that we donot [do not] go to sleep and get stupid, for we have got a great deal to do, I am Glad to here [hear] that the young are goeing [going] to do some thing for the Temple, for there are ordinances that cannot be attended to out side of a temple, and unless we build a temple, and perform these ordinances, we can never dwell in the presence of God. I want to live the life of a saint and attend to all of my duties and meetings, but these evil Spirits that are around w[h]isper in our ears that we have enough [p. 121] to do today and can get along without goeing to meeting for once, but if we stay away from meeting once it will be harder to go the Next time and we will Not care about goeing, but if we go to meeting all the time we keep up a[n] appetite for spirituall food, it is a great deal safeer [safer] to keep the light within us bright then [than] to let it go out for it is hard to tell whether we would find a match to light it again or Not, it is an easy matter to live the life of a Saint, if we keep up the watch but it takes continual watching and praying and the help of the Lord and each other I donot know that the sisters here are delinquent but take the Settlements of the Saints; and the diferent wards throughout the city, and if the Angels of God donot Blush I believe they tourn [turn] their heads in supprise to see so many who have left their homes and friends for their religion and are Now so care<less> I want my sisters of the Relief Societys to look back and think how they commenced in little donations a few carpret carpet rags a little wool and what have they accomplished. I donot know how many Branches there are I have recieved the report of 111 branches and they have desbumsited [disbursed?] in gather<ing> the Poor relieveing the Poor and sick, and other charitable purposes $93,400 and this is Not all they have done many good things that are Not repor<ted> and Now we are called upon to establish home industry, I wonder how many mulberry trees you have in the ward, I hope you willnot [will not] let one leaf go to waste, but I will leave the Silk Culture to sister Zina [D. Young] to talk about may God bless you and may the power of God be with you and may you go forward and do all that you can for the building up of this Church, and the time will come when we will be has [as] one, and will become a mighty phalanx and the power of darkness cannot prevail against us

[. . .] [p. 122] [. . .]

Mrs R [Rachel R.] Grant said [. . .] I know that what has been said here today is true and to me it has been a perfect feast. What Sister Snow was speaking of building up the Kingdom of God I thought of what Brother [Orson] Pratt said once in the 14th Ward he said that if we were darning Stockin[g]s as doeing [doing] any thing usefull we were building up the kingdom of God [. . .] [p. 123] [. . .] I think we can have a fare [fair] if we are one, Sister Snow says I must call a vote to see who are willing to help also in work as in useing their insbaence [substance?] A vote was then taken which was responded to unanimously

[. . .] [p. 124] [. . .]

Miss E R Snow then said as the Subject of our fare has been mentioned I would like to say a few words about it we have decided that we will have a fare and we would like to open it about the Fore part of July it will be held at the Social Hall as soon as Mrs Cock [Cox?] closes her lesson of School and we will keep it Open during the vacation, and we want the Sisters to take an interest in this thing and try to make it a success we expect a great deal of as[s]istance from the young Sisters the Retrenchments Associations, we wish to make it a success that it may be an honor to us all but we cannot acomplish it without the help of the Lord we can do Nothing good without the help of the Lord

Pres Mrs Sarah Graham said [. . .] I feel that Sister Snow has Spoken by the Power of God and all the other Sisters that have Spoken. Sister Snow said she thought we had improved I can see that we have [. . .]

Miss E R Snow then spoke in Tongues and Mrs Zina D Young gave the interpretation [. . .] [p. 125]

Source Note

First Ward, Park Stake, Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association Minutes and Records (1874–1972), vol. 1 (1874–1884), pp. 120–125, CHL (LR 2871 17); Sarah Smith, Secretary.

See also “R. S. Reports,” Woman’s Exponent 5, no. 3 (1 July 1876): 18.

Cite this page

10 May 1876, Salt Lake City First Ward Young Ladies; First 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/1876/05/1876-05-10