26 September 1877

Miss E R Snow, I always feel happy to meet with my Sisters; today I feel a pecul[i]ar sweetness, and heavenly influence I feel that the Spirit of God is here, and has dictated what has been said, what we have heard is calcu<lated> to inspire us to action. The World has a great deal of preaching, and Teaching done, but we want to act, for by our actions, we will be judged, it has been suggested here that we have a great deal to do, and those who are alive to their religion, know there is much to do. The Sisters have weighty duties placed upon them, and duties that cannot be accomplished singly, but require a unity of heart and feeling, we must be united as Jesus and his desciples were, and must get the holy ghost the comforter that Jesus, spoke of to help us, Jesus say said when I go away, I will send the comforter to teach you what to do, and what to do, how to act this is what stimulates us, and is born within our bosoms. the work must go on, and if we let it go on without us we will be left behind, the mission that has been [p. 227] placed upon the sisters requires a constant effort, and it requires us to be often together, “and they that feared the Lord met often together and they spoke one to another of the Goodness of God, and they shall be mine when I number up my jewels, saith the Lord. we my sisters want to be of that class, not a few but all of us. God has instituded the order of meeting together, for the Saints to get light and understanding, and the sisters need it as well, as the brethren, and I sometimes think we need it more than they do, for we have many little trials to contend with that the brethren do not. and it is the little things that make the greatest trouble. When Pres [Brigham] Young first called upon us to organize the young Ladies many people did not see the necessity of it; meeting together had gone out of fashion, and on account of their not meeting, they did not have the light of the Gospell with them. many good girls did not know that the Gospell was true now they meet together and get the Spirit of God, and we have heard some of the efforts today in the minutes. could they bear such testimonys when they first met together? no they trembled from head to foot and could scarcely utter a word. Now where is the mother that does not want her daughters to come to meeting. there is nothing on earth that gives me so much pleasure, as to see the young people walking in the paths of God. our duties are numerous for instance there is the silk business Pres Young has spent thousands of dollars, in trying to lead out the people in that industry, and now he has placed the mission upon the sisters. The first year that he set foot on this soil he saw that there was silk in the elements and I want to inspire the young sisters, with the importan<ce> of this mission, we are also storing up grain for a day of famine, a famine is certainly coming, and we are called upon to prepare for it. Pres Young said, as soon as he gave the mission to the sisters they took hold of it this is a compliment to us, and dont you think he will bear that testimony in the co[u]rts above? yes he will, I feel that I am taking up to much time, but there is another item that I wish to mention, at a meeting held at the council house in accordance with the express wishes of Pres Young a vote was taken to change the name of these Associations from Retrenchment Associations, to Mutuall Improvement Associations, and I would be pleased if you would take a vote here on that, to show your willingness to carry out the Instruction of Pres Young it was then motioned, seconded and carried that we change the name of our Association from young Ladies Retrenchment Association [p. 228] to Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association.

[. . .] [p. 229] [. . .] [p. 230] [. . .]

Miss E R. Snow, announced a change in the management of the womans Store, on account of its growth and stated that it was not going under, as some thought It was doing well.

[. . .] [p. 231]