9 November 1881


Spanish Fork Relief Society; Spanish Fork Meetinghouse, Spanish Fork, Utah Territory

Large, brick building with steeple and arched windows

Spanish Fork meetinghouse, Spanish Fork, Utah Territory. (Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society.)

[. . .]

Sister E. R. Snow was pleased to behold the faces of the sisters; hoped they would lift their hearts to God; was glad to see a few of the brethren; was always glad to have the brethren present, felt when they were present to throw part of the responsibility on them. Felt to thank God with all her heart, that we were mothers in Israel. Joseph [Smith] the Prophet said whenever the Church was organized, the sisters were organized. We did not know what it me[a]nt about the Elect Lady, read the revelation to Emma Smith. We profess to be saints of God. Are we saints of God? are we estranged from the world? have we turned our backs on Babylon? Are we really dead to the world? Have we given ourselves to God, to devote our faculties to Him? this is why we have been held in reserve. What do we expect to receive? Every thing the heart can conceive. What will we receive if we do not keep this covenant? God has given us the privelege if we prefer the things of earth we can have our choice We must be true to our duties, not to work a few years. The celestial law is a pure law. Who shall we honor, God or man? She tha[n]ked the Lord that she entered into that law, she was proud to speak [p. 233] of it before saint and sinner. It is better not to sympathize with those who complain of domestc troubles but rather encourage them to make the best of it. Spoke of Sunday schools, urging the parents to send their children.

The subject of storing wheat was then spoken of Some people think they have a claim on the grain that is stored, but she did not have any more to do with it than with the Bank of England, and would just as soon have the grain she had given, stored in Spanish Fork. The highest authority on earth had told us to lend our grain to the brethren. we are expected to take notes of the Bishops who would hold themselves responsible, when the Jubilee Year closed so did that close. We have no right to it.

The Relief Society is as much to reli[e]ve the Bishops as to relieve the poor; and Joseph Smith said it was to save souls as well as to relieve the poor. Told the R. [Relief] Society teachers when they go round to tell the people not to send their children to gentile schools. It is the privilage of the R. Society <Teachers> to administer to the sick. If there were no brethren to seal the blessing; seal the blessing.1 Spoke of administering to a child who had drank boiling water, and it recovered.

[. . .]

Sister Loui [Louie B.] Felt, bore her testimony, and counselled [. . .] Take the consel of our Beloved Sister Snow in regard [p. 234] to Celestial Law. [. . .] [p. 235]

Source Note

Spanish Fork Ward, Utah Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records (1857–1892), vol. 2s (1875–1884), pp. 233–235, CHL (LR 8611 14).

See also “Here and There,” Woman’s Exponent 10, no. 12 (15 Nov. 1881): 93.

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9 November 1881, Spanish Fork Relief Society; Spanish Fork Meetinghouse, Spanish Fork, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed March 19, 2024 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1880s/1881/11/1881-11-09-a