22 September 1884


Eden Relief Society; Eden, Utah Territory

Present Sisters E. R. Snow Smith Jane S. Richards Shurtleff [Emily W. Shurtliff] Sarah [A.] Herrick [Letitia C.] Williams and others from Ogden, also L. [Lester] J. Herrick, Bp. F. [Francis] A. Hammond. [. . .] Sister Snow was the first speaker. She said it was messary [necessary] for all present to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord in order to recieve a blessing. The Lord has said he will have a peculiar people in the last days, and the reason we are a peculiar people is because we are different from the wourld [world]. She supposed that all the Sisters in Eden are members of the Relief Society, but what kind of members are they, are they alive or dead, are they living their religion or are they spiritually dead. In order to be a good mother it is neccary [necessary] to be a good live member of the Relief Society, she s[h]ould be intiligently, and enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, because they are raising up men to be Presidents Prophets and Apostels. The mothers should know how to nurce [nurse] and doctor their Children, and they have the right and the power to wash and annoint them and administer to them.1 She refered to the abundent harvest raised this year, and said we are told by the highest authority on earth to lay up grain, that we may be ready when the famine comes. She said when she was [in] Eden before She was told by the Bishop that there was not a young man in Eden who used tobacco or liquor. she felt that if this is a fact, this is really Eden indeed, and she hoped this would still continue. She advised the young Sisters to never associate with or unite themselves with a young man who used liquor or tobacco or bad la[n]guage. She hoped the Sisters would not ceace their efforts to Sustain the Hospital, as this is an institution of great importance to the Saints. Exhorted the Sisters to spend more time in reading books that contains the revelations of the Lord. She had great fear for those Sisters who do not attend the Relief Society Meetings for they are doing themselves a great injury by staying away. They are not qualifying themselves to properly raise their their Children. She refered to the organization of the first Relief Society by the Prophet Joseph Smith that he there refered to his expected departure from the earth and said he had turned the key of Kno[w]ledge to the Relief Society and to the Church, for the wourld would not be bothered with him much longer Counseled the Sisters to always strive to be mild and kind in their temper[a]ment and disposition and gave some general instructions to the Sisters in regard to their coarce [course] of life. She closed her [p. 237] very interesting remarks by asking the blessings of the Lord on the Saints.

Elder L. J. Herrick said he had in what he had heard from Sister Snow he refered to the remarks of Sister Snow in regard to the habits of our young men in using tobacco and whisky and he said it was in the power of our young Ladies to work a reformation among the young men, for if a young man felt that he had habits that deprived him of the Society of the good young Ladies he would make a desperate effort to reform. [. . .] [p. 238]

Source Note

Eden Ward, Ogden Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records (1874–1892, 1921–1973), vol. 1 (1874–1892), pp. 237–238, CHL (LR 2489 14); Christine Johnson, Secretary.

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22 September 1884, Eden Relief Society; Eden, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed October 14, 2024 https://chpress-web.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1880s/1884/09/1884-09-22

Footnotes

  1. [1]See “Women’s Spiritual Gifts” in Historical Context.