Yes, it's a wonderful privilege, my brothers and sisters, being here again under such favorable circumstances, knowing and realizing the day in which we live and the importance of the efforts that we are putting forth to serve this people. Very few in our day realize the significance of getting close to the Lord and getting his spirit and keeping it. The spirit of the day is recreation and sport. We read in history of the great sport area of Rome and the great gladiators and so forth. And today we're most grateful if not for the spirit. The day is fast approaching, my brothers and sisters.

The Lord will have to take a hand and make it possible for the prophecies of the ancient prophets to be fulfilled and for the rise and the establishment of Zion. We know by the revelations of God that Zion is to be redeemed in this generation in which we live, or the redemption is to commence in this generation.

But the Prophet Joseph said upon one occasion that in telling the people of the great calamities and judgments that the Lord had sent upon the earth, that there were those living in that day whose eyes would not be closed in death until all these things had been accomplished. We are living in a great day. The nation, the state, the church, and the people.

in January have all been put to a test in a way that they little realized were going through or passing through. The time will come when many men will say that they didn't realize the significance of the day in which they lived. And I doubt if all of us have stopped long enough to realize the importance of the day, the importance of the opportunities that present themselves to us. For truly this is a day of testing, a day of preparation, a day of testing to those who have accepted the ordinance of baptism and have been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and then have been brought up to believe that part of that gospel has been done away with.

or it can't be lived in our day. Because the Lord has plainly said that this is the gospel of salvation. And the principles that were revealed to the prophet Joseph were given for the exaltation and eternal life of man. And the old prophet, whether it was Alma or one of the others, I believe it was Alma, that this is the day in which we live to prepare to meet our God.

If we don't prepare to meet him while we're here, then we have no chance. The purpose of this life is to prepare to go back into the presence of our Father in heaven. The principles of salvation that were given to us through the revelations and the teachings of leaders, Prophet Joseph and those who followed him in the priesthood down to the present time.

We have all taught the same doctrine regarding the salvation of man. And unless we listen to the teachings of those men who God has called to lead his work, heed their counsel, apply them to our lives, then our chance has slipped and we have missed the boat. For this is the day in which we live to prepare to meet our God.

There's no other time. You can't lay the blame on somebody else because the way has been hedged up. The Lord has always provided an escape for his servants who have not been called home as witnesses. You can go down through history and find that the prophets and the servants of God have been placed in very precarious conditions.

that he's always opened an escape for them. Just read what he did to Israel when he delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians. Not very many people have stopped long enough to think what Moses went through in order to accomplish that great feat. But the Lord, knowing the condition of his people, The people, having been in bondage so long, were ready and willing to follow the direction of Moses. When they got to the Red Sea, he opened the way for escape from the Egyptian army. You can come down into our own time and see how the Lord delivered the saints out of the hands of their enemies and brought them to the Rocky Mountains. We can come on down to our own day.

and see how the lord has delivered the saints out of the hands of the enemy of his work now the lord is pleased to a great extent with the efforts that has been put forth by this people whom i am speaking to rely on themselves or the servants of god and give their support to us i dare say that there's not one here that has assisted in the last two years in assisting the priesthood to accomplish their labors, it's sorry of us. All that has missed, that which they have donated for their, towards the work. The spirits are higher, you feel better, and the more you do, the better you feel. That's been the condition of this work from the beginning of time till now. The old prophet, ain't it?

labored, we are told, for 320 years to prepare people to receive the order of heaven. And after that long period of working, his people were acceptable to the Lord and he took them from the earth. He took them and a portion of the earth away that they might be preserved in their righteous living. In our day, we have been promised a period of a thousand years of peace, if we would prepare ourselves to receive the same kingdom, the same principles, the same doctrines and teachings that any kind of people receive. Now let's don't lose grip upon the wonderful privileges that we have with our fingertips. Let's seize upon them. Give that which belongs to the Lord to Him.

And see if he won't open the windows of heaven and pour out his blessings upon you until you cannot receive. He has demonstrated if you look around you and look at the conditions of our people and what has happened in the last few months, you'll find just as great miracles being performed today as ever has been performed among the people of God. Thank you, God.

I pray that the Spirit of God will rest upon us and that we will rally to his work and accomplish it. And I pray that the blessings of God will rest upon you and give you every blessing that you desire in righteousness. And I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.