We have just got back from a trip down south where we had an enjoyable time and looked over the ground. Night before last we were up to the sawmill and had a bonfire with some of the fruit pickers and some of the folks from Short Creek, with the workers at the sawmill, and had quite a crowd in the firelight like they had while crossing the plains. We have a very fine sketch this morning from Brother Boss, telling us of the pioneer days and of Joseph?s prophesying they would come here. Psalms 107 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3. And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 4. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 5. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. 7. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 8. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 9. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; 11. Because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the most High: 12. Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. 13. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 14. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. 15. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16. For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. 17. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. 18. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 19. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 20. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 21. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 22. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. 23. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 24. These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 25. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 26. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit?s end. 28. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 31. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 33. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; 34. A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. 35. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. 36. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; 37. And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. 38. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. 39. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. 40. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. 41. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. 42. The righteous shall see it and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 43. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. If the Prophet had written that, he couldn?t have got it any plainer. Here is way back in the days of David, 107th Psalm. We had a wonderful city which the Lord blessed us with. Now I want to read to you more about it. Jeremiah 23 1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. 2. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 3. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.*** 9. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. 10. For the land is full of adulterers, for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. 11. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. 12. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. 13. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. 17. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? 19. Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.*** 33. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord. 34. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. 35. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken? 36. And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man?s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God. 37. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? 38. But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; 39. Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. Now we have the history there. They came here and then turned from the ways of the Lord. And what do they say? ?It is a revelation from God?the Manifesto is a revelation of the Lord.? And the Lord says they have ?put the burden upon the Lord,? and, ?that city shall be taken from you.? Ninety percent of these homes used to belong to the saints, and now seventy-five percent belong to the gentiles. The city has been taken from them because they put the burden of the Manifesto upon the Lord; whereas if they had heard the word of the Lord in these things and stood for them, it would have been a different story today. Because they wouldn?t listen to the counsel of the Lord, the Savior came and prepared John Taylor for what was coming. Here a few years ago, where there was one man in this work, there is now five hundred. Wherever you go, they are beginning to think, ?Here?s this picture showing what these men have done.? They were set apart and told to see that there never was a time when children were not born under that covenant. Here is the proof of it up here?two hundred eighty-three children to fifteen men; and for having children and keeping the commandments of God, they are now sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. We have appealed it, of course, but that is the situation. It is worth it, even if we have to go the five years. The wives and children are worth it, and our exaltation in the eternal worlds. There never was a time when we felt it more than we do now. Here we are celebrating the great Pioneer Day, when the people came into this valley and Brigham Young said, ?This is the place.? It will only be a short time before the One Mighty and Strong comes to set the thing in order, and then you will see us ?drawn to the line and hewn to the plummet.? God hasten the time! I ask God?s blessing upon you; and let us live the laws of God, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.