The Brigham Young Center

578 - 579

President Young's Office,
G. Salt Lake City, Utah Territory,
April 17th 1865

Mr. J. H. G. Milne,
Terre Haut, Indiana.

Sir:-

Your letter of Jan. 31st, informing me that yourself and two other young men, being a dentist, an ornamental painter and a blacksmith by trade have a desire to come here, being of our faith, and live among us and be one with us in reality, and asking for information about business &c., has come to hand.

The business of Dentistry has always been excellent in this country, those of ornamental Painter and Blacksmith have always been very good, and men have followed these lines of business have never had any difficulty in securing employment.

The people who have come here as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which nearly our entire population has done, have been prompted by religious motives and our belief to come out here and make this Territory their residence. Many who have been in good business in the States and in the old countries have dropped everything and taken up their line of march for this country, and after their arrival have adopted such business as was most convenient, if they could obtain no employment at their own business. Wordly advantage has been, in the most of instances, a secondary consideration with them; though in seeking to serve God and to keep His commandments we have been blessed and prospered to an astonishing extent; for when we first came here we had been stripped by mob violence of the most of our property which we had accumulated by years of hard toil and self-denial and landed in these mountains in an almost destitute condition. We have made it a rule to act upon the words of Jesus: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all things (food, drink and clothing) shall be added unto you.

Praying the Lord to direct you aright in your decisions and movements