President's Office,
Gt. Salt Lake City,
September 30th, 1867.
Elder Heber Young,
42 Islington,
Liverpool, Eng.
Dear Son:
Your letter of was received and perused with pleasure. I am glad to learn that you feel so well in your ministry, and I trust that this feeling will increase within you so long as you remain on your mission. I hope you will write to me often and keep me informed of your progress and labors. You have now entered upon a new sphere of action; the responsibilities and cares of manhood, and especially those which pertain to the priesthood are resting upon you, and much more is expected from you now than ever before. There is this consolation which God has given to His servants -- that as their day their strength shall be, and He will bestow His grace upon them so that they may be equal to every responsibility and emergency. You are now in a position to find Him a present help in time of need, and He will be to you all that you can desire if you seek to Him with faith and diligence.
There is no position young man can be placed in that is better adapted to give him a knowledge of God and of His holy spirit than to be sent on a mission. If you are humble and prayerful He will reveal Himself to you with a power which you have never heretofore known, and you will have greater joy in your labors and in your existence than you have ever before been capable of comprehending. We pray for you constantly, and we feel assured that our prayers will be heard in your behalf. It will give us great pleasure to hear of your success and of your magnifying your priesthood, and fulfilling this mission which has been assigned you honorably before God and your brethren, that when you return, you may come pure and unspotted. To this end I pray you to remember your high calling. You are young and inexperienced in the ways of the wicked world, therefore as Paul wrote to Timothy, so write I to you "Flee also youthful lusts." Bring your passions and appetites and all your feelings into complete subjection to the mind and will to God. If you are determined to maintain the mastery you can do so by the Lord's help. The man who suffers his passions to lead him becomes a slave to them, and such a man will find the work of emancipation an exceedingly difficult one. Make the doing of God's will and the keeping of His commandments a constant habit with you and it will become perfectly natural and easy for you to walk uprightly before Him. The time of youth and early manhood is the proper time in which to form such habits. You know the truth sufficiently to be capable of teaching it. Let your example show it forth more strongly, even, than your words, that others seeing your good works may be constrained to acknowledge that they are better than theirs and may, perchance, be influenced to go and do likewise.
Your mother and the children and all the family are well. Alice buried her youngest child yesterday, and one of Vilate's is buried to-day. The present is rather an unhealthy season and we have had a good many deaths among the children; but it is hoped that the cool weather will correct this and make the elements more healthy. The grasshoppers or locusts that we have had, have probably helped to poison the atmosphere and produce sickness, and the high waters may have had a tendency in the same direction.
Everything is peaceable in the Territory. We have never been more free from annoyance on the part of our enemies than at the present time, and the Saints are rejoicing in their religion and are increasing in the works of righteousness.
In company with a number of the Twelve and other elders I left this city on the 2nd instant on a visit to Bear Lake Valley. We returned on the 17th, having travelled three hundred miles and held twenty-five meetings while we were absent. It was one of the most agreeable trips I ever made, though in returning from Bear Lake we had a two-days snow storm. We noticed great improvements in the settlements and in the circumstances of the people. Much valuable instruction was given to the people during our sojourn amongst them.
Our New Tabernacle, though not quite finished in every respect, is yet so forward that we expect to hold our fall Conference in it, commencing next Sunday. It has been pushed forward during the latter part of the Summer with great diligence, and the workmen have manifested great zeal in their labors. It is a magnificent place, and will answer the purpose for which it was constructed, admirably.
Brigham, Jr., John W. and Katie and the children with a number of other returned missionaries have reached here in good health and spirits. We had discourses from several of them, yesterday, in the Bowery, all expressing their delight at reaching home. The Company of emigrating Saints will probably be in within two weeks. Six four-mule teams, besides many individuals who have friends in the Company have gone out to meet and assist them
Give my love to all the elders who are with you and accept the same to yourself, in which your mother and the family and Presidents Kimball and Wells join, and praying the Lord to be with you, and to bless you with the power and wisdom necessary to magnify your calling and to fill your mission with honor, and to preserve you and to bring you home in peace and safety
I remain
Your Father
Brigham Young