Synopsis of President Youngs Address at Provo
in the forenoon Reported & written by W Woodruff
He arose and said.
I know what the people want I will endeavor to say it if they should wish for the truth of God. We are here because we want to be & because God wants us to be. If the Lord wants us to do this or that we should go to work & do it. We can go to God & ask him for what we want & we can get it if we are his children & do his will. It is difficult for the people to understand what God wants in all things. you dont consider all things that are right. Those that seek to praise themselves do not praise God. their is the spirit & influence that is in the earth it is manifest in all things its tendency is downward & not upward. do you cling to that spirit insted of the things of God all too many say if I did not love the things of the world <earth> I would not try to live on earth. we have got to learn to manage all things on earth so that we can take care of all things in a right & suitable manner without setting our harts upon it you have got to learn to organize the elements we have got to learn to bring all the elements together for we will have to deal with them & occupy them to all eternity.
we would all like to live till the coming of Christ we are in the last dispensation that man can be in in this world & we ought to improve all our time & talents to the best of our ability. the talents that are given to us here are bestowed upon us that we may controll the things of this world that are not to control Angels but they are to controll Eternities pertaining to this world when we speak of spiritual things & temporal things, they are all one to me. they are first spiritual then Temporal. next temporal & then spiritual. when I hear a man say I had as lives live in an old log house as in a good mansion it shows his breeding, that he has not cultivated the principle of refinement & improvement in the acts of his life such a man has no knowledge of his talents and he does not understand things as he ought He does not understand temporal things those things which are Temporal Here will be temporal to all Eternity.
Some will say what need hath the Lord of this thing, that or the other and say this is strange to me, but one reason is the people have not all Learned the Lord & his ways as they should do and are not ready & willing to obey his commands & leave the event in his hands. Men have different talents and we have many missions of different kinds but if the Lord had not revealed this work to us we should not have known it we should not have had any mission It will not be but a little time before we have got to save all and we have no time to loose in preparing for those things which are to come which have been revealed unto us by vision & revelation these blessings are given unto us so that we may improve upon those talents which God has given unto us.
All that we have is the Lords all I have is the Lords all I have is to improve my talents up to the best of my ability in my stewardship in the use of it. I see many men & boys standing in the streets spending their to no profit while they should be at work & doing somthing that will benefit themselves or their fellow men they should be at work in their fields or gardens & not throw away their <their> time in Idleness their are many among us that ought to go to Calafornia for they have no desire to build up the kingdom of God or any body els but themselves you must improve your talents & do all you <can> can to improve while upon this earth. so that when you arive in the next state of existance you will be prepared to ascend to exaltation & glory having proved yourself worthy by being faithful, diligent, & improveig your time & talents in this life you may say that you cannot do any thing yourself without help tis true that God helps you, & give you evry blessing you possess, yet would you ask God to do that for you which you can do yourself now go to work here & improve this place go to work & build you good houses bring all the elements you can together build Houses that will be worthy & make yourselves & families comfortable & not live all your lives in old log cabbins with dirt roofs but evry house you build improve upon it & keep building better you should use all the wisdom & judgment that God has given you in buildig your forts, fortifications, dwellings, Cities, improving your farms & gardens & in all things that you ingage in here upon the Earth that you may be prepared to build up Zion with her temples & towers that you may be prepared to engage in Eternal things & be prepared to meet with Joseph & Hiram how do you think that they would feel to come & see us now would you like to meet with them in as small a house as this & invite them to sit down with <th> you in your ditry log cabbins when you have had a plenty of time to build better No they would be ashamed they would come with vailed faces
Now dont let us wait for their children to grow up & come & build up Zion & prepare it for the coming of their fathers but let us do our duty Here is one of Hirams sons Joseph Smith, going on a mission to the Nations I am glad to see it & I feel to say God bless him & I hope Josephs sons will soon all be with us soon but let us build up all we can now. I tel you go & build up a good wall & dont let me be obliged to tell you again but do it & do as your bishops tells you & if any man will not do it kick him out of your midst then build good houses good roads & good side walks & good farms for we are going to have them in Eternity we shall use them there but do not Let your hearts cling to them but use them as gifts of God & acknowledge his hand in all thing & let your hearts be set upon the work of the Lord & to do his will I am now going to tell you one thing Joseph & Hiram will soon come to see us they would not wish to stop with us if they did not find us right but when they came & found we had made good improvements & done the best we could <he> they would feel well & be glad to meet with us & dwell with us.
But now whare are your improvements in this place I cannot see them & if you have not learned it before begin it now, now go to work & build a wall around this City & dont spend your time in folly. Now remember that when any man rises up & says that I <dont> do not know as God wants us to build a wall I dont know as it is revelation you may know that man is in the dark & has not the spirit of God you know I will tell you when you are right.
Now listen to my counsel & you will feel well but when you do not take my counsel you feel bad & all is bad with you And I pray the Lord that you may do right that his blessing may rest upon you.
Amen