| 1060 will we find Zion and this remnant? The time is near when desolation is to cover the earth, and then God will have a place of deliverance in his remnant and in Zion," &c.
The President then gave a relation of obtaining and translating the Book of Mormon, the revelation of the Priesthood of Aaron, the organization of the church in 1830, the revelation of the High Priesthood, and the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church, &c., and said:
"Take away the Book of Mormon, and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none; for without a Zion, and a place of deliverance, we must fall; because the time is near when the sun will be darkened, and he moon turn to blood, and the stars fall from heaven, and the earth reel to and fro. Then, if this is the case, and if we are not sanctified and gathered to the places where God has appointed, with all our former professions and our great love for the Bible, we must fall, we cannot stand, we cannot be saved; for God will gather his saints out from the Gentiles, and then comes desolation of destruction and none can escape, except the pure in heart who are gathered," &c.
Elder Rigdon addressed the Conference and said, "on two points hang all the revelations, which have ever been given, which are the two advents of the Messiah. The first is past and the second is now just before us, and consequently those who desire a part in this era which the angels desired to look into, have to be assembled with the saints; for if they are not gathered, they must wail because of his coming. There is no part of his creation which will not feel a shock at this grand display of his power, for the ancient saints will reign with Christ a thousand years. The gathered saints will dwell under that reign; and those who are not gathered may expect to endure his wrath that length of time, for the rest of the dead are not to live till the thousand years are ended."
"It is in vain for men, in this generation to think of laying up and providing inheritances for their children, except they lay it up in the place where deliverance is appointed by the voice of God, for these are the days of vengeance as were in the days of Jeremiah; because before his eyes were closed in death the Jews were led captive, and the land possessed by another people; and so in this day, while the father is laying up gold for his son and the destroyer may lay him lifeless at his feet, and where then is all his treasure? Therefore if we, the islands of the sea, and all the ends of the earth, desire an inheritance for ourselves, themselves, and their children and our children it must be obtained where God has appointed the places of deliverance."
Elder Rigdon adverted to the former covenants to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and others of the ancients which were to be realized in the last days, &c.; and spoke at some length upon the deliverance of Zion; the endowment of the elders with power from on high, according to the former promises; and the spreading of the word of the Lord to the four winds.-He first referred to the situation of the brethren in Missouri, and urged the importance of those who could, giving heed to the revelations by going up to their assistance; and those who could not go to help those who are going to means for their expenses, &c.
Elder Cowdery gave a brief relation of the mobbing in Missouri &c., and called for a contribution. Elders Ambrose Palmer, and Salmon Warner followed on the same subject.-Brother Joseph Bosworth spoke of the deliverance of Zion; and said, he had no property, but if necessary for her deliverance he would sell his clothes at auction, if he might have left him as good a garment as the Savior had in the manger. Others spoke on the same subject.
President Joseph Smith, Jun., prophecied [prophesied] "If Zion is not delivered, the time is near when all of this church, wherever they may be found, will be persecuted and destroyed in like manner."
Elder Rigdon in speaking on the second item, gave an account of the endowment of the ancient apostles, and laid before the conference the dimensions of the House to be built in Kirtland, and rehearsed the promise to the Elders in the last days, which they were to realize, after the House of the Lord was built. Brother Bosworth then related a few items of a vision, which he gave as a testimony of those things contained in the revelations read by Elder Rigdon, and his remarks thereon, President Smith explained the revelation concerning the building of the Lord's House.
Elder Rigdon then spoke on the third item, the spreading of the word of the Lord; followed by several of the brethren.
Brother Thomas Tripp's case was then presented. Brother David Evans said that Brother Tripp's took a sister by the hand while going home from meeting; and also, was guilty of other improprieties with another sister; and had sought witness against a sister in good standing from a wicked woman in the world. The conference voted that Thomas Tripp be excluded from this church, with the privilege of an appeal to the Bishop's council in Kirtland.
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