Forty-First Annual Conference
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Orson Pratt addressed the assemblage. He showed that no blessing pertaining to life and salvation can accrue to any of the children of men otherwise than through strict obedience to law. The blessing of the remission of sins could be obtained in no other way than through obedience to the laws of faith, repentance and baptism, and the Holy Ghost could only be received through the laying on of hands. Those ordinances could only be administered by those holding authority from God, for the House of God is a house of order. He spoke of the glorious promise given to the pure in heart, that they should see the face of God, and of the promise of the Almighty that when a house should be built to His name, providing it should not be defiled His power should rest upon and be manifested in it, and that He should visit it. He referred to the blessings that were received in the Temple at Kirtland, and said that the time would come when all that were pure in heart who should enter the Temple of the Almighty, which should be built in the “tops of the mountains,” would see the face of God. He continued to speak for a considerable time with regard to the building of temples in these days, upon which the glory of God shall rest, quoting several prophecies, ancient and modern, bearing upon these things. He showed clearly through his entire discourse that all things must be done in order; in accordance with law, to be acceptable to heaven.
[Deseret News, Apr. 12, 1871]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006]