Local and Other Matters.
Minutes of Meetings, held at Pleasant Grove, May 1st and 2nd, 1875.
May 1. Present on the stand, Elders Orson Pratt and Geo. Q. Cannon, Bp. A.O. Smoot and other bishops and elders from different parts of the County….Elder O. Pratt spoke upon the power of faith and prayer, and read a portion of the Book of Mormon, page 51, and said that the promise was made here over and over again, that the righteous should never again be overthrown nor destroyed, but they should continue upon the earth, and the earth itself should rest form sin and sorrow, and it would be effected by the power of God through the combined faith of not only the Saints that now live, but of all the Saints and the priesthood, from Adam down to this day. Spoke of the Saints going back to Jackson County, and receiving their inheritances.
2 p.m. Elder Pratt read a portion of a revelation given in 1832, with regard to the Presidency and building of temples; and the ordinances to be administered, therein, that could not be administered acceptably anywhere else; and how anxious he, as well as many others, and especially those who are getting aged, were to have the temple completed, in which to attend the laws of adoption, and other ordinances before they left this state of mortality….
Sunday Morning, May 2nd. The Sunday school met at 8:30 a.m., when Elders Cannon and Pratt addressed the children, advising them to make themselves familiar with the doctrines and history of the Church of Christ, of Joseph Smith, and of Prest. Young, also the circumstances attending the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon, and treasure up all the instructions given them in the Sabbath school.
10 a.m. The stand was filled with Bishops and Elders from the surrounding settlements, and the house, was crowded to its utmost capacity. After singing by the choir, Elder Orson Pratt made a few remarks to concentrate the faith and minds of the Saints to the dedication of the house, after which he offered a most soul absorbing prayer to God that his blessings might rest and abide upon every part of the house from the foundation upwards, and upon the material employed in the construction of the house, and consecrated the same to God for the use of his Saints, in which to worship….
2 p.m. Elder O. Pratt read part of two revelations respecting the coming of the Gospel to the house of Israel. The Lord was now beginning to move upon the remnants of Israel scattered through these mountains, sending messengers and giving them dreams and visions that would prepare them to unite and help roll on the work of God. We should yet have to help them and educate them till they could read and become familiar with the Book of Mormon, which was the history of their forefathers, and teach them the principles and habits of industry, and how to build habitations and sustain themselves by the cultivation of the earth, and not roam these mountains and hunt for a living. He spoke of the other tribes of Israel in the north country, and of the power of God attending their coming to Zion, and many other manifestations of the power of God that would be given in the redemption of the whole house of Israel, and the coming of the Son of Man.
When the brethren went to the train, the whole congregation followed them to the carriage, and the feeling in Pleasant Grove will never be forgotten.
George Halliday.
[Deseret News, May 12, 1875]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Sept. 2006]