Correspondence.
Y.M.M.I.A.—Preaching—United Order.
Monroe, Sevier Co., April 28th, 1877.
Editor Deseret News:
On the 25th Elders John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Lorenzo Snow, and Erastus Snow, with company, arrived from the south, and on Thursday the 26th, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, the meeting-house was filled with Saints. The first speaker, Elder Orson Pratt, occupied about an hour, speaking mostly on the principles of the United Order, referring to former dispensations, even to the dispensation of Adam. He said that in all the dispensations the Lord never forgot to tell the people something or other in regard to the dispensation of the fulness of times. He understood that some of us in this settlement were working in the United Order, and he supposed it was here, as in other settlements, the people were anxious to hear the authorities speak something about the way of working it, but he could see the wisdom of God in all this. The Lord never revealed everything at once, but gave a little here and a little there, which caused our anxiety to experience and use our own judgment, and caused us to seek the Lord for his spirit. The Lord gave to us revelations as fast as we carried out his purposes, and so with the United Order, if we would try to carry out what we already knew, the Lord would give us revelation in due time. The Lord desired his saints to be diligent in seeking to have the spirit of God and try to work in union. If we were not united the Lord could not pour out his blessings upon us as a people. He was pleased to see that the union that existed in Orderville. That people had taken a good course, though they, like the rest, were not perfect, but there was a good feeling and a good spirit among them….
Your brother in the Gospel,
C.H.H.,
Corresponding Secretary of the Y.M.M.I.A.
[Deseret News, May 23, 1877]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006]