I STAND before you this afternoon, my brethren and sisters, with the desire in my heart that while I do so I may speak to the stre[n]gthening of the faith of the Saints of God, and, therefore, I crave an interest in your faith and prayers, that whatever time I occupy I may do so in a way and manner that shall tend to the building up of God's kingdom here upon the earth.
We have been interested in hearing the report of Brother Edward Partridge, who has just returned from a mission to the Sandwich Islands, where the work of the Lord has been received for many years, in a very gratifying manner by the remnant of the house of Israel who dwell thereon. It is also noticeable that the Maoris, a people of a kindred race to the Hawaiian, who inhabit the islands of New Zealand, many hundred miles to the southward in the Pacific Ocean, are also receiving the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ with joy, and that hundreds are there being added to the Church at the present time. It has long been the belief of the Latter-day Saints that these races are offshoots of the great people who once flourished upon this continent; who were brought out of the land of Jerusalem under Lehi, Mulek and others, and who have inhabited this land from about 600 years before Christ; that people whose remnants are now found scattered far and wide over the North and South American continents. There appears to be a great similarity in the habits, customs, manners and language of the natives of those two groups of islands; which similarity, in many respects, extends to some of the races that inhabit this continent. And for these and other reasons we believe that in these islanders flows the blood of Israel to a great extent; and where it does, those who are thus blessed by being the children of the fathers to whom the promises were made, as races receive the truths of the Gospel much more readily and apparently, notwithstanding their many weaknesses, cleave unto them much more devotedly than do very many of those who embrace its saving principles among the Gentile nations. It would seem as though at the present time the Gentile nations of the earth were turning from the truths of the Everlasting Gospel; they have measurably rejected them; and the consequence is we find to-day that there is an increase of scepticism, that there is an increase of a spirit opposed to good order, to obedience, to faith, and to many other admirable characteristics of generations gone by. The present is an age of unrest, of turmoil, of contention, of a lack of faith, not only in religious matters, but in almost everything else. We may be said to be living in a period of transition, and that transition does not always appear to be in the most desirable direction. But this spirit of doubt and incredulity, of uncertainty and unrest is more manifest regarding religious subjects than any other questions that attract the attention of mankind; and is perhaps more manifest in those nations to whom the Gospel has been preached for many years than in any other parts of the world. This is the natural result of the course the people of those countries have taken. Having rejected the principles that God in His kindness has caused to be revealed, His Spirit, which is the Spirit of life, light, intelligence and truth, is of necessity measurably withdrawn from them, and they are left to themselves to serve God as best they may when they will not serve Him as He requires. The consequence is division and subdivision in the churches; for every man's opinion is as good as that of his neighbor; and there remains no trustworthy, much less infallible, standard by which to guage [gauge] the beliefs of mankind; consequently every man walks in his own way and professes such a belief as best suits his fancy. But with us it is different. And the very fact that we are united with regard to that which God requires at our hands in all things is a rock of offence to many; it is regarded as an evil by those who do not love us; by those who make it their business to bring evil accusations against us. Our union is an opposite condition of affairs to that which exists among the sects in the Christian world, and being contrary they imagine ought to be sigmatized decried and derided. But in our union lies our strength; because we cannot be united on any other principle than obedience to the law of the Lord. There is no spirit but the Spirit of the Most High God that will make this people one. They can trust in no one but in God our Father who has revealed His mind and will to them, and has established in their midst the principles that will make them wise unto salvation, if they will but give heed to them.