[Footnote A: Isaiah ii, 2.]

It gives evidence of divine inspiration in the Twelve that in the midst of their perplexities at Nauvoo, during the last year the church remained there, their hearts were inclined to lead the church of God to the place indicated as its abode in the last days, both by ancient and modern prophecy.

That great exodus of the church from Nauvoo, with the subsequent journey of the saints across the wilderness of Iowa and the great plains which form the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, is one of the most remarkable events in either ancient or modern history, when considered in the light of the circumstances under which it took place—a people well nigh stripped of all their worldly possessions, teams and wagons improvised with such animals and materials as in the hurry of their departure, under the menace of mob violence, could be gathered together;—indifferently clothed and provisioned for contact with the hardships inseparably connected with such an enterprise, and the lapse of time ere they could replenish their scanty stores;— making their way through an unexplored wilderness, a great part of which was desert;—seeking a destination a thousand miles from the frontiers of civilization;—absolutely without any base of supplies, trusting solely to the providences of God for their daily needs;— warlike tribes of Indians on every hand—and yet, under the direction of the Apostles, they accomplished the great enterprise with little loss of life, and in an incredibly short space of time!

This exodus and the subsequent settlement of the saints in the valleys of Utah, confirmed the greatness of President Young's genius in the minds of the men of the world, but to all who have an abiding faith in the divinity of the great work of God in the last days, it bears witness that the Lord was with President Brigham Young and his fellow Apostles, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; and confirms the faith of the Latter-day Saints, that their leaders held divine authority, and were the proper men to preside over the church of Christ after the martyrdom, of the prophet Joseph.

Not only was the exodus from Nauvoo successfully executed, but the location of the Latter-day Saints in the Rocky Mountains was equally well carried out. Removing the church to Salt Lake valley resulted in founding commonwealths throughout the inter-Rocky Mountain region; for the saints settling in the mountains made it possible for others to establish homes there also; and it must be remembered that the Latter-day Saints have not only settled Utah but have formed extensive colonies in Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado.

The church while in the eastern states never numbered more than three or at the most four stakes of Zion. But since coming to the west the stakes of Zion have increased to thirty-six, each with its high council, its high priests' quorum, its several elders' quorums, and stake organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement Associations for both sexes; and quite a number of the stakes have church academies where theology is made a leading feature of the curriculum.

Within these thirty-six stakes are about five hundred organized wards, presided over by bishops, who are assisted in their labor of preserving the saints in the faith, looking after the poor, and keeping down iniquity, etc., by local quorums of priests, teachers and deacons. In addition to all this, there are ward organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement Associations for both sexes, and Primary Societies for children. In each ward, also, is a Sunday School for the instruction of the youth. Throughout the stakes of Zion there are 504 Sunday Schools, with a total membership, including officers, teachers and pupils, of 72,519; in the libraries of the Sunday Schools are 23,541 volumes; and more than fifteen thousand dollars is expended annually in Sunday School work.

In the organized stakes the saints number about two hundred and fifty thousand; and though but few individuals among them can be considered wealthy, yet they are a prosperous, contented, and therefore a happy people. A greater per centage of them own the homes they live in and the lands they cultivate, than is the case with any other community in all the world; and they are freer than any other people on earth from those difficulties arising in the industrial world which embitter the relations of employer and employed. Peace is in their habitations; God is honored at the family altars, as well as in the public sanctuaries; faith and confidence in God abound on every hand, and everywhere one may see evidences that God is with the people. He has neither forsaken them nor their leaders, as He would have done had they turned away from His gospel, trampled His church under their feet, or blasphemed His priesthood by employing it to fleece the saints and aggrandize themselves.

Such is the condition of the work of God within the organized stakes of Zion—such are the results attained, the development as to organization, increase of numbers, and temporal and spiritual prosperity. But while this great work has been going on at the gathering places of the saints, the foreign work of the church has not been neglected. On the contrary the work of preaching the gospel to the world has been made to keep pace with the development of the work at the gathering places of the saints. Among the first acts of the Twelve after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum was one to greatly increase the numbers of the seventies—the quorums of the priesthood which more especially constitute the foreign ministry of the church. At the October conference in 1844 the quorums of seventies were increased from two to ten. Since that time the seventies have been increased, until now[A] they number one hundred and seven quorums, comprising a body of seven thousand men, whose special calling it is to preach the gospel abroad. Josephites complain against the church for thus increasing the number of quorums of seventy; and mark it down as a violation of the order of the church, and quote as proof the following from the Doctrine and Covenants:

[Footnote A: 1894.]