During recent years the Church has been growing both at home and abroad.
Property is being acquired in many parts of the world, and mission houses are being erected. Carthage Jail, in Illinois, the farm containing the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and a large part of the Temple grounds at Independence, Missouri, have been purchased by the Church.
In the year 1905 a monument of polished granite was erected and a comfortable and commodious cottage was built on the site of the Prophet"s birth, on the farm purchased by the Church, in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. The monument is 50 feet and 10 inches high and weighs nearly 100 tons. The shaft is 38-3/4 feet long, each foot corresponding to one year of the Prophet"s life. The cottage is built around the original hearthstone of the old Smith home. On December 23rd, 1905--the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Prophet--this cottage and monument were dedicated by President Joseph F. Smith, who, with a number of the leading brethren of the Church and a few Saints, had gone to Vermont for that purpose. The monument contains a written description of the Prophet"s testimony and stands as a silent witness of the great work he was called upon by the Lord to perform.
[Ill.u.s.tration: JOSEPH SMITH MONUMENT AND MEMORIAL COTTAGE.]
For many years past, the Saints had been making settlements in Mexico, and establishing themselves there in good homes. In the year 1912 the disturbances in the country broke out into civil war, and because of the dangers attendant on the fighting between various factions, most of the Latter-day Saints had to leave the country and their possessions and come to the United States.
Two new Temples are now being erected, one in Alberta, Canada, and another at Laie, on the island of Oahu, Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands. Work on the Canadian Temple was begun in 1913, and the one at Hawaii was commenced in the summer of 1915. The building of these Temples indicate that the great work for the dead is being energetically carried out by the Church.
In the summer of 1914, the great European war broke out, which has caused the death and crippling of millions, and brought misery untold to the nations engaged in it. Very likely this war is the greatest the world has ever known. Nearly all our missionaries have had to be withdrawn from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and France, and very few have been left in Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries. We sympathize with all these nations, and can only hope that the Lord will make it possible, after the war, that the missionaries will be better able to reach the people with the gospel of peace and salvation.
At this writing (December, 1916) there are seventy-three stakes of Zion in the Church, and over eight hundred wards. The quorums of the Priesthood have been more thoroughly organized, and have regular courses of study in their cla.s.ses. The helping organizations of the Church, such as the Sunday Schools, the Mutual Improvement a.s.sociations, and others are doing a splendid work. The Church has recently completed a beautiful Church office building in Salt Lake City. The first and second floors of this building are occupied by the First Presidency and other Church officials. The third floor is devoted to the Historian"s work, and the large collection of books and Church records. The fourth floor is used by the Genealogical Society, an organization whose purpose is to help people with their records, and gather a library of genealogical books, which will help them do the work in the Temples for their dead.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHURCH OFFICE BUILDING]
Here ends our history for the present. The little tree (mentioned in Chapter I) planted by G.o.d and nurtured by his servants, has in the s.p.a.ce of eighty-six years grown to a large, beautiful tree, whose branches, as it were, protect thousands of people, and whose fruit nourishes a mult.i.tude.
The enemy has striven hard to uproot and destroy it, but every effort has only made it cling more firmly to the nourishing earth.
The Church is growing in strength and power to save the human family. That is its mission. It will never be overcome, or left to other people. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing," said the Prophet Joseph, "persecution may rage; mobs may combine; armies may a.s.semble, calumny may defame, but the truth of G.o.d will go forth boldly, n.o.bly, and independently till it has penetrated every continent; visited every clime, swept every country; and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of G.o.d shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
And now let all the boys and girls who read this book remember what the Lord expects of them. He must have men and women to carry on the great work begun so n.o.bly and so well. If He is to use you, you must make your lives worthy; you must grow in wisdom and power and faith and goodness; be pure and strong in mind and body; be studious, earnest, prayerful, n.o.ble, and brave to do the right; then G.o.d will be pleased to use you, and you yourselves will become makers of a glorious future history.
Topics.--1. President Joseph F. Smith. 2. John R. Winder. 3. Anthon H.
Lund. 4. John Henry Smith. 5. Charles W. Penrose. 6. The trouble in Mexico.
7. The great war in Europe. 8. Progress of the Church.
Questions and Review.--1. Who was President Joseph F. Smith"s father? 2.
Describe some of his boyhood surroundings. 3. Tell about his adventure with the Indians. 4. How did he cross the plains? 5. Tell of his missions. 6.
How long has he been President of the Church? 7. How many of you have seen him and heard him speak? 8. Name President Smith"s counselors. 9. Tell something about each of them. 10. What historical places has the Church purchased and improved? 11. Why have the Saints had to leave Mexico? 12.
Review the great European war. 13. What might be the outcome of this war?
14. Where are new temples being built? 15. How many stakes and wards are there now in the Church 16. What did the Prophet Joseph Smith say about the future of the Church?