Pres. John Taylor

GENERAL CONFERENCE
51st Annual
Sunday, April 3, 1881 - Wednesday April 6, 1881
Source: Millennial Star 43:273-279; 283-285; 289-295; 305-311; 321-324
(report from the Deseret News)

   The Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on Sunday, April 3, 1881, at 10 o'clock a.m., as per call of the First Presidency.
   Present on the stand:  Of the First Presidency--John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, and Jos. F. Smith.
   Of the Twelve--Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young [Jr.], Francis M. Lyman, and John H. Smith; Counselor D. H. Wells
   Patriarch--John Smith.
   Presidents of Seventies--Joseph Young, Horace S. Eldredge, John Van Cott, and W. W. Taylor.
   Of the Bishopric--Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy and Robert T. Burton
   Besides Presidents of Stakes, Bishops and other leading men from nearly all of the Stakes of Zion.
   Conference called to order by President John Taylor.
   Choir sang,

      All praise to our redeeming Lord,
        Who joins us by his grace.

   Prayer by President Joseph F. Smith
   The choir sang,

      Oh, my Father, thou that dwellest,
        In the high and holy place.

   President John Taylor:  We have met this morning to attend to the duties and the responsibilities which devolve upon us at our Annual Conference.  We thought that we would change the programme a little as regards time; and as it is the spring season of the year, when men are generally engaged with their labor, we thought by commencing our Conference to-day, it would give men an opportunity of being present without losing a day's labor in their fields.  We have this morning a delightful time, very pleasant weather, and everything favorable for our assembling together.  And whilst we are thus assembled, it is proper that we as Saints of the Most High God, ought to have our hearts and feelings under the direction and inspiration of the Almighty, that we may seek for the good Spirit of the Lord to be with us, to guide us and to direct us in all

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of our teachings, in all of our business transactions, in all of our counselling, and in the various duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us to attend to on this occasion.
   This is the 51st anniversary of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--or it will be next Wednesday morning--and when we reflect upon the circumstances with which we have been surrounded from that time until the present, we certainly must feel that we have cause to rejoice and to be grateful to the God of Israel for the many mercies and blessings which He has manifested toward us, and for His protecting care which has been over us in the midst of opposition, in the midst of calumny, and in the midst or reproach, having been assailed all the time by enemies to God and to His truth, the Lord has preserved us, and we will give to God the glory.

MORE COMING........