Page:History of Utah.djvu/408

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the authorities and called by the saints assembled at the general semiannual conferences held in Salt Lake City. Neither age nor pecuniary condition governs the selection. They may be men or boys, rich or poor; but they must have faith and integrity, and go forth without purse or scrip, relying alone upon the hand of God to feed them. An elder is likewise selected by the church authorities to preside over each mission. Thus has been visited almost every quarter of the globe, the book of Mormon being mean- while translated into many languages. And a Per- petual Emigration Fund Company has been estab- lished, which has advanced the funds to bring out thousands to Zion, the money being paid back by the immigrant after his arrival, as he has been able to earn it.

Temple building is a characteristic work, and is prompted by the belief that Jesus Christ will some day come suddenly to his temple. Hence the devotion and self-sacrifice practised by Christ's people in order to prepare for him a fitting place of reception. Won- ders in this direction have been accomplished by a poor and wandering people, at Kirtland, at Nauvoo, at Salt Lake City, St George, Manti, and Logan.

In the north-west corner of Temple block, Salt Lake City, in which is the tabernacle, the smaller church building, and the new temple, stands a plain two-story adobe structure known as the Endowment House. Here are conducted the most secret and solemn mysteries of the church, which maybe termed rcligio-masonic ceremonies, illustrative of the origin and destiny of man. Here also are performed the rites of baptism for the dead, anointing with oil, mar- riage, and other ceremonies, by which the convert is endowed with the special grace of God, receives his inheritance as a child of God, and is made a partaker of the fulness of all the blessings of religion. All these rites should properly be performed in the temple, which on its completion will supersede the endowment