--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 6 number: 10 published: 1903-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Our Work," *Improvement Era* 6, no. 10 (August 1903): 789–795.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0610unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0610unse start_page: 789 end_page: 795 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0610unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Our Work OUR WORK. MANUALS FOR 1903-4. ' Arrangements have been completed for the publication of Manuals for 1903-4. The senior Manual will have the Book of Mormon for a subject, which will be treated in two Manuals. No. 7, will be some- what dilferently arranged from Manuals heretofore, in that the — text will be separate from the outlines the preliminary programs and outlines being placed in the first part of the book, and the text in the latter part. It is expected that the work will be ready in the beginning of September, and officers are requested to make arrangements for early and prompt distribution, so that it may be in the hands of the members by the first meeting in October. The junior Manuals will be ready at the same time, and will treat of early Biblical biographies and stories. The text for Manual No. 7 is written by Elder B. H. Roberts who ex- plains the subject in a preface which is here given in full. The outlines are prepared by the committee, as are also the preliminary programs in- tended to serve the conjoint associations: PREFACE. This treatise on the Book of Mormon was begun in England, in 1887, while I was assistant editor of the Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, published at Liverpool. Much of the material now used was then col- lected, and the general plan of the work here followed was then con- ceived. While collecting and arranging these materials, however, it occurred to me that this work should be preceded by one on the Prophet Joseph Smith as a witness for God. This idea so grew upon me that the Book of Mormon treatise was laid aside, and that on Joseph Smith was written; but, owing to so much other work that crowded upon me, it was not published until 1895. Meantime this work on the Book of Mormon has been awaiting completion, but not until now —not until the General Board of the Young Men's Improvement Associations deter- 790 IMPROVEMENT ERA. mined that the Book of Mormon be the principal theme of study in the societies for the next two years — did the time seem fully come for the publication of the work here presented. It will be observed that the title of the work is written, New Wit- nesses for God, Volume II. — The Book of Mormon. This is done for the reason that as soon as the associations have completed the Manual for 1904-5, it is intended that this wark and the one already published on Joseph Smith the Prophet, shall be published in two volumes under the general title, "New Witnesses for God, Volume I —Joseph Smith the Prophet; Volume II —The Book of Mormon." To this work is given the title it will bear when published with its companion volume. While the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is but an incident in God's great work of the last days, and the Book of Mormon itself subor- dinate to some other facts in God's great work, still the incident of its coming forth and the book itself are facts of such importance that the whole work of God may be said in a manner to stand or fall with them. That is to say, if the origin of the Book of Mormon could be proved to be other than that set forth by Joseph Smith; if the book itself could be proved to be other than it claims to be, viz., an abridged history of the ancient inhabitants of America, a volume of scripture containing a mes- sage from God to the people to whom it was written — "to the Lamanites [American Indians], who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and revelation" — if, I say, the Book of Mormon could be proved to be other than this, then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, and its message and doctrines, which, in some respects, may be said to have arisen out of the Book of Mormon, must fall; for if that book is other than it claims to be; if its origin is other than that as- cribed to it by Joseph Smith, then Joseph Smith says that which is un- true; he is self-deceived or wilfully a false prophet of false prophets; and all he taught, and all his claims to inspiration and divine authority, are not only vain but wicked; and all that he did is not only useless, but mischievous beyond human comprehending. Nor does this statement of the case set forth sufficiently strong the situation. Those who accept the Book of Mormon for what it claims to be, may not so state their case that its security chiefly rests on the in- ability of its opponents to prove a negative. The affirmative side of tha question belongs to us who hold out the Book of Mormon to the world as a revelation from God. The burden of proof rests upon us in every discussion. It is not enough for us to say that if the origin of the Book of Mormon is proved to be other than that set forth OUR WORK. 791 by Joseph Smith; if the book itself be proved to be other than it claims to be, then the ecclesiastical institution known as "Mormoni?m" must fall. We must do more than this. The security of "Mormonism" rests on quite other grounds; and, from a forensic standpoint, upon much more pre- carious ground; for not only must the Book of Mormon not be proved to have other origin than that which we set forth, or be other than we say it is, but we must prove its origin to be what we say it is; and the book itself to be what we proclaim it to be — a revelation from God. From these remarks the reader will observe, I trust, that while I refer to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon as an incident, and the book itself as a fact really subordinate to some other facts connected with the great work of God in the last days, I have by no means underrated the importance of the Book of Mormon in its relation to the work of the last days as a whole; and it is to meet the requirements of this situation that I have been anxious to add my contribution to the gradually accu- mulating literature on this subject, both within and without the Church, both upon the affirmative and the negative side of the question. My treatise is divided into four parts: I. — The importance of the Book of Mormon as a witness for God and the Bible. II. —^The discovery of the Book of Mormon and translation —mi- its grations, lands, intercontinental movements, civilizations, governments, and religions of its peoples. III. —Evidences of the truth of the Book of Mormon. IV. — Objections to the Book of Mormon. Parts I and II are published in this Manual. Parts III and IV are reserved for the Manual of 1904-1905. It will be seen from the nature of these divisions that Parts I and II are really preparatory only in their nature. The more interetsing field of evidence and argument is not entered until Part III is reached. But Parts I and II, if not so intensely interesting as the divisions de- voted to argument, they are nevertheless every whit as important. It goes without saying, that the success of an argument greatly, and I may say, fundamentally, depends upon the clearness and completeness of the statement of the matter involved; and it is frequently the case that a proper setting forth of a subject makes its truth self-evident; and all other evidence becomes merely collateral, and all argument becomes of secondary importance. Especially is this the case when setting forth the Book of Mormon for the world's acceptance; in which matter we have the right to expect, and the assurance in the book itself that we shall receive, the co-operation of divine agencies to confirm to the souls 792 ^ of men the truth of the Nephite record; that as that record was written in the first instance by divine commandment, by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation; and as it was preserved by angelic guardianship, and at last brought forth by revelation, and translated by what men regard as miraculous means, so it is provided in God's providences respecting this volume of scripture, that its truth shall be attested to individuals by the operations of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind. "When ye shall receive these things," says the prophet Moroni, referring to the Book of Mormon, "I would exhort you that ye should ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." This must ever be the chief source of evidence for the truth of the Book of Mormon. All other evidence is secondary to this, the pri- mary and infallible. No arrangement of evidence, however skilfully ordered, no argument, however adroitly made, can ever take its place; for this witness of the Holy Spirit to the soul of man for the truth of the Nephite volume of scripture, is God's evidence to the truth; and will ever be the chief reliance of those who accept the Book of Mormon, and expect to see its acceptance extended throughout the world; for, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so must the testimony of God forever stand above and before the testimony of men. I confess that these reflections have a somewhat saddening effect upon one who undertakes to set forth what he must confess are but the secondary evidences to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and make an argument that he can nevei; regard as of primary importance in the matter of convincing the world of the truth of the work in the interest of which he labors. But I trust these reflections will help my readers to a right apprehension of the importance of Parts i. and H., which are published in this Manual —the importance of a clear and, so far as may be^ a complete statement of the incidents connected with the coming forth of the book, and also its contents. To be known, the truth must be stated; and the clearer and more complete the statement is, the bet- ter opportunity will the Holy Spirit have for witnessing to the souls of men that the work is true. While desiring to make it clear that our chief reliance for evidence to the truth of the Book of Mormon must ever be the witness of the Holy Spirit, promised by the prophet Moroni to those who will seek to know the truth of the work from that source; and desiring also, as I think is becoming in man, to acknowledge the superiority of God's witness to the truth as compared with any evidence OUR WORK. 793 that man may set forth;I would not have it thought that the evidence and argument presented in Parts III and IV are unimportant, much less unnecessary. Secondary evidences in support of truth, like second- ary causes in natural phenomena, may be of firstrate importance, and mighty factors in the achievement of God's purposes. I only desire by these remarks to place the matters to be considered in their right .relation. B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City, June, 1903. EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE M. I. A. 2 p. M., Saturday, May 30. The officers of the Y. M. M. I. A. met in the Barratt Hall. Hymn, "Guide Us, Thou Great Jehovah." Prayer by Elder Richards. Hymn, "Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation." Roll call, fourty-four stakes represented. Elder Thomas Hull spoke upon the subject of the Improvement Era, reviewing the history of the establishment of the magazine. He said that in the beginning, the rule was adopted of cash in advance, and for the first two years, at least, this rule was quite strictly adhered to. Ex- ceptions were made, however, where officers sent in lists of subscribers without the pay, but guaranteed the pay. Of late, however, a dispo- sition had been shown on the part of a number of the officers to refuse to be responsible for the unpaid subscriptions they sent in. To Vol. 6, there were now nearly 1750 unpaid subscribers, representing $3500.00. The General Board had decided that it was, in their judgment, time to return to first principles, and have the officers once more loyally assist the Era. Under the policy originally adopted, a very splendid record had been made by the faithful, loyal efforts of the young men and their officers, and a very splendid magazine had been built up, which was a monument to the faith and energy of the young men of Zion. The Board therefore urge that we return to the methods originally adopted, and make our subscription a pay-in-advance proposition. Elder Hull called attention to the fact that during the first five years of the Era's exist- ence it had expended in cash for the free Era sent to all the mission- aries, not less than $12,000, possibly about $4,000 of which had been collected from friends who had generously donated to assist in sending the magazine free to the elders. Elder Hull mentioned this as an answer 794 IMPROVEMENT ERA. to the complaint, occasionally heard, that the price of the magazine is too high, and he called attention to the fact that $8,000 would have been a very handsome profit to have made, and which was now, of course, not realized. A general discussion of the subject followed, in which a very loyal feeling for the Era was developed and on motion of Francis Kirkham of Alberta West Stake, it was resolved: "That we, as officers, pledge our- selves to support the Improvement Era so that it can be sent free to every missionary; that we return to first principles in conducting our Era business, namely, pay in advance, and that the officers of the associations, in their respective positions in stake and ward, superintend the work of canvassing and securing subscribers." It was stated by one of the officers present that a certain bishop in his stake had made the statement to several of the young men that there were many better ways in which they could spend their money than in subscribing for the Era; and the question was asked what should be done under such circumstances. President Smith replied that it seemed scarcely credible that any bishop would take such a stand. "We are trying to help the bishops and help the young men, and any bishop who would make such an expression is scarcely worthy of his exalted position. If he realized the effort which is being made to help the young men, he would never take such a stand. The superintendent of the stake or the president of the ward association should go direct to such a bishop and learn his views; and, if it was found that he feels as has been reported, he should try to explain to him what we are trying to do to strengthen his hands, and if he cannot and does not see the benefit arising from this work, I should be glad if you would let me know — let the Board know it, and we will take up a labor with him; because I do not think any bishop ought to do such a thing. It is contrary to growth and development. But still we do not want to know it, if you can accomplish the conver- sion of the bishop without reporting it up to the Board, but if you can- not, then let us know, and we will take up a labor. There can be no doubt as to the correctness of the policy 'pay as we go." . We have to pay the printer, we have to meet the expenses, and these things must be met and paid, and it is as plain as a pike staff that it is only a question of a little time when we will be in an embarrassing position unless we maintain the policy originally adopted. You are the body of men to take this matter in hand. "As to sending the Era to the missionaries, if it comes to it, we shall have to go into our own pockets and pay for it. In the beginning of this missionary proposition, some generous men gave large amounts OUR WORK. 795 to the fund. Among them was Brothers A. W. McCune and George Woodward, who each gave $500." On motion of Elder Heber C. Jex, it was decided that the stake officers pledge themselves to use their best endeavors to see that all ob- ligations to the Era and "Manual" be liquidated before the 1st of Novem- ber, 1903. Elder B. F. Grant addressed the meeting on the subject of the Gen- eral Fund, and read the amounts paid b)' each stake, comparing them with the amount paid in 1902. Elder Grant explained the uses to which the fund was put, and Elder J. Golden Kimball called attention to the fact that if it were riot that the members of the Board who travel in the interest of Mutual Improvement receive clergy rates on the rail- roads, and that the apostles and seventies who are on the Board travel without expense to the Board, it would be impossible to carry on the work which is being done with the amount received from the General Fund. The "Doxology" was sung, and the benediction pronounced by Elder Hyrum M. Smith. {To he continued in September number.) ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONVENTIONS. The circular to officers giving the details of how to conduct the annual conventions of the Y. M. M. I. A. has been prepared by the com- mittee, and approved by the General Board. It will be forwarded, in a few days, to stake officers who are urged to take immediate steps to prepare for the meetings as arranged for at the annual conference. The Era will print in the September number the dates of the conven- tions, many of which, for the convenience of the various stakes, have been changed since conference. The young ladies will hold conventions on the same dates as the young men, and there will be one conjoint officers' meeting at each convention. Superintendents should arrange for places of meeting, consult with and invite stake officers, see that all organizations are completed, invite all their class teachers to attend, and assign the topics to competent speakers, all in good time. In class work, there will be a model class in each convention, and special effort must be extended to get the best teaching talent in the stake to con- duct the class, so that the work' may be of value as an example to all who attend.