Characteristic Sayings of President Lorenzo Snow

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Improvement era Vol. XXII JUNE, 1919 No. 8

iDevotion to a Divine Inspiration*

By LeRoi C. Snow, Member of the General Board Y. M. M. L A.

It is my purpose, in this article, to point out the characteristics in the life of LorenzoSnow which have special application to the development of character, in the hope of awakening in the young people inspiration and action. If we think of the work of President Lorenzo Snow only from the standpoint of his public achievements, or his Church activity, we would undoubtedly name as his most important accomplishments the remarkable success which he achieved in the United Order, or co-operative movement, in Biigham City; or his revelation in St. George on the. subject of tithing, along with the subsequent work which resulted in delivering the Church from its heavy bondage of debt. These events, important as they were, both in the life of President Snow and in the history and progress of the Church, occurred late in his life and had little to do with the development of his character. President Snow's special mission, the divinely appointed work for which the Lord preserved him, was undoubtedly the deliverance of the Church from its financial distress. This was an epoch in Church history, and President Snow was made equal to the accomplishment of this great task through the development of his character and the growth of his faith and integrity which began early in life. The crowning glory of his life's work was made possible and was the result of his unwavering obedience to the sacred call which he heard in his boyhood. In his youth he had a very promising future. His parents

*This article should be used to supplement the Summer Work Outline, in presenting the program for the joint session, Sunday, July 6, "Lorenzo Snow," under the general subject: "Five Church Leaders." It is, however, of equal interest to the general reader also. Editors.

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were prosperous and highly respected people, and he had sufficient means to carry out his heart's desires. He had decided to follow either a military or a literary career, for both of which he was carefully preparing. He was a commissioned officer in the Ohio militia, and had just finished his studies at Oberlin College. I hope every one who reads this will try to realize what it meant to the young man Lorenzo Snow to give up all his fond hopes and make a complete change in the plans for his future; but instead of a sacrifice, he realized that it meant opportunity for a greater future than he had before hoped for. What was this call in his youth? God revealed a great truth to him which was the inspiration of his life and from which we all may learn a valuable lesson through its application in our own lives. Let us see if we can discover this secret in Lorenzo Snow's sucessful life. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:5, 6).

In May, 1836, after a blessing meeting, to which he had been invited, in the Kirtland temple, the Patriarch, Father Joseph Smith, said to Lorenzo Snow: "You will soon be convinced of the truth of the latter-day work, and be baptized, and you will — become as great as you can possibly wish even as great as God, and you cannot wish to be greater." What a remarkable promise! It astonished the young man and awakened thoughts in his mind of which he had never before dreamed. Two weeks later, in June, 1836, at the age of twenty-two, he was baptized by Apostle John Boynton. About three weeks after his baptism, Lorenzo Snow received a wonderful vision which he tells in his own language, in his journal, as follows: I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the holy priesthood, — and the fulness of the gospel. It was a complete baptism a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element (the gift of) the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed down to us historically, that the "Babe of Bethlehem" is truly the Son of God;