In the
evening, Priesthood Meeting was held, at which the Circular, recorded on pages
6 to 8 of this year’s Annals, was read, and by unanimous vote approved.
President George
Q. Cannon expressed approval of the document and then spoke on the doctrine of
Plural Marriage, saying men who had not obeyed that principle should not preside
or hold prominent positions in the Church. Those who had neglected their
opportunities to enter this Holy Order would never enter upon their exaltation.
He said: “Do not receive yourselves, for those who pass on heedless of their duty
in this respect will awake in the morning of the resurrection without wife or
child.”
Apostle
Moses Thatcher followed with remarks on sexual purity, and necessity of living
according to the Law of God. (James Godson Bleak, The Annals of the Southern
Mission, April 26, 1884, in The Annals of the Southern Mission: A Record of the
History of the Settlement of Southern Utah, ed. Aaron McArthur
and Reid L. Neilson [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2019], 605—note that
those who are not engaged in plural marriage are not condemned, only those who neglected
an opportunity to engage in such themselves)
