We have had some very good
instructions this afternoon, and the question is, How can we live up to them
and live so as to have the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit? It is not
to be obtained except in the way God has appointed. We are frail and subject
to many trials and temptations—it is no sin to be tempted, but the sin is
yielding to temptation. Had Jesus yielded when Satan tempted Him, He would have
lost the smiles of His Father. We should be always on our guard. Paul says,
“Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks,” and if we do this, we
shall not have time to brood over our troubles, and the little vexations and
cares of life would not be noticed. Gratitude is sweet to our fellow beings,
but it is elevating and ennobling in the sight of our Father in Heaven. (Eliza
R. Snow, “I Would Have Walked to the Ends of the Earth,” Salt Lake City
Nineteenth Ward Relief Society, Nineteenth Ward Hall, Salt Lake City, October
20, 1874, in Rise Up and Speak: Selected Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, ed.
Jennifer Reederm, Sharlyn D. Howcroft, Elizabeth A. Kuehn, and Jessica M.
Nelson [Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2026], 156)
Here, Eliza (correctly) notes that temptation, in and of itself, is not sinful (contrary to Calvinism and other theologies); further, she also (correctly) rejects the impeccability of Christ.
