Voice Of My Servants

Franklin D. Richards said: Now, I ask, who is injured by a man taking a second wife, when the wife he now has is agreeable and it is mutually understood between her and him and the newly affianced ; it being entered into with a mutual understanding and a mutual agreement according to the law of God—I ask, who is injured? Wherein consists the crime of bigamy? It is this. When a man takes one wife he covenants to adhere to her until death do them part. He violates that covenant when he takes another woman, unknown to his wife; he thus practices fraud upon her .  - Journal of Discourses vol. 26, p. 341 ( byu.edu )

The Book of Mormon states: I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God...and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world…. I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement…. And this is the means whereby salvation cometh . And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.  -Mosiah 4:6-8 ( churchofjesuschrist.org ) Brigham Young stated: Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father , passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.   - Discourses of Bri...

Brigham Young stated: Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so .  - Journal of Discourses , vol. 10, p. 110 ( byu.edu )

Brigham Young stated: Monogamy , or restrictions by law to one wife, is no part of the economy of heaven among men…. Why do we believe in and practise polygamy? Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it . “And is that religion popular in heaven?” It is the only popular religion there ....   - Deseret News , August 6, 1862, p. 1, column 4, ( utah.edu )

When Lucy Walker Kimball was 16, Joseph Smith told her: Although I cannot , under existing circumstances, acknowledge you as my wife , the time is near when we will go beyond the Rocky Mountains and then you will be acknowledged and honored as my wife....   This principle will yet be believed in and practiced by the righteous. I have no flattering words to offer. It is a command of God to you. I will give you until tomorrow to decide this matter. If you reject this message the gate will be closed forever against you .  -Statement of Mrs. Lucy Walker Kimball, quoting Joseph Smith ( walkerfamily.org )

Joseph Smith (or a scribe) wrote: On the 3rd of July, Michael H. Chandler came to Kirtland to exhibit some Egyptian mummies. There were four human figures, together with some two or more rolls of papyrus covered with hieroglyphic figures and devices...and with W. W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery as scribes, I commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham ....  - History of the Church , vol. 2, pp. 235-236, 1835 ( byu.edu ) A church essay states: None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham . Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham, though there is not unanimity, even among non-Mormon scholars, about the proper interpretation of the vignettes on these fragments. Scholars have identified the papyr...

Elder Mark E. Petersen said: Think of the Negro, cursed as to the Priesthood . Are we prejudiced, against him? Unjustly, sometimes we’re accused of having such a prejudice. But what does the mercy of God have for him? This Negro, who in the pre-existence life lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in the lineage of Cain with a black skin , and possibly being born in darkest Africa – if that Negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel…. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the Celestial Kingdom. He will go there as a servant , but he will get a Celestial resurrection….   Now what is our policy in regard to intermarriage? As to the Negro, of course, there is only one possible answer. We must not intermarry with the Negro .   -"Race Problems - As They Affect the Church", August 27, 1954 ( archive.org )

A letter from the First Presidency stated: The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord , on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the present time. The prophets of the Lord have made several statements as to the operation of the principle. President Brigham Young said: "Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness ? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the holy priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the holy priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain ...." -Letter from the First Presidency, August 17, 1949 ( FairMorm...

Joseph Smith said: ...I was opposed to hanging, even if a man kill another, I will shoot him, or cut off his head, spill his blood on the ground, and let the smoke thereof ascend up to God; and if ever I have the privilege of making a law on that subject, I will have it so. - History of the Church , vol. 5, p. 296 ( byu.edu )

A letter from the First Presidency stated: From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church , never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel . Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now God’s rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogenous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed. We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks , but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine .   -Letter from the First Presidency to Lowry Nelson, July 1...

Brigham Young said: I will remark with regard to slavery, inasmuch as we believe in the Bible, inasmuch as we believe in the ordinances of God, in the Priesthood and order and decrees of God, we must believe in slavery . This colored race have been subjected to severe curses, which they have in their families and their classes and in their various capacities brought upon themselves .  -Speech by Brigham Young in a  Joint Session of the Utah Legislature, January 23, 1852 ( archive.org )

Joseph Smith wrote:  ...the first mention we have of slavery is found in the holy bible, pronounced by a man who was perfect in his generation and walked with God. And so far from that prediction’s being averse from the mind of God it remains as a lasting monument of the decree of Jehovah, to the shame and confusion of all who have cried out against the South, in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in servitude!    “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.–God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”–Gen, 8 [actually chapter 9]: 25,26,27.    Trace the history of the world from this notable event down to this day, and you will find the fulfillment of this singular prophecy...and the people who interfere the least with the decrees and purposes of God in this...