Heber C. Kimball

First Counselor in the First Presidency (December 27, 1847 – June 22, 1868)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (February 15, 1835 – June 22, 1868)

General Conference Addresses

  • April 1866 General Conference
    • Blessings Secured By Faithfulness
      • “If a man does not try to save himself through the means which are provided in the Gospel, he cannot be saved. If people will not stop committing sin and learn to do better, my doing so will not benefit them. It would be just as reasonable to argue that I can eat, drink, breathe, and reflect for them.”
      • “If the truth, simply told, is unwelcome to people, it is because they are themselves guilty of sin unrepented of; and by this ye may know that ye need repentance.”
  • October 1865 General Conference
    • Others’ Sins No Justification of Ours
      • “People generally are disinclined to acknowledge their faults and forsake them, but this we ought to do, purely because we love the right, doing it independently, and in defiance of the evil customs and examples with which we are surrounded.”
      • “If I violate the law of God I shall be condemned and will not escape upon the plea that somebody else did the same. Every man must answer for his own sin.”
      • “It is out of the power of God, angels, or men to make a Saint of a man who is determined to be a sinner. If a man will revolt against God and his authority on the earth, he has a right to do so, as much so as Lucifer had a right to turn away from his Father and God. Men are damned or saved by acting upon their agency, in receiving or rejecting the revealed truths of heaven.”
  • April 1863 General Conference
    • Building the Temple
      • “If the Lord should come to visit his people, where has he got a place to stay and rest himself while he communicates his will to his sons and daughters? That man that has engaged and is working for the accomplishment of such a great design as this is, to prepare a place that will be fit and suitable for the Almighty to dwell in for a short time when he comes to visit his servants, ought to feel highly honored and favored of the Almighty.”
      • “The blessing of the God of Israel are upon this land, and these blessings shall continue unto this people forever. This land shall prove a blessing unto them but a curse unto the wicked, and the evildoers shall not have pleasure here at all but the curse of God shall be upon them.”
  • October 1862 General Conference
    • Our Duties to God
      • “In regard to this work, I know that it will roll on, and the kingdom will be built up, the elect gathered, and the chosen ones go back to the Center Stake of Zion. There are a great many that are remaining in the States till we go back, but I can tell them they will have to come here, for this is the only way there is for the true Saints to get to Jackson County, and they will find it out to be so in due time.”
  • October 1861 General Conference
    • Building of the Temple
      • “What is the use of talking about things; let us go to work and do them.”
      • “You must be alive in Christ in order to partake of his Spirit, power, and authority. The principle is true and the rule is good; just let us hand over twice as many teams to go east next year as we sent this, and then we shall be able to do more work than we have ever done in the mountains before, and we will be better off.”
  • April 1861 General Conference
    • Spirit of Unity
      • “My prayer is from time to time, Father, baptize the Presidency into one spirit, and let them partake of the same element; and then, Father, baptize the Twelve, and the Seventies, and every officer in the Church and kingdom of God, and also every Branch connected to them, that we may all be baptized into one spirit; then we need not fear earth or hell.”
      • “We are going to be ruled by our Father in heaven, and the agents he sends and appoints for us, from this day henceforth and forever.”
    • Appreciation of Divine Gifts and Blessings
      • “Everyone that is not for God is bound for destruction; and if all our enemies combine and come against us with all their armies and munitions of war, they cannot hurt us, for God our Father will fight our battles, as he has done up to this day.”
      • “You that have not done wrong, happy are ye. Do not do any wrong in the future. You that have done right, continue to do right.”
  • October 1860 General Conference
    • The Latter-day Kingdom
      • “Will a good apple tree produce a thorn or a thistle? No, it never will. But notwithstanding this, I believe there are a great many thistles that call themselves apples; yes, many that are briars, thistles, and other useless things they ought not to be.”
      • “Do you imagine that the Lord will go and raise you a crop of wheat, without your first going and ploughing the ground?”
  • October 1859 General Conference
    • Oneness
      • “If I do not wish a man to take the advantage of me, I should not take the advantage of him. If I do not want a man to steal from me, I should not steal from him. If I want my neighbor to hold my property sacred, I should hold his property sacred.”
      • “It is very painful to my feelings when men who hold the holy Priesthood in this Church set an example that is unworthy their high calling, and would influence simple men and women to go astray. Instead of being saviors of men, they destroy them, and will sooner or later have to account for their conduct for the injury they have done by an unwholesome and destructive example.”
      • “I find it very useful to say, “Father, I ask thee, in the name of Jesus, to teach me how to pray, and inspire me to ask for the things thou desirest to confer upon thy son.” When I go before the Father in this way, I notice I have a powerful spirit of prayer.”
      • “God will sustain us, if we will sustain him and be his friends. But how can you be his friends, except you are friends to his cause and to his servants? You cannot find favor with your God while you are opposed to his authority, or to the ordinances and regulations of his house.”
  • April 1857 General Conference
    • Temple and Endowments
      • “How long will it take this people to build the Temple on this Block, supposing that every man and woman, and every child that has arrived at the years of accountability, will unitedly strive for its completion? Not very many years. Were I laboring on that Temple, I would constantly endeavor to work upon it with an eye single to pushing it forward, and to the blessings I expected to receive therein. But supposing that you do not all live, will you not be benefited by it? Yes, you will.”
      • “If we sin, and do not repent, God will chastise us until we do repent of and forsake all sin; but He never will scourge us so long as we do right.”
  • October 1856 General Conference
    • God is Our Father
      • “Now, brethren, what do you say? This is the word of the Lord to us, that we rise up and gather up our teams and start forthwith, not with loads, except feed; take hay and deposit it in different places, so that you can have some when you come back, and bring in those brethren and sisters, and you will have a pleasant time, and God and His angels will go with you, and you will be prospered, upheld, and sustained.”
  • October 1855 General Conference
    • Iniquity
      • “If you will not be corrected you will be damned as sure as the sun will again set.”
  • October 1854 General Conference
    • Adherence to Mormonism
      • “The Devil is on the puckering line, and he will pucker every Saint and every man there is upon the earth, so that they would let their fellow beings lie down in a furrow of the field and starve to death; and these are your brethren and sisters, if you only but knew it, just as much as your brethren and sisters are according to what you call the flesh.”
  • April 1854 General Conference
    • Discernment
      • “If a man is determined to be damned, nothing can hinder it. I have argued with men for hours, for weeks, for months, and for years, to prevail on them to serve the Lord; but my labors have generally been spent in vain on persons who needed so much persuasion to do good.”
      • “We are praying continually that things may be on the earth as they are in heaven. When there was a rebellion in heaven, they cast out the rebellious. I may not remain in this earthly house to see the day when the rebellious will all be cast out on earth as they were in heaven; but I shall obtain an organized glorious body and see the day when, if there is an evil in Israel, it will be cast out, the same as it was cast out of heaven.”
    • Obedience
      • “The only works He accepts, are those that are prepared according to the design He gave. God will not be trifled with; neither will His servants; their words have got to be fulfilled, and they are the men that are to mold you, and tell you what shape to move in.”
      • “When a person is miserable, wretched, and unhappy in himself, put him in what circumstances you please, and he is wretched still. If a person is poor, and composes his mind, and calmly submits to the providences of God, he will feel cheerful and happy in all circumstances, if he continues to keep the commandments of God.”
  • October 1852 General Conference
    • Materials for the Temple
      • “We are here in a happy place, in a goodly land, and among as good a people as ever the Lord suffered to dwell upon the face of the earth. Have I not a reason to be proud? Yes, I am proud of the religion of Christ, I am proud of his Elders, his servants, and of his handmaids, and when they do well I am prouder still. I do not know but I shall get so proud, that I shall be four or five times prouder than I am now.”
    • Blessings of Faithfulness
      • “There are a great many who have the idea, that the time will come when we shall be broken up as a people. Do I fear any such thing? No, I do not fear anything. I fear nothing that is in heaven, or that is upon the earth. I do not fear hell nor its combinations; neither hell, nor the devil, nor any of his angels, has power ever me, or over you, only as we permit them to have. If we permit the devil to have power over us, and we are seduced by him, and we crouch down under his power, then he will have dominion over us. Upon the same principle, we let sin have power over us, but it has no power over us unless we subject ourselves to it.”
      • “Mothers, I wish you would wake up and act in your office and calling, as well as the brethren. It is their calling to go and preach the Gospel, build up the kingdom of God, and establish righteousness, and it is for you to be stewards at home, and attend to the things that they leave behind, and to get wisdom and knowledge in all these things pertaining to your duty.”
    • Going South—Building the Temple—Murmurers
      • “If brother Brigham is not of more consequence to you than your brother or sister, or father or mother, or anything else that pertains to this life, I would not give much for your religion. If you will reflect for a moment, and let the Spirit of the Lord—the spirit of revelation, have place in your bosoms, so that you can foresee the future events which we are approaching, and let your minds expand by the power of the Holy Ghost, you will not hesitate one moment to go to these valleys.”

Other Recorded Addresses

  • Sanctification, Discourse in Salt Lake City, July 16, 1854
    • “Thus all Israel put to death the transgressor, and sanctified themselves before the Lord. Would it not be an excellent course to pursue with this people, to sanctify them to the fullest extent of the word? There are individuals in these valleys who profess to be Latter-day Saints; but do they by their works make their profession honorable? No; their works and their profession are very dissimilar indeed. I think it would be an excellent thing for this people to be sanctified from such persons, and have them cleansed from our midst, by making an atonement.”
    • “Many wish for the time when President Brigham Young and his brethren will be relieved from attending to temporal matters, and attend to spiritual matters altogether. You will have to wait for this until we get into the spiritual world and have to deal with spirits. All things pertaining to this world, both spiritual and temporal, will be dictated by the Prophet of God—by our President. He dictates how to build a Temple—how high, how wide, how many rooms it must contain, whether it shall be of this, that, or the other form; and the Tithing House and all public works pertaining to this people are dictated by him. Some wish to rid him of having anything to do with temporal matters. That cannot be, in the nature of things; for, as one of the ancients said, “As the body is dead without the spirit, so is faith without works, being alone.” So, as long as the body, which is temporal, is joined to the spirit, he must have to do with temporal things.”
    • “Cease your works, and then your faith is dead. I care not for a man’s faith unaccompanied by works, and his works must correspond with his faith.”
  • Education, Discourse in Salt Lake City, March 19, 1854
    • “The inhabitants of the whole earth are coated over, as it were, with false traditions; which form an almost impenetrable barrier to the shafts of truth.”
    • “I am not what the world calls a learned man; neither is President Young. We never went to any college except the one sustained by the Latter-day Saints, and we have been in that from the beginning. Let me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, if we had been brought up in palaces, and been sent to school all the days of our lives to get all the education of the world, and were practical men only in these things, would we be of any advantage to this people? A man may pass through a course of education designed to fit him for a doctor, a minister, or a lawyer, and it is often the case that he comes out an ignoramus, or worse than useless member of society.”
    • “I do not feel as I used to when I see a man going away from the society of the Church of God. I used to be filled with sympathy and plead with them hours and hours, importuning with them until my head would ache and my heart sicken; and I never had the satisfaction in even converting one such character in my life. If I should happen to get one converted he would not stay converted, so I have concluded, and I think wisely, to let them go, and not suffer myself to have any more feelings about it than I would about any of the common occurrences of life.”
    • “There is nothing I fear in this Church except contention, and a disposition in the people to run over their fellow beings. What I mean by this is, when a man is appointed by the proper authorities to preside over one of the outposts of the Kingdom of God, in this Territory or anywhere else, there is a disposition in some to create an influence against that man, not to be obedient themselves, and to endeavor to make everybody else disobedient. Now a man will be condemned for not obeying the person properly appointed to preside over him, as much as he would for not obeying brother Brigham if he were there; and the people will be as much condemned if they do not obey brother Brigham, as they would if they should disobey the Lord God were He here in person.”
    • “I care not how the Lord saves me. I am willing to pass through anything under the heavens that He requires me to pass through, that I may do His will and keep His commandments, and have favor in His eyes, through accomplishing the work He has given me to do.”
    • “Brethren, do keep the commandments of God and live your profession; and remember if you were as godly and as holy as the angels, the world would speak against you and seek your destruction. What has the world to do with you? Nothing, only as you associate with it and partake of its spirit. Upon the same principle has a man any power over a woman, any further than she will give him power to pollute herself and him too? Can the Gentiles turn me to unrighteousness any further than I permit them? I am an instrument in the hands of God, and it is not for me to dictate the power that works through me, but it is for Him to control me according to His good pleasure.”
  • A Prayer, Delivered in Salt Lake City, April 6, 1853
    • “Pour out thy Spirit upon thy servants, the Twelve Apostles; may thy power abide upon them, to qualify them for the responsible calling unto which thou hast called them. Also, in connection with them, let thy Spirit rest upon the Quorums of the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; and upon every faithful member of thy Church in these valleys of the mountains, and in all the world.”
    • “Now, O God, we dedicate this Stone to thee. May this spot be holy, and all that pertaineth to it. And inasmuch as there shall be an enemy, or a person that are evil disposed towards thy house, and they shall endeavor to lay snares for the feet of thy people, may they be caught in their own net, be overwhelmed in their own dilemma, and have no power nor influence in the least to hurt thy Saints from this time henceforth and forever. May the power of the mighty God of Jacob fortify thy servants, enabling them to execute righteousness before thee the Lord our God.”
  • Union of the Saints, Discourse in Salt Lake City, August 13, 1853
    • “The Gospel and plan of salvation that I have embraced, is music to me; it is sweet to my body, and congenial to my spirit; and it is more lovely than anything else I have ever seen since I have been in the world. I love it, and that is why I love this people better than any other people on God’s earth, because there was never a better people, that is, I am speaking of the majority of them; but if you take them as a whole, I do not know that you can find any worse—that is, there are some that will compare with the worst in the world for sin and wickedness.”
    • “It is this union among those who are faithful “Mormons” that makes the world afraid of us; they fear us because we differ from the world. In the United States and in the old countries, they are divided into six or seven hundred different religious denominations, all disagreeing with each other; besides political and a thousand other kinds of divisions and differences, such as whiggery, democratism, socialism, which, in short, may all be summed up under the term, Devilism. This is not the policy of the Latter-day Saints. Jesus says, if you are not one, you are not mine. Let the Christian world who profess to believe in Jesus Christ, and in his Father, and in this book, the Bible, note that passage, “Except ye are one, ye are not mine.””
    • “Brother Joseph is gone, and now brother Brigham Young, the Governor of the Territory of Utah, is our Prophet, our leader, our Revelator; and it is for me and you to listen to him with all diligence, the same as we would listen to Joseph were he alive. Brother Brigham is his successor; his word is sacred; and if you do not observe it, it will not be well, and there is where I fear for you, brethren. I do not fear so much for myself as I do for you, because it will go hard with you, if you disobey his advice. There will many of you turn from the faith; you will turn your backs to us, and some will be guilty of shedding innocent blood, if you are not aware. This will be the result of apostasy. When that spirit attacks you, you will be led to do as other apostates have, who have turned from the Church of Christ.”
    • “But the most of parents, when they tell their children to do a thing, and happen to give them a little slap on the ear for disobedience, the next moment they are saying, “O my dear child, I am sorry, let me give you a piece of bread and butter.” Our Father in heaven does not do so, until he sees contrition of heart in His children, for their wrongs.”
    • “A single man can accomplish more with the power of the Spirit of God, than this whole people can, if they will not do right.”
  • Condition of the People, Discourse in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, November 14, 1852
    • “If I take food in the afterpart of the day, it is disagreeable for me to speak in the afternoon; it is hard and laborious. When you go from this place and return to your homes, you eat so much, that when you return here again, those that do, you are as void of receiving intelligence and the Spirit of the Lord God as a stone. This I know to be true; that is, with many of that portion that do return.”
    • “Brethren, there is not anything I fear, sisters, there is not anything I fear, in this world, but that we shall prosper, and dwell upon the earth, and continue in the Valleys of the mountains, and never be removed, that is, if we will be faithful, and do as well as we know how, and follow the dictates of the Holy Spirit of God, and of him and his brethren who preside over us. If we do this, we never shall be overcome. These things have been talked about many times, and I might split my lungs, and my brethren might do the same, unto some people in the world; for the more you talk to them, the more light that is revealed to them, the less they seem to appreciate it. If they do seem to appreciate it, they do not obey it, they do not walk in the path marked out; but they will receive instructions from day to day, and enter into the most solemn obligations, before God and angels, that they will observe them, but before they get home they forget them. Is not this true, gentlemen? Is it not true, ladies? I will tell you my feelings plainly about these matters. I wish to God that this people would do as they are told, as brother Taylor has said today. You know what my belief is, and I am satisfied it is the belief of every person here. Many are willing to eat and drink, wear clothing, and lie down to sleep, and they think they are going to be ushered into the Kingdom of God by that portion of men and women that are faithful. This is a mistake, gentlemen and ladies. If you do not cultivate yourselves, and cultivate your spirits in this state of existence, it is just as true as there is a God that liveth, you will have to go into another state of existence, and bring your spirits into subjection there.”
    • “I am speaking to your spirits. I am not talking as to people who are not in the house. Are not your spirits in the house? Are not your bodies your houses, your tabernacles or temples, and places for your spirits? Look at it; reflect upon it. If you keep your spirits trained according to the wisdom and fear of God, you will attain to the salvation of both body and spirit. I ask, then, if it is your spirits that must be brought into subjection? It is; and if you do not do that in these bodies, you will have to go into another estate to do it. You have got to train yourselves according to the law of God, or you will never obtain your resurrected bodies. Mark it! You do not think of these things, you only think of today. If you can pass along today, it is all right, thinking that brother Brigham, brother Heber, brother Willard, and the Twelve, with brother Joseph at our head, will lead you all into the celestial world. We cannot do it. Why? Because Justice sits at the door, and will not admit a single soul until he has paid the uttermost farthing.”
    • “You have got to repent of your sins, and turn unto the Lord your God, with full purpose of heart, and cease your murmuring and complaining, that you may be forgiven.”
  • Funeral Address for Mary Smith, September 22, 1852
    • “Let us do all the good we can. Show all the kindness we can to the world, to both Saint and sinner, to all upon the face of the earth, and I know we shall receive our reward for every good and for every evil work we do, but I do not want to be rewarded for anything but that which is good. May God grant me life, that it may be spent for the good of this people, and for the comfort and consolation of brother Brigham. God forbid I should ever grieve his feelings, and the Spirit of God, from this time forth, that when I die I may depart in peace, to mingle with those who have gone before me.”
    • “Considering the character of my calling, connected as I am and have been with the Prophet, Apostles, and Patriarchs of Jesus Christ, and with holy men of God, I do not consider that anything else but doing right is the character of such a man, it is the nature of his calling and office to be an Apostle, and issue forth the light and truth of God, from this time henceforth and forever. These are my feelings, brother Brigham, all the time.”
  • Privileges and Duties of the Saints, Address in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, September 19, 1852
    • “There is not anything that has been revealed to me, since I came into this Church, but what I most assuredly know to be true. “Mormonism” is true, and we who have enlisted in this Church have enlisted in a good cause; and by continually obeying the truth to the end of our lives, it will lead us into the Celestial world; and I know that there is no other way to get there, only by the principle of obedience, and bringing our hearts to bear upon the truth, and to gauging our lives by it.”
    • “Inasmuch as we are the Elders of Israel, the saviors of men, we should take a course to set an example that is worthy of imitation in our daily walk, conversation, and business transactions. While we were hearing from this stand last Sabbath concerning the course which some men took in keeping groceries, &c., I thought all men are not alike—have not all got strong minds, that it is the duty of every person never to introduce into or permit a thing to enter your houses that would have a tendency to allure the mind and lead it astray, but set a good example and do as you would wish to be dealt by.”
    • “But where a man does permit himself to do these things, I have no doubt that in process of time it will work together for good to those who love God and keep His commandments. We can see who is righteous, who is false, and who is true. Let us keep the commandments of God, and when we meet together, as we have this afternoon, and every afternoon, to partake of the Sacrament, let us pray that we may be strengthened in our bodies and spirits, that we may be filled with the same spirit, power, truth, and righteousness that dwelt in the bosom of Jesus, that we may cleave to the vine and partake of the same nourishment with it.”
    • “We have got to be brought back into the presence of our Father in heaven, from whence we have fallen; and if we calculate on this we must pass through trials, suffering, and sifting. If you get thrashed, do not murmur. Brethren, let us take the right course, listen to the counsels we are blessed with and that we know to be right.”
  • Instructions and Counsel to Departing Missionaries, Remarks in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, August 28, 1852
    • “I want to say one thing before we proceed to the business of calling and setting apart those who have to go from this place to the nations this season. We have made a selection of a considerable number of Elders to leave home and go abroad. This may be repugnant to the feelings of some: they may think it is a hazardous undertaking. But at the same time, to go now is nothing to compare with going out to preach the Gospel fifteen years ago, when they had to go, not only without purse or scrip, but without any knowledge that there was a friend to take them by the hand when they arrived at their destination. Now they cannot go to any part of the world, scarcely, but they will find themselves among the Saints.”
    • “I beg and beseech of you, brethren, you that shall be chosen, when you are elected, to go, if you don’t live until you get to the United States; for when men are called and set apart to the ministry to go to the nations of the earth, if they refuse to go, it is death to them—that is, to their characters as faithful Elders in Israel: they go down and not up, backward and not forward.”
    • “Brother Brigham Young is the successor of Joseph Smith; and a better man never lived upon the earth, nor ever sought the interest of this people more fervently from morning until night, and vice versa, than he has done. Did he not travel in the days of Joseph? He did, from the time he came into the Church until the death of Joseph; and so did I. Did we ever hesitate for one moment? No, not for a moment.”
    • “I say to those who are elected to go on missions, Go, if you never return; and commit what you have into the hands of God—your wives, your children, your brethren, and your property. Let truth and righteousness be your motto; and do not go into the world for anything else but to preach the Gospel, build up the kingdom of God, and gather the sheep into the fold. You are sent out as shepherds to gather the sheep together; and remember that they are not your sheep: they belong to Him that sends you.”
  • Believing the Bible—the Gospel—Persecution—Spirit-Rapping, Etc, Address in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 11, 1852
    • “These bodies are given to you by the same Being that gave to me my body, and they are committed to you as a stewardship by that God who placed us here; and you have got to give an account of your stewardship, and the course you take. If you permit that tabernacle to become polluted, and if your spirit suffers your body to be contaminated with sin and corruption, you will have to make an atonement for it before you can get your redemption worked out. Gentlemen, mark it, for it is even so.”
    • “God has one mode of saving men and women, and you cannot be saved upon any other principle than that which Jesus Christ taught, and I know it.”
    • “I have seen the day when I loved gold, and silver, and fine carriages, and fine horses, and the good things of this world; but I have lost those feelings, and may God ever continue to separate them from me, as far as the east is from the west; and let my affections be upon Him, and His kingdom, until I breathe my last breath.”
    • “I have told you the truth, and whether you are in hell or in heaven you shall know that “Mormonism” is true, and what I and my brethren have told you this day is the Gospel of salvation.”
  • Exhortation to Faithfulness, Address in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 18, 1852
    • “I think you ought to be good men and good women, good children, good fathers and mothers, and good brethren and sisters. Why? Because you know what is right and what is wrong.”
    • “Some men, in their course, remind me of a man’s trying to reach the top of a ladder, without being satisfied to commence at the first round, whereas, if they would commence at the first round, and go step by step, they would soon arrive at the upper rounds.”
    • “What kind of people ought we to be? We should be Saints of God, and not sinners.”

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