George Reynolds

First Council of the Seventy (April 5, 1890 – August 9, 1909)

General Conference Addresses

• October 1906 General Conference
  • Do the Work
    • “We all have an individual responsibility to see that the work is done which God requires at our hands; that we do it by His help and through His grace to the best of our ability; and that we must not leave to others the work that God has placed upon our shoulders.”
    • “I know further, that God will remain with us if we will be true to Him; and more than this, I know that He is abundantly capable of taking care of His work. At the same time we must do our part; do it in love, in faith, in zeal, and then the blessing of God will follow and His purposes will be accomplished. We none of us need to be afraid, my brethren and sisters, for God’s work will prevail.”
• April 1906 General Conference
  • Preparing for Missions
    • “We often express a willingness to lay our all upon the altar of sacrifice, and at the same time these matters which in the minds of some appear to be of minor importance are forgotten or slighted; they are not considered of sufficient importance for us to live up to every day of our lives.”
    • “We were told many, many years ago by President Young, that outside of the Gospel there were but three things—death, hell and the grave. None of us want either of those things. We desire to live, and to live forever, with the gift of eternal lives granted unto us.”
• April 1903 General Conference
  • Sunday Schools
    • “I believe, my brethren and sisters, that in developing the muscles and the vitality of our people a little change from athletics to manual training will be a great advantage to this community.”
    • “Our intention is, first, and before all other things, to implant in the hearts of the children a love for God and for Hie holy cause, a reverence for all sacred things, and to develop within them a testimony of the truth of the great work of the latter days.”
• April 1902 General Conference
  • The Growth of Zion
    • “All these things tell us that the Lord is with His people, and that He will fully accomplish all that he has declared; for as we know. He is abundantly able to take care of His people and of His work.”
• October 1901 General Conference
  • A God of Miracles
    • “My testimony is that God continues to hear the prayers of His people, and that we are living in a period of daily miracles amongst this people. It is simply those who will not see who are blind to these circumstances.”
    • “Others have wandered off in different directions, apparently to get from under the influence, direction and counsel of the servants of God. To do this is a suicidal policy on the part of those who attempt it. In the kingdom of God the path of obedience is not only the path of safety, but it is the path of salvation.”
• October 1898 General Conference
  • God’s Work
    • “When we speak of obstacles we mean that they are things that stand in our path, not to prevent our progress, but that we may triumph by overcoming them.”
    • “It is the little actions of our lives that go to make up our characters. It is the minutes that make the days, and the days that make the years, and the years that make eternity.”
• October 1897 General Conference
  • A Testimony
    • “I desire to see righteousness brought about, I desire to see peace established upon the earth, I desire to see love abound amongst all the sons and daughters of Adam. I have no pleasure in iniquity, no pleasure in turmoil, in rioting; no pleasure in contention; but I desire to live to see the name of God glorified, to see the principles of eternal truth vindicated, to see Israel become God’s first born upon the earth, and occupy the positon God has intended for His people; and I desire to see this earth prepared for the coming and reign of the Prince of Peace, of Jesus, our Redeemer, the Son of God.”
    • “There is nothing lacking, but all that is necessary, if we will obey, to give us power to return into the presence of God, and to enjoy the blessings of the celestial kingdom throughout the eternities to come, are ours, are with this Church, have been revealed of God. We have been made partakers of all these things. There is nothing wanting. Not one link is left out.”

Other Reported Addresses

• Remarks, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 29, 1885
  • “Having rejected the principles that God in his kindness has caused to be revealed, His Spirit, which is the spirit of life, light, intelligence and truth, is of necessity measurably withdrawn from them, and they are left to themselves to serve God as best they may when they will not serve Him as He requires. The consequence is division and subdivision in the churches; for every man’s opinion is as good as that of his neighbor; and there remains no trustworthy, much less infallible, standard by which to guage the beliefs of mankind; consequently every man walks in his own way and professes such a belief as best suits his fancy. But with us it is different.”
  • “But in our union lies our strength; because we cannot be united on any other principle than obedience to the law of the Lord. There is no spirit but the Spirit of the Most High God that will make this people one.”
  • “The truth will not only make us free, but it will make us united, and we cannot be united, however much we may strive, on the principles of error, because there is no bond of union in them.”
  • “I have met a few in our midst who seemed to have an idea that there was a Gospel of compromise, if I may so use the term, that might be advocated. In all the history of this world, from its creation to the present, I have never read of, never heard of the time when God Almighty compromised with the Evil One; when he was willing that evil should have a place in the midst of His people; when He was willing that any of the principles of eternal truth should be relinquished by those of His sons and daughters, to whom he had revealed them. No! The word of instruction, the word of revelation, the word of counsel has always been for man to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; to keep inviolate the ordinances of God; to preserve the principles of truth and righteousness intact, and never to consider for one moment that man can gain his salvation by giving up or resigning any principle or law that God has said is necessary for the accomplishment of His purposes, which purposes we understand to be the salvation of mankind and the redemption of the world. Any plan less than the one devised by Him is imperfect; anything else will not save the first one of us.”
  • “Education does not change the nature of men; it simply develops and polishes that which is in them; it makes the best of that which there is. As the limestone when it is polished is not changed into a diamond, but remains limestone still, though it is more beautiful and can be used for more varied purposes, so it is with the man who is educated in the learning of the schools only; his nature remains the same but the most is made of him; but when a man receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is then that his nature is changed. He learns to love the truth; he learns to seek after it, he understands it. He sees things in a light so different to that which he did previously, that it is difficult for him to comprehend how it was possible that he could have been so ignorant and so blind before times.”

Articles in Church Publications

Other Publications and Resources