Journal of Discourses

Elias Smith in the Journal of Discourses

His one sermon in the series, and what it covers.

One sermon by Elias Smith appears in the Journal of Discourses, in volume 6 (1859).

In his own words

The table below says what his one sermon covers. This is what it sounded like.

I have seen many dark days; and when I have seen and heard men, who have been in the Church eighteen or twenty years, say that they have had no trials, I have felt in my heart that they either lied, or that they had not lived their religion. If I was to say that I never had any trials, it would not be true; and if I was to say that I ever once desired to back out, that would be equally untrue. As I said before, in my early days I tried to lift myself up by my own ingenuity. All that I acquired I wished to do by my own skill. If it was not natural to me, I acquired and had a stiff-headed disposition, and that has been hard for me to overcome, and have hardly got over it yet; but when such things come along as try me, and I overcome them, I then feel better.

Elias Smith, Personal Feelings and Experience, Etc, Journal of Discourses, Volume 6

What the sermon covers

Indexed subjects, in order of how often they appear: Post Office Department, Daniel H. Wells, Trials, Jackson County, Mail Service, United States Army, Utah Territory, War and Rumors of War, Nauvoo, Utah War, Faithfulness, Latter-Day Saint Pioneers.

Where it sits

Volume 6 (1859) holds 66 sermons by 20 speakers, of which 1 is his. Brigham Young carries that volume with 15.

The Journal is overwhelmingly the work of a dozen men. The speakers who appear once or twice are the reason the series is worth indexing in full: they are printed at the same length and with the same care as the presidencies, and almost nowhere else.

Every sermon, in order

The complete list as the Journal prints it. Titles are the printed titles, which routinely name four or five unrelated subjects in one line — each one links to the discourse itself at journalofdiscourses.com.