11 October 1873
Retrenchment Association; Fourteenth Ward Meetinghouse, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
[. . .]
Counselor Mrs. E. R. Snow said;
I am thankful that I have the privilege of meeting with you this afternoon as I did not expect to be able to be here; there are two things that I desire to retrench from more especially: One is the Spirit of the world and the other “Ignorance”
When a person is filled with the Spirit of God there is no necessity for saying Don’t cherish the Spirit of the world: because God’s spirit enlightens, instructs and lifts
the mind above the Spirit of the world, we want our sisters to make themselves as beautiful as possible, but, the key to beauty is the Spirit of God glowing in the countanance: Nothing that disfigures the human form adds to its beauty we should make it a study then we can make the most of our time: we should also study taste in our dress: but these exhibitions and extravigances of the world are disgusting in the sight of God. As Siste[r] [Mary Isabella Hales] Horne says I do not believe in confineing ourselves strictly to one style of dress, as it is just as proper to dress in the present style if it is becoming, as it is to dress in an obsolete style; I wish to say a few words on the Woman’s Exponant; It is designed to be an educator of women it is the only womans paper that has been attempted in Zion since t [the] organization of the Church; and we should support it for our own and Zion’s sake; it has moved on very quietly and been very little
and very little said about it, we expect it to improve and in order that its columns may not be filled with advertizments to support it we want our sisters to subscribe for it, the more we can extend it the more we will preserve its columns to intelletua [intellectual] [n.p.] matter; next January I shall be seventy years old, that is considered to be the time allotted to man to live on the earth; I want to live just as long as God can make me useful and until I have finished my work; I love my sisters and I am thankful to be associated with them.
[. . .] [n.p.]