I leave it to every man’s conscience what his work is; it is whatever the Lord would have you do. There must be duty. If it be your duty to go to the stake, go. I dare not declare to anyone what he ought to do. I am dependent. I am longing for the Word to show me what I am to do, and the moment I obey it, I am all right. Saul of Tarsus says,
“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”
The greatest thing to be deplored in the present day is the aimlessness, uselessness, want of any definite occupation of nearly every one. I believe everyone has a mission. I cannot tell others what theirs is: I might make a mistake if I tried to. Still I can say to a woman with a family, “There is no doubt about yours” but, I add, the banks are not the river, though they may determine the river. And just as the banks of the river are the greenest, sweetest spots, so it is at home, with those who are nearest to you, that you are to show forth most practically and perfectly your mission.
Moses set to work forty years too soon with his mission. His was muscular Christianity. Afterward he was sent by God to do the work; but he had to beware of his muscularity to the end. It was that which prevented his going into the land.