people through their leader, and they will not listen nor obey, what will be the consequences of their disobedience? Darkness and blindness of mind with regard to the things of God will be their lot; they will cease to have the spirit of prayer, and the spirit of the world will increase in them in proportion to their disobedience until they apostatize entirely from God and his ways. (Journal of Discourses 12:117)
             Shipps points out that in 1880 it was not uncommon to see "open breaches of the word of wisdom" (Shipps 2). With this being the case, President Young left no question-thirteen years before-as to the course that these members were on. Even if these members were holding leadership positions in the kingdom, they were still on that awful path of disobedience.
             With the increased availability of members who are meeting a higher standard to serve as leaders, it is virtually impossible to find leaders who openly violate the word of wisdom; however, you will still find leaders who are disobedient in other areas and may not be trul
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