SHARING THE GOSPEL

WITH OTHERS
Sermons and Writings of George Albert
Smith
Compiled by Preston Nibley

(c) 1948 Deseret Book.

Contents

Sharing the Gospel With Others

Eager to Share With Others

Privilege and Blessing of Sharing With Others
The Gospel Is for Our Neighbors Here at Home
Am I My Brother's Keeper
Chosen Few Proclaim Good Tidings
Bestowal of Divine Authority
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With Blessings Comes Duty to Share

Overcome Prejudice
Good Will Toward the Weak
Let Us Bring you More Good
Prepare to Share the Gospel
Give the Lord a Chance
Companionship of the Spirit
Do What Is Right
Fruits of the Gospel
Opportunities Lost and Found
From the Tops of the Mountains
Diminishing Faith In God
A Child Witness
Outpouring of the Spirit
The Spirit of the Lord Strives With Man
Power of the Church
Pre-existence
Commendation for Good Works
Spirituality of the Latter-day Saints
Good Will Toward Men

Gospel Principles Applied Enrich Life

The Gospel Message

Do Something Worthwhile Each Day
The Promise of Eternal Life Conditional
The Use of New Inventions
Seek First the Kingdom of God
The Lord's Side of the Line
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The Scriptures
The Story of a Generous Man
Three Degrees of Glory
Unkind Criticism Destroys
Faith a Gift: Fruit of Righteousness
How My Faith and Knowledge Grew
The Law of Honesty
The Best Witnesses Are Men Who Know the Gospel
Value of Revealed Knowledge
Keep the Commandments
Set a Proper Example
Gospel Will Make its Way
The Lord Speaks
The Lord Speaks Through the President of the Church
Blessings Flow From Obedience
Need for the Word of the Lord
A Glorious Opportunity
Faith -- The Principle of Power
Controlling Our Thoughts
Perfect Form of Government
Righteous Example Superior Sermon
Let Us Love One Another
The Sabbath Day a Blessing to Mankind
Many Called: Few Chosen
Easy to Keep the Lord's Commandments
Encourage Others to Worthy Endeavor
The Resurrection
Eternal Hope
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On the Beam

Lives of Great Men Oft Remind Us We Can Make Our Lives Sublime

Humble But Great Men

Grandfather George A. Smith
Joseph Smith -- The Boy
Joseph Smith -- The Martyr
Tribute to President Joseph Smith
Joy of Laboring in the Church
A Prayer Answered
Natural That the Prophet Should Seek the Lord
Monument to the Prophet
Concerning Gratitude

The Book of Mormon -- The Savior in The New World

The Book of Mormon -- Story of a Choice Land

The Book of Mormon -- A Larger Share of the Gospel

Count your Blessings

Inventory of Our Blessings and Opportunities

Your Good Name
Equal Opportunities for All
Happiness
A Blessed Congregation
A Happy Life
Comforting Beliefs
The Purpose of Life
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All Honor to The Pioneers

A Boy in Pioneer Days

Our Heritage From the Pioneers
Know Utah's Excellence
Hard Times
The Great Pageant
This is the Place Monument
Dedicatory Prayer
The Importance of Prayer
Tribute to the Mormon Pioneers

The Blessing of Women and Children

Honoring Motherhood
Praise for the Women of the Church
A Tribute to Mother
Children
Women Represent the Lord
The Story of Two Boys
An Eagle Scout
Families -- Most Precious Gifts
Greatest Joy for Our Children
Children at Worship
Wealth for Our Children

Music Hath Charms

Righteous Songs a Blessing

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Evan Stephens
Praise for Tabernacle Choir
Worship With Music
Hymns That Have Influenced My Life

Good Government The Fruit of Righteousness

Sustaining the Law

God Rules the World
Men Must Be Free
America a Blessing to Mankind
The Lord Has Watched Over this Land
Sustain the Constitution
Prayers for the Leaders of Our Country
Good Will for Political Campaigns

The Human Family

On Searching for Family Records

Greetings to the Latter-day Saints of the European Mission
God Opened the Way
Mission to the South Seas

After Eighty Years

After Eighty Years

Lest Calamities Overtake Use
God Has Been Good to Us
A Choice Land
Choice Association In the Church
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There Is Trouble Ahead

The Inspiration of the Almighty
No Enmity
Singing Mothers
The Constitution
Value of Children
They Who Give to the Poor but Lend to the Lord
Prayer
Testimony of President George Albert Smith

Freely Ye Have Received; Freely Give

A Complete Sermon Delivered by President George Albert

Smith, in the L.D.S. Chapel at Washington D.C., on
November 4, 1945

PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH'S CREED

I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.

I would visit the sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.

I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.

I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and a happy life.

I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the
thing that is right.

I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be
happy.

I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless
friends.
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I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me,
but would seek to do him good and make him my friend.

I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the successes of all
the children of my Heavenly Father.

I would not be an enemy to any living soul.

Knowing that the Redeemer of mankind has offered to the world the only plan that will fully
develop us and make us really happy here and hereafter, I feel it not only a duty but also a
blessed privilege to disseminate this truth.

Foreword
The excerpts contained in this volume have been selected from the sermons and writings of
President George Albert Smith, which he has delivered and written over a period of
forty-seven years, from the time he became an Apostle in 1903, until the present time, 1950.

In presenting this volume to the members of the Church, it is the desire of those who have
assisted in its preparation and publication, that the readers of these excerpts may form a
closer acquaintanceship with their Leader and President; that they may learn of the love he
bears for his fellow-men and of his deep devotion to the Church and people over which he
presides.

There is no acrimony, bitterness or hatred in the heart of President Smith towards any of
God's children. He loves all of them, regardless of race, creed or color, and his greatest
desire is to "share with them" the precious teachings of the Gospel, which were revealed
from Heaven to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the good and salvation of the world.

The Compiler

Brief Summary of events in the Life of

PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH

1870 -- April 4th: Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, son of John Henry and Sarah Farr Smith.
1878 -- June 6th: Baptized in City Creek by James Moyle.
 9

1878 to 1882 -- Attended common schools in Salt Lake City.

1882 to 1883 -- Student at Brigham Young Academy.
1883 to 1887 -- Employee of Grant-Odell Co., and Z.C.M.I. Clothing factory
1887 to 1888 -- Student at University of Utah.
1888 to 1891 -- Salesman for Z.C.M.I.
1891 -- June to November: Mission to Southern Utah in interest of Y.M.M.I.A.
1892 -- May 25th: Married to Lucy Emily Woodruff.
1892 to 1894 -- Mission to Southern States.
1894 to 1898 -- With Z.C.M.I.
1898 -- January 5th: Appointed Receiver of the U.S. Land Office and Special Disbursing
Agent for Utah. Served two terms.
1903 -- October 6th: Sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.
1916 -- Elected President of the International Irrigation Congress.
1917 -- Elected President of the International Dry Farm Congress
1918 -- Elected President of the International Farm Congress.
1919 -- January 27th: Called to preside over the European Mission.
1921 -- Returned to Salt Lake City.
1921 -- Appointed superintendent of Y.M.M.I.A. in Church.
1922 -- Elected Vice-president of National Society of S. A. R.
1930 -- Elected President of Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Assn.
1931 -- Elected member of National Executive Board of B. S. A.
1932 -- Received award of Silver Beaver from Salt Lake Council of Boy Scouts of America.
1934 -- Received award of Silver Buffalo from National Council of Boy Scouts of America.
1938 -- Made an extensive tour of the missions of the Church in the South Pacific.
1943 -- Set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve.
1945 -- May 21st: Sustained as President of the Church.

Sharing the Gospel with Others

EAGER TO SHARE WITH OTHERS

STANDING here as one of the meekest and humblest among you, I feel to praise my
Heavenly Father for the testimony that he has given to me, that this is His Church. O how I
wish that the good people of all denominations might really know what we are seeking to
share with them. I meet members of the Catholic, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Methodist
and all other churches, and I find in these men and women virtues that are most beautiful to
me. But I find that they are so rooted in the organizations with which they are identified that
when I try to explain to them what we are doing, they seem mystified; they are not able to
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understand. One man said to me, "Would you have us give up all that we have had, all these
blessings that we have enjoyed, to join your church?" I replied, "Not a blessing, not one
good thing would we ask you to give up. But we do say to you, we will be glad to share with
you, if you will permit us to do so, without cost to you, some of the blessings of our
Heavenly Father that you have not received in the past and which are now at your very
door."

CR October 1931. Page 120.

PRIVILEGE AND BLESSING OF SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH OTHERS

I realize the great responsibility that is upon my shoulders. I know that without the
help of our Heavenly Father, the organization with which we are identified cannot be
successful. No man or group of men can make it successful, but if the members of this
Church will continue to keep the commandments of God, live their religion, set an example
to the world, love their neighbors as themselves, we will go forward, and increasing
happiness will flow to us.

Today as I stand here, I realize that in this city, in the Catholic Church, the Presbyterian
Church, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Episcopalian, and the other churches, I have brothers
and sisters that I love. They are all my Father's children, He loves them and he expects me
and he expects you, to let our lights so shine that these other sons and daughters of his,
seeing our good works, will be constrained to accept all the truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ our Lord. Think what a marvelous opportunity we have. Think what a blessing it will
be, if we do our part here, as we stand on the other side of the Great Divide, when our Father
shall summon his family together, as he will, to have these wonderful men and women,
hundreds and thousands of them, who have been our neighbors, and who have watched our
lives, stand there and say: "Father in Heaven, we owe it to these thy children, of the humble
organization that bears the name of thy Son, we owe it to them that we have understood the
truth, and that we are here at the supper of the Lamb." That is our privilege and blessing.

CR Oct. 7, 1945. Page 174.

THE GOSPEL IS FOR OUR NEIGHBORS HERE AT HOME

Within the last year I have had the privilege of meeting and conversing on the gospel
with some men who live in this community, not members of our Church. One man had
resided here for twenty years, a man whose life is above reproach, a good citizen, a splendid
businessman, one who has kindly feelings toward our people. He told me that he had lived
here twenty years and he had come to the conclusion that we were just as good as our
neighbors who are members of other Churches; he could not see any difference in us.
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I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, that is no compliment to me. If the gospel of
Jesus Christ does not make me a better man, then I have not developed as I should, and if our
neighbors, not in this church, can live among us from year to year and see no evidence of the
benefits that come from keeping the commandments of God in our lives, then there is need
for reform in Israel....

I might say, with reference to the one man, that after talking to him a couple of hours on the
train, "Why" he said to me, "Mr. Smith, that is beautiful to me. I think you ought to send
your missionaries to such men as I am, right here in Salt Lake City. There are hundreds of
men in our city who would like to hear what you have told me tonight, and we would be
better men for the teaching." He told me he employed members of our church, some returned
missionaries, and none of them had ever spoken to him about the gospel. I said, "You would
not expect a man to ask you to give him time in your office to teach you Mormonism. If you
were to invite him to come in he would be glad to explain his views. Then he said, "Do your
missionaries who are in the world go only to the homes where they are invited?" That
awakened a thought in my mind. Are we doing our duty, are we performing the labor that the
Lord has entrusted in our care, or are we idly floating down stream, going with the tide,
taking it for granted that in the last day we will be redeemed?

CR October 1916. Page 49.

AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

I realize, that I am as responsible to the Lord for the furtherance of this work, as the
President of the Church is. I realize that each of you also are responsible to Him for the
promotion of this work, as are those who preside over you. I cannot say, "Am I my brother's
keeper?" I cannot shift the responsibility to those who preside over me, but standing in the
ranks of the children of our Father I must bear my portion, I must carry that part of the load
that the Lord places upon me, and if I shirk, then I realize that I forfeit the blessings that
would come to me by obedience to the commandments of our Father.

CR October 1911. Page 44.

CHOSEN FEW PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS TO MILLIONS

Today, this body of people, this little handful of God's children, have the
responsibility of proclaiming the truth to the millions who are in darkness. This is a great
labor. At present we are excluded from many nations of the earth [World War I was raging at
the time] but our Heavenly Father in his wisdom has located us in a great, free, liberty loving
nation where we have the privilege of proclaiming the truth and teaching the gospel. He has
led people from all portions of the earth, one here and another there; they have been pricked
in their hearts, and have investigated and received the truth and their anxiety has been for
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those from whom they have descended; the people of their own race. Missionaries have
traveled throughout the earth as a result, and the truths of the gospel of our Lord have been
proclaimed to many hundreds of thousands of our Father's children.

CR October 1916. Page 48.

BESTOWAL OF DIVINE AUTHORITY IMPOSES RESPONSIBILITY

After these conference meetings are over you brethren will go back to the stakes over
which you preside. If we have sought the Lord we shall be strengthened, our faith will be
increased, our power to direct will be increased and we will not feel the weakness that
possesses men when they are left alone. Rather, we will feel the strength and power of our
Heavenly Father, for He helps us.

The responsibility that comes to all of us when these honors have been bestowed upon us is
tremendous. I hope that none of the members of the Church who have been called to preside
in its various departments will feel that they can make it secondary in their lives. You who
are here today must know that it is your duty, first of all to learn what the Lord wants, and
then by the power and strength of his holy priesthood to learn to magnify your calling in the
presence of your fellows in such a way that the people will be glad to follow you....

Brethren, this is not a trifling affair. You cannot neglect the business of the Church, as the
presiding officers of the stakes of Zion, and expect the Lord to carry on. He desires to do it
through you. You have been given divine authority. It comes through only one source and
that is our Heavenly Father. He will expect each of us, wherever we go, when this
conference is completed, to hold the banner of righteousness aloft and teach by example as
well as precept, those to whom we minister the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

CR April 1942. Page 14.

WITH BLESSINGS COMES DUTY TO SHARE

As I go to and fro in the earth and find opportunity to mingle with our Father's
children, in various lands and climes, many of them honored because of their intellects and
because of their virtues, I rejoice to realize that these are our brothers and sisters. It is to
them that the gospel has been sent, and upon us, as Elders of this Church, has been laid the
obligation to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We have received
a wonderful gift, but with that gift comes a great responsibility. We have been blessed of the
Lord with a knowledge beyond our fellows, and with that knowledge comes the requirement
that we share it with his children, wherever they may be.

CR April 1922. Page 53.

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OVERCOME PREJUDICE

With the thousands of missionaries who have gone abroad in the world, with the
millions of tracts and books that have been distributed, teaching the truth of the resurrection,
it is strange that so many of our Father's children fail to comprehend it. The adversary has
used his strongest effort to prevent the spread of this and other truths of the gospel. The good
people of the world would receive it in their hearts if it could be explained to them, but
because the adversary has vilified and maligned and misrepresented the servants of the Lord,
the honest in heart all over the world are afraid of us, and will not listen to the pure gospel of
Jesus Christ as it is proclaimed by our missionaries. Yet, when it is offered to them by other
means than an Elder of Israel, it appeals to them. It is your duty and mine, as bearers of the
priesthood, by tact and brotherly love and faith, to overcome the prejudice that the adversary
has sown in the hearts of our Father's children against us, to break down the animosity that
exists in some cases, even in the minds of good men and good women, and teach them the
gospel of our Lord, that it is the power of God unto salvation unto all those who believe and
obey it.

CR APRIL 1917. Page 36.

GOOD WILL TOWARD THE WEAK

This morning, not in criticism, not in a spirit of fault-finding, I plead with you, my
brethren and my sisters, let us be generous with one another. Let us be as patient with one
another as we would like others to be with us. Let us see the virtues of our neighbor and our
friends, and speak of those virtues, not find fault and criticize. If we will do that we will
radiate sunshine, and those who know us best will love us.

I read sometime ago in one of the old records of the Church, that from this very stand a
sermon was preached, in which one of the brethren called attention to the fact that in a group
of ten men and women, assembled together and examined apart from the others, saying, "I
would like you to tell me what you think of these, your associates," the first one explained
that they were good people, but each found an outstanding fault with every other one in that
group-but they forgot to criticize themselves....

Aren't we rather prone to see the limitations and the weaknesses of our neighbors? Yet, that
is contrary to the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a class of people who find
fault and criticize always in a destructive way. There is a difference in criticism. If we can
criticize constructively under the influence of the spirit of the Lord, we may change
beneficially and properly some of the things that are being done. But if we have the spirit of
fault-finding, of pointing out the weaknesses and failings of others in a destructive manner,
that never comes as a result of the companionship of the Spirit of our Heavenly Father and is
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always harmful.

CR October 1934. Page 50

LET US BRING YOU MORE GOOD

As President Grant has already informed you, we have been absent something over
two years, and I will say that two years of my life have never passed so rapidly before. We
have been fully occupied. There has been more to do than could be accomplished in the time,
and we have returned home feeling that the work in the European Mission is only beginning
to grow as it ought to do.

As you have already been told the missionaries were withdrawn from that mission during the
war, and only a few, comparatively, have thus far been permitted to return. Yet in all of the
continental missions -- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, and in the British Isles, our missionaries are now laboring and trying to
disseminate the truth.

Quite frequently, while over there, I have had people ask me: "Why do you come over here
to preach to us? We have the gospel. We have more churches now than we know what to do
with. We have churches that are not occupied at all, because there are not people to fill them;
and yet you come over here to bring us a new religion." So it became necessary under these
circumstances, for me to tell them we were not bringing a new religion; that we were
preaching the same gospel that the Savior taught and were seeking to teach it in the same
way; that we came to them with the same authority that was conferred by him upon his
disciples; that we were there to ask them not simply to follow the ideas of men, but that we
were there to encourage them to follow the teachings of our Lord, with the assurance that if
they did, they would receive a blessing.

I remember upon one occasion a man said to me, after we had talked for some time, "Well,
from all I can learn your church is just as good as any other church." I presume he thought he
was paying us a great compliment, but I said to him: "If the church I represent here is not of
more importance to the children of men than any other church, then I am mistaken in my
duty here. We have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess. We
have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you. We have not come here to berate
you because of things you have not done; but we have come here as your brethren. We are
giving our time and our means voluntarily, and have come to your land with love in our
hearts, with the desire to do you good, to encourage you to repent of your sins, wherein you
are sinful, and encourage you to retain your virtues wherein you are virtuous, and to say to
you: "Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good, in order that you
may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence of our
Heavenly Father."
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Journal History, August 14, 1921.

PREPARE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL

When I speak of the mission field I realize the great work that is to be accomplished. I
am impressed with the importance of preparing for the work. It is not sufficient that a young
man or woman signify his desire, because of his confidence in his parents, to do what they
would have him do, go into the world and preach the gospel; it is not sufficient that they
answer the call that our Heavenly Father makes from time to time through his servants for
mission service; but it is also necessary that they qualify for the work, search the scriptures,
and learn what the Lord would have them know. It is important that our sons and daughters
become established in their faith and know as their parents know that this is our Father's
work.

CR October 1916. Page 48.

GIVE THE LORD A CHANCE

I remember one day I was impressed to say to a missionary who was going to a certain
town in England where they would not let us hold street meetings:

"Now remember, give the Lord a chance. You are going to ask a favor. Give the Lord a
chance. Ask him to open the way."

The young man went to that city, went into the office of the mayor, and asked if he could see
him. He was going to ask if they might change the rule.

When he got there, he found that the mayor was out of town. The young man came out of the
office, looked down the hall and saw on a door at the end of the hall, "Chief Constable's
Office." He hesitated a moment, and something said to him: "Give the Lord a chance." He
walked into the chief constable's office and told him what he had come for. When he
finished the man said:

"Well, what street corner would you like?"

He said: "I don't know this city as well as you do. I would not ask for a corner that would be
undesirable, or where we would block the traffic. Would you mind going with me to select a
corner?"

Just think of a missionary asking the chief constable to pick a corner on which to preach the
gospel!
 16

The constable said:

"Surely, I will go with you."

In fifteen minutes they had one of the best corners in town, with permission to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ where it had not been preached on the streets since before the war.
[This was following World War I.]

I remember another incident of this nature. Brother John A. Widtsoe had a remarkable
experience that you probably have read about, which has been published in years gone by,
when he was in Scandinavia and found a whole collection of genealogical records in a little
store on a side street, which he felt prompted to visit without knowing why. The proprietors
did not have any use for them, and he bought them very reasonably. They were Scandinavian
genealogies that were priceless, but if he had not been praying about it, and if he had not
been looking for them, and if he had not obeyed the promptings of the Spirit, he might not
have found them. And these particular records could not have been duplicated nor otherwise
obtained in any manner known to us.

The Lord has a way of accomplishing things that we are unable to do, and never asks us to
do anything that he does not make the way possible. That is what he told us through Nephi.
He will not require anything without preparing the way.

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the
Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children
of men, save he shall prepare a way for them." (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3:7.)

If you have something that the Lord asks or expects you to do and you don't know just how
to proceed, do your best. Move in the direction that you ought to go; trust the Lord, give him
a chance, and he will never fail you.

Era, July 1946.

COMPANIONSHIP OF THE SPIRIT

I remember, as a young man and missionary in the Southern States (1892-94) the first
conference I attended. It was out in the woods on a farm in Mississippi. We didn't have
comfortable seats to sit on. The brethren had been permitted to cut down a few trees and lay
the trunks of those trees across the stumps which were left. We balanced ourselves on these,
or else sat on the ground.

Our meeting started right after breakfast time, and we didn't even think it was necessary to
have anything more to eat, until evening. We stayed and enjoyed the blessings of the
inspiration of the Almighty, and we certainly were blessed, notwithstanding the
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inconveniences and discomforts which surrounded us.

At that time there was considerable hostility manifested in Mississippi and other states in the
South, but we just felt as though we had walked into the presence of our Heavenly Father,
and all fear and anxiety left. That was my first experience in a mission field, attending a
conference, and from that time until now I have appreciated the fact that the companionship
of the spirit of the Lord is an antidote for weariness, for fear and all those things that
sometimes overtake us in life.

CR Oct. 1946. Page 116.

DO WHAT IS RIGHT

This morning we sang, "Do What Is Right." When I was in the mission field first, I
went into a section of country where that hymn was known to the community, apparently.
Two humble missionaries, after walking until late in the afternoon in the sun, in the heat of
summer, came to a small house that was at the bottom of a hill. When the missionaries
arrived they found friends who invited them in to partake of their meager refreshment. And
then they were asked to go outside in the cool of the afternoon shade, on one of those
comfortable, open porches, between two rooms, and sing some hymns. The people were not
members of the Church, but they enjoyed Latter-day Saint hymns.

The missionaries had been threatened in that section. One of the men who had threatened
them had kept a watch of the road, and in that way learned when they had arrived. He sent
word to his associates, who saddled their horses and took their guns, and rode to the top of
the hill overlooking the little house. The missionaries knew nothing about it; they did not
know that right over their heads, not very far away, were a considerable number of armed
horsemen. But they had the spirit of the Lord, and as they sat there in the cool of the
afternoon and sang hymns, the one hymn that seemed to be prepared for the occasion was,,
"Do What is Right." They happened to be good singers, and their voices went out into the
quiet air. They had only sung one verse when the leader of the mob took off his hat. They
sang another verse and he got off his horse, and the others got off their horses, and by the
time the last verse had been sung, those men were repentant. Upon the advice of their leader
they rode away without making their presence known. It was later learned that the leader was
so impressed with what he heard the missionaries sing that he said to his associates: "We
have made a mistake. These are not the kind of men we thought they were. Wicked men can't
sing like angels, and these men sing like angels. They must be servants of the Lord."

The result was that this man became converted to the Church and later was baptized. And I
never hear that hymn sung but I think of that very unusual experience when two missionaries
under the influence of the spirit of God turned the arms of the adversary away from them and
brought repentance into the minds of those who had come to destroy them.
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CR October 1945. Page 116.

FRUITS OF THE GOSPEL

There are many in the world who misunderstand the mission of the Church of Christ.
To such I desire to say that, as far as I am concerned, if there is anything good in life, any
virtue, honesty, integrity, fearlessness to do right; if there is a disposition in me to honor my
father and mother and a desire to sustain the priesthood of the living God; if I am disposed to
sustain the Constitution of this great country that we live in; if there is a desire in my heart to
uphold the great man whom God has honored to preside over the destinies of this nation; if
there is within me love for my fellowmen and a desire to serve God and keep his
commandments, these characteristics have come to me, my friends, as a result of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. From childhood I have been taught never to do anything improper or that
would harm one of my Heavenly Father's children; but from infancy I have been taught to
acquire industry, sobriety, honesty and integrity, and all virtues possessed by men and
women whom God delights to honor and bless.

CR October 1906. Page 46.

OPPORTUNITIES LOST AND FOUND

The brethren have reminded me of one or two little incidents that I think I will relate.
One has to do with a cigaret. One of our missionaries who filled a good mission came home
and sought employment and was unable to find it here. He had been a smoker before he went
on his mission but he had quit so when he came back and became a little bit discouraged, he
took up his habit of smoking again.

About that time a non-Latter-day Saint business man spoke to one of the prominent men of
the Church also in business, and said:

"I need a man to come into my business, one that is capable and able to grow to take my
place because I want to retire after awhile. I can pay him a good salary and I have concluded
that while I am not a member of your Church that I would like to have one of your returned
missionaries. They have had such wonderful experiences, many of them. I have heard some
of them talk. If one of them comes home and you know of him you don't need to tell him
what it is all about but just send him to me with the understanding that there may be a
position. I would like to interrogate him."

Not long after that the young man who had been seeking work visited the office of the
brother who told me this story and he said to the young man, "I think I know where you can
find employment." He sent the returned missionary to the individual who had told him
without hesitation what he wanted.
 19

This returned missionary was a fine intelligent young fellow, and he supposed it meant a job
for him. Our Church business man said "I met the young applicant on the street two or three
days after, and asked him, "How did you come out?" He said, "I didn't succeed. The man
asked me a few questions and then remarked `I think probably we had better not try it out
together.'"

Some time later the two business men met and the member asked the non-member why the
young man had not been employed. He said:

"When the missionary came into my office he told me you had sent him. He was a fine
looking young fellow and appeared satisfactory to me.

"As he entered the office, I was smoking my pipe and all at once he took a cigaret out of his
pocket and lit it, and we started to talk and I said to him, `I thought you were a member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.' He replied `I am,' and I said, `I thought you
were a returned missionary,' `I am,' he answered.

"I'm sorry, I wanted just such an individual as I think you might have been, but what are you
smoking for?" and the young man said "You are smoking. Why shouldn't I smoke."

"He said the difference is this, `You have been taught that it's not a proper thing to smoke, I
was never taught that. You are violating the advice and desires of those that love you and I
think there is no use discussing this matter any further, I will just say that I haven't any
position ready for you and we'll part.'"

A fine position was lost to that young man because he had that filthy habit, and that's the
only word that I can think of just now that exactly fills the bill.

Another instance that may be of interest. One of our missionaries returned from the eastern
states where he had become acquainted with a shop foreman, in a large manufacturing
establishment, and after returning home he tried for sometime to secure employment but was
unable so to do. Finally he said to himself. "Well, I believe if I go back East my friend there
will give me a job."

He was a very fine capable young fellow, but the friend that he spoke of did not know that he
was a member of the Church, so when he went to him, and said, "I've come back. I wonder if
you will give me something to do," the foreman said, "Certainly I will, come right in."

So the young man began work, in the very city where he had been laboring as a missionary.
He avoided the members of the Church, he didn't even go to meetings, he kept away from
them, because he was afraid the men who employed him, who were not members of the
Church, would not give him the same kind of an opportunity of advancement if they knew
 20

who he was. But he was a good worker and kept at it for some time, and one day after he had
been there about three months, the shop foreman called him and said, "You had better go
upstairs. The president wants to see you."

The president had told the shop foreman that he needed a young man who had ability for
another department. He wanted a young man with a good education. He said, "Look around
and if you can find such a man as that, let me know." The foreman replied, "We have just
such a man working for us right now."

"Already in our employ?"

"Yes."

The president said, "That pleases me, send him up."

So the young man, not knowing what the circumstances were reported to the president's
office and said:

"I understand, Mr. Grant, that you want to speak to me."

He said, "Yes, have you been sent up by the shop foreman?"

"Yes Sir."

"Please sit down I want to know something about you. I'd like to know where you are from."

"Well," the young man said, "I live away out in the Rocky Mountains." That was the first
hedge.

"But what part of the Rocky Mountains?"

"I live not very far from Idaho."

"But what are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here working as one of your employees."

"Were you ever here before?"

"Yes."

"Do you know anybody here in the city?"

 21

"Not very many, just two or three."

"Well, I don't quite understand why you came back here for employment."

I want to say before going any further the president knew all about this boy. He had
somebody check his record, and so when he kept hedging the president said:

"But who are your friends here?"

"Oh," the young man replied, "they're just people that work around town."

"But," the president continued, "do you belong to any church?"

"Well, not here."

"Did you ever belong to a church?"

"Yes, I did at one time," and the young man began to be afraid the president did know who
he was and he didn't want him to find out now so he kept hedging, and said,

"At one time I was a member of a church but I didn't take much interest in it and I'm not
doing much at it now."

"What church was it?"

"Well, you'd call it the Mormon Church."

The president said, "Do you mean to tell me that you are a son of a Mormon family?" The
boy knew the jig was up with him then, so he answered. "Yes sir."

The president queried, "Do you mean to tell me that you would desert the faith of your
parents when you had known that they were Mormons and desired you to be one?"

"Well, not exactly that."

"I'm afraid," the president said, "you're not much credit to them. If you haven't the courage to
stand up for your faith, what good are you? Now I will be plain with you. I thought you were
the man I was looking for for this position, but, I want to say to you that if you would betray
your parents and go back on the church you belong to I'd be afraid to give you any kind of a
job where you have to handle money."

So the young man lost his opportunity because he did not have the courage to do his duty by
his church and his family.
 22

Church Section, Deseret News, April 17, 1848.

FROM THE TOPS OF THE MOUNTAINS I TALK TO JAPAN

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to have a little visit with some of our servicemen
who are in Kyoto, Japan. One of our brethren here in the valley telephoned me that he had a
licensed short wave station, and said, "If you will come down, Brother Smith, I will let you
talk to the men and women in the armed services who are absent from their homes and who
are now over there serving the government of the United States." I did not know just what it
was going to be like. I went to his little station and after a moment or two he called a station
and talked back and forth with the man on the other end. That was the Philippine Islands, so
he said: "We are not visiting with you today. We are going to visit Japan." Then he switched
from there to one of the other islands in the Pacific and told them the same thing. And then
when he was ready, after a little conversation with the station in Japan, he said: "Now
Brother Smith, there are 103 members of the Church that will hear your voice just as soon as
you speak."

So I stood there for fifteen or twenty minutes and I talked to them of the blessings of God
bestowed upon them, of their lives being preserved during a terrible war, and of the love of
those who are here waiting for their return. I urged them to keep the commandments of God,
and assured them that there was no other road to happiness. I encouraged them to retain the
fine records that they had already made and to come home clean and sweet to their loved
ones with the favor of the Lord upon them. When I had finished they took their turn and
several of these men said: "Thank you Brother Smith. It has been a great encouragement to
us to hear a voice from the tops of the Rocky Mountains, one that some of us are familiar
with and to know that you are thinking of us and are anxious for us. We will not let you
down."

Church Section, Deseret News, October 12, 1946.

DIMINISHING FAITH IN GOD

During the last few months some things have occurred that have been more or less
distressing to me, one being the evidence that there is a diminishing faith in God. Only a few
weeks ago I read in one of the large daily papers a statement of the results of a questionnaire
that had been sent out to 500 Protestant ministers, men who are leaders in the churches of the
world, and I was very much disappointed to discover that there were those among them who
did not believe in a personal God, who did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, who
did not believe that there is a heaven, and fifty-four per cent did not believe in a personal
devil. I might mention other things, Bible teachings that were discredited by these men who
have been educated to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Christian world.
 23

Recently I have met quite a number of missionaries, many of them young men, and some
young women, representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have all
been able, when they were called upon, to stand on their feet and testify to the truth of these
things that are doubted by the men who are supposed to be leaders in the Christian churches.

CR April 1934. Pages 25 and 26.

A CHILD WITNESS

It doesn't seem very long since I bore my first testimony. It was at the time of my
baptism, or when I was being confirmed. I had been reared in a Latter-day Saint home and
had been taught to pray by a devoted mother. I was made to understand that we are children
of our Heavenly Father. Then I was baptized, when eight years of age, and became a member
of the Church. And by the way I was baptized in old City Creek on the north side of this
block.

At the Fast Meeting that was held after I had been confirmed a member of the Church, a dear
old aunt, who long since has gone home, asked me, "Don't you want to bear your
testimony?" I had heard others bear their testimonies, but I had never thought of bearing
mine. I arose to my feet and told the congregation that I was grateful that I belonged to the
true church and I was just as sure then that I belonged to the Church of the Lamb of God as I
am today.

CR April 1936. Page 43.

OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT

We are met in this marvelous Tabernacle, under the influence of the spirit of the Lord,
not as an ordinary convention; we are not assembled here to be taught by men the things that
they have obtained in the schools of the world, but we are here to wait upon our Father in
Heaven, your Father and mine, the Father of our spirits, the author of our being, the one who
gives us everything that we enjoy; we are here to wait upon him knowing that he has
promised us that if even two or three shall meet in his name, he will be there and that to bless
them.

Surely we have been blessed this day. The spirit of God has been poured out upon us. My
heart has been warmed and filled as I have looked out into this great audience to see men
and women who have come from the various parts of this great nation, and some from other
nations. . . .

What a priceless privilege to worship our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ his
 24

Son. Ought we not to be grateful? It seems to me as I look into your eager, upturned faces,
and realize what the Lord has done for you and for me, there are no words of mine that can
adequately express the feelings of our hearts as we are filled by that power that comes from
him.

CR April 1935. Page 46.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD STRIVES WITH MAN

The lack of faith in the world today would be appalling, but for the fact that the Lord
has set his hand to redeem Israel. The condition of humanity today, their lack of knowledge
that God lives, is not altogether the result of their desire to do wrong, but it is the result of
having done wrong, of disobedience to the commandments of God. Throughout the world,
those who have not faith in God, have not complied with his teachings, have not listened to
the whisperings of the still small voice, have not done their best, else the Lord would not
have forsaken them. The spirit of God continues to strive with men everywhere, as long as
they make the effort to keep his commandments. When men abandon the truth, refuse to do
the right, the Lord of necessity withdraws his spirit and men are left to the buffetings of the
adversary.

CR October 1916. Page 48.

POWER OF THE CHURCH

O that this great Church, with the power that has been given to it of God, might be
able more rapidly to disseminate the truth, and save the nations from destruction. We are
growing rapidly as an organization, but I rejoice not so much in the increase numerically as I
do in the belief that the influence that we radiate is being felt for good and that our Father's
children, from the north to the south, and from the east to the west, are hearing the message
of life and salvation, without which they cannot dwell in the presence of the Redeemer of
mankind.

CR October 1922. Page 98.

PRE-EXISTENCE

We believe in a pre-existence. The Lord has taught us that doctrine in the scriptures,
but there are millions of those who profess belief in the Holy Bible, who do not believe in, or
at least do not understand, what pre-existence really means. They do not realize that we lived
before we came here; they do not comprehend that this body has been given to us as a
reward for faithfulness in the spirit world. They do not know that by partaking of certain
ordinances prescribed by our Heavenly Father, we, as husbands and wives, may be united for
 25

time and eternity and enjoy the companionship of our children forever. How thankful we
should be for the knowledge that has come to us.

CR October 1923. Page 70.

COMMENDATION FOR GOOD WORKS

I have often observed and think you who have had missionary experience will bear me
out, that no good man or woman can come under the influence of the faithful members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and withhold their commendations of what they
observe while with us. When they leave us, sometimes it is different, but while they are
under that influence that comes from the Lord, possessed by his servants who are serving
him, they are usually pleased to commend what they have seen and felt.

CR April 1922. Page 49

SPIRITUALITY OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Not long ago we had as visitors the directors of the United States Steel Company.
They were all out in Utah -- thirteen of them -- to take care of the purchasing of the Geneva
Steel Plant, and among other things they saw the Brigham Young University and visited
some of our canyons and met with our people. Following their tour they had a little luncheon
to which were invited some of their friends here, and I had the pleasure of being among the
number. After we got through with the lunch the President of the Steel Company said, "Now,
we haven't any program planned, but if any of you have anything to say or that you would
like to express, I would be pleased to have you feel that you could do so. Without any
hesitation, former Governor Miller of New York, now general counsel for the Steel
Corporation, stood on his feet and said, "I would like to say a few words. I have enjoyed my
visit here immensely. I have seen things I did not know anything about before. I have visited
with these people and have been in some of their homes, and I have seen how they live and
how they work, and I have seen the wide streets and the Temple and other things." And then
he said in very great plainness, "These people have something we do not have. I do not know
what it is. Call it what you will. I do not know whether it is spirituality or what it is, but they
have it and we do not."

From a sermon by President George Albert Smith in Minneapolis, on May 23, 1948.

"GOODWILL TOWARD MEN"

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men." Thus the
hosts of heaven rejoiced when the Savior was born and good tidings of great joy were
proclaimed to all people. A new star appeared and a new dispensation was ushered in.
 26

Immediately Satan endeavored, through Herod, to destroy the new born King; but the infant
was safeguarded by divine power.

Completing the preparation for his life's work, being baptized by John, endowed by the Holy
Ghost, and acclaimed by his Heavenly Father as "My beloved Son," he began his ministry.
Choosing his apostles, he taught them the gospel of eternal life, conferred upon them divine
authority and organized his church. He healed the sick, raised the dead and performed many
wonderful miracles. He finished the work he came on earth to do. He gave up his life and
atoned for the transgression of our first parents. He overcame death and was the first fruits of
the resurrection.

Exalted to an eternal throne at the side of his father; possessing all power in heaven and in
earth, he bade all men to follow him, promising them eternal life and happiness who observe
the requirements of the gospel.

Revealing himself anew in these latter days he has again established his church and
commissioned his servants to prepare the way for his second coming, crying to the ends of
the earth: "Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is no myth. It is
a divine truth. To disseminate it the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
are dedicating their lives.

We are grateful for what he has done, and gladly honor his natal day. Remembering the
offering he made, the anguish he suffered; glorying in the resurrection and promise of eternal
life, we hallow and revere his holy name. Let us so live that when our day on earth is done,
we shall be worthy to be one with him, as he and the Father are one.

To my fellowmen I commend the life of Jesus of Nazareth as the profoundest ideal of the
ages.

Millenial Star, vol. 81, page 817. Dec. 26, 1919.

Gospel Principles Applied Enrich Life

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we bear. It is the desire to save the souls of the
children of men that burns in our hearts. It is not that we may build ourselves up and become
a mighty people financially; it is not that we may have our names glorified in the earth for
 27

our accomplishments; but it is that the sons and daughters of God, wherever they may be,
may hear this gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to all those who believe and
obey its precepts. And those who believe will follow the pattern given by the Savior when he
said to his disciples, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned."

We believe in the same doctrine that was enunciated by the Apostles. We believe that the
signs should follow the believer. We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
hands. We do not believe that the heavens are sealed over our heads, but that the same father
who loved and cherished the children of Israel, loves and cherishes us. We believe that we
are as much in need of assistance of our Heavenly Father in the directing of our lives, as they
were. We know that in the day and age in which we live the seal has been broken and God
has again spoken from the Heavens; that the Gospel has been restored to the earth as John
the Revelator said it would be. . . . We believe that an angel has flown. In answer to the
prayer of the humble boy Joseph Smith the heavens were opened and the Father
communicated with him, as he communicated with men in olden times. We believe that this
was necessary because when Joseph Smith asked which of all the churches he should join, he
was told to join none of them, for they worshipped God with their lips, but their hearts were
far from him.

Joseph Smith, Memorial Monument. Page 55.

DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE EACH DAY

I have been permitted to perform missionary work in different parts of the world, an
opportunity that I gratefully accepted. I have been permitted to live with, and associate most
of my life, with real Latter-day Saints, the best men and women that can be found in this
world, and our Father knows how thankful I am for these blessings. I love my brothers and
sisters, and I have affection for my Father's children who are not members of this Church,
and inasmuch as he will give me physical strength and mental power, I desire to so order my
life that I may be an uplift to all those with whom I come in contact. I desire to so exemplify
the teachings of our Lord, and I presume all my brothers and sisters feel as I do, that when
we stand in the presence of the Great King, after the labors of this life shall have been
completed, and we answer to him for the time that we have spent here on earth, that there
will be none who can truthfully say that we were careless about sharing the truth with any of
our Father's children, that none will be able to say of us that we knew these things were true
but made no effort to explain them to our neighbors. Surely we would stand condemned, if
one of our associates in life should stand in the presence of the Great Judge and say of us
that we could have made an effort, but that because of our neglect he would be deprived of a
place in the celestial kingdom. Let none of us, my brethren and sisters, be justly accused in
that way. Unto us has been given, and of us much will be expected by our Father in Heaven.
We cannot be indifferent to the teachings of the gospel; we must not drift down the stream of
life without an effort. Every day we should do something worth while.
 28

CR October 1921. Pages 42-43.

THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE CONDITIONS

The promise of the Lord that we may enjoy eternal life is conditional. That is, we must
serve the Lord our God with all our hearts; we must serve him by caring for his children, by
blessing mankind wherever our influence can be exerted, to bring them into the marvelous
light of the gospel. We must impart of our temporal blessings as well as exert our spiritual
influence for the uplift of our fellows.

I stand here today profoundly grateful for the knowledge that has come to me. I am thankful
that I am not dependent upon any individual for the testimony that I possess. Of course, I am
grateful for the encouragement I received from others who possess light and truth, and who
give encouragement by lives of righteousness, but I do not depend upon any of them for a
knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind and Joseph Smith is
a Prophet of the Lord. These things I know for myself.

I have been in the valley of the shadow of death in recent years, so near the other side that I
am sure that except for the special blessing of our Heavenly Father I could not have
remained here. But never for one moment did that testimony, that the Lord has blessed me
with, become dimmed. The nearer I went to the other side, the greater was my assurance that
the gospel was true. Now that my life has been spared, I rejoice to testify that I know the
gospel is true, and with all my soul I thank the Father of us all that he has revealed it to me.

CR October 1921. Page 42.

THE USE OF NEW INVENTIONS

I had the privilege of riding on one of the first bicycles that came into Salt Lake City. I
talked on one of the first telephones that was installed here. I witnessed this magnificent city
rise from the dusty streets in which I played as a barefoot boy. And twenty-five years ago I
participated in the initial radio broadcast of this church. Each of these experiences was
marvelous at the time.

But think of the great progress we have made since then. Airplanes now move three or four
times faster than did the one in which I made my first flight many years ago. Recently I
spoke over a small short-wave radio station in this valley and my voice was heard in Japan
by more than a hundred of our home boys. I am told that tonight my voice is sent broadcast
with one hundred times the power used on the initial program in which I participated
twenty-five years ago. Before us is the magic of television and a host of other remarkable
discoveries.
 29

We ought to regard these inventions as blessings from the Lord. They greatly enlarge our
abilities. They can indeed become blessings if we utilize them in righteousness for the
dissemination of truth and the furtherance of the work of the Lord among men. The great
challenge facing the world today lies in the use we make of many of these inventions. We
can use them to destroy, as we have sometimes done, in the past, or we can utilize them to
enlighten and bless mankind, as our Heavenly Father would have us do.

Church Section, Deseret News, May 10, 1947.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

One of the first admonitions given the people in this valley, by their inspired leaders,
was that if they would be blessed of the Lord they should keep his commandments and honor
his holy day.

If we want to honor our Heavenly Father today and please him, there is no better way than
for us to live up to the ideals and standards of those who came here one hundred years ago.
Their determination to serve God and keep his commandments brought them success and
happiness. Though they were more than one thousand miles away from civilization they
believed in the promises of the Lord, that if they would be blessed and prospered they must
seek first, not last, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Church Section, Deseret News, March 29, 1947.

THE LORD'S SIDE OF THE LINE

There are two influences in the world today, and have been from the beginning. One is
an influence that is constructive, that radiates happiness and builds character. The other
influence is one that destroys, turns men into demons, tears down and discourages. We are
all susceptible to both. The one comes from our Heavenly Father, and the other comes from
the source of evil that has been in the world from the beginning, seeking to bring about the
destruction of the human family. The war that is being waged today is being fought by
people who have not had the inspiration of the Almighty. It has been forced upon the world
by those who have listened to the tempter, who would destroy all happiness in this life and in
the life to come. Therefore we should take advantage of our privileges and realize that there
is something for us to think about before we move and each time be sure that we are right
and then go forward.

My grandfather used to say to his family, "There is a line of demarkation, well defined,
between the Lord's territory and the devil's. If you will stay on the Lord's side of the line you
will be under his influence and will have no desire to do wrong; but if you cross to the
 30

devil's side of the line one inch, you are in the tempter's power, and if he is successful, you
will not be able to think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the spirit of the
Lord.

When I have been tempted sometimes to do a certain thing, I have asked myself, "Which side
of the line am I on?" If I determined to be on the safe side, the Lord's side, I would do the
right thing every time. So when temptation comes, think prayerfully about your problem, and
the influence of the spirit of the Lord will enable you to decide wisely. There is safety for us
only on the Lord's side of the line.

If you want to be happy, remember, that all happiness worthy of the name is on the Lord's
side of the line and all sorrow and disappointment is on the devil's side of the line.

Church Section, Deseret News, June 17,1944. Page 9.

THE SCRIPTURES

The Old and New Testaments contain the teachings of our Heavenly Father. I
admonish you, O Israel, search the scriptures; read them in your homes; teach your families
what the Lord has said, and let us spend less time in reading the unimportant and often
harmful literature of the day and go to the fountain of truth and read the word of the Lord.

The Book of Mormon contains evidence of the importance that our Heavenly Father attaches
to reading the scriptures. He sent the sons of Lehi back to Jerusalem to recover the Old
Testament scriptures, in order that they might retain the teachings of the Prophets. The Lord
would not take them into a new country without preserving to them the privilege of reading
his teachings to their forefathers.

The importance of having the advice of the prophets of God is emphasized in the bringing
forth of the Book of Mormon. The plates from which it was translated were buried in the
earth by a Nephite prophet. Centuries later the Lord directed Joseph Smith to secure and
translate this record, in order that we might have the teachings of our Father to his children
who dwelt upon this western land. We have the Old and New Testaments, the Book of
Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price, also translated by the gift and power of God, in
addition to the new revelations through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

CR October 1917. Page 41.

THE STORY OF A GENEROUS MAN

One day on the street I met a friend whom I had known since boyhood. I had not
visited with him for some time, and I was interested in being brought up to date concerning
 31

his life, his problems, and his faith, therefore I invited him to go to a conference in Utah
County with me. He drove his fine car (the make of car I was driving had not been received
into society at that time). He took his wife, and I took mine.

At the conference, I called on him to speak. I did not know what it might do to him, but I
thought I would take a chance. He made a fine talk. He told of his trips to the East, how he
explained the gospel to the people he met, and how grateful he was for his heritage. He
stated that his opportunities in the world had been magnified and multiplied because his
father and mother had joined the Church in the Old World.

As we drove home, he turned to me and said: "My, this has been a wonderful conference. I
have enjoyed it."

I thought to myself, he was like one of our sisters who came home from fast meeting and
said to her family: "That is the best meeting I ever attended."

One of the daughters asked: "Well, Mother, who spoke?" And then her mother replied, "I
did."

I thought he had enjoyed it because he himself had participated. I was glad he had. Then he
said: "You know I have heard many things in this conference, but there is only one thing that
I do not understand the way you do."

I said : "What is it?"

"Well," he said, "it is about paying tithing."

He thought I would ask him how he paid his tithing, but I did not. I thought if he wanted to
tell me, he would. He said: "Would you like me to tell you how I pay my tithing?"

I said, "If you want to, you may."

"Well," he said, "if I make ten thousand dollars in a year, I put a thousand dollars in the bank
for tithing. I know why it's there. Then when the bishop comes and wants me to make a
contribution for the chapel or give him a check for a missionary who is going away, if I think
he needs the money, I give him a check. If a family in the ward is in distress and needs coal
or food or clothing or anything else, I write out a check. If I find a boy or a girl who is
having difficulty getting through school in the East, I send a check. Little by little I exhaust
the thousand dollars, and every dollar of it has gone where I know it has done good. Now,
what do you think of that?"

"Well," I said, "do you want me to tell you what I think of it?"
 32

He said, "Yes."

I said: "I think you are a very generous man with someone else's property." And he nearly
tipped the car over.

He said, "What do you mean?"

I said, "You have an idea that you have paid your tithing?"

"Yes," he said.

I said: "You have not paid any tithing. You have told me what you have done with the Lord's
money but you have not told me that you have given anyone a penny of your own. He is the
best partner you have in the world, He gives you everything you have, even the air you
breathe. He has said you should take one-tenth of what comes to you and give it to the
Church as directed by the Lord. You haven't done that; you have taken your best partner's
money, and have given it away."

Well, I will tell you there was quiet in the car for some time. We rode on to Salt Lake City
and talked about other things.

About a month after that I met him on the street. He came up, put his arm in mine, and said:
"Brother Smith, I am paying my tithing the same way you do." I was very happy to hear that.

Not long before he died, he came into my office to tell me what he was doing with his own
money.

ERA June 1947.

THREE DEGREES OF GLORY

The Lord has informed us that there are three degrees of glory. One is known as the
Telestial Kingdom. Into this kingdom go those who have lived and have not earned more
than the privileges of that kingdom -- a kingdom of glory, it is true, but it is a lesser
kingdom. Those who are satisfied with an inheritance in that kingdom, and who live for it,
will be resurrected, and they will be quickened, telestial bodies, and will inherit that
kingdom. Referring to these the Lord informs us that where God and Christ dwell they can
never be.

Then there is another kingdom known as the Terrestrial Kingdom. The Lord says that those
who desire greater blessings and privileges may inherit that kingdom, provided they live for
it, and in the resurrection they will be quickened terrestrial bodies, and will inherit the
Terrestrial Kingdom.
 33

But to those who desire the highest and best of all, our Heavenly Father has made known
that there is another Kingdom, known as the Celestial Kingdom. Those who desire to inherit
that kingdom must conform to the rules that are laid down by the Redeemer of mankind
while here upon the earth. The virtues that are attained by those in the other kingdoms, will
be achieved by those who inherit the Celestial Kingdom, and additional virtues that the
others have not acquired will be possessed by those who inherit the Celestial Kingdom.

In order that we might be prepared for that kingdom, the Lord, in his mercy, in the
latter-days, restored the gospel of Jesus Christ, and placed in it divine authority, and then
gave understanding to his children that certain ordinances may be received and performed.
For this purpose temples were built, and into those temples those who desire a place in the
Celestial Kingdom have the authority to go and receive their blessings, to enrich their lives
and prepare them for that kingdom. This is the kingdom where God and Christ will dwell.
This is the place that those will live, who have earned the right to inherit it.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 13, 1932. Page 7.

UNKIND CRITICISM DESTROYS

I stand here to plead with you not to permit words of criticism or unkindness to pass
your lips about those whom the Lord has called to lead us. Do not be found in the
companionship of those who would belittle them or weaken their influence among the
children of men. If you do, I can say to you that you will find yourselves in the power of the
adversary. You will be influenced by him to go as far as possible from the pathway of truth,
and if you do not repent you may find when it is too late that you will have lost the pearl of
great price. Because of your selfishness and your blindness you will have been led away, and
your loved ones who have given their very lives in order that you might enjoy the blessings
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be sorrowing on the other side of the veil because of your
weakness and folly.

Liahona, vol. 35, page 61.

FAITH, A GIFT: FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

We know that faith is a gift of God; it is the fruitage of righteous living. It does not
come to us by our command, but is the result of doing the will of our Heavenly Father. If we
lack faith, let us examine ourselves to see if we have been keeping His commandments, and
repent without delay if we have not. It has been by faith that the men who have stood at the
head of this work have been inspired to give the instructions that we have needed. It is by
faith that we are edified on occasions like this, by those who minister in the name of the
Lord, and the Comforter quickens their understanding, bringing things past to their
 34

remembrance and showing them things to come, thus evidencing the spirit of revelation.

Liahona, Vol. 13, page 330.

HOW MY FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE GREW

When a child I was taught to pray and read the scriptures and lead a righteous life. I
was impressed with the idea that our Heavenly Father loves us and that his commandments
were not intended to deprive us of true pleasure, and if observed, would add to our peace and
contentment here and prepare us for eternal happiness.

My parents lived as they desired me to live and I soon learned that they believed and
practiced what they taught. I was reared in a Latter-day Saint home, where food was not
partaken of without first thanking the Giver of all good for it.

Secret and family prayers were attended to by each member of the household. I learned quite
early in life that the Lord would answer prayer, for he answered mine and in many ways He
gave me evidence of His watchful care.

As I grew older I compared the faith I had espoused with the beliefs of others, and found that
the gospel of Jesus Christ embraced all that the other churches taught that was good, and
many other beautiful truths that the scriptures contained that were apparently overlooked by
the Christian world.

My faith in God was increased by reading the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants
and Pearl of Great Price. When I was called to leave home and loved ones to travel among
strangers to promulgate the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as restored in these latter days, I
witnessed the power of the Lord in softening the hearts of men and providing for my
necessities and preserving my life. Some of my happiest moments have been when testifying
of the beauties of the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith the Prophet.

I have been buoyed up, as it were, lifted out of myself and given power, not my own, to
teach the glorious truths proclaimed by the Redeemer of the world. I have not seen Him face
to face but I have enjoyed the companionship of His spirit and felt His presence in a way not
to be mistaken. I know my Redeemer lives and gladly yield my humble efforts to establish
His teachings. The philosophies of men can never take the place of truth as revealed to us by
the Eternal Father. Individual happiness and world-wide peace will not be permanent until
those who dwell on the earth accept the gospel and conform their lives to its precepts. It is
the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and obey. It is the kind advice of a loving
Father, who, seeing the end from the beginning, says, this is the path, walk ye in it, and
eternal life and eternal progress and eternal happiness shall be your reward. Every fibre of
my being vibrates with the knowledge that he lives and some day all men will know it.
 35

I know that this is the work of the Lord, that Jesus was indeed our Savior and that Joseph
Smith was a Prophet of the Lord. I know those who have succeeded him have been men of
God, who have honored the calling placed upon them. I know that our Father is blessing
Zion at this time, and the man who holds the keys today is honored by all good men and
women, wherever they may be in the wide world, who understand him.

Liahona, Vol. 12, page 601.

THE LAW OF HONESTY

"Thou shalt not steal" is one of the commandments.

It is astonishing how many men and women, who have always lived good lives, will yield to
temptation to take that which does not belong to them. For the past few years we have been
passing through a change. There seems to have been a letting down in the matter of honesty.
Our Heavenly Father knew that we would need this commandment when he gave it. It was
not given just to be written into the scriptures and then laid upon the shelf. It was given to be
proclaimed upon the housetops, if need be. . . .

It is binding upon us today, and I want to say to you that the punishment that is meted out to
those who are dishonest, when they are apprehended and hailed before the courts of the land,
is insignificant when compared with the spiritual punishment that befalls us when we
transgress the law of honesty and violate the commandments of God.

Journal History, January 7, 1933.

THE BEST WITNESSES ARE MEN WHO KNOW THE GOSPEL

I feel that I would like to bear my testimony. There are no doubt many in this audience
who, if they had opportunity, would also rejoice to do so.

I come of a race of men whose lives have been devoted to the work of the Lord. John Smith,
the uncle of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was my great-grandfather and he became Patriarch to
the Church. His son, George A. Smith, my grandfather, preached the first sermon of this
dispensation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in London. He also traveled
extensively and presided over the European Mission. His son, John Henry Smith, my father,
also presided over the European Mission and became a member of the First Presidency as a
counselor to President Joseph F. Smith. I have had the privilege of following in his
foot-steps, and have taught the gospel in most of the states of the Union and in most of the
countries of Europe. I am of the fifth generation of those who have believed in the divine
mission of Jesus Christ and of the mission of Joseph Smith.
 36

To my mind one of the strongest testimonies of the divinity of the life of our Savior is the
testimony of Joseph Smith, who laid down his life as a witness of the truth of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. It is unexplainable to me that men expect to know of the divinity of the
Redeemer's mission when they make so little effort to discover what that mission was. Many
men decry him and repudiate him, who have never read the messages of life and salvation
contained in the Bible, as well as in latter-day revelation.

This house, reared as it was; this congregation and the people who dwell in the valleys of the
mountains, are a testimony of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It was because they knew
that he lived and that He was the Son of God, that those who came here as pioneers were
able to turn their backs upon the comforts of their homes and the association of their friends,
to dwell in the wilderness, that the gospel in its purity might be established, and that there
might go forth from this land the law of the Lord.

This is my testimony. . . .

Journal History, Dec. 19, 1926.

VALUE OF REVEALED KNOWLEDGE

You may go through all the universities throughout the land, gain all the knowledge
they have to give you, and yet you will be far short, if you do not have the knowledge that
Jesus is the Christ and that God lives and is indeed our Eternal Father. . . .

We judge the future by the past. Libraries are full of books and information on that which
has happened in the history of time, and that which has been discovered by man, and yet here
in my hand I can hold these few books containing the scriptures; the word of God, by which
our Father has made possible for us to know many things that will provide for us an
inheritance of eternal life.

Not only did he make these things known in olden times, but in this dispensation we have
been given additional light and knowledge in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and
Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Compare these small volumes with all the library
volumes of the world, and yet within their covers they contain all the word that God has
given to his people here on earth. These books do not contain what the scientists of today
know, but what our Father in Heaven knows, and has given as his word to his people here on
earth.

Church Section, Deseret News, May 11, 1946.

KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS

 37

I say to you, that unless the members of this Church keep the commandments of God,
and turn to the Lord, the war we have just passed through will be as nothing compared with
what is yet to come. These words are not said in unkindness. They are not said in the way of
a threat. They are not said to find fault, but my voice is raised in warning and to encourage
all of our Father's children to turn to him. Honor him and keep his commandments, for he
has promised us if we will do that, he will be our King and Law Giver, and will eventually
give us our inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom.

Church Section, Deseret News, September 28, 1946.

SET A PROPER EXAMPLE

Now, brothers and sisters, don't scold one another, don't quarrel, don't feel
disagreeable toward those who do not understand the gospel; just set them a proper example
and live such lives that everyone will be glad to know you. If we can live that way, our
children can easily honor us. The Lord commanded us to honor our father and mother and
promised certain blessings if we do. I want to say that it is difficult for some of them to do so
when they see their parents behaving the way they do. Let us be worthy to be honored. Set
your homes in order and have therein a spirit of joy with your companions, friends and
neighbors that wherever you go the world will be brighter and happier because of your lives.

Church Section, Deseret News, September 28, 1946. Page 9.

GOSPEL WILL MAKE ITS WAY

I do not become discouraged because the truth does not find its way more rapidly. On
the contrary I see in the events of today the hand-dealing of an all-wise Father to prepare the
way for the spreading of the Gospel that has been restored to the earth in our day. He has
determined that the message that was proclaimed by his servants in ages past, renewed and
promulgated by his servants in the latter days, shall be heard, and by the power of his might
he will level the conditions of this world and humble the children of men until they are
repentant and willing to listen. The truths that we are teaching, that is the truth that God
requires us to teach in the world, are finding their way. The distinction between this great
Church and all other churches, from the beginning has been, that we believe in divine
revelation; we believe that Our Father speaks to man today as he has done from the time of
Adam. We believe and we know -- which is more than mere belief -- that Our Father has set
his hand in this world for the salvation of the children of men.

CR April 1917. Page 37.

THE LORD SPEAKS

 38

In the year 1830, when this Church was organized, there was not upon the earth a
church organization that would announce that they believed that God would reveal himself
to the children of men. The teachings of the churches were all contrary to that, and Our
Father saw the futility of trying to save his sons and daughters until they could be inspired to
come to him with the belief that He would hear and answer their prayers. When the boy
Prophet in the woods of Palmyra saw the Father and the Son, and realized that they were
indeed personages, that they could hear and reply to what he said, it began a new era in this
world and laid a foundation for the faith of the children of men. They could now pray to Our
Father in heaven and realize that he could hear and answer prayers and that there was a
connection between the heavens and the earth.

CR APRIL 1917. Page 97.

THE LORD SPEAKS THROUGH THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH

It is unique these days to belong to a Church wherein those that are members believe
that the Lord speaks through their leaders. When we are instructed by the President of the
Church, we believe he tells us what the Lord would have us do. To us it is just something
more than the advice of man. We believe this and it searches our souls and we are prompted
to renew our determination to be what God would have us be.

CR October 1930. Page 66.

BLESSINGS FLOW FROM OBEDIENCE

This morning I met a brother on the street who introduced himself to me. I recognized
his face, but I could not call his name, and I did not know whence he came, until he informed
me that I had met him at Wilmington, North Carolina, and he had come all the way with his
wife and children, that he might be with the Saints in their worshiping assembly. While
sitting here pondering over the effect that this conference might have upon him and his
family, I asked myself the question: Have I been careful to take advantage of my opportunity
and bring my wife and children into this splendid gathering, to enjoy the teachings of the
servants of God? And the answer came back to me in this way: If I have not, I have lost for
them a blessing, and likewise for myself, but the man who crossed the continent, came all the
way from the Atlantic seaboard, paying his expenses and taking that long ride, will certainly
be rewarded by the Lord by an increase of faith and so will his family. In this, as in all other
cases, the blessings of God are predicated upon obedience to his requirements, and in this
particular our brother and his family are fulfilling the requirements which entitle them to the
blessings that they will enjoy at this conference.

CR October 1917. Page 39.

 39

NEED FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD

I congratulate the Latter-day Saints who have sons and daughters in the mission field.
I have met many of them and they are splendid, humble, prayerful young people, who are
desirous of doing something to improve the conditions of the world and to teach mankind to
prepare for the world to come. . . .

There is a real famine in the world for the words of the Lord, and many honest souls are
earnestly seeking to know what our Heavenly Father desires of them. I have met a number of
the leaders of the churches of the world, and have found among them noble characters,
devoted to doing good, but I have rarely found among those who have been called to the
ministry in the various church organizations, men who have an understanding of the
purposes of their being or who realize why we are here in the world. Men cannot teach what
they do not themselves know. These good men, not understanding the gospel and the
necessity for the ordinances of the same, confine their teachings very largely to moral
lessons and to reading the psalms to their congregations. Isolated passages of scripture are
chosen as texts for addresses on virtue, honesty, etc., all of which are helpful and uplifting,
but few sermons are preached explaining the requirements made of every soul before we can
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is this information of which the world is in most need. Few
ministers have a message for their congregations that inspires in them the belief in the
divinity of Jesus Christ and the necessity of partaking of the ordinances of the gospel
prescribed by him. I believe we have a duty to perform and we will have to labor more
earnestly in the future than we have done in the past to discharge it, if we fulfill the
requirements of our Heavenly Father.

CR October 1921. Page 38.

A GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY

What a glorious opportunity is ours! The Gospel has been preached in this very
structure, from this pulpit, for more than half a century and we are the fourth, fifth and sixth
generations in the Church now living, and all this time the adversary has opposed the truth,
and he will continue to oppose it, but it is our duty to exemplify it in our lives, that men,
seeing our good works, will be constrained to accept the Gospel and to glorify the name of
the Redeemer.

CR April 1934. Page 29.

FAITH-THE PRINCIPLE OF POWER

It was by faith that all the miracles were wrought by the Redeemer of the world and by
those who were associated with Him. From the beginning of time until now it has been the
 40

faithful man who has had the power of God.

In this latter dispensation it was because of his implicit faith in God that the boy Prophet
went into the woods and knelt down and prayed, and received the first great heavenly
manifestation that came to him, by which the personality of the God-head was again made
known to mankind. It was by faith that he was able to go to the hill Cumorah and receive
from the hands of the Angel those sacred records that he later translated by the gift and
power of God. . . .

It was by faith that the great city of Nauvoo was founded, under the direction of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, and by faith the glorious truths contained in the Doctrine and Covenants were
received by him.

It was by faith that Brigham Young led the people into this western land, and when he
arrived upon the summit of the mountain and looked over the valley, God gave him a witness
that this was the place where Israel should be planted. It was by faith that the irrigation
system was perfected, by which it was made possible to develop this great intermountain
country. It was by faith that the people laid the corner stone of this great Temple, in their
weakness and in their poverty, believing that God would prepare the way and provide the
means whereby the structure might be completed. It was by faith that the mercy of our
Heavenly Father was extended to the people, when, in their distress, they saw their crops
being consumed by the crickets, with no means of preventing it, and, in the providence of
God, their prayers were answered and they received a witness of it in the coming of the
seagulls, to preserve their harvest and deliver them from starvation.

It has been by faith that the elders of Israel have gone forth, leaving home and loved ones
and enduring the reproach of the world, to bear witness that God lives and that Jesus is the
Christ and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Lord.

By faith your sick have been healed, your dead have been raised to life. . . .

It is this principle, my brethren and sisters, that points us heavenward and gives us hope in
the battle of life.

CR October 1913. Page 102.

CONTROLLING OUR THOUGHTS

As a child, thirteen years of age, I went to school at the Brigham Young Academy. It
was fortunate that part of my instruction came under Dr. Karl G. Maeser, that outstanding
educator who was the first builder of our Church schools. I cannot remember much of what
was said during the year that I was there, but there is one thing that I will probably never
forget. I have repeated it many times; I think I have told it in this building. Dr. Maeser one
 41

day stood up and said:

"Not only will you be held accountable for the things you do, but you will be held
responsible for the very thoughts you think."

Being a boy, not in the habit of controlling my thoughts very much, it was quite a puzzle to
me what I was to do, and it worried me. In fact, it stuck to me just like a burr. About a week
or ten days after that it suddenly came to me what he meant. I could see the philosophy of it
then. All at once there came to me this interpretation of what he had said: Why of course you
will be held accountable for your thoughts, because when your life is completed in mortality,
it will be the sum of your thoughts. That one suggestion has been a great blessing to me all
my life, and it has enabled me upon many occasions to avoid thinking improperly, because I
realize that I will be, when my life's labor is complete, the product of my thoughts.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 16, 1946.

PERFECT FORM OF GOVERNMENT

When we look back over the record of the past and think that since the year 1830, with
a little organization of six members, unpopular then as it is now and opposed by the
adversary in every possible way, glorious truths of the eternal gospel have been disseminated
and accepted by men and women anxious to serve God, the teachings of the humble elders
have appealed to their reason, with the result that from that nucleus of six has developed a
church of hundreds of thousands of our Father's children, created in His image, whose spirits
were created by him, who have earned the right to come into the world to work out their
eternal exaltation. These have joined the Church and have been willing to incur the unkind
feelings of former friends and the hatred of the world, in order that they might please their
Heavenly Father and obtain eternal happiness in His celestial kingdom. It is true that you
will not find in any place else in the world so perfect a form of government as has been
given to the Church with which we are identified. This is the Lord's way; Joseph Smith did
not of his own wisdom lay the foundation of this church; Brigham Young of his own wisdom
did not plan what we behold in these valleys; those men were inspired by the same power
that directed Moses when he led ancient Israel into the wilderness.

CR April 1922. Page 62.

RIGHTEOUS EXAMPLE SUPERIOR SERMON

Husbands, be good to your wives; wives, be kind to your husbands; parents, treasure
your children and safeguard them in every way; children, honor your fathers and your
mothers, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God giveth unto you.
Let us evidence our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the many blessings bestowed upon
 42

us, by living righteous lives. We will be tempted, but let us resist the insiduous advances of
the adversary, and avoid those customs and habits that lead us away from the right. Let us
oppose evil with all our power, and renew our determination to be worthy sons and
daughters of God; let us pray for and sustain those whom the Lord has called to preside over
us; let us set the world an example of righteousness, which will preach the gospel as it has
never been preached in all the years that have passed. This is our mission and it is indeed a
privilege that we should prize.

CR April 1923. Page 78.

LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER

I say there is need in all Israel today -- there is need for this man addressing you to
examine himself -- there is need for everyone of us to look about ourselves and see wherein
we are neglecting our privileges and our duty, for tomorrow it may be too late. Today is the
acceptable time of the Lord. Let us set our houses in order. Let us love one another. Let us
sustain these men whom God has raised up to preside over us. Let us bless them, not only by
our lips, but by assisting in every possible way to carry this burden that rests so heavily upon
their shoulders. Let us honor these presidents of stakes and these bishops of wards; pray for
and bless them and help them. Let us love one another that our Heavenly Father may be able
to bless us, and he will bless us if we love one another and do good to all his children.

CR October 1930. Page 69.

THE SABBATH DAY A BLESSING TO MANKIND

"Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." That seems such a little thing for us to
do, in return for the blessings we enjoy. But to forget that it is the Lord's Day, as some of us
appear to do, is ungrateful. He has set apart one day in seven, not to make a burden, but to
bring joy into our lives, and cause that our homes may be the gathering place of the family,
that parents and children may assemble around the family hearth, increasing our love for one
another. And if we do what our Heavenly Father would have us do, we will go to his holy
house upon the Sabbath Day, and there partake of the sacrament, in remembrance of the
sacrifice that was made for us by the Redeemer of mankind. Honor the Sabbath Day and
keep it holy, Latter-day Saints, and it will bring you great joy and our Heavenly Father will
bestow upon you the blessings that result from obedience to his advice and counsel.

CR October 1932. Page 23.

"MANY CALLED: FEW CHOSEN"

There are many people who have no idea of the purpose of this church. I have had
 43

men ask me: "Of what benefit is your church more than any other church?" I have tried, in a
tactful way to explain to them the difference. Any organization may band together for
worship, but that does not give them divine authority. Any group of churches may mass
together and organize community churches; that does not give them divine authority. Men
may unite for good purposes, but authority from our Heavenly Father is only obtained in his
way, and his way in former days was by calling and ordaining men and setting them apart for
the work. The same thing is true in our day.

CR April 1934. Page 28.

EASY TO KEEP THE LORD'S COMMANDMENTS

It is not hard for me to comply with the requirements that are made of me by my
Heavenly Father, and I realize that his teachings to me come through those whom He has
chosen. When I was a child I recognized, or thought I did, that the commandments of the
Lord were his laws and regulations for my guidance. I thought I recognized in the
disobedience to those laws, that punishment would follow, and as a child I presume I may
have felt that the Lord had so arranged affairs and so ordained matters in this life that I must
obey certain laws or swift retribution would follow. But as I grew older I have learned the
lesson from another viewpoint, and now to me the laws of the Lord, so-called, the counsels
contained in the Holy Scriptures, the revelations of the Lord to us in this day and age of the
world, are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in Heaven, in His mercy to us. They
are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is more concerned in our welfare than
earthly parents can be, and consequently that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh
name of law, to me is now the loving and tender advice of an all-wise Heavenly Father. And
so I say that it is not hard for me to believe that it is best to keep the commandments of God.

CR Oct. 1911. Page 43-44.

ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO WORTHY ENDEAVOR

On every hand we can find opportunity for the use of the talents our Father has
blessed us with. Let us do individual work with our brethren and sisters. If we find a man or
a woman who has not succeeded in life, one who is weakening in his faith, let us not turn our
backs upon him; let us make it a point to visit him, and go to him in kindness and love and
encourage him to turn from the error of his way. The opportunity to do individual work
among us as a people is present everywhere; and there are few men and women in this
Church, who could not if they would, reach out a little further from the circle with which
they are identified, and say a kind word, or teach the truth to some of our Father's children
who are not being reached by the organizations of the Church, because we are unable to
gather them in.
 44

CR April 1914. Pages 12 and 13.

THE RESURRECTION

There are those in the world who apparently cannot believe, or who do not believe, the
information contained in the Holy Bible, that there is a resurrection for all those who die and
that Jesus Christ was the first fruits of that resurrection. He came into the world, sent by his
Heavenly Father to organize a church and to develop in the lives of its members an
understanding of the purpose of life and to prepare them for eternal happiness, not only upon
this earth in mortality, but for eternity. . . .

I wish that all the people of the world -- all our Father's children -- could understand the
scriptures that have been given to us by the Lord and preserved by the Lord and preserved by
his servants. They are replete with assurance of the resurrection and eternal life.

Of course, the outstanding evidence was that of Jesus Christ our Lord, who was crucified at
Calvary, removed from the cross and laid away in the tomb. Those witnessing that great
event supposed that would be the last time they would ever see him, but in three days he left
the tomb, in three days his spirit had entered his immortal tabernacle and he was among his
associates again.

Funeral of President Grant. Church News, May 26, 1946. Page 4.

ETERNAL HOPE

I am thinking now, as I stand here talking to you, that more of my dear ones are on the
other side than here, and it will not be long in the natural course of events before I too will
receive my summons to pass on. I am not looking forward to that time with anxiety and
distress, but with hope, and with the assurance that the change, when it occurs, will be for
increasing happiness and for advantages that we cannot know in mortality.

Funeral of President Grant. Church News, May 26, 1945. Page 4.

ON THE BEAM

One day I boarded an airplane at Los Angeles. It was foggy and they held us on the
ground for some time, but finally word came that we might start. The plane taxied down the
field, left the ground, soared up into the air and ascended above the fog into glorious
sunshine. We could see the top of a mountain that gave the pilot our direction toward Salt
Lake City.

We were soon crossing Nevada and the fog was gone. The view from the plane was
 45

delightful. Near Milford, Utah, we suddenly flew into one of the worst fogs I have ever seen.
I tried to look out of the window of the plane but could not see anything through the fog. Not
a thing could be seen in any direction outside of the plane.

I knew that we were approaching the mountains at the approximate speed of three miles a
minute, and that we were compelled to pass over them to get into Salt Lake Valley. I was
worried and asked myself: "How can the pilot find the way when he cannot see a thing?" He
had his compass, but the plane might drift off its course. He had instruments indicating our
distance above sea level, but he had no way of knowing how far we were from the ground. I
thought he might fly high enough to clear the mountains between us and Salt Lake Valley
and try to find the landing field by the flash of beacons, if we got close enough, but I chilled
when I thought of the danger of losing our way and missing the beacons and the airport.

In my anxiety I went up into the space that is occupied by the pilot and co-pilot, to see how
they knew where we were going. I could not tell whether we were a hundred feet, a thousand
feet or ten thousand feet above the ground, and I did not know how they could tell, except
approximately. I noticed that the pilot had a little device over his ear like operators in
telephone offices use to receive with. I inquired of the co-pilot how they could tell whether
they were flying in the right direction or know if we were off our course. He replied: "When
we cannot see we are guided by the radio beam." "What is that," I asked. He explained that
the beam might be likened to an electric highway between two points, and in our case the
points were Milford and Salt Lake City. He said that the device over the pilots ear operated,
so that when the plane was on the beam, a low, purring sound continued to be heard, but if
the plane goes to the right or left the sound changes and the pilot is warned as if by the
clicking of a telegraph key. If he hears two dots and a dash, he knows he is leaving the beam
to the right; if two dashes and a dot, he is leaving the beam to the left, and he immediately
pulls back to the beam or highway, on the path of safety, the clicking ceases and the purring
resumes.

I couldn't hear what the pilot could hear and if I had said to him, "You can't possibly hear it
(the beam) because I can't hear it," he would have thought me foolish.

I returned to my seat greatly comforted to know that notwithstanding we were enveloped in

fog or darkness and could neither see or feel where we were, the pilot was receiving
information constantly that we were on the highway and he knew that we would soon arrive
at our destination. A few minutes later I felt the plane descending. We had passed over the
mountain tops and were nearing the airport. When we were nearly down we could see the
powerful lights of the field indicating where to land and the plane, with its precious cargo,
touched the ground as gently as a seagull lights on water, slowly we came to a stop and
stepped from our conveyance to the ground, happy to be at home again. . . .

I have thought many times of the lesson I learned on that plane and have applied to
experience in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are passengers on the good
 46

ship Zion. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the real pilot. He charted the course; he knows every
island and rock on the way and has placed beacons to guide us safely to our destination.

He inspires the leaders who are chosen to preside over the Church. There may be members
of the flock who do not understand some of the things the President tells us, but when he
speaks under the inspiration of the Lord, he is pointing the way, and that way will be safe for
all those who follow. My advice to all Latter-day Saints is to stay with the ship that will be
on the beam, and in due time we will all land safely in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Liahona, Vol. 35, Pages 363 and 364.

Lives of Great Men Oft Remind Us We Can Make Our Lives

Sublime

HUMBLE BUT GREAT MEN

It is a wonderful blessing that we enjoy in these times of stress and uncertainty to feel
sure of divine guidance, to have absolute faith in a personal God who is interested in us and
who hears and answers our prayers.

I have been thinking today of the humble but great men who have led this Church from its
organization. I have known all of the presidents since Joseph Smith the Prophet. Although a
small child when Brigham Young passed away, I knew him; I have sat upon his knee and I
remember with deep appreciation his kindness to my mother and her children when father
was in England as a missionary. I have been well acquainted with the other Presidents and
believe that they were all men of God. It is inconceivable that our Heavenly Father would
choose any other kind to preside over his Church.

I have known the members of the quorum of the Twelve since I was a small boy, and since I
became of age I have been intimate with all of them. They have been a remarkable group of
men. I can testify that those who have remained faithful have indeed been servants of the
Lord.

I have been acquainted with most of the First Council of Seventy, and they have been good
men of exceeding humility.

The two patriarchs of the Church who have served in my time have been faithful and have
blessed the people.
 47

I have known all the members of the Presiding Bishopric since I was a youth and have been
on intimate terms with most of them. They certainly honored their Bishopric and have sought
to be what the Lord would have them be.

It has been my privilege to be personally acquainted with most of the Stake Presidents
during the last forty years, and they have certainly presided over the people in a way that I
am sure the Lord is pleased with their Service.

While I have not been personally acquainted with all the Bishops of the Church since my
youth, I have known most of them. They have indeed been fathers of the flock, a wonderful
group of men.

The auxiliary leaders of the Church, both men and women, have been faithful and true and
have ministered for the blessing of our Father's children, whom they have been appointed to
serve.

In addition to these leaders, I have known thousands of the rank and file of this great
Church, men and women of many nations, who, in humility and faithfulness have accepted
the gospel to become identified with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both
here and in other lands. These too have prayed for and sustained their leaders during the past
century, and during my experience in the Church I have yet to know of one person who has
been observing the commandments of the Lord who has raised his or her voice against those
who are called to preside over this Church.

CR April 1931. Pages 31-32.

MY GRANDFATHER GEORGE A. SMITH

Within the last few weeks I have been reading a journal of my grandfather, George A.
Smith, who, when a boy seventeen years of age, was a member of Zion's Camp. He was large
in stature and slept at the foot of the Prophet's bed at night to see that no one should enter the
tent who did not belong there. I have read his personal experiences, some most painful and
others miraculous. In his youth he was sent out to preach the gospel of our Lord. His was the
experience of other men who have been called to the ministry. Those of evil minds made
false accusations against him and his associates, but they continued faithful and the Lord
vindicated them and magnified them in the eyes of the people and gave them a testimony of
the divinity of this work that was so positive that no task was too difficult for them to
undertake for the dissemination of truth. Grandfather was among the group sent to England
to preach the Gospel in 1839.

When he and his companion arrived in New York without any money to cross the ocean,
Grandfather and one of his companions decided that they would go down into New Jersey
 48

and farther South and hold public meetings. In those meetings they told the people what they
were trying to do; to go across the ocean to preach the gospel, but they hadn't any money. In
one of the meetings a stranger walked up to Grandfather and squeezed some money into his
hand in the form of bills, and said, "Now, you take this." Grandfather took it and later when
he had an opportunity to look and see what he had, he found that the man had given him
enough to pay his fare and that of his companion and buy their bedding and enough food to
last them during the trip across the water.

In due time they arrived in England. There the adversary sought to discourage them in every
way. Their journals written at the time disclose the fact that they were misrepresented by evil
men and attacked by evil spirits, but the Lord preserved them and they performed a great
labor. Eight of the Quorum of the Twelve were there at one time. Among those called to go
to England were men without means to pay their way, but they started from their homes on
foot. Due to prolonged illness one of these men was too weak to walk two miles to take a
stage coach, but was helped that distance by a friend. They had faith in God; they knew that
this was his Church; and so they went their way, and friends not of the Church were raised
up to give them money and pay their passage across the ocean, where they delivered their
message and many faithful people accepted the truth as a result of their ministry.

CR April 1931. Page 33.

JOSEPH SMITH -- THE BOY

About a hundred and twenty-five years ago, a boy fourteen years of age, named Joseph
Smith lived with his parents near Manchester, New York. He was taught to read the Bible. In
the community in which he dwelt when he was fourteen years of age they were holding
religious revivals. The various denominations were inviting those who came to the meetings
to join one of their groups. This boy was a little uncertain about which group he should join.
He wanted to belong to the one that would please his Heavenly Father.

He read in the Bible: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men
liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him," and with that in his mind he decided
to put it to the test. The Lord would tell him which church he should be identified with.

He went out into the woods near his home and knelt down to pray. His own statement is that
he saw the Father and the Son, and in answer to his question as to which church he should
join, they informed him that not any of them was pleasing to the Lord, and that if he would
be faithful there would be given to him a great opportunity to bring new light into the world.
That was the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

CR October 1944. Page 94.

 49

JOSEPH SMITH --THE MARTYR

Joseph Smith performed his mission, and when the time came that he was face to face
with death he said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's
morning. I have a conscience void of offence toward God and toward all men. If they take
my life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance,
and it shall yet be said of me, `He was murdered in cold blood.' He was not afraid to stand
before the pleasing bar of our Father in Heaven and answer for the deeds done in the body.
He was not afraid to meet the charge that had been made against him, that he was deceiving
the people and dealing unjustly with them. He was not afraid of the result of his life's
mission and of the final triumph of the work, which he knew was of divine origin and for
which he gave his life.

CR April 1904. Page 64.

TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH

President Joseph F. Smith is an example to us. All the days of his life he has been
faithful and true. No one can put his finger upon an instance where he has wronged any man.
The Lord has blessed him and he has been exalted among men. We would do well to watch
his life and emulate the splendid traits of character that have been manifest in him to so large
a degree. He need not feel that the youth of Zion are recreant; for I say as one of the sons of
Zion, one of the weakest among you, I believe we stand ready at any time, with our faith, our
devotion and all that God has blessed us with, to do His will and keep his commandments,
and to sustain those whom he calls to preside over his Church.

CR October 1906. Page 50.

JOY OF LABORING IN THE CHURCH

I am grateful for my blessings, I am thankful for your companionship. It is a joy to be

associated with such men as lead this church -- those who are upon this stand. I can testify to
you as one who knows them from personal contact, that they are men of God. They may
make some mistakes, but they will correct them. They are holy men who are seeking the will
of God, and for the inspiration that gives them understanding. It is a joy to labor with them
and have contact with them, and I thank my Heavenly Father for that privilege. I am grateful
to be your companion in this great church, for the opportunity I have of visiting the stakes of
Zion and the missionary field. I am thankful for the privilege that has been mine to associate
with good men and women, many of them not members of this Church.

CR April 1939. Page 125.

 50

A PRAYER ANSWERED

I am standing on what to me is sacred ground. My grandparents and my parents and

many other relatives lived here in Provo and some still live here. My father as a young man
came near losing his life in the Provo river, not far from where we are now. His father, who
was in Salt Lake City, felt impressed to go into a room that had been set apart for prayer. He
clothed himself in Temple robes, knelt down at the altar and said: "Heavenly Father, I feel
that there is something seriously wrong with my family in Provo. Thou knowest that I can
not be with them there and be here. Heavenly Father, wilt thou preserve and safeguard them,
and I will be grateful to thee and honor thee."

At the time when he was praying, just as near as it was possible to indicate by checking the
time, my father had fallen into the river. It was at flood time. Logs and rocks were pouring
down from the canyon, and he was helpless. Those who were near saw his predicament, but
they could not reach him. The turbulence of the water was such that nobody could live in it.
They just stood there in horror. Father was doing everything he could to keep his head above
water, but he was being thrown up and down and being dashed against the rocks and logs.
All at once a wave lifted him bodily from the water and threw him upon the shore. It was a
direct answer of the prayer of a servant of the Lord.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 16, 1946.

NATURAL THAT THE PROPHET JOSEPH SHOULD SEEK THE LORD

It was a very natural thing that Joseph Smith should seek the Lord. He came of a race
of people who believed in our Heavenly Father, in the divine mission of the Savior, in the
efficacy of prayer and that God would hear and answer his children if they went before Him
with a proper spirit. It was easy for this young man to believe, because he had been born and
reared in a believing household; and when he went out into the woods in response to the
injunction of the scripture, "If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him," (James 1:5) he believed that his
prayer would be answered, and our Heavenly Father has promised his children from the
beginning that "by faith ye may know all things." The result was that wonderful
manifestation, unlike any other that we have ever heard of in the history of the world.

His prayer was answered and he saw and heard the Father and the Son.

CR October 1921. Page 159.

MONUMENT TO THE PROPHET

I believe it may be interesting to this great congregation if I shall detail to you some of
 51

the circumstances connected with the recent visit made by President Joseph F. Smith, and a
number of the members of the Church, to the state of Vermont, where a beautiful monument
was dedicated to the memory of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

On the 18th day of December, 1905, there left this city in a Pullman car, "Sofala," 30 souls,
29 of whom had been invited by President Smith to accompany him to the dedication of the
monument. I desire to say that we all, including President Smith, paid our own expenses....

By the kindness of the railroad companies, the car in which we journeyed was taken from
place to place with great rapidity and without unnecessary delay. All along the road, from
the time we left the depot at Salt Lake City, until we arrived at South Royalton, Vermont, the
railroad officials looked after the welfare of the party, and many general officers of the
various railroads came aboard to see that every possible convenience and comfort were
provided. We arrived at our destination without difficulty after a splendid journey across the
continent. It was a great change for some members of our party, who had crossed the plains
in early days with ox teams, and some with hand-carts, when it was dangerous to travel
because of Indians. Some had known the privations and difficulties of frontier life, having
wended their way to this country during the pioneer settling of the valleys. Now they were
permitted to go over the same route on a great railroad, in a palatial car, with all the comforts
and conveniences that could be furnished.

We had beautiful weather while going to our destination, until the evening of the 21st, when
we encountered snow, the first we had seen since leaving home. We arrived at South
Royalton, the railroad station at which we were to leave the train, on the morning of the
22nd. There we found that five or six inches of snow had fallen during the night, and this
provided excellent sleighing for the party, most of whom went to Tunbridge, which was the
home of the grandfather of the Prophet Joseph Smith. We examined the town records there
and were treated with kindness by the people. I should have stated that, on arrival at South
Royalton, we were met by Elder Junius F. Wells, who had been in charge of the construction
of the monument, and found that he had made all necessary arrangements for us at that end
of the line. The people of South Royalton were waiting to make us welcome; they had
decorated and seated a comfortable hall, where we held our meetings and gatherings and
became acquainted with the people. We appreciated all this and every member of the party
was made to feel that we were in the hands of friends. President Smith and associate leaders
were especially sought after and received a most kindly welcome on every hand. . . .

On the afternoon of the 22nd, we met about 30 members of the Church who had come from
New York and Boston to participate in the dedicatory services. These visitors with the
company from Utah, and residents of South Royalton, assembled in the evening and were
agreeably entertained by some of Zion's sweet singers, including Lucy Gates, Robert Easton
and Ellen Thomas.

On the morning of the 23rd of December, the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet
 52

Joseph Smith, the people of the surrounding country began to gather at the South Royalton
Hotel, where members of the party were stopping. Because of the thaw on the night of the
22nd the snow had largely disappeared, and the result was that the people brought
conveyances of various kinds -- wagons and carriages. We were informed by Brother Wells
that the vehicles were furnished gratis by the citizens, to convey the Utah party and friends
to the site of the monument. We were duly seated in the carriages and reached the place
where the dedicatory services were to be held. Arriving there we beheld a beautiful
monument and a lovely cottage. We were astonished to see what had been wrought within
the short time that had elapsed since Brother Wells had gone down there to supervise the
work. The Church had purchased 100 acres of the land surrounding the birthplace of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, including the orchard, the old cellar and the hearthstone of the home
in which he was born. We found there had been built around and over the hearthstone, which
retained the original place it had formerly occupied, a beautiful home, where will reside a
caretaker of the property and of the monument. A peculiar feeling and influence came over
us as we realized that we were standing on the ground where the Prophet first beheld the
light; an event that we may say marks the beginning of Mormonism; and that this location is
now the property of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our tears flowed freely
under the influence of the spirit, every soul was humbled, every heart was melted and we
rejoiced in the blessings of our Heavenly Father.

The people began to gather, coming in wagons or on horseback, until several hundred had
assembled. The house would not hold them, so overflow services were held outside, while
the dedicatory service that had been arranged for was being conducted in the house. The
people rejoiced with us. They had appointed Dr. Fish, one of their number, to speak words of
welcome, and he complimented the people of Utah and the Church for having completed in
their locality a monument of such exquisite beauty. They were delighted and pleased and
desired us to understand that they would assist in protecting the property from vandalism and
that it would be safe in their community. He said they honored us for the work that had been
done.

Brother Junius F. Wells made a report of his labors during the course of the meeting. While
he addressed us we were glad in our hearts to observe that he had warmed the feelings of
that community towards him and won their love and respect. They seemed to look upon him
almost as one of their own. . . .

Many people do not understand the great task it was to get this monument in position. The
shaft itself weighs somewhere near forty- three tons. It was erected on high ground and had
to be carried five and a half miles from the railroad upon a specially prepared wagon, the
wagon weighing eight tons, the tires of the wheels being twenty inches wide. The country
road could not bear the great weight of the immense blocks of stone of which the monument
is constructed, and a track of oak planks was laid upon the ground, and the big wagon was
rolled upon it. When the first effort was made to haul the stone, twenty of the best horses in
that country could not move the wagon. Afterwards, by means of block and tackle, it was
 53

successfully moved, although sometimes only a few yards or a few rods a day, until the
monument was gradually taken to its destination. The people of that country said to Brother
Wells, "You will not be able to get it into position because of storms and snow; the roads
will be so slippery you cannot haul it." Brother Wells said to them, evidencing the faith of
his lineage, "We will get there; the Lord will open the way." So the storms held off until the
monument was in place, the cottage roofed and the doors and windows roughed in; then it
began to snow. The people of that country refer to that two months of pleasant weather at a
time when ordinarily they have snow, as Well's weather, in compliment to the man who had
faith in our Heavenly Father in carrying out the purpose undertaken. . . .

After the dedication services, which were attended by people who manifested great interest,
considerable literature was distributed to those who seemed anxious to learn something
about Mormonism. A meeting was held in the hall that had been prepared, on the night of the
23rd. Many gathered in from the surrounding towns and settlements and we had a delightful
time. The brethren proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ; told why we believed that Joseph
Smith was Prophet of the Lord, and testified to the divinity of his mission and to the
authenticity of the Book of Mormon. After meeting the people remained to shake hands and
ask questions. We felt again that we were in the society of friends.

The monument stands in a beautiful location. The newspapers of that section made the
statement that it is the greatest structure of its kind in the state of Vermont; indeed, it is the
largest polished shaft in America and is characteristic of almost everything else that has been
done by the Church since its organization.

CR April 1906. Pages 53, 54, 55.

CONCERNING GRATITUDE

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

My great-grandparents lived in New England. When the message of the restored gospel was
first taken to that section by Orson Pratt and others, the houses of worship were not open to
them. They had difficulty in finding a place in which to preach. They came to a small village
and they thought surely they would readily find someone who would offer to open a place
for the preaching of the gospel, but they found none. At length they inquired of a man on the
street as to where they could secure a place. He said, "Go find Winslow Farr. I think he can
help you."

So they went to see Winslow Farr: he was easily found; everyone knew him. They told him
what they wanted -- to find a place in which to preach the gospel.

He asked, "What are you going to preach about?"

 54

They answered, "Jesus Christ and his Gospel."

He said, "I will help you."

They found a place and invited the people to come. Orson Pratt told them God had spoken
again from the heavens, and that a young man named Joseph Smith had received heavenly
manifestations. The Lord had directed him to an ancient record which the Prophet translated
-- the Book of Mormon. It was a divine record, the story of the ancestry of the American
Indians.

Orson Pratt's testimony was so effective that Winslow Farr came up to him, took his hand,
and said, "I have enjoyed your meeting tonight.. Where are you going to stay?" On learning
that they had no place to stay, he said, "You come home with me."

The missionaries didn't know that Winslow Farr's wife was dying of a dread disease --
tubercular consumption. But this servant of the Lord, Orson Pratt, seeing her condition and
realizing how kind her husband had been, looked at her and asked, "Have you faith to be
healed?" The doctor had said she could not be healed, could live but a few days. When asked
that question she said, "I don't know if I have that faith or not, but I know God could heal me
if he wanted to."

And then this servant of the Lord said, calling her by her given name, "Olive, in the name of
Israel's God, I command you to be healed." She was healed and in a few days was going
about performing her household duties.

It was not long after that the Farrs came down where our people were situated in Nauvoo.
And when our people came farther west, the Farrs were among the first to come. Winslow
Farr, my great-grandfather, and Olive Farr, his wife, had three sons and a daughter born to
them. They were among the first people to live in Ogden. The last time the Farr family
assembled to celebrate Olive Farr's birthday, they found she was grandmother,
great-grandmother, or great-great-grandmother to more than three hundred and twenty
people, and I was one of the great-grandchildren.

I record these facts as one more witness of the power of God, and of the validity of his
promises to all who will hearken and obey. We are witnesses that "all these things shall be
added" to those who "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Go where you
will, you will find no more happy people, no people with more comforts, no people with
greater faith, no people who have been more greatly blessed than the group of people to
whom we belong. But with all these blessings I wonder sometimes if we appreciate them. Or
are we like those of whom it speaks in the New Testament when the Savior met ten lepers as
he entered a certain village -- ten men living in a terrible and dying condition -- men who
lived a living death, not in the city, but in caves and dens on the outskirts of habitation, and
 55

if anyone came toward them they had to put up their hands and cry out, "Unclean," to keep
everyone away. Ten of these men called upon the Savior to heal them. They evidently had
some faith, and he saw their condition and had pity on them. He told them to go to a certain
place and to follow his instructions, which they did and "as they went, they were cleansed."
(Luke 17:14.) Presently one of them came back, rejoicing and crying out that he had been
healed and acknowledging how God had given him this blessing. Seeing him and his
happiness, and hearing his testimony of being healed, the Savior said, "Were there not ten
cleansed? but where are the nine?"

Now, my brethren and sisters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which of
these would we be? Shall we not be numbered among those who recognize the gifts of God
and the mercy extended to us? Or will we be among the nine, and take the blessings as they
come, and accept them as belonging to us -- with very little gratitude? I am grateful to my
Father in heaven. I know that I have been healed by the power of God, and received all my
blessings by that power. I am grateful for my great-grandmother who was healed by the
power of the Lord, and passed her last days in the valleys of the mountains, where she lived
to be ninety-three years old. God gave her wonderful children who honored her. And I say to
all of you, honor your fathers and mothers. Let them know you appreciate them by what you
do for them. One of the commandments of God is love and honor thy father and mother. And
we may best honor them and honor our Father in heaven by doing the things we know we
should do. All the happiness that any of us will ever have in this world will be the result of
keeping the commandments of our Father. Let us seek first (not last) the kingdom of God,
and trust our Father in heaven to add all other good and desirable things, as he has already so
bounteously done.

Era, June 1946.

The Book of Mormon -- The Savior in The New World

THE BOOK OF MORMON -- STORY OF A CHOICE LAND

In the Book of Mormon, "The American volume of Scripture," the Lord has given us
information pertaining to this land upon which we dwell and called it a land favored above
all other lands. I recommend that not only you Latter-day Saints read the Book of Mormon,
but that our Father's other children read it. They will find that it contains, in addition to what
the Bible has said about this western hemisphere -- that it should be a land of liberty unto the
gentiles and that no king should dwell upon this land, but that he, the God of Heaven, would
be our King and would fortify this land against all the nations, that this should be a land of
 56

peace and happiness, on condition that we would honor the God of this earth, the Father of
us all. The factor controlling this promise is that we must keep the commandments of our
Heavenly Father or it cannot be realized.

Liahona, Vol. 38, Page 434.

THE BOOK OF MORMON -- A LARGER SHARE OF THE GOSPEL

Reference has been made to the Book of Mormon that has been printed in Braille, for
the use of the blind. I regret that I did not bring a set here for you to see. It consists of seven
volumes, each twelve inches long, twelve inches wide and two to three inches thick, nicely
bound in green cloth and embossed in gold. A set will be presented to the larger libraries of
the country making it available to most of the blind, just as is the Holy Bible. It was printed
by the American Printing House for the blind, at Louisville, Kentucky, the same company
that prints Bibles in Braille for the American Bible Society. It was proof-read by a scholarly
blind man, one of the two best Braille readers in the United States, who was also employed
to proof-read the Bible.

The Book of Mormon is a sacred record containing information that is found in no other
book. The Lord has commanded us to share with all his children the truths of the everlasting
gospel. Distributing the Book of Mormon is a most important duty.

In the year 1827 Joseph Smith was living in Palmyra, New York, and it was at the Hill
Cumorah, not far from his home, that an angel delivered into his custody, a volume of plates
having the appearance of gold. He was directed to translate the engravings into English,
which he did by the gift and power of God. It caused quite a commotion in the community
when it was reported that Joseph had received some golden records and had them in his
possession. Attempts were made to take them from him. He and his father's family were
harrassed because of the report that they had something valuable in their possession. The
Lord had informed Joseph before he was fifteen years of age that a great mission was to be
given to him if he would live a righteous life. Later it became part of his duty to translate and
publish to the world the Book of Mormon. When the people of the neighborhood learned
that he was contracting with a local printer to publish the book, they did everything possible
to discourage it. They declared the work was a fraud and determined to prevent its
publication, and in order that the venture might be a financial failure, they tried to make the
distribution impossible by agreeing that they would not read the book.

Years later, when I went back to that section of country I found the only copy of the Book of
Mormon thereabouts was the printer's copy that was owned by one Pliny T. Sexton, who was
Chancellor of the University of New York and a banker at Palmyra. It had never been cut
and was kept in a glass case. The people in that section had never read the Book of Mormon,
and thus had apparently kept their word insofar as their threat was concerned about not
reading it.
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Notwithstanding the threats that were made Joseph placed the manuscript containing this
prophecy in the hands of the printer for publication (II Nephi, 30th Chapter and 3rd, 4th and
5th verses):

"And now, I would prophecy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after
the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and
sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are
written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed. And then shall the
remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that
they are descendants of the Jews. And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among
them; wherefore they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the
knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers."

It is interesting to note that notwithstanding the animosity of the people, and the threat not to
purchase the book, it did not deter the youthful Prophet from publishing the prediction that
had been made by Nephi, "There shall be many which shall believe the words which are
written." Let us see if that promise of the Lord has been fulfilled.

The Book of Mormon was first published in English in 1830; in Danish in 1851; in Welsh in
1852; in German in 1852; in French in 1852; in Italian in 1852; in Hawaiian in 1855; in the
Deseret Alphabet in 1869; in Swedish in 1878; in Spanish in 1886; in Maori in 1889; in
Dutch in 1890; in Samoan in 1903; in Tahitian in 1904; in Turkish in 1906; in Japanese in
1909; Czecho-Slovakian in 1933 and in Braille in 1936.

Now that the Book of Mormon has been published in Braille it is interesting to note that in
2nd Nephi, 27th Chapter and 29th verse, the following appears: "And in that day shall the
deaf hear the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of
darkness."

While there are not many blind people in our own communities it is estimated that there are
more than 125,000 in America.

In addition to the eighteen languages in which the Book of Mormon has already been
printed, it has also been translated and prepared for publication in Hindustanee, in Greek,
Hebrew, Bulgarian, Russian and Armenian.

Think of the problem that presented itself to Joseph Smith. Money was being expended,
borrowed money, in order that the book might be published. Martin Harris had mortgaged
his farm to secure the necessary funds. It required faith of a high order to continue under
such circumstances. The edition of 5,000 was eventually delivered and paid for and the
estimate now is that considerably more than a million copies have since been distributed
among the nations of the earth. The demand for it increases as the days go by, and it fills my
 58

heart with joy to know that every man who will read it prayerfully, every man who will
desire to know whether it be of God or not, has the promise of our Heavenly Father that they
shall know of a surety that it is of God.

CR April 1936. Page 13-16.

Count Your Blessings

INVENTORY OF OUR BLESSINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES

I am reminded of a conversation with a gentleman who was not a member of the

Church. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of Oregon (and, by the way, nominated one of
the Vice Presidents of the United States, who later became President of the United States).
He had been among our people, had come to know a number of them, and he and I became
quite well acquainted. We were riding together in an automobile from Nashville, Tennessee,
out to the old Jackson Hermitage, and he surprised me by turning in the car and saying:

"I wonder if you appreciate the richness of your life?"

I said, "I think I do."

He said, "I wonder if you do."

"Well," I said, "just what do you have in your mind?"

"Why," he said, "to have been reared as you were in a home where they believed in God, and
where they had family prayers, where they were familiar with the Bible, and where they did
not partake of food without thanking the Lord for it.

"Furthermore, wherever you go everybody knows you are a member of the `Mormon'
Church, and this does not seem to be any disadvantage to you; in fact, they seem to want to
do more for you because of it. Here in this great convention you are the only member of your
Church; everybody knows who you are. And you can't get off the train in any large city in
the United States in which you do not have a friend who would meet you, if he knew you
were coming."

He continued: "Think of it; think of your forebears and of the lineage of the blood that is in
your veins."
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Then he climaxed it all when he said: "And your sublime faith. I wonder if you appreciate
it."

I have thought of this many times. With all that God gives us, do we appreciate it?

It is marvelous to me, when I think of my own experience as a child. We were reared in a

very ordinary home, as far as the things of this world were concerned. Father and Mother
spent all their available time to keep us children fed and clothed and in school. Yet, all along
the line, for some reason or another, we enjoyed the richness of earth.

No millionaire has ever enjoyed his life more than I have mine. I have not been possessed of
very much wealth or property, but always enough. And I want to tell you that I have been
grateful for food, for every mouthful that I have partaken of, and for the privileges of my
home, for having had the companionship of a lovely wife, and for parenthood, for having
children born to me to nurture and teach and care for -- all these things have been rich to me.
And morning and evening it has been a joy to kneel in the presence of my Maker and thank
him for his blessings.

It is not the things we have that make us happy. It is what we feel. This was illustrated to me
one day by an earnest brother who came from Holland. He could not speak English. I helped
him get a modest position and a place where he could live, with a small garden, in the ward
in which I lived. He used to come to fast meetings and hear the brethren and sisters bear their
testimonies in English, although he could not understand what was being said. Then, to
return the compliment, he and his wife would get up and bear their testimonies in Dutch,
which we could not understand. One day after fast meeting, with the aid of many motions, I
asked him: "Brother Folkers, why do you come to an English-speaking meeting when you
cannot understand what is said?" At length it dawned on him what I was trying to say. "Ik
versta," I think he said, to let me know he understood. Then he did this: he touched his eye
and he said, "It is not you see"; and touched his ear and said: "It is not what you hear, but
what you feel that makes you happy."

I have thought of this a good many times. It is what we feel, and the more we feel, under the
inspiration of the Spirit of God, the happier we are. And at this season, as children of our
Father in heaven, blessed above the world, many, many times over, possessed of
opportunities and privileges that the world knows nothing about, we may well be earnestly
grateful for the goodness of the Lord to us, and we may well show our gratitude by honoring
him and keeping his commandments.

Let us not put away from us the things of God. Let us retain in our homes the influence of
prayer and of thanksgiving, and let gratitude rise to him who is the Author of our being and
the Giver of all good. Let us appreciate all these blessings, yes, but not forget the Giver. Let
him know by the conduct of our lives that we appreciate him and all that we enjoy.
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This is the Church of Jesus Christ. It was he who called Joseph Smith to be a prophet, and
sent his disciples to confer upon the Prophet Joseph the authority of the priesthood and
directed him how the Church should be organized. This is God's work, and this is the plan he
has established to prepare us for eternal life in the eternal companionship of those we love. I
bear this witness to you in love and in kindness and with an earnest desire that we may have
joy in righteousness, and all find our place in the kingdom of our Father.

May the Lord help us to appreciate our blessings and give evidence of it by our conduct in
life, and in the end receive, at the hands of the Master and through his voice, that welcome
home: "Well done," I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Era, December 1946.

YOUR GOOD NAME

A number of years ago I was seriously ill. In fact, I think everyone gave me up but my
wife. With my family I went to St. George, Utah, to see if it would improve my health. We
went as far as we could by train, and then continued the journey in a wagon, in the bottom of
which a bed had been made for me.

In St. George we arranged for a tent for my health and comfort, with a built-in floor raised
about a foot above the ground, and we could roll up the south side of the tent to make the
sunshine and fresh air available. I became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a
slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed.

One day, under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had
passed to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake,
facing a great forest of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake
or any other visible means to indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed
to realize, that I had finished my work in mortality and had gone home. I began to look
around, to see if I could not find someone. There was no evidence of anyone living there,
just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake behind me.

I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been
used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had
walked for some time and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a
man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my
steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. In mortality he weighed
over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I
was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.

When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation
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for me to stop. Then -- and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to
forget -- he looked at me very earnestly and said:

"I would like to know what you have done with my name."

Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen --
every. thing I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was
standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather
and said:

"I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed."

He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of
my earthly surroundings. My pillow was as wet as though water had been poured on it -- wet
with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed.

I have thought of this many times, and I want to tell you that I have been trying, more than
ever since that time, to take care of that name. So I want to say to the boys and girls, to the
young men and women, to the youth of the Church and of all the world: Honor your fathers
and your mothers. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the
privilege and the obligation of reporting to them (and to your Father in heaven) what you
have done with their name.

Era, March 1947.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

I find as I travel about that people are astonished when they discover that men of this
Church, when they attain prominence, men who have been exalted in political and business
life, retain their faith. A man asked me some time ago: "How is it that people can remain
faithful in your Church and still have all these advantages that come in the world?" He said:
"In our Church this is not the case. When men become prominent in civil or business life, in
many instances we lose their cooperation.

I thought today, as I sat here looking at this group of men and women, who have had unusual
opportunities for education, refinement and culture, opportunities to serve in various
capacities, that when we meet as we have met today, we are brethren and sisters, we have the
spirit of the Gospel, we have affection for one another, and we meet under that influence that
our Heavenly Father said should exist, if we love our neighbors as ourselves.

One of the beautiful things to me in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it brings us all to a
common level. It is not necessary for a man to be a president of a stake, or a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve, in order to attain a high place in the celestial kingdom. The humblest
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member of the Church, if he keeps the commandments of God, will attain an exaltation just
as much as any other man in the celestial kingdom. The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ
is that it makes us all equal in as far as we keep the commandments of the Lord. In as far as
we observe to keep the laws of the church we have equal opportunities for exaltation. As we
develop faith and righteousness, our light is made to shine as a guide and blessing to those
with whom we mingle.

CR October 1933. Page 25.

HAPPINESS

I have traveled in the world approximately a million miles in my ministry. I have been
in many lands and climes and I have met many people. I have never known anybody who
had real happiness in his life except as a result of keeping the commandments of God, as far
as he was able.

Do we want to be happy? Do we want our homes to be happy? If we do, let them be the
abiding place of prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude. Ask a blessing upon the food when we
partake of it. Fathers, be kind to wives and children, and children be kind to father and
mother. "Love one another." "Honor thy father and thy mother."

CR April 1944. Page 32.

A BLESSED CONGREGATION

How blessed we are in this house, sanctified to God by the teachings that have been
given here by righteous men and women. Here we are today, not as a mixed, conglomerate
congregation, but as a band of brothers and sisters, worshiping at the same shrine, praying to
the same God, living the same gospel, keeping our homes under the supervision of the same
spirit. I do not know how anyone of us can enjoy these blessings without having his feelings
exalted and from the depths of his soul thank him who bestows upon us all these
opportunities.

Church Section, Deseret News, Oct. 13, 1945.

A HAPPY LIFE

I have lived a long time as contrasted with the average of human beings and I have
had a happy life. I can think of nobody who has had a fuller life than I have had and I do not
say that boastfully, but gratefully; but I want to say to you that every happiness and every joy
that has been worthy of the name, has been the result of keeping the commandments of God
and observing his advice and counsel. So, as we go forward, each of us, each having an
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influence with our neighbors and our friends, let us not be too timid. We do not need to
annoy people, but let us make them feel and understand that we are interested, not in making
them members of the Church for membership, but in bringing them into the Church that they
may enjoy the same blessings that we enjoy.

Church Section, Deseret News, April 17, 1948

COMFORTING BELIEFS

To believe that we are the children of the Lord, that he is the father of our spirits, that
we are living eternal lives, is surely a comfortable feeling. To know that we may have the
companionship of those we love, throughout the ages of eternity, is an inspiration. These
blessings have come to us. The Lord has bestowed them upon us to prepare us to take
advantage of our opportunities here, and to exemplify in our lives those precious truths that
enrich us here and bless those with whom we associate.

CR April 1994. Page 27.

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

It would seem, as you look over the conditions in the world, that men generally have
lost all understanding of the purpose of life. A great majority of the people of the world do
not know why we are here; but the Lord, in the beginning, starting with our first parents who
were placed upon the earth, began teaching His children the purpose of life, and gave them
rules of conduct, which, if observed, would have enriched their lives, brought happiness in
mortality, and enjoyment of eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom.

When the Lord began the peopling of this earth -- and he prepared it for the people who live
upon it -- he provided everything that is necessary to make us happy. You cannot think of
anything that we need that is not provided. As the years, the centuries, have passed, there
have been uncovered new opportunities for development, refinement, culture and happiness,
in almost every part of the world.

CR April 1944. Page 27.

All Honor to The Pioneers

A BOY IN PIONEER DAYS

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I am standing here today, not more than about three hundred yards from the very spot
where I first breathed the breath of life. It was just across the street, in a humble little home,
a little adobe house with four or five rooms, surrounded by a little garden and orchard. That
is where I began. Salt Lake City at that time was a village. We did not have water piped into
our houses but it was dipped up in buckets and barrels at the side of the ditches that ran
down our streets, and then it was carried into the house in smaller receptacles. We did not
have any electric lights in those days. We had tallow candles or kerosene oil lamps, but no
electric lights. The gas did come a little later while I was a child.

At that early day we did not have a foot of pavement in the city, either on the roads or on the
sidewalks. I remember this great wide road just at the west of us here. There used to be about
six inches of dust upon it in the summertime, the finest dust you could ever put your feet
into. That is where we used to play, barefooted, running up and down the street playing ball.
We did not have to dodge automobiles. Nobody had ever dreamed of an automobile at that
time; at any rate it was a long time after that before the first one came here, and then it was a
curiosity.

CR October 1948. Page 149-150.

OUR HERITAGE FROM THE PIONEERS

I do not know when I have felt happier or more grateful for the blessings of life than I
do at this time of the Centennial. We have much reason to thank our Heavenly Father.

When I realize that our people came from a land rich agriculturally, made their way across
the great plains after being driven from their comfortable homes in Nauvoo, and came into
this then desert waste to build up the Church to the glory of God and to transform the desert,
I know that I, for one, have much to be grateful for.

Sometime ago in traveling over a portion of the old Pioneer trail I stood at the side of one
grave containing bodies of fifteen of the members of this Church who gave their all for the
cause, and passed on to their reward; hundreds of others also lie in unmarked graves.

I have been many times on that trail over which barefoot, hungry, and weary, in the cold of
winter and the heat of summer, thousands of our people made their way into this valley,
buoyed up with the hope that they could here worship God according to the dictates of their
consciences. Today when I think of this marvelous land in which we live, our world-famed
Temple Square, our homes and farms, and our buildings that have been dedicated to the
worship of our Father in heaven, it seems to me that we ought to examine ourselves and
check on our lives to see whether or not we are living up to our privileges and are worthy of
that which the Lord has given us. He has said:
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"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21.)

It was in order that we might know what his will is towards his children that he gave Joseph
Smith, the boy prophet, the latter-day revelation which resulted in the organization of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then some of the very stalwarts of the earth
were pricked in their hearts with a desire to know the truth, and the missionaries of the
Church sought them among the nations, and the pilgrimage to this western world began. The
community comforts that we enjoy here are the result of their faith and devotion.

The only way we have of giving convincing evidence of our gratitude is by honoring Him
and keeping His commandments. That we may so do, and in the end enjoy eternal life in the
companionship of one another, under the direction of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, I
pray with all my heart.

The Lord has said:

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Cor. 2:9)

I humbly pray that the Lord may help us to appreciate our blessings and evidence it by our
conduct in life, and in the end receive from the Master that welcome home: "Well done."

ERA July 1947.

KNOW UTAH'S EXCELLENCE

The high degree of culture that has prospered in Utah since its beginning may be
summed up in part as follows: A larger percentage of Utahns have traveled throughout the
world than have the citizens of any other state of the Union. Utah stands at the top in the
number of High School students in proportion to population, and a higher percentage have
attended the best colleges and universities.

Utah leads all the states in the number of the men of science born within their borders in
proportion to population. This information is vouched for by Dr. Edward L. Thorndike of
Columbia University. The first university to be established west of the Missouri River was in
Utah.

Here people in great numbers engage in music and other cultural arts. Choirs and other
musical groups throughout the state have developed standards far beyond the average
communities of similar size, and the great Tabernacle Choir and Organ are famed the world
over for their excellence.
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Utah homes reflect an attitude towards life that brings forth favorable comment from
observing people, who come here to visit, of which the following are typical: Dr. Frederick
Vinning Fisher, for many years a minister in Ogden, said that in the valley of the Great Salt
Lake, a higher degree of culture was found than in any other community in America.
William Allen White, noted newspaper editor and writer, told a local audience that
civilization has developed to a greater degree in the Salt Lake Valley than in any other place
he had visited.

Church Section, Deseret News, January 4, 1947.

HARD TIMES

I remember one sister in Idaho a number of years ago. As people were complaining
about hard times, I asked if there was anybody there eighty years of age, and they said: "Yes,
there is one woman here that is over eighty."

"Well," I said, "call her to the stand and let us hear her testimony."

She got up and she said: "You make me sick talking about hard times. Why you have more
food and everything else than you need here. A few families possess more than we had in
this whole valley when I came. When we came here we had a span of horses and a wagon
and a cow, and the only incumbrances I had were my baby and my husband."

Well, of course that remark provoked a great deal of merriment in the group. She was not
taking much stock in her husband if she meant what she said. She then continued to say:
"We worked; we did team work. We worked outdoors and indoors. We did everything we
could to conserve our energies and conserve our means, and see what this valley has
produced. Talk about hard times!"

It was interesting to hear that dear old soul scold that great congregation of people who
thought they were having hard times.

Conference Address. Friday, April 4, 1947. Church News, April 12, 1947.

THE GREAT PAGEANT

O how my soul thrilled last night when I beheld the pageant that was presented before
us of the ages that have passed. It was called most forcibly to my attention that we who live
in luxury today do not appreciate what our forbears have passed through. The scene of our
pioneers toiling across the plains touched my heart and tears dimmed my eyes as I thought of
them under the burning sun's rays and in many cases in the snow; and remembering that my
own father was born on the way I asked myself: Am I living worthy of the sacrifices that
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were made by men and women such as these? I hope I am.

CR April 1930. Page 68.

THIS IS THE PLACE MONUMENT

This morning is the culmination of a great expectation. One hundred years ago today,
there came out of this canyon a group of people, 143 men, three women and two children, of
the original band that left Winter Quarters.

When they came here and looked out over this valley, they saw what you can see this
morning, minus all the vegetation and all the houses and development now visible.

What they saw was a wilderness. But they came to make a home, they came with the promise
of the Prophet Joseph Smith that they would become a mighty people in the midst of this
country and of these mountains. Now we see what has happened.

During the past few years, and during the past few months particularly, a group of your
fellow citizens have been working under the direction of the Governor of the state, to
prepare something that will be permanent, as far as permanency can be, from material things,
and so this monument was begun. In order to get the very best, we looked around over the
country, in fact we looked around over the world, and we decided that a descendant of
Brigham Young, who had established his reputation in the world as a sculptor and builder,
should create this monument. And it was agreed with Mahonri M. Young that he should
undertake it, and he has been working faithfully ever since. We are grateful that he has
succeeded so well. And we are sure that you, with him, are delighted with the result.

The monument itself is finished this day, and with the blessing of our Heavenly Father, it
will be dedicated.

We have several of our associates, citizens of this country, men who are faithful and have
done great work in many ways, with us.

I may say to you that among those that you do not see is the son of Washakie, the Indian
Chieftain. Charles Washakie is over there by the monument with his wife and
granddaughter. In other words we have two generations of the Washakie family here, and we
are glad they are here, because they will find on the monument an heroic statue of Washakie,
the great Indian who said to those who wanted to have him discourage the people from
settling here, and to drive them out: "I have never encouraged my people to destroy the white
men," and he refused to be a party to such proceedings. He was always a friend of the white
man, and we welcome Charles Washakie and his wife and grand-daughter here this morning
on equal terms with all the rest of those who are honored.
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Remarks of President George Albert Smith were made at the opening of the dedicatory
services for the "This is the Place" monument, Thursday, July 24, 1947. President Smith
officiated at the service as chairman of the Monument Commission, and also offered the
dedicatory prayer.

(After a brief pause the monument was unveiled and President Smith offered the dedicatory
prayer as follows.)

DEDICATORY PRAYER: THIS IS THE PLACE MONUMENT

Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will
be done, in earth as it is in heaven.

We stand in thy presence this morning, on this quiet hillside and look at a great monument
that has been erected in honor of thy sons and daughters, and in remembrance of their
devotion to that which they thought would be beneficial to our country and the people who
dwell here. We thank thee, our Heavenly Father, that this monument has been completed,
and that not one or two, but all of those who came in that early day are recognized, as far as
possible, upon this monument.

We pray that we may be blessed with the same spirit that characterized those faithful ones
who believed in thee and thy Beloved Son, who came into this valley because they desired to
live here and worship thee. We pray that the spirit of worship and of gratitude may continue
in our hearts.

We thank thee, Heavenly Father, that thou didst lead the Children of Israel, through the
wilderness and into the Promised Land; that thou didst bring the Pilgrim Fathers to this
Western Hemisphere, and that others followed them, so that all through North and South
America, there are thy children who love thee and honor thee and thy name.

We are grateful that thou didst raise up the men who gave to us the Constitution of the
United States; that under thine inspiration it was written and has given to us peace and
comfort and satisfaction in so far as we have honored and respected it and sought to be
worthy of it.

Grant, O Lord, that all who dwell upon this great land of North and South America, may
look to thee and appreciate the blessings they enjoy, and grant, O Father, that the hearts of
the people who dwell in the United States of America, may be turned to righteousness, that
they may appreciate what it means to dwell in a land favored above all other lands.

Grant, O Father, that the sons and daughters of these men and women may be reared in the
spirit of prayer, thanksgiving and virtue, that day by day this nation we live in will continue
to be a light unto the world.
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And, O Father, in the midst of confusion that is everywhere, and uncertainty, bless us in
America, that we may repent of our foolishness, our lightmindedness and our wrongdoing,
realizing as we should, that all the blessings that are worth while may come to us only as a
result of honoring thee and keeping thy commandments. The pathway of righteousness is the
highway of peace and happiness. Help us O Lord, to walk in that pathway.

Now in memory of those brave souls who pioneered the wilderness, who came here not only
a hundred years ago, but who came before and since, we stand today with our heads
uncovered, with thanksgiving in our hearts. We pray that thou wilt bless their descendants,
that they may cultivate the traits of character that were worthy of their forebears, and add to
those ideals, that this land may be blessed, and that men and women everywhere may realize
that here is the true spirit of brotherhood.

While we dedicate this monument of stone, that has been adorned by the figures of thy
children, we realize that these are now at peace with one another. How can we, Heavenly
Father, as we live in the world and enjoy the influence of thy spirit, fail to be at peace with
one another? Grant that we may remember the advice and counsel of thy Son, when he was
upon the earth, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, and loving our neighbors as
ourselves, that we will devote our time to doing the things that will enrich our lives.

Bless our nation and the world. With grateful hearts we thank thee for thy favors bestowed
upon us. We are blessed as no other people have been who have lived upon the earth. And
now we thank thee for this additional blessing, the completion of this monument, that will
stand here during the ages, to be recognized as a tribute from the descendants of those who
came when it was not easy to come, who gave their all that we might worship God according
to the dictates of our conscience. This monument is erected to the memory of those who
opened the way to the settlement of this part of thy vineyard. Bless us, our Father, that we
may realize this wonderful gift and that we may show by our lives our appreciation to those
from whom we have descended.

Again we pray, help us to love one another and to be worthy of our nation, the Constitution,
and the men who gave their all in order that we might enjoy these blessings.

We dedicate this monument and the surrounding property that has been set apart by the
governor of Utah. We dedicate all that pertains to it, to thee, our Heavenly Father, and pray
that thou wilt accept of our offering. Cause that it shall be an inspiration to all who look
upon it, to honor thee and keep thy commandments. We pray that thou will preserve it in
every way and that joy may be the result of its erection. And all those who have participated
in it, Heavenly Father, bless them. Remember those who have given of their means, even the
children who have contributed of their pennies and small amounts, that they may feel that
they have an investment here that is accepted by thee, and that is pleasing in thy sight.
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We do this humbly and thank thee again for all thy mercies, in the name of Jesus Christ, our
Lord, Amen.

Church Section, Deseret News, August 2, 1947.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER

When the pioneers came into this valley, on the 24th of July, 1847, this was a
wilderness. Today, comfortable homes, houses of religious worship, business places, all
these things have come; built from the grass roots, if you will, by a people who came with
only what they could bring in their wagons, and from that time until now they have believed
in God, and have worshipped him in Spirit and in truth. They have sent more than 60,000 of
their own members into the world to share with our Father's other children the gospel of
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The result has been that we have continued to be happy. We pass through the experiences of
mortality like other people but we have had an anchor that has made our lives delightful and
when we are in doubt, like the Prophet Joseph Smith when he was a boy, we have this
satisfaction: If we go to the Lord in prayer he will give us comfort.

CR October 1944. Page 95.

TRIBUTE TO THE MORMON PIONEERS

One hundred years ago this week, a group of religious exiles, members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, entered this valley of the Great Salt Lake, under the
leadership of Brigham Young. They were the vanguard of some twenty thousand of their
people, then scattered over the prairie, having been driven from their homes in the east
because of their religion. Before the coming of the railroad approximately eighty thousand of
them, gathered from many nations, were to travel by ox team and handcart to this city from
which we speak, as well as to the scores of other colonies which they established in this
inter-mountain area.

Unlike most other westward bound emigrants of the time, these pioneers came not for
wealth, but to create homes, where they could worship God unmolested. This area was then
generally considered unfit for colonization, and Brigham Young was advised against settling
here by those who had seen it. But these people believed that they were led by the hand of
providence, and that this would become a land of promise unto them.

Hordes of crickets threatened their first crop of grain, but their prayers for help were
miraculously answered when numerous seagulls appeared in the sky, settled on the fields and
devoured the insects, thus preserving the precious crop. Such experiences, however, kept
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them constantly aware of the precarious situation in which they found themselves.

Except for an occasional outpost or fort there was no settlement within a thousand miles to
the east and seven hundred miles to the west, with ox team and wagon the only means of
transportation.

They realized that if they were to survive, they must make the wilderness yield a livelihood.
They knew also that if they were to enjoy any measure of security and comfort they must
develop the available resources to supply their wants.

They had little money but they possessed in large measure characteristics far more valuable
in the development of the frontier. Among these was their remarkable capacity for work.
They adopted as their emblem the honey bee and the hive, symbols of industry. Pioneering at
best was arduous, but in this harsh, strange land it required even greater effort.

There were among them many skilled men and women. These people were not adventurers.
They were by inclination stable folk, gathered from many countries and communities, trained
in the arts, crafts and professions. Evidence of their skill is in the remarkable buildings
which they constructed, as well as in their other accomplishments.

Among their most commendable qualities was a spirit of cooperation. Bound by recognized
ties of brotherhood and guided by Christian ideals, which were part of their very fibre, they
knew how to live and work together without suppressing individualism.

Even more important than these characteristics was their faith in the ultimate achievement of
their purposes. They believed that with the blessings of Heaven, the soil would become
fruitful and their labors would be rewarded. They prayed over the land, and set to work to
make their prayers come true.

They were the first Anglo-Saxons to practice irrigation on a community basis. With great
effort they built dams and canals, developing the principles of modern irrigation practice that
have resulted in millions of new wealth, not only in this land, but in other lands as well.

Along the mountain streams they constructed grist mills in which to grind their wheat; saw
mills to shape the lumber, for their homes, schools and churches; and cotton and woolen
mills for the manufacture of material for making clothing.

Only five years after their arrival, they purchased in England machinery for the refining of
sugar beets. This heavy equipment was hauled across the plains in wagons. Undaunted by
numerous failures, their efforts to obtain sugar from beets were finally successful, and these
efforts contributed substantially toward the development of our nation's beet sugar industry.

They discovered and worked the deposits of coal which have so greatly affected our western
 72

economy. They opened iron mines and developed numerous other resources to add to their
comforts. And they assisted materially in building telegraph lines and railroads to ease the
burdens of communication and transportation.

To mention these items is only to sketch their industrial pioneering. They came here to build
a community where they might worship the Lord. He blessed their efforts and from the
foundations they laid has risen the great commonwealth we enjoy today.

Judging the tree by its fruits, the pioneers of Utah were a group of superior people.

(Given by President George Albert Smith, over the National Broadcasting Company
network, on Sunday, July 20, 1947.)

Church Section, Deseret News, July 26, 1947.

The Blessing of Women and Children

HONORING MOTHERHOOD

Yesterday I came into this beautiful valley, clothed with the verdure of spring, trees in
leaf, flowers blooming in the garden, our wide streets washed clean by the moisture that has
fallen from the sky during the last few days. I looked up at these great snow-clad peaks,
listened to the song of the birds, looked over the valley, dotted with comfortable modern
homes, and said to myself: "Oh how grateful I am that it is my privilege to dwell in this
favored land."

Then I went to Sunday School -- and by the way, there were in this city, among the
Latter-day Saints, more than fifty Sabbath Schools in session -- but in the one that I attended
I found, in addition to the children, forty-eight mothers, fourteen grandmothers and four
great- grandmothers, all invited to be present to receive carnations and the homage of the
children. The program of that Sabbath School was in honor of Mother, and as I looked into
the faces of those sweet children who were speaking or singing the praise of Mother, I said
to myself: "What a wonderful thing it is to live in the world in which the name of Mother is
held in such high reverence...."

Woman has filled a wonderful part in the march of progress, but most important of all the
duties that have been laid upon the gentler sex, is the duty of bringing into the world and
rearing, the children of our Heavenly Father. The Lord paid a great tribute to woman kind
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when he gave to her the first knowledge of the coming of the King of Kings.

It was Mary who first knew of a new life that was to revolutionize the faith of the world, and
it was to bring to mankind a religion, that if adhered to would solve all our problems, would
relieve us of most of our distresses, would open to all mankind the door of peace and
happiness in this world, and in the end, eternal life in the celestial kingdom.

It was a woman who first knew of the coming of a babe, our Savior. And still another
compliment was paid to woman. When the Savior had given his life, after he had fulfilled his
mission, having organized his church and set in it divine authority, and after he had suffered
crucifixion, to Mary Magdalene came the first knowledge of the new life that was the result
of the resurrection.

Look over the world and study the characters who have carved out of the conditions that
surrounded them, the fame that has attached to great names, and I think you will agree with
me that seldom may be found in this world a great man who did not have a great mother....

There are many things that might be said upon an occasion like this, but the one I have in
mind is that there are many good women who devote their lives, not only until their children
are eight years of age, but they devote themselves unselfishly until the child is grown and
married and has gone to a home of its own. The tenderness of mother love continues after the
child of her own household has a family and is bestowed upon grandchildren or
great-grandchildren, as we often see in this community.

How careless we sometimes are of this mother love. How recreant we are to the
opportunities that are afforded us, not only to pay tribute by lip service, but by kindness and
gentleness, give to her who offered her life that we might be, the joy and the satisfaction of
seeing her children grow to manhood and womanhood, bearing the image of our Heavenly
Father, worthy to be called his children.

I remember a few years ago I was on a train going north. I saw sitting in the day coach of
that train a woman that I had known in one of our settlements. She recognized me as I passed
down the aisle of the car. She spoke to me and I asked: "Where are you going?" She said, "I
am going to Portland, Oregon." I knew that the family was not well to do. I knew that this
woman was the mother of a large family of sons and daughters, so I said, "What takes you to
Portland?" She said, "I have a son there in the hospital."

I was not aware that any of her children had moved away, so I questioned a little further, and
then she opened her heart to me. She said, "My youngest boy, a few weeks ago, left home
and did not tell us where he was going. We received no word from him, but he thought he
would go out into the world no doubt to see it for himself, and the first information that we
had as to his whereabouts was when a telegram came from the Mercy Hospital in Portland,
stating that our boy was there sick in that hospital." She said, "Of course the message
 74

shocked us very much. There was only one thing to do and that was to raise means and go at
once to that boy."

It was not the father that was going, it was the mother. She was prepared to sit up during that
long ride, day and night, not resentful of the unkindness and thoughtlessness of her boy, but
only thinking that he was hers, that he belonged to her, and that our Heavenly Father
expected her to use every possible means to enrich his life and prepare him for the
opportunities that awaited him. So through the long hours of the night, as the train rumbled
over the rails, this good woman sat there, yearning for her boy, every mile taking her just a
little nearer to that lodestone that was tugging at her heart. Finally when she arrived, quickly
as she could, she made her way to the hospital. It so transpired that the place where I was to
stay was not far from the hospital so I went over there to see what had occurred.

There was that sweet mother sitting by the bedside of her boy who had been seized with a
serious attack of pneumonia, and he was lying there in pain. She was not scolding him
because he had been unmindful of her; she was not resentful of his thoughtlessness and of
his carelessness; she was just thankful to be with her boy that God had given to her. She was
now trying to nurse back the child for whom she had entered into partnership with her
Heavenly Father, to bring him into this world. He, by the way, was about sixteen years of
age, but her baby. She was trying to encourage him by telling him the things that would
make him happy and contented, holding out to him the opportunities that would be his when
he was well. In the place of distress and anguish that filled that room, prior to her entrance
there, there was a perfect halo of light and of peace and happiness spread over the
countenance of that boy as he looked up into the face of her who had offered her life that he
might be, and who on this occasion had come that long distance to sit by his side and nurse
him back to life.

I wonder sometimes if these mothers realize how wonderful they are in the eyes of their
children, in a case like that. That boy had resolved before his mother had been there many
minutes, that never again would he be recreant to her, never again would he be unmindful of
what she had given to him, but determined that the name which had been given him, in
honor, would be kept by him in honor so long as life should last....

In the Sabbath School this morning I sat by a man and I said to him: "Where is your wife?"
He said: "She is at home taking care of our last baby. It is a little baby, two weeks old." I
said then to him: "This to her is really Mother's Day." He smiled and said, "Yes, for the ninth
time."

I said as I looked into the face of that man: "How grateful you must be to have a wife who is
willing to stand by your side and bring into this world children of the living God to bear your
name, and then day by day to nourish them, to care for them and live for them."

I have in mind another incident that came into my life some time ago. I went into a hospital.
 75

There I found a little boy about nine years of age. He was not a very large child for his age. I
went to him, having learned of his presence there. His face was as white as the pillow on
which he lay. I said to him: "Little man, are you in distress?" "Oh yes," he said. I asked,
"Have you prayed to the Lord to take away your pain?" He looked at me as though he did not
know just what I meant. I asked the Lord to bless him and relieve him of his pain, and then
went away. This boy was the son of a Latter-day Saint mother, and I thought to myself `I
wonder how many Latter-day Saint mothers there are who have not taught their children to
pray and have thus denied them of our Father's greatest blessing.'

Not long after that another incident happened in another hospital. A little boy was upon the
operating table, ready to undergo an operation for appendicitis, an orphan boy, this time,
about eight years of age. It was a rather unusual case, and by the way a charity case. As the
boy lay there he looked up at the surgeons -- there were several of them present -- and
addressing the surgeon in charge he said: "Doctor, before you begin to operate won't you
pray for me?" The surgeon looked at the boy amazed and said, "Why, I can't pray for you."
Then the little fellow turned his eyes from one to the other, asking each if they would not
pray for him. Each in turn declined. Then the little man said: "If you won't pray for me, won't
you please wait while I pray for myself?" The little fellow got up on the operating table on
his knees, folded his hands and uttered a prayer. He said to the Lord: "Heavenly Father, I am
only a little orphan boy, but I am awful sick, and these doctors are going to operate. Will you
please help them that they will do it right? And now, Heavenly Father if you will make me
well I will be a good boy. Thank you for making me well." He then turned over and laid on
his back and looked up at the doctors and nurses who were all standing around, but he was
the only one in the room who could see because the others had tears in their eyes. He said:
"Now I am ready."

A few days after that a man went into the office of the Chief Surgeon and asked him to tell
him the story of the little boy he had operated on a few days before. The Surgeon said: "I
have operated on a good many little boys." "Yes, I know, but this was an unusual case -- tell
me about it." Then the Doctor looked at him for some time and said, "I don't know whether I
will tell you or not. I am not sure but what it is too sacred to talk about." "Please tell me," he
replied, "I will treat it as sacred too." Then the Doctor told the story as I have related it, and
when he got through the visitor said, "My, that was a remarkable experience, wasn't it?" The
Doctor said, "Remarkable? That was the most remarkable experience of my whole life. I
have operated on hundreds of men, women and children, and I have known some of them to
pray, but never until I stood in the presence of that little boy, have I heard anyone talk to
their Heavenly Father face to face."

The story I have told you is to illustrate the difference in these two cases. There was a
mother in each case. In one instance the mother had failed to teach her child to pray. In the
other instance, before God took her away, the mother had inspired in the mind of her boy,
Only a little fellow, the assurance that God lived and that he could hear and answer prayers.
The result of his faith was that he had a marvelous recovery. . . .
 76

My heart is full of blessings for the world. I am grateful that I had a mother who devoted
herself to her children. Whatever I may have accomplished in life, or may still accomplish,
will be due in a large measure to my mother. God bless the name and memory of mother.

(Journal History. May 9, 1926.)

PRAISE FOR THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH

I would like to say to this great body of priesthood, you are fortunate men if you have
been blessed with a good wife, a daughter of God, to stand by your side. And I want to say to
you that God loves her just as much as he loves you. If you would have his blessings, you
will treat her with love and kindness and tenderness and helpfulness. She will then be able to
carry on under the responsibilities that come to her to bring children into the world and
nurture and care for them and teach them the plan of life and salvation. And so I plead with
you brethren, let your homes be the abiding place of love, and the authority that you bear
should magnify that love in your soul and in the lives of your wives and your children.

Yesterday this house was filled with the daughters of Zion, and I say without hesitation that
you could find no more beautiful picture of womankind in all the world than was here
yesterday afternoon in the Conference of the Women's Relief Societies of the Church. These
faithful wives, these faithful daughters, assume their portion of the burden and carry it on.
They make their homes a heaven. Through that great organization, the Relief Society, begun
by the Prophet Joseph Smith, was given to womankind the dispensation of representing the
Lord, in their way, as daughters, as wives, as mothers, and as representatives of their kind in
all the world.

CR October 1945. Page 22.

A TRIBUTE TO MOTHER

I was trained at the knee of a Latter-day Saint mother. One of the first things I
remember was when she took me by the hand and led me upstairs to the bedroom. In the
room there were two beds, the bed in which my parents slept, and a little trundle bed over on
the other side. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. When we got upstairs she sat down
by my little trundle bed. She had me kneel in front of her. She folded my hands and took
them in hers and taught me my first prayer. I shall never forget it, I do not want to forget it. It
is one of the loveliest memories that I have in life, an angelic mother sitting down by my
bedside and teaching me to pray.

It was such a simple prayer that I can repeat it today.

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Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

That was my first prayer. That prayer opened for me the windows of heaven. That prayer
extended to me the hand of my Father in Heaven, for she had explained to me what it all
meant, as far as a little child could understand. From that day until now, while I have
covered approximately a million miles in the world, among our Father's other children, every
day and every night, wherever I have been, when I have gone to bed or arisen from it, I have
felt I was close to my Heavenly Father.

My mother gave birth to eleven children, three of them girls. It was the gospel of Jesus
Christ that prompted her to bring us into the world.

CR October 1946. Pages 150-151.

CHILDREN

Children are the jewels that will enrich the crowns of parents in the hereafter, if they
take advantage of the opportunity given them. Blessed are the parents who have children to
teach, if they use their prerogatives and God-given powers.

Church Section, Deseret News, July 7, 1945.

WOMEN REPRESENT THE LORD

Yesterday this house was apparently as full of the membership of the Woman's Relief
Society of the Church as it is today of both men and women together. Through that great
organization, the Relief Society, begun by the Prophet Joseph Smith, was given to
womankind the dispensation of representing the Lord, in their way, as daughters, as wives,
as mothers, and as representatives of their kind in all the world.

Church Section, Deseret News, October 13, 1945.

THE STORY OF TWO BOYS

I think I would like to tell you a story. A number of years ago there lived in Indiana
two boys, young fellows, who worked on farms -- farms five to seven miles apart. They
worked hard, each doing their chores, milking cows, etc. The first boy went to his father one
day when he was about thirteen or fourteen years of age and said, "Father, I would like to go
to the city. I would like to see the bright lights. I wonder if I could go in some evening early,
if I worked hard and got my work done." The father said, "You can not do that because you
 78

cannot do your work." The boy replied, "If I am willing to get up at daylight and work all
day, can I walk into the city? It is not very far, and I could be there for an hour or two and
then come home early?" The father said, "Well of course, if you will do all your chores, then
you can go." The result was, he went in. He got in town when it was nearly dark. Stores and
banks were closed. There were plenty of pool halls and gambling places open. All good
people were indoors, most of them in their own homes. All the riff-raff was on the streets or
in these places. They saw this young boy come in and they picked him up. It was not long
until they had shown him some of the things that no boy should see. That was his
experience. It gave him a taste for something that was not good for him.

The second boy went to his father in the same way. He said, "Father, I would like to go into
town sometime. Would you like me to go and see some of the things I have never seen? I
will have to go before dark to see anything." "My boy," replied the father, "I think you are
entitled to go into town, and I think you are entitled to have your father go with you. You
pick the day and I will help with the chores so we can go early enough that you can meet
some of my associates. . . .

Within a week he had chosen the day. They did the chores and went into town. They arrived
a little before four o'clock. They got there before the banks were closed. The boy was
dressed in his good clothes. His father took him into the bank and introduced him to the
banker, who took him by the hand and said, "When you are in town come and see us and we
will make you welcome."

His father took him to business houses where he had business and where people treated him
kindly. When they went home together, after they had remained to see a show, that boy had
the acquaintance of some of the finest men in the community. The result was that when he
grew older and went into town, his companionship was with fine people.

The boys both went to school, but the first boy did not take much interest in school. He
learned to steal. He learned to be so skillful that finally he associated with two or three men
in robbing a bank. Later they held up a mail stage and one of the men on the stage was
killed. Later they held up a train -- this boy whose father did not have time to go to the city
with him.

The other boy went to school and got an education. He became an associate of fine people
and he grew up with a reputation in the community. He was one of the finest men they had.

One day the papers came out with the statement that "Public Enemy No. 1 was shot to death
in the city of Chicago." Public Enemy No. 1 in the United States was John Dillinger -- the
first boy I talked about. He went from one bad thing to another until finally he was shot to
death.

The other boy was Paul McNutt, governor and chief executive of the state of Indiana, who
 79

has held responsible government positions, one of them being Governor-general of the
Philippine Islands.

What was the difference between those two boys? They were about the same age. It was the
viewpoint they had of life. The one boy was being taken down hill all the time. The other
boy was always going upwards.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 22, 1947.

AN EAGLE SCOUT

In the United States of America, the business men and men of affairs, when they are
looking for boys to take into business, to qualify to be leaders, if a boy can come to the
business man and say, "I am an Eagle Scout," it gives him an advantage that nothing else can
give him. It means that he has acquired not only some skill, but his character is so developed
that he has the making of a real man, not a make-believe. Business men are glad to find these
boys who were willing to work until they became Eagle Scouts.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 22, 1947.

FAMILIES -- MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS

My joy to work with these boys, and it has been a joy all my life, started with a class
of boys in Sunday School when I was about the age of fifteen. I have been working with
boys ever since and want to say I have had great joy in their companionship, and I love to
see the development of little girls also. . . .

Fathers, I do not care how much property you have, what honor you may attain to -- it is
immaterial to me whether your names are written in the records of history because of your
accomplishments, or of mere monetary things. The greatest blessings are your boys and your
girls. I fear that we may neglect our opportunities with these young people and spend more
time with material things than we should, and I repeat, so that not any of us will forget it,
that the most precious gifts given to us are our husbands, our wives and our children, with
whom we may have companionship throughout eternity.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 22, 1947, page 8.

GREATEST JOY FOR OUR CHILDREN

There is a growing tendency in this age to live much more rapidly. Instead of thinking
seriously of the purposes of life, many of our young people are devoted to light amusements.
"What shall we do tomorrow for fun?" "What shall we do next day for pleasure?" "Let's go
 80

to the show tonight." "Let's go to the dance tomorrow night."

This is the tendency of their ambition, and I am wondering, if, as guardians of the children of
the Latter-day Saints, we are as prudent and careful as we should be in safe-guarding and in
encouraging them to engage in more important pursuits. Our children are the most precious
gifts that our Father in Heaven bestows upon us. If we can guide their feet in the pathway of
salvation, there will be joy eternal for us and for them; but if, by reason of following after the
fashions of the world, or as the prophet predicted, it should happen in our day that our
children should be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it will be a sad time for us,
because those who pursue pleasure in this life to excess are likely to forsake the ways of the
Lord. I am concerned for the youth of Israel. I feel that we all should be, and assume the duty
of looking after the Lord's little ones, teaching and safeguarding them as far as possible.

CR April 1915. Page 95.

CHILDREN AT WORSHIP

Yesterday I saw a number of people here with their children, and I felt from the depths
of my soul to commend them, and I know the Lord will bless them and bless their children,
even though they are young, because they are here in the service of the Lord, in the place
appointed by him through his servants.

CR October 1917. Page 40.

WEALTH FOR OUR CHILDREN

Our Latter-day Saint youth today have a glorious heritage, rich blessings and abundant
opportunity to achieve success, if they will but retain the ideals that drove their forefathers
on to many remarkable accomplishments.

I have seen many of these opportunities develop for our young people and have watched
many of them rise to unusual heights in many fields. When I arrived in Salt Lake City (1870)
it was a thriving village with no paved streets or walks. Water for culinary use was dipped
up from the ditches that ran at the edge of the sidewalks. Gas jets, surmounting lamp posts,
three or four to the block, furnished light for the pedestrian at night. Tallow candles and
kerosene lamps illuminated the houses. Logs from the mountains furnished fuel for the
fire-place and stove.

Ten acre squares were divided into lots for homes, gardens, orchards, etc., all fenced.
Horses, mules and oxen supplied the means of transportation. Shade and fruit trees were
planted everywhere possible. Small homes were the general rule, and supplied the comforts
for families as the men and women all worked to obtain the necessities of life. These were
 81

before the days of railroads, street-cars, automobiles, bicycles, telephones, electric lights,
etc., all of which were developed during my lifetime.

We were taught to sing and recite and play home games for amusement. One excursion a
year to Calder's Park, Lindsay's Gardens, Fuller's Hill or Black Rock was an exceptional
privilege. The ideals of our fathers and mothers were instilled into our hearts, because our
work, our recreation and our educational opportunities were home-made.

As I look back to the days of my childhood I am grateful for the experiences and
opportunities that were mine. I am grateful for the development and good sound
fundamentals of living that were given to me, and were enjoyed by my companions and
friends in this pioneer community and in the homes of loving parents.

We were taught such fundamentals as faith, integrity, modesty and kindness, and we grew to
manhood and womanhood alert to avail ourselves of the many growing opportunities about
us.

Today the youth of the Church have so many opportunities that were never dreamed of in my
youth. But with these newer conditions come corresponding dangers if availed of
improperly. What our young people need today is a proper perspective. They have about
them the facilities for greater development. They have better homes than we had in the days
of my youth; they have many, many more avenues for material development and the growing
strength of the Church, and its opportunities for service, provide them a source for greater
understanding.

All of these facilities must be utilized to the utmost. If our youth today are to enjoy the same
faith, integrity, modesty, humility and kindness of their forebears, and avail themselves of
the developments that are yet to come, they may, if they will, be among the most intelligent
and happiest youth of the world.

Church Section, Deseret News, September 18, 1843, page 4.

Music Hath Charms

RIGHTEOUS SONGS A BLESSING

I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that

the Lord himself is concerned about it. He has given us the information that the song of
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praise is a prayer unto him. In our day he has given revelation about music. He gave
instruction that Emma Smith was to gather the hymns that were to be sung in the Church. He
said to her: "And verily I say unto thee, thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek
for things of a better. And it shall be given thee also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as
it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me to be had in my Church. For my soul
delighteth in the song of the heart, yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it
shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads. (Doctrine and Covenants 25:10-12) So to
this fine chorus, the choir and these other musicians, I would like to call attention to the fact
that in our day our Heavenly Father has given a revelation, teaching us that it is our
privilege, yea, our blessing, to sing, and that our songs should be sung in righteousness.

Church Section, Deseret News, February 16, 1946.

EVAN STEPHENS

We used to have here a number of years ago a young man who came from Wales. He
did not have the opportunity of a college education, but he was a Welshman, filled with
Welsh music. When he came here he became the leader of this great Choir. He it was who
had joy, along with those who preceded him and those who followed, in building a Choir not
just to sing but to sing praises to our Heavenly Father.

I want to tell you a little incident about Evan Stephens. Some very prominent people were
coming here. In that day we did not have so many visitors of prominence. We were too far
out in the wilderness. One of our good Bishops came to Evan Stephens and said: "Brother
Stephens, I have some company coming next Sunday to the afternoon meeting," (we used to
have a meeting here at two o'clock every Sunday) "and I hope you are going to have some
good music." Brother Stephens said: "All right, Bishop, we will have good music."

The Bishop did not think that that was enough assurance so he pressed it a little. He said:
"These people are not ordinary people. They are men of affairs and wealth. Their families are
wealthy, and I would like them to see just what a fine Choir we have. Now won't you give
them something just a little extra?"

Brother Stephens said: "Bishop, we have already had our practice. The music has all been
prepared. I don't see how we can make a change. I think it will be good enough for your
friends."

Then the bishop pressed him a little harder, and then Brother Stephens got his Welsh up and
said: "Now look here Bishop, we have prepared the music next Sunday to sing to the Lord,
and I think if it is good enough for the Lord, it is good enough for your company."

That is the spirit that has always been here. This house was dedicated to the worship of God,
by the spoken word and by music, by song and by story.
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CR October 1946. Page 152.

PRAISE FOR TABERNACLE CHOIR

This morning we have enjoyed this marvelous Tabernacle Choir. Do you realize what
it is doing? I wonder if you know how many people appreciate the members of this Choir.
These singers interest them in the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that none of the rest of us
can, because they have the facility of the great organ, and the combination of their tuneful
voices, inspired with a desire to bless mankind.

Some time ago I received a request from a fine Catholic man in Northern California who was
injured in the World War. He said, "I wish you would have the Tabernacle Choir sing
something for me on a certain Sunday." He explained that he had to go on the operating table
the next day to have his leg taken off, and wanted to have the Tabernacle Choir sing for him.
He mentioned the song he desired to have sung. I telephoned to the Choir leader and asked if
it were possible, "No, the program is already prepared, but say to the good man if he will
listen in we will sing something that will be pleasing to him."

I wrote him that they were going to sing something he would enjoy. He asked the hospital
attendant if he could have the privilege of bringing a radio into his room, but was told that
radios were not allowed in that hospital. He was greatly disappointed. Then he sent for the
superintendent and finally convinced him that he was entitled to a radio. He told him he was
going to lose his leg, that he was an ex-soldier in a government hospital and that the radio
would not bother anybody else.

And so he gained permission to have the radio in his room. Then he sent for his folks who
lived sixty or seventy miles north. They came down and sat around his bed and enjoyed the
music.

When this great Choir was singing he listened with genuine satisfaction, the result of which
was that next morning when the doctor examined him, he said: "There is no necessity of
taking you into the operating room, your leg is getting all right. We will not take it off."

In a few days my friend wrote to me and said: "I wonder if other people would think what I
think," inferring that he had been healed by hearing the hymns of praise that the Lord loves
to hear.

I want to say to this Tabernacle Choir that this is only one of the many blessings that we
could trace to them if we had time, for others have come to my attention.

CR October 1941. Page 98.

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WORSHIP WITH MUSIC

We have listened to sweet voices that have entertained and entranced us. I think it is
delightful to hear that we have a chorus of singing mothers. And it is pleasing also to have a
chorus of singing fathers, in the priesthood quorums. I am grateful for a Church that teaches
the joy and encourages the sweet influence that come from music. So important are the
hymns of the Church, that our Heavenly Father appointed the Prophet's wife Emma to select
hymns that were appropriate for sacred services. We do have excellent hymns in this Church.
Even our Primary children, beginning in their tender years, are taught not only to sing the
songs of the world, but they are taught to sing the praises of our Heavenly Father and to give
thanksgiving in the music that is prepared. What a comforting, uplifting influence there is in
music.

CR April 1935. Page 47.

HYMNS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED MY LIFE

I am thinking of one of the things in Sunday School that influenced me as a child. I

was not a very good singer, but I enjoyed music, and I remember some of the hymns that
influenced my life. I have jotted a few of them down that I would like to read to you: "Abide
With Me"; "Angry Words, Oh Let Them Never"; "We Are Sowing, Daily Sowing, Countless
Seeds of Good or Ill"; "Beautiful Words of Love"; "Haste to the Sunday School." (I think
that was the way I got my idea of punctuality, because when I was a boy we dared not go
into a class late) "Catch the Sunshine"; "Ere the Sun Goes Down"; "Did You Think to Pray."
I ask this audience, "Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray? Did you sue
for loving favor as a shield today?" Then, "Hope of Israel, Zion's Army"; "Kind Words Are
Sweet Tones of the Heart"; "Improve the Shining Moments"; "Scatter Seeds of Sunshine";
"Let Us All Press On in the Work of the Lord"; "Never Be Late to the Sunday School class."
And one I shall always remember was, "Joseph Smith's First Prayer"; also, "In Our Lovely
Deseret, where the Saints of God have met"; and "Today While the Sun Shines, Work With a
Will."

I remember George Goddard and William Willis, two dear old brethren who used to come to
the Sunday School in the Seventeenth Ward when I was there and lead us in singing "I Am a
Mormon Boy," and other hymns. All these things have come to my mind today, and I feel
that the hymns that have been taught the sons and daughters of the Latter-day Saints in the
Sunday School are a continuous sermon of righteousness. I am sure that they have inspired
many of us to do the things that the Lord would like us to do.

Instructor, November 1946.

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Good Government The Fruit of Righteousness

SUSTAINING THE LAW

THERE is in our land today a spirit of lawlessness that is alarming to all thoughtful
people. It is not our duty to go and make arrests. It is not our duty to carry into effect the
laws by acting as peace-officers, but I take it that it is the duty of every man and every
woman, who is worthy of the name of Latter-day Saint, to give such information to the
officers of the land as will enable them to enforce the law. . . . We not only believe in
honoring the law, we not only believe in obeying the law, but we believe in sustaining the
law, and that can only be obtained by individual service. I call the workers in the cause of
Mutual Improvement, to the standard of loyalty to the laws of the land. Wherever possible
let us exercise an influence that shall make the evil-doer and the lawbreaker fearful of
violating the rules that govern civilized society, in the communities in which we live. This is
our country, our Heavenly Father gave it to us, and he expects each of us to show our
appreciation of our birthright by helping in every possible way to purify society, and to
develop those traits of character, and those virtues, that will enrich the community and
prepare an environment for those who are now growing up and those who are yet unborn.

Journal History, June 6, 1924.

GOD RULES THE WORLD

One hundred and thirty-one years ago, the foundation was laid in this land of religious
liberty, that one person should not be in bondage to another. The Constitution was so framed
that everyone might worship according to the dictates of his own conscience, and we see the
result of it in the wonderful blessings that have been poured out upon this most favored of all
lands.

Our brothers and sisters of the world do not understand these things as we do. They do not
comprehend because the revelations of our Heavenly Father have not been made plain to
them. But, after all, this world was prepared that men might live upon it, and laws and
regulations of the governments of this world were so arranged that men might prepare to live
in a holier condition. From the time that our first parents lived upon this earth until the
present time, the all powerful hand of the Creator of Heaven and earth has been made
manifest. Nations have risen and triumphed when they have operated along righteous lines.
Governments have succeeded and flourished when they have kept the commandments of
God; and, on the contrary, the greatest nations that the world had seen up to the time this
nation was born, have risen to a pinnacle by works of righteousness, and have fallen to the
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depths of degradation because they have violated the laws of our Heavenly Father.

Journal History, September 15, 1918.

MEN MUST BE FREE

When our Father in Heaven inspired men to write the Constitution and give unto us
the great charter that vouchsafed to us the liberty we enjoy, he did it in order that men might
develop and be free, as the gospel of Jesus Christ intends that all men shall be. So the
government of the United States was begun under the direction of our Father in Heaven, as
declared by his own word, to be an example unto the nations of the earth; and the liberties
that we enjoy are pointed out in a most forceful way to the children of men.

The fact that we were a free people, that we were not a military nation, brought upon us the
contempt and ridicule of some of the great armed powers, because they thought we were
helpless. They did not understand that underlying this apparent peacefulness, in this great
land, there was a fixed determination that men should be free; that God himself had written
it, as it were, by his own finger, in the Constitution of our great government.

Journal History, September 15, 1918.

AMERICA, A BLESSING TO MANKIND

This land has been dedicated for the blessing of mankind. The Constitution and the
laws that have been enacted under its provisions are calculated to ensure liberty, not license,
to all who dwell here. This Church of Jesus Christ with which we are identified stands for
the perpetuation of the liberties of all mankind. We should not listen to those who find
pleasure in teaching sedition, neither should we follow those who claim to be citizens of this
land, who go about violating the laws that govern it. There are many who are failing to do
their duty as citizens who have the right of franchise, but who are unworthy of that blessing
that has come to those who live in this wonderful country.

CR October 1922. Page 96.

THE LORD HAS WATCHED OVER THIS LAND

The Lord has watched over this land; he directed Columbus to these shores, he
established the Constitution of the United States and through the Prophet Joseph Smith
restored the everlasting gospel to bless the children of men. If they will accept it and obey it
will be the salvation of the human family.

CR October 1922. Page 97.

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SUSTAIN THE CONSTITUTION

Sustain the Constitution of the United States. The Lord himself has said that he raised
up the very men who prepared it, to the end that it might be an example to all the world. Do
you believe it? If you do, then sustain it, and don't let your voice be among those that shall
deride and break down the government that is so important for us.

CR October 1935. Page 122

PRAYERS FOR LEADERS OF OUR COUNTRY

Fortunate are we who live in this great land of America. Fortunate are we to have had
raised up from time to time great men to preside over this nation. I want to tell you that we
can influence them, and we can help them, if from the depths of our hearts we will pray to
the Lord to give them wisdom to carry on and not be swayed by the foolishness and avarice
and wickedness of many of those who dwell in this land. It is your duty and mine to
remember in our prayers the President of the United States of America, to remember the men
who represent us in the Congress of the United States, to remember the executives of the
states of the nation, and to pray for them that they might have divine aid.

CR, October 7, 1945. Page 174.

GOOD WILL FOR POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

From time to time we are arrayed against one another in political campaigns. I don't
know another people more intense than we are during such periods, and I regret that men are
sometimes led to say and do things that are unworthy of Latter-day Saints. The great political
parties are necessary. It is important that our liberties be preserved, and all should be
interested, and it seems to me that we can be consistent Church members and take part in
politics, while we accord to others the privileges we claim for ourselves.

We should be deeply concerned in the welfare of the nation, and sustain good and great men
as the Lord has commanded us, in order that we may continue to enjoy freedom. Some of our
brethren have become so wrapped up in their political ambitions that they place them in
advance of their faith in God. Quite recently one man was heard to remark that he could not
believe in a Church which taught that the Constitution of the United States was inspired of
God; ye we believe it was inspired. This is of course an extreme case, yet it is an indication
of what we might be tempted to say.

I would like to admonish you not to let your political ambitions lead you to make remarks
that would wound your fellows and draw you away from the Church. Whenever your politics
 88

cause you to speak unkindly of your brethren, know this, that you are upon dangerous
ground. Remember that after the great political nations of the world have crumbled and
fallen to decay, the Church of Jesus Christ, with which you are identified, will be in
existence, and the Master himself will continue to be its head.

Let us not become so worked up in our feelings that we shut our eyes to the greater
blessings, to the most important thing, the salvation of our souls. Let us not ally ourselves
with bodies of men who would tear down and break in pieces this government, that was
founded under the inspiration of God the eternal Father. We cannot belong to any political
party that is opposed to this free government and be consistent Latter-day Saints.

CR April 1914. Pages 41,42.

The Human Family

ON SEARCHING FOR FAMILY RECORDS

In Chicago a number of years ago, during the Century of Progress Exposition, I went
into our Church booth one day and inquired of the missionaries as to who had charge of that
great cultural and scientific fair.

They told me the man's name was Dawes, and I asked "Is he the brother of Charles G.
Dawes, who was vice President of the United States and also ambassador to Great Britain?"

And they answered, "Yes."

"Well," I said, "I am delighted to know that. I happen to know him."

I said to myself, "I think I will go and call on him. He will be Henry Dawes." I knew Henry
Dawes, so I went to the telephone and called his office. His secretary answered and I
inquired, "Is Mr. Dawes there?"

She said, "Yes, sir."

"May I come over and see him?" I said.

She said, "There are already a hundred people ahead of you, and they all want a job."
 89

I smiled to myself, and said, "Well that may be true, but I am probably the one man he would
like to see, because I have a job."

"Do you know him?"

"Yes," I said, "I am from Salt Lake City. I just want to pay my respects."

She said, "Just a minute."

She told Mr. Dawes that George Albert Smith of Salt Lake City was there and wanted to
meet him, and he told her to have me come over. So, instead of running me behind a hundred
people to wait my turn, she took me to a side door, and there stood before me a tall man
whom I had never seen before in my life.

He said, "I am Mr. Dawes."

He was very pleasant, but you can imagine how embarrassed I was. He was Mr. Dawes, and
he was Ambassador Dawes' brother, but he was Rufus Dawes. I did not know there was a
Rufus Dawes in the world.

"Well," I said, "I have only come to tell you that this is a wonderful fair, and to express to
you my appreciation for what you have done in organizing and seeing it through. It is
marvelous what has been accomplished, and what an education it is to so many people. Now,
I understand that you are a busy man, and that is all I wanted to come and say, and to
congratulate you and thank you."

"That is very considerate," he said. "Come in."

"No, that is all I came to say," I replied.

He said, "Come right in."

I said, "No, there are a hundred people waiting to see you."

"None of them will say anything as nice as what you have said."

So I went in, out of ideas and out of breath, almost. He insisted on my sitting down, and the
next thing I said was: "By the way, Mr. Dawes, where do your people come from?"

"Do you mean in America?" he asked.

"I mean anywhere."

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He said, "Are you interested in genealogy?"

"I certainly am," I answered. "We have one of the finest genealogical libraries in Salt Lake
City to be found anywhere."

He said, "Excuse me just a moment," and walked out of his office and came back with a
carton about the size of an old family Bible. He took his knife, opened the carton, and took
out a package wrapped in white tissue paper. He took the tissue paper off and put on the
table one of the most beautifully bound books I have ever seen. It was well printed and
profusely illustrated, and the cover was elegantly embossed with gold.

As I looked it over, I said, "Mr. Dawes, that is a beautiful piece of work."

"It ought to be. It cost me twenty-five thousand dollars."

"Well," I said, "it is worth it."

He said, "Is it worth anything to you?"

I said, "It would be if I had it."

He said, "All right, you may have it!" -- twenty-five thousand dollars worth of genealogy
placed in my hand by a man whom I had met only five minutes before! Well, I was amazed.
Our visit continued but a short while longer. I told him how delighted I was to have it and
that I would place it in the genealogical library in Salt Lake City.

Before I left the room, he said, "Mr. Smith, this is my mother's genealogy, the Gates'
genealogy. We are also preparing my father's genealogy -- the Dawes' family. It will be one
just like this. When it is finished, I would like to send you a copy of that also."

Fifty thousand dollars worth of genealogy! -- and just because I tried to be polite to
someone.

I do not think that was an accident. The Dawes family is one of the most prominent families
in the United States; and in that line is the Gates family, including Jacob Gates. Other
Church families also run through these books.

This man Rufus Dawes died before the second volume was finished. He left word with
Charles G. Dawes, his elder brother, to be sure to send me a copy of that book when it was
finished. Well, I was afraid that Charles G. Dawes didn't know anything about it, so about a
year later I called on him and told him how I had obtained the other volume. He said, "I
know all about it, and we will have another of my father's line for you as soon as it is
completed." And this second volume, according to promise, also came to me.
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The Lord is helping us; it is marvelous how the way is opened and how other people
frequently are prompted to prepare their genealogies. But sometimes we fail to take
advantage of our opportunities to prepare our genealogies, notwithstanding the Lord has
very pointedly said that unless we take care of our temple work we will be rejected with our
dead. This is a very serious thing. This is something that we cannot change, if we have
wasted our opportunities until life passes.

There may be other such men -- there may be a Charles G. Dawes or Rufus Dawes in your
line, or mine, someone who is prompted by the Lord to gather these wonderful records. And
if there is, we shall have been greatly blessed -- if we use such findings for the purpose for
which they have been given us. but we cannot expect others to do this work for us.

So the Lord, in one way or another, encourages, advises, and counsels us to do our work.
Some families who can't do the work themselves have someone else working all the time on
their temple genealogy, and records.

If we do our part, our genealogies will be unfolded to us -- sometimes in one way, sometimes
in another. So I want to suggest to you, my brethren and sisters: let us do our part.

ERA August 1946.

GREETINGS TO THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS OF THE EUROPEAN

MISSION

Following in the footsteps of my grandfather, who was one of the first apostles of the
Latter days to proclaim the gospel in England, 1840-41, and of my father, who labored here
as a traveling Elder in 1874-75, and again in 1882-85 as President of the Mission, it is with
peculiar emotions that I take up my labors as President of the European Mission. I realize
that we are living in an important period in the world's history. With new, strained
conditions confronting nations, and a spirit of unrest rife almost everywhere among the
children of men. I therefore sense the great responsibility assumed in meeting them, and
most earnestly desire divine guidance in the discharge of my duties. The world is in travail.
The adversary is losing no opportunity to foment strife and discord. It is his plan to
discourage the human family and lead them from the pathway marked out by the Master.
Many are desirous of knowing the truth, but are adversely influenced by their surroundings
and the teachings of the day; so that they are unable to understand the message or to make
the sacrifice necessary to lead them into the marvelous light of the everlasting gospel. As
predicted in the scripture, it is only "one of a city and two of a family" who can humble
themselves sufficiently to become identified with the Church, that is everywhere spoken
against.
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I congratulate you, my brethren and sisters, that you are numbered among the few who have
received a testimony of the truth. "Flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in Heaven."

An Editorial in the Millennial Star of July 10, 1919.

GOD OPENED THE WAY

I wish I had time to tell you the story of the family of a man sitting in this audience
today. They wanted to come to Zion, but they did not have the means. The father was not
sure they could make it. He was working in the coal mines. But the mother got the
inspiration and said "We must get ready to go to Zion." And when the husband indicated that
he did not think it was possible, she just paid no attention. She got boxes and she began to
make and repair the children's clothing which she put in the boxes. The husband saw this all
the time and yet he could not see how there was any chance for them to go. They only had
just food enough and barely enough clothing to keep them comfortable in England.

One day, just about two weeks as I remember it, before a boat was to sail, a good woman
came into the home of this family and said to this sister: (by the way I am talking of the
Austin family now) "Sister Austin, we have been prepared to go with this boat. We have our
reservations; we have our money, but sickness has come into our family and it is necessary
for us to stay. Now would you take this money and take your family and go to America, and
then you can send the money back after you get over there."

Talk about a miracle, with money as scarce as it was in those days. The result was that the
Austin family came to this country and it has been a blessing to them and to the Church that
they came. God opened the way.

Church News, April 12, 1947.

MISSION TO THE SOUTH SEAS

In the South Seas we have had missionaries of this Church for many years. The first
were sent by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Elders Noah Rogers and Benjamin Grouard went to
the Tahitian Islands. Hundreds of missionaries have followed and preached in the other
South Pacific groups since that time. They have continued to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, until today more than thirty thousand members of the Church are found among the
natives of the South Seas, in addition to those who are of European extraction.

The Gospel has been taught to those people and the Book of Mormon has been published in
most of the languages of the Polynesian race. It has not yet been translated into Tongan, yet
in Tonga there are approximately thirty thousand of the finest people to be found in the
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world, members of the Polynesian race. (Since this report was made in 1938 the Book of
Mormon has been published in Tongan.)

I have heard the hymns of Zion sung in Hawaii, in Tonga, in New Zealand, in Australia, in
Tasmania and in both British and American Samoa. They were sung with the same spirit that
they have been sung here, and it was most satisfying to know that this most wonderful
Tabernacle Choir and the great organ, by means of radio, contribute to the joy of worship
down there. Thousands of people, living south of the equator, who do not belong to the
Church, listen in and enjoy the programs that go out from this Tabernacle. The first choir of
Singing Mothers that sang here was heard over the radio in the South Seas. The idea was
adopted and we have choirs of singing mothers among those descendants of the prophet
Lehi.

Not only does the spoken word touch the hearts of the children of men, but our Heavenly
Father, knowing the importance of appropriate singing in worship, called Emma Smith and
appointed her to select the hymns that were published in the first Hymn Book of the church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have been added to from time to time, until today
the songs of Zion are sung in many lands and the words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ have
been interpreted in many tongues, not only by the spoken word, but by the hymns that are
sung from the hearts of those who accept the Gospel of our Lord.

We do not amount to very much in point of numbers when compared with the multitude of
our Father's children, but we are intended to be the leaven of the religious world. As I looked
into the faces of good people in the South Seas I was moved in my soul to thank the Lord
that his servants were sent down there, not only to teach them the Gospel by preaching it, but
that this Church was wise enough to establish schools to train its youth, for out of those
schools have come some of the best trained and most efficient men and women that are to be
found in the islands where the Polynesian people live.

I wish that I could satisfactorily describe some of the fine groups that we met down there.
One was the Maori race. Brother Hardy went for the fourth time to visit them but they were
deprived of a part of the joy that they had anticipated because he became ill just prior to the
great Hui Tau, where more than three thousand members of the Church assembled at the
lovely Pa or plantation of the Princess Te Puea Herangi, situated on the shore of the
beautiful Waikota River, that flows through her property. We held a conference lasting three
days there and everybody had a delightful experience and a real uplift.

Brother Hardy was only able to attend part of the last meeting of that great celebration. If
you could have seen the people weeping when he came into the meeting and when he talked
to them and bore his testimony, you would have realized how fortunate one is who goes from
this part of the world to minister among that humble, happy people, who have in their veins
the blood of Israel, and you would better appreciate how their hearts are moved with
affection for those who have served them as Brother Hardy and many of our brothers and
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sisters have.

Australia is tremendously large and interesting. It is a great field for missionary activity and
we could use every Elder that we have in all the mission fields on the earth on that island
continent. A wonderful race of Anglo-Saxon people dwells there. Ninety-two per cent of all
the people are of British extraction, the race that has sent to us not only from England,
Ireland, Scotland and Wales, some of the most capable men and women that the Church has
enlisted in its ranks, but from Australia have come to us those who have performed splendid
service for mankind. The man who created this wonderful Tabernacle Organ came here from
Australia. He was an organ builder and knew the inspirational value of organ music. In the
town hall in the city of Sidney, Australia, there still stands an old organ after which I think
this organ here may have been patterned.

We received a warm welcome from the Lord Mayor, recently elected, when we visited him
in Sidney. He knew about our organ and choir. They listen in when there is a great broadcast.
Not all the broadcasts reach them I am sorry to say. There are seasons of the year when they
cannot hear, but at other times they enjoy listening to the great Choir and the announcements
that are made by Brother Richard L. Evans and others. Those people are becoming friendly
to the membership of the Church because of the singing of our brothers and sisters and the
glorious sacred music that goes out from here. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only taught
by the written word and by the spoken word, but I say to you and I say to the Tabernacle
Choir, that we all so much admire, that their part is one of the most important in allaying
prejudice and disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ and giving people a desire to hear
what a church has to say that sings as these our brethren and sisters sing.

Our missionary work is wonderful. We found your sons and your daughters in the various
islands of the South Seas and we are proud of them, as you must be. Brother Hardy was
unable to go to Tonga to do any missionary work. He was seriously ill. He held on just as
long as he could in New Zealand, but finally had to go to the hospital. The Lord was good to
him and he gained sufficient strength to continue working and return home. After we had
visited Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, spending two months there, I went to Tonga
for a month, accompanied by a native -- Elder Alex Wishart. Brother Hardy later joined us at
Nukualofa, Tonga, and we together spent a month in Samoa.

I regret that our beloved Brother Hardy is not able to be with us today, due to an illness that
overtook him some three weeks ago, but we hope that in a few days he will be out again. I
hope that his strength will be renewed unto him, because there are thousands of people in the
world who love him and who love his wife for their devotion to the Maori race and to
mankind generally.

It may be of interest to you to know that down in those South Seas the government officials
in many places speak of the work of this Church with commendation. In Australia
complimentary reference was made to our Church by two men who hold the positions of
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Lord Mayors. They were friendly; they had been here in Salt Lake City and had seen what
has been accomplished.

At Wellington Brother Hardy and I went to see the men who have charge of the government
program for the Maori race in New Zealand. The judge and a commissioner of the native
court told us, "We believe you have accomplished with the Maoris what other people have
not. We want to try out a new program for the betterment of the Maori race. We would like
to cooperate with one of your groups at Korongata in testing our plan. We would rather
experiment with them because we believe that they can succeed, and if we can do it with
your people we are willing to try some of the others."

Korongata -- near Hastings -- was where our Agricultural College was located that was
wrecked by the same earthquake that destroyed the cities of Napier and Hastings many years
ago. The school had to be abandoned because the building was so damaged that it was not
usable. But the effect of that school on that little community had been such that they were
selected from among all the Maori groups in New Zealand as outstanding, to try out the
program of improving their opportunities for education and by developing their farms, etc.

When the government officials learned that we were planning to replace our old Chapel with
a new one they said: "If you want to build a Chapel among those people and will work with
us, we will furnish you the men to build the Chapel if you will supply the material." Not
members of the Church these men saw the benefits that came into the lives of our people
because they kept the commandments of the Lord.

They said, "Your people do not drink; they do not smoke; they are not careless morally as
are some of the other natives of this country." I hope you will remember that my Brothers
and Sisters -- "Your people do not smoke; your people do not drink" -- and I want to say to
you that real Latter-day Saints neither smoke nor drink nor profane. We may make a pretense
of worthiness, but we are not Latter-day Saints when we violate the commandments of our
Heavenly Father in that particular. He said that the Word of Wisdom is "adapted to the weak
and the weakest of all the Saints who are or can be called Saints." So he himself has
indicated that we should not be called Latter-day Saints unless we observe that law.

We found the people down there clothed in their native costumes, the "lavalava" in the
Samoan Islands, and the "vala" in the Tongan Islands.

Both men and women were simply but modestly attired at our conference at Pesega, Apia,
Samoa, where we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the arrival of our missionaries on those
islands. There was an audience of over twelve hundred members of the Church, not one of
them dressed in European cloth, but attired in native material. Two hundred of the sisters of
the Relief Society wore cream colored dresses of Tapa cloth that they themselves had made
from the bark of trees. First, they stripped the bark and reduced it to pulp, using a large log
for a table. They then pounded the pulp with a club, something like a rolling pin, until they
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flattened it out like paper, and made it of such a texture that they could fashion clothing from
it.

Those women were really dressed in garments of their own make and design. Each wore a
purple or white ula around her neck, this decoration also made by themselves. The dresses
generally were of one piece, nicely fitted like an American dressmaker might have made
them. Most of the people had fine physiques and were modest and dignified in bearing --
hair and eyes black, skin brown, teeth pearly white, all bareheaded and barefooted. They
came in a group to greet us, along with two thousand other people when we landed in Apia.
It was an impressive welcome. They are a credit to the Relief Society of this Church. They
are faithful and devoted to their society and are seeking to keep the commandments of the
Lord.

It was a joy to find among that dark-skinned people men and women who bore their
testimony with power and wisdom. One of the finest interpreters I have ever seen in my life
was Fitisemanu Malietoa, a Samoan Elder, who weighed three hundred and fifty-four
pounds, and was about six feet four inches tall in his bare feet. He stood beside us and
interpreted the messages of Brother Hardy and myself and others who spoke in English, with
a power and a dignity that were inspiring, and made me feel more than grateful that such
people identify themselves with the Church. Our interpreter is also the interpreter for the
Governor of the nation and the native court.

Governor and Mrs. A. C. Turnbull attended the first conference meeting of the celebration,
where more than a thousand people sat on the floor mats with their limbs curled up under
them for two hours, yet at the end of that time they did not indicate that they were weary.
First one group and then another from the various branches of the Church sang hymns, and
the harmony and volume delighted everybody. The Governor said, "This is wonderful.
Where do these people all come from?" I think he had never seen anything like it, yet he had
been Governor there for many years.

The work of the Lord goes forward in the South Pacific. The Polynesian people are all the
children of our Heavenly Father. It is your privilege and mine to share with them the Gospel
of our Lord, and to carry the message of life and salvation to them, not only for their benefit,
but to earn our own salvation.

We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share
with our Father's other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the
commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter.

I am grateful to be back with you again. I have never been more kindly treated or more
courteously received as a servant of the Lord in any part of the wide world than I was down
there in the South Seas among the descendants of Father Lehi.
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CR October 1938. Page 32.

After Eighty Years

AFTER EIGHTY YEARS

Eighty years ago, on April 4, 1870, I was born in a humble home across the street west
from Temple Square. There was snow on the ground in April that year. My parents were
living in very humble circumstances, but I praise my Maker and thank him with all my heart
for sending me into their home.

I grew up in Salt Lake City. When eight years of age, I was baptized in City Creek. I was
confirmed a member of the Church in fast meeting in the Seventeenth Ward, and I learned
when I was a boy that this is the work of the Lord. I learned that there were prophets living
upon the earth. I learned that the inspiration of the Almighty would influence those who
lived to enjoy it.

Many things have happened since then. I wish I could give you a picture of what has passed
before my eyes and through my mind since I began life here on earth.

I do not know of any man in all the world who has more reason to be grateful than I. I am
thankful for my birthright, thankful for parents who taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ and
set the example in their home. If I have done anything that I should not have done in my life,
it would be something that I could not have learned in my mother's home. With a large
family of children, it took a mother with a good deal of patience, but she was always patient
with us. There were sweetness and kindness and love there always.

In these eighty years, I have traveled more than a million miles in the world in the interest of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been in many climes and in many lands and in many
nations, and from my childhood people have been kind and helpful to me, members of the
Church and non-members as well. Wherever I have gone, I have found noble men and
women.

I do not have an enemy that I know of, and there is no one in the world that I have any
enmity towards. All men and all women are my Father's children, and I have sought during
my life to observe the wise direction of the Redeemer of mankind -- to love my neighbor as
myself.
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I am grateful to my Heavenly Father that I was born in this land of the free, in this great
nation, in this valley, among the people who have dwelt here.

I am grateful for the preservation of my life. Several times when I have been apparently
ready to go to the other side, I have been kept here for some other work to be done. When I
think of what a weak, frail, individual I am, to be called to be the leader of this great Church,
I realize how much I need help. Gratefully I acknowledge the help of my Father in heaven,
and the encouragement and companionship during my life of many of the best men and
women that can be found anywhere in the world, both at home and abroad.

Surely it is a blessed thing to be associated with such people, and from the depths of my soul
I take this occasion to thank you all for your kindness to me, and also I take this occasion to
say to all of you: You will never know how much I love you. I have not words to express it.
And I want to feel that way toward every son and every daughter of my Heavenly Father.

I have lived a long time, as compared with the average of human beings, and I have had a
happy life. It will not be many years, in the natural course of events, until the summons to
the other side will reach me. I look forward to that time with pleasant anticipation.

And after eighty years in mortality, traveling in many parts of the world, associating with
many great and good men and women I witness to you, that I know today better than I ever
knew before that God lives; that Jesus is the Christ; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the
living God; and that the Church that he organized under the direction of our Heavenly
Father, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- the Church that was driven into the
wilderness -- is operating under the power and authority of the same priesthood that was
conferred by Peter, James, and John upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. I know this, as
I know that I live, and I realize that to bear this testimony to you is a very serious matter and
that I shall be held accountable by my Heavenly Father for this and all other things that I
have taught in his name. Realizing this and knowing that if I were to mislead you that I
would be held accountable for it, with love and kindness in my heart for all, I bear this
witness in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I pray that our Heavenly Father will continue to guide us and help us, and inspire us and
bless us, which he will if we are righteous. It is not so important how much money we may
have, how much property we may possess, and how many of the honors of men we may
receive, and all these things that seem so desirable in the world -- the thing that God has
given to us that is worth more than all the rest is the opportunity to enjoy eternal life in the
celestial kingdom and to have as our companions, throughout the ages of eternity, our
husbands and wives, sons and daughters, and other loved ones with whom we have
associated here on earth.

That is what the Lord teaches us, and when the world is so distressed and uncertain, we
ought to be grateful, we ought to be thankful for our blessings. I can think of no people in
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the world who have so much reason to be thankful for their blessings as we who are
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I pray that his peace and his love will abide with us forever, and that we may be the means
under his guidance of bringing millions of his children to an understanding of his truths. I
pray that we may all so adjust ourselves as we pass through life's experiences that we can
feel that we hold our Father's hand.

God bless you, my brethren and sisters. Do not make any mistake in these days of
uncertainty. This is God's work. This is his Church. It is the way that our Heavenly Father
has provided to prepare us for eternal happiness. I pray that when the time comes for us to go
hence we shall be entitled to a place in the celestial kingdom in the companionship of our
loved ones and of the best people who have lived upon the earth.

Improvement Era, April 1950.

LEST CALAMITIES OVERTAKE US

President Smith's Closing Remarks At The General Conference, April 9, 1950

We are coming to the close of a most interesting and instructive conference. As I look
at these beautiful flowers that came from the Berkeley Stake, I want to take occasion again to
thank the people who sent them, for I do not know of any place where flowers are more
appropriate than in the House of the Lord. And these beautiful lilies that we have today, have
made this house a beauty spot that it would not have been but for them.

Brethren and sisters, let us go to our homes. If our houses are not in order, let us set them in
order. Let us renew our determination to honor God and keep his commandments, to love
one another, to make our homes the abiding place of peace. Each of us can contribute to that
in the homes in which we live.

It will not be long until calamities will overtake the human family, unless there is speedy
repentance. It will not be long before those who are scattered over the face of the earth by
millions will die like flies because of what will come.

Our Heavenly Father has told us how it can be avoided, and that is our mission, in part, to go
into the world and explain to people how it may be avoided, and that people need not be
unhappy as they are everywhere, but that happiness may be in their lives, because, when the
Spirit of God burns in your soul you cannot be otherwise than happy.

I want to take this occasion to thank the brethren who are giving all their time to developing
and building the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want to thank these men who
stand by my side, who are so willing to support me in the responsibilities that are
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tremenduous for one man to carry -- my counselors, and the members of the Quorum of the
Twelve and their assistants, and the First Council of the Seventy, the Presiding Bishopric,
and the Patriarch.

I want to add to that the stake presidencies, the bishops of wards, the presidents of missions,
and the presidencies and general boards of all these auxiliary organizations. I am grateful for
the things that they are doing, because they are trying to bring this world into a condition
that will be heaven. The Lord has said it could be if we will do our part.

In conclusion, I desire to leave the blessing of our Heavenly Father with you all, that you
may go to your homes renewed, refreshed and invigorated, determined to carry on and do all
you can to make this earth heaven.

I bless you that you may have joy in this, that you may go to your homes in peace and in
safety and that you may carry with you that spirit which our Heavenly Father has bestowed
upon us here so generously and that we may look forward to the time when we may meet
again in the name of the Lord, with assurance that a blessing will follow, because he has said
it always would, even if two or three meet in his name.

Remember, we all have responsibilities. We may not be called to some definite duty, but in
every neighborhood there is opportunity for each of us to radiate a spirit of peace and love
and happiness to the end that people may understand the gospel and be gathered into the
fold.

To some it may sound selfish to hear us say, "This is the only true Church." But we are only
repeating what the Savior said, and he knows. It is the Church that he recognizes, and it
bears his name. We do not say that in unkindness to our brothers and sisters, and they are our
brothers and sisters, in other churches, or in no church, but we say it with the hope that they
may feel the love that is in our hearts when we reach out to them with the desire that the
happiness that has been ours may be theirs and may continue, not only now, but throughout
the ages of eternity.

God lives. Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Lord, and the gospel as it
was restored through him is the power of God unto salvation to all those who would accept it
and apply it in their lives, and I bear this testimony in love and in kindness, and with my
blessings as a servant of the Lord upon all of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Deseret News, April 10, 1950.

GOD HAS BEEN GOOD TO US

God has been good to us. No people in the world have more reason to be grateful than
we. Here under the shelter of this roof we can well pour out our souls to him who is the
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Author of our being, and remember with love those, who under his watchcare, made it
possible for us to enjoy the things that we now have.

Oct. 1947 Conference Report, page 164.

A CHOICE LAND

We live in the most wonderful land in all the world, "a land which is choice above all
other lands," (Ether 2:10) so stated by a prophet of God. Advantages are enjoyed by the
people in this great western hemisphere, and particularly in the United States of America and
Canada -- opportunities and blessings that are not known in many parts of the world. We are
permitted to worship God according to the dictates of our consciences. We can make our
adjustments according to His rules and regulations, and not be interfered with by those who
are godless and who are anti-Christ in their attitude toward the human family.

April Conference Report, 1946, p. 5.

CHOICE ASSOCIATIONS IN THE CHURCH

I am glad that I belong to a Church that has produced such men and women as has this
Church. I have traveled approximately a million miles in the world, in the interest of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been in many climes and in many lands and in many nations,
and I have never seen any place that I thought was as rich in the sweet companionships of
life, as I have found in the Valleys of these grand mountains, and in the organizations of this
Church in other parts of the world. It is a wonderful thing to have such friendships, of good,
true, honorable, sweet, faithful men and women. I have often said no man in the world has
been more blessed than I. From my childhood, ever since I can remember, I have never been
compelled to associate with evil individuals. I have been very fortunate in having my life so
adjusted that I could choose the very finest men and women that could be found in the world
to be my companions. This has enriched my life and I am grateful.

April Conference Report, 1946, p. 182.

THERE IS TROUBLE AHEAD

Today I think we have reason to be grateful. There is trouble ahead. The world is sick
and in a pitiable condition, and until the people repent of their sins and return to the true and
living God, there will be no peace that will be worthy of the name. It is our duty to set the
example; it is our duty to hold aloft the banner of truth. It is our duty to encourage our
Father's children to listen to his advice and counsel and so adjust our lives that, wherever we
are, we will find the spirit of God burning within our souls and our influence being felt for
good.
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Oct. 1947 Conference Report, page 166.

THE INSPIRATION OF THE ALMIGHTY

There are two influences in this world that have been from the beginning; the one is
constructive and uplifting -- the other is destructive and debasing. We are all subject to our
environments, but we have our free agency and can determine for ourselves which of the
influences shall motivate our lives.

We read in Job that there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding. The influence of the Almighty is that influence that is constructive and
uplifting, and if we will live up to the best light that we have, that blessing of understanding
will come to us. If we desire the inspiration of the Almighty, and we live to receive it, we
will understand the truth, we will know what is right and we will be able to avoid that which
is wrong. We must possess the spirit of truth if we would enjoy happiness. We must have the
companionship of the spirit of the Lord, if we would have understanding of the important
things of life.

The awful condition of the world is due in part to the fact that mankind has in a large
measure surrendered to the influences that are destructive. When we have the understanding
that comes from the Almighty, we are walking in the light, and when we do not have that
understanding we are groping our way in the darkness. The conditions existing in some parts
of the world this very night are due to the fact that the spirit that is in men has not been
influenced by the inspiration of the Almighty, and a lack of understanding has resulted.

Our Heavenly Father will not compel us, but he will advise us what course will lead to
happiness. We see in the world today the result of listening to the voice of the tempter, of
being influenced by that power that seeks the destruction of all mankind.

If the people who dwell on this earth were obedient to the loving advice of our Heavenly
Father, that has been given through his servants down through the ages, instead of war,
rapine and murder, we would have peace, prosperity and happiness. There is no way for us to
enjoy the blessings of our Heavenly Father but by obedience to his counsel.

Sermon, Sunday, June 2, 1940.

NO ENMITY

I want every one of you to know that I do not have an enemy, that is, there is no one in
the world that I have any enmity towards. All men and all women are my Father's children,
and I have sought during my life to observe the wise direction of the Redeemer of Mankind,
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to love my neighbor as myself. I have had much happiness in life, so much that I would not
exchange with anybody who has ever lived, and I do not say that boastfully, but gratefully.
All the happiness that has come to me and mine has been the result of trying to keep the
commandments of God and of living to be worthy of the blessings that he has promised
those who honor him and keep his commandments.

Conference Report, April, 1949, page 87.

SINGING MOTHERS

I am sure we have been uplifted by the glorious music of these Singing Mothers this
morning, representing the greatest women's organization in all the world, given to the work
of charity and uplifting womankind. This group this morning, who have just sung to us,
represent this particular region; and if you were to travel in different parts of the world, even
to the South Seas, you would find a group of Singing Mothers in the various missions of the
Church. They sing the same music that we sing here, but the hymns have been translated into
their own languages, and they rejoice in singing praises to our Heavenly Father.

April Conference Report, 1946, p. 3.

THE CONSTITUTION

Our Heavenly Father raised up the very men that framed the Constitution of the
United States. He gave us the greatest palladium of human rights that the world knows
anything about, the only system whereby people could worship God according to the dictates
of their consciences, without, in any way, being molested, when the law itself was in effect.
Now that is what the Lord gave to us. That is the Constitution of our country. Yet, we have
people who would like to change that and bring some of those old forms of government, that
have failed absolutely to make peace and happiness and comfort any place in the world, and
exchange what God has given us -- the fulness of the earth and the riches of liberty and
happiness. There are those who go around whispering and talking and saying, "Let us change
this thing."

I am saying to you that, to me, the Constitution of the United States of America is just as
much from my Heavenly Father as the Ten Commandments. When that is my feeling I am
not going to go very far away from the Constitution, and I am going to try to keep it where
the Lord started it, and not let anti-Christs come into this country that began because people
wanted to serve God.

People who came here did so that they might honor God without molestation. They did some
very foolish and unwise things, but after a while the Lord took a hand. He was ready to
organize his church, and so he raised up men who knew how to frame the Constitution of our
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great country, and made it possible for an organization, such as is in this house tonight, to
enjoy the blessings that we have enjoyed all these years, sometimes under difficulties of
course, but not the trials and distresses that other countries have had.

Priesthood Meeting, April Conference, 1948.

VALUE OF CHILDREN

The most precious of all the jewels that God has bestowed upon any of us are our
children, and we are responsible for them in their tender years. The Lord says that,
"inasmuch as parents have children in Zion or in any of her stakes which are organized, that
teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the son of the living
God, and baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, when eight years
old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents." -- not upon the school teachers, not upon the
mayors and governors, but the sin be upon the heads of the parents. We must not suffer the
effects of that sin in our lives.

Conference Sermons, October 2nd, 1949

THEY WHO GIVE TO THE POOR BUT LEND TO THE LORD

We have in the Church many wonderful individuals -- and out of the Church many
fine people. I heard of a case just a few days ago of a man that had been informed that a
child had polio and had to go to the hospital. The probability was that he would recover, but
would remain ill for months or years. [I am speaking of a man who is not a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He lives in this part of the world, however.]

He was told of the situation and that there was no way of obtaining what was needed. When
he was informed that it would take $700 to provide treatment for this particular child, and it
was not known where the money could be obtained, he said, "You get what care is needed
and send the bill to me."

The man is wealthy; he will not miss the money. In fact, there is an old saying that has come
down to us that "they who give to the poor, but lend to the Lord." This man has made an
investment in the life of a child, and he has made an investment in his own happiness that
will return to him great dividends.

Conference address, Oct. 2, 1949.

PRAYER

I hope the Latter-day Saints will not fail to say their prayers, their secret prayers and
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their family prayers. Children who are reared in homes where they do not have family
prayers and secret prayers lose a great deal, and I fear that, in the midst of the world's
confusion, of hurry and bustle, many times homes are left without prayer and without the
blessings of the Lord; these homes cannot continue to be happy.

Priesthood Meeting, Oct. 4, 1947.

TESTIMONY OF PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH

I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a
Prophet of the living God, and that the gospel of our Lord is upon the earth. The power and
authority of the priesthood are here, and if we will observe the advice that has been given to
us, if we will honor him who is the Author of our being, not only we but our children and
children's children also will be among those whom God will bless throughout eternity. That
is my testimony, and I bear that witness to you this day, in the name of Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.

Oct. 1947 Conference Report, page 167.

Freely Ye Have Received; Freely Give

"FREELY YE HAVE RECEIVED; FREELY GIVE"

(A complete sermon delivered by President George Albert Smith, in the L.D.S. Chapel
at Washington, D.C., on November 4, 1945.)

This is a very beautiful sight to me to look into the faces of this concourse of people,
-- men, women and children, every one a child of our Heavenly Father. Tonight we are met
in worship. We are not here just because we have been invited to come to a meeting. I
assume that each of those who are in this house tonight has come to worship, to worship the
Father of us all and His Son Jesus Christ and to worship under the influence of the Holy
Ghost. If that is true, we have the promise that we will go from here tonight benefitted and
blessed as a result of our experience, because it is the Lord who has said: "For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20) When
hundreds are met in His name tonight, I am sure His promise will be realized by us.

Our curiosity may not always be satisfied when we go to Church, but if we go under proper
influences and the Spirit of God is there, our souls are enriched.
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I feel my weakness tonight in standing here in that presence. I have been here many times
before. When I first came to Washington to visit the Latter-day Saints I think there were not
enough members of the Church here to fill more than three or four of these benches, and I
would think from the looks of things tonight that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has "swarmed." It is marvelous to me to see how many there are, many of them
uncomfortable I am sure because they have to stand, and I hope and pray that the Lord will
bless those who in their desire to worship are compelled to go through this service without
the comfort of a good seat. I hope He will bless them and make it possible for them to enjoy
the service, as well as those who are seated.

The world tonight needs what we are here for -- the inspiration of the Almighty. The trouble
in the world is that the majority of our Father's children do not have that inspiration, yet
hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, one of the prophets of the Old Testament
gave this information and it is recorded: "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth him understanding." And so, as we go through the world and mingle with
the men in the various nations of the earth, we look into the faces of individuals each of
whom has a spirit in his body, but we only occasionally find one who enjoys the inspiration
of the Almighty. That is why there is so much sorrow in the world, because people do not
live for that inspiration.

We, tonight, are a small congregation among the great Christian churches of the world, and
after all these years, approximately two thousand years since the Son of God came to earth to
organize the Church that bears His name, after all these years there are more of God's
children who live in the world who do not know anything about the divine mission of Jesus
Christ or believe in it than there are who do. And of those who belong to the churches that
are called Christian churches, thousands of them have little conception of God and little
knowledge of where they came from, why they are here, what the purpose of life is or where
we are going. I hold in my hand four books of scripture that tell those very things that are
fundamental to happiness in this life, in mortality, and for happiness eternally in immortality.

So, tonight, I trust that while I stand before you, my mind may be illuminated by the Spirit of
God, that I may enjoy the inspiration of that Spirit, and that influence, that I may be able to
say to you, my Father's children, every one of you, the things that He would have me to say. I
have no ambition in this matter; my desire is but to be helpful. When I think of the blessings
that I have enjoyed because of the kindness of our Heavenly Father, the opportunities He has
given me to live in the world and travel among the nations of the earth and associate with
His children, when I think that this humble man who stands here tonight started out in a
section of country that was more or less obscure in the world, and has been permitted to see
very many of the great nations of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, my heart
swells with gratitude. But for that great organization I imagine that I would not have been
known outside of the little community in which I was born, but because of the desire of our
Heavenly Father to let His other children know about Him and the purpose of life, I have
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been one of more than 60,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ who have left their
homes and at their own expense or at the expense of their own loved ones, have traveled to
and fro in the earth and learned the foreign languages that were used in the countries to
which we have gone and explained the gospel in a foreign tongue. Sometimes under the
inspiration of the Almighty we have been lifted up and been able to bear our testimonies to
the convincing of those who have assembled to worship.

Now, tonight, I am thinking of my brothers and sisters, not just members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but our other brothers and sisters who do not belong to any
church, men and women who do not know the purpose of life, many of them good men and
good women, but who as far as the light of the Spirit has come to them are living correct
lives. I am thinking of them. I am thinking of you in this great city. You are just a little
handful of people in this, one of the most marvelous cities in all the world, this wonderful
capital of the United States of America, this beautiful city that is in the land that our
Heavenly Father has referred to as a "land choice above all other lands," and as I stand here
tonight I challenge you to think of any other country that would be as delightful to live in,
anywhere, as the land of Zion, this western hemisphere. Yet I think we take these blessings
for granted. We go through our lives absorbing that which is placed within our reach and we
forget the Giver of all good. Let us tonight divest ourselves of our personal feelings, our
personal ambitions, and leave behind us the business and the affairs of life outside the house
of the Lord, and opening our hearts to Him, each of us offer a prayer to Him who is the
Author of our being, and ask Him that this night we may be fed the bread of life, that when
we go from here we may feel that it has been delightful to enjoy that companionship that
comes when the Lord abides with us.

You have already listened to three of the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, the one who offered the prayer, a man who went to a foreign land, learned
another language and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and gave years of his life, -- for what?
-- not for money, not for the comforts which surrounded him, but to share with His Father's
other children that truth which will make us free. And then the other two brethren who have
been mission presidents and who have been educators, men who have devoted themselves
not to the amassing of a fortune, not to making money, if we think of fortune as money, but
laying up treasures in heaven for themselves and for their brothers and sisters, where moth
and rust do not corrupt or thieves break through and steal.

When I think what the Lord has done for you, my brethren and sisters, whose forebears went
to the Rocky Mountains to make their homes for the gospel's sake, then of the opportunities
that have been given to you and of the truths that are yours, I wonder if it is possible for you
to appreciate the mercy of our Heavenly Father that has been extended to all of us.

Tonight, many of our Father's children in the world, and His children are in all the world,
they are all His children, many of them have never learned that they belong to the royal
family. God is our Father. He is the Father of our spirits and He has offered to His children
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in the world an inheritance if they will accept it, and that inheritance is eternal life in the
celestial kingdom. Every one of His children has been or will be offered that opportunity. It
doesn't make any difference what nationality we may belong to, if we keep the
commandments of our Heavenly Father we will find eventually our place in the celestial
kingdom. And so tonight I am talking to you as my Father's children. I am talking to you as a
part of His great family in the world, and I desire with all my heart that my voice may be
heard in truth and in righteousness and in thanksgiving.

We speak of aristocracy sometimes in the world. There is only one aristocracy that God
recognizes, and that is the aristocracy of righteousness. It is He who has written: "I cannot
look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;" not with the least degree of allowance.
Why? Because He knows that if we partake of sin we lose a blessing that we would enjoy if
we did not forsake the pathway that leads to that blessing. It is therefore desirable that we
learn these things and, remembering them, adjust our lives to the changing conditions of the
world and so prepare ourselves that when the time comes for us to say goodbye to mortality,
we may find that we have earned a place in the companionship of those we love in the
Kingdom of our Lord.

Speaking of the divine mission of Jesus Christ, think how many there are who have been
born in Christian countries who do not know much about His divine mission. I remember an
experience I had in England at the close of World War I. I was riding on the train one day.
My companion in the compartment was a Presbyterian minister, a very pleasant, fine
gentleman, and when he gave me the opportunity to do so, I told him I was a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was amazed and he looked at me with
astonishment. He said, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself to belong to such a group?"

I smiled at him and said, "My brother, I would be ashamed of myself not to belong to that
group, knowing what I know." Then that gave me the opportunity I desired to talk to him and
explain to him some of the things we believe. He opened up the conversation by saying,
"Why do you come over here to England and invite our people to leave this wonderful land
and go out to America? Why don't you leave us alone to enjoy ourselves and be happy here?
Do you come over here to divide our families, take part of them away and leave the others?
Why not leave them alone?" So he went on until he ran down.

I said, "My brother, you have been misinformed. We are not over here to take anything away
from you, we are not over here to divide your families, we are not over here to break up the
churches."

He said, "You come over here with ministers to this country when we have more ministers
and more churches than we can take care of now. Why don't you leave us alone, and why
don't you go and preach the gospel to the heathens like we do?"

I said, "We do."

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He said, "Where do you go?"

I said, "One of the places to which we go is England." He looked a little bit annoyed at me
and I smiled and said, "Now, my brother, that was not intended to be offensive. I just wanted
to bring you to an understanding of what the truth is. I said, What is a heathen? And of
course he had to give me the definition, A man who does not believe in the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. That is the substance of it. And I said, "Haven't you any such people as that
here in England?"

And he said, "Plenty of them."

Then I said, "Surely you are not going to complain at me and my associates, if you have not
converted them, if we come over here to help you."

"Well," he said, "I guess that is right."

There was a good man who had no conception of what we were trying to do. We were not
there to give him sorrow nor distress; we were trying to help him. And as we talked the
situation through I said to him: "You have a misconception of the purpose of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this land. I am here as one of its representatives, and if
you will just let me tell you a few things, I think you will feel better towards us." I said,
"First of all, we are asking all you fine people over here to keep all the glorious truths that
you have acquired in your churches, that you have absorbed from your scriptures. Keep all
that; keep all the fine training that you have received in your educational institutions, all the
knowledge and truth that you have gained from every source, keep it all; keep all the fine
characters that have been developed, everything that is good in your character that has come
to you as a result of your lovely home; keep all the love and the beauty that is in your heart
from having lived in so beautiful and wonderful a land; keep it all. That is all a part of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Then let us sit down and share with you some of the things that have
not yet come into your lives that have enriched our lives and made us happy. We offer it to
you without money and without price. All we ask you to do is hear what we have to say, and
if it appeals to you, accept it freely. If it does not, then we will go our way to somebody else
that we hope will be more fortunate, that will accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness
and thereby enrich his life."

That is the attitude of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are those who
do not believe in the divine mission of the Savior. I remember a number of years ago I was in
Canada and while there, after the Sunday services, I went down to the train the next
morning, and as I stood by the ticket office preparing to get my ticket, I listened to a
conversation that was very unusual. A woman was there talking to the lady who kept the
ticket office. They were apparently old friends. The ticket agent said, "What are you doing
here in Cardston?"
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"Why," she said, "I have been here visiting."

"I did not know you were here. Where were you yesterday?" "Why," she said, "I went to
Church."

The other woman said, "I did not see you at Church."

She said, "I did not go to the Church you went to."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

And then the ticket agent said to her, "My goodness, I am surprised at you. You do not mean
to say you went to church there."

"Yes, I did," she said. "Why not?"

The other woman said, "They do not even believe in Jesus Christ."

Now that was in Canada. But I want to say to you that when I first came to Washington I
could have taken you into hundreds of homes in the United States where the people had the
same idea, namely, that our people did not believe in the divine mission of Jesus, and yet we
are the only Church in all the world that bears that name by His divine appointment. Just
think of it!

So, let us analyze that situation just a moment. We have a good many people in the United
States and other parts of the world who are trained, strong, vigorous men and women
intellectually -- wonderful people. They know almost everything that you could think about,
at least they think they do, they are so well educated, and yet some of those very people do
not know God. They do not know that Jesus was the Savior of the world. They do not
believe it. There are many reasons why they feel that way, One reason is that if Jesus Christ
had been the Son of God, as your scriptures teach, why was He helpless in the hands of
evil-minded men, wicked men, who took His life? Why did He not push them aside -- if he
were what he claimed to be -- the Son of God. That is one of their arguments. And then they
make other arguments, They say, He died like other men and passed away like other men. He
was not a God. Of course, in our understanding of the matter, we remember that as a little
child His parents took Him off to Egypt and kept Him there until He was twelve years of
age, and then He came back, still as a child, and went into the temple and talked with the
wise men. His people were religious and they were seeking to do the thing the Lord wanted
them to do. They were in the temple. And then we call attention to the fact that when He was
old enough to lead the way, when He had matured and knew what He should do, He applied
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to His cousin, John, at Jordan who was there baptizing. The people were flocking to him to
be baptized at Jordan; there was plenty of water there. And so, when the Savior of the world
came to John and saw him, he recognized who He was, and when the Savior applied for
baptism, John said, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" "And
Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Then he suffered him." (Matt. 3:15) Jesus Christ went down into the watery
grave, was immersed in the water and came up out of the water, and the Holy Ghost
descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven said, "This is My
Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." His Father did not criticize him for going down
into the waters of baptism at the hands of a humble man. Why? Because that humble man
was a representative of God and had divine authority to baptize.

After that, this same Jesus of Nazareth organized a Church and went among those people,
teaching them the gospel. He did other things. He unstopped the ears of their deaf, He
restored their blind to sight, He healed their sick, He cleansed their lepers, He raised their
dead by the power of God that He held, and the people did not understand, many of them;
comparatively few accepted Him. We who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints accept all that information as evidence of the divinity of Jesus Christ our
Lord. And then as a climax in that land, he was crucified. His body was laid in the tomb of
Joseph of Arimathea, but three days after He was crucified and the body had been lying in
that tomb, Mary Magdalene and other women with her, went to the tomb with spices and
ointments to prepare the body for burial, as was their custom, and when they arrived there,
lo, the great stone that had been placed against the mouth of the tomb had been rolled away,
notwithstanding a guard of soldiers had been there to see that it was not disturbed, and when
they looked inside, the one they sought was not there, but a man standing by, seeing their
confusion, was looking at them; and then one of them, Mary, mistook Him for the gardener
and she asked Him, "Where have they laid my Lord?" Instead of saying, "He has been
resurrected," He just said, "Mary", And in her joy at seeing Him alive again, she would have
undoubtedly embraced Him, but He said, "Touch me not, Mary, for I am not yet ascended to
my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your God." And we read in the scriptures that during that period
of time He went and appeared to the spirits in prison who had been dead from the time of
Noah; Jesus Christ, a resurrected Being. And then for forty days and nights He was among
those people. He stood by the side of the sea when they were unsuccessful in fishing. He said
to Peter, "Cast your net on the other side of the boat;" and the net that had been empty all the
time came up this time full. He partook of fish and honeycomb with them, indicating that He
had a body and He could eat as they could eat. On one occasion when they were gathered
together in a room -- for fear of their enemies the room was closed -- the doors were locked,
there was no way for anyone to come in without permission, when suddenly there
materialized in that room a living Being, an immortal Being, and they were astonished that
such a thing could happen. It was the resurrected Lord. We would not be so astonished in
our day at something of that kind, when with television, we can see a person through a stone
wall, when we can hear by means of the radio a voice that may come through the rocks, the
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hills and the air; but in those days that was a mysterious thing to suddenly have this man
appear among them. They were frightened. He saw their predicament and said in the
kindness of His heart and His tenderness, Be not afraid, "for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have . . . Handle me and see." And they realized that it was the Master
Himself who had come to visit with them, resurrected from the dead.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we accept those statements
with regard to the Savior. We accept the other statement that when He left, two men in white
raiment standing by said, "As ye see him go, so likewise will he return again." We accept the
statement He made to them "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John
10:16) These are all acceptable to us. Does the Christian world as a majority believe those
things and accept them as true, or do they just hope that they may be true? He Himself has
said, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will he shall know
of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:16-17) That was
His own promise. We as Christians in all this great Christian world accept that promise and
should try to prove it to see whether it is workable or not. There are many who have done
this. I realize that there are in this room tonight many who have put that to the test, many
who know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Savior of the world.

Now we accept all these things, but millions of our Father's children, so-called Christians,
many of them do not accept them, and give all kinds of reasons why they cannot be true. For
people to say that we, who are followers of the Christ, do not believe in Him is so absurd
that it is hardly worth considering. But in addition to that, there is another volume of
scripture that lies here upon this stand. I hold in my hand what is known as the American
volume of scripture that supplements what the Old and the New Testament give us with
reference to the Son of God. In this book we have one of the most beautiful stories I have
ever read. I do not know of anything that is more beautiful than the account of the
appearance of Jesus Christ, our Lord, to the descendants of Lehi, the remnants of whom we
now have among us and call Indians. Soon after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a great
multitude of people were gathered around the temple in the land Bountiful on this Western
Hemisphere, and all at once they heard a voice and they could not tell where it came from.
They listened and they heard it again and still they could not locate it. Then again they heard
the voice and looking in the direction from whence it came, they saw the heavens open, and
a glorified, immortal Being came down and stood before them, and said, "Behold, I am Jesus
Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world." (3 Nephi 11:10) He made His
own introduction. There could have been no doubt in their minds as to who He was. He was
not a man helpless in the hands of His enemies, but He came in power and glory and He
visited with them and taught them the truth and gave them an understanding of what was
necessary for them to do in order that they might be happy and have glorified lives. Not only
did He appear among them one day, but He came and went and came again. In the meantime
in His visits He taught them the gospel. He took their little children in His arms and wept
over them and blessed them. He healed their sick, as He had done in Judea when He was
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there. Then when the time came for Him to go, He had already organized the Church, had
called twelve disciples to represent Him among those people who had been cut off from the
disciples of the old world, and then He said to them, "Ye are they of whom I said: Other
sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice;" (3 Nephi 15:21) thus fulfilling the New Testament scripture and now making another
scripture that was yet to be fulfilled.

We believe those things; we accept them as true. The Man who came to visit these people
known as the Nephites in those days, came as a God, not as a little child, not as a helpless
man. He came with the power to move through the atmosphere, even as our voices go
through the air over the radio. And so tonight, I say to you Latter-day Saints and to the
people of the world, we have accepted all that this good book has said about Jesus of
Nazareth as being true. We also accept the American volume of scripture that gives us the
information with regard to His coming as He had promised His disciples on the other side He
would do to visit His other sheep.

But that is not all. I hold in my hand another volume called the Doctrine and Covenants that
contains other information with regard to the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It tells in this
record of His appearance to a boy not yet fifteen years of age, just a humble farmer boy, who
read in the scriptures, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5) So he went out into the
woods to put it to the test, because there was confusion in his neighborhood.

Various denominations were each claiming that they had the right way and that the others
were wrong and he did not know which group to belong to. His own mother and one of his
sisters had already joined the Presbyterian Church. His father was a Unitarian. The boy was
inclined to join the Methodist Church but he could see there was confusion and he did not
want to be deceived. And so he went out into the woods to put that promise to the test -- that
promise which you will find in the New Testament. Was that promise fulfilled? I stand here
tonight to say to you it was and that when he knelt and prayed, the Father and the Son
appeared to him and the Father asked him what it was he wanted. He told him he wanted to
know which church to join. He was told not to join any of them, that there was a mission for
him to perform and that he would be told his duties. By the way, when he asked the question,
the Father turning to the Son, for they were there, glorified Beings, standing in mid-air, said,
"This is my Beloved Son, Hear Him." Why did he turn to the Son? Because Jesus Christ the
Lord is the God of this earth and the one to whom we look for instruction and information in
preparation for eternal happiness. And then the boy was told what to do; and later other
heavenly beings came to minister to him.

They turned over to him the record of the Book of Mormon, the gold plates, and it was from
these plates that this American volume of scripture was translated more than a hundred years
ago. That book has been ridiculed by the world as something that could not be; and yet the
very men, the wealthy, the wise and learned of the world, who have spent their means and
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time to uncover those things have demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt the truth of
the inspiration of the Book of Mormon.

So now, we have the appearance of the Savior and His association with the people in Judea;
we have the appearance of the Savior and the organization of His Church and his association
with the people in this Western Hemisphere; we have the coming of the Savior in our own
day, a little over a hundred years ago, the Father and the Son; and then if you will read the
scripture I hold in my hand, the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find that not only these but
the Angel Moroni came. He was the one who had the custody of the golden plates. He
delivered them to Joseph Smith to be translated, and when they were translated he took the
plates away again. You will find here the story of the appearance of others: John the Baptist,
who held the Aaronic Priesthood, conferred that priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery when they were young men.

Peter, James and John, apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, were sent to restore the
Melchizedek Priesthood that had been lost. That is one of the reasons why the Savior said to
Joseph Smith, Do not join any of these churches. He did not go into great detail. When we
analyzed what did occur, it was found that your forebears and mine had lost divine authority
and it had to be restored again, and this boy had been selected as the medium through which
that authority should come. And so Joseph Smith the boy became Joseph Smith the man and
Joseph Smith the Prophet. He gave to the world additional information about the purpose of
life where we came from and where we are going-and added to the glorious truths that are
contained in these other volumes of scripture.

I say to you Latter-day Saints, there are no other people in all the world who have all the
information that we have with reference to the divinity of the Savior; and if we did not
believe in Him we would be under greater condemnation than the others that have never had
that information. And so we can say to the world without hesitation that we believe these
things.

And here is another witness: We have been promised that if we will go down into the waters
of baptism, if we receive the Holy Ghost, if we will conform our lives to the teachings that
our Heavenly Father has given us, we shall know of the doctrine and we shall know that
Jesus was the Christ, not for somebody else but for ourselves.

And so tonight, my brethren and sisters, not criticizing our Father's other children who have
not had all this information, I congratulate you who have received it, congratulate you that
you have been able to understand sufficient of what the Lord has said and conform your
lives to it to the end that the Church organization is growing and spreading abroad in the
world. Tonight there are approximately a million of our Father's children living who have
accepted the truth with regard to the divine mission of Jesus Christ, that He was the Son of
God, the Only Begotten in the flesh by the Father, and He is our Redeemer, our King and our
Lawgiver, and there is no other name under heaven whereby we will be exalted in the
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celestial kingdom but the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I am grateful that we are here in this house, dedicated to His name. I am glad that we may
have in our own homes the peace that comes from the companionship of His Holy Spirit. I
am thankful that we can rear our children under the influences that will make their lives rich
and prepare them for eternal happiness. I am thankful that we are permitted to go among the
nations of the world, among our Father's other children, our brothers and sisters, seeking not
to take something from them but to share with them that wonderful message, that knowledge
of God that He gave to us -- not just for ourselves, but that He desires all of His children to
understand and enjoy.

That is your mission, my brethren and sisters of the Church, that is your responsibility.
Freely you have received and our Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share with His
other sons and daughters these glorious truths that have not yet permeated the world
sufficiently so that all people may know whereof our Heavenly Father speaks.

I am thankful to be here with you tonight. I am glad that there are so many who have
understood the gospel. I am thankful that my great-grandfather accepted the gospel of Jesus
when he was in middle life, fifty years of age. My grandfather, his son, accepted it when he
was only a young man, fifteen years of age. They accepted the truth. They lived in New York
State on a farm when the gospel came. They believed it; they accepted it; they came out of
the world, so to speak, identified themselves with the branch of the Church that was already
organized at Kirtland, Ohio, and then as the Church moved westward they moved with it.
The result is that tonight, of their descendants, there are hundreds of men, women and
children that have received the same blessings that they received -- a knowledge of the truth,
and applying it in their lives, have been enriched.

What did the Lord promise if we accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ? He promised every
other good thing. It was the Savior who said, "But seek ye first" not last, "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt.
6:33) And so I stand here to say to you Latter-day Saints tonight, you men and women who
have accepted the gospel, you cannot think of a blessing that is worth while in preparation
for eternal happiness that God has not offered to you. No other place in the world can you
find the peace, the happiness and the joy that have come to those who have accepted the
truth and are seeking to apply it in their lives and share it with others. It is rich and beautiful.
It isn't only what we receive that makes us happy; it is what we give, and the more we give
of that which is uplifting and enriching to our Father's children, the more we have to give. It
grows like a great fountain of life and bubbles up to eternal happiness.

I congratulate you that there has come into your lives this privilege and this blessing. And
now I adjure you as your brother, plead with you as one of the humblest among you, do not
hide your candle under a bushel. Do not conceal the knowledge God has bestowed upon you
from your fellows.
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Do not annoy them, but do not be unwise enough as to hide from them the gospel of Jesus
Christ. That is the only power of God unto salvation in the celestial kingdom. If we will do
our duty, the Church will continue to grow. The number of our Father's sons and daughters
that accept the truth will be multiplied in the not-far-distant future. Most of us will have
finished our earth life and what a joy it will be on the other side of the veil, to find these
good men and women who are living up to such light as they have, trying to do their duty to
God, and by reason of our contact, by reason of our anxiety and willingness to share with
them, they will receive other information about the gospel of our Lord and accept the
ordinances of His Holy House and be prepared for membership in the Celestial Kingdom.
How happy it will make you, if when that time comes, when you stand in the presence of the
great Judge to give an account of the few years of life that have been spent in mortality, if
these our Father's children that He loves as much as He loves us, standing by us, say,
"Heavenly Father, it was this man, it was this woman who first brought to me the
information of Thy glorious truth that provoked in me a desire to seek after Thee more
fervently than I had done before. It was this man or this woman who did this blessed thing
for me." And that is not all.

When that time comes, when you go down through the ages of eternity, that is a long time,
you will have the love and the gratitude of every man, woman and child to whom you have
been instrumental in bringing eternal happiness. Isn't that worth while? We may spend our
lives here and acquire a few hundreds or thousands of dollars, we may have flocks, herds,
houses and lands, but we cannot take these with us to the other side. They are not necessary
to eternal life, they are only necessary for us here, but if we have earned the gratitude and the
love of God's other children, that will flow to us forever. Think what that will mean! When
the time comes that this world shall be cleansed and purified by fire and become the celestial
kingdom, all impurity and everything that is not desirable having been swept away, how
gratifying it will be to find that we have companionship with those we have served in
mortality, have inheritance with, and be directed by Jesus Christ our Lord forever -- is not
that worth while? Isn't it a joyful opportunity that comes to us this night and always to do
that thing?

My brethren and sisters, there is not time to go into further detail with reference to those
matters. I do not know why I should talk this way to you who are here tonight. I am sure
most of you believe the things I have talked about, but it does us no harm to have our minds
refreshed.

In conclusion, let me say that I have spent practically all my adult life in the ministry,
teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to my Father's sons and daughters. I have travelled
approximately a million miles in that service and wherever I have gone and to whatever land
I have been, I have found good men and women, men and women who are kind and helpful
and generous. I would be an ingrate if after my years of experience I should forget the
kindness, love and helpfulness of my Father's other children who do not understand the
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gospel as I understand it, who did not know it as I understood it, and yet because I was one
of the human family, they have opened their homes, they have given me a place to sleep,
they have fed me and sometimes almost the last crust they had in their house has been shared
with me. I will go farther than that. On one occasion, a family gave all they had to eat, and
the next morning when the time came for them to prepare food for themselves, they found
meal in the barrel, and these people who were not members of the Church joined the Church
because they said nobody but the Lord could have put that meal in that barrel. They believed
that my companion and I were servants of the Lord. I could go on and on relating such
experiences.

I stood by the side of the dusky natives of the Pacific, those who were descendants of Father
Lehi, who came from Jerusalem six hundred years before the birth of Christ. They could not
speak our language and I could not speak theirs, however through an interpreter, I was able
to converse with them.

I visited in Tonga with an old Chief who was a very interesting character. He wore no
stockings, shoes or hat, just a native lavalava and a shirt, but he was as clean as a pin. I
would judge from his appearance that he was about seventy years of age, or perhaps a little
older.

When I told him he was a descendant of Father Lehi, a prophet of God, that his people were
the children that had come from that man's family and had finally sailed out into the west
seas and had landed on these islands and were a Polynesian people, his eyes filled with tears
and he said to me, "Thank you, thank you. That is not where the Europeans tell us we came
from but that is our tradition." So the tradition of the origin of the American Indian is not
only recorded in the Book of Mormon I have referred to, it is not only recorded in the
Doctrine and Covenants I have referred to, but it is preserved by these people in their
traditions. They are children of God just as much as we are, and if we will do our part many
of them will absorb the truth and make it applicable in their lives.

These are some of the things that enrich my life. These are the things that make me happy. I
am not happy and do not rejoice over the comforts that come to me. I am so organized that I
am not happy unless my brethren and sisters are happy, and I am pleased to be here with you
tonight, and I leave with you this last word: I do not know when I will ever meet with you
again. I hope I will come again. I like to come to Washington. There are so many fine people
here and we have always been treated so kindly, but if I should not get here again I hope you
will remember what I have said, and the things I have been talking to you about tonight
pertain to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only power of God unto salvation in the celestial
kingdom. I know that in the not far-distant future I will finish my earth life. I know that the
time will come when this man's body will be laid away and the spirit go back to paradise
where the scripture tells us all our spirits will go and I will have to stand in the presence of
my Maker and account for the things I have said and done in my lifetime. I know that I am
not very far from the time, and realizing that and knowing how important it is that you, my
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Father's other children, should know how I feel about it, I leave my testimony with you. If I
do not tell the truth then I will be held accountable for that. I realize that and it will be an
unfortunate thing for me, because our Heavenly Father has said that a liar has no place in the
celestial kingdom. But knowing the seriousness of it, and realizing what it may mean, I leave
with you this night my testimony that I know that God lives, I know that Jesus is the Christ. I
know that the Prophet Joseph Smith was the medium in this latter day of restoring the gospel
of our Lord and organizing the Church that bears the name of the Redeemer of mankind.

I know that, and knowing it and realizing the seriousness of my telling you that if it were not
true, and expecting in the not-far-distant future to answer to the roll call of those who go to
the other side of the veil, in kindness and in love and with a desire to be helpful and to be a
blessing to all who are here tonight, and those I may contact while I live in the earth, I bear
you my witness that these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.