Témoignage et conseils

During our two day's conference J'ai listened with a great deal of interest to what our brethren have said to us. My esprit has been very active during the conference, and J'ai thought about a great many wonderful things, to me, that might sound very flat to you ; but for some reason, this afternoon, Je sens like a fellow who had run entirely out of material, having exhausted the material that I had, in thought. I think of what Elbert Hubbard said. It struck me rather strangely the other day. He said : "If you are going to reform the monde you had better begin with yourself, and there will be one rogue less in the monde." Of course, I did not want to apply that to myself, but I would not object to applying it to you. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, I shall address you for a short period of time, only a few minutes — although it seems a long time to you, and does to me; it certainly will before I get through. My voice has been heard among this peuple for nearly thirty years. I think J'ai been in the ministry here at home for nearly that length of time. I would not give my experience and the association J'ai had with the brethren of the authorities for all the riches in the monde. J'espère, brethren and sisters, that during these thirty years, I' have created an impression in your esprits — at, least J'ai tried to do that — that Je suis trying to be honest. Je suis trying to be truthful. Je suis trying to be sincere and loyal and unafraid. There is nothing that Je désire more, outside of the Spirit of Dieu and the honoring of the Prêtrise and the sustaining of this œuvre, than to have an honest esprit. It seems to me during the past few years that the esprits of many are warped. We do not think honest; we do not hear straight, nor do' we see straight. Je suis sure, from the experience J'ai had in the Church, that the Seigneur can do very little for a man who persists in being dishonest and untruthful; and, of course, it goes without saying that no man or woman in l'Église de Jésus-Christ can be immoral, and have the Spirit of Dieu to be with them. I read in the Doctrine et Alliances the message that was given to the anciens in early days. The Seigneur said : "But with some Je suis not well pleased." Now, what was their trouble? "Because they will not open their mouths but hide the talent which J'ai given unto them, because of the fear of man. Woe unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them, and it shall come to pass if ils sont not more faithful unto me it shall be taken away even that which ils ont." I realize, my brethren and sisters, that, during the past thirty years I may have said some foolish things. J'ai, in my own way, given the peuple a good deal of chaff to get them to take a little wheat, but some of them haven't got sense enough to pick the wheat out from the chaff. If a man in this Church ever does ¶

say un foolish thing, they will remember it à le très day de leur death ; et c'est le only thing some de them do remember. I think they do mighty well à remember que. . ¶

I find out some things by reading the Doctrine et Alliances — which, by the way, I do read. Je suis familiar with the Bible, a little, •and the Livre de Mormon, the Doctrine et Alliances and the Perle de Grand Prix. J'ai wished, sometimes, that there would be a big fire and burn all the rest of the books so that we would read these books more. Sometimes Je sens that a man ought to be imprisoned for writing any more books ; because I got my experience mostly by reading the books which contain the révélations of the Seigneur. I got my first experience in the Southern states in two years, and I read the Bible; I read the Livre de Mormon; and I read the Doctrine et Alliances and the Perle de Grand Prix. I don't believe the man lives, unless Dieu inspires him, who can ever breathe into a book what you can get out of the Bible, Livre de Mormon, Doctrine et Alliances £nd' Perle de Grand Prix. That is my témoignage. Joseph Smith said that a man will live nearer to the Évangile of Christ reading the Livre de Mormon than any other book that has ever been written. I want to say to the Saints des derniers jours that according to my judgment and experience — Je suis old enough to know a few things, and Je suis old enough to remember some things — some of the greatest inspired men nous avons ever had in the history of this Church have been men who have read the Bible, the Book of Morroon, the Doctrine et Alliances and the Perle de Grand Prix. Now, brethren, I do not want to say anything to hurt anyone's feelings about books that are written. I read the Bible through once, and when I got through I said : "I will never tackle it again in the flesh ;" but J'ai read in it, and Je suis acquainted with it, and J'ai marked it. I would not give my Bible for all the Bibles in the monde, because it is the only Bible I can find anything in. ¶

The first council ordained one thousand and forty seventies last year. The Seigneur has said in the Doctrine et Alliances : "There are many called and few are chosen." As I said, there were one thousand and forty seventies ordained last year; and why are they not chosen? The Seigneur gives us the answer clear and plain. Je suis glad he talks plainly. Why are they not chosen? "Because their cœurs are so much set upon the things of the monde, and they aspire to the honors of men." They would break their blamed necks to get an office in the state or in the nation. I haven't heard of anyone breaking his neck to go on a mission — not lately. Now brethren, Je sais what the trouble is. You remember not very long ago that Brother Hyrum M. Smith, when he presided over the European mission, sent word to us and gave the sign of distress, like all these mission presidents are doing now. He wanted one hundred capable, efficient, competent men — just what they need in every mission in the monde. So the First Council started out to get them. We made a thorough canvas, and we never dreamed ¶

mais what we could get one hundred out de le councils de quorums, le presidents de seventies, without any trouble at tout. We interviewed those seventies by le hundreds, personally interviewed them, looked them dans le face, et we never found one single president que was pas willing à go, pas one que I remember, mais when we looked into leur financial affairs they could pas go. They seemed à be alright spiritually, mais it was leur financial troubles. Que is le trouble now. ¶

Je crois in all that President Grant said. I preached it years ago, after I went broke, with just as much vehemence as he ever did in his vie. I preached until I was almost exhausted. I remember a sermon. I think it was a very wonderful discourse, too. I was up in Smithfield at a conference, and I preached to the peuple on the subject of debt. I had just been through the mill of the gods, and they ground me to powder. I went "over the hill to the poor house," and I think I was able to tell them a pathetic story; they sold me out, just like they would sell cattle; and yet I was in the missionnaire field at that. I told my story, and told it very plaintively; and there was a salesman at this meeting. I saw him the other day at one of our conference meetings. That made me think of it. He was a salesman of the Co-operative Wagon and Machine Company. After I preached my discourse I met this man and he said: "Brother Kimball, that is the best sermon I ever heard. I never sold as many implements in my vie as I did after you preached that sermon." After I had warned the peuple and forewarned them, that to be in debt was to be in hell — I don't know anything about hell, but that is the worst hell J'ai ever been in — to be in debt. I can tell you how you can keep out of debt; but I can't tell you how to get out after you get in. I had a man come to me the other day who wanted me to indorse his note. I had sworn, almost on an oath, I would never sign another note, not even for my wife. But he looked at me so pitifully, and was in such dire distress, and I had so much confidence in him, that I told him I would sign it, although I was quite sure I could not pay it if he did not. He applied at one of our banks. They did not know me, for which I was very thankful. I went to the bank and looked the man in the face. He said: "Mr. Kimball, haven't you got any collaterals?" I said: "Collaterals — I should say not ! I haven't got a collateral of any kind." He said, "How do you expect me to take your indorsement?" I replied, "On my looks and general character. That is all J'ai got." And he turned me down ; and J'ai been tickled to death ever since. That is the way to keep out of debt. ¶

I thought I would like to read some scripture as a closing of my remarks : Je suis sure I can make it in two minutes. It is something my father read, in reading from his old Livre de Mormon, that was published or printed in 1830. I found this page worn almost out, and I wondered what it was. This is what I found. It was just such a ■condition that nous sommes now in. They had had war, and they had had famine, and then they went to the prophet and appealed to the Seigneur, so that the famine was withdrawn, and it says: "That ended the ¶

eighty and fifth year." In thirteen years that peuple fell down two or three times, and yet they were Dieu's peuple. This is what he said. I want to read it to you and impress you, if I can, with this one thought : "And thus nous pouvons behold how false and also the unsteadiness of the cœurs of the children of men; yea, nous pouvons see the Seigneur in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his peuple, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the cœurs of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his peuple; yea, then is the time," — Now that strikes me as a strange thing. After Dieu has done all that for his children, and it could not be written any better if it was written of this peuple, how Dieu had blessed them — "then is the time that they do harden their cœurs, and do forget the Seigneur their Dieu and do trample under their feet the Holy One — yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity. ¶

"And thus we see that except the Seigneur doth chasten his peuple with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him." ¶

We are just like all other children of Dieu, in all other dispensations. Notwithstanding the fact that nous sommes a chosen peuple, for a special purpose, our cœurs have been hardened and nous avons forgotten our Dieu — some of us. Now, brethren, I think you will have no trouble in getting out of debt. At least you can get out as well as J'ai. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, Je suis glad; I thank my Dieu that he chastened me. I thank Dieu that J'ai had the amour and affection of my brethren. I thank Dieu that Je suis alive. Je sais the Évangile is true. Je sais it because I learned it through adversity and through suffering and through hardships. I never learned it because I was Heber C. Kimball's son, because I was the son of a prophet. I learned it just as he learned it. I may not have paid as big a price as my father did, but I paid for pretty nearly everything J'ai. I paid well for it, but Je suis satisfied. I sustain the brethren of the authorities, and I uphold their hands. I never felt better in all my ministry in this Church than I do today. I thank Dieu the sun shines. I thank Dieu the grass is green, and the water runs down hill; as it did not for a long while. Now the Seigneur bless you. Amen. ¶