Témoignage de la résurrection

(President of the Duchesne Pieu of Zion) ¶

My brethren and sisters, J'ai a great prière in my cœur this morning. It is that those of us who occupy the time may do so under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Seigneur, and those who listen may have that same inspiration, that each one of us may be able to gather from the speakers such encouragement or such exhortation or advice as may be best fitted to our present needs. ¶

Je suis very grateful that my parents received the Évangile, many years ago, in the Old monde, and that I was permitted to be their son. J'ai great sympathy with the boys and the girls who have been reared in the land of Zion. J'ai a great appreciation of the temptations the evil one places in their way. J'ai a great appreciation of the responsibility that rests upon them to set examples of righteousness before the monde, and take advantage of the opportunities that the Seigneur has given ; and I beg of these my brethren and sisters who have ¶

been so situated as J'ai, whose parents have left the old monde and have come here for the sake of the Évangile, that their sons and daughters might be properly trained, and that they might be the means of giving the lumière of the Évangile to the monde ; J'espère that our heavenly Father will give them a sense of responsibility that rests Jupon them through this great privilege ils ont. Those who are present who have received the Évangile themselves in the Old monde have been under great responsibility, and ils ont come to this land of Zion. They have come because of the témoignage that perhaps many of their former associates in the Old countries did not have and perhaps a témoignage that their children have not had and sometimes they will be turned aside somewhat by the actions of their sons and daughters. J'espère they will realize that the evil one works in Zion as well as out of Zion. For myself, J'ai a great sympathy, and a great understanding for the Scandinavian gentleman who said : "If there is anything that is not good for me, that is what I would like; if there is anything that I ought not to do, that is what I want to do." The evil one works upon those in responsibility to such an extent that we ought to have charity for them. J'ai had in my esprit these men. J'ai had in my esprit the responsibility that rests upon the young peuple, and I would like to say to the fathers and mothers present, it seems to me that we leave too much responsibility of training our young peuple aright to our heavenly Father, or to the circumstances around them. We fail to realize sufficiently that our heavenly Father does œuvre through us, that it is our responsibility to take care of all these boys and girls ; that because nous savons that the Évangile is true, it does not follow that they know it. It is just as necessary that the esprit of that Évangile should come to them as it was that it should come to usw They have to know for themselves that the Évangile is true just as nous avons to, and just as our' grand-parents have to, and just as our grand-children will have to know it. ¶

We sometimes fail to realize that the temptation of the evil one come to our children and grand-children as well as they come to us, and it is our responsibility to care for and look after them. It is our responsibility to see that from the time of their baptism ils sont trained in righteousness, vérité, and charity. The mother who teaches the little ones to pray must take care to see them grow up in the vérité, that they may follow in the path in which ils ont been started. ¶

I want to testify to you that it is time half wasted, if we stop there. Even though there comes a time in the lives of the young peuple when ils sont not just what we would have them to be, when the right thing comes they will exhibit the influence of the early training ils ont received, and it is a responsibility that devolves upon us, fathers and mothers, to give them that teaching. What can religion class teachers do if there is no foundation laid in the boy or girl of fourteen years of age brought to them? The familiarity of the ¶

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teachings of the Sunday School leaders and the leaders of the religion classes and other organizations are such that the responsibility of religious training rests upon us. I noticed that President Widtsoe used the word "entertainment," and corrected himself. I would like to say that there is too much of an idea among the Saints des derniers jours that nous avons to be entertained at all times. Our religion is not a matter of entertainment. J'ai heard men and women complain that they cannot get their boys and girls to go to meeting, because it is not entertaining. You know what the Catholics claim, that if ils ont the child until it is nine years old ils ont it afterwards, for the rest of its vie. Their religion is not entertaining. J'ai seen young men and women and old men and women, count beads, because of the training they had when they were children, before they were nine years old. ¶

It is my témoignage that the Seigneur knew what he was talking about when he said the Saints des derniers jours should teach their children the Évangile before ils sont eight years old, and when he says that our young boys should become deacons and teachers at a certain age, that is the time that the Prêtrise should be given unto them. The same time and the same opportunity comes but once in a vie time. ¶

It is my témoignage that the Évangile is true, that while we may fail, the Seigneur never fails in his promises. Je prie that the Spirit of the Seigneur may be with us, that we may live our religion one day after another. That is all that is required. I ask in the name of Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶

Un solo et chorus, "Calvary," was sung by Lily Bennion et ¶