Discourse

President George Q. Cannon, was the first speaker. He said: ¶

At the request of President Woodruff, I rise to make a few remarks at the opening of our Conference. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, there is great cause for thanksgiving this morning on the part of the Latter-day Saints in having the privilege of meeting at the opening of our sixty-second annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and meeting together, too, under such favorable circumstances as now surround us, having a comfortable building in which to worship, where we can sit and listen in peace to the words of life and salvation that may be addressed unto us by the servants of God. ¶

In contemplating the past, there can be no soul in this congregation from whose heart thanksgiving and praise cannot arise to God, our Eternal Father, for the goodness and mercy that He has shown unto us. We are never without cause for thanksgiving; for our God has been good, and kind, and merciful. He has not forgotten us. He has not turned His face away from us. He has not closed His ears to our petitions. Neither has he refused to answer the prayers that we have offered unto Him. The evidences of His mercy are around us, are within us. We have received them, and we rejoice in them this morning. And I feel, for one, to lift up my voice, in the congregation of the Saints, in praise of our Eternal Father, our Great Creator. I feel that we can come together this morning full of gratitude, full of humility, with broken hearts and contrite spirits, bringing them as a willing offering unto our God—a sacrifice that He will accept, it being the sacrifice that He requires at the hands of His Saints. ¶

When we contemplate the great changes that have occurred within the past few years, and see how wonderfully God has softened the hearts of the people, how He has turned aside the wrath of man, and given favor, to a goodly extent, to His people, we certainly ought to feel thankful to Him. I have just returned from the East, where I have been for several weeks, and I never in my experience among men, saw a kinder feeling manifested towards this people than I have during this visit. The Lord has softened the hearts of the people of our nation and of the leaders thereof, and they feel kindly disposed to the Latter-day Saints. The misrepresentation, the falsehoods, the mists of darkness which have beclouded us and our reputation, have, to a great extent, been removed. And I have felt exceedingly thankful to the Lord because there is no power but His that could have done this. Man’s power could not have accomplished such results. But God has all power, and He has poured out His Spirit and softened the hearts of the people, and taken away that animosity and removed many of those misconceptions that have existed in regard to us. ¶

The Lord has blessed His people in many directions. We have, of course, our difficulties to contend with. We have many things to overcome. We are still in the world; and being mortal and subject to the vicissitudes of human life, we must expect to have many things to contend with that will try us. But looking at our condition as a whole, at this entire people in all their abidings, I think it can be truthfully said that we are exceedingly favored of the Lord—I mean in temporal matters. I do not believe there can be found an equal number of people in one community on this continent who are so well provided with food, with raiment, with shelter, and with the conveniences and comforts of life. It is true, we do not have a great excess of riches among us. On the other hand, we do not have extreme poverty. We have the poor, but as a rule they are cared for. The cry of the poor and the oppressed, I hope and believe, does not ascend to the God of heaven against this people because of that which they suffer at our hands. On the contrary, I trust and believe that the prayers of the poor ascend in thanksgiving to God, imploring blessings upon their brethren and sisters for their kindness and benevolence. At least, if this is not the case it should be among us. The poor should be made to rejoice. They should be made to feel so glad that when they bow their knees before the Lord they will implore blessings upon their brethren and sisters for their goodness and kindness to them. ¶

The Gospel is being preached with exceeding diligence by the Elders who are now in the field. In some parts of Europe the Gospel is spreading, and the Elders feel greatly encouraged at the prospects before them. News from Turkey is to the effect that the Sublime Porte will grant unto our Elders privileges that are granted to other denominations. This is the latest intelligence that we have from there. The firman has probably not yet been issued, but it will be, and then our Elders will be free from many embarrassments which have surrounded them in the preaching of the Gospel throughout the Turkish Empire. There is a field in those lands for the labor of a large number of Elders; and, no doubt, our attention will be drawn more and more to that quarter of the earth, because of the promises that are connected with the lands under the dominion of the Turkish Empire. The Latter-day Saints have always entertained very great affection for Palestine—the land that was promised to our father Abraham, and to his seed. Our interest has been excited in perusing the words of the prophets of ancient days, and also in the words of God in these latter times, concerning the restoration of His ancient covenant people—to the land of their fathers. For upwards of sixty years now, since this Church has been organized, the eyes of that people have been directed to that land, and to the Jews. Probably no people on the earth, not even the Jews themselves, take greater interest in the events that are taking place in that quarter of the earth than the Latter-day Saints do. It is, therefore, a cause of rejoicing when we hear that there is a great prospect of our obtaining liberty to preach the word of God throughout those lands and to those various nationalities that are embraced in that Empire. The Lord has blessed the labors of the Elders in Holland, also, and a good work is being done there. They write that doors are being opened to a great extent, in the Netherlands. In Belgium the Elders are finding many converts, and are laboring successfully. Throughout the German Empire there is an increased interest being taken in the Gospel. The day will yet come when there will be freedom throughout that Empire, and when there will be thousands and thousands gathered from that nation. In Northern Sweden many effectual doors are opening, and there is also a call for more missionaries from Norway. On the Pacific Islands the Elders have been very successful also. At Samoa the Elders are laboring diligently. It is a hard mission; but they are young men and full of vigor, full of zeal, full of faith, and they rejoice exceedingly in their labors, because they have abundant fruits as the reward thereof. Some of our brethren have gone to the Friendly Islands—to Tonga, and they have learned the language of that group, which is a kindred language to that of the Samoan Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, and the Society Islands. That Polynesian language is divided into dialects, it may be said, and when a man is familiar with the dialect spoken on one of those groups he does not have much difficulty in learning the dialects of the adjacent groups throughout Polynesia. Two of our Elders have gone down to the Society Islands, and are about to commence or have commenced their labors on that group. You doubtless remember that in former days a great many members of the Church were on that group of islands, but through various circumstances they have been left, to a great extent, to themselves. It has been felt, however, by the Elders on the Navigator group that some effort should be made to re-establish the work on the Society Islands. In New Zealand the Elders are laboring with diligence and success. The Book of Mormon has been translated into that language and is being circulated and read by the natives. Throughout the United States our Elders are laboring with all the zeal and diligence that we could ask for. In the northern States this winter has been severe, and there have not been many baptisms. While I was East I met Elder C. W. Stayner, who told me that as soon as spring opened he expected there would be a great many additions to the Church. There was an increase of interest among the people. In many places they listened as they had not done for years to the preaching of the Elders. In the Southern States mission the Elders inform us that they are making efforts to get doors opened in the cities, and they are encouraged by the prospects before them. In the Indian Territory our brethren have commenced to build a chapel. So that, so far as our own land is concerned, there is much to be thankful for, and many souls are being gathered out. The work of the Lord is also growing among the Lamanites, especially in Southern Arizona, under the ministrations of the presidency of the Maricopa Stake of Zion. We are trying to do our duty to this nation—to lay before the people the message of salvation which God has given unto us. ¶

The days of trouble are at hand, and it is our duty, as God’s servants, to go and declare to the inhabitants of the earth that these are the last days, and that God is about to bring to pass that which He has spoken concerning His judgments and calamities that should be poured out upon the wicked in the last days, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. The Elders, it must be said in their favor, go forth, as a rule, full of this this desire to acquit themselves as men and to cleanse their garments of the blood of this generation, by bearing faithful testimony to the truth. It is most gratifying to see our young men respond as they do to the calls that are made upon them to go here and there, wherever the authorities of the Church direct, as missionaries, to carry the message of salvation and glad tidings. And it must be said that the character of our Elders, in some respects, is improving. The pains that are being taken in our primary schools, our Sabbath schools, our young men’s improvement associations, are bearing their fruits. I remember presiding abroad and having Elders come whose ignorance concerning the principles of the Gospel they had been sent out to teach was painful to see. There has been a great change in this respect. Therefore, I say the character of our Elders has improved. They now go out, as a rule, well instructed in the principles of the Gospel, familiar with the history of the Church, capable of explaining the doctrines and everything connected with the Gospel, and, when necessary, capable of defending the principles they teach. This is a gratifying improvement; and it will be more and more visible as the years roll by and as our facilities for imparting understanding will increase, as they are increasing on every hand. ¶

Throughout these mountains the Lord has poured out His Spirit upon His people. There is a great deal of union. Still there is much room for improvement in this respect. The Lord is trying us in directions in which we have never been tried before. Did any of you ever think that we should be tried as we are now being tried? These are new trials, and they are going to test the faith of a good many who are called Latter-day Saints. The depths of our love for the truth are going to be sounded, and if we are not built upon the rock and have a living testimony concerning the truth within us we shall be in danger. God is going to have a tried people, and the trials will not always come in the form that we are looking for. They would cease probably to be trials if they came in that way; but they come in forms for which, it may be said, we are partly unprepared. They come to us in unexpected forms; therefore the greater the trial of our faith. I tell you, my brethren and sisters, that I tremble for us and for myself, lest in these trials we should take missteps; lest we should give way to wrong influences and yield to an improper spirit, and be led away from the truth and that union which is so precious, which is so great a gift that God has bestowed upon us to distinguish us from all peoples upon the face of the earth. ¶

I pray that God may give unto us the light of eternity to ever be with us, and that we may watch it and take care that it does not become dim in our hearts, that it don’t become obscured by any influence or power; but that having that light shining upon our path continually we may walk undeviatingly forward until we shall attain unto that great glory that God has in store, and be crowned with Him in His presence with those blessings that have been sealed upon us by the authority that He has restored from heaven. I pray God to bless us during this Conference, to fill every man that shall speak with the power of God, and the hearts of all who hear with that heavenly and softening influence, that the words of life may fall like good seed into mellow ground, there to lodge, there to germinate, there to grow, there to bring forth fruit that shall be to the glory of our God and to our own salvation, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶