Remarks

I am pleased, my brethren and sisters, to be here this morning, and glad to see with us President Woodruff and so many of the Council of the Apostles. The people who come from a distance to the conference have an anxiety to see and hear the Presidency of the Church, especially President Woodruff, who is so loved and honored by all the Latter-day Saints. This is the sixty-fourth annual conference of the Church. When the first was held the majority of us were in the spirit world. We had not been born. But in the providence of the Lord, we are here and associated with this work which He has revealed and established through the medium of His appointed ones. We are very fortunate indeed to have a part in this glorious work of the Lord, and He has arranged that none need walk in the dark, but that each member of the Church may have the light and inspiration and testimony of the Holy Spirit. Every member of the Church, according to my view, is entitled to an evidence of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph and it is within his reach to have a testimony relative to the Apostles and Prophets that direct the affairs of the Church now. Not that it is our right or prerogative to have revelation directing the affairs of the Church; but we may have the revelations of the Spirit of God for ourselves, that we may be firm and stand upon the rock, that when the winds come and the storms rage we may not be moved. We have seen occasionally unfortunate people that presumed to have revelations to direct other people. We have seen men rise up in the midst of the people, having a feeling that they were important ones and had a right, in some instances, to direct the affairs of the Church. Sensible and thinking people will look upon that class with pity. The Lord has His work organized. He has His servants appointed to labor in the various callings of the Priesthood, and He has given minute directions how and upon whom the Priesthood shall be conferred. All the quorums have their presidencies, and the Lord has given these things in detail. I have thought sometimes that, as Stakes and Wards, we did not give this matter the consideration that was necessary. There are young men who have been born and reared in the Church, and of goodly parents, who seemingly have been neglected with regard to the callings in the Priesthood. I believe that the Lord designed that the brethren should come up in their regular order in the ordinations of the Priesthood; first, deacons; secondly, teachers; thirdly, priests; fourthly, Elders, and so on. ¶

“Wherefore, from deacon to teacher, and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, severally as they are appointed, according to the covenants and commandments of the church.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 107, 63 verse. ¶

We have found sometimes young men coming into the Temple to receive their blessings who have never been ordained to the office of a Deacon and have never had any experience in the callings of the Lesser Priesthood, and of necessity they then have to be ordained Elders. I believe if this were properly considered by the Stakes and Wards in Zion, these young men would be brought into the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood in their youth; and as a rule they are willing, if there is some one to look after them and give them a little experience in their callings. We should give more attention to this, that our young men may grow up and become valiant in the testimony of the work of God. We read in the Book of Mormon of an incident that should be a lesson to us in this connection. The ancient inhabitants of this land at that time had frequent wars, and on one occasion two thousand young men took up arms in defense of their country. They were young men who had been taught, under the direction of their mothers, to believe in God, and they had mighty faith in Him; and when they went to battle they fought with miraculous strength, and so great was their faith in God that not one of them was slain. This faith had sprung up into their hearts as a result of their early training and education. This is a good example for us to follow. As parents, we have anxiety relative to our sons and daughters. We want to see them valiant in the work of God and full of faith. We want to see them willing when called upon to go on a mission to preach the Gospel, and we are very sorry if we hear them make any excuse. This being the case, it is important that we should consider the condition and circumstances of our children while they are under our care. When they go from us, we love more or less of our influence over them; but while they are with us we should endeavor to teach them all along the line the principles of the Gospel, here a little and there a little, as their minds are capable of understanding the doctrines of the Church. When we fail to do this relative to our young people, we fail thus far to do our duty, and peradventure we may have sorrow and regret because of our negligence in teaching and instructing as the Lord has directed we should do. The Lord has not been unmindful of this; for He has given us His word 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 of 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.” Doc. & Cov., Sec. 68, 25 verse. I know there is a feeling in the midst of our people (how extensive it is I do not know) to let children remain without baptism until they come to years of accountability, when they can choose for themselves. The Lord says this is wrong. God has entrusted these children to us, and we are supposed to exercise control or jurisdiction over them and to teach them in all the ways of the Lord. I have frequently heard remarks of this kind, and I have thought that such parents have yet failed to receive the testimony of the Spirit of God relative to the divinity of this work, because if we have this testimony in our hearts, then oh! the anxiety we have that our offspring may be honorable men and women in the Church of Christ. I believe we are held responsible to a degree in regard to the training and educating the young people. I believe in some cases we are willing that they should go to excesses in amusements. We let them go to the extreme in many things that are not pleasant in the sight of the Lord. ¶

Nowadays there seems to be a mania among the people for card-playing. We often see in the newspapers that So-and-So had a nice card party, and they tell of the different games played. Now, I do not know really that there is any particular wrong in a game of cards. I am not a judge in this matter, because I have never yet learned to distinguish one card from another. I am quite ignorant to talk about cards when I do not know anything about them, am I not? But I have had some experience in considering this matter and studying the results of this social game of card playing. Perhaps it is not in the game itself, but in the fascination that results from it. People become fascinated with the game. I have known in my experience where young people would wake up in the night and get out of bed to have a game of cards. I believe that it leads to evil, and I do not think it a good thing for our people to indulge in to the excess that it has been and is being indulged in throughout the Church at the present time. We ought to exercise our judgment and consider the welfare of our children; for because of this some have turned out to be gamblers. We would not have to go far to find such cases. They have lost their faith, as well as their money, and many have died in disgrace. I am not prepared, my brethren and sisters, to condemn this amusement in toto; but I say where it goes to excess it is a bad thing. Where people sit up to unusual hours in the night to indulge in these games, I tell you it is a bad thing, because the wine and the beer have to be brought forward, that the players my be stimulated to continue the game, and whenever that occurs you may set it down that it is wrong. I believe we can run to excess in these amusements that the Lord has kindly permitted us to indulge in. We can go to excess in round dancing, for instance. It is all right and proper for people to have social gathering and amusements; but let us see to it, my brethren and sisters, that we do not go to excess in these things. When we do, we grieve the Spirit of the Lord, and it will take its departure, “and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks; to persecute the Saints, and to fight against God.” – Doctrine and Covenants, Section 121 and verses 37 and 38. ¶

We should be considerate in these matters and look well after the welfare and the proper training of our children, because we want to see them honorable men and women in the earth. Our hearts are swelled with joy when they go abroad to preach the Gospel and they write back and tell how prosperous they are and how the Lord has listened to their prayers. What a joy it brings to the soul of the father and mother and kindred! We ought to have an anxiety in this direction. Instead of feeling, when our sons are called to go abroad, “Oh! I don’t know where to raise the means, now how to send him,” we ought to feel like making every effort to send our sons agreeable to the commandments of the Lord. I believe the great majority of the people do feel this way. ¶

The Lord has called us to build up Zion and to establish His kingdom. He has called us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us to labor in the ministry. He did not call us here to aggrandize ourselves. Here we have veterans before us that have labored a lifetime to build up Zion. They have gone on missions, without food or raiment being left for their families; but God has sustained them. They have not labored for the wealth of this world; but they have labored for the salvation of the souls of men. Now God is honoring them; He is lifting them up before the Saints and the world, and giving them blessing and glory, and eventually will give them eternal lives. And this will be the case if we labor with all our might to sustain Zion and the work of God. I hope this may be our lot, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶