One Course of Safety for the Young

Inasmuch, my brethren and sisters, as I have been called upon to occupy a short time, I do so trusting that the Lord will bless me richly with His Spirit; for I have only one object in view in standing before you, and that is to perform the duty that now devolves upon me. ¶

I realize that there is a very great work for us to perform, not only among the nations of the earth preaching the Gospel to every kindred, tongue and people, but also among the young people of this Church. Only the other day, as I was walking down the street, I came to an old gentleman, who was tottering toward the grave, and, after I had shaken hands with him, he said, "Brother Kimball, I wish you would send a missionary to my home; I have three sons and several daughters that need to be labored with." A day or two after that, an aged gentleman came and introduced himself to me, and said he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. He paid his tithing, he said, and tried to do his duty. He had four sons and several daughters, and I believe he said there was not one of them that had very much faith in the Church, and he wanted me to explain to him why it was. I rather evaded answering him, as I was not acquainted with him, with his environments, or with his home circle. In associating with the young people I discover that this is not general; but there are many of our young people, for some reason, bewildered and dazzled with the things of the world that are being introduced so rapidly among us. I can see only one course of safety for the young people of this Church, and that is, to teach them until they have an abiding faith in God the Father, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. After this brother talked to me, I thought of your sons that are sent out to the nations of the earth. Some of them mere beardless boys, and yet when the call came for them to go to the nations of the earth, mother may have had some doubts, but they were soon removed, and the boys came to the city, were set apart and received a blessing; the stenographer took the blessing and sent it to their home address; they received perhaps twenty minutes' instruction and were then sent forth to the world. I have seen a few of such boys go to Australia lately; and if my memory serves me, there have been over five hundred of your sons ordained Seventies since the last October conference. We do not fear nor tremble for these boys. We tell them to be careful about some things; we advise them to see everything that is good in the world, and try to understand it; but to avoid wine and women as they would the gates of hell. It is very seldom that any of them fall by the wayside. Only once in a great while do we hear of an Elder going astray. I am more familiar with the Southern States Mission than any other, and though hundreds and hundreds of the Elders have labored in the south, very few have fallen, that I know of. ¶

Why cannot we get our young people to have that same spirit at home? Even though the things of the world are introduced among us, why is it that we cannot stand on the same ground that our Elders do in the nations of the earth? If we have faith and the Spirit of the Lord, the things of the world do not dazzle or tempt us. Of course, some things have transpired which have brought trouble and difficulty upon us. Whenever we transgress the laws of God we have to suffer the penalty. I remember very accurately what my father told this people in the old Bowery. Said he, "You men and you women that lift up your voices against that holy principle that has been introduced among this people, the time will come when your daughters will run these streets as common harlots, and you can't help yourselves." I think some have been guilty of lifting up their voices, and if there is any one thing that some people are glad and happy it is done away with, it is that principle. I remember hearing another statement my father made: "When you stand on the street corners of this great city and you cannot tell a Mormon from a Gentile, then look out for trouble." Well, it has come. The trouble has not come to us in the way of tornadoes, or cyclones; but it has come to us and to our sons and daughters in the way of temptations. There is a very great missionary work to be done right here, and I am in favor, while we are not abroad, of doing a missionary work at home. The General Board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement association have introduced a local missionary work. All the officers in the Five hundred and odd associations in the Church are to be local missionaries and if every officer will start out with the spirit of his office and calling there will be over three thousand officers of the association acting as missionaries among the young people of this Church. A wonderful work can be performed in this way. ¶

I believe in prophecy, but I do not believe in prophets that prophesy after a thing has happened. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and I have that testimony. I believe in the spirit of prophecy, and I do know, as I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ, that we have apostles and prophets, and have had ever since the Church was organized. There are prophets, sitting behind me. I call to mind one Apostle who prophesied in Canada, when the people were somewhat dissatisfied about building up a new settlement. He said that in less than two years there would be a railroad right through that settlement, and the prediction was fulfilled before the two years expired. I think of the Southern people, and I want to prophesy that the time will come in the great South when thousands of those people would be as glad to see a Mormon Elder walk up their streets as an angel from heaven. The Lord has been kind to the Southern people. I realize why He has blessed them. It is because they have fed five hundred of our Elders every year for a number of years, and He has kept from the South the tornadoes, the cyclones, and the sea heaving itself beyond its bounds, to any great extent. They have had some little of it, but the end is not yet! I tell you that the people of the South, and also of the nations of the earth, will yet learn, though we are a despised people, that after the testimony of the Elders come the judgments of God. I realize that I sometimes look on the dark side of the picture, but I tell the Latter-day Saints, in the name of the Lord, if repentance does not set in among this people, and there is a great awakening among the Priesthood of God, the judgments of God will commence at the house of Israel. We are not trifling with the things of man; we are not trifling with the systems organized by man. This is the Churcn of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless you, that you may go to your homes and breathe the spirit of this conference into the hearts of the children of men with whom you associate, that there may be an awakening among the Priesthood of God. I desire to say to this great congregation that the Lord never intended His organized Priesthood to fall in behind the auxiliary organizations of the Church. There should be a greater effort on the part of those who look after the Priesthood quorums to see that they stand foremost and ahead of all the auxiliary organizations of the Church. I comprehend the great work that is being done by the Sunday school, by the Improvement association, and by other associations, and I regret that it has to be said that some of our Priesthood quorums are not doing their duty. I do not wish to occupy more of your time, but I desire to say to you that a spirit has found its way into the hearts of this people that they are afraid men may prophesy, and they commence to crawl off their seats as soon as a man opens his mouth and begins to say anything that is not along the same old lines. I pray the Lord to move upon us to prophesy, and if we will prophesy, the Lord will fulfill it. One day I met a little fellow on the train who was working for the "Era" in one of the Stakes,, and he asked me if I thought he would get the full quota of the "Eras." I said, "Of course, you will." He went to this settlement and said, "Brother Kimball prophesied that we would get the full number of "Eras;" now we want you to fulfil it" — and they did. If you had a little of that spirit, that when a man prophesied you would try to fulfil it, after a while you would not be so afraid of prophecy. I am a little afraid of you myself. May the Lord bless you. Amen. ¶