Report on the Japanese Mission and Labors There

My brethren and sisters, while standing before you for a short time I desire to be inspired of the Lord to say only those things that shall be for our good. I have greatly rejoiced in the testimonies which have been borne during this conference. My heart has been made glad. I rejoice in bearing testimony unto you, and unto all who shall read concerning this conference, that I know that the work in which we are engaged is of God, and that He has revealed His mind and will unto His servants the prophets in these latter days. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, raised up in this dispensation, and that he has given the mind and will of the Lord unto the inhabitants of the earth; that the authority which he received from holy messengers whom God sent to confer it upon him, has been conferred upon brethren who are in this congregation, and that these men of God hold the right and the authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ in all the world; that this Gospel which has been restored in these latter days is going to revolutionize the whole world, and bring together the children of men into one faith, by which every man and woman will Know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and that he died as a martyr. This work will continue to grow and increase among the nations of the earth. The Lord is at the head, and He will direct its course. Whether those of us who have been called to labor for Him are faithful or not, He will have men, and plenty of them, to accomplish His mighty purposes. I desire to be one of those who shall be faithful unto the end; for I realize that It Is not the receiving of great testimonies and promises that will save us, but those who receive these great blessings are expected to use their power and strength for the accomplishment of His purposes and to endure faithfully to the end. ¶

I have had the great pleasure and privilege to be called as one of the servants of God to carry the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and in my weak way I have tried to fulfill the responsibilities which have been placed upon me. The last mission to which I have been called was, as has been stated by President Smith, a mission to Japan. I was called to assist Apostle Heber J. Grant and Brothers Horace S. Ensign and Alma O. Taylor. As you are aware, a little over one year ago we left here for that land; and it seemed to us when we arrived that we were indeed strangers in a strange land, for everything was strange unto us. The people, their customs, their habits, their food — all were strange. We could not speak to the people, only through interpreters, except to those who were able to understand the English language. We have in our weak way tried to do the best we could. We have succeeded in making two converts, and we had the privilege of baptizing them. We might have baptized many, if we had desired to do so; but we realized that they did not know sufficient of this work to justify us in baptizing them into the fold of Christ. I believe that there are many honest souls in that land. There is a great people living upon the different islands of Japan, The Japanese are very kind, very sociable, and extremely polite. I never saw so much politeness and kindness in my life as I have witnessed among that people, not only with themselves, but also to foreigners. My heart went out to that people in love, and I had a great desire to preach the Gospel unto them in their own tongue; but for some cause it has not been my fortune to do this. I have been asked many times if I am going back to Japan. I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that I have been released from that mission. I was not able to preach the Gospel in their language, but I have preached it to thousands of foreigners there, and to the Japanese who were able to understand me. I visited a great many of them and preached the Gospel to them. After I found out that my time would be short in that land, I made it my special business to labor among the missionaries of other churches, preaching the Gospel to them, trying to make friends with them and getting them to stop speaking evil of us. I believe I succeeded to some extent, at least, a number of them became friendly, and some invited me to visit them again, which I did. I met men there who had visited this city, and notwithstanding they did not agree with our faith they admitted that we had a beautiful city, and they also admitted that we could be saved as well as them, if we would be faithful to that which we believed. ¶

The brethren and sisters who are there now were feeling well when I left. They are desirous of performing a good mission, and remaining there until they are honorably released. The language is very difficult to learn, and it will be necessary for the Lord to assist the brethren and sisters in order that they may acquire it. Until that is accomplished, I do not feel that much will be done among that people; for preaching the Gospel through an interpreter is a mistake, I believe; always has been, and always will be, in my opinion. This has been proven in Japan; but we had to have some one to talk to the people, who crowded themselves upon us and desired to know something about our faith. We found that the interpreter could not translate some words to convey the proper meaning, and scholars there have told us that it is very difficult to translate English into Japanese. There are many words in the English that they cannot find equivalents for, and in order to get them to understand our meaning some words will have to be explained considerably. For this reason I feel that nothing of much moment will be done until our brethren are able to speak unto the people in their own language, thereby getting close to their spirits and warming them up by the testimony of the truth. The people are very anxious to know concerning our doctrine; but whether they will receive it after we are able to explain it unto them I cannot tell. We can only plant; it is God who gives the increase. Even if they should come into the Church by the thousands, they will have to be humble, prayerful and diligent, or they will be overcome, just as we have to be diligent and careful in order to avoid being overcome. For from the beginning of this work Satan has tried to destroy it. You remember when Joseph Smith went into the woods to ask God what church he should join, how the power of darkness seized him. I believe that Satan knew Joseph Smith in the spirit world; knew he was a mighty man, and that he would seek to overthrow his kingdom; and therefore, as soon as he went to pray unto the Lord, he tried to destroy him, and it was only the power of God which saved him at that time. Then from that time on Satan continually sought to kill him, and finally he accomplished it, though not until the Lord permitted it and the time had come when it was necessary, I presume, for him to seal his testimony with his blood; "for where a testament is," says Paul, "there must also of necessity be the death of the testator." Many of the Saints have lost their lives for the Gospel's sake, and every one of us will have to be willing to sacrifice all that we have, and our lives if necessary, if we expect to receive the same blessing. Jesus did not seek to-do His own will, but the will of the Father. We shall have to do the same. We must be willing to do the will of God as made manifest through His servants. President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors and the Twelve Apostles are servants of God, and they give unto us the word of God. We must be willing to hearken to that word, just as if Christ were to come himself and deliver it; and until we are willing to be governed in that way we will not make the progress which God designs we should make We must be willing to be governed in righteousness, and I want to tell you that the servants of God do not desire to exercise any influence over the children of men only upon the principles of righteousness and justice. Not one of you can stand up and truthfully say that you have ever been told by any President of the Church, or by any Apostle, to do anything that would not be for your good or for the good of mankind. I know there is safety in being humbled and willing to be guided by the Lord. If we are obedient, then God will bless us. If we are willing to be judged, we will make good judges ourselves; but we never will until we become subject to the power of God ourselves. ¶

I thank my Heavenly Father for the privilege of going to the nation of Japan. It has been a great blessing and comfort to me. It has been a good school for me. I have been taught things there that I never would have learned in any other place perhaps. That experience will be a benefit to me in the future, and I thank my brethren who were inspired to send me to that land, and I thank the Lord and my brethren that I have been honorably released. I desire to continue to labor for Zion and her interests. I desire to be a servant of God, to keep on bearing testimony, wherever I shall be called to labor, whether it be In a ward capacity or in any other direction. We will all receive that which we merit. I know this work is true. I bear testimony that this people are true, loyal American citizens. We love the Constitution; we love this nation; we love its flag. We have proved this in the past, and we are able to prove it again, should it be necessary. We love all good, honorable men and women, whether they are Latter-day Saints or not, so much so that we are willing to leave our homes and all that is dear unto us for the purpose of carrying the Gospel to them. We are willing to sacrifice our time and our means in the interest of their salvation. However, we should not regard it as a sacrifice. It is no sacrifice to be baptized, when we are converted. It is no sacrifice to pay our tithes and our offerings, when we are converted. So with all the principles of the Gospel. We love to do these things, because they bring us joy and satisfaction. ¶

Now, I thank my brethren for giving me this privilege. I rejoice in the testimonies which have been borne. I love my brethren and sisters, and may God bless us and unite our hearts together, that we may become one in Christ Jesus, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶