Report on the Juab Stake

My beloved brethren and sisters, I feel very much in need of your faith and prayers and the assistance of the Spirit during the few moments I shall stand before you this afternoon. ¶

I deem it a great privilege to have the opportunity of meeting with the congregations of Israel in general Conference, and to hear the voice of inspiration, which has been sounded in our ears not only during this glorious conference, but also during the conferences that have preceded it. I was thinking, in listening to the remarks of Brothers Seegmiller and Lund, that it had been my good fortune to meet with the Saints in Conference ever since I was a boy in my teens. I have not missed a conference of the Church, since my boyhood, except when I was out of the state. In these Conferences I can truthfully say that I have felt the influence of the Spirit of God. This conference has been no exception to the others in this regard; if there is any difference, I think I see more vigor and strength in the testimony of my brethren at this Conference. ¶

I rejoice to know that we live in a day and age of the world in which the Gospel has been fully established in the earth in its primitive purity and grandeur, with men inspired of God and raised up to take charge of His work in the earth and to direct His people aright. I feel grateful that it has been my lot to have the still small voice in my soul, so that the cry of the shepherd has found a response. I felt thankful to hear the testimony of Apostle Reed Smoot this morning, when he said he felt that he was in accord with those that presided over him, and all the members of the Church, as well as the principles and doctrines of the Gospel. I thought that was a most happy state to be in. I feel to join with him in the joy and pleasure expressed by him in this glorious testimony. I, too, feel that the Lord has been kind to me and has been my friend. I know that He will be an everlasting friend to the children of men, inasmuch as they seek unto Him with full purpose of heart, and no one will seek Him in vain. I rejoice in the principles of the Gospel, because I see in them the virtue to redeem this fallen world. I rejoice in the testimony our Elders are able to bear, and are bearing, to the nations of the earth. I feel grateful and proud that the same spirit possesses all our Elders and mission presidents abroad in the earth. I rejoice that the Spirit of the Lord is being shed forth upon His people and that they are being made glad because of its effulgence. I feel that there is an abiding growth with the members of the Church; that those active and interested in the work are growing stronger and more firmly fixed in the faith; that the Church and kingdom of God has been established in the earth never to be thrown down or given to another people. I feel grateful that it has been my lot and privilege to be born and reared in Zion; that the Lord has given unto me a good parentage; that my father devoted his life, time and talents, as well as his means, to the building up of the kingdom of God; that he was willing to make sacrifices for the Gospel's sake. Though the world may consider as a sacrifice what he did, yet it was no sacrifice to him. ¶

I feel to testify to the words of my brethren, that those that pay their tithes and offerings will be blessed of the Lord. The blessings of heaven are more to us than the blessings of the earth. My admonition to the people lately has been not to measure the blessings of our Father in heaven by dollars and cents. If adversity comes upon us, as it has in our section of the country, on account of the continued drouth, and we are short in our crops, we should not attribute the shortage to a curse of the Lord; but, rather, we should feel grateful to the Lord for the Gospel and for the many blessings that we enjoy. I feel that the hand of God is over us when we are chastened and reduced in our conditions, for then we are more humble and prayerful and devoted to the work of God. ¶

I feel proud of the little stake of Zion over which it has been my lot to preside, Four years ago this month my father met with an accident, and gave up the ghost shortly afterwards. Not long after I was called to preside over the stake. I can truthfully say that we have had pleasure in our work there. Now, Brother Moses W. Taylor has told you of the goodness of the people of his stake and of the valor of the men that are associated with him. I can testify to like conditions in the Juab stake. I do not know of two better men in the whole stake than those who are associated with me as my counselors; and I can say the same as to the High Council. We are all united, and are paying our tithes and keeping the "Word of "Wisdom. The auxiliary organizations of the stake have never been in a better condition than they are now in. ¶

I testify to you that I know that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God. I do not know this simply because my parents have told me so or taught me this, as President Ben E. Rich, of the Southern States mission, said yesterday, but I know it through that Spirit that comes from above, to which we are all entitled, providing, of course, that we are living right. I testify to you in all soberness, recognizing that I will have to meet my testimony before the judgment bar of God, yet I testify that, as I knew the sun would rise this morning when I saw the dawn of day approaching over the eastern horizon, so do I know that the Savior is coming. The Lord has said that He would come and dwell with His people a thousand years and instruct them in His word, and that it would be a reign of peace. I know these conditions are coming; the Spirit of God, through the voice of inspiration, distills on my soul this great truth. I feel to rejoice that the Lord has given me this testimony, which came to me as a shaft of light, filling my whole being and fastening me to the rock of truth. May God enable us to endure to the end and receive His blessings, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶