Report on the Pocatello Stake

My beloved brethren and sisters, I am deeply sensible of the honor that is conferred upon me and the consideration that is shown our stake by this privilege of standing before you to represent it. Our stake might be termed almost a composite of the other stakes of Zion; for we have within it many of the problems that confront them all. We have our large areas of uncultivated and arid land; we have little communities that are flourishing, but have not the advantage of close proximity to the head of the Church; we have a large railroad town, in which problems of labor and the employment of our brethren are to be considered; we have the disadvantages that arise from living in cities of this character, and the other ills and evils that have been mentioned. But I am pleased to say that we have a people whose desire is to do the will of the Lord. Our stake has been organized about five years, of which time I have been at the head only two years. Since the stake was organized our tithing has increased 60 per cent; and taking into consideration the fact that our numbers have not been largely augmented, I take it is an evidence of the spiritual growth of our people. I believe their desire still is to serve the Lord and to increase in this particular requirement. The brethren are united in their work. We feel that we cannot do too much for the kingdom of God; and although there are many obstacles, which at times have seemed insurmountable, every temporary embarrassment and apparent defeat we have only considered as a stepping stone to our ultimate success. We believe that the time will come when we shall not be considered one of the smallest or least efficient of the stakes, but that in due time we shall do our part toward the glory of God. My faith is strong in the promises which have been made to the people of God. I believe in their ultimate success. All my life I have looked forward to the time when our people shall be vindicated, when the nations of the world shall look upon us as we really are, when our virtues shall be known, and we shall be indeed a light set upon a hill, by which they may get ideas of advancement. I have been galled all my life under the criticisms that have been uttered against those brethren that have stood at our head, whom we have known to be men of honor, honesty of purpose, and of integrity. I confidently expect to see the time come when they shall be vindicated in the eyes of the world. ¶

Brethren and sisters, I bear my testimony to the truth of the work of the Lord. I know it is of God. I feel in my heart that the day of our triumph is not far distant, that there is an undercurrent of success and of spiritual progress permeating the entire body of the Church, and, that the only result that can ensue from this will be our increase in things spiritual and things temporal, and the increase of the glory of God upon the earth; which I pray for in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶