Alberta Stake Report

I am very pleased, my brethren and sisters, to meet with so many of the Latter-day Saints. It is also a pleasure that we are favored with such a beautiful day, and that so many of the Latter-day Saints have come together to worship. ¶

I feel honored in being requested to represent the Alberta Stake, in the far north. The people there are as good as can be found in any of the Stakes of Zion I have visited. I regard it as a privilege to live with the Latter-day Saints and to be associated with them. I will state, for the benefit of those who are not acquainted with our people in the north, that we are in a prosperous condition; that the stake is building up and increasing in numbers. Our people are prospering financially; and improving spiritually. The wards are becoming numerous; and consequently our stake has been divided recently. We very much appreciated the presence of the First Presidency, and a number of the Twelve Apostles, at our last quarterly conference, which was held in September at which time the Alberta Stake was divided, and a new Stake, known as the Taylor Stake, created. I am grateful to be associated with you in this conference, and to be a partaker of the good things and the good Spirit that is felt by all of us. I have always been proud of bearing the name of Latter-day Saint. It is gratifying to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands for advancement continually, that it teaches all of us to become better men and women, better boys and girls, better from the cradle to the grave. ¶

In listening to the remarks of Brother McMurrin, the object of our being here on earth, and the glorious privileges we have of being members of the Church of Christ, came to my mind forcibly. I see those present who have gathered from many nations of the earth, and who have a desire to learn what will be best for them to do in order that they may please their Heavenly Father. It is sometimes a great sacrifice for our brethren and sisters to come from their homes in the different nations. I have been on a foreign mission and know something about the difficulties they have to pass through; and I esteem a man or woman who extends the hand of kindness to them when they emigrate to this country. ¶

I have been reading, while sitting here, a beautiful hymn on prayer, a subject which should receive consideration from all of us: ¶

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast." ¶

How beautiful it is to come together and engage in prayer. In listening to the appropriate prayer this morning by Brother Penrose, I thought what a desirable thing it is to know how to express ourselves in prayer. Our children should be taught at home to pray, and in the different organizations for the training of youth. How gratifying it would be if all children knew how to pray, and properly understood what to ask for. ¶

"Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near." ¶

We should accustom ourselves to pray in secret, and thus have communion with our Heavenly Father; and exercise faith that our prayers may be answered. In my experience, I have never seen a prayerful member of the Church go astray. ¶

"Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try,
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high. ¶

This is a particular point to which I wish to call attention: Through prayer we are made one, and there is nothing impossible for us to accomplish when we become a united prayerful people. In that condition we would more fully appreciate the authority of the Priesthood here upon earth, and cheerfully carry out what the servants of God ask us to do. ¶

"The Saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, in mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Their fellowship they find. ¶

God bless you. Amen. ¶