Testimony and Example in Sunday School Work

My brethren and sisters, I desire that while I speak to you I may be guided by the Spirit of the Lord in that which I say. I have ever had in my heart a desire to not say anything at any time that would be contrary to the Spirit of the Lord; and I have no desire to speak sentiments that are not pleasing unto our Heavenly Father; nor do I desire to give voice to any sentiment in which I myself do not sincerely believe. I feel that one of the greatest duties that we have as Sunday school workers is to let our lives be of such a character that our deeds and our acts will speak more loudly than our words. I am an emphatic believer in the fact that we cannot teach by word if our actions do not conform to that which we preach. I believe that Sunday school teachers and officers should set such an example before their pupils that they will not be ashamed of their lives— that they will not be ashamed to have their children know that which they have done. ¶

I remember a few years ago attending a missionary farewell, and the occasion was that of the departure of the first son of a man upon a mission. He was not the brother's oldest son, but he was the first son to be called upon a mission; and his father, speaking to that assembly, said: "My son will probably go into my old missionary field: he will visit the people whom I visited twenty years ago, but I feel in my heart I have no fear that wherever he goes he will find anything that will cause the blush of shame to come to his cheek. I am not afraid to have him go to the people whom I have visited. I am not afraid to have him tread in the paths in which I walked, and I am satisfied that there he will find that I have left behind me a record of which I need not be ashamed." ¶

I thought this was a glorious testimony; and I feel, in my own heart, that if every one of us could say the same to our sons and daughters that we are not ashamed to have them go into the fields in which we have walked, meet the people among whom we labored, and listen to their testimony of that which we did — if we could live in such a way that we could say this to them, and say it truthfully, we need not be afraid to go back into the presence of our Eternal Father. Little children are keen observers of that which we do, and while they may not say, with a great writer, they feel the sentiment which he expressed when he said, "How can I hear your words when your deeds speak a different language?" ¶

In my visits among the people, I have occasionally found some who have been disturbed a little by the comments of those who are not favorable to the work of the Lord, and have occasionally found some who were a little bit afraid that the Latter-day Saints are failing to an extent in their mission. I want to say to all such, that you are the ones who should be careful, that you may not be led astray by that which the enemies of the truth are seeking to circulate concerning our people. You know that we are told that if we say the truth about our leaders, that we are simply seeking to flatter them, that we are seeking to build ourselves up in their estimation. In my own heart I have the utmost contempt for a man who, in order to build himself up, will flatter any other individual. While I feel they are worthy only of contempt, because they themselves are of such a caliber that they will not amount to much, yet while I feel that this is true, there is another thing that is equally true, and which other people should remember, and that is, that there are those who wilfully bear false witness against their neighbors, who wilfully disseminate doctrines which they know to be untrue. ¶

We find that in any conflict that takes place, the shafts of the enemy are directed at the leaders of any great cause. Those who follow are of comparatively small importance, and the aim of the enemy is always to cripple those who lead. It is their aim, if possible, to weaken the confidence of their followers in them; and that is the aim of the opposers of the work of God today. They seek to lead away the people and weaken their confidence in those whom God has placed at their head, but I am glad to know that their efforts in this respect signally fail. I am glad to know that they cannot take from the people of God the confidence which they have in those whom God has placed to lead them; and I feel that one thing we should do, as parents and as teachers and officers of the Sabbath school, is to teach our little children to pray for all those who are engaged in the work of the Lord. ¶

I have no fear in my heart of a child being led away who is taught in his infancy to pray for the missionaries, that they may be able to reach the honest in heart, and that they may be preserved and brought home in safety and in purity, and who is also taught to pray for those who are placed in authority in our midst, for the Bishop in the ward, for his father and his mother, for the presiding authorities; and I am satisfied that those who are taught in this way will grow up with the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts, and that they cannot be led astray by that which the enemy may say about us. ¶

I have a testimony in my own heart of the truth of the Gospel, and it has been my fortune to know many of those who presided over us as Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a boy I knew President Brigham Young, but only as a child would know one whom he would see upon the stand. But as I grew older I was brought into close contact with those who succeeded President Brigham Young. I was a teacher upon the block upon which President John Taylor lived, and visited him in that capacity in his home. I was closely connected in various capacities with President Wilford Woodruff, and I also knew President Lorenzo Snow, and also his successor, President Joseph F. Smith. And I bear my testimony to the youth of Zion that I know that all these men have had the Spirit of God resting upon them, and they have been actuated by the same spirit; that they have sought to carry on the work of God in the same way. Each of these men, perhaps, had his special gifts, his special qualification for the work that was needed at the time that he presided over the Church. But I testify to the youth of Zion that their purpose has been alike; and I know that the purpose of those who lead us today is not different from the purpose of those who presided before them. ¶

I know that all of them have been men who sought to teach their children to earn that which they used, and to support themselves by their own efforts. I bear this testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, and I feel that as Sunday school workers it is our duty to teach the youth of Zion the truth concerning these matters, that they may not be led astray by the foolishness of men and by that which is said by those who are wilfully seeking to cast reflections upon the work of God. We find that today they bear testimony to a certain extent to that which was good in the past, but we should find that if they had lived in the past they would have fought those who led the work of God then as they fight those who lead the work of God now. It is not the individual they are fighting, but the Lord through His living oracles. They seem to exemplify that which our Savior said when He declared that they stoned the living prophets, while they garnished the sepulchres of the dead. ¶

I know the work in which we are engaged is the work of the Lord. I know, also, that there are among our opponents thousands who are honest in their convictions, and who oppose the work of the Lord because of a lack of understanding, and because they do not know the purpose of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I also know that there are among them men who simply oppose the work of God because they could not have their own way, and because they could not do that which they had a desire to do, and could not get the support of the leaders of the Church in that respect; and I know that they would not be now opposing us if it were not for the fact that they have not been able to influence those who preside today to do that which they desire to have done. ¶

I pray that the spirit of truth may be in our hearts, that the spirit of love may exist with us, that we may be sustained in that which we do, and that we may be found at all times willing to honor and sustain those who do right, and that we may not let our selfishness at any time lead us to such an extent that we shall be blind to the truths of the Gospel. If any be so foolish as to leave the cause, it will simply be their own loss, not the loss of the work of the Lord, because this work will not be taken from this people nor given to another people, but it will be carried on to a successful conclusion. And may we ourselves be faithful to the end, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶