The Outpouring of the Spirit at General Conference

I trust, my brethren and sisters, that during the few moments I stand before you I may be blessed with the Spirit of the Lord, and speak such words to this congregation as the Lord would have me speak. I have rejoiced very greatly in the instructions imparted by the brethren during this conference, and I feel in my soul that those who have stood before us and borne testimony to the truth of the great work in which we are engaged, have been directed in their words by the Spirit of the Lord. As a people, we are very strong believers in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that man is not able of himself, by the wisdom which he possesses naturally, to instruct the people concerning the purposes of the Lord. ¶

That instruction can only be given to the convincing of the people, and to the building up of the faith and knowledge of the Saints, by the power of the Holy Ghost. In listening to the remarks that have been made by Elder George Reynolds, in relation to the missionaries. Some thoughts passed through my mind concerning them. It falls to my lot in connection with my brethren to meet companies of missionaries very frequently in the annex of the Salt Lake Temple, where they are usually set apart for their missionary labors, and I have observed, as others of the brethren have, that nearly all the Elders that go into the world to preach the Gospel are young men, and very largely men without missionary experience— young men who are going out from their homes for the first time to exercise the authority of the Holy Priesthood in calling men to repentance. I have often felt that it would be a very great advantage to missionary work throughout the world if the brethren who are called upon from time to time to suggest missionaries could mix up with these young men, who labor so zealously and faithfully in the preaching of the Gospel, a few men who have already had missionary experience. ¶

Since the commencement of this work there have been thousands of men who have operated in the nations of the earth in the labors of the ministry, and today, in the communities of the Latter-day Saints, there are a large number of men who in years gone by have labored successfully and through experience have become competent in missionary work. I fear that when the brethren look for missionaries, they feel that men who have already been abroad should not be again appointed to these labors, if there are other men who have not had this opportunity. But I believe it would be a very great advantage to the young men, and a help to the mission presidents, and a benefit to the people of the world, if the young men could be blessed with the companionship and assistance of some of the brethren who have formerly had missionary experience. Therefore, I suggest to the Stake Presidents and Bishops that it would be a proper thing to seek for some experienced missionaries, that those who are without experience may have the advantage of their companionship, that they may receive the encouragement and strength which would naturally come from the help of those who are well established in the faith of the Everlasting Gospel. During the past twenty-five years a great change has taken place with our missionaries so far as the age of the men who are sent to preach the Gospel is concerned. I remember that during my first mission nearly all of my companions were men of experience, and I suppose that was the condition of all the missions. It was the condition, as far as I was acquainted, with all the conferences throughout Great Britain. Here and there a few young men were operating as missionaries, but the great bulk of the Elders were men who had had experience, who had been well trained in the principles of the Gospel, and who were established firmly in the faith. I look back today and thank the Lord that it fell to my lot to have companionship of that character, to be associated with men who related to me circumstances in connection with their experience in the work of the Lord that tended to strengthen my faith, and to give me courage, and hope. There is abundant room today for this class of missionaries. At the present time they are nearly all boys in years; there is only now and then a man who has had the experience to which I have referred. Notwithstanding this, however, these young men possess the authority of the Holy Priesthood; they have gone out by the appointment of our Father in heaven, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it is a wonderful work that has been accomplished. It will be wonderful in the future; for, as in the past, God will take the weak things of the world to confound the things that are great and mighty. I am, however, firmly convinced that if an experienced and accomplished missionary could go out with every half dozen young men, great good would flow from such a combination, both to the youthful missionaries and to the work of the Lord abroad. ¶

One of the brethren yesterday in his remarks intimated that he was glad that "Mormonism" had not been established as a result of any disagreement among men concerning any other principle of revealed religion. It was established by divine appointment and revelation. When the brother made the remark to which I refer I remembered a few years ago, in visiting a great Catholic church in the Old World, picking up a tract written by a Catholic, and the statement upon the cover was "Why I Am a Catholic." In that little tract there was a paragraph which read somewhat to this effect: "When Martin Luther, and Calvin, and Henry VIII commenced their mad career in what you Protestants term the 'glorious reformation,' the true religion was then in the world, or it was not. If it was, they committed grievous crimes in making new religions to oppose it. If it was not, they were powerless to create it. It takes a Christ, not a Luther, to create a Christianity, on either supposition therefore, Protestantism is not the true religion of Jesus Christ." I was greatly impressed with the reading of these words. It certainly takes an immortal being, it takes the very source of religion, to create religion. No man, or combination of men, have the intelligence or authority to create that Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. I thought how glorious is the foundation upon which "Mormonism" is built; and well might we sing, as we have this morning. "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent word." No division, contention, or quarreling brought into existence the glorious principles we have espoused. Joseph Smith approached our Father in heaven for information concerning his soul's salvation, and I have never come in contact with any person opposed to "Mormonism" who could find any fault with the statement that Joseph Smith approached our Father in heaven and pleaded with him for information concerning the Gospel of His Son. What better source could he have gone to than the source of light? When he could not decide for himself where to go to find rest for his soul and the means of salvation, what greater power could he approach than his Father in heaven? In doing so he was in strict accord with the commandment of that Father, and in harmony also with the teachings of inspired prophets and apostles. Joseph Smith went to the only source that could lead him in the right path. If the truth was not upon the earth he approached the only power that could reveal and restore that glorious truth. That is the foundation upon which "Mormonism" rests — the foundation of the appearing of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We need no better foundation. We need look to no other source of power for the means of salvation. And this marvelous revelation to which Joseph Smith bears record, and to which we bear record, has come in fulfillment of the promises made through the mouths of all the prophets, and through the promise of the Redeemer Himself, for He predicted that before His second coming the same Gospel should again be proclaimed as a sign of that event. My brethren and sisters, this Gospel has not come to us in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost. We have not been persuaded by the logic of man to receive the truth, but we have been persuaded by the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. No wonder men do not succeed who proselyte in our midst. We cannot be turned from the wheat of the word of God, to the chaff that comes from the wisdom of man. We have received that form of doctrine which is the power of God unto salvation, as taught by the Redeemer, and we can be assured and happy in the knowledge that we have set our hands to the plow, and that we have laid hold of the "iron rod!" We need not be moved by the clamor of those who oppose the truth, but we can feel that we have received that which the Lord intended us to have, and that we are in the same position as the apostles of old when the Savior asked them, after a number had forsaken him, "Will ye also forsake me?" Their answer was "Where shall we go, for Thou hast the words of eternal life?" Where can we go to find peace, and comfort, and hope, if we turn from the truth? Nowhere. Think of it, and be faithful and true to that which we have espoused. I joyfully bear my testimony, in connection with my brethren, to the truth of this marvelous work. It is the power of God. It is not a delusion, it is not a myth. It is the work foretold by the Prophets, and it will prevail. God help us to do our part and to be true, steadfast, loyal and faithful to His work, and to our covenants with our Father in heaven and with each other, is my prayer through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶