Report on the Mexican Mission

(President of Mexican Mission.) I desire, my brethren and sisters, to express the gratitude I feel to our heavenly Father that I am permitted, in connection with you, to be here in this general conference of the Church, that we are permitted to meet and worship the Lord without molestation, for, strange as it may appear, this blessing, this privilege, has not always been accorded to the Saints of God. Why people should object to men and women meeting together and worshiping their Creator as their conscience may dictate to them, seems strange, but it is nevertheless a fact that in the history of the world religious worship has been interfered with and the right of conscience has been interrupted to a degree that no other privilege of the human race has been ; and so I say, when we are permitted thus to meet to worship the Lord, to acknowledge His goodness and mercy to us, without molestation, I feel exceedingly grateful, as I believe that you all do, and want to make this acknowledgement to our heavenly Father 'this morning. ¶

I am grateful to have the opportunity of saying just a few words in behalf of your brethren and sisters who are in Mexico, people isolated from the body of the Church, surrounded by influences different to those that exist in any other organized stake of the church. In fact, there is no other Latin country in the world where there is a stake of Zion organized ; and we should appreciate the conditions which exist where Latin races and Latin customs prevail ; they are so different from the customs which exist in Anglo-Saxon communities that one must become acquainted with them to fully appreciate them. Mexico is a very peculiar country, comprising very distinct, peculiar and contradictory conditions. The country itself is one of extreme contrast. Vast and, unproductive plains abound, which to look at one would think to be absolutely valueless, and yet when the country is traced and examined we find that it is interspersed and dotted with valleys as productive as any elsewhere in the world. Great treeless ranges of mountains, appearing to be without any valuable products, when more closely examined, are found to contain in their recesses most beautiful and productive forests ; and some of the mountains are covered with perpetual snow, around the bases of which oranges, lemons, and bananas are cultivated. It is a country of extremely distressing drought, followed by prolific rains, and so the country from north to south is one of extreme and perplexing conditions. It is not very strange that a people who have lived in a country of this kind for hundreds of years should become somewhat like it ; environment has had its effect and they have become as it is. I suppose there is no place in the world where greater extremes are found among the population, where a more heterogeneous people live than are to be found in Mexico. And yet, taken as a whole, it seems harmonious, and when considered together it appears reasonably homogeneous. ¶

Mexico has a great interest to the Latter-day Saints from the fact that it is the home of the Lamanite, the land of the Nephite. There are millions of those people, the dark descendants of father Lehi, there. The center of civilization upon the North American continent at the time of its discovery was in the Valley of Mexico ; and there are to be found today, upon the paved streets of its principal city, surrounded with wealth equal to that perhaps of any other city of the same size in the world, Aztec women pattering along the pavements, dressed exactly as they were four hundred years ago when Cortez marched into the city at the head of his victorious army. And there, in sight of the towers of those temples and magnificent edifices which have been erected by the Catholic church, the humble hamlets of the Indians may be seen, scattered over the mountain sides ; and they are living in the same simplicity, speaking the same language, wearing the same apparel, following the same avocations, that they did in the days of their fore-fathers. ¶

We are doing some missionary work among these people, and it is interesting to the Latter-day Saints at large to know that many of them are receiving the Gospel. They are a vigorous race, mentally and physically, thoroughly competent both physically and intellectually to comprehend the Gospel and fulfil their part in the upbuilding of the Church, in connection with converts that are made in other countries. If we read the words of the Lord as contained in the Book of Mormon — and Mexico is essentially a Book of Mormon country — we find that a time must come, before the consummation of the purposes of the Lord, before the redemption of the center stake of Zion, before completing the work we are so anxiously looking forward to down there at Independence, Missouri, that the work of conversion must be commenced among the Lamanites. Jesus said to His disciples, when He ministered among them upon this continent, that He would give them a sign by which they might know when the things that He then predicted were about to be fulfilled, and He said : "When these words which I now speak unto you, and which you shall write, shall be brought forth in latter times, and when they shall be brought to a remnant of your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief, and your seed shall begin to come to a knowledge of these things, and know that their fathers came from Jerusalem, and that they are of the house of Israel, then may you know that the promises which I have made regarding the redemption of my people, O ye house of Israel, are about to be fulfilled." ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, we have a dozen elders laboring down there among that people, and they are making converts every day. So we see that the Gospel has been introduced among them, that they are coming to a knowledge of the truth, that they again know that their fathers came from Jerusalem, that they do begin to realize the day of their redemption draweth nigh, and thus we see in them the fulfillment of Scripture. As a people we are fulfillers of Scripture. If there is anything at all in the work of the Lord, it is here for the purpose of consummating His purposes, in fulfillment of the words of the prophets, preparing for the redemption of the covenant people of the Lord in this the dispensation of the fullness of times. Now if you will read the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find that also justifies what I have said. The Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph that this people to whom I refer should become a very active factor in the redemption of the center stake of Zion, and the construction of a great temple there in this dispensation, this generation. Taken altogether, we feel very much encouraged with the outlook, from a missionary standpoint, in Mexico. If it were not for that fact, were it not for the faith we have that the Lord wants us to be in Mexico for the accomplishment of His purposes, we would not be there, for there is nothing very desirable in that country nor in the people. The conditions there are so contrary to those conditions to which we have been accustomed that it would not be desirable to us. Were it not for the conviction we have that the Lord desires that the Gospel should be established and maintained among that people, we would not feel content to be there. There are about 4,000 Latter-day Saints there, without including the members of the Church who live in the neighborhood of the city of Mexico, and who number five or six hundred. Our people are doing the best they can to maintain themselves, to sustain their families and properly educate their children. We are getting no help at all from the government, not a single dollar has ever been expended for public purposes in the part of Mexico where we live, since we have been there. We maintain our own schools, we construct our own roads, we build our own bridges, we pay our own civil officers; in fact, we bear all the burdens of government, and receive in exchange the protection of the law. Our relationship with the Mexican government is very friendly, indeed. We have no difficulty with them, we participate in no degree at all in their politics. We let politics entirely alone, attending to our own affairs ; and I suppose we might live in peace in almost any country under similar circumstances. We pay our taxes, bear our own expenses, and are permitted to live in peace. That just about explains it all. It is not without an effort, either, that we do this, because we are the poorest people in the Church, taken as a whole, and yet these poor people support an excellent school in each ward in the stake ; and we maintain a stake academy, which is perhaps equal to almost any other that exists in the Church, a splendid administration, a splendid school. In order to accomplish all this we are sometimes required to assess a voluntary income tax upon the people, as high as five or six per cent of their income. But it is willingly paid, and the schools are maintained. We appreciate the fact that, isolated as we are, if we expect to keep in touch with our brethren and sisters in more favored localities in the Church, we must educate our children, and we are trying our very best to do it. I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, you who perhaps are better able to amply provide for education, among whom it is possible, do not allow your prejudices, do not allow the argument that education is being overdone, to persuade you to desist from persistent effort to properly educate the children of the Latter-day Saints. I tell you we never have been an overeducated people. The time will not come that we can properly fill the place the Lord designs we should occupy among the people of the earth until greater attention is paid to education. ¶

We have been pre-eminently an agricultural people. I do not want to depreciate agriculture. I do not want to deny the fact that, from an agricultural standpoint, our educational institutions may be very greatly improved, and we are trying all the time to improve them down in our country; but I do want to call your attention to the other fact that no pre-eminently agricultural people ever took first place among the nations of the earth. It is people who know how to do, who know how to manufacture, who know how to take the elements of the earth and make them into things useful for men and women,that have been the civilized nations of the earth. Egypt had the world's first civilization, and the people of Egypt were pre-eminently agricultural. But the manufacturing city of Tyre and the little city of Sidon, whose inhabitants pulled down the cedars of their mountains and made them into ships, who knew enough to take the ore of the earth and convert it into iron and bind ships together, who were able to manufacture it into things that people wanted, they were the people who forged to the front. There is no country in the world where agriculture is more appreciated than in England. There is no country in the world whose influence for good, towards the betterment and civilization of the inhabitants of the earth, has been felt as strongly as that of the English people ; I say it without fear of successful contradiction. But it has never been her agriculture that made it possible for her civilizing influence to go to all the world. England is the greatest manufacturing country on the earth. It was because she had mines and knew how to work them, and had factories and knew how to conduct and operate them; I know this. I have felt impressed that the Latter-day Saints have neglected some of their opportunities, and the result is that the most remunerative employment goes to others. What do we know about engineering? What do we know about electricity ? What do we know about manufacturing? As a community we do very little indeed in these lines, and the result is that the advantages have largely been secured by others, and we are, in a measure, bearers of burdens that others ought to share with us. ¶

I believe these great forces have come into the world to stay. I do not believe that when the redemption of Zion comes, and when truth triumphs, that all the great discoveries which make for the betterment of mankind are going to be relegated to the back ground, not a bit of it. Electricity has come to stay, the power of steam has come to stay. The power to control these things must be acquired by the people who would be in the foreground. We must progress. Take Nelson or Paul Jones and put them in a modern man-of-war, and what would they do? They would be as helpless as babes, because conditions are changed, and conditions are continually changing, and we have got to take advantage of the conditions to make our way in the world. ¶

Let us see to it that our sons and daughters are educated men and women, and that they compare favorably with educated men and women that go out from other communities. And that need not detract from our faith. A man said to me the other day, "When you come to insist upon these material things, you destroy the faith of the Latter-day Saints." In other words the argument is made that you cannot educate the people and still have them retain their faith in the Gospel. That is nonsense. The Gospel of Jesus Christ comprehends every truth there is in the world, educationally, morally, physiologically, all that we can attain. The Prophet Joseph laid the maxim down to us, that everything that was good, everything that was excellent, everything that, made for the betterment of mankind, belonged to us, and it was our duty to acquire it. ¶

May God bless us, my brethren and sisters, and keep us in the faith. I rejoice in the Gospel, and bear testimony to its truth. I wish you to sustain us, your brethren and sisters down in Mexico, with your faith and prayers, that we may all unite for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God and the consummation of His purposes. May the blessings of the Lord rest upon us all, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶