Church Records, Marriage, and the Low Mortality Rate

Brethren and Sisters : I feel a certain timidity, when I see this large congregation, and have to occupy your attention for a time. I ask that the Spirit of the Lord may aid me in what I desire to say unto you. ¶

I have enjoyed the past sessions of the conference, and I believe all who have been present have been paid for coming, and have felt that this is the place for the Latter-day Saints. They have enjoyed the addresses made, and have taken part in the business of the conference with pleasure, and everything has been done unanimously. ¶

I was pleased yesterday to hear the auditor's report. I know that it is exactly according to truth. These men who have been appointed to act as auditors, devoted considerable time to go through all the accounts and books kept by the Church, and hence in giving their report they did so understandingly. They gave the true status of the financial affairs of the Church. I am pleased that our accounts are kept in such shape that everv cent is accounted for, so that it can be shown how the/ Church funds have been used. Much credit is due to the Presiding Bishopric and to Brother John Wells for the accurate manner in which the Church books are kept; and as they are kept in the general office, so they are now kept in all the stakes and wards of Zion. Less loss in handling produce has been reported this year than ever before. This shows how well the Bishops are taking care of the things pertaining to the Lord's storehouse. ¶

I am also able to say unto you that the historical and statistical records of the Church are getting into a similar condition of accuracy and completeness. As early as the 6th of April, 1830, the Lord, in a revelation, told the Prophet Joseph that there should be records kept in the Church; and later on John Whitmer was commanded to write a history of the Church. This is a very important matter. How glad we are that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John applied themselves to the work of writing a part of the history of our Redeemer ! If they had not done so, how much we would have missed! We love to read the accounts given us in their gospels, of the beautiful life of our Savior while here upon the earth, and we are very thankful that these records were kept. Likewise we are thankful that we have the record called the Book of Mormon, which contains a history of the earliest settling of this continent. We rejoice that we have the writings of the Nephis, of Alma, and of all those recorders who gave us the history of the Lord's hand dealings with His people upon this land. When Lehi left Jerusalem he saw the necessity of having records with him, and sent his sons back to get the records kept by one of his kinsmen. He obtained the history of the people of the Lord until within six hundred years of Christ. The prophecies of several of the prophets, the accounts from the creation up to that time, were brought with them to this land, and this helped them to regulate their lives, to obey the laws of God, to remember what the Lord had done for their forefathers, and to keep their language purer than they otherwise could have done. As I said, when the Church was organized in our day the Lord commanded that records should be kept. I wish that commandment had been more strictly obeyed and more elaborate records had been kept from the beginning of the Church. What history we have is correct, but John Whitmer's record and the records of the earlv recorders of the Church are not very extensive, and if it were not for the history of the Prophet Joseph, and the journals kept by some of our leading men in those early days, our knowledge of the interesting events of that remarkable period of our history would be very meager. We are trying to obtain from journals, letters and correspondence additional historical matter to what we have in the history of the Prophet Joseph, and we gather many interesting facts from precious documents which have been kept in different families. We hope that the descendants of the early members of the Church who kept journals or records of any kind will be kind enough to bring them to the Historian's Office, and give us the opportunity either to keep them or to copy them, in order that the facts recorded may be remembered. ¶

In late years great importance has been attached to the keeping of the statistics of the Church. We have these reports bound, and they give us interesting data, and will be more and more valuable in time to come. In looking over the statistics of the Church for the last year, I find that there has been a substantial increase in the members added to the Church : 542 more births in 1906 than in 1905, and the death rate was considerably smaller — 332 less than in 1905. In fact, the death rate in all the stakes of Zion combined does not exceed one per cent. This is quite an item for the life insurance companies. If such a rate could be kept up, the prophecies would be fulfilled that people should live to be a hundred years old. I believe that the mode of living observed by the Latter-day Saints tends to longevity, and that if the Saints will follow the counsel that has been given in this conference on the subject of the Word of Wisdom, they will add years to their lives. Instead of indulging in appetites that are destructive to the system, they should live pla^n and simple lives, and they would thereby receive much greater happiness. If, however, they allow themselves to gratify their appetites for strong drink, tobacco or other stimulants, they create an almost uncontrollable longing for these things, and form a habit that is very hard to overcome, and which is ruinous to the functions of the vital organs. I do honor those who, though having strong desires for these things, still do not yield, but resist and overcome their inclinations. Let us try, brethren and sisters, to follow the counsel of the Lord who gave this advice to us, not to take from us the pleasures of life, but rather to increase them ; for what is of greater benefit to the human body than health, and health cannot be enjoyed if we go contrary to the laws which the Lord has laid down. I believe that the keeping of the Word of Wisdom, to the extent that the Saints have kept it, is responsible for the low death rate. ¶

I notice also in the statistical report that more of our young people have entered the temples last year than the year before, and they have been sealed by the authority the Lord has given His servants. I would encourage our young people to marry, and to marry right. They should keep themselves pure and free from the sins of the world, that when they wish to marry, their Bishops can give them recommends to the temples, and at the altar of the Lord they can be sealed for time and for all eternity by that authority which binds on earth and 't shall be bound in heaven. We believe in the eternity of the marriage contract. We do believe in a future life. We gave evidence of this belief in answer to the question asked us yesterday. We believe that life is continuous. We believe in the resurrection, and that the spirit and body will again be united; we believe that we will know as we are known, and that the marriage relation will continue, that, husband and wife will dwell together through all eternity, that the: love which binds their hearts together upon the earth wil! not leave them at death, but that it will endure eternally, and hence we encourage our young people to commence their married life in the right way. ¶

There is a matter to which I would like to call the attention of our brethren and sisters, and that is our Sunday meetings. It is a pleasure to visit some of our wards and find every seat taken and our meeting houses full of worshipers, but there are too many wards whej-e the Saints are not so attentive to this duty. We go to the house of worship to receive spiritual food, to be instructed and advised by the servants of the Lord and to worship Him to whom we owe all. He has commanded that we should go to the house of worship on the day appointed, and let us not feel satisfied on that day to stay at home, or think that by reading some good book we can be instructed as well as by going to meeting. Remember that the meeting is the place where we renew our covenants ; we partake of the Sacrament, and renew our vows to serve the Lord, and His Spirit is promised us when we do this in sincerity. It puts us in communion with Him who instituted the Sacrament. It is our duty to go to the table of the Lord and partake of the emblems of His body and blood, but this must be done in the right way. We must not go there with hard feelings towards our brethren and sisters. Those who take part in that sacred ordinance must be one, for if they are not, or are under transgression, or harbor feelings of hatred in their hearts towards any of their brethren, they eat and drink unworthily. The Apostle Paul says that anyone who does so "eateth and drinketh damnation to himself." Consequently we must watch ourselves that we do not so partake of it. Some may say : "If there is danger of eating and drinking unto condemnation, we had better not touch it," but the Lord has given a commandment that we are to partake of the Sacrament, and if we abstain from doing this, we are not fulfilling our duty. It is a great blessing to partake of the Sacrament. In doing it our thoughts go back to Him who gave His life for us, and we make the covenant that we will take upon us His name and keep His commandments, and always remember Him, and we are promised that we shall have His Spirit. In doing this we are blessed and strengthened for the coming week's work. ¶

In regard to the Sabbath dav I will say that there is no doubt in the minds of the Latter-day Saints in regard to the day of the week on which we are to worshin. In the beginning the Sabbath was commanded to be observed on the seventh day. The Lord rested on that day. Israel observed it very strict ly. There are instances where persons were put to death who violated this command of the Lord. There are instances in the Jewish history where the people out of reverence for the Sabbath would not engage in battle on that day. If their enemies, the Gentiles, attacked them on the Sabbath day, they would not defend themselves, hence leaving it very easy for their enemies to gain the victory, so strict were they in the observance of the day which the Lord had apoointed. But we observe the first day of the week. Is there any commandment in the Scriptures in regard to this ? Reading the New Testament through we cannot find any direct command to change the Sabbath to the first day, and some Christian sects hold that all the rest of the Christian world have gone astray because they keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh day. Some have attacked us on this point, and they have said : Your principles are strictly in accord with the teachings of the apostles formerly, but you do not keep the commandment of the Lord in regard to the Sabbath day. We are informed in the Scriptures that the Lord, our Savior, was resurrected upon a Sunday A week ago we celebrated the anniversary of His resurrection. We believe that He was resurrected bodily; that the man Jesus, the Son of God, did as He had told His disciples He would do : on the third day He took up His body. That same day He appeared to some of the disciples and to some of the women. On the Sunday following He appeared to His apostles, and showed them the marks on His body, convincing the "doubting Thomas" who would not believe unless he should see Him himself. He was gratified to see the Savior, but he got this gentle reproof : "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed." Thomas doubted at first, but his doubts were dispelled. The admonition is to all of us that we must not reject that which is taught us, just because we have not seen it ourselves. By taking the testimony of others we increase our store of knowledge. By taking the testimony of the aoostles and five hundred who saw Jesus at one time, we increase our knowledge to this extent : that we know that one person conquered death. Then we read that other resurrected beings were seen in Jerusalem, having risen from their graves — showing that the resurrection was not confined to Jesus alone, and that it commenced not before, but after, Christ had conquered death. ¶

What an inspiring thought, that death is conquered, that Jesus won the victory over death ! It was a great event, worthy of being celebrated and remembered. There is no doubt in my mind that the apostles taught the Saints to come together on the first day of the week — on the Sunday — to make that the day of worship. The Jews, you know, were very strict as to the Saturday, the seventh day, and they dared, perhaps, not neglect that day. Not only did they keep the Sabbath according to the Mosaic law ; but we find that they also came together for worshio on the Sunday, the Lord's day. They partook of the Sacrament on that day. Paul at one-time preached on the Sunday evening so late that one person, falling asleep, fell down from the third story, and was found to be dead, but Paul, by the power of God, raised him from the dead. If you will refer to the Corinthians you will see that Paul there alludes to the Saints coming together on the Sunday. Writers from the first century tell us that the Christians met on the Sunday and made that their holy day. I believe that this custom was inaugurated by the apostles. The day of the resurrection was of such importance that they made the first day, on which it took place, the Sabbath day, or the holy day of the week. You remember the commandment of the Lord, recorded in the book of Deuteronomy, in regard to the Sabbath day, as follows : "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that thy man-servant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou ; and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." One reason is given here by the Lord why Israel should observe the Sabbath, namely, their wonderful deliverance from servitude through His power, and they were commanded to commemorate this event on the seventh day. Is it, then, so strange that the apostles formerly changed the day to remember the much greater event — the event of the resurrection, and that Sunday on which that great event occurred became the Sabbath day unto the Saints? ¶

It is impossible for all to keep the Sabbath day at the very same time all over the globe. If all the people lived on one longtitude or meridian they could keep it at the same time, but as they are now scattered around the globe, there is a great difference in time. For instance, children went to Sunday School in New Zealand yesterday at half past two o'clock. It was Saturday to us ; it was ten o'clock Sunday morning to them. The children on the Hawaiian Islands will go to Sunday School about one o'clock today, and it will be ten o'clock then for them. Thus, at a given time it may be Sunday for one set of people and Saturday for people in another nlace. The teachers in the Hawaiian Sunday School might say today to the children, "Your brethren in New Zealand met yesterday, when it was twelve o'clock here, in their Sunday School," and the children would likely say, Why, they have Sunday School on a Saturday !" The line which divides the time, or which indicates where day begins, is an arbitra— ■ one made by men for the sake of convenience. It is located the very best place that it could be, because there are very few inhabitants that the line will strike. It passes over the Pacific Ocean, and in order that no island shall have Saturday on one side and Sunday on the other, they have turned the line around the groups in the Pacific Ocean, so that those oertaining to the same country, under the same government, mav have the same day; but this is all an arbitrary arrangement. If then the Lord acceoted the devotions of those who worshiped Him --°sterday, calling the day Sunday, and accepts the worship of those living a short distance eastward who call today Sunday, the important question seems to be, not so much the exact time as the fact that one day in every seven is set apart to be a day of rest. ¶

There are some who strongly argue in favor of the Saturday as the Sabbath instead of the Sunday, and they create in the minds of many a grave doubt as to which day is the correct day to be observed as Sabbath. Where such doubt exists it cannot be removed by any other means than revelation. When the Scriptures are silent on this point, and men do not feel to take tradition as a rule, then they are left without positive knowledge on the subject. The Latter-day Saints are not so left. The Lord in a revelation given to the Saints says : ¶

"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from vour labors, and to pay thv devotions unto the Most High;" ¶

"Upon my holy day." Which is that day? This revelation was given August seventh, 1831, which was a Sunday. The following paragraph makes it plain that Sunday is the day set apart for worship : ¶

"But remember that on this the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord." ¶

This takes away all doubt from the minds of the Saints, for here through the revelation of the Lord we are told that we are to hold the Sunday holy. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, let us go to our meetings ; let us worship the Lord ; let us not feel satisfied to stay at home; but always feel that it is a duty to go to the Lord's house and there with the Saints partake of the blessings which He has promised. May the Lord bless you all is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶