The Restoration of Priesthood Authority

In standing up in the midst of this great congregation I trust I may be assisted by my Heavenly Father to say such words as shall be appropriate and profitable for you to hear. In common with my brethren, who have already addressed those who have assembled in these conference meetings, I can say that my heart has been made happy, and I have felt in very deed to praise the name of my Maker, for giving me standing in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and for giving me fellowship with my brethren with whom I am privileged to labor. We believe, my brethren and sisters, that our Father in heaven has called us to the accomplishment of a marvelous work. We feel satisfied that we have not been led astray, and that we are in no way deluded in giving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints our allegiance. I can say as an individual that I could not discover the truth of the work the world calls "Mormonism" through the teaching and persuasion and example of my parents alone, although my parents, before I was born upon the earth, had been convinced of the truth of "Mormonism," and had separated themselves from their friends, and relatives, and country, for the Gospel's sake. They were filled with a strong desire that their children might have faith in that Gospel and system of religion that had brought them from a far-off land. I could not comprehend the truth of this work merely because my parents had yielded obedience to it, notwithstanding they were very devout, and believed intensely in the truth of "Mormonism," and they sought by every means within their power to transmit to me a knowledge of that truth, and to impress me with the fact that they had planted their feet in the right path. While I believed measurably in the representations they made concerning the principles of Mormonism, because of the honesty of their lives, their uprightness in every action and in every labor to which they set their hands, yet I could learn that Mormonism was the power of God unto salvation only by the revelation of that truth to me as an individual. When I obtained that knowledge it came to me in the very same manner in which it had been revealed to my parents in the land of their birth. ¶

I believe there is a feeling, a conscientious disposition on the part of the young men and women of "Mormondom," to hesitate in saying that they have knowledge concerning the truth of the Gospel, until every doubt has been swept away by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the knowledge has been given to them by the inspiration that comes from our Father in heaven. This revelation of truth to the individual is the secret of the strength of "Mormonism." It is not, as has been supposed and ofttimes intimated, that the ignorant of the world have been gathered together, and that presiding over them are a few men of great intelligence, who have had power to control the people, and to keep them in ignorance. Who are the men, my brethren and sisters, who preside in the midst of the Latter-day Saints today ? I cannot help but think and remember that in my life time — and when I consider my age in comparison with the age of President John R. Winder, I feel that I am only a boy — ¶

in my recollection every man who occupies a prominent position in the counsels of the presiding authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, has been brought up from the ranks of the people since I attained my majority, with the exception of President Joseph F. Smith alone. They have not come to the positions they occupy through any royal road, or because of any special preference for them or the names they bear, but because of the duties and labors they have faithfully accomplished in assisting to build up and bring to pass the work of our God. It has fallen to my lot, just in recent years, in attending to the labors and responsibilities that have been assigned unto me in the Holy Priesthood, to preside over two of these men who stand today as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have directed them in missionary labors, and I have this testimony to bear concerning them : that they are men of humility, that they appreciated the responsibility of the Priesthood that had been conferred upon them, and they honored that authority in the men who presided over them. I take it, my brethren and sisters, that if we were to study the history and the lives of the men who have been called to responsible positions in this Church, we would discover that they had been anxious to keep the commandments of our Father in heaven. We would discover that into their souls had dawned a knowledge of the truth of the glorious Gospel of the Redeemer of men. We would discover that they have been men who, in the early days of their lives, have entered into sacred and secret covenant with our Father in heaven to honor Him and to keep His commandments, and to assist as God would give them light and power, to bring to pass His purposes among the children of men. They have not been men who have been anxious to wield the sceptre of power, rather they have been men who were willing to take lowly positions, willing to accomplish and perform without question every labor assigned unto them ; because God had revealed to them that "Mormonism" is the power of God, the true religion of the Redeemer of men, given anew in this great and last dispensation, according to the promises of the holy prophets. ¶

God decreed long ago that His word, in the latter times, should be re-established among men, that the truth should go forth from nation to nation, that the honest among men should be pricked in their hearts by the power of God ; and that, by His power and His revelation, they should be brought together from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, to a place called "Zion," for the very purpose of learning more fully of the ways of the Lord and walking more perfectly in His path. Let us remember, my brethren and sisters, that this is the grand object of our being gathered together. I pray that it may be fully accomplished in our lives. Our hearts, and the hearts of our sainted parents before us, have been pricked by the power of God, we have all been made to know — father and mother, son and daughter — in the same marvelous manner, that this is the truth, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

This is my testimony. I rejoice in it ; I know that I speak the truth, for it has been given to me by my Father, my Redeemer, my Creator. ¶

Thank God for it, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶