Self-Sacrifice of Missionaries and Saving Souls

I rejoice exceedingly in having the opportunity of meeting with my brethren and sisters in this conference, and I earnestly desire that while I stand before you I may be blessed as my brethren have been who have addressed you thus far. ¶

There has never been in my mind any other desire, while standing before the people, than that I might be able to say something which would encourage and bless those who were assembled, including myself, and impress us with a desire to discharge the duties and obligations that rest upon us as Latter-day Saints. ¶

I am a firm believer in the teachings of the Apostle James. I believe in the man who is willing to do the things which the Lord has commanded, and who shows his faith by his work. ¶

I attended a fast meeting last Sunday in the morning, and another in the afternoon; and one of the speakers at the latter meeting was Sister Anna Snow, an aged wife of the late Apostle Erastus Snow. She came from Scandinavia, and from her childhood had been addicted to the use of coffee, and thought she could hardly live without it; but finally, after reaching the age of eighty-two years, she was impressed that she had failed to do her duty in that regard, and decided, on her eighty-third birthday, that she would keep the Word of Wisdom still more perfectly, and stop drinking coffee. It nearly killed her, but she finally succeeded in overcoming the habit; and she stood up in humility before the people, confessing her failure at not having fully kept the Word of Wisdom, and expressed her gratitude to the Lord for giving her the ability, even at this late date, to overcome her failing; and she testified to the benefit she has already received because of the improvement in her health by obeying this law of God. I was profoundly impressed with her remarkable testimony, and how I did wish that every one of our good sisters, and our brethren as well, who, year after year, have gone on breaking this simple commandment of the Lord, could have been there and listened to her testimony. I know a great many people have heard sermons on the Word of Wisdom for many years, which have never made any impression upon them. I do not know how in the world we could make an impression upon some people. I know many individuals who have been labored with diligently in private, as well as by public teaching and admonition, but these labors have had no effect upon them. I feel in my heart that it is my duty to try and discover the weak points in my nature, and then pray to the Lord to help me overcome them. As I read the Word of Wisdom, I learn that it is adapted to the weakest of all the weak who are or can be called Saints ; and I believe that it would be a wonderful aid in the advancement of the kingdom of God if all the Latter-day Saints would obey this simple commandment of the Lord. When I heard this aged sister testify that in her advanced years she had overcome, I wished that all Israel could have heard that testimony and been impressed by it. ¶

I rejoiced in the great good that is being accomplished, and the progress that is being made by our missionaries, as I listened to the remarks made here this morning by President Lund, referring to the labors of Brother Alma O. Taylor, President of the Japan mission. But there was a mistake in saying Brother Taylor had been away five years ; he has been absent over six years; it is the other young Elders, Brothers Caine and Stoker, who have been away over five years. In the letter Brother Lund referred to, Elder Taylor expressed a desire to stop, if need be, at least two years more to finish the work he felt the Lord desired him to accomplish. As I listened to Brother Lund's remarks, they brought to mind my association in Japan with Brother Taylor, also with Elders Caine and Stoker, and I wished in my heart that all of the missionaries who go forth . to proclaim the Gospel possessed the same spirit of loyalty to labor in the mission field as Elders Taylor, Caine and Stoker. I had many talented missionaries under my jurisdiction, while laboring in the European mission, whose release was the one bright and shining star which they were looking forward to. They were not interested in their work as much as they ought to be. I wish, if it meets with the approval of the Presidency of the Church, that the letter which Brother Lund referred to, from Elder Taylor, might be published, because I believe that the spirit of it would be an inspiration and a benefit to the youth of Israel. I have had the pleasure of hearing it read, and would like others to have the same privilege. ¶

The spirit breathed in that letter from Brother Taylor, to which we have referred, was that eight years given to the work of God is as nothing. If needed, every servant of God with a knowledge of the Gospel, ought to be willing to give his life to this cause, which is in very deed the work of the Master, the plan of life and salvation, the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we arrive at a full realization of the fact that we have in very deed the Pearl of Great Price, that the Gospel which we have to give to the people of the world means life eternal to those who embrace and faithfully live it ; when we realize this, and when we stop to reflect upon the revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in which the Lord says : "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father? And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me." Then we will begin to realize and comprehend and understand the magnitude of this work. The saving of souls is the one great labor of all others that is the most valuable, the most important, that will bring to us the blessings of our Heavenly Father, and of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. ¶

I was profoundly impressed with the remarks made by President McQuarrie, of the Eastern States mission, in a fast meeting, Sunday last, wherein he referred to the fact that it is not that which we accumulate, not that which we draw unto ourselves, that makes men God-like, but it is that which we give out. I feel sorry for the man or the woman who has never experienced the sweet joy which comes to the missionary who proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and brings honest souls to a knowledge of the truth, and who hears the expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving that come from the hearts of those who have been brought by his labor to a comprehension of life eternal. So also do I feel sorrow for those who have never experienced the sweet joy resulting from reaching out their hands and helping those who were needy. Assuredly there is more blessing comes to us from giving than in accumulating; there is no question of this in my mind. There is also more blessing comes to us in going forth to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and laboring for the salvation of the souls of men, than can possibly come to us by merely having a knowledge of the truth of our religion, and then to remain at home and mingle and labor in the ordinary affairs of life, and accumulate the wealth of this world that perishes with the using. One great trouble is that we ofttimes lose sight of what is the most valuable labor for us to perform, the labor that will be most pleasing in the sight of our heavenly Father. ¶

I rejoice, as I said in the first of my remarks, in the remarkable work that is being accomplished today in spreading the Gospel. I believe that the Lord is blessing, and will continue to bless, the Elders who labor in the vineyard, more abundantly in the future than in the past. I know that the work now being accomplished by Brother Chas. W. Penrose in the British mission is greater, and the baptisms are far in excess of what was accomplished while I was there in the mission field, and I rejoice in it. I rejoice in the wonderful ability that he possesses to inspire the Elders, because of his great fund of knowledge and information, and his rare intelligence, by reason of which he has that much the start of me and many others who have labored in the missionary field. ¶

The revelation that has been referred to here by Brother John Henry Smith is one that we all would do well to remember. I rejoice to know that whatever degree of intelligence we attain unto in this life shall rise with us in the life to come, and we shall have just that much the advantage of those who have not gained intelligence, because of their failure to study diligently. Not only does this apply to the life to come, but it applies also to this life in which we are now laboring. Brother Penrose has been more diligent in storing his mind with the things of the kingdom of God than I have ever been. Therefore, in the providences of God, he has just that much the advantage of me, and can accomplish greater results as the president of the European mission than it was possible for me to accomplish, because of the additional knowledge he possesses, which enlarges his ability to teach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God for the strength of his body and mind, for the vigor that he has in his advanced age, and pray that it may grow and strengthen with his years. Last Tuesday and Wednesday I had the pleasure of hearing letters read from him, telling of his labors and travels for the Gospel, not in a boastful way, but with modesty, explaining what he had been doing in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and in the Scandinavian countries. It was little less than marvelous to me to hear what he was accomplishing, remembering, as I do, that he is 75 years of age. I pray to God to prolong his life upon the earth, that you and I and many others may be benefited by the knowledge which he possesses, and by the ability he has to explain the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. ¶

I ofttimes feel that it is necessary for us to stop and reflect, and spare time to read, study, and ponder upon the things of God; I know that it is necessary for me to do so. I am not naturally a student; my mind reaches out for the material things of this kingdom. You know one of the papers published in this city says that Heber J. Grant's favorite song is "We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet," and that he spells it "p-r-o-f-i-t." Now there may be some truth in this remark ; but I do thank my Father in heaven for a Prophet of God to lead this people. I thank Him for the knowledge which I possess that I am engaged in His work, and for the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. I thank my Father in heaven, with all the ability I possess, that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is spreading upon the face of the earth, that honest men and women are learning that the Latter-day Saints are not the degraded and deluded people they have been represented to be, that they are not the mistaken people the world thought they were. I thank the Lord that as men investigate the plan of life and salvation they see what it is accomplishing for those who have embraced it. ¶

Many have said that the "Mormon" people were better than their religion. I heard a magnificent talk from this stand a few Sundays ago by Brother Joseph S. Wells, in which he repudiated this statement. He told how utterly impossible it is for a people to be better than the Gospel of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. I respectfully request, if it was taken down by our reporters, that the short address of Brother Wells' be published in the Deseret News. I don't know that I ever listened to remarks that impressed me more profoundly than his did upon that occasion, and I endorse them with all my heart. No man lives today, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is fully living up to the teachings of the Gospel of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. By and with the help of the Lord we are trying to do it ; but there is no man in the Church of Christ who claims infallibility. We acknowledge our weaknesses, but while we acknowledge them we can also proclaim to the world our strength, strength in the knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, and that we have the truth to proclaim to the world. ¶

Since we last met here, one of the beloved associates in the quorum of the Twelve Apostles has passed from this life, Elder George Teasdale. No more humble, God-fearing, diligent man has ever fallen to my lot to be associated with. In the kind providences of the Lord, I was called to the Apostleship upon the same day as Elder Teasdale, and I labored with him, in season, and out, for twenty-four and a half years. I ever found him full of humility, full of love of his fellows. I never saw him angry ; I never heard an unkind word fall from his lips. I always found that his heart was full of love; that he reached out for the benefit, uplifting, and betterment of humanity; and it seemed to me that he was in very deed an ideal servant of God, a preacher of the plan of life and salvation. I remember upon one occasion listening to that grand old man, Karl G. Maeser, in the town of Baker, in the state of Oregon, as he was teaching a class of little children, giving them a lesson (I believe it was a Religion Class) ; and I remember shedding tears of gratitude for his inspiration, as I listened to him, and with some humiliation, I thought of my labors, ofttimes struggling for the things of this world. As I compared my life with the life of Karl G. Maeser, who was devoted entirely to the uplifting of the people of God, I felt I could sit in the dust at his feet. I have ofttimes had this same impression while listening to the teachings of, and being associated with, the late Elder George Teasdale. I don't know when I ever felt more annoyed than I did to find in the Assembly Hall at the funeral of Brother Teasdale, one of the most meager audiences I ever met there. I thought to myself, how little do the people engaged in the ordinary affairs of life realize and appreciate the true worth of men. I attended a funeral a short time before, in that same building, when it was literally crowded ; but the great attraction of the funeral was that a remarkable musical program was given. It was advertised who was going to sing, and how interesting it would be, and the music and the flowers were the great attraction. But when one of God's servants who had devoted almost his entire life, as George Teasdale had done, to the proclaiming of this Gospel in his native and adopted land, and who had many times crossed the ocean upon missions, lays down his life, the ordinary business cares kept the people away from his funeral. Thank God we are not to be judged by the opinions of our fellows, but by the work that we do. ¶

Once more I say, I love the teachings of the Apostle James, "Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works." Let us be "doers of the word." Let us be keepers of the commandments of God. Let our light so shine that every man seeing our good deeds shall glorify God. Let those of us who know that this is God's work show by our daily walk and conversation, by integrity, by devotion, by humility, by generosity, by overcoming the weaknesses and imperfections of our nature, by observing the Word of Wisdom, by being liberal in offerings, by paying an honest tithing to God, by attending meetings and receiving the bread of life, that we do in very deed love the work of God, and thus will our acts bear testimony of its truth ; this is my prayer and desire, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶