Rejoicing in the Gospel and Personal Responsibility

Like those who have already spoken, I greatly rejoice in the spirit of this conference, in the splendid and wholesome advice and admonition that has fallen from the lips of the servants of our Father who have been inspired of Him in all their utterances. ¶

I am grateful to live in this day when we see a sentiment spreading abroad that bids fair to become universal, almost, if not entirely, that shall restrain, and obliterate if possible, the dens of infamy and vice that have cursed our country for so many years. My heart has ever gone out to the younger men and women in Israel. I am not so far advanced along the path of life that I am unmindful, or unconscious of the character and force of the temptations with which the young men and young women are daily surrounded. They love amusements, they love pleasure, and it is natural they should, but in seeking amusements and pleasure they are sometimes taken advantage of and led into paths of vice, innocently. Therefore, I feel that it becomes the duty of the Elders in Israel, and the citizens of this commonwealth, to recognize the fact that these places which lead to sin, to death, to sorrow, to poverty and shame, should be removed from our midst. We know that their establishment and maintenance is contrary, in every particular, to the spirit and genius of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You and I have been taught from our infancy that to observe the word of the Lord, the Word of Wisdom, would be helpful to us in every way. We have put it to the test and have proven it true. We know the Word of Wisdom is scientifically as well as scripturally true, and it is for the well being of our Father's children. I say, therefore, this movement is a blessed thing, and I hail the sentiment heartily, as do you. I know this is the sentiment of every true Latter-Day Saint from the centre of the Church to its circumference, even to the uttermost bounds of Zion. ¶

As President Stohl has said, there is nothing more precious to us, as fathers and mothers in Israel, than the children whom! God has given us. Are they not the greatest source of sorrow or happiness according to their aims, their lives and conduct. Is there anything we possess that brings to us more real joy and pleasure. We have heard this afternoon that President Joseph F. Smith said, when giving his testimony before the investigating committee, that he had 42 children, each and all of whom he was proud of. Does he not feel in them a great source of happiness? And can you not say, when your sons and daughters keep the Word of Wisdom, the commandments of God, that you are proud of them, and they are a source of the greatest joy and pleasure that is possible for the human heart to experience. As President Moses Taylor said, they are not temporary possessions, they are eternal possessions, for they are children of God as well as our children. The Apostle Paul says: "We have had fathers of the flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, should we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live." God is the father of the eternal part of the child that is given us here. We recognize in man a dual character; a dual being, physical as well as a spiritual. We recognize the truth of the sentiment so beautifully expressed in that hymn — ¶

O my Father, thou that dwellest In the high and glorious place ! ¶

When shall I regain thy presence, And again behold Thy face? In thy holy habitation Did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood Was I nurtured near thy side ! ¶

For a wise and glorious purpose, Thou hast placed me here on earth, And withheld the recollection Of my former friends and birth ; Yet ofttimes a secret something Whispered, "You're a stranger here;." And I felt that I had wandered From a more exalted sphere. ¶

I had learned to call thee Father Through thy Spirit from on high; But, until the key of knowledge Was restored, I knew not why. In the heavens are parents single? ¶

No ; the thought makes reason stare ! Truth is reason; truth eternal Tells me I've a mother there. ¶

That doctrine was ridiculed seventy years ago, when announced by this hymn, teaching what had been given by inspiration flowing first through the mind of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that we have a mother in heaven. Not long since I read in one of the leading magazines of this country, from one of the great thinkers of our day, that he recognizes this truth as one of the most profound and sublime in the universe, that womanhood forms a portion of the Godhead. He discourses very learnedly upon the dual sequence of the term Elohim, and proves conclusively by his deduction that there is a feminine element existing with the Deity, and that we have in Deity a mother as well as a father. There are mothers of our spirits. As the poet has said God has kindly sent to earth these sons and daughters of his. His spirits become our children in the flesh. ¶

To the mothers of our children I will say : Could you have any greater honor, could you possibly have any greater ambition in the world, than to be the medium, through which a child of God shall come to earth, to fulfil a wise and glorious purpose ? Do you envy your brother, your husband, your male relatives for the honors that come to them, because, forsooth, they occupy positions of responsibility ? I say to you mothers in Israel, that yours is one of the most honored and honorable positions occupied by any child of our Father upon earth. We do honor to the hero of the battle field. We erect magnificent monuments to his glory, because he offers his life in defense of his country, moved, possibly, by the love of fame, or of popularity. Should he give his life while engaged in the duty of taking the lives of his fellows, duty as he sees it, then we place his name upon the pages of history, and it is handed down to future generations to be revered by them. We erect a splendid monument to his name, because he jeopardized his life, through his heroism. How about the mother in Israel, who, in keeping the commandment of Him who said to Father Adam and Mother Eve, "Multiply and replenish the earth," and who has kept inviolate the sacred covenants she has made with her husband in sacred and holy places, does she not jeopardize her life in maternity? Does she not place her life upon the altar of sacrifice and duty, acJ -?ndure untold agony? I say to you hers are deeds of heroism worthy of the greatest monument ; nay, more than that, of an eternal crown in the celestial kingdom and presence of our Father. We have heard it said that "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Mothers, do you appreciate this fact? Do you realize that much depends upon you ; that the future of this Church, this community, this state, or this nation as a commonwealth, depends very largely upon you as mothers in Israel? Another one has said, and to me it seems a well deserved tribute to motherhood, "God could not be with us always, so He gave us mothers." If there are any under God's heaven deserving our tribute of praise for the offering of life with a love that is divine, a devotion that is angelic, that is charitable, long suffering and kind, that is willing to sacrifice all that one possesses for the love of another, it is the mother in Israel. After having passed through the dark valley of the shadow of death, having brought into the world a child of God, she watches patiently, prayerfully and faithfully over the little one, ever solicitous of its welfare, and devoted to its interests. President Roosevelt, not long ago, made use of these words, and I know you will agree with him ; "No leader in church, in state, in science, in art or industry, I care not how important the character of his work begins to do work that compares in importance to that done by the father and mother in the home for they are the first of sovereigns and the divinest of priests." ¶

The most sacred duty we have to perform in the earth is to care for those whom God has confided to our keeping, whom He has placed under our guardianship. We shall be held responsible for their care, not only for the precepts or teachings we give them by word of mouth, but, as President Stohl said in his remarks, we will be held sacredly responsible for the example we set our children, for the very words we utter in their presence. More forcible, and more potent in the forming of their character, and establishing them in the faith of the Gospel, is our example, far more than our precepts can possibly be. If we teach them by word of mouth some thing that our lives contradict, can you imagine their condition of mind, what their ideas are? May they not reason thus : My father is a hypocrite, or else he is too weak to believe, practice, and live up to that which he teaches me, and which I believe to be true. I do not desire to speak of my personal experience, but, aside from the testimony and strength of the Spirit, the still small voice, the whispering that monitor has given to me, as a result of my obedience to the Gospel, aside from this I say, that my father's life, his obedience to the requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the most potent factor in sustaining me in the faith. It means much to me ; and I realize that my life also means much to my children, and that your lives will mean much to your children. ¶

Now my brethren and sisters, let us realize, as President Stohl has said, that these precious ones whom the Lord has entrusted to our care are likewise precious to Him. Each son of ours, each daughter of ours, is a child of His. It is a great responsibility, and let us see to it that, even when it requires sacrifice on our part, and though we have to deny ourselves many things that we would like to enjoy, we shall be willing to deny ourselves for the salvation of our children. We should be men enough and women and Latter-day Saints enough to do it, for their good and benefit, and for our eternal blessing. ¶

I want to bear you my testimony, in conclusion. I know that this is the work of the Lord, and these men whom! we sustain as His servants are inspired of Him. I desire, if I may have sufficient strength, to follow continuously, and consistently, him who is at the head of this work, whoever he may be, be he Joseph F. Smith or any other man whom God shall place there; for I know that the Lord will never permit the man who stands at the head of this work, as a guide to His children and to His Church, to counsel or advise contrary to His will. I believe that one in authority may give wrong advice, that may be possible, but the Lord's anointed never. He is my watchword, he is the one under God whom I shall endeavor to follow, by the help of the Lord. May we all do so, and our exaltation will be sure in the presence of our Heavenly Father; which may God grant, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶