Report on the Liberty Stake

(President of Liberty Stake.) My brethren and sisters, there are doubtless in this congregation men and women who have traveled many miles, several hundred miles perhaps in some cases, to attend this conference ; and they have come here, no doubt, with a desire to be strengthened in their faith, and built up in their determination to more faithfully serve the Lord in the future than they have done in the past. It seems to me, under these circumstances, that they have a claim upon the blessings of the Almighty, and any speaker who attempts to address them should certainly have the benefit of their faith and prayers. No man, no matter what his qualifications may be, who has the spirit of the Gospel in his heart, ever attempts to address a congregation upon the vital principles of the Gospel without feeling a desire to have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and certainly I am in that position myself this afternoon. ¶

I have been led to think during the last few weeks of the importance of having a testimony of the divinity of this work in which we are engaged. It has been impressed upon my mind more strongly than at any time before in my life, that we should have a knowledge that God lives, the knowledge that we are engaged in His service, the knowledge that the authority, the Priesthood, is in our midst, and that we have among us those who are qualified, and have the authority to point out to us the way in which we should walk. Now, we hear a great deal concerning the outward ordinances of the gospel. The Latter-day Saints, in my opinion, are pretty well posted as to the Scriptural proof. Of course we are not as well acquainted with the Scriptures as we might be ; but still it seems to me we are better equipped with proofs of the divinity of the Gospel that are contained in the Scriptures than we are with the inward testimony. We know what the Scriptures say about our duties, and about the religion in which we believe. We see the outward manifestations of the Spirit of the Lord. We see the sick healed. We know that the signs follow those that believe. But important as this is, it is not the only testimony which we can have, and I believe it may be said with perfect truth that it is not the most important testimony that can come to our hearts. Every person who belongs to this Church should inquire into his own condition and see whether there is in his heart strong and abiding faith, and a testimony of the divinity of this work outside of any Scriptural proof, because it is stronger and more enduring than any written word or any outward manifestation can possibly be. If we will look into our hearts, as I have said, look down into the depths of our own souls, I am sure that every man and woman will discover an abundance of reasons why we should maintain our standing in the Church, and why we should go on in the path which has been pointed out for us to follow. There is no Latter-day Saint who has reached the age of accountability, or at least has reached the age of manhood, but would find in the depths of his heart sufficient reason for his standing in this Church, and sufficient reason for him to labor diligently and faithfully to maintain that standing. ¶

For my own part, when I examine myself and my own life, my own hopes and aspirations, I need go no further to find evidence enough to justify me in the pursuit of my present course; because, weak and frail and incompetent as I am, I still see that I am better and higher, more advanced, than would have been the case without the teachings of this gospel of Jesus Christ. I see where it has made me better, where it has held me back from committing sin, and from going in wrong directions. It has taught me by the whisperings of the Spirit, that when I depart from the straight and narrow path, I may return and get into line. I need no better indicator as to my duty than the teachings which are contained in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." When we apply this test to the Church and to its members, individually and collectively, we find sufficient proof to convince any reasonable man that our claims are well founded. We need not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ when we apply this test, which the Savior gave, to the lives of those who have joined the Church, and who are carrying on this work, because they will compare very favorably with any other people upon the face of the earth, according to my experience. We are imperfect, and do things which we should not do. We grieve, no doubt many times, the Spirit of the Lord, by our weaknesses and our folies; and still there is no better people throughout the world, I am fully convinced, than can be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When this test is applied it furnishes a satisfactory answer to me for the hope which I have, for the faith which is in my heart, that this is the truth, and that through this Gospel I may be saved in the kingdom of our Father in Heaven. ¶

Now, we are not perfect. We do not pretend to be. We do not want to think we are perfect, but it won't hurt us any to think that we are as good as other people, as long as we are humble and prayerful. There is a higher standard set for the Latter-day Saints than for any other people upon the earth. I remember once having a conversation in the mission field with a young lady who had been born and raised in Utah, although she was not a member of the Church, and never had been. She was studying music in the city of Berlin. We had a number of gospel conversations with her. While she was very friendly, and frequently helped us in our meetings with her musical talent, she did not have any faith in the Gospel, at least not very much. On one occasion when I was present she got into an argument with some of the missionaries. She said : "Well, I know Catholics, and Methodists and Presbyterians that live their religion better than the Latter-day Saints do." "Why," I said to her, "that is easy. It is not difficult for a Catholic to live his religion." It is easy for any person belonging to these various denominations to live their religion, because it does not require anything special of them; but you take a religion that sets perfection as its standard, that requires perfection of its members, and it is a little more difficult to live that religion. With all due respect to other denominations, it is possible for their adherents to go along with the stream, living as the world lives, and still live their religion , but with the Latter-day Saint it is vastly different. He must cast aside all these weaknesses which men in the world have, must walk in that straight way, deviating neither to the right nor to the left, in order to live the religion of Jesus Christ; he must not smoke, must not drink tea or coffee, must not profane, must not break the Sabbath, must be virtuous, clean in every act and thought of his life. In order to fully live up to his belief, he must live a perfect life, and who can do it in this mortal state? Very few, if any at all. None, perhaps, can live this Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as it should be lived. No wonder that people may say the Catholics or persons of other denominations can live their religion better than we Latter-day Saints can. Why, it is further proof that the religion which we have, and which we claim is the plan of salvation is better and higher than anything else in the world. ¶

I thank the Lord from the bottom of my heart for the testimony of the divinity of this work, which He has given me. I thank Him that I know that He lives, that I know that Jesus is the Christ, and I thank Him still more that I know that divine authority is upon the earth today. I appreciate that testimony more than the other, if possible. There are plenty of men in the world who have a knowledge of Jesus Christ, who believe firmly, and who are sincere in that belief, that He was the Son of God, and that He did redeem the world. And still they have not got the knowledge that He has spoken in this day. They know nothing about the authority which He has delegated to mankind in the generation in which they live, and they are deprived of the great blessings which come to the Latter-day Saints, as partakers of the New and Everlasting Covenant; and therefore I say that, if possible, I am more thankful for the testimony which I have that prophets live upon the earth now, that the Lord has spoken today, than I am for the other knowledge. Of course we can never have this testimony without having the other, but I am reminded of the number of people there are in the world, and the number there are in our own community who know that Christ lives. At least, they profess to have that knowledge. Some of them go a step further, and profess to believe implicitly that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Almighty, that Brigham Young was his legal successor, and that John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and those who have succeeded them as presidents of the Church were duly authorized to lead this people ; but some of those remind me of the saying of the Savior, they honor the dead prophets but would kill the living prophets if they had the power. There are men in our community who do that very thing, who have that very feeling in their hearts, because they have grieved the Spirit, and they are living in the dead past. I thank God that to some extent I can live in the present, and in the future. ¶

All that I have, all that I ever hope to have is tied up in the Gospel. I pray that the Lord may bless us and enable us to walk in the path set for our feet. That we may see the light, and that we may know it when we see it, that we may not be left to wander in darkness ; that our faith may be strong and perfect, and that we may go on to perfection, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶