Closing Remarks: Adjournment and Blessings

CLOSING REMARKS. ¶

Deaths in .the missions. — Blessing of Heaven invoked upon the Priesthood and Saints, and upon the Nation. — Thankfulness expressed that Utah is represented in Congress by good men. ¶

For the benefit of the congregation, I will announce that the following elders have passed away in the various missions since Jan. 1, 1908: ¶

Leroy Hall, Southern States mission, typhoid fever. ¶

Burdette P. Burdette, Swiss and German mission, drowned. ¶

Everett Hall, Central States mission, typhoid fever. ¶

John A. Southwick, New Zealand, typhoid fever. ¶

Emil J. Huber, Turkish mission, typhoid fever. ¶

John Leroy Tripp, Netherlands, appendicitis. ¶

John Loosly, Swiss and German mission, heart failure. ¶

This is sad news. We are sorry indeed for the kindred and loved ones of these good and faithful elders who have met death while laboring in the missionary field. The Lord prolong their memories in Zion, for they died with the harness on — faithful to the covenants they had made and the commission with which they were sent forth to preach the gospel. ¶

There are now laboring in the mission fields a little over 2,000 elders. ¶

(After announcing the special Priesthood meeting, President Smith continued) : ¶

I desire to express briefly the sincere prayer of my heart for all this congregation and for all the faithful Latter-day Saints who have been in attendance here during this most interesting and profitable conference. I feel in my heart to invoke the blessings of the Lord more abundantly upon all the presiding general authorities of the Church and upon all the presidents of stakes and their counselors, the members of each high council, and upon all the bishops and their counselors throughout the length and breadth of Zion. I pray God to bless all our auxiliary organizations and prosper them in the labor that they have been called to perform. May the Lord give them joy and satisfaction in their labors. May they be interested, earnest, devoted, diligent and prayerful, that they may enjoy abundantly the spirit of their callings, and that their labors may be a blessing, a pleasure and a joy unto them, and exceedingly profitable to all the children of Zion for whom they labor. ¶

I pray God, my heavenly Father, to bless you as elders in Israel, as high priests, as seventies, and all the lesser priesthood. Mav peace abide and abound with you, and oh ! may the Spirit of truth, may the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, may the power of the living God rest down upon those, one and all, who have been ordained to the holy Priesthood which is after the order of the Son of God, and the appendages that belong to it ! May the Lord bless you in your homes ; bless you as husbands ; bless your wives ; bless your children and your children's children to the latest generation ! May God prosper Israel in all her abidings ! May the Lord bless the earth for your sake and make it fruitful ! May He prosper you and bless you ! May He multiply your flocks and your herds and prosper you in the labor of your hands; and may you always feel inspired and inclined to honor the Lord with the first fruits of all your increase; so shall your barns be filled with plenty, and the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon you more abundantly! God bless Zion, and the Lord have mercy upon her enemies and those that seek her hurt! I have no fears in my heart, or mind, that that which is called "Mormonism" — which is indeed the gospel of Jesus Christ — will not bear the scrutiny of science and the researches of the learned and literate into all truth. The Gospel of Jesus is founded in truth. Every principle of it is susceptible of demonstration beyond any just reason for contradiction. The Lord is doing His work and will do it, and no power can stay it. ¶

I desire that the blessings of the Lord may be upon our choir here, who have made music for us during the Sabbath day, for they were here then in full number. These days of labor, they are under the necessity of following their various occupations, and they are not able to be present, for they are bread-winners ; they have to labor with their hands for their livelihood, but they give their Sabbath day and they give their time for practice for the benefit of the Church ; and we ask God to bless them for it. May He unite them' together, give them confidence in their leaders, and give their leaders power and influence over them for good. May the Lord bless Brother Stephens, Brother McClellan, and their assistants, and all the members of the choir. ¶

I ask God, my heavenly Father, to bless my counselors. May He bless President Winder, a noble spirit, an honest man, a man of truth, a man of God ; and I pray God to bless Brother Lund, who is in all respects equal to Brother Winder in his integrity, in his love for the truth, and in his devotion to the cause of Zion! May the Lord bless us all and preserve us from our enemies until we shall complete our mission in the world ; and while we live may He help us to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ, true to our covenants, true to our people, and true to God until we shall finish our work ! This is my prayer for you all and for all Israel. ¶

I pray for the prosperity of our great nation, for the blessing of God to be upon the executive, the judicial and the legislative branches of our government. May the Lord bless our government and lead those that hold the power in their hands to do that which is righteous, pleasing and acceptable unto God, who established this great government by His own will and providence ! I thank God, my heavenly Father, that this State of Utah is, and has been, represented in the halls of Congress by honest men, men after God's own heart, men who love their people and who are just and impartial and true to the interests of all the citizens of our state. I thank God that we are blessed with the privilege of representing ourselves rather than being misrepresented by our enemies, in the halls of Congress; and in the name of common sense I deplore the thought that any Latter-day Saint should regret that good and true men have been chosen — not by the Church, but by their own political parties — to represent the State of Utah in the halls of Congress. Thank God for it. That is my sentiment, and I hope that I shall not see the day soon when we will have the misfortune again of being either misrepresented or of failing to be properly represented in the halls of Congress. ¶

Benediction was pronounced by Elder Samuel O. Bennion, and Conference was adjourned for six months. ¶

Prof. Evan Stephens conducted the singing of the choir and congregation at all the conference meetings in the Tabernacle, and Prof. John J. McClellan played the accompaniments and voluntaries on the great organ, assisted by Edward P. Kimball and Walter J. Poulton, Jr. ¶

The stenographic reports of the discourses were taken by Elders Franklin W. Otterstrom, Frederick E. Barker, and Fred G. Barker. D. M. McAllister, Clerk of Conference. ¶