Preaching the Gospel to Christian Nations and Extent of Missions

Remarkable fact that Christian nations need to have the Gospel preached to them. — Wonderful extent of -Latter-day Saint missions. — Miraculous evidences of divine authority. — Statistics showing great work accomplished. ¶

The brethren and sisters who have come to this conference have met with a rather cold reception; that is to say, the weather has been somewhat unfavorable. Last evening we had a light fall of snow, and today it has been quite chilly. It reminds me of a discussion that occurred between a Yankee and a Scotchman. They were talking about the cold weather in the north of Scotland. The Yankee said: "Your winters here are nothing to compare with the winters in the states. I recollect one winter," said the Yankee, "when a sheep, in jumping from a hillock into a field, suddenly became frozen in passing, and stuck in the air like a mass of ice." (Laughter.) "My boy," said the Scotchman, "that could not be, for the law of gravitation would not allow it." "I know it," said the Yankee, "but the law of gravitation was frozen too." (Laughter.) Notwithstanding the disturbance in the elements, the attendance at the conference and the interest in the meetings have not diminished. This is a splendid congregation, assembled this afternoon, but few seats in the house are unoccupied, and truly we have been having "a feast of fat things," a time of instruction, in which I have rejoiced exceedingly. ¶

We read in the Scriptures of a very remarkable thing that is to take place in the latter-days. You will find it recorded in the book of Revelation, called the Revelation of Saint John the divine. The opening words of the Revelation read like this : - "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John." ¶

In another place, when John was wrapped in heavenly vision, he saw a door in heaven open, and he heard the voice of an angel issuing, saying, "Come up hither and I will show you what must be hereafter." So we would naturally conclude that the things which were written by John the revelator were things which must be fulfilled in the future, or in the latter days. Now, this is the remarkable thing to which John the revelator calls our attention ; he said : ¶

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people. ¶

"Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." ¶

Wonder of wonders and mystery of mysteries ! Is it possible that in the latter days an angel should be seen flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to the enlightened Christian nations of the world? It is so recorded in the Bible. We believe, and claim as a people, that that angel has come to the earth and appeared to Joseph Smith, in the person of Moroni, who delivered to the youthful Prophet a record familiarly known as the Book of Mormon, a record containing the fulness of the Gospel, with a message that said Gospel must be preached in every nation under the heavens before the end should come. Shortly after the visitation of this angel, following the organization of the Church, the Spirit fell upon the early elders, and they went forth into the regions round about, proclaiming the word. Thus the Gospel was introduced into the world in the nineteenth century; and it spread from town to town, from village to village, and from country to country, until in our day we have twenty-one missions established in the world. ¶

There are seven great missions in the United States: namely, the Eastern States, the Southern States, the Northern States, the Central States, the Western States, the Northwestern States and the California missions. We have a mission in Mexico, and six great missions in Europe, namely, a mission in Great Britain, one in Scandinavia, in Sweden, in Germany, in Switzerland,in the Netherlands and in Turkey; one mission in South Africa; one in Japan. Five missions upon the islands of the sea, namely, one in Hawaii, in Samoa, in New Zealand, in the Society Islands, and in Australia; making twenty-one missions in all. On December 31, 1908, there were 1,823 missionaries in the field. ¶

Now, the stranger might ask the question : That is a very good showing; you believe, then, that you have the Gospel in its fulness; that with the Gospel you expect to regenerate the world? The answer is yes, most assuredly. Then the question might be asked, With a handful of people, with a very limited number of elders, how do you expect to accomplish it? Well, there you are. It is a good deal like the President stated it yesterday, and we have heard this afternoon from Brother Hyrum: It is the leaven which will leaven the whole lump. These humble missionaries are going forth into the world, bearing their burden and declaring the word. There will be some people who will hear the voice of the elders ; others will hear the voice of the Book of Mormon ; others, again, will hear the voice of the Doctrine and Covenants, others the voice of the Pearl of Great Price, others the Voice of Warning, and others still, the voice of a tract. Thus will a knowledge of the Gospel be spread to all nations and will be preached to every creature. But, it is not the fact that the elders are going forth into the world to preach that is so significant, as it is the power and authority which accompanies them. Let me remind you, brethren and sisters, of the parting words of the Savior to His disciples ; He said : ¶

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Now mark it: "These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." ¶

That was the authority which was given to the disciples in the days of Christ; and immediately thereafter Christ was caught up into heaven and sat down on the right hand of His Father. The disciples went forth proclaiming the word ; they were sustained of the Lord ; and the word was confirmed by the signs following. So it is, my brethren and sisters, in our day and time; so it is in the Church of Christ. You heard the testimony of Brother Baliff, this morning. Let me also give you an example. In fact, it comes rather close home to me: I have a son now in the mission field, a boy about twenty years of age, who went forth with a limited knowledge of the Gospel, with fear and trembling, not knowing what he would say, not knowing what he would do, but, nevertheless, trusting in the Lord. Within a few days, I received a letter from him, and he relates to me a very remarkable healing — I say it was remarkable, and yet it was such an incident as often occurs in the mission field. He said that he and his companions were visiting with a friend, when a little girl came rushing into the house and asked the elders to go immediately to her home and bless a little child that was afflicted — a child of non-Mormon parents. The elders responded. When they reached the place they found the little one stricken down with bronchial pneumonia. There was the mark of terrible fever in its eyes, and it was at the point of death; in fact, the deathrattle was in its throat, and the mother was bending over the child expecting every moment to see its spirit depart for the spirit world. The two elders took the child in their arms and anointed it with oil, and blessed it, and rebuked the disease. Relief came instantly ; the child rested and was comfortable through the night; and when the elders came to inquire the next day they found the little one seated at the table, eating an orange, and fully recovered. My son goes on to say — and this is the point I desire to emphasize — "Father, I laid my hands, with my companion, upon that child, and I saw it healed. I know that this could have been done only by the power of God. My faith has been strengthened; and this is a testimony to me of the truth of the Gospel," and he adds, "I would not give it for millions of money." That is what missionary work does for the Latter-day Saint boys who go into the field. ¶

Let me give you another example, which was related by the president of the Southern States Mission. He said there was a boy in his mission who had been afflicted with deafness; and under the administration of the elders, was healed, and he could hear clearly and distinctly thereafter. When he met the president of the mission, the latter said to him: "You have been healed; have you joined the Church?" The boy said, "No, but my heart is filled with gratitude to God, and I feel that I ought to belong to the "Church." "Well, then," said the president of the mission, "why are you not a member of the Church?" The boy answered. "My parents refuse their consent." This was an instance where the boy was absolutely converted to the truth; he had received a great blessing; he glorified God in his heart; he would have accepted the Gospel, and desired baptism; but his parents flatly refused to give their consent. The responsibility is upon them. These examples that I am giving are taken from various missions, only one here and there; but they might be multiplied indefinitely. There was a man in the California mission, as related by the president of that mission, who became deeply interested in the Book of Mormon. After laying down the book, he turned to the Lord in fervent prayer. He asked the Lord if the Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints was true, and in a vision of the night-time he saw the Salt Lake temple, which he had never before seen, and his deceased sister appeared to him and explained the ordinance of baptism for the dead. A few days later, when he came into the mission house to attend a meeting there, he saw over the pulpit a picture of the temple. He immediately said : "I know that building; it is the temple of God, for I saw it in a dream." He came to the elders and demanded baptism. The elders tried to put him off; they were afraid that he was not fully converted, that he had not had time to consider the matter, to know his own heart fully. But he said : "No. It is true I can't explain the principles of the Gospel, but I know by the power of God that they are true, and I demand baptism. The Lord has said that 'if ye will do my will ye shall know the doctrine, whether it is of God or whether I speak of myself.' " He felt that by doing the will of God and receiving baptism, he would have a greater claim upon the Lord for light and for understanding. ¶

Let me give you one other example. It occurred in far distant South Africa, among the Boers. You have heard of the Boers; you will remember the strong defense they made in the Boer war, against the English; and surely we must concede that they are an intrepid people, a people of courage and fortitude ; and we believe that among them will be found the seed of Israel. Two young elders were laboring among the Boers. They came into a home where the wife could speak English, but the husband could not speak it, so these young men engaged in conversation with the wife. All at once the husband spoke up, he spoke in Dutch, and addressed his remarks to the elders, who were unacquainted with the language, and they both clearly understood what he said; and when they answered him in English, although he was not familiar with the English language, he understood them. But the remarkable thing about it was that when the Boer addressed the first elder in Dutch, the second elder could not understand him, but the first elder understood; and when the Boer addressed the second elder and asked him a question, he understood him, but the first elder could not understand it. This was a very remarkable manifestation of the power of God in tongues, one of the signs that follow the preaching of the Gospel. ¶

I would like to call your attention, for just a moment, to some things that were accomplished by the eighteen hundred missionaries during the last year. Usually statistics are very dry, but I think you will find these two or three items of considerable interest : Meetings held in halls in the world during 1908, 38,582 Cottage meetings 28,968 Open air meetings .... 13,735 Total number of meetings held 81,285 Gospel conversations . . 1,783,929 Total meetings and gospel conversations 1,865,214 Standard Church works distributed, mostly Books of Mormon .. 37,112 Other books pertaining to the Gospel 456,645 Tracts distributed 9,862,728 Total books and tracts distributed 10,356,485 This is the work that is going on in the world. It is in this way that we expect to regenerate the world and to accomplish the mission that is put upon us by the Lord. The great message which the angel Moroni delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith is being carried into the world and distributed broadcast. In the Northern States mission alone, last year, there were over fifteen thousand Books of Mormon distributed among the people. I bear testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, that the Book of Mormon is the chiefest of all the tracts used by our Elders in the mission field. There is no tract published by the Latter-day Saints that is equal to the Book of Mormon, and why? Because the Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the everlasting Gospel as taught to the Nephites, and it harmonizes with the fulness of the Gospel that is taught in the Bible. ¶

May the Lord bless us. May the Lord bless our missionaries. We could use a thousand more missionaries today if we had them. We want young men and older men who are efficient; we want them to prepare for this work. In the early days of the Church, where men did not have opportunities of education and of study, the Lord made up the deficiency; but in our day, when these opportunities are abundant, the Lord expects the men of the priesthood, especially the young men of the Church, to take advantage of them and to use their time wisely. He expects both old and young to attend their priesthood meetings, their organizations and general meetings, to prepare themselves for missions to the world. The Lord bless us, and especially bless our young men, to that end, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Sister Esther Davis sang a soprano solo entitled, "Forever with the Lord." ¶