Universal Kingdom of God and Missionary Progress

The Church and Kingdom of God to be universal. — Saints should be zealous in God's work. — Encouraging progress in the missions. — Importance of Priesthood, and attendance at meetings. — Failure to pass Temperance and Sunday laws entails extra care. — Splendid work of Betterment Committee. — Gratifying results in Church Schools. ¶

I have been very much interested this morning in listening to the strong testimonies borne by President Smith and President Winder. I have also a testimony of the truth of this work. As far as lies in my power, it is my determination to keep the covenants I have made with the Lord and with my brethren, and try to carry out in my every day life that which I understand to be the will of the Lord. The Lord commenced this work, the Lord has sustained it, and the Lord will continue to uphold it until it fills its mission, until it shall become, as it is destined to be, the universal Church of Christ upon the earth, and merge into the universal kingdom of God. ¶

The President asked himself and us the question, "Do we feel the same zeal and enthusiasm manifested by our fathers, those whom the Lord used to establish this work?" I hope we do, though I find that there is more indifference and carelessness among us as a people than there ought to be. It would be well for all Israel to reflect upon their conduct, examine the condition in which they find themselves, and learn whether they have the same love for the truth as they had when they first received the Gospel. It should be greater by this time, for they have seen that the Lord has extended His hand to protect them, they have seen His hand-dealings with the people; and they know that without His help and aid this work could not have progressed as it has done. Besides, since receiving the Gospel the Saints have learned many things of which they were ignorant before. Light has been shed upon their path, and they have been able to see the way that leads to eternal life. Passages of scripture that were dark unto them before, have been made clear and plain through the Spirit of God. They have, indeed, reason to be thankful to God for what they have received, and they have reason to make the same declaration as Brother Winder, that they will try to show their gratitude in their lives, and be determined to live such lives as shall be in accord with the will of the Father. ¶

On next Tuesday it will be seventy-nine years since the Church was organized. How wonderful is the history of the Church ! It is of great interest, and I would encourage our people to study it. It has been very remarkable, and on every page we see that the Lord has overruled for good what the enemies of the Church have devised for its overthrow. The President said that this work will prevail, that nothing can overthrow the truth. "Truth," it has been said, "though crushed to earth, will rise again." Another author says that truth is tough; it may be buffeted and kicked about all day like a football, but at night it will come out full and round, not having taken the least injury from the treatment it has received. The treatment of "Mormonism" proves it possesses the same qualities, for it has been buffeted, kicked and grossly misrepresented, yet it has passed through every ordeal unscathed. We thank the Lord that He has revealed the truth unto us. And now, my brethren and sisters, the Lord having done so much for us shall we be indifferent and negligent in regard to the duties that devolve upon us as His people? Shall we not feel that there is a great responsibility resting upon us ? We do not want to tear down the religion of others, we simply want to show unto the world What we have received. We believe in truth, and if others have truths, we believe in them ; and we claim them also. We want to enlighten our fellow-men in regard to our faith, for we know that it is of inestimable value. ¶

What is greater than the salvation of souls? To each and every one of us our souls are worth more than all the world. We cannot afford to let the things of the world draw our attention away from that which is of greater value. Every one of us should feel that he must do something for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, whether it be at home or abroad. Our missionaries who have gone out to preach the gospel amongst the nations show their love for their fellowmen. They go without expecting temporal reward. They go because they feel it is their duty to preach the gospel unto others and let them know what the Lord has done, and what is necessary for them to do to obtain salvation. The Lord has been with them. During the past year we have seen more baptisms into the Church than for many years before. Our elders have been more energetic in reaching the people, and they have seen the fruits of their labors, and a great deal of prejudice has been allayed. As men become acquainted with us they see us in a different light. We hope the day will soon come when freedom, in regard to religion, will be given to the nations who are now under laws that prevent them from worshiping God according to the dictates of their conscience. We are grateful to learn that even in such countries the gospel is making great progress. ¶

Lately there has been an agitation in Norway to have the legislature there do something to hinder the Latter-day Saint elders from preaching the gospel to the people. They say that our elders are so zealous to spread their doctrines that something must be done to stop it. Those who were agitating this question wrote to the different bishops and priests of the country, and wanted their opinions on the question of passing a law against "Mormon" propaganda. I am pleased to say that a couple of the bishops answered that, while it would be a desirable thing to stop the propaganda of the "Mormons," no other than spiritual weapons should be used ; and that they were not in favor of passing laws against the "Mor mons." But there were a great many who were in favor of doing this. I hope that the representatives of the Norwegian people will have independence enough to act in conformity with the spirit of freedom. There are many good people in that land, many have emigrated from there and have made good citizens of our state. In Sweden, as in Norway, they have not entire religious liberty ; still, we have not been molested very much. Some time ago two of our Elders were cast into prison, and fined, but they appealed their case. When it was found that the appeal was from the priests' court to the Bishops' Council in Stockholm, they knew there would be no change in the decision, so they got the case into the civil courts, and it was appealed to the higher courts, but, while the fine was reduced, the case went against them. One of our brethren brought it before the king, who gave it as his decision that there was no cause of action. This, I hope, will give our brethren liberty to preach what they know to be true, and give the people liberty to accept that which the spirit of truth indicates to them to be God's will and purpose. ¶

In Germany some of our brethren have been put in prison and banished, yet the work progresses there in a very satisfactory manner. In the Netherlands there is great progress ; in Switzerland, likewise, and our brethren are working into the French-speaking parts, and are succeeding there also. In the United States the Elders have been very busily employed scattering the Word and bringing souls unto Christ. On the islands of the sea it is the same ; and in Japan our brethren are seeing fruits of their labors ; converts have been made and the Sunday schools are well attended. The Book of Mormon will soon be published in the difficult language of that land, and we honor our brethren who are laboring there. Brother Alma O. Taylor has been there nearly eight years. He and the Elders with him are working hard to reach the hearts of the people, and they are performing a good work. In Greece we are also making progress and will soon have the Book of Mormon published in the Greek language, and thus that people can have access to the great truths that it contains. ¶

At home our brethren in the Priesthood, who are laboring among the people, have been energetic, and they rejoice that the new movement to have all the quorums of the priesthood meet on Monday evenings has so far proved a success. It is hoped that all holding the Priesthood will help to make those meetings interesting. Summer is coming, and out in the rural districts it may be doubtful whether they can keep them up or not, but "where there's a will there's a way," I believe if the people would be determined to meet on that evening they can do so and much good be obtained from the Priesthood meetings. ¶

We must remember what an important thing it is to hold the Priesthood of God. We must not get cold and indifferent and think, "Let others go ahead in spiritual work, we will mind our own business." Our own business is to support the kingdom of God and build it up. The Lord did not give us life and being here upon the earth just to accumulate worldly things. He gave it to us, as we sing in the hymn, "for a wise and glorious purpose," and that purpose is that we learn His will and do that which we know He has commanded, and try to make others know it also ; then this existence upon the earth will bring unto us eternal life — the great joy and privilege of returning to our heavenly Father. ¶

We want to be on our guard, not only for ourselves, but we must be on guard to protect others also and promote their salvation. Parents must look after their children. There are so many temptations, and we want, if we can, to put a shield between them and these temptations. If we know a house where there is smallpox we would not let our children enter there; and the law also steps in to protect us from the spread of epidemics, by quarantining infected places. For the good of ourselves and our children we ought to be on our guard. We should not go where there is moral infection, where the morals of ourselves and our children are exposed to corruption. We have tried, during the past winter, to have such legislation passed as might shield our youth from the temptations of intemperance. We want to get the liquor evil stopped, if possible. Our people should never be seen entering saloons or places where liquors are sold. This has been the teaching for years. Now that we did not succeed in getting such a law to help us, we are more urgently required to guard our children, our young people, that they shall not be exposed to temptations of that kind. ¶

We were also in hopes of getting a Sunday law passed, so that amusements on the Sunday evening might have been stopped, that the Sunday might have been what the Lord intended it to be — a day of rest and of worship. We did not get it, but let us try to influence our children to keep the Sunday holy, and warn them against going to pleasure resorts and places of amusement on Sunday evenings. We should make our homes as pleasant and attractive as possible, so our children will feel that there is no better place than the home. We want them to go to the evening meetings. They are held early enough so that after meeting there is time to go home, or visit friends, and in social intercourse, in that which is upbuilding, spend the Sunday evening. We do not believe in the Puritan doctrine that you cannot smile on the Sunday. We believe that serving the Lord gives joy, and that it does not take it away. We do not believe in the long-faced kind of religion, but we do believe that the Sunday should be used as the Lord has commanded, namely, to go to His house to be built up and strengthened in our holy faith, to go to His table, renew our covenants in partaking of the sacrament, and make our resolves to serve God so firm and so strong that they will carry us through not only the Sunday but every day of the week. We want the Sunday used thus, and then we are not opposed to our young people coming together and enjoying themselves in our homes; but we do object to their being in the street, especially after the curfew hour has been rung. They ought to be at home with their friends and parents, or at least their parents ought to know where they have gone. ¶

I want to say that the brethren who have been appointed by the different stakes as a betterment committee have done magnificent work on the streets, among our young people. Many boys and girls who were just starting out, and, perhaps, would have taken a wrong road, have been helped by these brethren, who have so unselfishly spent the evening hours, until late into the night, for the sole purpose of saving the youth. I say that all commendation is due unto them for their zeal and energy in this good work, and, like them, I hope that we all will feel an interest in this great work of stopping the flood of wickedness that is threatening to inundate the young. What a great work there is before us in this direction! ¶

The Church, during the past year, has done more for the church schools than ever before, and we rejoice in the good work that the Church schools are doing in our midst; they build up the character of our young people, make them understand how valuable the Gospel is, and make them love it. When they go out from the schools we hope the Gospel influence will go with them, so that they may become a power for good among their comrades. I am also glad to see that our Sunday schools, our Primaries and our Religion classes have increased their enrollment during the past year, showing that these institutions are growing in favor with the people. Don't let us for a moment think that we have too many institutions, that we are doing too much in trying to draw the attention of our children to the saving principles of the Gospel, and to living a correct life. We are not doing too much in this regard. Our children, if they have the right opportunity, will love these things. Many young people, when they left home to attend the Church schools, thought that religion as taught there would be a most tedious course, but they have borne testimony afterwards that it is a most delightful study, and that they love it. They feel that here is something that they want to know, something that builds up and strengthens, and does not interfere with their success in school. Some have thought that if they studied theology they would not be able to keep up in their other studies, but they have found, as a general thing, that the study of theology inspires them with more energy and more diligence in their other studies. ¶

I am pleased that the Church has been able to do as much as it has in this regard, but there is a limit to what can be done, even in this. I believe that the Church, at present, has gone as far as it can in sustaining schools with Church means, as the Church members are also sustaining the State institutions of learning with their taxes. They feel, however, that the means so expended is bringing good results, for the work done in the Church schools is of great value, and it will make young men and women better able to bear the great responsibilities that will rest upon their shoulders in years to come. ¶

I want to say in regard to religion classes, which are a part of the Church school system, that they ought to be encouraged. We want our children taught the principles of the Gospel, we want to encourage them in living correct lives, according to the precepts given by the Great Master, and teach them to follow His example. That is all the object we have in the religion classes. Where there are Church schools, we hope that the Church school teachers will be interested in the religion class work. We cannot commend too highly the Brigham Young University Faculty for what they have done in this direction; and we hope that all our Church school teachers will feel it incumbent upon them to take part in teaching the religion classes, especially the higher grades of the religion classes. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, my testimony to you is that this work will continue to grow; that the Lord will be with it, and that at last we will see it conquer. ¶

May the Lord bless the people, and bless His servants wherever they go, that they may find the good and the honest and be able to convert them to the truth; and may those who receive the truth be able to be faithful, and help to build up the work. God bless you all. Amen. ¶