Builders and Murmurers: Two Classes of Mankind

My brethren and sisters, I pray for the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, that the words I speak while occupying this position may be in harmony with His will. ¶

I have rejoiced exceedingly in the testimonies that have been borne during the sessions of this conference. I was deeply impressed this morning, with the magnitude of the work as it was set before us by President Smith. I was impressed, too, with President Lund's remarks. One of his sentences, I will repeat. "Every one of us," said he, "should feel that he must do something for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, whether it be at home or abroad." When President Lund expressed that sentiment, I thought — that the great mission of this Church is to build up — never to tear down. In the Book of Mormon, 17th chapter of First Nephi, there is recorded an incident that I wish to read. The little colony has only recently left Jerusalem ; they have obtained the records; they have left the valley of Lemuel; and are near the sea shore. The historian says: ¶

"And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit, and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord, that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which being interpreted, is many waters. ¶

"And it came to pass that we did pitch out tents by the sea-shore and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the sea-shore ;and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit. ¶

"And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying, Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord. ¶

"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me saying, Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall shew thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters. ¶

"And I said, Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shewn unto me? ¶

"And the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools; and I did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts; and after I had made a bellows, that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together, that I might make fire; for the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire," * * * "And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock. ¶

"And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying, Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters. ¶

"And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the Lord. ¶

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceeding sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful, they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying, We knew that ye could not construct a ship, for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work ; "And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart ; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, and borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem, than to have suffered these afflictions. ¶

"Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions, and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy. Thus they continued to murmur against the voice of God, as expressed through His servant Nephi." ¶

In this little family we find the two classes into which all mankind may be divided — the builders and the murmurers, or as Emerson aptly expresses it, "the benefactors and the malefactors. The second class is vast; the first, but a handful. Why, a person seldom falls sick but the bystanders become animated with a faint hope that he will die." ¶

From its inception the Church has belonged to the class of benefactors. The members of this Church have been builders, but all the while they have had to contend with the class of malefactors, the murmurers against God and against His word as delivered to the world through His servants. Never have the leaders of the Church been guilty of tearing down and making miserable other people. They have preached the Gospel. They have built the house of truth, and let the world compare its magnificence with the houses in which the world were living. Many thousands have left their houses of adobe and have come into the mansion of the Gospel, because they saw that it was better. But the Church does not tear down the houses of others, before erecting one that is more commodious and more beautiful, in the Church of Christ. ¶

The Prophet Joseph Smith was told that the churches of his day had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof, and he was told to wait, and God would establish His Church. Several years elapsed, years of preparation, and soon the Prophet, under the guidance and inspiration of the Lord, established the Church of Christ. They met in a little room — it was just a little cottage meeting. The Eastern States Mission alone held, last year, over twelve hundred such meetings, not one, perhaps, numbering so few in attendance as the little gathering when the Church of Christ was re-established, on the 6th day of April, 1830. But a mighty work was being builded; and those who engaged in that work were impressed with the fact that their mission was to save, that henceforth they were to build upon the rock of truth. In a revelation following that, the Prophet sent the Elders out to preach the Gospel; and these are the words of the Lord, through him : ¶

"And ye shall go forth baptizing with water; saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and from this place (Kirtland) ye shall go forth into the regions westward, and inasmuch as ye shall find them that will receive you, ye shall build up my church in every region, until the time shall come when it shall be revealed, unto you from on high, when the city of the New Jerusalem shall be prepared, that ye may be gathered in, that ye may be my people and I will be your God." ¶

They went forth preaching the Gospel of salvation, comparing its principles and truths with the principles taught by men, emphasizing the doctrines of the Church, but leaving men to judge for themselves whether the message they gave was true and therefore for the good of humanity, or whether it was evil. Through the inspiration of God, thousands recognized the saving principles taught by those humble Elders. Hundreds gathered, soon thousands, and they began to build up the Church. Follow them from Kirtland. through the state of Missouri. Read the early history of the Church, as we were admonished this morning, and see how the barren places of the west — for it was western country then — were made fruitful ; how cities sprang up where there had been nothing but desolation. Follow them from those homes, as they were driven by the bayonet. See them camping in a marsh in Illinois, and there, in a miraculously short time, build the city of Nauvoo, the pride of the west. Builders ? Yes — benefactors to humanity. Aside from their doctrines— the doctrines of Christ, absolutely proved from the Scriptures— take the people as citizens, as men mingling with fellow men, and you find them benefactors in every sense of the word. But notwithstanding their good works, not many years passed before they were again without homes — their farms unattended, the grain going back to the ground because there were no harvesters ; the walks leading to their houses becoming grassgrown, because no feet were there to tread them ; the hearth cold, because no hands were there to light the fire. Where were they? Again in the wilderness of the west; one thousand miles ahead of them nothing but buffalo, Indians, barrenness, sterility. When I recently visited Omaha, being a few miles from Florence, I was forcibly reminded of the early experiences of our parents at that place, and at Des Moines, Iowa, then on the frontier. I have heard them tell how they prepared their teams, hitching up a cow with an ox, sometimes a cow with a horse, making ready to take that thousand mile journey; where? Out into the barrenness, out into the wilderness, and yet still into the country, under the flag of the Union. What was their purpose? What was the motive? As a prominent educator in Chicago said, the other day : "Not, for the golden California, but that they might worship God Almighty according to the dictates of their conscience ; and I admire them for it." Such was their motive — to build the Church and to save the principles revealed to man. They had risked all ; they had risked life and everything they had, and were willing to endure any hardship — wives walked every step of the way on this long journey; mothers carrying their babes. On the 24th of July, 1847, they were here in this valley. What did they see? You try to picture what they saw. These words will call up the barren picture in the minds of pioneers who are with us today — God bless them and preserve them long with us for what they have done, that we might at least express our appreciation of their devotion to the truth. They saw sagebrush ; they heard the howl of the coyote ; they saw in the distance the smoke of the Indian fire ; and the salt sea in the west reflecting the beautiful sunlight; but there was no apparent place for a home. There was nothing here inviting; in fact, they had been warned that nothing would grow; a thousand dollars had been offered for the first ear of corn that they would produce. Yet, within a few feet of where we meet today, the Prophet of the Lord said, "Here we shall build a house to God." Now what do we see? Just look at our city today; its climate modified; its fruit unexcelled; substantial and comfortable homes everywhere; towns and cities flourishing. To whom are we indebted for all this? The people of the Mormon Church, the pioneers of 1847, and subsequent years. They were builders, colonizers, benefactors to our nation, benefactors to humanity. Did they tear down anything? Did they destroy? Did they find fault? No. They protected themselves, with a motive that they might continue to bless. ¶

It is not alone as colonizers that the Church has made its record; not alone as community builders but as home builders. Compare the teachings — no, not just the teachings; for it is not every one that sayeth, but he that doeth, that shall enter the kingdom of God. It isn't enough to say that we believe in home-building and in the purity of the home. What are we doing? Go into the homes of true Latter-day Saints, and there see if the most substantial part of the nation— the home — is not the best that can be found. The family tie is an eternal one; it is not one of experiment; it is not one of satisfying passion; it is an eternal union between husband and wife; between parents and children. That eternal bond is one that must be held sacred by the man as well as by the woman. Is it a source of safety? Is it a blessing to humanity to have such homes? The safety of our nation depends upon the purity and strength of the home; and I thank God for the teachings of the Mormon Church in relation to home building, and the impression that kind parents have made, that the home must be the most sacred place in the world. Our people are home-builders, and they are taught everywhere, from childhood to old age, that the home should be kept pure and safe from the evils of the world; and yet the murmurers, the malefactors are ready to question, even deny the purity of the Mormon home. "The motive was impure," they say, "you come out here for other purposes." They are murmurers ; and the class is vast, who take that stand and attack the home. Only recently, in the town of Mitchell, South Dakota, a reverend brother, who was supposed to teach the word of God to the people, published a statement in the daily papers, that the Elders, your sons, are out there to undermine the homes of the people in Mitchell. Is he a benefactor or a murmurer, a builder or a tearer down ? No doubt he does it through ignorance. Men become murmurers or fighters against this Church, for one of two reasons; either through sin — for sin hates truth and virtue — or through ignorance. There are many people in the world who condemn us because they are ignorant of the real facts concerning the Church of Christ. The great comfort to us, however, is that we know the purpose of the Church ; we know its history — a little of it ; not, however, so much as we should know, we younger people. We ought to study it more. There is inspiration in the history of this Church. There is inspiration and truth in reading the doings of the Prophet Joseph and those associated with him in the early days. Read it; study it; do not censure because of ignorance. When we read the history of the Church, we are forced to acknowledge the fact that it has blessed humanity. When we study the principles, we find that they are the saving principles, as revealed by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What more do we want? There is nothing done, there is nothing taught, under the guidance and inspiration of the Lord but tends to the upbuilding and advancement of the human race, and that tends to the amelioration of the evils that afflict humanity. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, as in the world so in the Church, we have two classes; we have the builders, and we have the murmurers. Let each ask himself in which class shall I be placed? We are called upon to perform duties. High Councilors with Presidents of Stakes are asked to go forth and build up their stakes and do other work in the Church. They introduce some plan of action, and many times the majority will say: Yes. we will do that; let us go to and perform the duties that the Presidency of the stake and the High Councilors call us to do. But somewhere we shall hear a murmurer, a fault-finder, who will say, no; you cannot do that. They scoff as Laman and Lemuel did ; and say you can not do it. Misjudging motives, some soon find themselves with Laman and Lemuel, instead of with Nephi who expresses the voice of God. It may be in an auxiliary board. Instructions go out from the general board or from the stake board, requiring for the success of the movement the united energy of all. Most of the people interested in that association will join hands to build, they will join hands to be with the benefactors, that the children might receive the light of the Holy Spirit, that they might get the knowledge that is revealed in this Church ; but somewhere there will be murmurers; there will be faultfinders. Look out for them. ¶

Let us watch ourselves and be true to the examples set by the Church and the brethren and sisters who have sacrificed their lives, their all, to build the Church and to advance the principles taught therein. This warning is sometimes expressed in this way: "Speak not against the authorities." What does it mean. Be not a murmurer ; that is what it means. It is one of the most poisonous things that can be introduced into the home of a Latter-day Saint — this murmuring against presidents of stakes, high councilors, Sunday school superintendents,presidents of high-priests' quorums, seventies, elders, priests, teachers and deacons. They are called unto their position, what for? To benefit themselves? No, not once can you point to an instance in this Church where a man was called for his personal benefit. He was admonished, before he was called to the position, whatever it was, that he should serve somewhere and serve somebody in this Church or in the world; it was to bless somebody, some class, humanity at large. That is the mission of every man, from the president of the Church down to the latest convert in the Church. Every officer holds his position to build up, to bless ; and, as President Smith said this morning, to establish righteousness, purity and virtue among mankind. That is the motive, and yet because of his weakness, because, perhaps, of some little fault that we see in an officer, we begin to murmur and find fault. Better stop murmuring, and build up. Remember that one of the worst means of tearing down an individual is slander. It is one of the most poisonous weapons that the evil one uses. Backbiting and evil speaking, throw us into the class of malefactors rather than the class of benefactors. ¶

"Good name in man or woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls; who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed." ¶

In this connection, speaking of the Church as a whole, I have often thought that we have chosen the wiser part in answering a faction that left the Church in early days, inasmuch as we did not choose to tear them down or to attack them in public or private. They call themselves the Reorganized Church. As I listened to one who has come out here presumably to teach the truth, and heard him revile and ridicule President Young and other leading brethren of the Church, I felt to say, what good does it do to tear down ? Why not build up? Tell us about what you have, and let the people then judge which is the better; it is much the wiser course. When a man begins to tear down, revile and persecute, he is doing that which injures instead of building up. Our mission should be to build. ¶

But you ask, would you not condemn evil? Yes, by obeying and building up the laws of right. The question in building is this : Is it right? Is that thing necessary to be done? If so, then let us do it. God revealed to Nephi the necessity of building a ship. "The means were not within his reach, but he felt it was right to build, and with that knowledge he proceeded to find the way to make the tools and to build the ship. Did he make mistakes? Did he falter? No doubt, — else why did his murmuring brothers say: "We told you you could not build a ship; we knew you did not have the wisdom." But he knew he was right, and he knew that God would strengthen him in building. That thought held him; it supported him; and he succeeded in the task before him. So it is with us; when we are asked to do a thing, the question in our minds should be: Is that necessary; is that right? If so, then it shall be done, and God will open the way. ¶

Let us build up our state; let us build up our homes, improve them, make them attractive and pleasing, that the world may see by our lives that we are here to benefit in every way, not only by preaching the word of God, not only by sacrificing what we may be called upon to sacrifice, but by building communities, cities — a nation, if necessary; and above all by building character, after the order of the servants of God; nay, after the similitude and pattern of the Lord and Savior Himself. That is our ideal; that is what we wish. God help us, as brethren and sisters, to go forth on our mission of mercy to bless humanity, being filled with charity for one another, that our hearts may be full of love for each other; with confidence in each other, in our associations, in our societies. ¶

Members in the Aaronic priesthood, and members of the quorums in the Melchizedek priesthood, we have a duty to build up our quorums; let us not tear them down by being absent from Monday night meeting, or by non-preparation, or by negligence of duty. Let us feel, every one of us, as suggested this morning, that it is our duty to do something to build up the Church, as the Church's duty is to build on truth and redeem mankind from sin. Men of the priesthood, let us be one in this upbuilding; let us fall into the class of benefactors; and let no man, from the high priest to the deacon, in this great priesthood movement of Monday night, fall into the class of malefactors or murmurers. God help us to do our duty, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶