Opening Address: The Irrefutable Truth of God's Word

The Eightieth Semi-annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at 10 a. m. on Sunday, October 3, 1909, President Joseph F. Smith presiding. ¶

AUTHORITIES PRESENT. ¶

There were present of the First Presidency, Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund; of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, Heber J. Grant, Rudger Clawson, Reed Smoot, Hyrum M. Smith, George Albert Smith, George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, David O. McKay and Anthony W. Ivins; Presiding Patriarch John Smith; of the First Council of Seventies, Seymour B. Young, Brigham H. Roberts, J. Golden Kimball, Rulon S. Wells, Joseph W. McMurrin and Charles H. Hart; of the Presiding Bishopric, Charles W. Nibley, Orrin P. Miller, and David A. Smith. There were also a large number of Presidents of Stakes and Missions, with their Counselors, Bishops of Wards, Patriarchs, and numerous other prominent men and women representing various organizations of the Church. ¶

President Joseph F. Smith called the assembly to order, and announced that, if necessary, overflow meetings will be held this afternoon in the Assembly Hall, to be presided over by Elder Hyrum M. Smith, and outdoors, in the vicinity of the Bureau of Information building, under direction of Elder Benjamin Goddard. The brethren and sisters who can furnish lodgings to visitors were invited to give their residence addresses to the entertainment committee. ¶

The conference services were commenced by the choir and congregation singing the hymn, "Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation." ¶

The opening prayer was offered by Elder Seymour B. Young. ¶

The choir sang the hymn, "An angel from on high." ¶

(After a few preliminary remarks, urging the brethren and sisters occupying seats to close up together and make room for as many as possible of those standing, the president continued) : ¶

It is always a source of regret to me to see our sisters — sometimes aged sisters — under the necessity of standing at our meetings. I do not think that I ever saw the time when it would not be far greater pleasure to me to occupy a "standing seat" if, by so doing, I could give to a sister, a mother perhaps, the chance to sit down. I suppose the time will not come — we do not look for it to come, at least — when we shall be able to build large enough to accommodate all the Latter-day Saints. ¶

The feeling that is in my heart, at this moment, is that of gratitude, of pleasure, and of hearty welcome to all the Latter-day Saints who have assembled here this morning to attend the opening session of our eightieth semi-annual conference. We welcome you, brethren and sisters, with all our hearts, and we sincerely pray and hope that the blessings of the Spirit of the Lord may rest upon those, individually and collectively, who have left their homes and gathered here for the purpose of attending this general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We thank you, and I know that the Lord will bless you, for the interest you manifest in coming together. We hope that our coming together in this capacity, throughout this conference, may be attended with rich blessings and with abundant our-pourings of the Spirit of the Lord upon all the people; that our faith may be strengthened ; that our earnest desire to keep the faith may be increased in our souls; and that an overpowering desire may prevail, over all other thoughts and all other desires, to serve God and keep His commandments, that, by His blessing and assistance, we may be able as parents, as fathers and mothers in Israel, to bring up our children in the way they should go ; instilling into their minds a knowledge of the truth, a love of the truth and for the truth, and an earnest desire, also, in their hearts to serve God and keep His commandments. We wish our children not only to believe but to acquire the -knowledge, which comes through obedience to the truth, that the Lord God Almighty has spoken from the heavens in the day in which we live and has revealed to man the true way of life everlasting. There is no mistake about it; this fact is not based upon the judgment or opinion of men; it is based upon the truth — truth that cannot be denied intelligently. Men may deny truth, through a wilful desire to do it, or through ignorance on their part, and they may reject the truth; but no man that lives can say of a truth that God has not spoken from the heavens to men in this latter day as He spoke to ancient prophets and inspired men, and revealed unto them anciently, and also in our present time, His mind and will, and His law. Men may say they do not believe it; but that does not make the truth of non-effect. Men may express their doubts about it; but the truth remains. Men may reject it; still the foundation of the truth is unshaken. Men may array themselves against it ; they may fight it bitterly, as many have done from its incipiency ; but still the truth remains unshaken and undisturbed — the truth that God did speak to His servant Joseph Smith, and did reveal Himself unto him ; not only the Father, but the Son also. They did reveal themselves unto him, and they gave him commandments and their law, their Gospel and their plan of life eternal ; salvation temporal and salvation spiritual, salvation for the present and salvation throughout the countless ages of eternity. This plan contemplated not only salvation from sin and from the effects of sin here and hereafter, but exaltation, glory, power and dominion, that will come to the children of God through their obedience to the laws and principles of the gospel, that the Lord has truly revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

I want to bear my testimony to this, and I would say to this vast congregation, that as I believe in my own existence, I believe in the divinity of this latter-day work; as I know, and as I have reason to know, that I am here and that I live, so I believe and I have reason to know that God, my Father, lives, that Jesus lives and that Joseph Smith was raised up of God to lay the foundations of this work. My whole hope of life, my all is staked upon this proposition, and I accept it, with all my soul. Having accepted it, I want, first of all — which is natural, and for entertaining which feeling I think you and all men will forgive me — first of all, I want those that are immediately associated with me, those who are bound to me by the ties of kindred love, to know the truth as I know it; I want them to feel it as I feel it; to love it as I love it. And I want to take that course in my life that, at last, I can be counted free from the responsibility of any of those associated with me in life going astray, falling by the way, turning from the light into the darkness, denying the truth or falling into transgression, or wandering from the right path. I have a fervent prayer in my soul, an earnest desire, that when I shall be called to give my last account, to the Judge of the quick and the dead, I may not be chargeable for the misdeeds of my children, for their wandering away from the truth, or for the falling into transgression, if they should do so, of any of my family. I do not want to be charged with it; I want to be free from this possibility. Next to them, I want my associates in life, my friends, my fellow-members in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to so live that they may love God with all their hearts — for that is the greatest of all the commandments — and that they shall love their neighbor as they love themselves, as far as it is possible for men, with the help of God, to overcome their selfishness, and extend their love, their forgiveness, their interest and their charity to their fellowman. I want to see the people of God obedient to the Lord, obedient to the Gospel, true to the faith, true to their covenants, true to mankind, true to one another and to the gospel of life and salvation; and in order that they may be true to these things, that they will prove it, and show forth their faith, their devotion and love for the principles of the gospel, by the manner in which they will rear their children and bring them up in the faith. ¶

The Lord has blest me wonderfully. Sometimes, indeed almost always, I feel that no man in all the world has been blest more than I have been. I cannot express the gratitude I feel to God my Father, the giver of every good and perfect gift, for the inestimable and boundless mercies and blessings He has vouchsafed to me, His humble servant. So far, through my journey of life, I have had the joy and satisfaction of knowing, as far as it is possible for me to know, that the Lord has put into the hearts of my children the love of God and the love of truth, as He has put it into my heart, and I thank the Lord for it with all my soul. I would to the Lord that every man, who is a father in Israel, could say as much for his children ; and why can't they say so much? I want to tell you one reason why a few of them, at least, cannot do it, and tell the truth. It is because they love their children with a shallow and unreasonable love. They indulge them to the utmost limit, and they carry it to such an extent that, if a child of theirs should ask them, while it was incapable of protecting itself, for a razor or a deadly instrument, figuratively speaking, rather than disappoint the child or deny its request, they would put into its hand an instrument of destruction. That is what they do, and that is what they are doing when they weakly yield to their foolish whims, and you mark my word, my brethren and sisters. There may not be many, God forbid that there should be many of us so unwisely Indulgent, so thoughtless and so shallow in our affection for our children that we dare not check them in a wayward course, in wrong-doing and in their foolish love for the things of the world more than for the things of righteousness, for fear of offending them. I want to say this : Some people have grown to possess such unlimited confidence in their children that they do not believe it possible for them to be led astray or to do wrong. They do not believe they could do wrong, because they have such confidence in them. The result is, they turn them loose, morning, noon, and night, to attend all kinds of entertainments and amusements, often in company with those whom they know not and do not understand. Some of our children are so innocent that they do not suspect evil, and therefore, they are off their guard and are trapped into evil. I do not like, and it isn't pleasant for me, to throw chips, so to speak; for I do not know what may come to me in the future, I do not know what sorrows may await me, in my children or in their children. I cannot tell what the future may bring forth ; but I would feel, today as though my life had been, in part, a failure if, at this moment, any one of my children had thrown off their allegiance to their father or to their mother and taken the bits in their own teeth, so to speak, to do as they pleased in the world without regard to their parents. There are things, in connection with this subject, that would not, perhaps, be proper to speak of here, before a large and mixed congregation; but I want to sound a note of warning to the Latter-day Saints. The time has come for them to look after their children. Every device possible to the understanding and ingenuity of cunning men, is being used for the purpose of diverting our children from the faith of the gospel and from the love of the truth. Every species of organization is being formed, both in our midst and abroad, having for its object the express purpose of leading astray the children of the Latter-day Saints, because they can't reach their parents. This is their argument : "We cannot convert the adult Mormon people, but we may, perhaps, convert their children ; we may lead away their children; we do not hope to lead away the old people." They can't do it, except it may be, now and then, a man or woman who never did know anything particularly about the gospel. These, only, are they who can be led away from the truth; and our children can be led away from their parents and from the faith of the Gospel, only when they are in a condition that they know not the truth for themselves, not having had a proper example before them to impress it upon their minds. ¶

Sometimes good hearted people are in the habit of joking a good deal about sacred things, and there is scarcely anything that is held, by them, too sacred to speak lightly of in some form. They do this in the presence of their children, and their children take advantage of it; and while they go but an inch, so to speak, their children go the full length. They see that their parents do not hold sacred things which are sacred; they joke about them and speak lightly of them in the presence of their children, at the very fireside of their own home. The children grow up to feel that even their parents, when under the influence of a jocular spirit, do not hold sacred those things that they call sacred. The parents joke about these things and speak lightly of them, and the children take advantage of it. ¶

I may be pardoned, since it is pretty well known everywhere, I believe, that I speak my mind if I speak at all, if I say to you, Mormon, Jew, and Gentile, believer and unbeliever, present in this congregation, I would rather take one of my children to the grave than I would see him turn away from this gospel. I would rather follow their bodies to the cemetery, and see them buried in innocence, than I would see them corrupted by the ways of the world. I would rather go myself to the grave than to be associated with a wife outside of the bonds of the new and everlasting covenant. Now, I hold it just so sacred; but some members of the Church do not so regard the matter. Some people feel that it does not make very much difference whether a girl marries a man in the Church, full of the faith of the gospel, or an unbeliever.- Some of our young people have married outside the Church ; but very few of those who have done it have failed to come to grief. I would like to see Latter-day Saint women marry Latter-day Saint men, and Latter-day Saint men marry Latter-day Saint women ; and let Methodists marry Methodists, Catholics marry Catholics, and Presbyterians marry Presbyterians, and so on to the limit. Let them keep within the pale of their own faith and church, and marry and intermarry there, and let the Latter-day Saints do the same thing in their Church ; then we will see who comes out best in the end. This is the way I feel about it. There is nothing that I can think of, in a religious way, that would grieve me more intensely that to see one of my boys marry an unbelieving girl, or one of my girls marry an unbelieving man. While I live, and they will listen to my voice, you can depend upon it none of them will ever do it, and I would to God that every father in Israel saw it just as I do, and would carry it out just as I intend to do. Yet, we do not know what the future may bring forth. We know the past, and the Spirit of the Lord may manifest to men, and does manifest to us, to some extent, what the future will be. We can in part judge of things that will come to pass by the things we see and understand, for we can trace the effect or result from the cause. When we see that laxity prevails in the family circle, when men do not pray at home, when they do not ask their wives nor their children to pray with them, when they treat lightly sacred things, when they joke and laugh about that which is most sacred, holy and most important to the welfare and happiness of men, when they do this before their children we may foretell what will be the result of it, eventually, with those children. You may foretell it almost as surely as you can tell that which has passed. The same causes, if pursued on the same lines, will produce the same effects in the future as in the past. We know what the past has done, and we may judge from the past what the future will bring forth. ¶

Some of our people living elsewhere are in the habit of letting their daughters come to this city unprotected, to get employment, and it would be pitiable indeed, to relate the consequences which sometimes result from that practice. ¶

I did not expect to occupy very much time when I rose before you. My voice is not in very good trim for speaking as I have been suffering for a short time with a cold ; and I presume I am not doing myself any good, physically, by speaking as I am doing. ¶

The brethren who will follow, through the conference, will be led by the Spirit of the Lord, I trust, in advancing and speaking upon those principles that will be profitable to the people. We expect them to talk about morality, about obedience to the laws of God and to the laws of men. We expect them to speak about home industry, for if any people in the world should believe in the propriety and necessity of home industry, it is the Latter-day Saints. On the back of that, if there is a people anywhere in the intermountain region, or anywhere else, who have failed more completely in maintaining and supporting some kinds of home industry, than we have, I do not know them. However much we may believe in it, we have not patronized it as we should; we have neglected it and let it go to the wall. President Young started up industries, home manufactures, and urged this matter upon the brethren. Factories were started under the administration of President Young in this valley and to the north of us in Weber county, and in Provo, Springville, in Washington county — this side of St. George, and in Beaver. He was earnest about it; he saw the necessity for it, but nearly every one of those enterprises, which he inaugurated, even to the manufacture of nails, in that early day, has gone to the wall. What for? Of course, eliminating the manufacture of nails, (for a factory was established for that purpose) the industry of raising cotton, of spinning cotton, of manufacturing our wool products into cloth and into other things that are needful, every one of these institutions has gone by the board; because labor was a little higher here, and cloth could not be produced here quite as cheap, within a few cents per yard, as the shoddy that is produced in the east could be made and sent here. We preferred the shoddy to the real goods, and we bought the shoddy and wore it, and let home manufacture go to the wall, and yet we believe in home manufacture ! I wish we could produce here everything that is essential to our wellbeing — both for food and raiment and everything else, and I hope that the spirit of it will come upon us. I do not want to boast, but I want to tell you that I have the honor of wearing part of the last piece of home-made goods produced in Utah. I look about as well as some of you in your shoddy. (Laughter). Of course, I may not be a judge of my own appearance. You can judge of my appearance, and I can judge of yours ; but if I may judge of my own appearance and my apparel, I have the opinion that my coat and vest look just about as well as some that you wear, and mine are homemade. For the last 40 years I have worn home-made goods, and I have paid just a little more than I could get shoddy for, I would have been glad to have done this right along, year after year, rather than to see this home industry fall to the ground for want of patronage. Here is Brother Smoot, who has been engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods ; he can speak from the figures, for he is more familiar with figures than I am. ¶

We want to make these valleys of the mountains teem with the products of our own labor, and skill, and intelligence. I believe it to be suicidal for us to patronize those who are at a distance from us, when we should and could go to work and organize our labor and produce everything at home; we might thereby give employment to everybody at home, develop the intelligence and the skill of our children, instead of letting them hunt after these fancy occupations that so many young people desire above manual labor. The schools of the Latter-day Saints and some of the state schools are beginning to introduce manual labor. Some of our boys are learning how to make tables, chairs, sofas, bookcases, bureaus and all that sort of thing — all good as far as it goes ; but if we want a mason to lay brick, we have got to look mostly to some man that has come from England or Germany or somewhere else to lay our brick. Why? Because our boys do not like to lay brick. If we want a good blacksmith, we must hunt up some foreigner who has learned the trade in his mother country, and who has come here with a knowledge of blacksmithing; we must find such a man before we can get blacksmithing done, because boys do not like to be blacksmiths. They don't like even to be farmers; they would rather be lawyers or doctors than to be farmers. This is the case with too many of our boys, and it is a great mistake. I hope the time will come when the children of the Latter-day Saints will learn that all labor that is necessary for the happiness of themselves and of their neighbors, or of mankind in general, is honorable ; and that no man is degrading himself because he can lay brick, or carry on carpentry or blacksmithing, or any kind of mechanism, no matter what it is, but that all these things are honorable, and are necessary for the welfare of man and for the building up of the commonwealth. ¶

I feel that I should not trespass much longer upon your time. The Lord bless this vast congregation. May peace dwell in your hearts, may you, indeed, find the rest in the gospel of Jesus Christ that will relieve you from the necessity of hunting for or longing to obtain something more than that which you have. The ancient prophets speak of "entering into God's rest ;" what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in His purposes and in His plans to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else; we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lay in wait to deceive. We know of the doctrine, that it is of God, and we do not ask any questions of anybody about it; they are welcome to their opinions, to their ideas and to their vagaries. The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into "God's rest," and he need not fear the vagaries of men, nor their cunning and craftiness, by which they seek to deceive him and mislead him from the truth. I pray that we may all enter into God's rest — rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world; from the cry that is going forth, here and there — lo, here is Christ; lo, there is Christ; lo, He is in the desert, come ye out to meet Him. The man who has found God's rest will not be disturbed by these vagaries of men, for the Lord has told him, and does tell us: "Go not out to seek them. Go not out to hunt them : for when Christ shall come, He will come with the army of heaven with Him in the clouds of glory, and all eyes shall see Him." We do not need to be hunting for Christ here, or Christ there, or prophets here and prophets there. ¶

There never was a time, perhaps, when there were more false prophets than there are today, when there were more visionary men or more false Christs than there are today. We get letters from them, and commands and threats from them, and admonitions and warnings and revelations from them, nearly every day. Our table is frequented by revelations from false prophets, from cranks and from crazy men — some calling themselves Christ, some calling themselves "deliverers of Israel," some calling themselves "the one mighty and strong, who is to deliver Israel out of bondage." Some say, "I am Christ; come unto me." We have these letters — those that we have not destroyed — stacked up almost by the cord. Some of these false prophets, these men to "deliver Israel," and these foolish, unwise, unstable creatures, led about by every wind of doctrine have risen right in our own midst. There is no one that can get up some foolish idea, or start out proposing to organize a church of some kind, no matter what the inconsistency of his claims may be, but what he will find some one to follow him, somebody as foolish as he is, and who knows as little. To the faithful Latter-day Saint is given the right to know the truth, as God knows it ; and no power beneath the celestial kingdom can lead him astray, darken his understanding, becloud his mind or dim his faith or his knowledge of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can't be done, for the light of God shines brighter than the illumination of falsehood and error, therefore, those who possess the light of Christ, the spirit of revelation and the knowledge of God, rise above all these vagaries in the world ; they know of this doctrine, that it is of God and not of man. ¶

The Lord bless you. Peace abide with you ; and, oh, may the fathers in Israel live as they should live; treat their wives as they should treat them; make their homes as comfortable as they possibly can ; lighten the burdens upon their companions as much as possible ; set a proper example before their children ; teach them to meet with them in prayer, morning, and night, and whenever they sit down to partake of food, to acknowledge the mercy of God in giving them the food that they eat and the raiment that they wear, and acknowledge the hand of God in all things. This is our duty, and if we do not do it the Lord will be displeased for He has said so. He is only pleased with those who acknowledge His hand in all things. Now, God bless you, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶