Study It Out in Your Mind

The message which I bring, my brethren and sisters, to this conference, from the elders and Saints of the great Northwest, is that the Lord has been good unto us during the past year, and that success has attended our labors, in all departments. Never before have we been able to reach so many people, nor have we had such opportunities to converse with them upon the principles of the Gospel. Never before have we held so many meetings in any one year, nor have we baptized so many members into the Church; nor have we distributed so many tracts or sold so many books during any preceding year. In fact, the work in general has been eminently satisfactory to us, and I feel that we have enjoyed the approval of the Lord upon our labors. We have learned, as our fathers before us have, that there is something in this work that is real, that is tangible — something that can be actually demonstrated in the lives of those who keep the commandments of God. We know and understand something of the powers that moved the early Elders of this Church to lay the foundations of this work, and in carrying it on successfully in the world in bringing the Saints to these valleys of the mountains and establishing them so well as they are situated here. ¶

We have learned that the greatest gift God has given to us, and, indeed, the greatest gift any of His children ever have or will enjoy, upon this earth, is the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We have learned from contact with Him, from association with Him, that real inspiration and real power are had in the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We are sent forth to perform the ordinances of the Gospel, initiating men and women into this Church, giving to them the promise — as the Lord gave it to His disciples before He left them, and as Peter repeated this promise on the day of Pentecost that unto all those who should receive the Gospel these blessings would be given. He was not fearful in making this promise; neither have the brethren who have sent us forth to preach the Gospel been at all fearful as to whether or not the Lord would fulfil our promises and acknowledge the ordinances we have performed in His name. It is our testimony that God has remitted the sins of those who have gone into the waters of baptism, honestly confessing their sins and forsaking them. We have seen old men and women who have lived all their lives outside of a knowledge of the truth, being convinced of the error of their way and the necessity of seeking the Lord for a forgiveness of their sins. We have seen them come out of the waters of baptism with their countenances shining, and with a conscience clear before God; and we have known that they had unloaded the weight of their sins, and that God had acknowledged the ordinances we performed in their behalf, that thereby their sins were remitted. We have also laid our hands upon their heads, and they have received the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. They testify of it, and we have seen evidences of it in their lives, and we know it. It has been with us, in our labors, calling us sometimes into fields that we did not intend to enter; it has led us to the honest in heart where we never expected to find them. It has prepared the people for our coming, as it has done from the beginning of the history of this Church. It is still operating as powerfully in behalf of the cause of Zion, in assisting the Elders in their ministry, as ever it has done during the days and years that have passed and gone. It is with the Saints today in our missionary field, and I am satisfied it is with the great majority of the Saints at home. I repeat, again, that we have deemed it the greatest gift and blessing that God can bestow upon us — for what other thing can compare with it? In speaking of the forgiveness of sins, the Lord said that He would forgive all manner of sin, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; and, by reason of that, He has made the possession of that gift the choicest and the greatest of all the gifts that He bestows upon His children. Who of His children would not give all they possess for the companionship of a spirit to which they can turn and inquire as to what manner of life each ought to live; how we should decide the questions of life that confront us in religious matters? In material matters? Yes; for God gives that gift to men to be a comforter and a guide to them in the material things of life; and if men enjoy it they will accept advice on material and spiritual things such as we have heard at this conference, and that Spirit will bear testimony to our souls that that which has been spoken is true, and there will be a desire in our hearts to follow it to the letter. So I have experienced, in my own life, as many of you have, that the inspiration of God can direct a man in his farm labors, in his mercantile labors, and in everything that pertains to him. No man or woman should engage in any business of such a character that they cannot feel that they are entitled to the companionship of the Holy Ghost to direct them in their labors. ¶

I realize, my brethren and sisters, that many whom we baptize in the world, like some of you here, do not at once experience the gifts of the Spirit. It will come slowly; it will manifest itself, at first, in a peaceful, inward burning, but in time, if heeded, will become a well of revelation and light in our souls, leading us to understand the truth and know the will and purpose of God. I remember, on entering a carpet factory, I first saw the back of the carpet. I went around to the other side; the carpet was the same but the appearance was different. On this side was the design, the color, and flower, all being worked out, and produced by the same method of operation. We have often looked upon things from the reverse side. We have not understood God's dealings with us as individuals, nor with His Church, nor with the affairs of the world; but when we possess the key — the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, that searches all things, that takes of the things of the Father and reveals them to us, and enables us to unlock the apparent mysteries that surround us — we shall look upon the design of our lives, the design God has concerning us, concerning His Church, and concerning the nations of the earth. We shall, thereby, be led to put ourselves in harmony with His great designs. ¶

I want to say that Zion, looking upon her from the design side, where God is shaping her destiny, is beautiful to me. No soul needs to fear; no heart to quail as to what the outcome shall be. God has decreed and designed her purpose, her mission, and no hand can sway nor turn her from the purpose and course that God has fixed for her. Let no heart fear, but let there be full and absolute confidence in the fact that God has taken care of the work up to this present time; and He will continue to take care of it. The thing for us to worry about is whether or not we are growing in the gifts of the Gospel. That concerns us most, what are we doing individually? Is there a growth within my soul? Am I overcoming, through the use of these gifts, the weaknesses of the flesh? Am I adding to my faith, virtue, and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance and patience, godliness and brotherly kindness? These are the fruits of this gift. We must not stop after we have been baptized and had hands laid upon us, we must grow. There should always be some growth, and that can come only through the exercise of our spirituality, listening to the Voice, following its inspiration, and it will become stronger and more powerful day by day. If I turn a deaf ear to it, I shall find that it will soon leave me; it will not abide with me, nor be the comforter, or adviser, or companion that it otherwise would be, and that I should have. When it does go, how lonely, how sad is the heart! Have you for the moment lost it? Did you not feel a loneliness, an absence, so that you could not feel satisfied to live upon the earth unless you could get it back? And in sackcloth and ashes, as it were, you have sought for that companionship, and when it returns — what a comforter to the soul that possesses it! It is not always given that we shall hear the voice speaking loudly within, or receive the revelations of God through this gift and power, in an audible way, but it is possible for every Latter-day Saint to be guided and influenced in his or her life by the Holy Ghost. ¶

There is one key that I am going to refer to, that gives this assurance — that every Saint, no matter how weak, can understand and know the operations of this Spirit. I read that when Oliver Cowdery was trying to translate the Book of Mormon, that he began very well, and finally everything was darkened. He wanted the Prophet Joseph to inquire why it was that he failed, and the answer was: "Behold, it is because that you did not continue as you commenced, when you began to translate, that I have taken away this privilege from you. ¶

"Do not murmur, my son, for it is wisdom in me that I have dealt with you after this manner. ¶

"Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save that it was to ask me;" [How many of us ask the Lord for a blessing, and think that ends our part, and that our responsibility ceases there, and that He is to blame if we do not get the thing for which we ask. Here the Lord says, in substance, You have thought that all that was necessary was to ask me.] "But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right; "But if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong: therefore you cannot write that which is sacred, save it be given you from me." ¶

Is there any Saint but that can comply with this key and requirement? Is there a question that the boy or the girl, or the man or woman wants to decide? Then there is an opportunity for them to enjoy the companionship of this Spirit. It was given to us for a blessing, an earthly, temporal blessing, as well as to promote spiritual growth, to preserve us from errors, from disappointments, from the traps and snares of the adversary. It is your privilege to enjoy the companionship of this gift in all things about which you have any doubt and uncertainty. Is it the girl who has to answer the question that is propounded by the young man who desires that she shall become his wife? She should not answer it until she has received a testimony, a knowledge concerning it, through the gift and power of the Holy Ghost unto her soul, that ministers to her this satisfaction as she presents herself before the Lord, having studied it out with all of her powers and ability; then it will give to her the inspiration necessary to enable her to properly decide and answer the question. So with every man in his business. Every man, in all his walks in life, ought to be perfectly willing to seek with implicit confidence to obtain the inspiration of that Spirit. If the thing which you have studied out, and used all your powers and energies to decide and determine, is not right, then the Lord, by this Spirit, shall cause it to pass away from you, and you shall not feel satisfied with the conclusion you may have reached in the matter; but if it is right, then your soul shall burn within you. I know that men and women can be guided by this key; and, if they do so, it shall grow and increase with them until it shall be a voice speaking within them so distinctly that there shall be no question or doubt. This has been proven by thousands of Latter-day Saints. It gives men the knowledge that God lives. ¶

Our scriptures say that no man can know that Jesus is the Christ save by the Holy Ghost. I haven't seen Him, but I know, within my heart and in my soul, as I live and stand before you today, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. When I shall stand before Him, in His presence, and see Him face to face as He is, I shall not know any better the truth that He is the Christ, and that He lives, than I do today by the witness and testimony of the Spirit of God in my heart and soul. By that same power I know that this is God's work, that Joseph Smith was His prophet, and that the leaders of this Church today enjoy the revelation and the inspiration of God, that they are His prophets, that they stand in the right way, and that no power can destroy this work. God speed its progress in the nations of the earth, in the missions; and at home may there be a greater and mightier spiritual growth and development that shall preserve us from all errors. May it continue to guide us in all our ministrations, in directing our faith and works, in the exercise of the priesthood, that we may not be humiliated, but that we may always be guided by the inspiration of this comforter. I thank God for it. May it always be with me, and with you, and with all the Saints of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶