Conference Address

I have no doubt whatever that this large congregation of people would have taken great satisfaction in being seated in the large tabernacle, and yet I want to bear testimony to you this morning (and I think I shall find a universal response to that testimony) that the ¶

spirit of this conference has made itself manifest in the utterances of the brethren who have spoken to us. I have attended, if I am not mistaken, one hundred and twenty-six conferences of this Church, in Salt Lake City, every conference and every session of every conference in that large number, the times that I have been to conference, with the exception of the occasions that I have been away filling other appointments. I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, the burden of the testimonies that have been borne and the remarks that have been made, can be couched in a very few words. I am reminded of the counsels that have been given to the Church many times by the servants of God in relation to this matter, and especially the counsel President Young gave on the banks of the Missouri river in 1848, just before he returned to the valleys of the mountains, "Get the Spirit of God and keep it." ¶

Let me bring one thing to your attention to emphasize the remarks that have been made, and to give, to you an idea of the necessity of your cultivating within yourselves this Holy Spirit. How many are there today to be found in all Israel who can say to you, "I listened to the voice of a prophet of this dispensation, and my heart was elevated, my mind was rested, and I felt influenced and expanded under the utterances that he gave and truths that he declared to us." You cast around and ask yourselves, how many are there who can testify to the choice words and gems that fell from the lips of the Prophet of this last dispensation? Pardon me if I go into the quorum of the presidency of the Church, and then to the quorum of the twelve apostles, ¶

and follow down through the organizations of the holy priesthood. How scarce indeed are those who can be found who can say that I saw Joseph the Prophet and heard his voice, and quote to us some of his choice sayings and instructions. And in this connection, I am reminded of what occurred with the Savior and with Peter, when they were challenged as to what the outside world said of the Savior of the world; and when this representation had been given, the Savior turned to Peter, and he said to him : "Whom dost thou say that I am ?" Peter replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona," was the answer He gave, "flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee." You have seen me with your natural eyes ; you have heard me with your natural ears, you have felt me with the natural sense of feeling that you possess ; you have listened to my voice and instructions, but all this experience has not given to you that testimony that you possess, that knowledge that you possess, that I am the Christ. Hence the correctness of one of the speakers today in relation to these natural senses of ours. Now the body of this Church, the tens of thousands of it, in the midst of the organized stakes of Zion, as well as those that are scattered abroad among the nations, are largely if not entirely dependent upon the power of the Holy Ghost to give to them the assurance and the knowledge that God lives, and that Jesus is the Christ, and to give to them the assurance and the knowledge that Joseph Smith, God's choice, and by appointment, became the prophet, the seer and the revelator of the last dispensation. I am aware that Joseph is on the other ¶

side today. But, as we sing in our hymn every once in a while, "he holds the keys for ever ;" and if we could see him on the other side of the veil in the councils of the just, you would hear his voice lifted up in behalf of this people, the keys for whose salvation and resurrection are in his hands.* ¶

Now we come to those who have followed Joseph. Those of us who were acquainted with President Young and his ministrations among the people, and those of his successors, President Taylor, President Woodruff, President Snow, can we not testify that those men in their ministrations to us reflected the Prophet Joseph ? Did we not give reverence to their counsels and to their instructions? Did we not sustain them as we should sustain them, as the representatives of our Father, as the representatives of the Prophet Joseph in the midst of the people? Yes. And while my heart was made to rejoice in the testimony that our present President, Joseph F. Smith, bore concerning his labor among this people up to date, and especially since he occupied the position of President, yet I want to follow him still farther. Do you know that the inspiration of God is in that man and dwells there? Do I know that he has the word of the Lord to deliver to this people, exactly suited to conditions and circumstances as they present themselves? Do I know that the true inspiration of heaven rests upon him? Yes, I know it. I make my deposit by my confidence in that man, as I would make my deposit of money in the bank ; and I go to that place of deposit to draw therefrom that which I have placed there, together with the interest that accumulates because of that deposit. This is the ¶

testimony that I wish to bear concerning our present President. The strength of Brigham Young, let me tell you, consisted largely — shall I say entirely — in following along the line closely and persistently, all the days of his ministry among the people, that had been marked out by the Prophet Joseph Smith. He had treasured his sayings in his heart concerning this people and their future, and he was prepared to act upon those suggestions of the Prophet, in order that there might be fulfilled in the life of the people and in their experience, the words of the Prophet. And all those others that I have mentioned that have followed him have walked in the same path. Our Prophet today, Joseph F. Smith, has certainly reflected that Prophet of the last dispensation ; and he himself, and his actions, and his ministrations in the midst of the people, I want to say, are acceptable to our Father. Our observance of the words that come to us, let me tell you, is our strength, our power, our deliverance, our advancement, and will be eventually our glory. God, the Father, is essentially a creator. God, the Son, as Brother Ballard has beautifully shown today, is essentially the Redeemer. God, the Holy Ghost, is essentially the witness of the Father and the agencies employed by Him, ministers to all those who are willing to listen. That spirit talks to your spirit; it passes by your body. It desires to bring you all in subjection to its teachings, to its counsels and suggestions. It will confirm your faith in the gospel, and no matter whether you have all confidence in the world in the Testament, in the Bible, or in any other book, all the principles that have ever been revealed from heaven will be con- ¶

firmed in you by the power of God, and you will never get an assurance of these truths short of that. ¶

Will you and I cherish that spirit that has been spoken of so much this morning, the burden of the remarks that have been made? If we will, we will find ourselves taught of God. When we become acquainted with the whisperings of that spirit, they will become as familiar to us as the voice of any of our earthly associates, our dearest friends: ¶

That God may bless us, give unto us power to seek after, to possess, and cherish that spirit, that we may be led in the path of life and truth, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶