(President of South Sanpete Stake.)

(President of South Sanpete Stake.) ¶

My beloved brethren and sisters, I can say that I feel very thankful to my heavenly Father for His blessings to us, for the great privilege that we have of assembling here in this grand conference of the Latter-day Saints, to worship God our heavenly Father. I feel thankful for the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that has rested upon my brethren, the elders of Israel, in their testimonies and their counsels unto us as His people. ¶

I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ for myself. I know the truth of the gospel that has been revealed in these the latter days. I am thankful that I enjoy the fellowship of the Saints of the Lord, and for the opportunities that we enjoy as His people, that we can listen to the instruction of inspired men of God, filled with wisdom and with knowledge, that we can learn of His ways and walk in His paths. I was very much affected by the testimony of our beloved President, Joseph F. Smith, at the opening session of this conference, and the words that he spoke, the powerful influence that attended him in speaking of himself, that he had been true to the cause of God, to his brethren and his sisters, and all the children of men. I feel, in my very soul, that those words were true and faithful. I know by the spirit of God that our leader is a prophet of the Lord, that he is a ¶

man endowed with the revelations of Jesus Christ. I feel this strongly, and I assure you that I feel to uphold and sustain him in his labors, and ask God that He will bless him and support him. When I am in the presence of men like him, the presidency of our church, the apostles that God has chosen, and other servants of the Lord, I feel that I am in the presence of men endowed with the Holy Ghost. I am thankful for them. I thank God for His mercies unto us as His children. ¶

I have greatly rejoiced in the splendid instruction which was given this morning,- and in fact during the entire conference, and in the progress of the work of the Lord in the earth. I can discern that there has been no better time than the present for Latter-day Saints. The work of God is spreading in the nations of the earth, and I believe there is good progress made in Israel, in all the stakes of Zion. among the Latter-day Saints. There is a greater tendency to live up to the requirements of the Almighty today than there ever was in the church. There is a spirit or desire among the Latter-day Saints to more fully walk in the paths of the Lord, and keep His commandments. ¶

The last hymn that was sung here this afternoon, I felt to say, was an inspiration. Possibly many of the Latter-day Saints, when they received the gospel of the Son of God, felt those words burning in their souls. The gospel has taught us to be one, to be united. I take it that a great many of the Latter-day Saints who have come from various parts of the earth, who received the gospel in foreign lands, have experienced that great love ¶

within their bosom when they went down into the waters of baptism, and had hands laid upon them and received the Holy Ghost. I am sure they felt that oneness and union with each other. As was testified of this morning, wherever you go, in every land and clime, wherever Latter-day Saints are abiding, there you find the same spirit. They are of one heart and mind, the spirit of love exists among the Saints wherever they are found. ¶

When the elders of Israel came unto us, bearing the message of life and salvation, we felt in our souls that they were the servants of the Lord, because their lives were clean, their hearts were pure, and they lived the gospel in their every day walk and conversation. That appealed unto us. And so among the Latter-day Saints today, we feel that spirit when we have the testimony of Jesus with us. We feel the same in relation to the brethren who stand at the head of the Church of Christ in the earth. As a rule all Latter-day Saints believe in the first principles of the gospel. We all believe in the principles and ordinances of faith, repentance, baptism and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost ; we all feel that they are essential to salvation, and that gives joy and consolation unto us. But it is necessary that we continue onward, that our works may be in harmony with our faith, and while these outward ordinances are kept in remembrance, we go on unto perfection, improving every day we live. Every blessing that is promised unto the Latter-day Saints is predicated upon faithfulness and endurance in the observance of the laws that God has given unto us, being honorable in our lives, pure in our ¶

spirits, upholding and sustaining the work of the Lord upon the earth. ¶

I rejoice in being able to testify that I know the gospel has been restored unto the earth, and by yielding obedience unto the same, all the blessings pertaining thereunto have been given to the Latterday Saints. The signs that were promised unto believers are enjoyed by those who live in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

We are engaged in a great work, not only preaching the gospel abroad unto the children of men, but we are also engaged in the work of redemption of the living and the dead at home, in our temples. We have a great work to perform, that we might perfect ourselves, that we might be one with the dead who are our kindred, that they might be one with us, according to the gospel that has been revealed unto us. ¶

I have had the privilege of laboring for a great many years in the temple of God, and I rejoice in seeing the earnestness of the living in behalf of hundreds of thousands of the dead that are being officiated for in the temples of our Lord. The number of the dead that have had the ordinance of baptism performed for them in our temples is now nearly approaching the two million mark. Temple work is not for the living only, those who are now in this earthly existence, but it is equally essential for those who have gone behind the veil and our hearts go out to them in love. The latterday Saints are obtaining the genealogies of their kindred, ferreting out their connections and relations, so that they may be able to do this. The spirit of Elijah is working upon the children of men, not only upon the Latter-day Saints but upon the children of the world, as has been ¶

testified to during this conference. Hundreds of books and many thousands of names have been printed, containing the genealogies of the people in various nations, and the Latter-day Saints are obtaining these genealogies. I know also that a great many men of leisure and of means have been wrought upon by the spirit of God to compile pedigrees and gather together the names — for what purpose they know not, but the Latter-day Saints understand that it is the working of the Spirit of the Lord upon the hearts of the children of men, that His • people may be able to obtain the names of their kindred dead, and thus be able to do Temple work for their salvation. ¶

I bear you my testimony that this is the work of the Lord that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the living God and that those who bear rule at the present time, President Smith and his brethren, are servants of the living God that they are faithful men in the right place. May we as Latter-day Saints uphold and sustain them by our faith and prayers and good works, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶