Going All the Way Around: The True Fruits of the Church Amid Attacks

It has been said that a few years ago a party of tourists returning from a trip on the continent of Europe met one evening in a hotel in the city of Paris, and among other things were discussing points of interest which they had seen on their trip. Each one of four among the party appeared to have visited a famous obelisk, and one of the number said that its color was white. This was disputed by a second visitor, who said that it was blue; and still a third person insisted that both of the previous speakers were mistaken, and that its color was green. Each was sure that he was right, when a fourth person spoke up and said that he too had visited the obelisk, and that each one of these gentlemen was right and that each was wrong, for, said he, "it is white on one side, it is blue on another, and green on a third side. The trouble with you, gentlemen, is that you did not go all the way around it." As I read that story recently, I thought of the wonderful variation in testimony which has been borne recently with respect to "Mormonism." We have been listening the last few days to testimonies of those who are in sympathy with the work of the Lord, wherein they have told of their strong faith in His cause, the truthfulness of the principles of the Gospel, the righteousness of the lives of the men who are associated with this Church as the leaders of the organization. ¶

There has preceded our conference a series of attacks upon the character of the work, and individual members of the organization, wherein, perhaps, some of the failures that we have made (for we are not perfect, the net gathers of all kinds of fishes, and there are some among us who make their failures and mistakes;, and perhaps this has furnished the foundation and the basis, in a number of instances at least, for the attacks that have been made, and these have been enlarged and exploited to serve the purpose of those who have it in their hearts to hurt and to injure. As I study human nature, I find that notwithstanding we try to look at the same thing alike, there is such a difference in our individual makeup and temperament, also in the environments which surround us, that we cannot always look at the same thing and describe it alike. The attacks which have been made upon the sacred scriptures have aimed at the fact that the Apostles Peter, James, and John have not borne testimony in the same identical manner with reference to the ¶

life of Christ. I call attention to the fact that these men all looked upon the Master from the same point of view, believing Him to be the Son of God; and when these men described such scenes as Christ before Pilate, though their descriptions are about the same, yet there are some slight variations in detail, but not sufficient to contradict their testimony of His mission and character. Some of those who related the life of our Savior, because of previous training in a certain direction were inclined to state that which appealed to them most strongly ; one, because of his temperament and training in mathematics and tax collecting, was attracted by certain phases of the life of Christ ; while John, the spiritually minded man, saw in that life the greatness and the spirituality of the Redeemer. ¶

If that is true of men who try to tell the truth, and are in sympathy with the object of which they speak, then, we shall find in like manner more diversified opinions as we shall find men more widely separated in their view-point. As instance the testimony of a bitter apostate, who has had his mind darkened against the word of God and the leaders of the Church, whose own wicked life has colored his vision, and he pours forth all the venom of his distorted mind upon the people he once loved, though they have not changed since he loved them. No one else can see things just as he sees them. Then you have the example of the man who writes only for the monetary value of the story to him, who is paid to exploit his theme, and who gives it color without venom, but maliciously distorted, nevertheless. Then you have still other phases represented, until you reach the burning, strong testimony of men and women who know the whole truth, who have gone all the way round, who have seen it and know it in all its phases, whose minds are free from malice and hatred, who have borne testimony of the truth and seen the majesty of it, as it has been divinely made known to them. You have their testimony as to the uprightness of the lives and characters of our leaders and the nobility and value of the organization. So, my brethren and sisters, when you shall consider the possibility of human nature to err and get in the dark, and how it is influenced by its prejudices, you shall then perhaps more easily understand the great diversity of opinion expressed and sent broadcast about us. ¶

But, whose opinion shall we receive ? I was asked not so very long ago, by a very respectable man of the northwest, if it was possible that magazines of the character of those that have been attacking the Church could be mistaken, for they have a respectable standing in the community. I answered him that if these magazines are mistaken on their present attitude toward the Church, it is not the first time they, and other equally as respectable papers, have been on the wrong side of great questions. The world's judgment against the Latter-day Saints is no evidence that we are wrong by any manner of means. My researches into the history of the past reveal the fact that not only in religious matters, but in scientific matters, and in the matter of the coming forth of truth from various sources, there has been a disposition on the part of the world seriously to condemn and reject that which is true. I might call your ¶

attention to the fact that some three hundred years ago all the world believed that the earth on which we now live was flat, a great expanse in the universe, and that the stars, the sun and the moon, each made their revolutions around the earth, and that it was the center of space and did not move in space. When Galileo, the great and inspired philosopher, first announced that ' the earth was only one spark or gem in God's great universe, that it moved .together with other worlds with which it was associated, that the sun was the center of the solar system, and that the conditions of night and clay were produced by motions of the earth, he was haled before the highest tribunal of his day, and condemned for advancing a doctrine which was false and in contradiction of the scriptures ; he was condemned to suffer a cruel death or recede from his position. In order to save himself for future struggles in maintaining the truth, and realizing a denial did not change the truth which he had discovered, he said that he would recant his statement; but, aside to his friends, he said, "The world moves just the same." In later years, when he again revived the doctrine and gave further evidences of its truthfulness, he was again haled before the high tribunal and condemned, and burned at the stake for having taught a doctrine which now everybody who is posted at all knows to be absolutely correct. So in numerous other things, we have discovered that the judgment of the world has been wrong. ¶

I content myself by calling your attention to the one gift of God to man. Great and good as are the gifts of scientific, psychological, and philosophical research, and the gift of wisdom manifest in discovering the electric telegraph, telephone, and all the glorious things which minister to the want and comfort of man, mounting far above them all, greater than all combined is the precious gift of God to man, His Son Jesus Christ. Did the world receive Him? No; condemned, executed between two thieves, buried in the oblivion which they hoped would cover him so that future generations would know nothing of him, nor the part they took in his execution, expecting to prove to the world that they had merely rid their nation and their people of a malefactor who was unworthy to live. Was the world right or wrong? They believed that they were doing right. The world erected monuments to the princes who exterminated Christians, in the hope that coming generations would pay reverence to those princes for having rid the world of the abomination known as Christianity. The world has returned, not to place its laurels upon the monuments erected, but to honor the names of those who suffered, and condemn those who erected the monuments, as having raised their hands against the most precious of all doctrines, and the most glorious of all individuals who have ever visited the world, the thing that the world needed most of all. ¶

And so will the world be proven to be wrong in its present judgment of the "Mormon" people. As shown, it has not been the first time that it has been mistaken. The world will not be satisfied, perhaps, by our testimony so far as it is favorably expressed. There is one way, thank God, that we can answer all accusations and charges. The Master stated that way, and ¶

the manner by which our true character may be determined, the conclusive evidence is, "By their fruits ye shall know them." He thus announced the way by which we or any other people may prove our claim, or rather may prove ourselves worthy of what we claim to be. And so to this let us direct our attention just a few moments. ¶

You have heard some statistics during this conference, vital statistics, and I refer to these again because they show some of the remarkable fruits of the system. We are told that, in 1910, there were thirty-eight births to every one thousand members in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an excess over the birth rate in the United States, by comparison of the latest statistics, of twenty-five per cent. That means that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shows a birth rate far in excess of that in the United States ; and I presume I am not far from the truth when I say that the United States leads the world in this matter, consequently we have an excess in our birth rate over any nation, or country, or people. Is that desirable fruit, or undesirable? Why, the greatest statesmen in the present age are exercising their persuasive powers to the uttermost in endeavors to induce men and women in our country, and other civilized nations, to honor the first great law of God, "Multiply and replenish the earth." Thank the Lord, men and women in our Church keep the ranks replenished, and give at least our quota to make our nation endure in greatness. Thank God that the doctrine of race suicide which exists in the world has not become popular among us and is not breaking down the high ideals that have been held before our eyes by the men and women who lived according to God's law. In the world, where do we find increase principally? Children are rare among the exceeding wealthy or those living in affluence, luxury and ease ; neither do you find large families among those steeped in transgression and sin. Children are more numerous in that greater and better element of mankind called the middle class, the honest men and women who believe in honoring the great command that I have announced, which was given to man in the beginning of his habitation upon the earth. ¶

We were told that the death rate in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is nine and a fraction per thousand, while the general death rate in the United States is seventeen per thousand. The death rate, Brother Grant tells us, among individuals received in life insurance associations seldom comes as low as ten per thousand. Are these fruits desirable or undesirable? Do the people of the world know how to live properly and perpetuate life? The great medical philosophical and psychological schools vainly strive to advise the people to live according to natural ways and means by which life may be perpetuated. God gave to this Church the great key of health, about which so much has been said in this conference; and, thank the Lord, a great majority of the Latter-day Saints obey the Word of Wisdom, and thereby a foundation is laid in themselves and their children for strength of body and of mind. By reason of obedience in these things, they receive the blessings of health and strength, and long life. ¶

We were told that the divorce rate in the Church is so low that it is only about one-fifth the general divorce rate in the United States. Are these fruits desirable? Most assuredly they are. There is a great cry for ways and means by which there may be a curtailment of this evil of divorce, loosing the bonds of matrimony. Does the record speak well for the Latter-day Saints ? Surely it does. The great cause of the divorce evil in the United States today is the unfaithfulness and infidelity of men and women to each other and to their families. How have Latter-day Saints been trained? You know, when we were boys we were told to hold virtue so sacred that ,we would rather lose our lives than to ruin or despoil the virtue of any woman, that personal purity was more sacred fi> us than our lives. We do not have a double standard of morality. Thank God, we have listened to the advice of our fathers, and accepted the teachings of the gospel, and have produced, notwithstanding some mistakes and failures in other respects, a generation of young men and women whose equal in these things cannot be found anywhere in the world. Are these fruits desirable? O, my brethren and sisters, I desire with all my heart that the young men and women of this Church shall show forth by their lives even stronger testimonies than these, and that they shall be a sufficient answer to all our accusers — not our words, but what we are. The world has many new systems of philosophy, new religions, and new theories of solving problems of life, such theories are very plentiful, but they have not yet succeeded in producing a race of men and women superior to the children of the Latter-day Saints. And so, my brethren and sisters, while we are growing in numbers, I trust we shall be noted also for our growth in virtue and every good and desirable thing. ¶

By the way, it is complained just now that the reason why we ought to have immediate attention is that we are increasing so fast. We haven't any disposition to wrangle about that question, we acknowledge that we are growing. I noticed in statistics published by the Literary Digest, about six weeks ago, a statement concerning the leading churches of the United States, showing their rank twenty years ago, their place today, and the increase in population in the twenty years. The Roman Catholic church was ranked as number one, twenty years ago, and is the same today, and shows an increase of ninety-five per cent in that period. So they go in their list until we reach church number fifteen, which the table shows has made the greatest growth in the United States in the last twenty years, and the statistics are not ours, that is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now, among the fifteen churches on the list here enumerated, until we reach this "Mormon" Church, there is not an increase in position of any one of them of more than two points. Whereas, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was rated as church twenty-one, twenty years ago, and as church number fifteen this year, an increase of six points, a showing two hundred per cent better than the others. Then in point of membership, none of the fifteen have a greater increase than ninety-eight per cent except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose increase is two hundred and fifty per cent ! In this connection I will say that, four weeks ago, in the city of Portland, I heard an address given by the secretary of home missions of the Methodist church, who said that unless there was a change in their methods of proselyting they would soon be decreasing. Said he, $40,000 expended in the city of Boston netted but twenty-one converts ; $50,000 expended in the city of Chicago had netted but forty-four converts ; and he made the further remarkable statement that last year the great Methodist church, which stands as the second largest church in the United States, with a membership of 3,180,000 souls, showed an increase of but 40,000 last year. Compare that with the Church we represent, with a membership of about 500,000 souls, showing an increase of 16,000, and contrast it, in view also of another fact, that of the 40,000 souls introduced into the Methodist church last year only five per cent were men and women over twenty-one years of age, ninety-five per cent were children. Its power to appeal to the matured judgment of men and women of this country must surely be waning, when it can claim only five per cent of its converts from the ranks of matured minds. Not so with the Latter-day Saints. Our increase has been very satisfactory, and has come largely from the mature, thinking men and women of the country. I know it is so in the Northwestern States mission, and I am sure that it is so elsewhere. Now, is this growth and increase desirable? I maintain that it is, and ought to continue, for the world's good. The best men and women are crying out in their souls for that which we have, though they know it not, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has that which the world needs, and which the world must have to save itself. ¶

We need not be alarmed at the assaults which have been made. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shall not falter, nor waver, nor shall it be harmed by the present attack. I bear you witness, as I mingle among people outside of Utah, and know what the sentiment is, that thinking minds of the present day have been stirred up by the recent articles to a spirit of enquiry such as they have never manifested before. • We have opportunities for gospel conversations such as we have not had before. Recently we had an opportunity to answer the enquiries of the president of one of the greatest colleges in the west. He recognized that these stories did not contain the truth, and he wanted to know what the truth is. I can say that the commonwealth here, our glorious Utah, where so many of us were born, is being injured more seriously than is the "Mormon" Church. The Church thrives in spite of persecution, but the citizens of the State of Utah suffer from the indignities and vilifications that are being published. Thirty thousand home seekers came into the northwest during last spring. It has been my privilege to meet thousands of them on the trains, and I have taken the opportunity of making a canvass among them, and to ask them "why don't you go to Utah ?" I have exploited some of Utah's resources and her opportunities, and the answer has been, in many instances, that they were prejudiced against Utah because of the recent agitation that has been going the rounds of the press. So, Utah is suffering more than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. God bless Utah, the vales we love, the place of our birth and our homes. ¶

The Church shall stand, and thrive, and increase in its numbers, and shall never diminish. We are only just beginning; we are but forming the nucleus of a great and mighty organization that shall grow as fast as it can absorb new members, and it shall increase in its absorbing, and shall yet be numbered by millions of the children of this generation. This is my testimony, and faith, and I may say, I speak it with knowledge. We missionaries go not to the world with a spirit of resentment, but in the spirit of love we approach their homes, and if they turn us away, we still feel that we have brought to them the most precious of all gifts, and that we have honored that household to which we have come with our message, offering the most precious boon that could be bestowed upon them, none greater has ever been offered to this world in all the years of its history. In all our labors we try to show that we love the whole world; in the spirit of kindness we work among them, not with a spirit of retaliation, but of forbearance, — showing by our lives and the examples which we set that we are what we claim to be: members of God's Church ; not perfect men, but seeking according to the knowledge that we possess, and the Spirit of the Lord within us, to perfect our lives in harmony with the laws of God's truth, and inspire them to do likewise, which may God grant us the opportunity to do, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶