Good Resulting from Malicious Articles: A Call to Ward Teaching and Virtue

My brethren and sisters, I am suffering this afternoon from a severe headache, and I hope that while I occupy the short time this afternoon allotted to me, that I may forget it, and that I may have a portion of God's Spirit to be with me. I hope to be lead to testify to His goodness, not only to myself, but to His people in general. ¶

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation." I know as well as I live that, if the world is to be redeemed and mankind saved, it can only be through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The longer I live and the more I see of this world the more positive I am that God is with His people, and blessing them in every way promised through obedience to the gospel. He is blessing you spiritually and temporally. I know of no people in all the world upon whom the blessings of our Heavenly Father are so bounteously bestowed. He is also blessing us with increased faith, and I believe that He is blessing us with greater knowledge of things divine. ¶

While we see on all hands opposition to God's work, criticisms against His servants, falsehoods expressed, both from pulpit and press, I desire to testify to you that, as far as the people of God are concerned, they are growing and increasing in knowledge, in numbers, in faith, and, I believe, in the confidence and respect of honest men and honest women throughout all the world. I recognize that the recent magazine articles published against us are having their effect both for good and evil. I am sure they are having the effect of prejudicing unthinking people against the work of God and His people, while on the other hand I am sure they are having the effect of calling attention of thoughtful men to the fact that they are written by untruthful men, and the statements made are false upon their face. I have tried to figure out the effect these malicious, false, lying articles have had upon the Church, and I have come to the conclusion that among the millions of persons that have read the articles, a great many have had their prejudices increased, and, on a basis of one hundred of these, most of them unthinking people, there are at least, fifty others who detect the purpose and object of the articles and their absolute falsehood. This being true, a feeling of sympathy has been created in the hearts of the latter towards a people so wickedly maligned ; and I have also noted that they are the men and the women who think. They are the intelligent class of people; and I believe the result in the end will be for the good of the work of God. ¶

I have faith that God will overrule all things for the advancement of His work. I am confident that if we are true to Him and keep His commandments that it will be but a short time until we will be known for good throughout the world. For eighty years we have had bitter opposition. For eighty years the press of the country has been filled with anti-Mormon articles. Eighty years ¶

is a short time, a mere passing moment, compared with eternity, so there is no reason for discouragement. I believe that it will not be many years before the honest people of the world, as well as the press and magazines, will be looking for and publishing the good and beautiful things found in the great plan of life and salvation as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, instead of, as at present, seeking for everything that can cast a reflection upon the organization and members of the Church. ¶

I have taken great pleasure, and shall always do so, in explaining the articles of our faith, our ideas of this life and the life to come, our faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, our form of baptism and its object, our belief in the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, as well as all the principles and ordinances of the gospel as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I testify to you that when explaining these great truths and especially our belief as to the hereafter, in the life to come, where we expect to meet our loved ones and know them, they appeal to many men and women. People are curious to know what our belief is on all questions that modern Christianity teaches, and some express themselves as not having known that we believed in Jesus Christ. It has always given me pleasure in testifying to our belief in Jesus Christ and Him crucified; our belief in God the Eternal Father ; our belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that He is the actual Son of God. There is life, there is truth and power in "Mormonism." No man need be ashamed of its principles and its mission, nor need he at any time or in any place offer any excuse for the doctrines that have been revealed by God, and His Son Jesus Christ, in this dispensation. ¶

My brethren and sisters, our greatest danger is within, and not without. Have we a testimony that God lives, and are we living so as to maintain it? Are we consistent and loyal supporters of the laws of God — if so we need fear no opposition. I think that, taken as a whole, no people on earth comes nearer living correctly, yet we must not close our eyes to the fact that we have failings and shortcomings. I believe that one of the weaknesses in our Church work today is the neglect of ward teachers to regularly visit the homes of our people. It is true that we are all teachers, but there are certain men selected in every ward whose special duty it is to visit the homes of members of the Church. It is the teacher's duty to call at every home, no matter what position the head of the house occupies, whether it be the President of the Church, a member of the quorum of the Twelve, the president of a stake, bishop of a ward, or the humblest member in the ward. As soon as the teacher enters the door of a home, if it is the home of a Latter-day Saint, the family should be called together for instruction. The teacher then presides, and it is his duty to expound the principles of the gospel, to inquire as to the faith of each member of the family ; whether they, are attending to their prayers, whether there is anything in their home life contrary to the teachings of the Church and the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. From the reports we receive, there are homes that are not visited once a year. This is not as God intended. I plead with the ¶

bishopric of every ward where such a condition exists, to rectify it as quickly as possible. Instruct your teachers to visit every home at least once a month, and oftener if necessary. I believe that if this is done there will be a reformation in the lives of many. ¶

As I scan newspaper reports from all parts of the world, and as I see the conditions of society in different sections of this country, I am convinced that one of the greatest evils now sapping the spiritual and physical strength of the people of the world is the evil of immorality. I take pleasure in testifying, for I know it is true, that the Latter-day Saints are as clean and virtuous a people as live on the earth. But, fathers and mothers, I call your attention to the fact that we are not entirely free, as a people, from this curse. There is a responsibility upon you fathers and you mothers to see that every child that God has given you is reared in the atmosphere of virtue, and that your daughters and your sons, for the Latter-day Saints have no double standard of virtue, are guarded and protected from every evil or evil influence. Every boy and every girl in the Church should grow to manhood or womanhood clean and free from immorality. Fathers and mothers, I beseech you not to let your girls walk the streets at night, bareheaded and unprotected. I wish I had the power to reach the ear and heart of every mother and impress upon her the evil of this disgraceful practice, the temptations accompanying it. Many may think there is no danger, but I know there is. No good can come from it, but evil and shame may be the result. The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, all of the works of the Church teach us the value of a virtuous life, and the evils following an unclean life. I trust the time will come, through the teachings of the Church, and the watchfulness of the parents, when we can say there is no immorality among us. There is work for the teachers, for the Priesthood, for every father and every mother in Israel, as long as there is one case of immorality in all the Church. We might say, as one of old, that "I am not my brother's keeper," but I say to every Latter-day Saint that I believe it is your duty, if you see a young boy or girl going wrong, to call the attention of the parent or guardian to it. It may be that you will receive a rebuff, but you will have the satisfaction of having done your duty. If the rebuff is given, I believe the time will come that the parent giving it will be sorry for it. ¶

Nothing can happen to the Church, or in the Church, but what it affects all the members of the Church. No evil can be inflicted upon any part of it without affecting the whole body. I pray of you, when you see temptations and vice all around you, to guard well the children that God has given you. I thank God for the teachings of my parents. I thank Him for the example which they set me, and I desire to say to all Israel that it was the teachings and the example that I received from my parents that has kept me clean, as far as the vice of immorality is concerned. I have said many, many times, to men of the world that if I should violate the law of chastity, I would leave the "Mormon" Church, or I would humble myself and seek God's forgiveness. In connection with my brethren who have spoken during this conference, I have a testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that this is His work, and that it will never be taken from the earth again ; that we are God's people and that, as we strive to do His will, so will He bless and protect us. This is my testimony to the Latter-day Saints. It is my testimony to all the world, and God grant that you may have the same testimony. May you never waver in your duty or your loyalty to God's work, or to any requirement the principles of the gospel impose upon you. A testimony that God lives is one of the peculiarities of "Mormonism;" it is one of the promises of God to those that seek Him, and it is one the world cannot comprehend, nor can any person comprehend it until he has placed himself in a position to receive it, by complying with the requirements made of him by God. ¶

I am pleased to see the people prospering as they are, and I am more than pleased to see throughout this State bounteous crops and harvests, and let me ask you, my brethren and sisters, to take care of them. Do not waste any portion of these bounties, but save all you can, for, in these days of unrest — and we see it on all hands— no man can tell what a year will bring forth. It would not surprise me to see the time come when the people will suffer for want of sufficient breadstuff. I hope the people will have at least a year's wheat supply on hand, rather than, as many are today, being in debt for the wheat consumed during the year past. So presidents of stakes, bishops of wards, leading brethren, wherever you give advice, encourage the people to take care of all the bounties that God is bestowing upon them, and I know if you will do it it will be better for every man, and every family. ¶

May God give us strength to do our duty. May He give us a determination to live by every word that proceedeth from His mouth, and be loyal and true to His work, I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶