I am happy, my brethren and sisters, to

I am happy, my brethren and sisters, to meet with you today in conference, and I sincerely trust that during the few moments I occupy I may have the Spirit of the Lord to direct my remarks ; and I ask you to give me your sympathy, your faith and prayers, that the Lord may aid me. I fully realize that to preach the gospel to a congregation, be they Latter-day Saints or people of the world, without the Spirit of God to direct, one is unable to preach the Gospel in a way that would be instructive, and that would be acceptable to our Father in heaven. ¶

Brethren and sisters, we are truly a remarkable people, and this great gathering today attests the remarkableness of the Latter-day work, established through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The lives of the great body of religious worshipers, known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, attest the fact that they are a peculiar people, that they are not of the world. This is exactly as it should be, for the Savior said to His disciples, when He labored with them, that if they were of the world the world would love its own, but because they were not of the world they were despised by the world. ¶

Our peculiarity consists in different purposes, in a different outlook for the future, in different aspirations, in different habits in life. If we are living up to the professions that we make, our lives are cleaner and better than those of the world that surround us. The Savior said to His disciples, when He was with them, that if their righteousness did not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the pharisees, in no manner should they inherit the kingdom of heaven. The same is true today ; with the great knowledge that we have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and with the revelations we have received of the Lord as to how we ought to conduct our lives, if our righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the people that have not received these things, I should say, in the words of the Savior, that in no wise can we inherit the kingdom of our Father in heaven. ¶

We are living, brethren and sisters, in a day of the fulfillment of prophecy. I will read to you just a little from the 24th chapter of Matthew. Speaking of the Savior, it says : ¶

"And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying: Tell us when these things shall be? And what shall be ¶

the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them: Take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in My name, saying I am the Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations, for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall bestray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." ¶

It is not my purpose to particularly call your attention to this part of the Savior's prophecies that we are w itnessing the fulfillment of, for many things have occurred, since the great war in Europe began, that signify the fact, that the great conflict that is going on in the world, and the great earthquakes that have taken place during our short lives, the remarkable manifestations of those great calamities in the earth directly prove that they are the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Lord. I shall, however, during the short time that I stand before you, call your attention to another part of the prophecies of the Lord, that pertain particularly to us as a people, and that concern us even more than the destruction that is going on in Europe : it is contained in verse 14 of the same chapter: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." This has been, in some measure, fulfilled. This gospel of the kingdom has been set up in these latter days, with all of the gifts and powers that ever pertained to it in any dispensation in which it has been upon the earth, and it has been preached in many of the nations of the earth. But still there is a great work lying before this people in carrying the gospel of salvation unto millions who have never intelligently understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They have believed in false doctrines, and have followed after teachers who have taught for doctrines the commandments of men. They have not come in contact with the sweet spirit that emanates from a missionary clothed with the power of the holy priesthood to preach the Gospel of faith in God, the Father, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the atonement, (which was so beautifully illustrated in the remarks made this morning by Brother Hart,) and of faith unto repentance, and baptism for the remission of sin. Millions of people have never had these things brought aright to their attention as the Lord has destined that it should be. It is our mission as a people, to preach this gospel to the world ; and we should enthuse our brethren with the desire to carry this message to those millions that do not know the truth. There are thousands of men in this Church, as stated by Bishop Miller, that are in every way capable of delivering to the world the truth in regard to the religion that will save them ; there are men in this congregation that could do this work effectively and well. But, are our minds led out along this line? are we thinking of the great work that devolves upon us? are we shaping our affairs to that end? I refer particularly to ¶

members of the Seventies' quorums, as they are expected to be minute men in the work of preaching the Gospel to the nations of the world. Are you preparing yourselves, and shaping your affairs so that when the call comes you can be ambassadors of life and salvation to people that know not the truth? ¶

This gospel is given to the world for the salvation of all mankind, providing they will live according to its. principles. But, how can they belive in Christ of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear except authorized ministers be sent to teach them that Christ is the means of salvation to the world ? It devolves upon us who have received the truth to take it to the world. It is not to be taken to one nation only, it is to be taken to all the nations of the world, according to the word of the Savior that I have read here. It is a common thing for many people to become narrow-minded. It was a common affliction among the converted Jews, they believed that the Savior's mission was particularly to them, and they believed that outside of them there was no favored people of the Lord. It took a revelation from the Lord, and a great manifestation to Peter to convince him that the Gospel was also to the Gentiles, and that it was not for him to call unclean that that the Lord had said was clean. My brethren and sisters, this work is not only to the people of the same nation and race as ourselves, it is our mission to carry this message of salvation to all the world. Let us take into consideration that all mankind are the children of our Father in heaven^ and all mankind will have, according to the unchangeable decrees of" our Father in heaven, the privileges, of coming into His kingdom, ¶

through this gospel that we have received. Peter said that he knew of a certainty, after he had received that great manifestation, that God was no respecter of persons, but that, out of every nation, he that would obey Him, and work righteousness, would be accepted of Him ; and that is just as true today as it ever was. True it is that there are some nations less favored of the Lord than others. If you will read the history of those people, and the hand dealings of the Lord with them, you will find that their present conditions are a result of their failure to receive the Gospel when it has been proclaimed unto them, but, in every instance, you will also find that God's justice has been manifest unto the people. This is particularly true of the people with whom T am laboring, the Lamanites. They have been brought to the condition in which they are today because of disobedience in the past. Rut the Lord has said He would, in His own due time, give them another trial, another chance. If you will take the time to read it, you will discover that the word of the Lord should go to them, from the Gentile nations to bring them back to a knowledge of the Christ. ¶

I do not desire, my brethren and sisters, to occupy much more of the time this morning ; but I wish to emphasize the fact that the Lord will fulfill His promises, and that in His own way, in His own time, and just as is shown very plainly in III Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, I wish to read a few words to show 'that the Lord will fulfill all of His promises to His children, but He will do it in His own way. It is well for us to accept the Lord's way. and make ourselves willing and ready to work in it. ¶

And now, behold, I say unto you that when the Lord shall see fit in His wisdom that these sayings shall come unto the Gentiles, according to His word, then ye may know that the covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel, concerning their restoration to the lands of their inheritance, is already beginning to be fulfilled; and ye may know that the words of the Lord which have been spoken by the holy prophets shall all be fulfilled; and ve need not say that the Lord delays His coming unto the children of Israel; and ye need not imagine in your hearts that the words which have been spoken are vain, for behold, the Lord will remember His covenant which He hath made unto His people of the house of Israel. And when ye shall see these things coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of His justice is in His right hand, and behold at that day, if ye shall spurn at His doings, He will cause that it shall soon overtake you. Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, woe unto him that shall deny the Christ and His works; yea, woe unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, and woe unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ. Yea. and ye need not any longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor any of' the remnant of the House of Tsrael, for behold the Lord remembereth His covenant unto them, and He will do unto them according to that which He hrtth sworn. Therefore ye need not suppose that ye can turn the right hand of the Lord unto the left, that lie may not execute judgment unto the house of Tsrael." (Ill Nephi, 29 chapter.) ¶

How many arc there of us who are entirely guiltless of the things that the Lord has told in this chapter that we should not do? How many of us are entirely guiltless of looking down upon the Jews and upon certain branches of the House of Israel, and how many of us are there that do not believe implicitly in our hearts that the Lord is going to fulfill these mighty and, as they look to us, almost impossible promises unto those people? ¶

I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that this word is true, and this book brought forth by the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, is a revelation of God unto the world. And I testify that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that, through the power which God gave him, He established this Church, and it shall not be taken away again, but it will go on to perfection, and those who do not go with it will be lost, because the Church is not going to be left to any other people. I testify, furthermore, that I know that those who have governed the Church, and led us up to the present time, have been inspired of God. I testify that I have received manifestations, that Joseph F. Smith, who presides over this conference, and the Church, at the present time, is a man inspired of God, and he leads this Church by the inspiration and Spirit of the Almighty. When I have heard criticism, I have told the critics that their criticism will bring them condemnation if they do not repent. God will not permit His servant to guide this Church into error, it is going to be guided to success. Again I say, Joseph F. Smith is inspired of the Lord in what he does in the government of this Church. May the Lord help us to realize our duties in this Church, and perform them faithfully, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶

"O Divine Redeemer," was sung by Sister Ada Russell. ¶