Faithfulness, peace, and comfort

I sincerely trust that the few moments I occupy the Lord will bless me with strength to make you hear, and with ideas that will be fruitful of benefit to you, my dear brethren and sisters. ¶

My heart has been made glad during this conference, at the out-pouring of the Spirit of the Lord, and I feel that it has been well for us to be together. In the midst of the turmoil that exists in the world today, I have felt to praise my Maker for the peace and quiet 'that reigns in Israel ; for the blessings that abound in this great land of America ; that our lot has been cast under the folds of the Stars and Stripes, and that our Heavenly Father saw fit to plant the feet of His people in this grand intermountain country. It is a source of satisfaction and a testimony of the divinity of this work that notwithstanding the assaults of the adversary, and the mobbings and drivings of the people, they have kept the faith and have evidenced, by right living, their belief in God and their knowledge that He lives. As long as we are humble and keep the commandments of the Lord, there need be no anxiety as to the result. The danger to us, as it has been to all the peoples of God upon the earth, is from forsaking humility, lacking the charity that should abound in the hearts of men, and turning to selfishness and unrighteousness. We have been wonderfully prospered as a people, and in traveling through the stakes of Zion I am gratified to see so many living in comfortable homes, and that the men of our communities are providing the comforts and conveniences of life for their families. I believe this is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. ¶

Some times I wonder if we will err, if it is possible that your family and mine will make the mistake that has been made by the sons and daughters of God in the various ages of the world, and forsake the house of worship for the hot^e of pleasure. How are we going to be affected, as a people, by the general tendency to go to extremes in seeking amusement ? Pleasure-seeking increases among us as the years go by. I can remember as a child that I felt I was favored if I could have one excursion a year out to the Lake, and another one to Calder's Park. If I could go to one or two matinees in a season I was well satisfied. That left me plenty of time to attend my Sabbath School, Mutual Improvement Association, day school, and the other institutions provided for my edification and instruction. ¶

There is a growing tendency in this age to live much more rapidly. Instead of thinking seriously of the purposes of life, many of our young people are devoted to light amusements. "What shall we do tomorrow for fun?" "What shall we do next day for pleasure?" Let's go to the moving picture show tonight." "Let's go to the dance tomorrow night." This is the tendency of their ambition ; and I am wondering, my brethren and sisters, ¶

if. as the guardians of the children of the Latter-day Saints, we are as prudent and careful as we should be in safe-guarding, and in encouraging them to engage in more important pursuits. Our children are the most precious gift that our Father bestows upon us. If we can guide their feet in the path-way of salvation, there will be joy eternal for us and for them ; but if, by reason of following after the fashions of the •world, or as the prophet predicted, it should happen in our clay that our children should be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it will be a sad time for us, because those v\ ho pursue pleasure in this life to excess are likely to forsake the ways of the Lord. I am concerned for the youth of Israel ; I feel that we yll should be, and should assume the duty of looking after the Lord's little ones, teaching and safe-guarding them as far as it is possible. ¶

Some of our people are patterning after the follies of the world, and are blinded to their danger until it is too late. Of the strangers who come to live in our midst, many are good, faithful, honorable men and women, then there is another class, who are devoted entirely to making money, and riotous living, and everything else must take second place. x\musement of every kind, and temptation of every kind is thereby placed within the reach of our children, and the result may be in some cases that, if we are not careful, we will lose some of them. It is your duty and mine to always be exemplary in our conduct ; to seek to do good to our fellow men, to encourage, not only our own children, but the children of our neighbor to works of righteousness, to honor the Sabbath Day and keep ¶

it holy ; to honor father and mother and observe the other commandments that onr Heavenly Father has given to us from time to time. That is our privilege — nay, that is our duty, because the Lord has conferred upon us the priesthood, and has given to us a knowledge that He lives. Let us look back a few hundred years and judge of the future by the past. Let me read just a few verses from the third chapter of Isaiah, of what the prophet of God foresaw among the people who should live after him. He says : ¶

"Moreover the Lord saith. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet; ¶

"Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. ¶

"In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, ¶

"The chains, and the bracelets, and mufflers, ¶

"The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, ¶

"The rings, and nose jewels. ¶

"The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, ¶

"The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. ¶

"And it shall come to r.ass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girdiner of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. ¶

"Thy men shall fall hv the sword and thy mighty in the war. ¶

"And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground." ¶

If the prophet had lived in our clay, could we better understand ¶

some of the terms he has used? It would almost seem that some of the things referred to are the ornaments of the present. I wonder, as I look back to the time that is past and see the destruction that did come upon some of those whom the Lord warned through His servants, if we cannot with profit remember the past, and teach and guide our children to avoid similar excesses and the sorrow that follows. ¶

I find also something else in the word of the Lord contained in the fifth chapter of Alma. He had been instructing the people with reference to their duties and he strove to bless them by teaching what the Lord would have them know ; he was advising those whose ancestors had been miraculously guided across the mighty ocean to a land of promise. Being a prophet, he was teaching under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord. He was evidently fearful of the result of the prosperity of the people and desired to save them from threatened danger, and these are a few of the words that he spoke : "Yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts? Yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?" Those are Alma's words to the people who dwelt upon this western land, those who had been blessed in a remarkable way. I would call your attention to the final destruction to that people. They were blessed of the Lord ; even the Savior Himself visited and ministered unto them, they saw Him and heard His voice, and for two hundred years afterward they were a righteous people. They were an intelligent people, too, and highly civilized, but they transgressed, and destruction followed. Look at the scattered bands of Lamanites that are in this land of ours today, and realize the pinnacle from which they fell by reason of disobedience to the commandments of God through his prophet. It is well for us to remember these things because the same cause will produce the same effect. ¶

In our day the Lord has cautioned us again. The forty-second section of the Doctrine and Covenants contains this admonition to the Church. This doesn't refer to the time of Isaiah nor to the time of Alma, but comes right down to the day in which we live. Through His prophets He admonishes us with reference to our duties, and among the things He says are these : "And again, thou shalt not be proud in thy heart ; let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty the beauty of the work of thine own hands." What a splendid thing to contemplate in our community. I would like to read that again. This is what the Lord advises : "Let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty the beauty of the work of thine own hands." ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, I think that is worthy of our consideration. When discussing the high cost of living, examine your own household, and I am talking to myself while I talk to you. Am I increasing the cost of living by extravagance, or am I teaching my family to make the garments they wear ? Are we using the materials that are at hand, or are we sending across the ocean to bring from the nations afar expensive things for the adornment of our persons? Right here in our own community there are those who prefer articles manufactured in distant lands, when right in ¶

our own neighborhood industries are struggling for existence, that would do well if we would patronize them, and employment would be furnished many hands now idle. Our factories can produce practically all the things that we need, and they should be sustained by us. That is self-preservation, for we would keep our money at home and employ our own people. ¶

Now, I feel, my brethren and sisters, that this is worth thinking about. Look at the clothing worn by employes in offices and stores. What about the high cost of living? Extravagance is responsible for much of it. Many of our young men and girls when they go to their daily employment are attired as if they were going to a party. They cannot afford it, but beggar themselves to keep up with the demands of fashion. I believe we give entirely too much attention to style, rather than to the things that will make us God's children eternally. We can afford to retrench, and I recommend to the Latter-day Saints the words of our beloved President along that line spoken in this conference. Let us set an example ; let us live within our means ; let us be lenders instead of borrowers ; let us not place our homes or the lands that produce our living under mortgages, in order that we may ride in fine conveyances or keep up with the pace set by our neighbors who may be able to afford it. Let us be more concerned about the adornment of our minds that are eternal, rather than adornment of our persons with things that are of no lasting benefit. Let us keep the commandments of God ; let us live humble, and sweet, and pure. Let us not be lifted up in the pride of our hearts if we have been more successful than our ¶

neighbor financially, but, mindful of the blessings of health and strength, and the gift of home and loved ones, appreciating the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is the power of God unto salvation, unto all those that believe and obey it; let us evidence by loving kindness to every child of our Heavenly Father that we are grateful. ¶

May the Lord add His blessing; may we be righteous exemplars ; may His peace be upon all Israel. May the spirit of kindness and love find its way into the hearts of mankind everywhere, that war may cease and peace and happiness abound in the world, that from shore to shore and from pole to pole the Gospel may be preached without hindrance, and all God's children be called from the error of their way and partake of the glorious blessings that we enjoy in the valleys of these mountains, that eventually all mankind may rejoice in keeping the commandments of the Lord and obtain eternal life thereby, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶