I am very grateful, my brethren

I am very grateful, my brethren and sisters, for the privilege of attending this splendid conference. The sessions that we have already attended, and the remarks that have been made by those that have addressed us, have been full of inspiration and good things for the Latter-day Saints. The vast gathering in this building, and in the adjoining building, which is much larger than this, is a great testimony of the grand work that we are engaged in. It seems to me that in each conference the throngs become greater who gather here to hear the words of the Lord through His servants, the prophets. ¶

I am very thankful for the testimony of Jesus, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been revealed through His servants the prophets. I want to say that I am thankful for the priesthood. I am thankful for the faith that I have in the cause of Zion, and in her people, in the servants of the Lord. I am thankful to God that He has given to me the faith that I have in my heart to uphold and sustain them in all the various conditions in which we have been placed, and they have been placed. It is a wonderful work that we are engaged in, preaching the Gospel in the nations of the earth, and at home, and in performing the duties and labors devolving upon us as Latter-day Saints. ¶

I desire this afternoon also to express my feelings in relation to what was said by the First Presidency, Presidents Smith and Lund, and the words of counsel that were given unto us by them concerning what was termed "small things;" but I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that those things that were referred to are great things. Those things referred to by President Edward H. Snow this afternoon also are great, and are necessary for the building up of the work of God. ¶

We as Latter-day Saints, I believe, are thoroughly conversant, and in harmony, and in tune, with the principles of the Gospel, at least with what we sometimes call the first principles of the Gospel, faith, repentance, and baptism, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. All these things, I believe, we are in harmony with, our hearts are in tune with them, believing that they are necessary unto our salvation and to our exaltation. In these things I believe we have come to the unity of the faith, as being essential in every particular. I believe that the Latter-day Saints throughout are believers in those principles, because they manifest them in their lives, and their children manifest them in their lives. As a rule, we find that the children of Latter-day Saints are anxious to become members of the Church of Christ when they attain eight years of age. The parents likewise are anxious that they shall receive the ordinance of baptism, being initiated into the Church of Christ. In these things it may be said we have come to the unity of the faith. ¶

There are other matters, however, pertaining unto our every day life, in which we sometimes do not see eye to eye. They were mentioned this morning by our beloved President, and I was very much pleased in the illustration that he made in relation to home life, and to the teaching. There has been a great deal said of late in relation to the necessity of the teachers among the Latter-day Saints, the ward teachers, performing their duties in visiting the homes of the people, and making what is known as the one hundred per cent. I take it, my brethren and sisters, that those that are called to this great ministry of being ward teachers to the Latter-day Saints, should place themselves in a position that they will be able to teach, that good results may come from the teachings and visits of our brethren in the homes of the Saints. I believe that is essential in order to be successful. We who are doing this work should bring ourselves into harmony with the Lord and His purposes, so that, when visiting we can ask these questions in the way and manner that was stated by President Smith this morning; and that we can truthfully answer them ourselves in our homes, that we are living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are at peace in our homes, in our families, in our every day walk and conversation, and with our neighbors. ¶

I believe that this Gospel includes all that is good; it is a splendid thing for the Latter-day Saints to practice upon every day of their lives. The payment of tithing also has been referred to by President Smith. To those who keep this law, it becomes second nature to them, as well as in obeying the ¶

other commandments of the Lord. I believe that if we observe these things they become a source of joy and satisfaction to us. Also the payment of our fast offerings, and observing that day of fasting and prayer, a day of contributing of that which the Lord has given us, in the spirit and meaning thereof, for the benefit and comfort of the Lord's poor that we have among us. It was said by President Smith, this morning, that there would be ample in the hands of the bishops, that there would be no suffering among the poor people, and there would be no necessity of drawing from the tithing funds of the Church for their support, if all members of the Church would remember to observe this duty. I am thoroughly persuaded in my experience that that is true. ¶

I am thankful for what was said to us in relation to the building of temples. My life, for twenty-seven years and upwards, has been, in a way, devoted to that work, and I want to tell you that this work is growing among the Latter-day Saints. In the city where I live, Manti, during the nine months just past there has been an increase of more than ten thousand ordinances performed in that temple above the record of a year ago, or of any other except the opening year of that temple. The Spirit of the Lord is upon the people, encouraging them to work for the redemption of the dead as well as the living, and be diligent in preaching the Gospel in the nations of the earth. The preaching of the Gospel to the dead, and doing ordinance work for those that have probably accepted it beyond the veil, is progressing ; and the Spirit of the Lord is working upon men among the nations of the ¶

earth, that their hearts are turned to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers are turned to their children. This is evident everywhere. ¶

We noted at the Congress that was held in California not long since, some of the effects of the spirit that is poured out upon the various nations of the earth. Delegates were there from various countries, many from our own land of the United States, expressing their great interest in this important work, the gathering of genealogies of the people, of their forefathers and mothers and other ancestors. This is a work that has been long engaged in by the Latter-day Saints, and they enjoy the blessings thereof. In the nations of the earth men, that know not why these things are, are inspired to gather together records by which the Latter-day Saints are greatly assisted to prosecute the great work of redemption for their kindred dead. ¶

I pray my Heavenly Father to bless the Saints. May His Spirit shine within them, that we may be able to accomplish the labors that are enjoined upon us, in a way and manner that shall be pleasing to our Heavenly Father, and that shall give blessing, consolation, and salvation to ourselves, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶