While sitting here, this thought

While sitting here, this thought came to my mind this afternoon : "Why am I a 'Mormon?' Was it because my parents were Latter-day Saints, that I was born under the New and Everlasting Covenant? or have I a stronger reason why I am a 'Mormon' than this ?" It is true the environments that we are under have a great deal to do with forming our life, morally, socially, as well as spiritually. I thank the Lord that I have been born under the New and Everlasting Covenant, with goodly parents; and that I have been led and guided by the hands of kind men who hold the Priesthood, who have guarded my footsteps until I became old enough to think and study for myself. This answer comes to me : "I have many reasons why I am a 'Mormon.' " ¶

In the first place, take history, start from the creation, from the ¶

time that Father Adam was placed upon the earth, and we find that he was led and guided by the Lord. Angels visited him, conversed with him, taught him the way. We also find the same mode of procedure in the lives of the holy prophets, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the other ancient prophets. We find one of the prophets making this declaration, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing except He reveals His secrets unto His servants the prophets." Here, then, is a strong declaration. When the Lord has a people upon the earth, they must be led, according to Malachi, by the word of the Lord, through the voice of a prophet. This, then, gives us a key to the position to start from. The people of the Lord must be dictated to and led by Him, through a prophet of the Lord. ¶

We find the Savior came in the meridian of time. He did the greatest work ever done among the children of men. What did he teach the people? He taught them faith, repentance, and baptism. He made it very emphatic : Unless a man be baptized, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, and before He left the people, we find Him thoroughly organizing the Church upon the earth. How was the Church organized ? It was organized with prophets and apostles, etc., "for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come to a unity of the faith." ¶

Now, these were the teachings of the Great Master, and they are applicable to us. This same organization must exist with us, if we are truly people of God. This thought appeals to me — I must look for the church which has these characteristics. It is true the "Mormons" are not considered Christians, by some ¶

of our good friends; but, as Isaiah says, we can judge according to the law and the testimony, and we appeal to these to prove that we are Christians in very deed. Today we are preaching Christ and Him crucified. No people hold higher the name of the Lord Jesus Christ than do the Latter-day Saints. No people have proclaimed higher ideals than do the prophets, we acknowledge them as being true servants of the Lord, and we follow them. ¶

We learn from history, that the Gospel was taken from the earth. In this last dispensation, we find a boy making the declaration to the people that he has been called of the Lord, that angels had appeared unto him, instructed him, counseled him, and told him what to do. Here then we find verified the words of the Prophet Malachi, "The Lord reveals Himself to His servants the prophets, etc." Now I have considered this question seriously : "Was this boy called to be a prophet of the Lord, or did he call himself?" I answer, We find that the boy Joseph Smith, during a great excitement of the religious world, declared that he had talked with the Father and the Son, and that later angels came and administered unto him. He made the bold declaration to the world that these were actual facts. Did he stop there? No, he followed the voice of those Divine Beings who had called him. They were his teachers, he followed them, and did as they dictated. Finally, God made him a prophet, the head of the last dispensation, and authorized him to be a mouthpiece unto the people. What are the fruits of his work? We find him advancing from step to step, and the Church was organized. We find him preaching the same doctrines as Christ and His apostles taught — faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost — and telling the people that obedience to these doctrines was necessary to salvation. And was this all? No, he organized the Church as perfectly as it was in the meridian of time, with prophets, apostles, and all the other essential officers, as we find Paul tells the Corinthians. They are necessary to the development of the Church, and thus we find it fully organized and equipped. ¶

We follow him from the early rise of the Church, and the history of the people that followed him, until his martyrdom; then follow the Church from the time they left Nauvoo until they arrived in these valleys of the mountains. In all these conditions we find the same perfect doctrines and organization prevailing that existed in the primitive Church. We are led today by the voice of God through His mouthpiece, and, as we are told by the Lord Himself, that "whether I speak by mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is all the same." These thoughts appeal to me. They are reasons why I am a "Mormon." They convince me. ¶

I have a living testimony that I wish to leave with you this afternoon : not the testimony that my mother planted within my soul, but I have one for myself. I know that the Lord lives, I know the Gospel is true, and I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God ; and I bear it to you this afternoon, and feel, as Paul of old felt, that "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because I know it is the power of God unto salvation." ¶

May the Lord bless you, bless us all, and help us to do His will, and may those of us who have not a testimony seek and find it, is my humble prayer and desire, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶