My brothers and sisters, I realize

My brothers and sisters, I realize that it will be impossible for me to say anything which will be beneficial or profitable to this conference unless the Lord shall direct me. The spirit which has accompanied the remarks to which we have listened bears ample evidence to my mind that the thousands of people congregated in this city have come together hungering and thirsting for the word of the Lord, and they have been fed, they have been given instruction which will make for their eternal salvation. It seems to me that never in my life, have I attended a conference which has made me feel so determined to press on, and with the help of the Lord, to work out my salvation, and to discharge the duties which devolve upon me. ¶

I thought this morning, while Brother Woolley was speaking, that even he, who has spent twenty years in the Hawaiian mission, presiding over that people, could not feel more joyous than I felt with the announcement that a temple is to be built in that land, for from my earliest infancy, I have had instilled into my heart a love for that people. It was on the Sandwich Islands that my father demonstrated to his own satisfaction that the Lord is willing to hear His humble servants. At a time when he was alone, when he was friendless, when those to whom he should naturallv have looked for instruction, were wavering, at least some of them, he found that the Lord was his friend, and he learned from the lips of the Almighty that He loved the people of those islands, and that He intended the gospel of salvation should be preached to them. I rejoice more than I can tell at the action which has been taken that a temple is to be built there, that our brethren and sisters are to have the rights and privileges which we enjoy in this land. ¶

I see in this, as has been stated by a number of speakers, the fulfillment of prophecy. On one occasion I heard President Snow, speaking in the Salt Lake Temple, declare that temples would be built outside of the confines of Utah and outside of the United States. At that time, it had never dawned upon my mind that temples would be built outside of Utah until we got ready to commence the edifice in Jackson county ; but he made the statement positively, and I see in this the fulfillment of that prophecy. I see in it more than the fulfillment of prophecy. I see that a people who are worthy and anxious to do the work for their dead are to have the opportunity of doing so, and not only for their dead, but for themselves' as well. In several sessions of this conference, I have seen a young man who labored as president of one of the conferences of the Swiss and German mission during the time that I was there. He is now principal of one of the Church schools, a very studious, thoughtful, high-minded man, who said to me on one occasion: "I feel that my parents have deprived me of a blessing which should have been mine, because they might have gone to the temple of the Lord and been sealed together for time and all eternity, but they permitted trivial matters to come in the way and I was not born under the covenant." I wondered at the time and I have often thought about it since, what excuse can the parents of such a man offer to themselves and to him ? It seems to me that if they know his feelings, they will receive sufficient condemnation in the knowledge that their son feels as he does. He is a man who would be a credit to any parent, to any father, to any mother, and the last time I talked with him, he felt that his parents had deprived him of a blessing which belonged to him, and robbed him through their carelessness, of something which was his, or should have been his, because they were indifferent or careless, did not attach to this duty the importance which should belong to it. And I wondered how many more parents are in the same condition, actually robbing posterity of the blessings which should be theirs, because of indifference or carelessness, or because they feel their unworthiness, and will not put themselves into a proper condition to go to the house of the Lord to be sealed together for time and eternity. ¶

It seems to me that we owe posterity something as well as ourselves. The steps which are being taken by the Church to erect temples in the outlying parts will give people a better opportunity to go to the house of the Lord than thev have ever had before. There are doubtless very many cases, as has been suggested here, of people who cannot possibly, because of their conditions, reach the temples, and have to be married in some other way, but I thank the Lord for my own part, that I was born under the covenant, not because I feel that I am any better than those who are not, but I have thought all my life that if this had not been the case with me, I perhaps, would not have been faithful. I thank God for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for what it has done for me. Insignificant as I am in the work of the Lord, I know that I am very much better and more useful in life than I would have been without the gospel. I fear and tremble when I think of what my lot might have been if it had not been for these truths and for the teachings of my parents in my youth. I thank the Lord for my parentage and I thank Him more than I can express that I too have had the privilege of going to the house of the Lord. Those who are near to me are mine forever and cannot be taken from me by any power on earth or beneath the earth or above the earth, save through wrong-doing on my own part. ¶

I think we do not appreciate these blessings. We are as little children. "We see as through a glass darkly," but sometime we will be able to understand what this all means, and will be more faithful and more diligent than we have been. I think that the Latter-day Saints have abundant cause to rejoice. In my opinion, there never has been a time, at least not within my memory, when the people were as well looked after as they are at the present time. I think there never was a time when the organizations were doing the good that they are doing at the present time, when the people were being visited and being labored with and looked after as they are now. The Church districts are being divided and sub-divided, and now there are seventy-two stakes in the Church, a very remarkable increase in the last few years, and the result is that people are being better cared ¶

for and labored with, and they are becoming more diligent in their duties. No uncommon thing now to see wards that have one hundred per cent of block teaching, wards where a hundred per cent of block teaching has been done for four or five years, not a single family missed in any month in that time. And we are seeing the fruit of this diligence in the lives of the people. Faith is increasing and the Saints love the gospel as they never loved it before. They are more diligent, they are striving more earnestly to keep the commandments, they are paying their tithes and offerings, they are keeping the word of wisdom and living nearer the Lord than they have ever done, at least .within my experience. ¶

I bear testimony to the divinity of the gospel and the power and authority of the men who stand at the head. All we have to do as Latter-day Saints, is to follow in their footsteps and give heed to their instructions, and we are absolutely safe. It does not matter to us, or it should not matter, whether we approve always of that which is done. The Lord will sustain those who sustain His authority. And men lose the power and spirit of the gospel the moment they begin to find fault and criticize. I know men who, notwithstanding the fact that their lives were not exemplary for years and years, had a knowledge of the gospel burning in their souls. They frequently bore testimony before the world that they knew this was the truth, but when they reached forth their hands to "steady the ark," the Lord deserted them in that moment, and they were left in darkness ; and when once light becomes darkness, that darkness is something terrible. I pray the Lord to bless this people and help us all to work out our salvation, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶