My brothers and sisters, I have

My brothers and sisters, I have had an opportunity already during this conference of speaking to the Latter-day Saints, but President Smith advises me that I may bear my testimony to you. It is a great privilege and of course carries with it a great responsibility. ¶

Like my brethren who preside over stakes of Zion, I have grown to love the work of the Lord and the people of the Lord. We have in the St. George stake of Zion, one of the best peoples in the Church. It is a desolate region, full of sand and rocks, but the people have become so habituated to battling with the elements for subsistence, and wresting from them some of the comforts of life, that these sands and rocks have grown dear to us, and we love the everlasting hills. We love to ride through your fertile valleys from St. George to Cache, as we can do it now, and see what you have and what we have, and while we know and realize that you are living in better lands than we, yet we are glad that our mission is in that part of the country ; and we are glad, also, that we have held onto the mission of our fathers and we have made it better land to live in than when they first went there, that we have builded well upon the foundations which they laid, not only temporally, but, I hope, spiritually. ¶

I love the work of the Lord, I love the association of my brethren and sisters, especially do I prize my association with the servants of the Lord. It is a good thing that the human heart does not deceive itself. We are not deceived in our attachment to these brethren, and our loyalty has been won from us by a service for mankind and for God, that we cannot and would not gainsay. I am glad that it is so. I am glad to give them my support. I am glad to be guided by their counsel and their advice. I know that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and the more we do for the Church and kingdom of God the greater we love it. ¶

We sometimes think we have discovered psychological principles, among which is that we learn to do by doing. The Lord is a great psychologist. He knew well we would learn to do by doing, and He knew that we love the things we make sacrifices for, and consequently I think He gave us principles in the gospel such as tithing and offerings, donations and things that we call sacrifices on our part, that would cause us to love the work of the Lord, for it is well known by all of us that the more we do for it and the more service we perform for the benefit of mankind, the greater is our love for the children of men. And we all realize and know too, it is in the service of mankind, that we best serve our God. ¶

May the Lord bless us, that the desire may always be with us to serve Him and to serve our fellow men, that we may enjoy and merit the favor of God, which is the source of all true happiness, I pray for it in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶