My brethren and sisters and

My brethren and sisters and friends: To say that I am surprised to be called upon to occupy this position this morning, I assure you is putting it very mildly. I am here because I was sent, and I believe that it is the duty of every Latter-day Saint to do their bit in the furtherance of the cause of this great Church to which we belong, just as it is for us to do our bit when we are called upon to defend the Nation in which we live when it is in trouble. ¶

I trust that I may be strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord. I can assure you that I feel fortified with the knowledge of those of my brethren who are here to assist in this service this morning, and I know that the Lord will bless them and us all, and that we will feel that our coming together has not been a failure, even if we are called upon to hold our services in the open air. ¶

I was impressed with the opening address of the President of our Church, at our conference, and the addresses of our brethren who followed. The theme advanced by them has been in my mind for some time, that we should pay our respects, show our loyalty, extend our appreciation to those whom the ¶

Lord has placed in authority over his Church and over his people in the dispensation in which we live. I am thankful for the great men who preside over the Church now. I am grateful for the President, for his Counselors, for the Twelve, for the Presiding Bishopric, for the Presidents of Seventies, and all good men who have spent so much of their time in the interests of humanity ; I know that it is fitting and right that we should express our feelings and our minds along this line while those brethren are with us, and not wait until they have passed beyond. Therefore, I bear my testimony to the goodness of these men, to the efficient administration that they are giving this great Church and the people of the Lord who have embraced this gospel. ¶

I come from the Rigby stake of Zion, a stake situated in southern Idaho. When I went there some twenty-one years ago, I found a wilderness, a desert. Practically on the very spot that was desert at that time, three weeks ago it was our pleasure to have with us President Smith, President Lund, President Grant, and Bishop Nibley, to assist in dedicating a new stake tabernacle that we built last year. This building seated, and we had present at our afternoon session, 2,755 people, where 25 years ago was nothing but sagebrush. I mention this, my brethren and sisters, that you may know that Zion is growing and spreading ; and this is only one of the stakes out of probably 15 others so organized in that great state of Idaho, adjoining Utah on the north. ¶

I am proud to be a Latter-day Saint, I am proud that the Lord has blessed me with sufficient courage ¶

and faith to be true to its principles, to be true to the cause. I have always taken great pleasure, and have been delighted whenever an opportunity has presented itself to me to explain unto my fellow men the principles of life and salvation that have been revealed to us in this dispensation. ¶

It was only a short time ago, while visiting in the state capital in the state of Idaho, that a very prominent man came up to my room, one with whom I had the opportunity and privilege of serving in the state senate in Idaho, a man highly educated. He came up to my office, not with a view of talking religion, but I presume he came to talk politics. We had not proceeded very long until our conversation drifted upon those topics, and the first thing he said to me was, "Senator, don't you know that there is now being a persisent effort put forth in this state by a certain religious organization to control its politics?" I said, "Senator, I am surprised to hear that statement ; I thought the only fear that was contained in the hearts of the citizens of Idaho of any Church controling the politics of our state was the 'Mormon' Church." "O," he said, "you are mistaken." ¶

That opened the conversation. I asked him what religion he professed. He said he was a member of the Christian Science Church. I told him I was glad to know that, that I knew a great many people who were broad-minded who were members of that church, and I was glad to know that he belonged to that organization. ¶

He told me what a wonderful lecturer appeared in the capital city last year, and he explained the God they worship, and he said, "I took ¶

one of your members up and introduced him to him after the services were over, and he said he thought the talk was very nice, but he did not understand the kind of God that had been portrayed to them during that service." I said, "No, he would not understand that, because you believe in an immaterial being as your God. As Latter-day Saints — 'Mormons,' as we are known — we believe that God is a material being, an exalted, immortal man. He was once as we are, and it is possible for us to attain to the heights that he has now attained ; and we base our faith on the circumstance that transpired in the death, crucifixion, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When he came forth, there were evidently people on the earth, his followers, who did not have a correct understanding of this being we call God, and before Jesus left, it was his will, that his disciples should know what kind of a being God was, that when Christ should leave them he might leave them united with regard to this great principle, because we are told that in order to obtain eternal life we must know Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God,' and we must know God the Father, before we can intelligently and consistently worship him. I turned to the Bible, and, by the way, I always carry my Bible and other Church works with me, I have them in the hotel now, though I don't always read them. I always feel fortified when I have them with me. I got my Bible, and I read to him where the Savior appeared to his disciples, and told them to bring meat and give him something to eat; and he did eat and drink with them, and invited them to come forward and put their fingers in the holes in his hands, saying, "Handle me, because a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." ¶

"Now," I said, "you may see that there were evidently people then, even in the days of Christ, who were with him personally, who entertained the same views erroneously, as you and a great many other conscientious people do, concerning the kind of being that God is. Thomas was not present, and he was not satisfied to accept the testimony of the other disciples, hence it was necessary that the Savior come and present himself to Thomas that he might also understand. ¶

And when I finished with him, he turned to me and said, "I am surprised. I never knew there was anything like that in the Bible. You certainly have some substantial evidence on which to base your theory." ¶

He asked me what I thought about the incident of Christ upon the cross, when the thief acknowledged him and Christ promised him, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." ¶

"How do you explain it?" he said. I said, "Let the Apostle Peter explain that to you." The thief did not go to heaven as modern Christians claim that he did, but to a place of departed spirits, as the Savior did during the three days that his spirit was separated from his body. ¶

I referred to several other things, but he was called away before we finished our conversation. About three weeks after, I received a letter from him something like this : "My dear Mr. Hart, The little conversation that we had on topics in the hotel during your visit in Boise ¶

has made one of the greatest impressions upon my mind of anything I have known in the religious line yet, and I am anxious to know more about your gospel and doctrine." ¶

I mention this, my brethren and sisters, to show that it is our duty to be alert at all times, ready to defend this great cause, because the Lord has entrusted it to our care, and placed the responsibility on our shoulders. I want to testify to you that I have never lost anything in this way, in any shape or form. I have never lost my standing among my non-"Mormon" friends on account of defending at all times the Church to which we belong. I want to say to you that you never will. May the Lord bless us in this. This is my testimony to you, and in it I have always taken great pleasure. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless us that we may be valiant in the cause, that we may be brave and willing to meet all people, and defend this cause in which we have enlisted, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶