Never before in all my life

Never before in all my life have I been so grateful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as I am today. My heart swells with blessings for the faithful in Israel, for the faithful Latter-day Saints, for God's blessings are upon the people of this Church. The Lord has blessed the leaders of Israel. He has blessed the people of Israel who have entered the fold of Christ. He has blessed the Church in all its ramifications throughout the world, and I pray that he will continue to bless the Church and those whom he has called to lead and direct its affairs upon the earth. ¶

The gospel of Jesus Christ for which we are so grateful contains very many simple principles, but they are principles of power, and I suppose every heart swelled with gratitude and emotion when President Smith in majesty and in power declared his testimony, that this is the Church. I believe it with all my heart, and testify that it is the Church of God, the Church of Jesus Christ which God honors in the earth, for we have seen his power made manifest in our ministry and in the ministry of His servants, many of whom are here before me, the presidents of stakes of Zion, the bishops of wards, their counselors, and their associates, elders in Israel. The power of God has been made manifest in their ministry, in love, in harmony, in the teaching of the truth, in the bringing of the blessings of joy and happiness into the lives of many people from many lands. I know that the power of God is with the elders in Israel, ¶

those who are faithful and true to their covenants and privileges. My heart is also filled with compassion and pity for those who are not true and faithful because we dislike to see our brethren and our sisters, or our friends, who cannot enjoy the blessings of happiness that we are enjoying, and so our hearts go out to the world and to those who are not of us, wishing and praying that they might enjoy the same blessings of comfort and joy and peace of heart and soul that we are blessed to enjoy. ¶

There are many people of the world, some of them in our midst, that when we declare these glorious principles of joy and happiness, they turn away from them sometimes very much in disgust, not being able to understand them as we do, and the words of a poem, one of our hymns, frequently comes to my mind upon this subject. The words are these: ¶

How foolish to the carnal mind The ordinance of God appears! ¶

Men count it as a puff of wind, And greet it with contemptuous sneers. ¶

What! buried now beneath the flood, To wash away our guilt and sin? Are not some other means as good, Nay, better! Why appear so mean? ¶

Thus they despise the proffered grace, And die and perish in their sin; ¶

So the Assyrian leper thought — What! wash in Jordan to be clean? ¶

And, in a rage, he turned away, And would remain a leper still; ¶

But lo! his humble servant's sway Prevailed at last and changed his will. ¶

He washed in Jordan's rolling flood, And found the foul disease removed; The virtue of the word of God Thus by experience Naaman proved! ¶

Poor sinners now would fain perform Some great and meritorious deed; ¶

Bow to the systems mortals form, That from their sins they may be freed. ¶

But why not yield to simple means? ¶

The Gospel is the power of God; 'Twill save the vilest from their sins, ¶

And turn away His chastening rod. ¶

P. P. Pratt ¶

There are many who say, "What a simple thing it is to go down into the water to be baptized," but it is the gateway to the kingdom of God when performed by proper authority, and there is no other way for us to enter that gate. A simple thing to be baptized for another that he might live again ! Many of us go into the house of the Lord, the temples of God, and perform this simple ordinance that our friends or our kindred dead may enter this glorious kingdom as we have entered it, they having failed to perform that duty here in their lifetime, we say "Oh, what a simple thing it is," and how little we appreciate it, yet what a glorions principle is back of it. Did you ever see anyone who offered a gift to a friend or to a loved one but what his heart was filled with joy? The giver of a good gift is always blessed with joy. I have witnessed this joy upon the faces of my brethren and sisters who have performed the simple act of going down into the water and being baptized by an elder in Israel in behalf of dead kindred or a dead friend. The joy of giving a good gift is great, but the joy that fills the soul of one doing something for someone else who could not act for himself is a joy beyond measure. ¶

I suppose all of the people of the world who believe in Jesus Christ have a faith that he died for us, ¶

that he died to make possible the resurrection from the dead, a simple thing, perhaps, but a wonderful thing for us ; and it gives us an example of doing things for others which they cannot do for themselves. Had it not been for the atonement of Jesus Christ there would not have been a resurrection. There would have been death in the world since Adam died; but for the atonement of Jesus Christ there would have been no resurrection from the dead. In the atonement of Jesus Christ we have the example of the glorious principle of doing for others what others cannot do for themselves. The Latter-day Saints are blessed with that glorious privilege of doing for their loved ones and for their kindred dead what they did not do for themselves, so that the acts of the gospel, these simple acts of going down into the water and being baptized by a proper authority, the simple act of laying hands upon the sick for their restoration, the simple act of laying hands upon our brethern and our sisters to confer the Holy Ghost, they are all simple acts, simple ordinances, but ordinances of power, which are acknowledged both upon earth and in heaven. ¶

I am grateful, my brethren and sisters, for these simple truths. I am grateful for the blessings of the gospel, and for the power of the holy priesthood, the authority to act in the name of God, to rebuke disease, to rebuke the powers of the destroyer, and I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that this power is in the Church today ; it is the power of God to speak and act in his name, and in all humility I feel and sense the responsibil- ¶

ity that has come to me to officiate in the name of the Lord. I pray that I may do so in the spirit of wisdom and in the spirit of humility. I have received many testimonies that the Lord has blessed me, that he has given me words of inspiration for the comfort, counsel and benefit of his children, and I solicit earnestly your faith and prayers to the end that the power of God in the earth may be used in wisdom and in justice by his servants ; and particularly in my behalf I do feel that I need your faith and prayers, that I may labor earnestly and faithfully for the progress of the work, and that the blessings and counsel given to the sons and daughters of Zion may be given under the proper inspiration and guidance. There have been many of our boys received counsel and instruction under this influence, and they have gone out now to face danger in the world. They have gone out, many of them, bearing the holy priesthood. They have confidence in the power that they possess, and I testify to you that, if those brethren, our boys, will honor that priesthood — the power of God which has been given them, and the promises made unto them through that power, they will stand under the protection and in the favor of God and be honored servants in his hands ; for this is God's work and it is going forth and will triumph in the earth. The prophecies of his servants are being fulfilled hourly and daily before our very eyes, and I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that the work of the Lord will continue to grow in the earth until its mission is fully performed. ¶

May we be true and faithful, may ¶

the blessings of our Father be in our homes and be with our sons and daughters, that we may grow daily in faith, in repentance, that we may have the spirit and practice of prayer in our homes, that we may honor the priesthood of God as it is held by the elders in Israel, the different officers throughout the Church, may our hearts be filled with gratitude that we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and live in this day. God's blessings be upon you, my brethren and sisters ; and upon the presiding authorities throughout the Church. I join my brethren in praying for God's choicest blessings to be upon the President of the Church, that his body may be made equal to his mind, that he may be equal to the great responsibilities that are upon him. May his associates receive like and similar blessings according to their needs. May the blessings of Israel be upon Israel, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶