Brethren and sisters, the feeling that

Brethren and sisters, the feeling that has been uppermost in my mind since the opening of this conference, has been that of gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord for his many blessings unto us as a people. I feel very thankful this morning to have the privilege of standing before you and of bearing my testimony concerning the divinity of the work that we are engaged in. I am thankful to the Lord for the instructions, counsel and admonitions that we have received throughout the conference thus far, and I feel especially thankful to the Lord that we have such noble and inspired men to guide and teach us. I am thankful to the Lord that the gospel, with all of the powers and authority that have ever pertained to it in any time of the world's history, is here with us today. I am thankful for the life of our beloved President, Joseph F. Smith, and that the Lord has abundantly strengthened him and blessed him thus far during this conference. And I feel that our hearts should go out in faith and prayer to the Lord to strengthen him and heal him wherein he is afflicted, and grant that he may live yet many years to be our leader and the mouthpiece of the Lord unto his people. ¶

We are living in a momentous time. We are living in the times, as has been stated here this morning, of the fulfilment of the promises and prophecies of the Lord. As has been intimated, we the elders of the Church who have been called into the mission field, have for many years quoted these prophecies and called upon the people of the earth to repent of their sins if they wished to avert the calamities that the Lord had predicted would be poured down upon the people in the event that they continued in their wickedness. I thank the Lord that there are thousands of people among the nations of the earth whose hearts have been touched and who have listened to the testimonies of the elders, have investigated the principles of the gospel, repented of their sins and gathered out, and who are today striving to live in harmony with the teachings of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many thousands of people in the world yet who are investigating, who have not yet received the gospel, that I think will do so, and I quite agree with what has been said at some of the sessions of the conference that we are attending, that there is quite a general spirit of investigation, of humility, of prayer coming over the nations of the earth and the peoples therein, and I feel that many will be touched in their hearts and many will cry, who have not yet done so, to the elders of the Church, just as the multitudes cried to Peter and his brethren in times of old, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" And the only answer that can be given them is the one that was given by Peter to the multitudes on the occasion to which I refer, when he said : "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins." That is the message of "Mormonism" to the world today, the message of faith in God, a God in whose image we are made. And to repent of our sins, not with the repentance that it is needful to repent of tomorrow, in that we turn again to our sins, but the absolute forsaking of sin and turning to a righteous life. Baptism is essential on our behalf that we may be washed clean and be made pure and receive a remission of our sins, and through that door, enter into the kingdom of our Father in heaven ; and the promise that was made of old stands good today, that all those who do so would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This, I testify to you is a reality. I have seen its influence come upon many people in the world, and their lives, through its influence, have been fortified against evil and they have been able to withstand persecution, overcome temptation, and live, even in the midst of Babylon, the lives of Latter-day Saints. ¶

We are living in a time predicted of old. If you will refer to the 24th chapter of Matthew, you will observe in the words of our Savior, some of the signs that should come unto the world that would indicate his second coming was close at hand. I shall not refer to them all, but wish to call your attention to this particular sign that he gave, and that when there should be wars, and during a time such as we see at the present time, with pestilence and earthquakes and destruction in different parts of the world, that many should rise up in the name of the Lord, some even claiming to be the Savior of the world, and that many false prophets should arise, and that they should deceive many. Now, brethren and sisters, we encounter, as we travel through the world, people who will quote this scripture to us and claim that our prophets, those whom we claim to be prophets raised up and endowed with power in these last days to organize the Church and establish the gospel in the earth, are those who are the false prophets of whom the people are warned to beware. But, prior to that time, the Savior gave to the people a key by which they might know as to the divinity of a prophet, and he warned them to "beware of wolves in sheep's clothing," and he said, ''By their fruits shall ye know them." ¶

Now, our prophet has warned us during this conference, along certain lines. He spoke concerning the Word of Wisdom. I should like to read to you today that prophecy, or that word of the Lord as it came through the Prophet Joseph Smith, eighty-five years ago. I call attention to the fact that scientific research and the scientists of the earth have never from that day to this, found one thing concerning the laws of health and those things that were good and those that were not good for man, that has contradicted, in any sense, the word of the Lord in the Word of Wisdom. On the other hand, we find nations who are steeped in the vices condemned in this scripture, and peoples who thought that they could not live without partaking of these things, that have universally risen up and condemned the very things that they upheld before, and that, in accordance with this scripture as revealed to us through the prophet of the Lord. ¶

If this were all that we had, and it is not, for we have very much more that corroborates the fact that Joseph Smith was inspired of God ; but if this were all, we might very justly lay claim to the fact that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I shall read this Word of Wisdom : ¶

1. A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the Council of High Priests, assembled in Kirtland, and church: and also the saints of Zion. ¶

2. To be sent greeting — not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days. ¶

3. Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints. ¶

4. Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation, ¶

5. That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. ¶

6. And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make. ¶

7. And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. ¶

8. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. ¶

9. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly. ¶

10. And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man. ¶

11. Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. ¶

12. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving: nevertheless they are to be used sparingly: ¶

13. And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. ¶

14. All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth: ¶

15. And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger. ¶

16. All grain is good for the food of man, as also the fruit of the vine, that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground. ¶

17. Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain. ¶

18. And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel, and marrow to their bones, ¶

19. And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge even hidden treasures: ¶

20. And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint: ¶

21. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, we know that we are taught not to drink strong drinks. We know that in our nation, many of the states have become "dry" because they have become convinced of the fact that this is truth and that strong drinks are not good for man. Our navy abolished strong drinks because it increased the strength and efficiency of our sailors to be without liquor. At the time this revelation was given it was thought that men could not fight without their measure of grog ; also the best scientific research in the country has demonstrated beyond a doubt, the fact that the use of tobacco is injurious to all those who participate in its use. We find that science has shown in corroboration of this revelation that much meat is detrimental to the human system, particularly if used in time of heat. We have found not only this, but we are today curtailing the appetites of the people at home that we might send wheat abroad to our allies and soldiers for the world has discovered that the best grain for the use of man, where men are put to the severest test, is the grain that the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith as the grain designed for the use of man. There were experiments made in the early stages of the war with different grains, and I read an article wherein it stated that wheat was demonstrated to be superior as a food to any other grain, under the trying circumstances that men are put to in the trenches and in the battles of Europe. These things should make us think — they are in accord with the words of the Prophet whom the Lord has raised up in these last days, and I bear you my testimony that he was a prophet of the Lord, and we should follow his counsel and his admonition. And now, if he was a prophet of the Lord, the one that stands at the head of the Church today is just as much so as he was. ¶

We are facing a critical condition in the world's history. There is a scarcity of food. There is hunger. There is starvation in the world. Thousands of people who are not of this Nation but are of other nations are starving to death today. They need food, and the prophet of the Lord has told us that it is our duty to raise food, to raise grain, to conserve our resources. This is just as much the word of the Lord to Israel today as is the prophecy that I have read concerning the Word of Wisdom. One of the things that makes me so thankful today, brethren and sisters, is to see your full faces, showing you are well nourished and contented, that you are not in want, for very recently, in fact for three months during this past winter I have been traveling in the land to the south of us, even in the land of Mexico, and there I have seen the effects of war. The people in Mexico, not one or two or three or several hundred or thousand, but thousands of people there today are nearly starved to death as a result of the war that has existed in that land for seven years. It is not due to the fact that Mexico is non-productive. It is not due to the fact that the people, as is generally considered or thought, would rather fight than work, but due to the fact that conditions have not been such that they have been able to till the soil and raise crops. An embargo has been placed against any food exportation into Mexico. And as I traveled down into that country, I saw thousands of people come to the side of the train at places where we stopped, and beg for anything that would appease the pangs of hunger, and I think I can sense more fully than I have heretofore, what is going on in Europe when we hear of the sufferings of the Belgians, the Serbians, the Roumanians, and other peoples over there, and I imagine that I can see them today, just as I saw the little Mexican children, starving to death. ¶

You cannot conceive of it, even if I told you. Mothers with clothes ragged and torn, their own flesh drawn to the bone, holding little children, reduced to mere skeletons, their heads wobbling, scarce held up by an almost bare spinal column. Many of them die daily. One old man came to me whom I knew four and a half years ago. He was reduced almost to a skeleton. He said, "I am near starvation, and need help." And as he sat before me, he said, ''Brother Pratt, you don't know what it is to be hungry." I believed him. I believe you don't know what it is to be hungry. My little children don't know what it is to be hungry. Thank the Lord, they have ravenous appetites. I have, you have, but we don't know what hunger is until hunger pinches the flesh off our bones. ¶

I was thankful the night I came home from Mexico. I have eight little children where I live, and every one was glad to see me. They piled all over me, and I sat there and loved them and kissed them, and thanked God that their little faces were full ; and I pray to God that the war may never bring to us the suffering and starvation that has come to that people in Mexico and to other peoples of the world. And I want to tell you the way we can avert it. The way we can avert it is to live as the Prophet of the Lord has told us to live. We want to get behind this ; we want to raise breadstuff, we want to raise wheat ; we want to raise beets for sugar ; we want to curtail our appetites in things that do not count. We want to buy War Savings stamps and Liberty Bonds. We want to save and provide our soldiers who have gone abroad to fight for liberty, and give them that which they must have to live. That is why we are doing these things. ¶

The Lord has said that this is a land of promise, a land blessed above all other lands upon the face of the earth, and he has given great and marvelous promises to those whom he has brought here ; and he said we should have peace if we would do certain things. I want to tell you, if we want to have what is coming to us as the people of the Lord, if we want to be blessed as we always have been and are, if we want to have our children around us at night full and rosy, we must live the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I thank the Lord that the great Nation, the United States, is waking up in vital things. I thank the Lord that they are curtailing the use of intoxicating liquor. I thank the Lord for the prospect of nationwide prohibition. I thank the Lord for the noble work that the departments of this government are doing in regard to curtailing vice in the vicinity of our great cantonments, inasmuch as the boys don't restrain themselves of their own volition. They are making of the men of this nation a virtuous army, and they are striving to curtail and keep within the commandments of the Lord, and make us a people that will conserve this land to us as the most blessed land in all the world. ¶

I dont' want to trespass upon your time, but I wish to read to you in conclusion, the word of the Lord, as it came to the brother of Jared, concerning this land, when he came here so many years ago, and the Lord showed to him how he might dwell here in peace and contentment and happiness : ¶

And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. ¶

And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity: ¶

For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands: wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God, or shall be swept off: for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. ¶

And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God, that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you, as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done. ¶

And in passing I will say that the Jaredite people forsook this counsel and brought down the wrath of God upon this land, and were absolutely and utterly wiped off the face of the land because of their iniquity, and such was the case in regard to the Nephite people. They, too, because of their iniquity, even though they had the prophets of the Lord to teach them to the very last and to call them to repentance, became so ripened in iniquity that the Lord fulfilled his word and wiped them off the face of the land. It should be a warning to us. ¶

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. ¶

Now, we have this as a standing promise, and I am sure that as long as the people of this land preserve their virtue and integrity, this land shall be free from all other nations of the earth. We need have no fear from Germany other than the fear that naturally creeps into our hearts at having our sons killed at their hands over there ; but as far as their invading America and coming over to rule over this land, it shall never be, so long as we acknowledge the hand of the Lord and his Son Jesus Christ, or so long as we serve the God who rules over these nations. Is it worth the while ? is it worth the price ? Would you like to see come to you and yours what has come to the Belgians, the French, the Serbians, the Roumanians, and all those who have been overrun by the power of a tyrannical autocracy? I do not condemn the German people individually ; but I condemn the spirit that is the curse of the world today, and that would enslave all the inhabitants of the earth. I would rather give my body and my son's body and my race than to see them dominate and come over here and usurp our rights and tyrannize over us ; but I would rather avert it by the simple means the Lord has given us, even that of living according to the commandments of the Lord. His commandments are today to abstain from evil, to produce food, and to raise that which is necessary to maintain life. Let us hearken to the words of the Lord, and let us go hence and carry to the people these instructions. Let us be Latter-day Saints, and live each day in harmony with the will of the Lord as it is made manifest to us. ¶

In conclusion, I testify to you that I know that God lives. I know that his Son Jesus Christ came to the world in very deed, and is the Redeemer of the world. I know that Joseph Smith received a visitation from them, and later from Peter, James and John, and received the authority to establish the Lord's work in these last days. I know that those who have succeeded him in the First Presidency of the Church have held the same authority, and I testify to you that I know that Joseph F. Smith, who stands at the head of the Church today, is the mouthpiece of God to all the peoples of the earth. May the Lord bless us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

A song, entitled, "The Pioneer," was sung by Don C. Priestly, the singing being preceded by an explanation given by Professor Evan Stephens, who said: ¶

"I know it is unusual to make explanations before singing a song; but I feel that you will get more benefit if I say a word about this one. It is an attempt to represent the feelings of President Brigham Young, when he first looked upon this beautiful valley where we are now making our homes. The first portion is to represent him when he looked out upon the valley; the second, the thoughts of the trials which they had passed through; and the third, the culmination, centers around the idea expressed when he said, 'This is the place!' " ¶