I am very glad to be

I am very glad to be with you, my brethren and sisters, but sorry that we cannot accommodate every one who desires to attend this meeting; the weather being unpropitious has compelled us to crowd here. Whether or not you are all members of the Church, I do not know, for gathered together upon this block are many strangers from foreign lands. ¶

Many years ago two young elders were preaching the gospel as missionaries in one of our mining camps in the mountains. There were quite a few strangers gathered round to listen to them. They were only boys ; but they were explaining the gospel as taught to them by their fathers and mothers and according the testimonies that they had received ; and in that crowd were one or two Latter-day Saints, that these young elders did not know anything about; one of them was an elder, and he remarked to his companion. "I can hardly stand still ; these people around us are listening to these young men, and I have a testimony of the gospel, too, and I want to bear it." So when the time came, and one of the elders discontinued, he stepped into the street and commenced also to bear his testimony. That elder had performed missions, he knew just what the gospel was, he wanted to help those young men, he felt the time was opportune for bearing his testimony, and he did so to the amazement and the consternation of some gathered there, the elders themselves not knowing who he was. ¶

Upon the Temple block it is perfectly natural for us to preach the gospel, very often unto strangers, however, for they are the ones who come here daily. Perhaps, for your information, I might say that upon this block every year we have from 200,000 to 300,000 strangers from ¶

all parts of the world, desirous of knowing something with regard to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the principles revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith ; they come, and we do not know who they are or where they are from, until they make it known ; but the same testimony that you have, Latter-day Saints, is borne unto them under the shadow of this roof, and it commences very often with the beautiful little story referred to by Brother Halls. I want to emphasize that. To us it means everything as far as this Church is concerned, as far as our faith is concerned, as far as our hope of eternal life is concerned, for without that, we would not be here, nor would we understand the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in its fulness. ¶

A gentleman came here recently and handed me his card. I have it here now — a titled gentleman, a professor of the University and director of the Academy Royal, at Brussels. He was traveling through here and had called on the Presidency, had visited a number of our institutions, and he had seen what Salt Lake City was. He gazed with wonder upon the Temple, and later came into the office adjoining here. And this was his story, in his broken tongue, which I cannot give to you, for he gave it as only a Belgian can. ¶

"I have visited your city. I have seen these wonderful streets. I have seen those wonderful buildings. I have been talking to some of your officers in the Church. I find that there is here in Salt Lake City something that I do not understand. I want to know something more of your faith and what you believe in." ¶

And then he asked the very simple question, that caused some of our people to smile, "Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" ¶

You could observe how anxious he was to learn of our faith. How did we commence to answer that, think you? "Believe in God? Yes, the very first article of our faith is, 'We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost,' a sentence that every little boy and every little girl in our Sunday School can recite. It is taught unto them, and they understand it." ¶

"How do you know that? How do you know that there is a God? How do you know that he has a Son Jesus Christ?" ¶

And then comes up the story that Brother Halls very briefly touched upon, that the very beginning of our work was a revelation from God to the boy prophet Joseph Smith, as beautiful a story as is to be found in any literature — that a boy between fourteen and fifteen years of age, with a deep anxiety to know the will of God, bowed in humble prayer, and in faith asked the Lord for direction. ¶

" 'How do we know that there is a God ? How do we know that he has a Son Jesus Christ?' We know it because Joseph Smith the Prophet saw God, he heard him speak, he saw his Son Jesus Christ, he heard the words of the Father, when pointing unto the Son, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, hear ye him.' It is not a fairy story, it occurred in that beautiful grove near Palmyra, in the western part of the State of New York." ¶

The gentleman was surprised at that story. He could scarcely comprehend it. But I could tell by the ¶

change of his countenance, by the glance of his eye, by the eager manner in which he leaned forward to learn more, that he caught the spirit of that first vision as you and I caught it. ¶

And then he asked, "Well, that God, is he like a man?" ¶

Then comes the truth made known in this dispensation by the boy prophet Joseph Smith, that the Eternal One is not a mythical be ing, he is not a being without body, parts or passions, he is not a spirit pervading all space ; but he is a personage, a personage of body, of spirit, with parts as I have, and that it has been made known through the Prophet Joseph Smith that man, in very deed, is in the image of God, the Eternal Father, that the Son is also in his express image. Joseph Smith received this testimony, he could never depart from it, he could not deny it. He had seen the Father, he 'had seen the Son, he had received from the Son, Jesus Christ, instructions with regard to this great mission ; and this testimony many of my brethren and sisters here have received, and in this respect we stand to a very great extent in the same position as Joseph Smith. ¶

I trust we shall have the very same spirit, for after he had referred to the instructions given him of the Lord Jesus Christ, he stated — that the spirit of bitter reviling and persecution which followed gave him, the youthful prophet, a great deal of sorrow. However, he says in his own statement : ¶

"It was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled, But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know to his latest breath, that he had both seen a light, and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise. ¶

"So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." ¶

"Now," said my friend, "tell me something more." ¶

"Very well, we have commenced now with this great revelation coming in the latter days to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We believe in God the Eternal Father and in his Son Jesus Christ. Why? Because the Prophet Joseph saw them, heard them, received revelations from them. We have faith in God. So that the first principle of the gospel comes in. Isn't it easy to have faith in such a God? Faith, followed by repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We have these plain and simple principles before ¶

us day by day, and do not they inspire our lives?" ¶

I am not going to take more time. You want to hear from President McMurrin. We love to hear him and his testimony, for few men in this Church have been raised from death unto life while defending the truth as has this man who is before you, a living testimony of the power of God in this dispensation, and we love him for that, as well as for his fidelity. ¶

Now, what is the lesson I want to draw ? We are amongst the people of the world, coming in contact with them day by day. It is my privilege to meet them by the thousands, it is your privilege to meet them in your various localities. Where do we stand? We stand ready at all times to do as the Prophet Joseph Smith said : we have received this testimony of the gospel in our hearts, we know that it is true. God knows that I know that this gospel is true, that the testimony that I bear comes from my very heart, and that the dearest thing to me on earth is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it has given unto me certain blessings. It has given them unto you Latter-day Saints. In the temple of the Lord we have been sealed as husbands and wives for time and for all eternity. We have had innumerable blessings. What shall we do? We will do as the Prophet Joseph said, continue to bear this testimony. They may persecute us, ridicule us, heap upon us all manner of calumny but we know that the gospel is true. In our various localities, wherever we live, in every little village, in every little town, by our lives we will declare that this gospel is true. With our voices we will bear testimony that Joseph Smith was a ¶

prophet of God. In our homes, with these little children, such boys and girls as these blessed mothers have clinging to them now, in our families we will teach our children from babyhood, that the greatest thing on earth is a testimony of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it will save them, and save us through all the eternities to come. ¶

May God bless you, and may God bless all Israel. ¶

I rejoice exceedingly with you that the President of our Church, the Prophet of the Lord, is so fully recovered that he could be with us in this conference. I believe all Israel throughout the length and breadth of the land has been pleading for him. Let us continue to pray that God will bless "our prophet dear." And may God establish us fully in the truth and enable us to appreciate his revelations, as given unto us through the Prophet Joseph Smith, is my earnest prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶