I sincerely trust, my brethren and sisters

I sincerely trust, my brethren and sisters, that I may be able this afternoon to briefly express my feelings and bear unto you the testimony that abides in me concerning the truthfulness of the work in which we are engaged. To those of us who come from the mission field, from our labors in the world, it is a special treat to meet at these conferences and to listen to the teachings of the brethren who preside over us in the priesthood. I have thought as I have listened to the inspired words that have fallen from the lips of the speakers throughout this conference, that the prayer uttered by J. G. Holland, and mentioned by Elder Ivins in his remarks, has truly been answered in the men who surround us and stand at the head of the Church today; and as for that matter, I do not remember a time in my life when the same could not have been said of the authorities and the leaders of the Church. I was born in the Church; I spent my boyhood days in Salt Lake City, and it has ever been a delight to me to sit and listen to the teachings of the brethren of the apostles and the presidency of the Church, the first seven presidents of seventy, and those who minister among the people. I cannot remember the time when I did not know President Grant, and perhaps he never has known it, but from my boyhood days he has been an ideal of mine, a man that I have looked upon as one that I might follow with safety. I am thankful to the Lord to have been permitted in this conference to stand upon my feet and raise my hand and covenant with the Lord that I will sustain him as a prophet, a seer and a revelator unto the Church, and the President of the Church. I mean, brethren and sisters, that I will do that. I shall sustain him, and I shall sustain the brethren associated with him, and all the appointments that he makes. I am willing to recognize in him the mouthpiece of the Lord, and when I receive a call from him to go or to come, I shall consider it as coming directly from the Lord. I can answer that I will go where he wants me to go, and stay when he wants me to stay. ¶

I rejoice in the gospel; I know that it is true. My heart goes out today to the people who are not acquainted with these truths, to the people who are not acquainted with the gospel, to the great number of our Father's children in the world who have not yet received a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, who are, in a measure, in darkness. My great desire is to continue to labor faithfully and humbly in the preaching of the gospel and to teach the people of the world the way to live, teach them the truth by which they might be made free and the path which they might follow to find a way back into the kingdom of our Father in heaven. It seems to me, brethren and sisters, as I have noticed conditions in the world, that there never was a more opportune time than the present for the preaching of the gospel. It seems there never was a time when it was more needed than it is today; and I do not know whether I have felt just right about it or not, but it seems to me that the time is near at hand when the Church will be called upon to do, even more than it has done in the past in the preaching of the gospel unto the people of the earth. I find, in parts of the United States where I have traveled, where missionary work has been done off and on ever since the Church was organized, that there are many people who have no knowledge of the gospel, who have never had its principles explained unto them. There is a lack of laborers in the vineyard; there is room for many, many more than those who are now engaged in the ministry. ¶

My particular work, brethren and sisters, has been to the Mexican people. I realize very well the odium and almost hatred under which the people of Mexico are laboring today, because of the conditions that exist in their country. But I want to tell you, brethren and sisters, that they are the Lord's children and the Lord loves them. Further than that, they are his covenant people. I wish to explain to you this afternoon that the Mexican people along with the Indians of North America and the people of Central and South America are the Lamanites. They are the people who are the descendants of Lehi, through his disobedient sons, Laman and Lemuel. But they have the promise of the Lord extended to them. I would like to read to you this afternoon to explain our relationship as a people to this branch of the Lord's covenant people; for I sometimes feel that we forget that the gospel is unto all the world. We forget, some of us, at least, that the Lord is able to raise up even those who are downtrodden and down-cast, and who labor under a curse, as these people do. I wish to call your attention this afternoon to our responsibilities before that people. We realize our responsibilities, pretty well, I take it, with reference to the people of other nations; but I find many people who say to me, in referring to the people among whom I have labored: "Would it not be a good thing for the Lord to wipe them off the earth and people their country with somebody else?" It touches my heart. I love the people among whom the Lord has called me to labor, and I desire to continue to labor for their uplift and for their redemption. I take hope in the fact that the Lord has promised that they should be redeemed from their fallen condition, and I feel a responsibility because he has also said that their redemption should come at the hands of the Gentiles, people among whom the fulness of the gospel should be restored. Nephi, in explaining to his brethren a vision received by his father, said: ¶

"Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our fathers; and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel? and are we not a branch of the house of Israel? ¶

"And now, the, thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed: ¶

"And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved. ¶

"And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God? ¶

"Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive tree, into the true olive tree; ¶

"And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles; that the Lord may shew his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel." ¶

We see, then, by this, my brethren and sisters, that the mission of redeeming that people is resting upon our shoulders; for I testify to you this afternoon that I know that the gospel of the Redeemer has been restored unto us, and that through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith the Church of God has been organized and exists upon the earth. The gospel is here and with it the powers thereof. The power of the holy priesthood exists in the Church today, the right to call men to repentance, the right, the commission of God to man to call men to repentance and administer in all of the ordinances necessary for the salvation of men. I testify to you further, that I know that an angel of the Lord delivered to this same Prophet the golden record written by prophets of an ancient day, from which this book was translated, and I testify to you that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, it contains the gospel of the Redeemer, and it speaks of our duties towards the descendants of this people. Brethren and sisters, just one more word before I conclude: ¶

"And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord there shall be many which shall believe, the words which are written, and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed. ¶

"And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews. ¶

"And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers." ¶

I sense the responsibility of this call, my brethren and sisters, and I trust that my ministry will bear out the testimony that I have given here today, that I do love them, and that I desire to serve them; for I know that in serving them and endeavoring to bring them to a knowledge of the Lord I am serving him and that I will get my reward. I am thankful to the Lord that young men are being called today to labor in the Mexican mission and among the Indians throughout the Southwest of the United States, over whom I, perhaps, shall have the honor of presiding. I would like to say to the young men of Israel, do not deem it a misfortune to be called to labor among that people; it is a grand, a glorious privilege, and not a cross, that has come to you. ¶

O, boys, try to get the spirit of it, to live up to the hymn that has been sung during this conference, and believe it when you say, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, I'll do what you want me to do, I'll say what you want me to say." ¶

O, you mothers, let your boys go out with the spirit of service in their hearts, not with a desire to acquire polish, to get an education, and to come home and shine as bright lights, but encourage them through your letters to them, to go out and to feel after those who are out there who are in darkness, those who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, those who need the spiritual food that can be administered unto them by none others than the members of this Church who have the priesthood of Almighty God, and the right to minister and call men to repentance, to baptize for the remission of sin. I want to tell you that the man who goes out in the spirit of true service will come back greater than the man who goes out expecting and aiming to get polish. We are told in the book of Doctrine and Covenants that we should not go out to be taught. I think sometimes we should not go out to learn. We are told distinctly we should go out to teach. We are supposed to know, we are supposed to have a knowledge of the truth, and we are supposed to have a testimony and be able to teach the world that by which it may be saved. ¶

I want to testify that I know that God lives, that Jesus is his Son, that he came in the meridian of time, that he is the Redeemer of the world; and I testify to you further that I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that through him the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is established again in the world. I testify to you that I know that the men who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph Smith, as seers and revelators and prophets unto this Church, are indeed prophets, seers and revelators. I testify further that I know that Heber J. Grant, who stands at the head of the Church today, is God's mouthpiece unto not only the Church, but the whole world, and whatever the Lord has to say to the world today, he will say through that instrumentality. May the Lord bless us and help us to thank him for a prophet, and to show our thankfulness by obedience to the words that shall come to us from him, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶