I am deeply impressed with the responsibility of

I am deeply impressed with the responsibility of addressing this large congregation this morning, and I hope that I shall be able to make myself heard. I have frequently sat in congregations where the voice of the speaker has not reached me, and I know how trying and tedious it is not to hear the person who is speaking. ¶

I see before me Latter-day Saints who have felt in their hearts the power and influence of the gospel and who, in their daily lives, are striving with all their human weaknesses to serve the Lord and to keep his commandments. We are here to be fed with the bread of life — the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of you have come long distances and some of you may be disappointed at your inability to get into the great Tabernacle to partake of the spirit of that meeting. The Lord has said that where two or three are gathered together in his name, there he will be with them, and that to bless. I have long since learned that numbers do not make a meeting, although there is an inspiration ¶

in numbers. I have been in meeting where a few latter-day Saints have met and have felt the power of the Lord just as much as in any large meeting. So I feel this morning in looking at your upturned faces that I am speaking to my brethren and sisters who have felt the power of God. ¶

We come to these great semi-annual conferences in order that we may be edified; that the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ may be taught to us, that it may appeal to our feelings and emotions. We also come that we may be taught doctrine and principle, and, if necessary, to be reproved for our weaknesses, our failings and our imperfections. When we come to a meeting like this, willing to be taught the principles of the gospel, and reproved, if necessary, then we will have the Spirit of the Lord in our midst. ¶

I have been at meetings where men and women have borne their testimonies who could scarcely express themselves, yet I have been thrilled in my very being with their testimonies. ¶

I desire, during the few minutes I may address you, to call attention to the subject that has been very prominently before the Latterday Saints during the last two or three years, and that is, the spirit of worship upon the Sabbath day. I feel sincerely that in many of our Sabbath gatherings and sacramental meetings we lack the spirit of worship. Some of us go to meeting because it is a habit (and it is an excellent habit too). I would not decry nor speak against any habit that is a good one. Do we "enter the sacrament meeting as if it were a commonplace affair? Do we go to be entertained? I sometimes feel that we are drifting into the idea that we must be entertained at our sacrament meetings to induce us to attend. I have heard it expressed more than once : "I don't think I will go to meeting tonight; it will be just an ordinary meeting." In consequence of this feeling being developed among the Latter-day Saints, our bishops are going outside of their wards inviting brethren to go and address their congregations in order to increase the attendance at their sacrament meetings. The Lord has told his people, "And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day." ¶

There is something more important in this sacrament meeting than going to listen to speaking. The Lord has commanded us that as often as we shall meet together and partake of the sacrament in remembrance of his sufferings that we shall worship him in spirit and in truth. We should enter our meetinghouses with a spirit of reverence to God and to his servants, reverence for the house of worship and for the sacrifice made by our Lord and Savior, for he has promised us that if we will partake of the sacrament worthily and renew our covenants before him, he will grant unto us his holy Spirit. We should, therefore, enter the house of worship with the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts. Peace and order should prevail in that building and throughout the whole of the service. ¶

A short time ago I was in a stake of Zion, and after the conference gatherings I was asked to attend a ward meeting on the Sunday evening. While the sacrament was being administered two boys entered the building and ran up the aisle. They were immediately stopped by older persons. This building was used for a playground, basket ball, dances and every other kind of local entertainment. These boys entered the house in the manner they did, because they could not separate it from a house of worship, it having been used for a basket ball game on the previous evening. ¶

We should set the example and teach our young people that when we enter the house of the Lord, we should do so with the spirit of devotion in our hearts, and partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, remembering his death and sufferings. Whatever we do should be done in the spirit of devotion and worship. We should not partake ,of the sacrament mechanically, we should repeat mentally the sacramental prayer. Our eyes should be closed and our thoughts concentrated on the sacred duty we are performing when we partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. ¶

I appeal to you, my brethren and sisters, to go home determined that hereafter when you enter a house of worship you shall do so quietly and orderly, and that gossiping shall be discontinued, that peace and order shall prevail as far as our influence will permit ; for if we will enter the house of worship in this manner, the Spirit of the Lord will be with us, our worship will be acceptable unto him, our faith will increase, and, whether those who may address us speak fluently or not, we shall feel the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, if we already have it in our hearts, and doctrine and knowledge will be imparted unto us. It cannot be otherwise where a congregation is seeking, under the influence of the Lord, to be edified and instructed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I pray that the blessings of the Lord may be with his people, that Zion may grow and prosper, that the Sabbath day may be observed as the Lord has commanded, and that the spirit of worship and devotion to our Father in heaven may be in our hearts, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶