Saints had a burning desire within their hearts

Saints had a burning desire within their hearts to be fed with the bread of life, it would not matter whether they were going to have a speaker they were not accustomed to hearing, nor not ; they would nevertheless go there to partake of the spirit and influence of the meeting. If they went with that desire, with a prayer in their hearts that they would be fed, I am sure that they would be built up in their faith and encouraged in their labors. ¶

For, after all, my brethren and sisters, it isn't altogether the person who stands before the congregations of Latter-day Saints to instruct them, but it is the spirit that we have, and the spirit that the speaker has, that impresses us and makes us feel that the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth living for and if necessary worth dying for. I think the bishops ought to try to make the meetings just as interesting as it is possible. I believe that they ought to meet at least once every week, at a stated time, and plan their work, and go over the affairs of the ward, to discover what is needed, and the best method to adopt in order to secure a better attendance and in order to instruct and inform the Saints of the ward upon points that are so much needed. ¶

I believe that we do not use the magazines of the Church enough in our meetings. I am at meeting every Sunday somewhere in our stake of Zion, unless we are at a general conference, and I seldom ever hear a selection read from the magazines of the Church. I am sure that where the Saints are taking them and reading them, there is plenty of food for reflection in every magazine that we receive, and I am sure that if we would read them, we would be better able to keep in touch with the workings of the Church, and with the requirements and the desires of the authorities of the Church who preside over us. ¶

I believe the young people can be used in our sacramept meetings, and with a little judicious thought and careful planning that they can be brought in to have experience vital to them, in the reading of these selections that are short and to the point that we have published from time to time, and thus give the young people an opportunity of using their voices in public and getting accustomed to speaking to the the people, by reading these selections ; and if necessary, they might speak upon the points about which they read. I think, too, that in almost all our wards, we have young people who have abilities along ,the line of singing, of playing musical instruments, who could be brought in to make our sacrament meetings more interesting, so as to hold the young people. And we find that the young people do not attend the sacrament meetings as faithfully as we expect them to, and as we believe they should. We have well attended Sabbath school meetings. The young people are there, and we appreciate that fact, and we realize also that young people are not able to appreciate, perhaps, as many of the older people are, the principles of the gospel talked upon and about; but we are sure that if they would form the habit they would obtain valuable information, and if they would partake of the spirit that we have in our meetings, they would feel it and it would keep them, so to speak, well cared for during their youthful days. ¶

And I believe that we should more diligently seek the Lord ; be more anxious to know concerning his work. We should have a desire in our hearts to know whether the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is of divine origin or not. We hear our brethren testify from time to time that they know that it is true, but if we want a testimony for ourselves, I believe that it is necessary that we seek the Lord for that testimony. "Ask and ye shall receive," and if we have a desire in our hearts, to be strengthened and to receive testimonies concerning this great latter-day work, if we desire it earnestly enough, and will attend our meetings and pray to the Lord in sincerity and truth, he will give us a testimony of the work which will be a strength to us and will help us to defend it and to stand by it and support those who are leading amongst us. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, I do not desire to take more time than is necessary and due me, but I would like to bear my testimony, and to give you a testimony that I received last winter, that gave me great strength. A young lady came to me last winter and said : ¶

"I would like to have you and President Clark and Patriarch Warren B. Smith" (who was formerly the bishop) "go over to Lehi" (a distance of three miles) "and administer to a lady who is very sick." ¶

I said, "Why, they have brethren over there who are just as good as we are, and I don't know why we should go over there." ¶

She said, "Well, I just feel that if you brethren will go over there and administer to that girl, she. will get better." ¶

"Well, if it is all right with the brethren over there, why it will be all right." ¶

So we went over, and we met at the home where the girl was sick, and when we went into the room the grandfather of the girl came to the door. He said, "Now, brethren, this is a very peculiar sickness that this young lady has ; she is out of her mind, she doesn't know what she is doing, and if she knows you brethren are here, we will not be able to hold her ; you can come in, she is in the next room." We went in; a cousin of the young lady was present; also one of our brethren, a member of our high council; also President Abel John Evans. We heard the statement of the grandfather and of the mother of the girl. She had been in this condition for nearly two weeks ; they had been unable to control her. She refused to talk, and she was able to eat but very little, except what they could induce her to eat, with a great deal of effort, to maintain her existence. When we sat there deliberating upon what we should do, we thought perhaps she was possessed of evil spirits, and we remembered the saying of the Savior that this healing or administration should be done with fasting and prayer. We sat there deliberating upon the subject whether we ought to fast and pray first before we administered, or whether we ought to administer immediately to her. As we did so " the thought came to us that if we let brother so and so go in, with whom she is acquainted, perhaps he could pacify her. As soon as we had decided that this brother should go in and talk to her, she sprang out of the arms of those who were trying to hold her and opened the door into the room where we were, then counted just like that (illustrating), and she went back and wrote on a piece of paper, "five evil spirits," and then she wrote underneath these words : "I don't want brother so and so to come in here; I hate him." Now how she knew that we had decided on that brother to go into that room I don't know, but after a great deal of persuasion the little girl who came to get us persuaded her to let a couple of the brethren come in and administer to her, and she said she would, and wrote it down. When the brethren went in she was standing with her face toward the wall ; wouldn't look at them ; they couldn't get her to sit down, but with the persuasion of this young lady, who seemed to have a great deal of influence with her, they persuaded her to sit down on a chair, and one of the brethren anointed her head with oil and the other brother confirmed the anointing and commanded and demanded that the evil spirit depart from her body and leave the room, when she sank down just like a limp rag. It was necessary to pick her up and place her on the lounge. She lay there just as weak as she could possibly be, without any strength, and before this, my brethren and sisters, the grandfather told me that he had strained his wrists trying to hold her, she was so strong. ¶

About the third day after this administration, I received a telephone message to come to the home of this young lady who wanted us to go and administer to this girl, and I went up to the home, and when I arrived there, this young lady who had been administered to was present, just as well and normal as we are here now, talked sensibly, and has been well ever since. Now, my brethren and sisters, I tell you this incident that the young people of Zion may know that the gifts of the gospel, promised to the believers, are with the Latterday Saints, in order that they may be encouraged and feel that there is power in the Priesthood. ¶

We ought to honor our brethren who preside in our wards and stakes, and in the Church, uphold their hands, and try to carry out the requirements made of us, no matter how small. If we will do this, I will promise you, having had now a great deal of experience in this work, having noticed the growth of our young people in the Church, that if the young men and young women will fasten on to the work and labor at it with a desire to know the truth, they will grow in grace and in a knowledge of the gospel, and will be more useful in the Church in carrying on the work. ¶

May God bless us and help us, to appreciate our standing in the Church, and the privileges and the opportunities that come to us as Latter-day Saints, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶