Testimony of the Gospel

My beloved brethren and sisters, in standing before this congregation, I feel very humble and weak, and I sincerely desire that I may have your sympathy, and that I may have the Spirit of the Lord to direct me in the few remarks that I make this afternoon. ¶

My heart is full of thanksgiving to our heavenly Father for the membership which I have in this Church. I prize it above all other things. I am thankful for the Priesthood which I have received, for the blessings and the unspeakable joy that it has brought to my soul. ¶

It was indeed a great manifestation and blessing to me this morning to hear our President sound the key-note of our conference. I felt that he was inspired of the Lord in his remarks, and the testimony came to my soul that he is indeed a prophet of the Lord, that the mantle of the Prophet Joseph F. Smith has fallen upon him. That is burning in my bosom. This is my testimony, my brethren and sisters, I know that he is a prophet of God. ¶

It is a great joy to the world when we announce that it is one hundred years since the appearance of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith. There has never been a time in my life since my father told me of the occurrence that I have had any doubt in my soul that the Prophet saw the Father and the Son, and that he heard the Father say to him "Joseph, this is my beloved Son; hear him." And indeed he had a message to deliver to that youthful person who so soon became the Prophet of the Lord. ¶

In my experience in traveling in different parts of the world, I have often thought of the words, "They are all wrong, they worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men." I have many times testified before congregations of the world to this wonderful statement; and I have often thought, I wonder what the people think, what these great so-called Christian nations think, when we stand before them and make that statement. My brethren and sisters, it has been my privilege to bear my testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith in England, in Belgium, in France, in Switzerland, in all the provinces of Germany, and in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and my heart has been aglow with joy and satisfaction unspeakable when I have had the privilege of bearing this testimony to the people. ¶

I remember when on my first mission, in 1890, I was called to Switzerland, and was going from house to house without money and without price, and bearing my testimony to the people, I was once about to go into a large house, the owner of which must have been a very wealthy man, and he met me at the door. He did not invite me in, but in my humble way I bore my testimony to him of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of the gospel being restored in its fulness; and I preached to him the principles of* faith, repentance and baptism, and I will never forget the reply that he made to me. "My dear boy," he said, "I admire you for your courage, but your doctrine I cannot accept." ¶

Not very long ago I read a letter from one of my old friends in the city of Vienna, capital of Austria. This man was in one of the high schools of Vienna when I was there on my mission, I remember; and he related to me in that letter the condition that exists in that land at the present time. He said, "Brother Baliff, it is not as it was when you were here. When we go along the main thoroughfares and the places, or gardens, in Vienna, we see mothers with infants in their arms starving, they are so much in want of bread to keep life in the souls of their little ones, and hundreds and thousands of people, women and children, are dying for the want of food and clothing to keep them warm." I thought to myself, I wonder how many of those people who are in that condition today heard the elders bear their ¶

testimony to them in days gone by. I believe that those people who did hear those testimonies, and who are now suffering those terrible privations and hardships, are touched in their feelings, and that their hearts are filled with remorse because they turned away from that humble message of life and salvation. ¶

I often feel, too, many times in looking over the congregations of the Saints, and I ask myself the question: Do we appreciate the blessings that we enjoy in this land of plenty? O how kind and merciful the Lord has been to us. We have plenty; we have to spare. And sometimes I wonder, in our times of plenty, if we remember the Lord as we should do. ¶

In our stake, the Cache stake of Zion, last year we paid the largest tithing that has been known in the history of the stake. But, in looking over the records, examining our conditions, examining myself and my friends, I ask myself the question, Are we paying a tithing? And I want to say, my brethren and sisters, I do not want to judge Israel, but I believe that many of us have forgotten the Lord and the great blessings that he has poured out upon us, and do not remember how he has blessed this land, how he has made this land indeed prosperous, has blessed the soil so that it produces in its richness. We came into this barren land, and it is now teeming with wealth. The Lord has blessed us in all our outgoings and incomings. But I ask today, how many of our sons and daughters remember the Lord? How many of them, night and morning, call their little families about the family altar and offer up thanksgiving and praise to God the eternal Father for the blessings of health and strength and for the things that have come into their homes. I am afraid, my brethren and sisters, that we are not grateful enough for all of these things. I believe that we ought to be more prayerful and more humble, that our children, the greatest gifts and blessings that we could have come into our homes, have been given to us. But what a responsibility there is in every home, to care for and train and properly rear those children that God has blessed us with. What a great responsibility in training those young men and women that when they grow to the age of understanding they may indeed be representatives of the pioneer families. ¶

I was thinking last evening, in reading the account of the Relief Society conference, that in that vast gathering there were only four who had seen the Prophet Joseph Smith. Today the witnesses who have seen and known the Prophet Joseph are getting rare, and the time will soon come when we will not have these living testimonies from men and women who can stand up and bear testimony that they have seen and heard the Prophet Joseph. Do we appreciate the testimonies of these living witnesses of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith? I hope and trust that it will grow into our souls, and be burned into the souls of the children of the Latter-day Saints, the testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also the testimony of those who have come after them. ¶

I want to bear testimony that I knew the Prophet Brigham ¶

Young. I heard his voice, I heard his testimony; and the Spirit of the Lord testified to me that he was indeed a prophet of the Lord, and so it is with all of his successors, and I am thankful in my heart to God, my heavenly Father, that he raised up these mighty men. And when I look upon this great congregation that gather together in our conferences, I think of the many millions of people who have heard the testimony of the gospel, and many hundreds of thousands have embraced the gospel, and a wonderful work has been wrought in this one hundred years. There is nothing recorded in history to compare with the marvelous work and a wonder that has been accomplished since the Father and his Son appeared unto the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

I am very grateful for the privilege of being with you today and partaking of the spirit of this conference; and I pray that the Lord may help us all, that we may live better lives, and appreciate more highly the great blessings that come through obedience to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

May the Lord help us to be humble and true to our covenants, is my prayer, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

Quartet and choir sang, "Blessed Be the Lord God of Israel." ¶