Patriarchal Testimony

I think I am duly sensitive of the position to which I have been called, and I am very grateful indeed that the Lord permitted me to come into this sphere of action, through that wonderful and blessed lineage spoken of here this morning by the president of the Church. It has been made known to us that we are direct descendants of that Joseph who was sold by his brothers, who dared to stand for that wonderful principle which gave him his standing before his fellowmen, that principle of virtue which has made him and his posterity ¶

blessed in all the land, which has been given him by blessing through the patriarch that was blest of the Lord to have such a noble son. ¶

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." During this conference we have been admonished to keep the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, we must first learn them, and from this quotation which I have just read we learn that we must obey the law upon which our blessings are predicated, if we get our blessings. ¶

While my brethren have been speaking to you in plainness, and inspired of the Lord, my heart has burned with enthusiasm and with that testimony which has been born in me of the truth of the work and of the importance of it; and oh, how I have wondered why we are not more faithful. But then the thought comes, well, we are just mortals. We are weak, and wonderfully weak sometimes. We need the encouragement of one another. We need the support of one another as brothers and sisters in very deed. We need the prayers of on another. And when I see my brethren stand up in public and pray for the president of the Church and his counselors and the members of the Twelve Apostles and then all the rest of the brethren who are called to hold positions of responsibility in the Church, I always come in for my share of the blessings because I need it. And therefore I would like to admonish my brethren and sisters to think of one another when we pray in our homes, think of those who need the blessings of the Lord. And I testify that the prayers of the Saints do prevail for good. I think we have a wonderful testimony in this direction, in the sustaining blessings that have come to those who have spoken in this conference. Everyone has spoken under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers of the Saints; those who have gathered here in this great conference and the many hundreds, who are unable to meet with us, many of them scattered throughout the nations of the world, who know of this occasion and are earnestly praying that the blessings of the Lord be upon this conference and upon those who are called to direct and preside in Israel. ¶

I testify unto my brethren and sisters, that the Lord lives, that he is blessing the land for our benefit. I have gone through many stakes of Zion during the past summer. I have seen the products of the earth in bounteous harvests in all the land that I have visited; and oh, I do pray that the Saints will remember the Lord, in their harvests, for he has abundantly blest them. Water has been secured in the many wonderful canals and rivers that thread this country, the land has been blest, the homes of the peoples have been blest. We have been wonderfully provided for, and through all the stress of the high cost of living, none of us are particularly suffering. We can turn to the Lord and thank him abundantly, and as a humble servant, of the Lord, I do petition him in your behalf (and with you I wish ¶

to be numbered) to give unto you faith to acknowledge his hand in your blessings, temporally and spiritually, and faith to remember him in your tithes and offerings, and when you humble yourselves in prayer around the family altar, remember those whom the Lord has called to hold positions of responsibility, each and all in their callings, as they may labor either at home or abroad. And oh, brethren and sisters, let us not be compelled to keep the commandments of the Lord. Let us love the Lord in such a way that we may not have to be compelled by the governments, either local or general, to keep our Father's biddings. Shame on us, if we have to be compelled. For then we are looked upon as slothful in very deed. ¶

I bless you, my brethren and sisters, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that through your faithfulness and obedience to the laws and commandments of the Lord you may not be looked upon as slothful, nor forgetful of your privileges, your blessings, or your birthrights, but that you may acknowledge the hand of God, and learn and love to live and keep his commandments in your homes, and in your labors, whether directly or indirectly, in his service. I bless you, my brethren and sisters, that you may have strength of memory sufficient to take home with you the spirit and teaching of this conference, and that you may not be forgetful of the kernels of truth and light, and that you may not be so burdened with the numerous teachings that you will lose sight of the important things, but remember them and put them into practice, and teach them to the many hundreds of our number who are not able to attend this conference. ¶

I bless you, my brethren and sisters, that you may be Saints in very deed, through your faithfulness and your devotion to the teachings which have been given in this conference, and may God be ever honored and glorified for his manifold mercies unto us as his children, I pray, through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶