Testimony

I have great pleasure, my brothers and sisters, in standing before you this afternoon, to lift up my voice in testimony of the goodness of the Lord unto me and to my brethren and sisters of this great organization of which we form a part. The spirit of this conference has been one of divine acceptance, I believe to every Latter-day Saint. The Spirit of the Lord has been with our brethren, our leaders in all they have said and done during the sessions of this great conference. ¶

I had recently the pleasure of visiting Independence, Mo., the headquarters of our Central States mission. President Bennion had already started for the west to be present at this gathering. I had the pleasure of visiting at his home, at the mission headquarters, where I was royally entertained by the young missionaries, brethren and sisters who have charge of the home. I also visited further afield, out into the state in a northeast direction from Independence, one hundred miles away to the scene of the Haun's Mill Massacre, which occurred on the 28th of September, 1838, according to the records of the state and county. In visiting this sacred spot, I tried to realize the sorrows of those who were at that time subject to the evil powers by which they were surrounded. Just a few weeks previous to this terrible event, a little band of Latter-day Saints, my father and mother among them, twenty-five families in all, had left the town of Kirtland, wending their way across the state of Missouri ¶

and had stopped by the way-side to recuperate and earn some provisions at a mill kept by Mr. Haun. This little band of devoted Saints were attacked on the evening of the day above mentioned by a mob of two hundred men armed with guns and eighteen of the brethren were shot and killed, and several others were seriously wounded. I am reciting this to recall to you this great fact: the devotion of that little band of emigrants that were on their way westward to find a home. ¶

The Prophet Joseph Smith, with five of his brethren were at this time imprisoned in a dungeon in Liberty jail, subjected to the insults and abuse of an unrelenting guard during their term of confinement in the Liberty jail. The old cell in which they were confined is still standing near the center of the town of Liberty, and that is the only remains of the old jail. ¶

After the massacre of the brethren, and on the following day, my father and four others that were left alive gathered up these bodies and placed them, by consent of Mr. Haun, in the circle of an old dry well which they prepared by enlarging the circle sufficiently to receive the bodies of the sixteen brethren and the one little boy, Sardius Smith, and there they were tenderly laid, and covered with mother earth; and today this is their mausoleum. I recite this to show the faith of that devoted company of Latter-day Saints. The brethren left alive gathered up the families that had been bereaved, including the wounded and the widows and orphans, and helped them on their journey across the state till they reached the Mississippi river. After crossing the river they landed in the town of Quincy, where they were kindly received during their short stay in that city. In relating this incident, I am reminded of the early Christians who were compelled to enter the colliseum to make a spectacle for those more savage than the beasts, these were no doubt entreated to give up their faith and thus save their lives, but kneeling in the center of the arena they prayed and sang until they were devoured. How helpless they seemed, and, measured by every human rule, how hopeless was their cause; and yet within a few decades the power which they invoked proved mightier than the legions of the emperor. Like history might be recorded concerning the Latter-day Saints. From the imprisonment of the prophet in Liberty jail, from the horrible and cruel massacre at Haun's Mill, from the martyrdom at Carthage jail, the faith of the Latter-day Saints and power with God has increased. The faith of the Latter-day Saints induced them to continue their journey to these mountain valleys where they were led by an inspired prophet who succeeded the martyr, Joseph Smith, as their leader. Those composing this great gathering, at this conference, are an evidence that they were led by the inspiration of Almighty God to these mountain valleys. ¶

I rejoice because I can say at this time, as Nephi said of old: "I was born of goodly parents," and the faith of my father and mother has always been an encouragement to their children. I rejoice today that this gospel came to them in the early part of their lives, and that they were among the pioneers of this great work. Though witnessing the terrible scenes of slaughter in the very begining of their Church experience, they never turned from the faith, but deep down in their hearts cherished a love for the principles advocated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Today this gathering is a credit to the Latter-day Saints, and in the remarks that have been made by our leaders, the Prophet Joseph Smith is recognized as the leader of the dispensation of the fulness of times, the prophet of God in very deed. He was faithful and true even unto death, and those who have followed him in his ministry, in the presidency of the Church, have exemplified to the world, to all the people who have listened to the gospel sound, that they, too, have been inspired with the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

After seventy years of experience in the Church, as a Church members, and as a laborer in this great work, responding to every call, I testify today that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith was indeed God's prophet inspired to bring before the world these great truths, and to plant the gospel again upon the earth, and to say to the world, God has again spoken from the heavens. ¶

May the spirit of this conference go with us to our homes, and continue with you brethren and sisters who are visitors, and with you presiding brethren, to every stake and ward in Zion, that all may be blessed with the spirit and teachings that we have received from the presiding brethren of the Church, that the Saints may continue to grow and increase in the knowledge of the truth, till they shall arise to a perfect knowledge, is my humble prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. ¶