Closing Testimony

Surely time has been kind to the Latter-day Saints. I have believed always that time is on the side of right and truth; and those who hold the truth, though misunderstood, can rest contented that time will vindicate them. ¶

I remember an experience in preaching to the public in the open, ¶

THE KEOKUK DAM FORETOLD BY JOSEPH THE PROPHET. ¶

I remember an experience in preaching to the public in the open, when my soul was thrilled with the evidence that God was vindicating his work. It was during the course of some of my early missionary experiences, I was permitted to visit Nauvoo, Illinois. It was on the occasion when there was a gathering of the Military Tract Press Association, being the newspaper men of the western part of the state of Illinois, who met in Nauvoo. They were wearing a badge, upon which was a cut of the Nauvoo Temple, and a description of that house. ¶

I listened to a paper read by one of the editors. He traced the gathering of the Latter-day Saints to Nauvoo, from other sections, told of the rise of the work in that city, the building of the city until it became a city of considerable note, there being twenty thousand people in the city of Nauvoo when Chicago, on the north, was but a village, and St. Louis, on the south, a trading post; and Nauvoo, he said, might have been the great city of the Middle West if the "Mormons" had been allowed to remain there. He told of the prophet's plan to cut a canal across the horseshoe bend of the river and make the lower portion of that city into a splendid commercial center, with the residences and public buildings upon the hill, and the farms extending onto the prairies around it. He also called attention to the prophet's project in a petition which he sent to Congress, asking that Congress should erect a dam at Keokuk, Iowa, to back up the waters of the Mississippi river over what was known as the Rapids, and that by reason of the construction of the dam, greater water power would be developed, and locks could be installed that would enable boats to go over the rapids. The prophet estimated, in his petition to Congress, that the dam would cost ¶

approximately $7,000,000. And then the gentleman called attention to the recent completion of the dam at the identical site where the prophet forecast it. And later I had the privilege of going down and inspecting the dam, wonderfully built, at the very place, for the purpose of furnishing the locks that would lift the boats up into the higher water to pass over the rapids. And tremendous electric power, power which the prophet could only have forecast by inspiration, was there developed and disseminated in a radius of 400 miles away from that great power site that now is established in connection with the dam at Keokuk -- and, strange to say, also, the cost of construction was but slightly in excess of $7,000,000. ¶

THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS DRIVEN FROM NAUVOO. ¶

After reciting the prospects that were before early Nauvoo, he then told of the prejudices that drove the "Mormons" from that district, and that after they were driven away, those who came in possession of their property did not esteem it of sufficient value to protect the central building, Nauvoo Temple, and through their vandalism, they set fire to it. ' ¶

But I thought I saw the hand of the Lord in this, and how that he has always made the wrath of man serve him. I felt grateful in my heart that the Nauvoo temple was destroyed, for, unlike its predecessor, the Kirtland temple, it was built for the sacred ordinances of the work of the house of God, while the Kirtland temple was built as a place where these sacred things might be revealed. There was no vestige of any of the interior of the Nauvoo temple left. But, he said, while the blackened walls of the building yet stood, steamboats stopped half a day at the wharf to allow passengers to go up and view the ruins. He remarked that if the building had been preserved, it would have been of great value to that city. He then called attention to the fact that the city had gone down in numbers from its once beautiful Nauvoo of 20,000 people to 1,200 souls, and not a railroad yet. ¶

THEIR JOURNEY WEST TWO SCENES COMPARED. ¶

And then he traced the Latter-day Saints across the prairies of Iowa into the fastnesses of these mountains, where, he said, wherever they went, the favor of God seemed to go with them. They made the wilderness to blossom as the rose; and while their enemies thought they would perish in the barren, desolate wilderness, or be destroyed by savages or wild beasts, yet they survived and prospered and flourished. ¶

Then he said, when we look at these two scenes, surely we are forced to conclude that there was grave doubt as to whether God wanted the "Mormons" driven away. "If he did want them driven away," he observed, "why doesn't he give today's Nauvoo a broader hint that it was all right. Maybe," said he, "God loved the 'Mormons' better than ¶

he does bigots and vandals." I heard that statement in the city of Nauvoo; and in conversation with many of these gentlemen, they said that the only hope of that country was to have the "Mormons" return again, and there wasn't anything in the way of our coming back; and in my heart, I am sure I express the sentiment of President Grant and the other brethren who have referred to our history and experiences in those states that we have no feeling of animosity nor bitterness in our souls. We pity them, we sorrow for their mistakes, and they today are the losers, while, as Elder Morris has said, we have profited by their action. ¶

DECLARING THE GOSPEL IN THE ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL. ¶

I remember going from Nauvoo over to the capitol of the state, Springfield, Illinois, and holding a conference of missionaries from northern and southern Illinois. And I remember that two of us, myself and companion, who had charge of these two districts, applied to the governor of the state. It was considerable nerve, I will grant you; but in my youth I was zealous and was willing to ask for anything -- and we had the nerve to ask the governor of the state of Illinois to give us the State Capitol building in which to hold a "Mormon" conference. Well, he happily surprised us by granting us the privilege, and that without a dollar's cost to us. We were permitted to use the Hall of Representatives; and before large numbers of people, who filled that hall, we discoursed upon the principles of the glorious, restored gospel and bore witness and testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon was true. My soul was thrilled, because, I remember, as I looked about that place and saw on the one side of the rostrum a life-sized portrait, full length, of Abraham Lincoln and on the' other side a life-sized portrait of Stephen A. Douglas, I could not help but wonder in my soul, What does Stephen think about it now? For it was in this identical place that Stephen A. Douglas delivered his address on the "Mormon" question, while running for the Presidency of the nation, and proposed that if elected he would apply the knife to this pestiferous cancer "Mormonism," which was a growth upon the body politic, and he would burn it out and destroy it. Well, he did not live long enough to do that, and "Mormonism" came back to his home, into the very place where he was eulogized by his associates for his stand against this work, and yet, here we were, peacefully, at the kindness of the officials of that state, permitted to declare again the glad news that the God of heaven had spoken to Joseph Smith, and that we had a message for all men. ¶

DECLARING THE MESSAGE ON THE STEPS OF THE STATE CAPITOL. ¶

I remember that on the Sunday night of that conference the hall was not large enough to admit all the people who attended, and so we retired to the steps of the capitol, and there were more than a thou- ¶

sand people seated upon those, steps when we delivered again the message to them. And that is the outdoor meeting that I had in my mind as I began to speak to you. ¶

While thus addressing these people, I saw by my side, at the entrance of the building, on the public square, the only remaining perfect stone, known as a sun stone, from the Nauvoo temple. There were twenty-four of them, weighing above a ton each, placed upon the top of the twenty-four hewn pilasters of the temple. I had seen portions of these stones elsewhere, but none of them perfect like this, and this was the property of the state, preserved by the state, and guarded by the state against vandalism. Well, I say, as I saw these things, my soul was stirred, and I said, surely God is at work moulding the sentiments of men, altering their will and purpose for the accomplishment of his will and his purpose. ¶

A TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT IN JACKSON COUNTY, MO. ¶

I remember in the city of Independence, to which President Grant made reference this morning, the feeling and the sentiment of the people are friendly toward the Latter-day Saints, that one of the prominent gentlemen of that city, in the commercial club, said to me that he would be glad to see the "Mormons" build their contemplated temple in Independence, and suggested that he thought they could raise $100,000 in Independence to help us build it. That temple will be built, as well as other things that have been projected by the inspired servants of God, for the Lord knows how to work it out. All we need to do, my brethren and sisters, is to keep on the Lord's side and make him our friend, stand in his favor, keep his commandments, and he will work out the salvation of Zion and her redemption. It is a glorious thing to be alive in this dispensation, to live on the earth today, a glorious thing to live in America, a wonderful thing to live up here, where the Lord appointed the gathering place of his people in the tops of the mountains. ¶

THE MERCY OF GOD SHOWN TO THE SAINTS. ¶

These are the last days, days when the judgments of the Almighty shall be poured out upon the nations of the earth, and the Lord has promised protection to those who would respond to the call -- "Come out of her, O ye my people, that ye may escape from the judgments that are to come." He had in mind the need of protection and security and safety for such a people, and so he brought us here, even though it were unwillingly, and as Brother Morris suggested, "we came here willingly because we had to." But we have not had to wait long to see the mercy of the Lord. I thought a few weeks ago, while we were gathering contributions in our special fast meeting for the aid and relief of the distressed in the European nations, how the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, as they gave, should swell with joy to know that the merciful Father had brought our fathers away from those lands, away from the place of distress and of famine. And I want to tell you ¶

that these are but the beginnings of troubles that shall come. O, that they might be stayed, that they might not fall upon the children of men! But light has come into the world, and by reason of the fact that light is in the world, and men have sinned and are sinning against that light, they cannot escape the indignation and wrath of an offended Father, who has been long-suffering and patient toward the children of men. I am sorry to say it, but it is the truth; these are but the beginnings of days of sorrow and distress. We and our children shall rejoice in the years that are to come that our fathers and and mothers had no place to rest in peace or in security, but they had to come here. This is the place! Thank the Lord that we did not stay down in Missouri or Illinois. Already we have seen the hand of the Father. Surely it was a trial to those who were driven from Nauvoo and other places, to which Brother Morris has been calling our attention. Many of them, no doubt, thought the Lord had forsaken them, and yet they did not have to wait long in their mountain retreat to see behind a frowning Providence, his smiling face, having brought them to the only place in this country where there was peace, and where there was security and safety -- for the homes they longed to stay with and the habitation of the Saints in that section became the very battle field between the North and the South. And so we are here through the mercy of our Father, for protection and safety against the days of trouble that are to come. ¶

I am glad we did not go to Oregon. I have thought of it many times while traveling in that section of the country -- because the Prophet sent a petition to Congress at the time the bill was under discussion to which Brother Morris has referred, asking for appropriations to establish military roads and posts along what was known as the Old Oregon Trail; and the prophet said he would furnish men cheaper than anyone else, and that when we were discharged, we would be near the country we wanted to go to. But the bill was defeated, and the military posts at that time were not established, and so the prophet's plan was not accepted. It might have perchance landed us in Oregon. That was not the place the Lord wanted us to be in, although Oregon was a good country. There would not have come the development to the Latter-day Saints in Oregon that we have received here in this country. It is true we might have become wealthy, for there was an abundance that nature had provided. They have today two-fifths of all the timber in the United States, in the state of Oregon. It has been a source of great wealth. There would have been no building of irrigation ditches, because nature provides an abundance of water, more than 90 inches of rain falls in the Willamette valley every year, enough to drown everybody if it did not run off. The streams were full of fish, and today the great salmon industries of that country are an added source of wealth not placed there by the hand of man. The forests were full of wild game, from which furs were obtained that established the Astor fortunes and others. And yet that ¶

was not the place. We would soon have been surrounded by the old enemy, and there would have been conflict and trouble, and maybe the Latter-day Saints would' have become rich and forgotten the Lord. At any rate, we would not have done the work we have done here. Where nature does much for man, man is inclined to do little, or less; but where man has to struggle for his existence, there is the place where his physical powers are developed and his faith increased. There is the place where there is the possibility of growth such as cannot come in any other section of the country. And Theodore Roosevelt, the late honored President of the United States, said, in the great building across the way here, that it was not so much what the Latter-day Saints did as where they did it, that counted. And so it was here that we should develop physical strength and power, by industry, by labor, by toil, by frugality, such as we would not have had to face in any other portion of this western country, either in California or in Oregon. Then there would not have been those circumstances that called forth faith and led us to build a monument like this Sea-Gull Monument that is before us as evidence that here the power and mercy of God were given a chance, an opportunity to make themselves manifest. We needed him here, we had to depend upon him. I will tell you in the midst of prosperity, when men thrive, when everything moves well for them, there is always a natural tendency for them to forget the Lord, and to become self-sufficient and to be confident in themselves. It was so with the Children of Israel when they had before them the armies of the Egyptians and at their back the Red Sea, when they were in imminent peril and they could not help themselves -- it was then in mighty faith/they cried unto their Father in heaven, and he came to their deliverance, and the waters of the Red Sea were parted, and they were permitted, through his mercy, to 'be saved. And so it was in the day of their famine for food and for water in the wilderness. When they were in need he revealed himself, but in the days of their prosperity, they were not so near to him. And so in our history, in these trials and difficulties, we have gone to the Lord, or at least the Lord has provided the opportunity whereby we had to come to him, we had to depend upon him; and he has never deserted us nor left us alone in any of these times of trial and difficulty. ¶

OUT OF DISTRESS GREAT GOOD SHALT. COME. ¶

There are days of trial undoubtedly ahead of the Latter-day Saints, days when their faith may be shaken, if it will be shaken. I earnestly pray that our Father shall keep such a guard over this Church, over the individual membership of it, that we will never be left to a feeling of absolute independence of him, that we will never become so prosperous that we will feel that we can get along without the Lord's blessing and favor; and if we have had days of difficulty -- and we have, brethren and sisters -- the whole world has been through days of stress and trouble, financial difficulty and depression, and it is not ended. Great ¶

nations that have never in many years been touched by poverty and by stress and by internal strife, today are being racked in the midst of these distressful conditions. England itself never was in a more serious condition than she is today, with millions of her workers on strike. No man can tell what the outcome of this trouble shall be. Thank the Lord that we live in the land of peace, in the land of security from these things, although we have not very much money just now, although we have not had a very prosperous season. But, my brethren and sisters, I bear witness to you that out of our present distresses, if we are distressed financially, great good will come; lessons that we need to learn, lessons of thrift, lessons of economy, lessons of trust, lessons of faith in the Lord, lessons that shall take away from our heart a feeling of greed and selfishness to want the last dollar, a feeling of sympathy for our brethren and sisters; that we shall be coming toward the point where we are to be our brother's keeper, where we may establish universal brotherhood rather than to be banded in groups contending against other groups, the motive of which shall be pure selfishness in our hearts. ¶

IN THE FALL OF HARD TIMES LET US LEARN THRIFT. ¶

Now, let us learn from the experiences through which we are going, lessons that shall be of value to us. Let us keep out of the bondage of debt; do not get the spending habit, so that if times of short years shall come, we will find ourselves in great distress. It is an excellent thing to save a little, to conserve what the Lord gives us, that if there shall come hard times, we will survive them, for I want to tell you we have not seen the last of hard times. The Lord wants to humble the earth and bring it to a condition of repentance. He knows how to do it; he has said in one of these revelations to the prophet Joseph Smith that days of famine would come, that by fire and hailstorm the crops of the earth should be destroyed; and if the crops of the earth for one season were destroyed, there would be such suffering as we have not dreamed of. And the Latter-day Saints, from the beginning have been taught to save a little, to conserve their breadstuff, so that they may have in their stores supply for man and for beast. ¶

Now, you Latter-day Saints, rejoice in the habitations that have come to us in these mountains, cultivate every acre of ground you possibly can, save every head that the Lord gives you, both of cattle and of sheep, conserve it and preserve it, for it will be important in days that are to come, and do not feel that you won't survive. You will. The Lord is just teaching us lessons of thrift and of economy, and to listen to the council of those who preside over, us in our wards and stakes. ¶

A KEY TO SUCCESS. ¶

My advice to the Latter-day Saints who are in debt is that whenever they harvest their crops of grain or shear their sheep, they sell ¶

what the Lord puts into their hands and do not speculate upon it, for the chances are it will bring you into difficulty. You cannot afford to speculate; it is one thing to know how to raise corn, cultivate the soil and tend flocks, and another man's business to know the markets. Now, if you will be wise in this respect, and if you are in doubt, I will tell you what to do concerning your labors upon the farm and in the business in which you engage and all things with which the Lord blesses you. I give you this key -- you will find it in the 9th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, that you are to study out in your own mind the best thing, what you ought to do, and when you have reached your conclusion that, "this is the thing I will do about my farm," or sheep, or business, or something else -- when you have reached your conclusion, go to the Lord and tell him what you have decided to do, and if that is the thing that you ought to do, he will cause that your bosom shall burn within you, that you will have the conviction, a testimony within your soul, and you will know that the thing is right. But if it is not right, he will take away the feeling to do the thing that you had contemplated to do, that you shall have a stupor of thought and will not have that feeling to go ahead, but shall reconsider it and counsel about it, and go again to the Lord, and go forward when we are sure we are right. But we are to get right, and we have the privilege to enjoy the spirit of inspiration from God. Keep close to him and he will guard us. I testify to you that God Almighty will put into the hands of this people all the means and the wealth and the power he can trust us with, if we will only keep the faith and keep from apostatizing and becoming a law unto ourselves and being selfish. He is just giving us today all we can stand. He will not give us more unless we will prove to him, that we will serve him no matter what may come. ¶

AN APPEAL TO THE SAINTS TO PROVE FAITHFUL TO GOD. ¶

I pray earnestly that we shall go forth from this conference, when it is concluded, with a determination that we will show to our Father in heaven that we appreciate what he has done for our fathers, what he has done for us, in bringing us to this place, and that we will manifest that we have the same regard for him and his word that our fathers had, who served him in faithfulness, and whom he heard, and that we shall never lose sight of the fact that we are not here wholly to obtain the blessings of the wealth of the hills and of the valleys and of the things of this world, that these are mere stepping stones which the Lord has placed within, our hands as means for our accomplishing his great purposes. ¶

I want to read to you, in conclusion, a few words from the Book of Mormon. Here is a prophecy dealing with our time. You will find these words in the 14th Chapter of First Nephi, where Nephi speaks as follows: ¶

"And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb,of God iin that day that he shall manifest unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks." ¶

And among the gentiles who came to this country and their posterity were many of the house of Israel, and among them there were those who did listen and who did serve God, and who formed the nucleus of this, his great Church, and the stumbling blocks have been removed through the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. ¶

"And if they harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever: they shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded." ¶

O, how wonderful, that he who hath been with us and with our fathers, hath vindicated us, hath made us a promise, if we will be true to him he will see to it that we shall not be brought into bondage, nor be confounded! O, can we not trust him? Has he not vindicated us? Has he not been our friend? Has he not wrought out, when the circumstances made it difficult the salvation of this people? He surely has. Now let us not desert him, nor desert his word, for we cannot, in view of the light and the knowledge that have come to us, we cannot close our eyes to these things and become a law unto ourselves, and obtain the favor of Almighty God. ¶

"And that great pit which hath been digged for them, by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell; yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men, shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end; ¶

"For behold, this is according to the captivity of the devil, and also according to the justice of God, upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before him. ¶

"And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying, Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent, it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard, that whoso repenteth not, must perish; ¶

"Therefore, wo, be unto the Gentiles, if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God; ¶

For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, That I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either, on the one hand or on the other; either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. ¶

"And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me, Rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? I said unto him, Yea. ¶

"And it came to pass that he said unto me, Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose foundation is the devil. ¶

"And he said unto me, Behold there are, save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the ¶

devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God, belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. ¶

"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. ¶

"And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God." ¶

He saw this day. He saw us, here, gathered as we are in the tops of the mountains. ¶

"And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few." ¶

Indeed, we are but few -- as the President remarked this morning, but a handful in the midst of the mighty hosts that cover the earth's surface. ¶

"* * * And its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth." ¶

And so we are, and in nearly every land of the earth today, our missionaries -- almost back to our original numbers, a little more than 1700, -- are in the various nations of the earth, declaring this day the message of life and salvation. ¶

"* * * And their dominions upon the face of the earth were small." ¶

Great as they are, still they are small in comparison to others. ¶

"* * * Small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. ¶

"And it came to pass that I beheld the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God." ¶

If we have not been through that experience, with a combination against us everywhere, with forces arrayed in our great gatherings such as the world's great Christian Citizenship Conference and others! No matter what else they may disagree upon, on one point they are always agreed, to fight the "Mormons." ¶

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. ¶

"And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon the great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth. ¶

"And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying, Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things; ¶

"And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose foundation is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people, who are of the house of Israel." ¶

We stand in that day, when the favor of Almighty God shall be poured out upon his Church in greater abundance than it has ever been. We shall make progress which shall far excel the progress and advancement of the past, if we serve our heavenly Father and do not desert him. And all the promises he has made from the earliest day until this time, concerning the redemption and establishment of his righteousness in the world, are to come to pass not only by this power upon his people, but by reason of his chastisement that shall be upon those who do not serve him. ¶

CLOSING TESTIMONY. ¶

This is God's work. He is in it. He is with those who lead it, I know. The light is in the ship. The great and glorious caravan, the Church of the living God, is moving onward and forward to the accomplishment of its great purposes. And let the dogs bark. They amount to little when they fight God, for they are fighting Him when they fight this work. And we will not amount to much except we be true to this work, for it is God's, and he will not be mocked. When we have light and knowledge, there comes responsibility. Let us each assume it, do our part, get our homes, and with all our hearts serve him, as we never have done before, and set our houses in order and prepare ourselves that we may be worthy his favor to escape the judgments that are yet to come. ¶

For, as I have already remarked, I wish I could say to you that we have seen the end, but I am sorry to say we have but seen the beginning, and yet, so far as this people are concerned, they shall be immune against them, if they will serve God and keep his commandments; for he who hath delivered us, and who hath been the friend of our fathers, he who hath made the wrath of man to serve him, and hath vindicated his servants and exalted his work, will be with us to our redemption and salvation, if we are willing that he shall do it. ¶

May the Lord help us, that we may find favor in his sight, continue to be his people, approved of him, and escape his disfavor and the judgment that shall come upon the wicked and the unrepentant and the rebellious, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶