New Zealand Mission Testimony

I rejoice with you, my brethren and sisters, in the privilege that is afforded us to worship our heavenly Father on this beautiful morning. ¶

It is now something less than a hundred years ago since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established. Shortly after the Church was organized, in this day and age, the Lord said that he was about to commence a marvelous work, a work that would possibly not be understood by some. Shortly after our Church became a church, in the state of New York, our people — your people and mine — were compelled to move from that state because of persecution that was heaped upon them. They went from the state of New York into Ohio, and from Ohio to Missouri, and from Missouri back into Illinois. And then came the movement west into the valleys of the mountains. Some that were weak, who felt that they could not stand the heat and the burden of the day, fell by the wayside. The Lord blessed those, however, who had the tenacity, the will, the desire. ¶

It is recorded that even in the first company of pioneers who came here July 24, 1847, there were some who could not see the blessings of the Lord that would attend the people in the settlements of this valley. They were willing to take a chance as to what lay beyond, between here and the Pacific ocean; they reminded President Young that they had seen many places from the Missouri river unto this valley that appeared more inviting to the human eye than they saw when they first caught a glimpse of this valley. President Young's remark to them, however, as his prophetic eye could see what lay in the future for the people who settled here. was. "This is the place." And when reminded that • this was a part of the Great American Desert, he said that we would yet make it literally blossom as the rose. My brethren and sisters, you can testify to the truthfulness of this prophecy of President Brigham Young. Surely the Lord has blessed us; surely the Lord is blessing us. Wherever our people have settled, from Canada to Mexico, from California to states east of us, the Lord has blessed our people and blessed their efforts. ¶

I wonder if all of us are striving to do what is required of us as Latter-day Saints. Brother Shepherd in reminding us of one of the greatest blessings that has come unto us, one of the greatest gifts that the Lord has conferred upon us — to be married in the temples of our God, to be sealed to our companions, not only for this life, but for the life to come — wondered if all of us who are here this morning are doing our utmost to live up to that blessing. Are we teaching our children the blessings that have come unto us and that have been taken advantage of by us? ¶

You know we have been accused many a time of being a peculiar people, peculiar in our ways. In the first few years of the existence of our Church we were accused of believing in a God that has body, parts, and passions, of believing in a God that could hear and answer our prayers, of believing that we could ask him to direct us in the way in which we should go and that he would do so. We have been held up to ridicule, not only in this country, but throughout the world, wherever the gospel has been preached. But I believe the tide is turning ; I believe the people of the world are beginning to admire us and, perhaps, to sing our praises. ¶

You will remember that it is recorded in the Scripture that the Lord said we should beware when people would begin to say all manner of good things in favor of us, but rejoice and be exceeding glad when the world said things falsely against us. It was my privilege only a few weeks ago to talk to a prominent physician in this city, a man who does not claim to be a Latter-day Saint; and when he learned that I had recently returned from a mission where I had been preaching the gospel for some years, he said, "This system that you 'Mormon' people have of sending your missionaries into the world is a wonderful thing ; the other religious sects of the day do not have it ; the other religious organizations won't do it ; it is left entirely ¶

for the 'Mormon' people to do it. I wonder how you started such a thing." I told him that away back in the beginning of our Church, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation (o send our elders out two by two. to preach the gospel without fear or favor, to deliver the message that they had received, to warn their neighbor, even as they had been warned, and that we go out without hope or thought of reward so far as this life is concerned, when a call comes to us, whether to a man or woman, to go' out and preach the gospel, and we have been set apart for that particular work; that the Lord blesses us, and many return here seeing the fruits of iheir labors, and those who have not even had this privilege, later on see that ethers reap from the seed they sowed. ¶

I was reminded, in talking to this doctor, of the remark that was made some years ago by a prominent Salt Laker, a man who had come here and married a Salt Lake woman after he had visited all parts of the United States and other parts of the world. Tn the Commercial Club of Salt Lake City here, he made the statement that never in his travels had he met a people who were so ready to make answer, who were so ready to talk and discuss things, and give a reason for the hope that is within them. He said you can go into the smallest hamlet and find men and women there who can do it. and I marvel at it. A man who heard him make this statement was rather anxious to find out just why he thought he had found such a condition. This brother wanted to know if he had the right idea about it, and so at the close of the meeting in the Commercial Club, he asked this gentleman to what he attributed this ability that he found so peculiar among our people. He said, "That is no secret; it is this wonderful missionary system that you 'Mormon" people have, of sending your young men and your young women into the earth, into the various parts of the world to preach the gospel. They come back bubbling over with new ideas. They bring back the best things that they see, no matter whether they go to Japan or to Australia, or to South Africa or to various parts of Europe, or to various states of this Union." ¶

There is nothing in the world, my brethren and sisters, that benefits a person like comparison, travel, education. Do you wonder, therefore, at the high standard that is maintained by our people here in this state? We compare most favorably, when measured by the various states of the Union or various countries of the world, ac far as education is concerned. We have ever sought education. Our elders who go into the various mission fields and who come back with these excellent ideas gathered up from peoples to peoples, disseminate these good things among the rest of us. We have ever striven for that which is good and wholesome and pure, from the very things that we were taught in the early history of the Church, that "The glory of God is intelligence," that all we seek after here, all the good, the excellent things we get here, and remember and understand, will ¶

rise with us in the hereafter, and by so achieving, by sot accomplishing and understanding these things, our power will become much greater in the other world. Do you wonder, then, at the ambition, do you wonder at the desire that is in the heart of every Latter-day Saint? Not at all. Do you wonder, then, that every parent puts forth his best efforts to teach his son or his daughter the things that are most dear to him, the gospel of eternal life, the gift of eternal life, that has been so much misunderstood, by the people of the world? You elders, and you sisters, who have been abroad preaching the gospel and have heard ministers and others contend that the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God is the gift of God without any effort on our part, you have heard it, and you have wondered and marveled at the misconception that some people have. ¶

Let me point out a comparison that I have made on many an occasion when such arguments have been brought up. There is no state in the Union, no country in the world, that affords an education to a young man or woman, more than does the state of Utah. Our boys and girls growing up here are compelled to go to school. Books are found for them; pencils, paper, ink, are furnished them. They can go to school, and if they live any great distance, conveyances of some kind are provided for them. This 'gift' of education is theirs. It is not theirs for the asking, because it is forced upon them; they cre compelled to take it; a boy or girl in normal conditions must go to school and receive an education; they are compelled to. Would anyone say that education is not free ? Why no ; we boast of it ; we prate it, we sing of it; our missionaries in going to the uttermost parts of the world tell of the splendid things that we have achieved, and how when we are measured up to our sister states in this Union, we compare well with them. And yet, do you mean to tell me that any boy cr girl will ever go from one grade to another without an effort on his own part? Did you ever hear of anyone being graduated from the eighth grade into the high school without an effort on the part of the one who is receiving this splendid gift, without price, of education? Why no, and do you think a person can be admitted at the University who has not credits entitling him to go there? Not at all. And yet this education is free. No one would have the temerity to say that this education is not free. It IS free; yes, for those who WORK for it. God Almighty is not going to save his children in ignorance. Just as I quoted to you a few moments ago, "The glory of God is intelligence;" God rejoices in seeing his children grow and develop and become something. He does not look down upon us with any degree of satisfaction and joy when he knows that we are ignorant or will remain in ignorance — either in the principles of the gospel or in anything that is going to make us bigger or better or greater. God almighty will rejoice in seeing us become bigger, greater, better. ¶

I rejoice with you, my brethren and sisters, in this wonderful ¶

conference. I rejoice with you, and bear my testimony to you that I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, that within this Church are found the blessings of Almighty God, and that we cannot expect to find them, nor will we find them, outside. The Lord has been merciful, kind, considerate, long-suffering, and patient with some of us. May we appreciate these blessings. May we appreciate the outstretched hands of our Father, that are continually beckoning for us to come to him to receive at his hands these wonderful blessings that we have preached about, that we have sung, that we have told in story. ¶

My God add his blessings, my brethren and sisters; may he sustain us and uphold us in all our righteous endeavors, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶