Tithing and Opportunity

• My brethren and sisters, indeed I feel the great responsibility of attempting to address you here this afternoon. I realize, perhaps, that many of you have come from long distances, in order to be fed the bread of life, and I pray God the eternal Father that he will inspire me that some thought may be left with you that perhaps will stimulate you to go ahead and do the things that you ought to do and that we all ought to do. ¶

I rejoiced very much in hearing Brother Goddard refer to that universal lover of the Church, Apostle John Henry Smith. Most of us have in our lives some dark days, some days of trial, some days when we feel that we can hardly stand the load that we have to bear, and when we have had the privilege of having a man so full of faith, so full of love, of humanity, as to throw his arm around us and give us an embrace that we need, we love to think of his memory. There is no reason why he should not have been loved as he was loved throughout this whole community, and more. It is a beautiful thing to be a universal lover of men, and be loved for good deeds. He was a wonderful example, a powerful man, who could exercise forbearance towards his fellow men. ¶

This conference to me has been a very unusual one, a very inspiring one. One of the brethren, excusing himself from coming up to conference, said, "I dislike having to be excused from going to conference, because everyone feels that each conference is just a little better than the one before. I feel that inspiration has come to everyone of us. I feel that the Lord has answered the prayers of his people in this conference. I feel what a splendid thing it is that the temporal things of life can be so beautifully blended in the spiritual things of life, and that the two can be considered and appreciated together. ¶

Since coming to this house, I have been reminded of one of the most remarkable things that ever came to my attention. I shall take the liberty of telling the story, one that is coupled with the building of this assembly hall. It entered into the life of a boy friend of mine, whose parents had come from the old world. His mother was a member ¶

of the Church, but his father was not. His father was very much in love with his mother, and felt she would be happier if she gathered with her people. They came and settled in this city, with the understanding that if the mother ever became dissatisfied they would return, and with that understanding the father had made provisions that they should go back. They had not been here long before they met with a very sad misfortune ; the little home they had was burned down, and all they had was destroyed. The boy got work on this block, helping with this building during its erection, running errands here and there for his first month. I remember for that period he received $16 on the old tithing office in this city. He went home with that order. The first thing his father said was, "Have you paid your tithing on that, my son?" The lad said, "No, I have worked pretty hard for that and I don't propose to pay any part of it." The father asked, "How do the people get the money to build that assembly hall?" He said, "I don't know how they get it, but I have worked pretty hard for this $16, and I don't propose to give any of it up." The father took him by the hand, and said : "I am not a member of the Church that you have seen fit to be baptized into. I have not been able to understand their principles to such an extent that I have felt like joining it, but' I want to ask you a few questions: Am I rearing a boy who would try, if they had a little sociable, to climb through a window, or climb under a tent? Am I rearing a boy who would avoid paying his obligations as a man? I want to say to you, as long as you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, I want you to be an honorable man, and I want you to pay your tithing on that month's earnings. Ten per cent of that should be paid to the Church, in order that they may build such buildings as you are working on. I want you, my boy, to be honest. Before there is anything done with that order, I want you to go to your bishop and pay to him, who has the collection of these things, the amount that he is entitled to." ¶

Why, you say, that hasn't very much to do with the spiritual development of that man. Do you know what it has done for him ? He has grown up in this community, and he is now one of the most honored in this community, a man whose integrity and whose honor never has been and can never be questioned, a man full of devotion and integrity; and what started him? Suppose his father had been a little careless, suppose his father had decided, "Why, we have had a great misfortune. I don't think they need what little you have worked for?" What effect would that have had? I don't think there has ever been a dollar in his hands, from that time until this, that he has not paid a tithing on. I thank God for my privilege of being associated with him. I thank God for the instructions given by that father, although he was not able to see all the truth of this work. O, I have wondered so many times, how many fathers and mothers in Israel have embraced the gospel of Christ, who have known how to teach their children what it means to live the gospel. Many, so many, of us like to consider the law of tithing, to construe that law, more or ¶

less as a voluntary donation because we do not have to give quite so much. ¶

I remember one man in the ward where I had occasion to labor in the bishopric; I went through the questions with him, "Shall I mark this as a full tithing?" "Yes, I think you'd better mark it full," he replied, "I have been in the habit of paying about that much, and I think you'd better mark it in full." I said, "Is it in full?" He said, "Yes, I think you'd better mark, in full." "Well," said I, "I am a little afraid you don't understand the law of tithing?" "Well," he answered, "I think you'd better mark it in full; I think it is all I can afford this year." I simply want to call your attention to this, that you cannot compromise; the laws of God must be lived up to in one thing as well as another, and when you come to construe them to suit yourself, your own convenience, you are shutting out yourself from the blessings that you ought to enjoy, from the full love that comes to a man who does his duty and keeps the commandments of God, the blessings that, I feel, have come to that boy. ¶

Are we kind to our boys? Are you kind to your boys? Do we get them around us at night, and tell them such things as I have told you, teach them the truth, and show them what is right? Do we try to encourage them to read the biographies of men who have conducted their lives in conformity with this work? If we do, we are having a family circle that is very enjoyable. If we are talking to them of family prayer ; if we are talking to the boys or girls, and say, We are talking to our Father in heaven. How many of you have called on your little boy or girl, and said, "Will you lead us in prayer to-night? The tears almost come to your eyes to hear a little child ask the Lord to bless some one near to their heart, to bless Brother Smith who is sick, bless my little companion, make him well, Father, that we may play together." Is that prayer worth anything to hear from your little boy? ¶

I beseech of you, my brethren and sisters, to encourage it. I beseech of you to teach your children correct principles. Teach them the laws of God ; teach them that he has revealed those laws for their development and for the building up of his Church and kingdom. Of course, that is a very important thing, but the great thing in their lives is to teach them obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, those means that are absolutely necessary in order to come into God's Church, and these are the things that are absolutely necessary to come into their lives that they may be strengthened and developed and prepared to meet their neighbors as they live here, and to meet eternal beings and exaltation in the hereafter. ¶

I wonder how many of you, mothers, are kind to your girls ! I wonder how many mothers are able to set aside some of the affairs of life, to take a few minutes to talk to their girls. How many fathers are willing to put their arms around them, and ask them what their troubles are? Do you encourage that confidence, do you make the ¶

Wjay open and pleasant that they can come and talk to you ? You know sometimes we get in the habit of kissing our boys and girls. I don't know, but I feel it is a very sweet ending of the day when one of my boys or girls comes to me at night and gives me a good-night kiss. O what it is to encourage these young people that God has blessed us with and placed in our hands to raise. ¶

A very unfortunate thing occurred once in my experience of some 28 years in the bishopric in the ward where I lived. A beautiful young lady came to the house one night, and she said : "Bishop, I would like to go to the temple." It has been my habit to talk to boys and girls when they are going to the temple, and try to impress upon them the importance of that great principle that has come into their lives, and offer to them, if possible, words of encouragement. This young lady, after carefully questioning her as to whether her life was such that she felt that she could go to the house of the Lord and receive the sacred blessings that are given there, broke down and began to cry. I said, "My girl, what is the matter ?" She sobbed. I said, "Can't you tell me what is the matter?" I said, "Does your mother know of your trouble?" She said, "No, I can't tell her, it would kill mother." I said. "You have told me, and I am almost a stranger to you." She said, "Yes, but I can't tell mother." I said, "Is it possible that your mother is not close enough, that she is not the one to go to with all your troubles?" She said, "I can't tell my mother." I said, "Yes, I will tell your mother." She said, "Don't.' I ,said, "Yes, I will." I said, "You go and tell your mother, and then come and tell me." She came back to see me the next day. The mother, a very proud, demanding woman, came and asked me why I talked to her daughter as I had talked. I bad her sit down, and I told her the story. She started to fly at the girl. I said, "One moment, if there is ever a time in her life that she needs a mother, needs the sweet influence of a mother, it is now. Now, I pray you, not one harsh word to that beautiful girl, whatever you do, and whatever she has been doing. I am not criticising you before your girl, but I pray you, put your arms around that girl, and make her life sweet and wholesome." I was very happy to meet her a year or two afterward. ¶

It is only one of the things that come up. And while we are criticising our boys and girls, I want to ask the parents in all sincerity, in all the fervor of my soul, are we doing our part? Are we able to say we are doing what we ought to do? If we are, then God will help us. Sorrows and trials will come, we cannot stop them. But let us remember the beautiful things we have heard during this conference. O God, help us to live for the things that we know are true. Let us stand true to the obligations that we have entered into, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶