The Value of a Testimony

I have sat in fear and trembling so far throughout every session of this Conference lest I might be given this opportunity of talking to you, and then to come to this final session knowing that I would be expected to talk, and here be compelled, by our beloved brother, President Bennion, to keep silent until the last, has almost made a nervous wreck of me. Therefore, I beg of you, brethren and sisters, sustain me by your faith and prayers that I may say nothing which will mar the sweet spirit which has prevailed throughout our entire Conference. I know that we have been blest of the Lord with a rich portion of His Holy Spirit, without which we could not be fed with the bread of life. ¶

Many great truths have been spoken upon during the various sessions of this Conference and I desire to say a hearty amen to all of them, and for one I have a sincere desire in my heart to try and carry out in my daily life these valuable instructions given by our leaders. ¶

One of our visiting educators, I think it was Dr. Clark, of the University of Nevada, who visited the first session of our Conference in the Tabernacle, Thursday morning, made a statement to the effect that science did not satisfy the soul of man and that it was essential that we keep our souls open and susceptible to spiritual instruction, in order that we may have soul satisfaction, and I know that this is true, and that the sincere seekers for truth, the world over, are fast finding it out. Scientific facts or truths which have been established beyond question do not disagree with revealed religion, and they are good, and we accept them, because all truth is a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but scientific theories are not truths, and may at any time be overthrown by the establishment of truth. Scientific theories are one thing today but may be quite a different thing tomorrow; hence, they do not satisfy the soul which hungers and thirsts for truth. ¶

During a recent visit to our Boston conference we were favored with the presence of one of our leading scientists, Professor Ralph Chamberlin, formerly at the University of Utah, but now holding an important position in the great Harvard University, who gave us a wonderful talk, during which he made a similar statement to the one mentioned before, to the effect that all his labors and reserches in the laboratories of science, while very interesting, and to a great extent satisfying to the intellect, did not satisfy the soul of man, and that he yearned for something more. He bore a beautiful testimony to this effect, adding that he felt in this meeting a spirit which was soulsatisfying and bore testimony that he knew that ours is the true Church of Jesus Christ. ¶

My dear brethren and sisters, when we were baptized into this Church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, we were given a most wonderful blessing, which, if cultivated and developed, will prove to be the source through which the soul may be fed and satisfied, but it must be kept in tune to the great broadcasting station from whence all messages of uplift and good cheer are sent. Two weeks ago today I had the pleasure of dining with Brother David P. Howells and his family in New York. Perhaps many of you know Brother Howells. He formerly lived in Salt Lake City, and is one of our very successful young men, who by his course in life, is preaching the gospel daily to all with whom he Gome's in contact, because he follows out in his daily life the teachings of the gospel to a very great degree. After dinner had been served Brother Howells invited us into the living room where he showed us the wireless telephone instrument which had recently been installed in his home, beside which was a program telling of the various messages of interest which would be broadcasted at certain hours of each day from the central station. Brother Howells preceded to make some slight adjustments by turning certain keys to the right or to the left, as he found it necessary, in order to put this instrument in strict tune to the central station. When this had been accomplished, behold beautiful strains of music burst forth in the room, very much clearer than the ordinary music box in which there is some metallic sound. It was not necessary for each one in the room to have something to their ears, but all could hear distinctly the sweet strains of music which were being played at the broadcasting station some twenty-two miles distant. This, of course, is a marvelous accomplishment of man's and I could not help comparing it with the divine instrument God placed in each and every one of His children entering into the world — an instrument which if kept in tune with our Father's Kingdom will bring to its possessor rich messages of love, encouragement, patience, gentleness, meekness, kindliness and all the virtues and fruits of the gospel of our Redeemer. We might make a comparison of these matters at great length but suffice it to say, my dear brethren and sisters, that this divine instrument within us is even more sensitive than the wireless telephone, it will easily be put out of tune by sin, either through acts of commission or omission. The little keys referred to on the wireless in-> strument which Brother Howells turned to the right or to the left in order to put the wireless instrument in tune with the great broadcasting station may be compared to the principles of the gospel which, if adhered to, will put us in strict tune with our Father's Kingdom, and should we find our instrument made discordant through sin, as indicated above, we can always turn to the glorious principle of repentance, of which we have heard so much throughout this entire Conference, and if we sincerely repent of our wrong doing, having complied with the other ordinances of the gospel, our Father in heaven will accept of our repentance and forgive our sins. ¶

I want to heartily approve of what our brethren have said regarding this great principle of repentance. It is a fact that repentance is a gift of God and, as stated by our beloved President Penrose, there is a possibility of sinning away the time of repentance, for the Spirit of God will not always strive with man. It is indeed a sad spectacle to see one of our companions or associates who has been faithful for many years, fall by the way side, but, my dear brethren and sisters, it is a sadder sight to see one of such incapable of laying hold of this glorious principle of repentance, to find him lifted up in pride and justifying His actions. I say this is a far more serious condition than the fact of our sinning, because, as I have indicated already, our sins shall be forgiven through the glorious principle of repentance, but if we halve not lived or acquired this gift of God, there is no avenue through which our sins can be forgiven, we will go on through life justifying ourselves and thus sinning away the time of repentance. Now, we need to teach this principle in our homes. All great movements and reformations must begin at the fireside. We must put our own house in order first, then we can, with good grace, cry repentance to the world. ¶

In the remarks of President Ivins, we heard regarding conditions throughout the world as to disrespect for law and order which are indeed appalling; as Latter-day Saints we must be zealous in guarding against such evils. The most effective way, in my estimation, to guard against evil will be, first, to show by our actions absolute respect for all constituted authority in our conversation and in our lives, not only the ecclesiastical authorities, the authorities in our Church, but all c onstituted authority ; municipal, state, or national, let us learn the joy of upholding and sustaining them. Do not let us be guilty of indulging in destructive criticism. Someone has said, we must first learn to obey orders before we attempt to give orders. We must certainly learn to first uphold authority. I for one certainly intend to take to heart these splendid instructions and go from this Conference with a greater determination to repent of my sins if I have been guilty of showing any disrespect for constituted authoritv. I have learned to love the brethren of the Church, those who preside over us, and I find' great joy and satisfaction in honoring and sustaining them and I also find a feeling of genuine pride in seeking for and talking about the good acts of our civil authorities. On the other hand, I always feel a sort of unworthiness if I have indulged in unjust criticism of any constituted authority. Someone has said of our people, that we are like the blind leading the blind, and yet it is a fact that within our Church there is the greatest opportunity for individual development. ¶

This Church organization is designed to develop and cultivate the talents of each and every individual in it, and it will do so to the extent that such individuals will respond to the opportunities afforded them and respond to responsibilities placed upon them. In the the various organizations of man. it is the custom to have a select few designated to do the thinking, preaching, speaking, writing, and so forth, hut this is not the case in the Church of Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father instructs each and every one of His children how to live their individual lives and make the most of their opportunities. Now my brethren and sisters, these deplorable conditions of disrespect for law and order and morahty are of the world, and we are in the world and must be prepared to fight and withstand the onslaught of Satan's hosts for he will tempt our young people and lead them away in the most alluring fashion. While we are far from perfection I am indeed happy to know that we are above most of the world morally and I hope we shall continue to maintain this lead and improve upon it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to Joseph Smith in latter days has certainly given to the world high ideals for their salvation, not only morally but intellectually and physically as well as spiritually. ¶

I will relate a little incident which happened in Utah during the recent war, which illustrates to my mind the status of Latter-day Saints morally. When our splendid young men were being called to the Colors there was a good mother who accompanied her son to the railroad station to bid him farewell. Just before the departure of the train, on which this young man must leave home, his mother looked him straght in the eye and said, "My boy, your country has called you into service. I want you to go like a man and do your full duty. Honor and respect those who are in command. Be faithful to every trust placed upon you, and if your country shall require your life, be . a man and give the same, for I could stand to see you come home in a box if it should be necessary. God grant that it will not be, but there is one thing I want you to promise me. I could not stand it to have you come home contaminated with the sins of the world. Therefore, I want you to come back to me clean, or come back not at all." ¶

I believe, my brethren and sisters, that this is the sentiment of all Latter-day Saints. We have all been taught from infancy that it is better to lose our lives than to lose our virtue and chastity. We can ¶

not get away from these fundamental principles of morality, and it behooves the younger generation to instil the same integrity into the hearts of our children as did our fathers and mothers before us. If we can but live this one principle of the gospel, the principle of morality, and live it strictly, through this great law we shall be able to redeem the world, but should we fail to stand apart from the world in this respect, history will repeat itself upon us, as well as the rest of the world, which shows that when a people become immoral, they degenerate, and destruction is inevitable. Let us go from this Conference, my brethren and sisters, with a determination in our hearts to live better lives and to seek the Lord in mighty prayer that we may have wisdom to teach our children the principles of morality, and impress them upon their minds so that they will feel that it is better to lose their lives than to lose their virtue. It is a difficult task to rear our children to be different from their neighbors, but we must try earnestly to keep them from indulging in the excesses of the world. Some of the brethren have mentioned during the Conference the evils of modern dress. I feel that it is the extremes that harm and are not proper. We are taught to be a moderate people in all things and this applies to dress, to our eating, to our language and all our conduct in life. There is indeed a great responsibility upon us and I sincerely pray that we will be equal to the occasion and not fall into the sin of indifference as regards the duties of life. This is the greatest evil we have to contend with ; the sin of indifference. It is appalling to find the condition of the world as regards their attitude toward religion and toward our duties in life. We ought to realize full well, my dear brethren and sisters, "Life is real, life is earnest, and the grave is not its goal. Dust thou art, to dust returnest was not spoken of the soul." There is much for us to do, every moment is precious and we are all hastening on to the end. "Our hearts, though strong and brave, still like muffled drums are beating funeral marches to the grave. We know not when the end will come but we know it will come in due time, and great will be our joy and satisfaction if we have striven hard to learn the purpose of our being here in mortal life, and of trying to magnify the same to the satisfaction of our heavenly Father. ¶

I was deeply impressed by the sweet rendition by the choir of the beautiful anthem, based upon the scriptural reference, wherein the Savior said : "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," and wherein, He went on to say, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." My dear brethren and sisters, I know that if we accept the gospel of our Redeemer with full purpose of heart, and live up to its teachings with faith in God, we shall find the words of the Savior to be true and correct that His yoke is easy to bear and that His burden is light. ¶

I earnestly pray that God will bless you all that we may try earnestly to understand the purpose of life and seek to magnify our duties to the very best of our ability, and I humbly pray for this blessing in behalf of all of us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶