Remarks by John M. Knight

(President of the Ensign stake of Zion, and President of the W estern States Mission) ¶

My brethren and sisters, I rejoice in the privilege I have of attending this session of our conference. I desire that the few moments that I shall sepak to you I may be blessed of our Father, and have the same good spirit that has characterized the remarks of our brethren. I rejoice that our President has given unto us a definite and positive and concrete statement with respect to the attitude of the Church concerning some of the great problems that confront us. So far as I am concerned, I shall go to the people of the Western States mission and advise the Latter-day Saints who reside there to observe the counsel, the advice and the instructions they have received this day. ¶

I call to mind the semi-annual conference of the Church nineteen years ago this month. At that conference President Joseph W. McMurrin was one of the speakers. His remarks on that occasion have had a great influence upon my life. I was prepared to leave Salt Lake City to make my home in southern Idaho. I had made preparations to sever my connections with my father in a business way, and to leave this city for that section of the country. Brother McMurrin advised the Latter-day Saints living in this city, at that particular time, if they entertained any such ideas that they should seek counsel before leaving. I went to Brother McMurrin the next day at his home. I asked him for counsel and he said : "I cannot give it to you. I will take your case to the presiding brethren." He did so, and late in the afternoon of that day came and told me what they had to say. I was advised to remain in Salt Lake City. That was not the counsel I wanted. I desired with all my heart to go, and my father turned to me and said: "My boy, what do you intend to do?" And I said : "Follow the counsel of my brethren. 1 never would have sought counsel if I did not intend to obey it." ¶

Sometimes we seek counsel and we fail to obey that counsel. Sometimes counsel is given unto the Latter-day Saints without their seeking, and they fail to obey it. I call to mind that at the conference, ¶

six months ago, certain counsel and advice were given to the Latterday Saints. I know that they have not followed that counsel, some of them to their sorrow. I want to say to you that I have implicit faith and confidence in the presiding authorities of the Church, and with the help of my Father I promise to follow the counsel and the advice and the instruction that they give. I thank God that I had the strength to follow their counsel ; for, for four years after that counsel was given I went through the most trying period of my life. Sickness and death in my family, financial reverses and other things came, one following the other with great rapidity, and ofttimes I wondered if my own judgment would not have been best. But I am grateful unto the Lord that I have had the disposition to be obedient to the counsel of our brethren, and I know there is safety in following their advice on all matters. Time has demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt that the counsel given me was the very best thing for me. ¶

I rejoice in the blessings of the gospel. It is a wonderful privilege to come up to Zion to partake of the influence of a gathering of this kind, for, as Bishop Nibley has indicated, there is strife and bitterness and contention in every part of the world, and it is a privilege to gather with the Saints of God who have in their hearts a love for him and a desire, I am sure, to serve him and to keep his commandments. I feel that, as a people, the time has come when we should turn our faces towards the rising sun, and that we should set our hearts like flint against the very appearance of evil, that we should give the very best efforts of our lives to the furtherance of God's work here upon the earth. I wish we were as loyal to the presiding authority of the Church as some of our enemies say that we are. The article referred to by President Grant this morning by Dr. Martin was published widely in the newspapers of the United States. It appeared in tha Denver Post with heavy headlines. I wished that he did have the power that was indicated, while I knew that he was not exercising such power. ¶

One of our reverend gentlemen from this state visited the Western States mission and he magnified greatly the statements that were given by Dr. Martin, He not only said that President Grant controlled millions, but billions of dollars — I think four billions of dollars that he controlled in actual money. I presume he would like to get his hands upon it. This good gentleman applauded our efforts as misionaries. He told of our wonderful organizations. He spoke a good word for the Sabbath schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He referred to the loyalty of the Saints in observing the law of tithing, and after saying a number of good things he asked the question : "What can we do to stop it ?" ( Laughter. ) ¶

Well, I remembered the word' of the Lord, and I felt in my heart to say that neither he nor any of his kind, nor even the devil himself, could stop the work of the Lord, so long as we were in the line of our duty, and preaching the gospel of repentance to the nations ¶

of the earth. I am thankful to my heavenly Father for the faith that I have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the influence it has had upon my life. I am grateful unto my Father in heaven for my parentage, for my ancestors. I represent the fourth generation in the Church. My grandfathers and great grandfathers and grandmothers, and my father and mother passed through all the trials incident to the pioneering of this great western wilderness, and they were faithful to the truth. I ask for no greater legacy than that, because their lives were an inspiration to me, and they encouraged me in living the principles of the gospel. I mentioned this fact in Denver, that I represented the fourth generation in the Church, and our baby, a little fellow of seven years, went to his mother and said : "What do you think father called us in meeting?" And she said: "I don't know, son, what was it?" He said: "Father said that we were the fifth amendment" (Laughter). ¶

I am also thankful that my children are faithful to the truth, and that they are willing to bear the same testimony that their greatgreat-grandparents bore concerning the restoration of the gospel. I know as I know that I live that it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes and obeys the commandments of our Father. I rejoice in the opportunity of bearing this testimony to the people of the earth. We are not ashamed of it. ¶

"We're not ashamed to own our Lord, ¶

And worship him on earth ; We love to learn his holy word, ¶

And know what souls are worth." ¶

We have no controversy with the world, but, as I say, we make a definite and a positive statement with reference to the fundamentals of our faith. We know that if people will obey them in their lives that they will receive the witness of the spirit that it is the power of God unto salvation. We are not afraid to make that statement . We lay down the gauntlet to the world and declare upon their obedience to the fundamentals of the gospel they shall know whether it is of God or whether we speak of ourselves. I thank the Lord for all of these blessings. I pray that his Spirit may attend us that we may have a desire always to serve him and to keep his commandments and that we may be loyal to the presiding authorities of the Church, and that when they give us counsel and advice and instruction we will reduce it to practice in our daily lives. ¶

May God help us so to do I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶