Anxious for Rapid Growth and Steady Progress

My soul is overflowing with deep gratitude this day that in the providences and mercies of the Lord I have been permitted to live upon the earth in this generation, and that I have been so blessed of him, through the obedience of my grandparents, on both sides, to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be associated and identified with the Latter-day Saints. I know of no time in all the splendid past when, if I had been given the privilege of coming to the earth, I would rather have come than now. I am therefore grateful for life, for being, for knowledge and testimony that I have concerning the work with which I am identified. ¶

Anxious for Rapid Growth and Steady Progress

When I see the future of this people, through the revelations which the Lord has given and through individual inspiration he gives to us, and grasp and comprehend the greatness of this work, I confess that I sometimes almost become impatient in my keen anxiety and desire to see the work go forward more rapidly. I recognize that large bodies move slowly, and while we as a people are not large in comparison with the world, nevertheless we are becoming a body of considerable size, and naturally the progress will be rather slow, but I am so anxious that it shall be a steady progress towards the great and glorious goal God has destined for this people. ¶

Our Mission to Individuals and to Nations

I recognize the truth of what was said yesterday relative to our mission being to the world, to men and women in the world individually, and also that we have a mission to declare the glad news that the only plan and the only way by which even nations may survive is by and through the plan that the Lord Jesus Christ has devised, and has regiven again to the earth in this dispensation. Recognizing all that, I still realize, as you do, I am sure, that there is a tremendous responsibility resting upon us as individuals to contribute individually to the accomplishment of God's great purpose, in establishing this people, calling them out from the world for a distinct and specific purpose, and I am anxious that nothing, so far as the outside is concerned, or that may arise from the inside of this Church, shall in any sense retard the progress of the work. ¶

The Latter-day Saints a Peculiar People

We are not fanatics, as some have thought we are, and some still say that we are a freak people, and believe in freak things. Let them say what they will. If it is freakish to serve God and keep his commandments, if it is freakish for us to observe the Word of Wisdom and abstain from the use of tobacco and tea and coffee, then let us be a freakish people. I would like to be that kind. The Lord has said that this people would be a peculiar people quite unlike anybody else; but while we are in the world we are not to be of the world. We are to be different, we expect to be different, we rather pride ourselves on the' fact that we are different, and I hope the day will never come but that we shall be different from the world generally speaking, but that difference must not be a difference only of view; it must be a difference of life; it must be a difference of standards; it must be a difference in quality and not only in profession. I rejoice when I see the fruits of the work. When I see the progress, slow as it seems to be at times, nevertheless there is progress. I rejoice in it. I am convinced, however, my brethren and sisters, that that progress, so far as the work is concerned, might go forward more rapidly if only we were willing. The Lord is willing, and great and important things that he has in store for Zion, await us on condition of our preparation for their coming forth. If only we had been willing we might have been far beyond where we are ; but the Lord is very patient, and I am sure his servants who have led this people have been patient with them, although at times undoubtedly they have been sorely tried to see an apparent spirit of indifference towards vital things to which the attention of the people has been called. But nevertheless the Lord has been patient, and the leaders of the people have been patient and will continue to be, and the Lord is going to take care of this people ultimately, because he has promised it ; he made that promise to Daniel of old, that this work should never be thrown down nor should it be left to another people. By and through this people shall these glorious things be accomplished, though many shall fall by the wayside on the right hand and on the left hand. This work shall go forward, this work is not builded upon a single theory, nor is it on a narrow foundation; everything that affects and interests the human family ¶

has part and place in this great work. We recognize that while we have received revelations from the Lord for spiritual guidance, and divine truths pertaining to man's salvation here and hereafter, that reach beyond any revelations that have ever been given of the Lord in any former dispensation, nevertheless this people also are a very material people, having to do with material things. ¶

The Saints Must Be Materially as Well as Spiritually Strong

We recognize the fact that this people must be materially strong and prosperous in order that they may attain the fulness of God's work and establish it as he would have it. It cannot be done with a people who are in financial bondage, or who are in distress. I am convinced that the day is coming, indeed it is here, and it will be more apparent to the generations that shall follow us, that the Lord has had just as keen an interest in bringing this people to material prosperity as to spiritual blessings, and spiritual prosperity. He has recognized the need of material assistance in the establishment of his work upon the earth in preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. From the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord has shown forth inspiration in material things for the blessing and salvation of this people. When he led this people to. these valleys of the mountains, he inspired his servant President Young to point this out as the place, and he said it was the place, it was not only the place for spiritual development and for laying the foundation or building upon the foundation that had already been laid for the establishment of God's work in the earth, so far as his Church was concerned, but it was the place for the material prosperity of his people. Yet it was not the place where they could get rich quick. Thank the Lord, that condition never has obtained and it never will* It is a place where there is an abundance, as has often been remarked, that the communities where the Latter-day Saints live are provided with more material blessings and natural resources than perhaps any other community of a similar size in any part of the known globe; that we could be fenced out from the rest of the world and could survive in comfort, for the abundance of the things of the earth are here ; but they cannot be very easily obtained. They can only be obtained through great effort, great struggle and through faith and through the bless.- ings of the Almighty. ¶

Faith and Works Required

I rejoice that it has required struggle, that it has required effort to the attainment of these material things. That in itself is a great blessing to the people. Likewise it has always been necessary that there shall be a combination of faith and works on the part of the people who wrest from these valleys and these mountains material resources for their blessing and benefit in a material way. I am glad that that is true, for it does seem to me, that we are in the very place where all the most desirable qualities of the human being — faith, ¶

physical power, stick-to-it-iveness, devotion, self denial and perseverance, all are developed by the very circumstances with which we are surrounded ; and it never will be possible for a lazy people, for an idle people, for a speculative people to prosper in these Rocky Mountain valleys. God will not allow the conditions to alter and change very materially from what they are. They will come by slow processes and through the faith and the diligence of the people. These material blessings will continue to flow untoi them in abundance; but I am pleading now, my brethren and sisters, that the Latter-day Saints shall give just a little bit more thought and consideration in seeking the Lord for material blessings. He is interested in your material prosperity. He is concerned about it, and I am sure that he has heard the prayers of our fathers and mothers long before this day in these valleys, and has made it possible for the wilderness to blossom as the rose. We have given him. credit for it. It is he who stayed the early and the late frosts, it is he who has altered the conditions under the faithfulness and the labors of the brethren and sisters, too, and has brought us this blessed condition that now obtains ; but I wish to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that our present material advantages and our maintaining them, all depend on our continual faithfulness. This will not be a land of Zion unto this people except this people shall pay their tithes and their offerings. There are blessings for which we depend upon the Lord. While we are anxious that we shall employ all the skill and the wisdom of man, and physical power and ability, in the accomplishment of these things, all the wisdom of man, all his physical power, all his genius, cannot succeed except God shall bless his labors ; and if he shall bless them, and if we shall be diligent, if we shall be anxious to do our part, I am sure the result will be all that is desired. ¶

The Key to Our Line of Conduct

I would like to call your attention to a line of conduct that I think every Latter-day Saint ought to follow, even in material things, as well as spiritual. The key may be found in the ninth Section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. The, circumstances are these : Oliver Cowdery was translating, for God gave him the privilege, with the Prophet Joseph, to translate the Book of Mormon; and as he proceeded, suddenly his ability to translate ceased. He was puzzled at it, humiliated, bewildered, and wanted to know why, and the Lord gave an answer. I am reading now from the 7th verse of that 9th section : ¶

"Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. ¶

"But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. ¶

"But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to) forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me." ¶

That key can be applied in spiritual and in material things. I know it, and I am asking all you Latter-day Saints to employ just that process in your material affairs. When you contemplate the enlarging of your possessions, when you are studying the question as to what you should plant and what you should do, what you should buy and what you should sell; that is all vital after all, because if this people are wrecked financially it will be an exceedingly difficult thing, it will take a long time for this work to be accomplished, except there is material assistance available for the accomplishment of it individually and collectively. So I am inviting you to study it out in your own minds. Yes, think about it and watch carefully the impressions of the Spirit. ¶

What Brings Success?

I have said this also : Success does not come from mind power ; the brain does not bring success. It is helpful, undoubtedly, but some of the wisest and some of the brainiest men in the world have been altogether wrong in the last few years. Surely it has been a time when the wisdom of the wise in material things has perished, and the understanding of the prudent is hidden and is not available ; because it has not been only the poor who have suffered, but those of large means in the world. The shrewdest bankers in New York miss it entirely, and their wisdom was not sufficient to meet the emergencies. Neither is it physical strength that brings material success and prosperity, for there are physical giants who are paupers, and they may be found everywhere. Neither is it hard work, alone by itself, that brings success. That is necessary ; brains are necessary ; physical strength is essential, and so is hard work; but all these combined may make a total failure. What is it that really brings success? It is doing the right thing at the right time. That is a very simple thing, surely, and yet it is true. Men in the world who succeed, if you ask them why: "Oh I got a 'hunch' that I ought to do so and so." We do not use that language and yet' we recognize that it is possible for a man or a woman to get an inspiration — an inspiration or an impression from the Lord who knows what is coming. He knows whether that thing is going to be successful this year or not. It is the easiest thing in the world for him to give men and women an impression that this is the thing to do. ¶

Take Counsel Together

I have said that it is a mighty good thing for brethren to counsel with their wives about their material affairs, although some of us think that a woman does not have any reason for doing what she does do, only she just does it "because." It is usually because she is right, because she gets the inspiration, sometimes much quicker than a man. She does not understand your problems, but somehow in her heart she feels "that is not right, that is not going to come out right," she doesn't feel good about it. It is a mighty good thing to take conusel toELDER MELVIN J. BALLARD ¶

gather. I have said if you do not do' it but go ahead on your own account and use your own judgment and wisdom, setting hers aside, and you make a failure, you will hear about it for a long time afterwards. (Laughter.) ¶

Consult the Lord and His Priesthood About It

So that, it is a mighty good thing to utilize all the intelligence, all the wisdom we have in our circle among our boys and our girls. The decision does not rest wholly with father, but counsel is taken, and we study it out in our own minds and then we endeavor to reach our conclusion. Then, when we have reached it, wait a minute; do not go forward yet. My Scotch grandfather used often to quote this Scotch maxim : "Be sure you are right and then go ahead." Now I think we can be sure we are right. If we think we are right, the Lord has invited us to go to him and ask him if the thing we have planned to do, even in material things, is right. "If it is right, cause that my bosom shall burn within me, that peace shall be there, that contentment shall dwell, and I will have the conviction that it is the right thing. If it is not right, let there be a stupor of thought and an uneasiness, and my mind will not be clear on it, my heart will be turned away from it." If you do not get that conviction you would better try again. You'd better study it out again. But I am going to ask you to do something else. This Priesthood does not desire to bring the people of the Church under its direction in material things, but I want to tell you that this Priesthood is under the guidance of God Almighty ; I want to tell you that the man who presides over this Church, and those who have presided over this Church, are wiser in material things than any other men in this Church. God has made it so. His wisdom has prevailed and has been vindicated time and time again. Then here is a safe guide for this people : to take counsel from those whom the Lord inspires, and the Lord is the wisest financier: there is none like him, not only in spiritual, but in material things. ¶

And I assure you my brethren and sisters, that these stake presidents, the bishops of these wards, upon whom the hands of the servants of God have been laid, and who have been blessed and set apart to be watchmen upon the towers of Zion, to be shepherds of the flock, are blest with and enjoy an inspiration for the blessing and guidance of the people that is of great value to them in spiritual and in material things. Go to your bishop, talk with him about it. "Well," one will say, "I will not do that. My bishop doesn't know as much about this business as I do. It would be a humiliation for me to go to him." He may not be very successful himself, but he is able to give you the right counsel and advice, and he will never direct you wrong. I heard "Uncle" Jesse Knight say upon one occasion — and you will pardon me referring to him, because I think he is a shining example in this respect, and you know he was exceedingly successful in mining enterprises — I heard him say that he never went into a venture in his life without going to see his bishop and having a talk with him about ¶

it. His bishop knew very little, I presume, about the particular industries that Brother Knight was engaged in; but his testimony was : "The bishop never gave me wrong advice ; not once did he lead me astray or give me wrong advice or counsel. ¶

A Recent Valuable Example

I want to bear witness, therefore, to you, my brethren and sisters, it has been manifest among this people since the last conference held here, that if this people would have listened more diligently than they have done to the counsel of the President of the Church and to the brethren who have visited you in the stakes and wards, this people would have been millions of dollars better off today than they are. ¶

Some of you think: "Oh, the President of the Church had a selfish motive" when he advised you to raise sugar beets, when he told you it was a good and profitable thing for you. I know that we visited you in your wards and stakes and pleaded with you to do the same thing, assuring you that it was a good thing for the people, irrespective of the industry itself or looking at it from the business investment point of view. Now, was it right? Was it right? You answer it! I tell you again, that if all the people had listened, they would have been, in the aggregate, worth millions of dollars more than they are today. ¶

Spiritual guidance in material things is a mighty good guidance; I know that. I ask, therefore, brethren and sisters, that you pay just a little 'bit more attention to the Lord and his help and his inspiration, through his servants and to you individually in these matters. Then I want to say to you that you can, if you have with all earnestness of heart paid your tithing and done so honestly and justly, you can go to the Lord with faith and claim his blessings and he will hear you, he will answer your prayers, he will stay the elements for your good, he will bring those blessings in abundance to maintain you and to liberate you from your difficulties, if this people will only listen to the counsel that has been given them. I am very anxious and very jealous that we shall succeed, for I know in the heart of President Grant and in the heart of his brethren is burning the desire that this people shall be prosperous. There is no selfish motive there at all. If it seems to be for one particular interest, after all, it is for the general good and the material welfare and prosperity of this people. ¶

How We May Be Sheltered From Coming Storms

I said that I rejoiced that we are here. I rejoice that the Lord has brought this people up unto the right place. He knew all about what was coming. He knows our present needs, he is anxiously waiting, patiently waiting, and is sometimes, I fear, almost disgusted with some of us because of our slowness, because of our stupidity, because we are dull students, and do not learn as fast as we ought to, yet he is patient with us. ¶

In conclusion I wish to read a few verses from the 115th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, in which I think I see, again, God's ¶

watchcare and providence over this people in providing this place for us and these very conditions under which we live. Addressing the Church, the Lord says — reading now from the 4th verse of that 115th section: ¶

"For thus shall my Church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

"Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations; ¶

"And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth." ¶

Do you not know, my brethren and sisters, that God knew what was coming ; that he brought this people into these mountain valleys as a place of refuge when the storm shall come. We only hear the beginning of that storm. Dismal and distressful as has been its approach, while its thunders and its flashings have filled our hearts with terror, it is but the beginning of the storm. Oh, that it were passed, ahd that it were gone; but it is not, it is not! It would pass over the heads of this people and over the heads of the world if only, as Elder Roberts said, if only they would repent ; but if they will not repent, how can they escape ? Men in past ages have not escaped, who did not know as much as this generation, — in view of the knowledge that has come into the world of a scientific character, in view of the intelligence which men have, in view of the restoration of the everlasting gospel that has come into the world, and that has been proclaimed upon the housetops by the thousands of elders of this Church from door to door, in the publication of it, broad and wide. Knowledge such as no other generation that has ever lived upon the earth has enjoyed, has been diffused ; and this is their condemnation, that light has come into the world. I fear for the world because I say to you that no generation of men who have lived stand under greater condemnation before God Almighty than this generation, and except they shall repent, serious distresses await them. The storm in its fury shall rage; and all the powers of man cannot avert it. Only one thing can save them : their humiliation, their repentance will save them and nothing else can. Therefore we stand in peril, many of us ! for do you think that the Lord who has given us greater light and greater knowledge than the world, will pass us by in our sins and our transgressions? I say to you that if we do not live better than the world, if our standard of morality is not in excess of theirs, if we do not observe the law and maintain it better than any other people, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves, and we shall stand under great condemnation before the Lord, because we know more than anybody else. The light and knowledge that the Lord has given to us place us in a very peculiar position, and if we are not careful the judgment of the Lord shall begin at the house of the Lord. ¶

How to Prepare to Escape the Day of Calamity

Oh may we put ourselves in order, put ourselves in perfect harmony with the instructions of this conference, that we may escape, for I bear witness to you that those who do so, they shall escape in the day of calamity and confusion, as Israel escaped, the lintels of whose doors were marked with the blood of a lamb. So it shall be in these last days with those who do serve God and keep his commandments. May the Lord help us in the resolve and the determination to go forward now and do more than we have ever done to resist that which is all around us. It is in the world, it is seeking an inroad here and there into the communities of the Latter-day Saints. I am not very fearful of our present conditions, but I tell you I see what is coming. I know that it will require the steadfast faithfulness of every man and woman to escape the perils of this generation. God help us to stand as watchmen upon the towers of Zion, to guard well her gates as stewards of the flock, and to watch lest the destructive influences of the world shall enter in among us. Let us continue to be God's peculiar people, and we shall indeed be ; not only in time to come,.peculiar, but distinguished, which may the Lord grant, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶