Considering a Four-Days Conference

There has never been, within my recollection, anything to compare with the wonderful outpouring of people, to our semi-annual conferences, such as we have had during the past three days. ¶

Considering a Four-Days Conference

I think that, perhaps, in the future it may be well— and we will seriously consider it — to have four days of conference. Several of our speakers limited themselves to sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen minutes, and, as you know, only two of the seven presidents of seventies have had the opportunity of addressing the vast congregations that have appeared in this building, and only one of the presiding bishopric. The suggestion made fifty-five years ago and carried by a vote of the people, that they continue the Conference for another day, if carried out at our next meeting, in six months from now, would, in all probability, give each of the brethren of the general authorities, and some of our mission presidents, an opportunity to express themselves without feeling very much limited for time. I am not sure but that the addresses of the three or four of our brethren, including the addresses of the presidency, that were beyond the short limit of fifteen to twenty odd minutes, gave the brethren who delivered them greater liberty of utterance, and a freer flow of the Spirit, than was enjoyed by those I had to request to make their addresses short. It is only fair to say that a great many of the Latter-day Saints have expressed to me, time and time again, the idea that if we cannot all find the time to bear our testimonies and deliver our messages at a general conference, it would be better to only have a number of us talk at one of the conferences, and the balance at the next one. But, I have felt in my heart an anxiety that each of those who are presiding over our missions throughout the United States, and each of the general authorities of the Church whom you have voted to sustain here this day — the twenty-six members that stand as the presiding authority in the Priesthood — -should lift up their voices in each and all of our conferences and bear witness of the goodness of God to them. For that reason we have always had them speak, and occasionally we have heard from some others in addition. I have heard a great many people say that one cannot very well deliver much of a sermon in ten minutes, but some of the very choicest of all the choice sermons that I have ever heard in this building, have been delivered in five and ten minutes. ¶

Expressed Thanks to All Who Have Taken Part

■ When I think of the scores and scores of conferences I have attended in October, through driving storms and snow, to say nothing about the cold and the blizzardy weather we have had, I have rejoiced and been thankful to the Lord for the very wonderful and splendid weather we have enjoyed during this conference. I extend to the Saints my thanks and my blessing for the wonderful outpouring of the people at these conference meetings. I am grateful to our choir and to all who have taken part in rendering to us the very splendid music that we have enjoyed during our conference. I am thankful to each and all of the speakers who have spoken here in this building, and to those who have spoken in the overflow meetings. I feel that the Lord has abundantly blessed us, and poured out his spirit upon us, and that we will go from this meeting refreshed in spirit, renewed in our determinations to serve him and keep his commandments, and to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by the uprightness, the honesty, the integrity and the devotion of our lives. ¶

They Are the Greatest Speakers Who Live the Gospel

The Latter-day Saints, as a people, have the greatest number of preachers in all the world, for the reason that nearly every lay member has been on one or more missions of from two to five years, proclaiming the gospel, without money and without price. We are a nation — small nation, so to speak — of preachers, but the greatest and the most wonderful preacher among the Latter-day Saints is the man or the woman who lives the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Show me thy faith by thy works" is the thing that counts. James said that he would show his faith by his works, and that faith without works is dead. It is like the body without the spirit, and you know that needs to be buried very soon after the spirit departs, or it becomes obnoxious. It is by our works, our diligence, our faithfulness, our energy, that we can preach this gospel, and the people of the world are beginning to recognize, to know and to comprehend the fact that the fruits of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the Latter-day Sains, are good fruits. To have the lowest death rate, to have the highest birth rate, to have Utah tie — (nearly twenty years ago, when I was in England, presiding over the European Mission) for second place among the states of America, for literacy — only one state ahead of us — show that we are making a record that we can well be proud of. I have said to people, in my travels as a member of the Council of the Twelve, during the past forty years, that all we ask any man or of any woman, at home or abroad, that they do for the Latter-day Saints, is to judge them by their fruits. The one great standard laid down by the Savior of the world was, "By their fruits ye shall know them." For happiness in their homes, for contentment, prosperity, business integrity, sobriety, for observance of the laws of God and of man, I am at the ¶

defiance of the world to find any other people superior to the Latterday Saints. I am not speaking now of "Mormons" who do not keep the commandments of God. ¶

The Standards by Which We Wish to Be Judged

No true Americans desire to be judged by the Benedict Arnolds of our country, but they desire to be judged by men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and others who have been devoted to the principles upon which this country stands and to the Constitution of our country, who respect that Constitution, who stand for the obeying of the laws of the country, and who have given their lives, or offered their lives, for the country. Those are the people whose lives we desire shall be the standard by which the United States of America shall be judged — not by the law-breakers. We desire that the Latter-day Saints shall be judged by those who keep the commandments of the Lord, who obey the word of wisdom, who obey the commandment to give to the Lord one-tenth of all that shall come into their hands, who attend to their family and their secret prayers, who are ready and willing to go, without money and without price, to the uttermost ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who do it under the inspiration of the' Spirit of the living God. ¶

A Prominent Example

We desire to be judged by men, for instance, like Col. R. M. Bryce Thomas, who came to Salt Lake City about thirty years ago, a retired Colonel in the British Army. His wife was taken sick and they were stopping in what was then known as the Templeton hotel, and, across the road from that hotel was the headquarters, then, of the Deseret News. Over the front door was a sign " 'Mormon' publications for sale." Day after day he read this sign, until it got on his nerves, so he went and bought a lot of "Mormon" publications, and he read and studied them. When he returned to London, he attended our meetings, and later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He made two trips all the way from London to Salt Lake, to perform ordinances for his dead ancestors, in the temple of the living God, on this block. He wrote a long letter — I imagine fully a hundred, if not more, pages, telling his friends why he had joined the Church of Jesus Christ. It is entitled My Reasons for Leaving the Church of England and Joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. This was written for the express purpose of enlightening his friends. He received so many letters asking him why he had joined this unpopular people, that it kept him constantly busy and so he decided to publish his reasons, with no idea that his pamphlet, or the letter that he sent to Liverpool to have published for his benefit, would be used as a tract. We ask to be judged by men like Colonel Thomas. ¶

It has been said, and I believe truthfully, that about the tenderest part of the human anatomy, of the male variety of the species, is the pocket, and Colonel Thomas, from the day that he was baptized sends ¶

! ¶

once a month to the London office a fast-day offering; once a month a check comes for one-tenth of his compensation as a retired Colonel in the British army. ¶

The Joy of Converting Souls and Proclaiming the Gospel '

We ask to be judged by those men who are giving their all — their talents and their lives — and those women who are doing the same, for the advancement of God's kingdom, by those who feel a desire in their hearts to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, that feel exactly as did Alma of old, when he said (Alma 29) : ¶

"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people ! ¶

Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. ¶

"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. ¶

"I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. ¶

"Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men ; or he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires; whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. ¶

"Now, seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called? ¶

"Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends of the earth? ¶

"For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true. ¶

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. ¶

"And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me. ¶

"Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the Lord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage. ¶

"Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage. ¶

"Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea and that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people and hath given me. much success, in the which my joy is full." ¶

There is no living soul in all the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, who has gone forth to proclaim this gospel, from the midnight sun country of Scandinavia, where the mother of Reed Smoot heard the gospel, down; to South Africa; from Canada to South America, but who like Alma of old has had that same joy and that same happiness, when he or she has been an instrument in the hands of God of bringing some soul to a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which you and I are engaged. ¶

"But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi. ¶

"Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward! ¶

"Now, when i think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy. ¶

"And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit dbwn in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they, may praise him for ever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen." ¶

I know of no joy on earth that can compare with that which comes to the heart of the man who is an instrument in the hands of God of saving some soul and turning it from that broad way that leadeth to destruction, into that straight and narrow path that leadeth to life eternal. ¶

An Illustration in the Conversion of the Speaker's Brother

As I stand here today, I remember what to me was the greatest of all the great incidents in my life, in this tabernacle. I saw for the first time, in the audience, my brother who had been careless, indifferent and wayward, who had evinced no interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and, as I saw him for the first time in this building, and as I realized that he was seeking God for light and knowledge regarding the divinity of this work, I bowed my head and I prayed God that if I were requested to address the audience, that the Lord would inspire me by the revelations of his Spirit, by that Holy Spirit in whom every true Latter-day Saint believes, that my brother would have to acknowledge to me that I had spoken beyond my natural ability, that I had been inspired of the Lord. I realized that if he made that confession, then I should be able to point out to him that God had given him a testimony of the divinity of this work. Brother Milton Bennion was sitting on the stand that day, and he had been asked to address the congregation. President Angus M. Cannon came to me and said, "Before you entered the building, Brother Grant, I had invited Brother Milton Bennion to speak, but he can come some other day." ¶

I said, "Let him speak." Brother Cannon said, "Well, I will ask him to speak briefly, and you will please follow him." ¶

Brother Bennion told of his visit around the world; among other things, of visiting the sepulchre of Jesus. ¶

I took out of my pocket a book that I always carried, called a Ready Reference, and I laid it down on the stand in front of me, when I stood up to speak. It was opened at the passages that tell of the vicarious work for the dead, of the announcement that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. I intended to read about the baptism for the dead, and I intended to preach upon the fact that the Savior of the world had not only brought the gospel to every soul upon the earth, but that it reached back to all those who had died without a knowledge of it, or in their sins, that they would have the privilege of hearing it ; that, as I understood and had read in the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus came into the world to be crucified for the world and to die for the sins of the world and that he saved all except only those who denied the Son after the Father had revealed him — those who> had lived and those who had died. ¶

I remember standing here feeling that that was perhaps the greatest of all the great themes that we as Latter-day Saints had to proclaim to the world. I laid the book down, opened at that page; I prayed for the inspiration of the Lord, and the faith of the Latter-day Saints, and I never thought of the book from that minute until I sat down, at the end of a thirty-minute address. I closed my remarks at 12 minutes after 3 o'clock, expecting that President George Q. Cannon would follow me. Brother Angus came to the upper stand, and said, "George, please occupy the balance of the time." ¶

He said, "No, I do not wish to speak," but Brother Angus refused to take "No" for an answer. ¶

Brother Cannon said, finally: "Alright, go take your seat, and I will say something," and he arose and said in substance: "There are times when the Lord Almighty inspires some speaker by the revelations of his Spirit, and he is so abundantly blessed by the inspiration of the living God that it is a mistake for anybody else to speak following him, and one of those occasions has been today, and I desire that this meeting be dismissed without further remarks," and he sat down. ¶

. " I devoted the thirty minutes of my, speech almost exclusively to a testimony of my knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and to the wonderful and marvelous labors of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and bearing witness to the knowledge God had given me that Joseph was in very deed a prophet of the true and living God. ¶

The next morning my brother came into my office and said, "Heber, I was at meeting yesterday and heard you preach." ¶

I said, "The first time you ever heard your brother preach, I guess?" ¶

"Oh, no," he said, "I have heard you lots of times." I said, "I never saw you in meeting before." "No," he said, "I generally come in late and go into the gallery. I often go out before the meeting is over. But you never spoke as ¶

you did yesterday. You spoke beyond your natural ability. You were inspired of the Lord." The identical words I had uttered the day before, in my prayer to the Lord. ¶

When I heard George Q. Cannon, after I sat down, and before his brother spoke to him, say to himself, "Thank God for the power of that testimony," the tears gushed from my eyes like rain and I rested my elbows on my knees and put my hands over my face, so that the people by me would not see that I was weeping like a child. I knew when I heard those words of George Q. Cannon, that God had heard and answered my prayer. I knew that my brother's heart was touched, and the next day when he came and repeated my words, I said to him, "Are you still praying for a testimony of the gospel'" ¶

He said, "Yes, and I am going nearly, wild." ¶

I asked, "What did I preach about yesterday?" ¶

He replied, "You know what you preached about." ¶

I said, "Well, you tell me." ¶

"You preached upon the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith." ¶

I answered, "And I was inspired beyond my natural ability; and I never spoke before — at any time you have heard me, as I spoke yesterday. Do you expect the Lord to get a club and knock you down ? What more testimony do you want of the gospel of Jesus Christ than that a man speaks beyond his natural ability and under the inspiration of God, when he testifies of the divine mission of the prophet Joseph ?" The next Sabbath he applied to me for baptism. ¶

If I were offered today, all the wealth of all the world, and had my brother in the condition he was in — without a knowledge of the divinity of this work, I know, as I know that I live, it would not be the slightest temptation to me. ¶

I do rejoice beyond all the power with which God has endowed me, in the divinity of this work in which we are engaged, and in the joy and the happiness that it brings to everyone of the Latter-day Saints who keeps the commandments of God. ¶

Sarcastic Arguments Against Prohibition

I had here a lot of things I was going to read, and I have forgotten about all of them but one. There is one thing I want to read and I want to call attention to the hypocrisy of a certain article in Judge, now combined with Leslie's Weekly. It is a contemptible and sarcastic sample, as we find here in an editorial in the Improvement Era, which says: ¶

"As a sample of the sarcastic and contemptible argument made by the anti-prohibitionists, Judge, which is a combination of the former Leslie's Weekly and the comic paper, Judge, has this editorial in a recent number : ¶

"light wines and beer "Volstead Prohibition has ■ — smothered us in prosperity, ¶

— solved our labor problems. ¶

— diminished crimes of violence. ¶

— improved our morals. ¶

• — cut down our divorce rate. ¶

— produced greater respect for the law ¶

— discouraged corruption. ¶

— improved our foreign relations. ¶

— lessened the privileges of wealth. ¶

— increased our patriotism. ¶

— made us happier. ¶

"This list contains eleven lies. To make it an even dozen, we'll add that Judge is a prohibitionist." ¶

I lack language to express my contempt for any such an editorial as that in Judge, therefore I will not attempt to do it. The Lord has not given me the power. ¶

Babson on Prohibition

I want to read something from the greatest statistician in America — Mr. Babson: ¶

"Another optimistic factor in our present business situation is national prohibition." ¶

Mr. Babson, I guess, is paid more money for what he writes than any other living man in the United States, even, I venture the assertion, about ten times as much as Judge with all the whisky money that they get for writing such stuff as I have read from Judge for you. ¶

"Before the Prohibition Act was passed, $3,000,000,000 were spent annually for drink." ¶

What is $3,000,000,000? Three dollars a minute for every minute until now, since the birth of the Savior of the world — three dollars a minute — three billion dollars, and no human being is benefited one particle by that $3,000,000,000 of expenditure, and hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands are ruined physically, morally and every other way, and many hundreds commit murder because of the liquor that they have. ¶

"Now, this $3,000',0O0,00O that was formerly spent for drink, goes to the buying of merchandise, the building of homes, the furnishing of homes and the starting of savings accounts. No matter what interpretation may be put on the law or what new legislation may be enacted, of this we are quite certain — that same $3,000,000,000 which formerly went to drink will hereafter be used for stimulating the regular channels of business. It will be used to buy merchandise, start savings accounts and do those things which tend to make people happy and prosperous." ¶

It will increase and has increased, in every land and in every clime, by a hundred to two or three hundred per cent, the amount of milk consumed, and milk is the best food that human beings can have. ¶

Getting the Towel Dry in Business

"As a successful merchant needs delivery wagons, so a successful nation needs a good merchant marine. Thanks to the war, the United States has such today. ¶

"Finally, w,e are today citizens of the richest country in the world. Where formerly we were a country owing the other nations of the world, we are today a credit country, with the rest of the world owing us. For this and other reasons, this country, fundamentally, is all right. Even at the present time, this medial line which represents fundamental conditions, is slowly but constantly going upward. ¶

"During 1917-19, however, [he is referring to the towel as representing business] the towel became saturated with water. This is just what happened to business. The drops of water that fall off the towel when lifted out of the water may be indicative of orders for goods which fall to us during such inflated times. The saturated towel represents business when we were at the highest point in January, 1920, thoroughly saturated with water. Such saturation must be taken out. We must always get the towel dry again." ¶

Advice to the Saints to Get Out of Debt

I say to the Latter-day Saints : Get the water out of your business at the earliest possible date ; get down to bed-rock. Remember the wonderful teachings of Joseph F. Smith from this stand, years ago, that would have saved hundreds and thousands of Latter-day Saints from ruin financially if they had listened to it. He said, "Get out of debt and keep out of debt." Cattle and sheep men, merchants, farmers and everybody, in the days of the boom, who got more land, more sheep, more cattle, more everything, by running into debt, would thank the Lord Almighty if they had only listened to President Joseph F. Smith. ¶

The Secret of "Making Good"

I want to read a little story. I do not think it will take me over five minutes, and then I am through. I read so much that I make people tired, but I do it in the hope they will read it again after it is published : ¶

"There were two boys named Brown; they were brothers. The mother had died with tuberculosis when the children were young. The father was a sea captain, one of the best of the town, but he was lost when these boys were fourteen and sixteen years of age, respectively. They, however, lived together in their three rooms, did thir own cooking and housework, and went to school. The people called them 'hatchet and handle' because they were always together. The older boy, Jimmie, finally went into a store, but the younger boy got that longing for the sea which only those brought up near the ocean can appreciate, and when sixteen years old he went out 'on the banks' for a fishing trip. ¶

"The boy had been away only two weeks, when to that New England town came word that the vessel with all hands had gone down. The disaster was, of course, a great blow to the older brother, Jimmie — a terrible blow. It occurred in February or March. The spring came on; the birds returned. The summer followed; and again the trees changed their color in the autumn. Still Jimmie was very sad. In November a rumor came through the town that a great four-master schooner had gone on the rocks near the Point. The boys of the town, as always, went with the crowd to the Point to see the wreck. When they reached the shore, the life boat had already gone out." ¶

"The Spirit Which Makes Good."

And I want every Latter-day Saint to make good. "It was a wicked afternoon; that life boat would rise to the top of ¶

the waves and then go completely out of sight. Every one held his breath until it would come in sight again. Finally, the boat reached the ship, took off the crew, and came back to shore. As soon as it landed', the Life Savings men and the shipwrecked crew came stumbling out, falling exhausted on the beach. They were taken to a fire which had been built of driftwood, were given hot food and rubbed. They were gradually recovering when a rumor ran about the crowd that a chap, sick and helpless, had been left aboard1 the ship; that because of his weak condition they could not get him into the life boat, since the waves were too severe, the sea running too high. Well, that didn't go with the people of that New England town and they urged the life boat crew to go back and save the other man. The crew replied : 'No, we cannot. It is too much to attempt again in these waves this afternoon.' ¶

"Then to the surprise of every one, little Jimmie Brown jumped up on a rock and shouted: 'I have nothing to live for. I have lost my brother. Let me go and I want some boys to go with me.' So the boys formed a volunteer crew, went out to the ship, and brought the other chap ashore. They also fell exhausted on the beach on their return. But they were rubbed and warmed; while the unconscious lad was taken to another fire to be nursed by the good women living near by. Finally, the unconscious one smiled and opened his eyes. Every one was happy. Gradually, one by one, the volunteer boy crew came up to the fire to look at this chap they had saved. Finally Jimmie Brown came and looked. Lo and behold, it was his younger brother! The crew of the fishing schooner had all been lost excepting this young Brown. He had been picked up by the fourmaster on its way to Manila, which, on its homeward voyage, was wrecked on the New England coast. ¶

"Young men and women who read this book: Remember Jimmie Brown. Forget yourselves. Think of the other fellow. Become interested in doing what is right; in standing for industry, integrity, service. If you do, you (like Jimmie Brown) will find what is dearest to your hearts, namely, PROSPERITY. The secret of making good is being good and doing good." ¶

No other people upon all the face of the earth have done as much good, have spent as much time/ have spent as much money in proclaiming the gospel and in living the gospel, by paying their tithes and their offerings and doing the things that God has commanded, as have the Latter-day Saints. ¶

God bless you all. Amen. ¶