Remarks by Rey L. Pratt

(President of the Mexican Mission) ¶

I am very happy, my brethren and sisters, to have the privilege this afternoon of bearing my testimony to you relative to the truthfulness of the gospel as it has been restored in this day and age in which we live. When the Savior of the world questioned his disciples as to whom men .said that he was, we find, after various answers given by different ones, that Peter answered distinctly: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He was informed by the Master that flesh and blood had not revealed this unto him, but that his Father in heaven had revealed to him this great truth. The Savior speaking to Peter said : "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." I am reminded that ninety-three years ago today, the Church of Jesus Christ was organized and established, and from that beginning has been built upon the rock of revelation. It is marvelous to contemplate the structure. It is marvelous when we ¶

contemplate how it seems that the very gates of hell have been arrayed against this work from the day of its inception, that in no way or degree have they prevailed against it. My mind has reverted back over the history of the Church today, and it seems to me that in the marvelous structure that has been built upon the rock of revelation not one single stone has been misplaced, neither has one had to be taken down or set aside ; and the structure stands today as a testimony that it is built upon the rock of revelation. More than ever before in my life there has been borne in upon my soul the truth of this fact that Joseph Smith was in very deed a Prophet of God. I bear yon my witness, brethren and sisters, that I know that God spoke to him. He appeared to him in person, and our Father in beaven introduced to him in this age in which we live, the Savior of the world, his Son, wbo died upon the cross, who had in himself, as the Father has, life ; and he took up his life, even after he was crucified, becoming the first fruits of the resurrection. I testify to you that by revelation from that God to Joseph Smith the Church has been established, and that it stands, and I bear my testimony likewise that those who have succeeded in the presidency of the Church, from then until now, are prophets of the Lord, inspired by him. My heart and my soul thrill with this truth. ¶

I wish to bear to you my testimony also concerning that great volume of scripture which I am sometimes led to believe we do not appreciate, namely the Book of Mormon, which is a record, brethren and sisters, that was written by prophets inspired of the Lord, and it came forth in this day and age in which we live by the inspiration of the Lord. It contains the truth of the everlasting gospel. Not one single thing recorded in that geat volume has ever been controverted by any discovery of any nature whatsoever that has been made since it was brought out in the world. It has been my good fortune to travel somewhat in fields rich in archaeology, in this country, and I bear you my testimony that not one spade of earth has been overturned that has revealed a single thing except what is corroborative of the Book of Mormon and its being a divine record. ¶

It is my faith and prayer that this work will go on to triumph. I know that it will. I sense and realize, my brethren and sisters, because of the work, perhaps, that I have been engaged in for some years, that there is a very great responsibility resting upon the people of this Church to bear this testimony before the world. We sometimes imagine that we have warned the nations of the world, but still those of us intimately engaged in the missionary work know that there are thousands and millions of people who have not yet intelligently come in contact with these great truths, and the responsibility is upon us of carrying the gospel message to the nations of the earth, for the Savior of the world has decreed that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness, and then shall the end come : and I say it shall not come until this shall have been an accomplished fact. ¶

Brethren and sisters, this responsibility rests upon us. In our ¶

homes let tis breathe the missionary spirit, that our sons and daughters may grow up with a realization of the great work that devolves upon them. Let there be some little thought toward the preparation necessary, for it is a fact that a great deal of preparation for usefulness is made after missionaries come into the missionary field, preparation that might well have been made in our homes, at our firesides, by the teachings of the fathers and the mothers to their children, seconded, of course, by the work of the great auxiliary organizations which are in the Church. I hope that in the future as we grow in faith, in testimony and in the knowledge of these things, we will grow in usefulness and in preparation, that we may be pillars of strength wherever the Lord calls us to labor, and that we will bear off triumphantly, so far as we are concerned, this greatest of all great works in the world. May the Lord bless us and help us to this end is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶