Remarks by Arthur W. Horsley

(President of the Carbon Stake of Zion) ¶

I am very grateful, my brethren and sisters, for the opportunity I have in attending this conference. I, like many others who have spoken during this conference, have been coming to conference for over thirty years. I was just reflecting upon the past, and I believe I am safe in saying that I have not missed a semi-annual or an annual conference for twenty-five years. I did not expect to enjoy the privilege that I enjoy at the present time, and I believe I can go home and safely say to the people that this has been one of the best conferences that I have ever attended, and when they ask me who spoke, I can say : "I was one of them." ¶

I am very grateful to my heavenly Father that the gospel was carried to my native land, and that my grandparents and my parents ¶

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accepted of it, and that they were among that class which Christ spoke of when he said: "My sheep know my voice, and a stranger they will not follow." I am very grateful that I have a name and standing in this Church, and that I am, thus far, in harmony with the authorities thereof and in tune with the body of the Church. I am grateful for the blessings we enjoy at home and abroad, and I am grateful for the opportunities we have in life. ¶

I have the honor of presiding over the blackest stake in the Church, the Carbon stake, in which, when the mines are operating, about 15,000 tons of coal per day are produced ; and while we are a mixed community, having farmers and miners, and those who do not belong to the Church among us, nevertheless, we have one of the 'best communities that exists in the Church. We have men who go down into the bowels of the earth for a livelihood, giving honest labor for that which they receive, and I notice that their hearts are right and their blood is red. They are serving the Lord and keeping his commandments. ¶

I rejoiced when I heard the remarks of President Grant yesterday morning, advising the Latter-day Saints to be economical and to be saving and not waste their means. It is very good advice for all of us, no matter where we live. We are traveling fast nowadays in automobiles, and we are living fast, and we purchase things that we could get along without. ¶

I was very much impressed yesterday when I heard President Croft speak to us, when he spoke of the faith that is among the Latter-day Saints, and how they are healed, even without much medicine. I thought of the days when we had no medicine nor doctors. I thought of the days when the boys and the girls were reared upon the farm and were fed bread and milk, cornmeal mush, and milk gravy and potatoes, and that was about all, save a few chickens and eggs. They were thrifty people, and they were almost appendicitis-proof. I believe that what we need to do is to get back to the first principles and to use more milk, use more butter, more cheese, and a little common sense. I believe that then we will be in tune with the body of the Church and we will be benefited financially. ¶

While speaking of the men who go down into the bowels of the earth for a livelihood, I might add that we have many of our young men who do this kind of work and save their money. They walk up to the bishop, when they get their check, and pay their tithing on the entire check, whatever it may be, and they are saving the balance of their money to go upon missions and some have done this and are doing it, and they are feeling well and are spending their time and money in the service of the Lord. I tell you, my brethren and sisters, fathers and mothers in Israel — that is one of the greatest blessings that can come to parents, to have their boy in the mission-field preaching the gospel. We heard yesterday the amount of money that it takes to preach the gospel, but I tell you that the dividend is worth living for. ¶

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In my travels from place to place and visiting in the homes of the Saints and among those who have fathers or sons upon missions, I have the opportunity of reading many of their letters. It seems to me that the boys write more to mother than they do to any one else of the family. And the mother takes delight in bringing out the letter and showing it and having you read it and see what the .boy is doing and what he is saying. ¶

I was forcibly struck with one letter that I read, wherein the boy was out preaching the gospel wi'hout purse or scrip, down in New Jersey — Campden and Plainfield, in that part of the country. He said they could get no shelter ; they had no breakfast ; they had no dinner, no supper. They had slept in a little barn. They had been turned away forty times during the day and evening when they were canvassing. The people would telephone from one place to another "The 'Mormons' are in town." He said : "We had nothing to eat. We were getting desperately hungry, and all we had was a Book of Mormon or two to sell and we could not sell them. What could we do?" Said he, "We decided to go to one side and pray to God. We had read in the scriptures where it says 'the laborer is worthy of his hire.' " So they prayed unto the Lord. And the boy said : "After we had got up and prayed that morning, we went a short distance, where we met a little man who could not speak the English language." By the way, he was a German. lie had a little boy by his side, and through the boy he talked, the boy acting as interpreter. This man said to these two young "Mormon" elders: "Come with me; I want to speak to you. Come to my home, I want to feed you and I want to give you a place to rest." So they went and enjoyed the hospitality of the good man. And in the letter the boy said: "Mother, I know God heard our prayers." ¶

There is the dividend that comes to the Latter-day Saints — when they get a dividend of that kind, when the boy writes home and says : "Mother, I know God heard my prayers." He doesn't get that testimony with a pocket full of money. He doesn't get that testimony working around. No, but when he is so humble that he has to go to God, his eternal Lather and seek relief and depend upon him ; then it is that he gets a testimony of the gospel. So, the boys who go upon these missions are not only beneficiar'es to those who are in the world, but they are beneficiaries to themselves and to their posterity ; and I know that we cannot spend any money to any better advantage than to spend it for the boys going upon missions, and going to the Church schools, where they can learn and be taught the principles of life and salvation. I do not expect to die a rich man. I would rather spend every dollar I have in giving the boy or the girl a reasonable education and helping them to fulfil missions in the nations of the earth. That is the way I feel about it. ¶

I am always pleased when I hear the .brethren bearing testimony of the goodness of the Lord to them, and that the power of God is ¶

in the earth today, and that the sick are healed. I am glad for these thing's, because I have received the blessings under the hands of the servants of the Lord myself, and I tell you I have faith in the gospel, or I would not be here. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because I know it is the power of God unto salvation. I am satisfied, and I am • satisfied if the Lord will help me, to remain the rest of my days if possible with the body of the Church, that I may be able to listen to the dictations of the Holy Spirit that are given to us from time to time. I want to bear you my testimony that no man can get up and truthfully say that, by taking counsel from the authorities of the Church, he has ever lost anything. I have faith in the authorities of this Church. I have faith in them that when they tell me to plant beets I plant beets, and I do not plant potatoes. I have faith in them (hat when they tell me to go to some place I am willing to go. That is why I went to Price, where I live, because I was told to go there by President Day, who at that time was the President of the Parowan stake of Zion. He said : "Go there and stay and grow with the community." I took his advice and I have never regretted it, and I have never felt as if I wanted to go away from that locality, because I am where the servant of the Lord said for me to go, and that is where we should be. ¶

My brethren and sisters, we have prophets, seers and revelator.s in the Church today, and I am always willing to listen to the living oracles of God. ¶

I hear my testimony to you that I know that God lives and hears and answers the prayers of this people. I know that the brethren, down to the last ordained as prophets, seers and revelators, in this Church, are ordained of God. I know that President Grant is the right man in the right place. It was made known to me when he was sustained as the President of this Church. I saw in him when he arose in the pulpit, the likeness of the late Joseph F. Smith, and I wondered and I looked and thought perhaps my eyes had deceived me, until the next day when a brother stood up in the stand, who was going to Scandinavia to preside over the mission, and he testified to the very same thing that I saw myself, and he verified it. I thank the Lord that I am here at this conference. May the Lord bless my brethren and sisters in all their labors whether it be at home or abroad, is my prayer for us all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶