A Testing Time

A very wise man once said : "You cannot judge the full value of the teachings of any man by merely hearing the message. You must wait until you see the result of those teachings as they are carried out in the lives of the men and women who accept them and live them." The world now is having an opportunity to judge the teachings of ¶

the Prophet Joseph Smith, by examining the lives of the Latter-day Saints. ¶

A Testing Time

I am sure that it is also true that the world is full of theory. All kinds of theories are advanced by men who have in their hearts a desire to solve the problems of the world, and think they are going to do it. At the same time, I am sure that this is a testing time, when everything will be shaken that can be shaken and when nothing shall stand except that which God has established and that which is the truth. I am not afraid, so far as the Church is concerned, as we enter this great conflict. As the testing time approaches I have no fear, because the Lord himself has decreed that this work shall stand. To Daniel he made it known. Daniel saw our day, and this work, that it should roll forth until it should fill the whole earth, and that it should not be thrown down nor be left to another people. I have absolute confidence, therefore, in the outcome of this work and the fulfilment of that promise. At the same time, to those who have not this faith, we have an appeal to make, — to judge the work by its fruits, by the results that have been obtained from the teachings of the leaders of this Church. ¶

The Religion That Is Worth Having

I was impressed recently by reading a work written by one of the eminent gentlemen of this country, Thomas Nixon Carver, who, a year ago, addressed the conference in this great tabernacle. He was discussing in his book the kind of religion that is worth having and the kind that will survive, and from some of the interesting things I noted, I wish to read the following extracts. Said he : ¶

"The religion which best fits men for the struggle with the forces of the world, which enables them to survive in this struggle, will eventually be left in possession of the world." ¶

Again another : ¶

"That nation or that people whose average individual character and conduct and whose social institutions and customs are such as to make them strong in competition with other peoples, and able to spread over the earth and subdue it and have dominion over it, become by that very fact the chosen people, whatever their name, language or religion." ¶

Still another: ¶

"The church which ministers to a neighborhood where poor people live, that gives them a discipline which enables them to rise out of poverty and pass them on to other neighborhoods, to make room for other poor people who are coming in and by repeating this process, continue to minister to the needs of poor people, but of an ever-changing body of poor people, is the only kind of a poor man's church to be proud of." ¶

And I am proud of this Church, though it is a poor man's Church. ¶

I

At least the membership of this Church was very largely made up of poor men and women, but they did not stay poor, thank the Lord. Through adhering to the teachings of this Church, men have come into the possession of their own homes, as we heard from our President yesterday morning, so much so that 75 per cent of the membership of the Church own their own homes. Perhaps no such record can be found anywhere else in the world. These poor people were made independent and passed on to take care of themselves, and to render assistance to other poor folks who are still coming, that they may ultimately become independent. I think I can see working out in the process of the Church, the fulfilment of all our dreams, for from my childhood I have heard it said that the day would come when this people would be the leaders of the world, would be a pattern and example to be sought after by the whole world, and that the world, if they would come to success, would imitate the Latter-day Saints. ¶

The Margins That Count

Out in Oregon I was impressed on one occasion by a statement of an old forest ranger, who told me that in any group of trees in any part of that great forest country, any single tree in that group whose height was about six inches above any other tree in the group, would become the giant of the group. Just that little margin of difference gave that tree its advantage. I say to you, with my friend, that a religion that prepares a people to succeed in competition with other peoples, to survive, is a religion that will stand and endure. I have thought of how the Lord has provided for the material, spiritual and physical strength and endurance of the Latter-day Saints. I am calling your attention to this, my brethren and sisters, because I do not expect to see a great miracle wrought to produce this change. The key, the way to attain that end, has already been given to us in the very common and practical things that we hear from day to day. ¶

The Word of Wisdom

I want the Latter-day Saints to have faith in these revelations. Take, for instance, the Word of Wisdom. The Lord himself said that it was given for the temporal salvation of the Latter-day Saints. It has to do with the making of a strong body. We have heard something about the death rate in the Church— among the lowest of any group of people in the world. We have heard how that the average length of life of a Latter-day Saint is about six years longer than the average length of life in the United States. Any community of people whose average length of life is six years longer than any other group has that margin of difference. They will be the leaders. They cannot help but be in advance. Any community of people whose average death rate is low and whose average birth rate is high, as the Latter-day Saints' death rate and birth rate are, cannot help in the end but be in the lead. They have the margin of difference and advantage. ¶

There has been imported into the United States in the last seven years, one billion dollars worth of coffee, according to government statistics, and not one dollar of that coffee was raised in the United States. How many years would it take the United States government, if all the people would contribute what they now pay for coffee into a tax, to wipe out the national debt? A billion dollars in seven years — it is easily figured out — and yet not one single atom of food value or strength or benefit comes to man, but positive hurt and injury, through the use of coffee. ¶

That is only one item. Add tea, and tobacco, also other things forbidden in the word of wisdom, and I say to you that if the Latter-day Saints would observe this law of the Lord, it would become a great factor in their economic salvation and would give them a margin of difference over a coffee drinking, tea drinking and tobacco smoking community that would put them, in the end, head and shoulders, physically, mentally and financially, ahead of any other group. ¶

Ministration to the Sick

I would like to call your attention, since mention has been made of it, to another item. We believe in anointing the sick with oil, and praying over them. At the same time we are not fanatics. We believe in faith and works. We recognize the skill of the physician as the wisdom of the Lord, and we are willing to employ it, but to employ it in connection with blessings we seek at the hands of the Lord in his appointed way. We do not want the Latter-day Samts to forge' that there is a privilege they enjoy to seek the Lord for blessings that may be had through their faith ; and often, I believe, we could save ourselves expense and sickness and trouble if we would exercise our faith a little more. Not that I would ban the usel of medicine, properly applied, nor the skill of the physician, but we do not want to forget what the Lord has offered to us ; and if it were computed — all that has been saved through the ministration on the part of the elders in the Church in relieving the sick, in saving them and in saving those who would naturally have to pay the bill if physicians had to do the work to bring to pass the restoration to health— it would amount to a tremendous sum, not to say anything of the relief to sufferers. That principle alone would put the Latter-day Saints head and shoulders above any other community. ¶

Payment of Tithing

Again; here is the principle of tithing — a principle that contains the key for the solution of the financial struggle that is going on in the world between capital and labor. It is but the beginning perhaps of that system or plan which our heavenly Father has given for the solut'on of this problem, but I bear witness to you that the Latter-day Saints, if they will pay their honest tithing, will be enabled thereby to produce the state and condition that will enable the Church, as a whole ¶

body, to take care, not only of their poor, but to take care of their financial problems. By the payment of tithing-, a great industry, we have heard, was saved. I bear witness to you that if that industry, the sugar company, had not been saved, it would have been the greatest calamity financially that has ever happened to this inter-mountain country, and we would not have recovered from it for many years. Thank the Lord some Latter-day Saints paid their honest tithing and there was means in the hands of the Church to stabilize industries of this kind that affected so many of our people. If all the Latter-day Saints would pay their tithing the financial strength of this people would never be imperiled no matter what might come. ¶

Fast Offerings and Fasting

Again, I call your attention to the fact that the Lord has provided for the Latter-day Saints a way to take care of their poor, which does not cost them a dollar. The poor the world will always have' with them and the poor they will always have to take care of. By the provision which he has given wherein we abstain from the use of two meals on the first Sunday in the month, we obtain physical benefits and blessings from that sacrifice, and at the same time we save something, the equivalent of which Latter-day Saints should give to the bishop to take care of the poor of the Church ; and if that were done by the Latter-day Saints, so much so that each member of the Church would contribute an average of ten cents for those two meals, of five cents per meal, there would be ample funds, without touching the tithes of the Church, to take care of all the poor and it would not cost anybody a dollar and those who have sacrificed the use of a meal have obtained a benefit. ¶

I bear witness to you that this is a time when men are being tested as to whether or not they are going to have power over the flesh to resist the temptations of the evil one. There is an eternal conflict on — the conflict between the flesh and the spirit. I think it is a splendid thing for each and every one of us to ascertain who is boss and master in the house in which we live. Does the flesh have its way? I am grateful that once a month there is an opportunity for every Latter-day Saint to demonstrate this thing. I know that when you come to that fasting period, the flesh will begin to say: "I cannot fast ; I will have a headache, or T will get weak in the knees or sick," or something else. Does the flesh have its way? If so, you are becoming subjected to the flesh. It is the time and opportunity for the spirit to say : "Yes, I know you perhaps will have a headache and be sick and faint, but once a month I will show you I am boss in this house. I rule. I will have my way; you cannot have it." It is essential that the spirit shall have dominion and control over the flesh. This is the hour, this is the time when the whole world is giving evidence of their weakness and inability to sacrifice and to make the flesh amenable to their own good common sense, or whether or not they ¶

want license and liberty to destroy the flesh through yielding to its lusts, to its appetites and to its desires. ¶

Marriage and Divorce

And so, my brethren and sisters, with reference to the family. When the President read how low the divorce record is in this Church, how many of the members of the Church enter into the solemn state of matrimony and engage in the rearing of families that make for the stabilizing, the perpetuity and endurance of any community, my soul rejoiced to know that we have a marriage rate per thousand that is perhaps greater than that of any community on earth, and at the same time our divorce rate is lower. What is it that is upsetting and disturbing the world today? This very identical thing. And, if the Latter-day Saints will not only observe this great commandment of the Lord, but at the same time honor the first great commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, and not yield to the lusts of the flesh, to the pleasures, slo-called, selfish pleasures, of life and fail to respond to God's great law ; if they will but follow the example set by their fathers and mothers and fulfil that law and discharge their duty to the unborn, giving them the right and the privilege to come with us and enjoy earth life; if the Latter-day Saint boys and girls will continue, I say, to adhere to that high and sacred and holy obligation, then I am as sure as I am that the sun rises that it will come to pass that this people will survive no matter what the calamities may be, no matter what the perils at home or abroad may be, no matter how the earth shall be shaken, how men shall be tried, how nations shall be torn, how thrones shall totter, how finances shall go to wreckage, how laws shall be defied. If only this people shall adhere to these few simple principles which God has given to them, they shall weather the storms and they shall become the beacon light, the hope of the world, the salt of the earth; which may God grant, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶