Remarks by Edward J. Wood

I appreciate very much the privilege of being with you this morning, and am sorry I was detained Friday and Saturday. Those living in remote places more fully appreciate the privilege ot meeting together with the general authorities of the Church than you who live here in the center stakes of the Church. ¶

I have listened with interest to the remarks of President Ivins, and have thought of reading from the Pearl of Great Price, the first chapter of the Book of Abraham : ¶

"And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers. ¶

"It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathersi, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before ¶

the foundations of the tarth to the present time, even the right of the first-horn, on the first man, who is Adam, our first father, through the fathers, unto me. ¶

"I sought for mine appointments unto the Priesthood, according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed." ¶

I am. always impressed, in attending these general conferences — and it is very few that I have missed during the last twenty years — with the thought of how much greater power we would exert if we but fully followed the example set by Abraham, if we would think so much orf our calling in the Priesthood that we would know that in it there is great happiness, peace, rest and blessings of the fathers, if we would only righteously seek for these blessings. Not only did Abraham seek for these blessings for himself, but he sought to be ordained to administer the same. If we had the faith that Abraham had, at all times, the Lord's blessings would be poured out upon us. I am sure that the general authorities of the Church, with President Grant at the head, have this same faith ; but if we, throughout the various stakes of Zion, from Canada, where I live, to Mexico in the South, would seek in all righteousness the happiness, the peace, and rest and the contentment that conies from the Priesthood; and then not be satisfied with this, but seek in all humility to administer these blessing;, and explain these privileges to those with whom we labor, how much greater would be the progress of the work in which we are engaged ! ¶

I have spent many years in the islands. I have noted the extreme faith of our Polynesian Islanders. They seem at all times to seek for the right to preach the gospel, to administer in the ordinances thereof among their fellow people. I have seen the sick healed. I have noted the extreme faith, the perfect faith which became a knowledge to many of them, even before they joined the Church by baptism; how they would set the example to many of us of the fact that through faith comes knowledge. ¶

I remember on one occasion one of our sisters said that a certain member of the village she lived in had a very sick child. The parents did not belong to the Church, but they had heard the doctrines of the Church as preached by the elders. She asked that we come and administer to the child. The child looked like it was dead ; and when I told her that it might be too late, she asked me if I had the right to administer to the sick. I told her, yes. She said: "Why do you hesitate? If you will just lay your hands on the child it will recover." We were so struck with the extreme faith — the knowledge of this good sister — that we administered to the child. ¶

We left the village shortly after and did not see her for several months. While on another island one afternoon, to show you how the Lord works in a marvelous way to bring to the attention of the people his doctrines, I saw a group of natives off under the trees. They were cutting cocoanuts with a long knife. It was in the early days of the Church, away back in 1889. At that time we had been persecuted. I thought I was being led into a trap, when all at once I noticed the natives surrounding me. I was alone. I wondered what might take place. All at once a woman stepped out from the group of natives. She offered me her hand and spoke to me, but I did not remember her. Then she called a child, sat the child on the stump of a cocoanut tree, and bore this testimony to the people: "This child of mine is a living example of the power and mission of the Church which this man represents. I am the daughter of the head chief. I invite this missionary to come to our village." They all paid very kind respect while she preached the gospel as I had never heard any other native do. Such knowledge, such extreme faith, I marveled at. I followed her to her village. She called the village together, and we had a very pleasant evening, and it was late in the night before I retired to bed. ¶

In the morning I felt something on my neck, and I slapped it with my hand and I was bitten by a centipede, — a very deadly, poisonous insect there. My hand commenced to swell and the natives thought I would surely die. After a few moments, this good woman (none of them belonged to the Church) heard of my trouble and she came to me. She said: "Why, Mr. Wood, you administered to my child, administer to yourself and you will be healed." I had some consecrated oil and I administered to my hand. The people crowded around me. My hand had swollen to a terrible size and the pain was intense. This woman stood by, and when I looked at her I was filled with that feeling that comes from the love and respect of the natives one to another. The swelling commenced to go away, just as a person would take a cloth off his hand, and I wai all right. She bore that testimony to the people again that she knew positively that the Lord had restored again his Church, and with it the former blessings. She then longed for the people to join, so that they could preach to other towns and other villages. ¶

I am pleased to bear this testimony that I am sure the faith among the Latter-day Saints, as of old, is increasing. I pray with you, that like Abraham we may seek in all diligence and all humility the right to administer these principles and these ordinances among the children of men, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶