Remarks

I sincerely trust, my brethren and sisters, that I may be led to say what, the Lord would have me say on this occasion, that our meeting here together may be beneficial unto all, that we may go home and feel that this part of our conference was in harmony with the preceding sessions. I have been greatly encouraged in my faith through the sessions of the conference this year and by the splendid instruction given by those who preside over us and by the other speakers, who have taught the principles of the gospel pertaining to life and salvation. I think I have never been more impressed with the greatness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Men and women are gathered from great distances to this conference, from many states of the United States, and also from Canada and Mexico, and are come here to receive instruction concerning the work of the Lord, to confer with one another, and to receive counsel, advice, and inspiration so necessary in carrying on the work of our Father in the different places where they have been called upon to take positions of trust. The great majority of people who have gathered here are men and women who have been called upon to represent the Lord in their own home or section, and it is a very representative body, and the body of representatives are reinforced by members of their own home town and ward and stake, who have come here to aid and assist them, so that the work of God may continue to grow. There is absolutely no question as to the success of the work of God under such splendid organization. It could not be duplicated in all the world. There is no organization to compare with the restored Church of Jesus Christ here in the earth. This is the Church of God, represented by his Priesthood, his power, here upon the earth, and it is a medium by which men and women may return unto him. And those who fail to accept or who reject the glad message which the Lord has revealed, shall not have the happiness that comes to those who shall inherit a glory wherein he rules and reigns. ¶

We find scripture to give us encouragement both at home and abroad. A few years ago, when I went into the mission field, a gentleman was on the train with me, and the train was so crowded that we had to stand up from here to Provo. He was a stranger to me. for I had never seen him before, and did not even know who he was, but he told me to read, on reaching my mission field, the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, and called my attention to some of the blessings which the Lord had placed at my disposal. He pointed to the 65th verse, down to the 90th. I shall not read them all. He said, " When you get out there, and you are alone, and you find that you are far away from home, among strangers, in a strange land, without any experience, you will learn that the Lord has pro- ¶

vided for you, so that you shall not be alone, and you shall have his Spirit for your companion." And so I found the scripture as he had referred me to it: ¶

" Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come. ¶

" And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."-- (Verses 87-88.) ¶

My brethren and sisters, there was never anything more true than that promise which God gives to those who represent him. And with my experience in the mission field, I have concluded that these truths and promises not only apply to the mission field, but to men and women at home -- those who are engaged in the work of the Lord, -- who labor in their weakness, with a determination to serve him. Nothing can be found in the world equal to it -- where our Father, who gave us, his children, the privilege to come into the world, has said, when we go out in the world, if we will keep his commandments, as we have been taught them, and as President Grant reminded us yesterday morning, the Lord will be with us: "I will be on your right hand and on your left, and I will go before your face, and mine angels shall be round about you, to bear you up." And he said further that any one who shall not fail to continue faithful in these things, "shall not be weary in body or in mind, neither in limb nor joint, and an hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed." ¶

I am, of course, as you are aware, more closely associated with men and women in the ministry, away from the stakes of Zion. These words mean that the Lord is with the boys and girls of yours, with as much power as he ever was in the earth, and that they may possess the same faith their fathers and their grandfathers possessed, even from the day of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Only this past winter we have had missionaries out in the field traveling without money; walking through the country wherever their duties called them, among entire strangers, to places, where elders had not been for at least twenty years -- and in twenty years' time a new population almost grows up in a country. They have been cared for night and day, never having to buy a meal, never having to pay for a bed, and the Lord has gone before their faces, his influence and his power with them, so that they were fed and cared for until they were under no expense at all. When you think that missionaries in our field have gone through the early part of this year, three months some of them, with an expense of only $5 per month, it is almost unbelievable. And it could not be done, anywhere in the world, except under the direction of Jesus Christ our Lord. It was he who died on Calvary for you and for me; it was he who gave his life that we might live; it was he who bought and paid for the human family with his blood. He is at the head, and he directs the forces ¶

in the earth, and he gives men their privilege to accept him or to reject him. But he is there with those who desire to serve him and keep his commandments, and men can grow as close to our Father here in mortality today as they ever did in any time of the world's history. There never was greater organization in the earth than in this Church. It is most perfect. There is no need for a man or woman to be idle. They should be anxiously engaged in this great work of God, whether at home or abroad. ¶

And I might read to you some scripture that has been given unto us along that very line in these last days, for all scripture has been given unto us for our benefit. If we do not read it or become acquainted with it, we do not know or ever realize or understand the real joy and pleasure of putting our faith and trust in the Lord. ¶

The Lord says, " Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good, they shall in no wise lose their reward."(D. & C. 58:27, 28.) ¶

There is the principle of free agency, which the Lord gives unto every one of his children when they come into the world. You can do as you please. We all learned many things before we came to the earth, as a result of our experience under the direction of our heavenly Father in that ante-mortal state, where our Father guided the destiny of all of us, according to our faithfulness there, and then gave unto us the privilege of coming into the world and receiving this power of free agency. And he says that we should be anxious concerning his work. ¶

Some missionaries go out into the field and travel free, and there is not anything that would hinder them from making a success. They have a desire to proclaim the gospel. They are not fearful of men. They are only fearful of their own weaknesses, and that is the normal condition of a true missionary in this Church; they do not fear men, but they fear the Lord, and they rely, and know they must rely, upon him for their success. But they go out and arrange meetings, and it is nothing unusual at all for boys in their teens to go and arrange meetings where they speak, every night in the week. To me it is a marvel and a wonder that they are able to do it. Congregations of people come and fill the little chapels or schoolhouses, wherever they may have the privilege of preaching. And many have been brought into this Church as a result of it. The opinions of thousands of people have been changed as a result of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ through the missionaries of the Church, in these the last days, and in my time, in this dispensation. ¶

If men are anxious concerning their work, how easy it is! If we will just make up our mind to do it, and we fail not to continue faithful in these things, the Lord will open up the way, provide for ¶

us, so that we can reach the people. And it is not difficult to change the opinions of men and women if we proceed in the way which the Lord has counseled. There is just as much power in prayer and in the faith that comes as a result of prayer today, as there was in the days of Abraham or preceding him or following him. There never was any more power given unto men in the earth than at the present time. Missionaries have gone forth today as they did in the days of the Prophet Joseph, in the days Brigham Young, and in the days of John Taylor and all those mighty men who laid the foundation for this great work of God, of which we are enjoying so much the blessings at the present time. Missionaries are now being raised up from among the rank and file in all parts of the Church, who go out and test the gospel and the promises of the Lord, and have found faith in the earth, just as much as they did fifty, seventy-five, or more, years ago, even back unto the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The work is not failing; it is absolutely impossible for the work of God to fail. When I think of the care that is given to the details of this Church -- I feel in my heart to say that in my experience I have never seen any person more careful over details than the present President of this Church, Heber J. Grant, who devotes his entire time to the work, I am reminded of the fact, that he is anxiously engaged in the great cause of the Lord; he is commanded only of God, and he sets to the people the proper example, and as a result the work is becoming greater and more glorious. To me it is a marvel and a wonder. Men arise everywhere in defense of the Lord Jesus Christ. The people of the earth are anxiously waiting for the gospel. I do not blame people, in a way, for rejecting the testimony of men whom they do not know anything about. Men and women have to be melted. Why, this Church would not succeed at all if it were not for the fact that the people are called together in the ward once or twice or thrice a week by a careful, faithful bishop, and if those wards were not called together under direction of the stake presidency, who give all the care to details that they know how, and in addition to that the general authorities of the Church visit them and talk to them. In addition to that, they are called together twice a year in great conference assembled, and they are there taught the principles of the everlasting gospel, as the Lord has revealed it, from those whom the Lord calls to speak, and as a result the Church moves forward in its great, mighty march and improvement as the years come and go, and among these men and women will be found the faith of Israel. Why, the faith of Israel will be greater next year than it is this. The Church will never be weaker than it is today, and it never was stronger than it is today. Men shall arise from among the wards and stakes of this Zion who shall make apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be the ones who will build on the foundation that God revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they will carry ¶

on this work until we shall arrive at the time when the Christ shall come. ¶

There is absolutely no possibility of failure, neither is there any man who can disprove the work of the Lord. A man may say that Joseph Smith is not a prophet, or that the Book of Mormon is not true. He only tells what he thinks is the truth; but a man who has not made an investigation of the Lord's work in this dispensation, who has not made it a matter of prayer and faith and been honest and square, that man is not a good judge. And if he were honest and true, he would have to say that he does believe Joseph Smith to be a prophet; and the same argument would hold good with the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants. It requires faith, attention, devotion, and the heart of a man, to know this word of God. ¶

Here we are in mortality, having been given our free agency to do as we would do, and if we ever come to a knowledge of the truth and walk through mortality under the divine guidance of that truth, we must be governed and controlled by the principle of faith and the principle of desire, and be anxious in our hearts concerning our life here in mortality. And so it is with men and women abroad, they have to come out of the conditions in which they are, slipping, struggling along, not knowing the true way of life. And my heart goes out to the children of men here in mortality. I have made it a point never to offend men or women. I have gone out of the way many times in my experience, just to make a friend. It is not anything to me at all, so far as a personal reward on earth is concerned, but it is to me, so far as the Church is concerned, my duty. Those people are not to blame. They have grown up as Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists and Catholics, and they are firm in the belief of their fathers. They have faith in their fathers' work, and they are not to blame. We can afford to be charitable; as we plead for God, our eternal Father, to be charitable and kind unto us, so we must likewise be kind and charitable unto those among whom we are called upon to live and labor here in mortality. These principles should guide us every day. And Oh! what a glorious opportunity we have here in mortality to acquit ourselves like men and women, and to become as fountains of living water unto the children of men, among whom we labor. God is at the helm and directs the work. He will see that it does not fail. We may fail, but his work will not fail, because others will carry on the great work of God, until every man and every woman has had an opportunity, either here in mortality or in the spirit world, to hear and accept the truth. Then they may say, if they desire, it is true, or it is not true, according to their findings. - ¶

May the Lord give you and me the privilege of walking uprightly before him. May he encourage us, and may we live so that we may feel that encouraging life and spirit with us, and not be discouraged. May we be anxious concerning his work, and of our own free will ¶

go on and develop the character that we brought to this world with us as a result of our experience with him. ¶

May we have the power to reject evil, may we always stand for the testimony of Jesus and for his authority in the earth. May we make men and women strong who hold positions of trust in his great Church in the earth. May we respect the teacher and the ward auxiliary officer; may we uphold the bishop as the father of the ward, and his counselors and his assistants, and these stake presidents and high councilors who preside in the different parts of the Church. May we uphold their authority as the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we keep the principle of loyalty and love in our homes and in the Church at home. Then may we stand for God's authority here in this earth -- President Heber J. Grant, whom the Lord chose and raised up to lead us in these days, as you may all read and learn, because it is all recorded in the history of this Church how the Lord raised him up. And the Lord will raise others up. He has left us a history, a written history, a testimony in addition to that of man; so that we may know the truth, so that we may know where we stand, and that we may not be deceived. May he give us the blessings of faith and hope and courage, that we may keep this work of his foremost in our minds always, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶