Remarks

I feel, my brethren and sisters, that it will be a hard task for me, as, in fact, it has been for the speakers who have preceded me, to hold my own against the amplifiers. The people here assembled have the choice between remaining seated here and listening to us, or going out on the lawn to have a standing seat and listening to what is going on in the Tabernacle, and unless we are endowed with an unusual degree of the Spirit of the Lord, and thereby draw your interest, it may be a hard matter to keep you here. But I feel that the Saints gathered in this Assembly Hall are entitled to the blessings of the Lord as much as those congregated in the Tabernacle, as this meeting has been appointed by proper authority, and speakers selected, and it is our privilege to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, and it is the privilege of the speakers here as well as the listeners, to receive the bread of life. ¶

I rejoice with my brethren in the excellent conference we have had, so far, and the last meeting, which is now in session over in the Tabernacle, is undoubtedly as interesting and instructive as the former sessions have been, and I trust that we all shall leave feeling that we have had one of the best conferences the Church has ever held. ¶

Never before since the Church was organized, have so many people attended a general conference as on this occasion, and it reminds me that it is just eighty years ago today since President Joseph Smith, the martyr, also had occasion to attend the largest conference the Church ever held up to that time. It was the memorable conference held in April, 1844, (the last conference the Prophet attended) on which occasion he asserted that all of North and South America was the land of Zion. Up to that time some of the brethren had entertained the idea that Nauvoo was already too far from Jackson county, Missouri, which was called Zion, or the place for the building of the City of Zion, and some of them had misgivings in regard to living in Illinois, thinking they were too far away from Jackson county, to be included in the land of Zion. The Prophet's declaration was therefore good and timely, as we are now very much farther away from Jackson county than Nauvoo is, and yet we are in the land of Zion, representing as we do here ninety stakes of Zion, all organized in this western land since the days of Nauvoo. ¶

I am expected, according to the appointment received, to say something to you in regard to the importance of history and the necessity of record-keeping. We Latter-day Saints have been unusually blessed in regard to this matter, as the Lord has revealed to us in these the last days some of the missing links in the history of the world. When we were a part of the sectarian world, some of us were taught that the Lord created the world out of nothing; ¶

but the Lord, in new Scriptures, has revealed unto us the true history of the creation. On a certain occasion the Lord called Moses up into an exceeding high mountain and there showed him his creations -- the many worlds that he had created. But he told Moses that he could not comprehend them all, as there were so many worlds that mortal man could not number them, but that those worlds are all numbered to the Lord. God then said: " And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak." (Moses 1:40). The Lord then revealed to Moses how the earth on which we live came into existence. This question has often arisen: Where did Moses, the first recognized historian, get his information from, in regard to the creation of the world, and also in regard to the flood, to Enoch, and Abraham and other patriarchs? What historians had written books before him from which he could copy? Legend says that a big pillar with historical inscriptions upon it had been erected on or near the site of old Babylon, on the river Euphrates, but that assertion has never been verified. The facts are that the Lord took Moses up on a high mountain and there revealed to him how the earth came into existence, and also told him about our father Adam in the garden of Eden, how he fell from grace, and furthermore that the gospel that we are preaching here today, and in which we rejoice at the present time, was preached to Adam in the beginning, and did not come into existence in the meridian of time. John was not the first man who baptized, but Adam was taught the principle of baptism. The gospel, as we receive it now, and as we understand it, was revealed to father Adam, was revealed to Enoch and Noah, was preached to Abraham, and was known in part in the days of Moses. This knowledge has come to us through the faithful labors of historians. The Ten Commandments were written by the finger of the Lord himself upon tablets of stone, and in addition to that, Moses wrote his books, which seem to have existed in fragmentary form among the Israelites for generations, and when the great Babylonian captivity took place the people were scattered, as well as their records, and the Children of Israel lost for a while their national identity and records; but when the Israelites came back from the Babylonian captivity there was a general reconstruction of affairs, under the direction of Ezra, the priest, and Nehemiah, who were the accepted leaders of the return to Jerusalem; and it is recorded that the people got very much interested in their records and genealogies. The following is from the writings of Nehemiah: ¶

" All the people gathered themselves together; * * * and they spake to Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel, and Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding * * * * and he read therein * * * * and Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose * * * and Ezra opened the hook in sight of all the people * * * * and ¶

when he opened it, all the people stood up: and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen,' with lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground * * * * So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading * * * * All the people wept, when they heard the words of the law."(Neh. 8:1-9). ¶

We can scarcely realize how much we are indebted to the history of the past which has been written for our benefit. Reverting to the history of the creation, we have a duplicate form of the same in what was written by Abraham, many, many years ago -- revealed anew in our dispensation. The writings of Abraham, which came into the possession of Joseph Smith in 1835, contain a very beautiful account of the creation of the world, going hand in hand with that which, a little later, was revealed to Moses. When, in a sectarian world, some of us were taught as children that God created the earth out of nothing, we were taught that which is not true. The writings of Abraham tell us that the Lord stood among those "who were with him." That accounts for the term " Gods"being used sometimes instead of the singular form " God". God stood in the midst of his associates and said to them: ¶

" We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials and we will make an earth wherein these (God's children) may dwell, and we will prove them herewith to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever."(Book of Abraham 3:24-26). ¶

This is a most beautiful revelation which has come to us in these last days through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We frequently sing: " We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet,"" Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah,"etc., in appreciation of modern prophets and modern revelations, because these new revelations serve as a key to the old revelations. The Christian world generally have one book, the Bible, which they do not understand, while the Latter-day Saints have four sacred books, which they do understand, for the Lord has given us the key in new revelation to both new and old revelations. ¶

And here we have the Book of Mormon. Do you know what importance was attached to records in the early Book of Mormon days? Does it appeal to you that a certain justifiable homicide was committed in the interest of the family of Lehi which left Jerusalem 600 years before the birth of the Savior? Do you remember what happened to Laban who lived in Jerusalem at the time that Lehi and his family were commanded by the Lord to leave that city to go into the wilderness, relying upon the Lord leading them to a land of promise far away? After they had been in the wilderness a short time, they realized that they had no records with them. They did ¶

not even know the genealogy of their forefathers; but Laban, their kinsman, had the records, and Nephi, the faithful son of Lehi, and his brethren, were commanded to go back to Jerusalem to obtain these records from Laban. They gathered all the gold and silver and precious things which the family had left in Jerusalem at the time of their exodus, and offered it to Laban in exchange for the records. But Laban, seeing the treasure, was tempted to possess it, and, after getting it, he sent his servants after Nephi and his brethren to kill them, and they would undoubtedly have been destroyed, had they not succeeded in escaping from Jerusalem. Laban took their property and kept the records. But Nephi prevailed upon his brethren to return to Jerusalem once more and try again. The Lord certainly did not want the family of Lehi to go into this land of promise without a knowledge of their forefathers, for in that case they would be in danger of losing not only their genealogy, but also their language and religion. When the sons of Lehi arrived in Jerusalem and found Laban in possession of the riches of which he had robbed the estate of Lehi, they devised new plans for obtaining the records, and to cut a long story short Nephi was constrained, or rather commanded, by the spirit, to slay Laban. It was better that one wicked man should perish than that the whole people which the Lord intended to lead into the promised land far away, should dwindle into ignorance and unbelief. That is how the Nephites came possessed of the brass plates, which, among other things, contained the law of Moses, even similar writings to those which caused the Israelites in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah to glorify God. On that occasion the law of Moses and other things which had been written were preserved for the benefit of the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem, after their captivity in Babylon, to rebuild the temple and to commence anew their national existence. ¶

And so the sons, of Lehi obtained the brass plates and in due course of time crossed the great waters to the land of promise. But the brass plates were not sufficient; the Lord commanded Nephi to make plates of his own -- golden plates -- upon which he might record the doings of his own people. Thus Nephi made a record upon his plates of how his father's family left Jerusalem, how they traveled through the wilderness, how they built a ship, how they crossed the great waters, and how they finally landed upon this great western continent, this land of America, which became a choice land above all other lands, after the flood had devastated the earth in the time of Noah. Now it is recorded that Nephi was faithful in keeping the commandments of God. He even made two sets of plates; on one set he recorded the things that pertained to the service of God, and upon the other plates, which were the larger plates, he recorded the secular history of his people, including the story of the kings and some of the troubles, contentions and wars which occurred between the Nephites and the Lamanites. We have in the Book of ¶

Mormon a translation from the small plates of Nephi, and we also have in that sacred record Mormon's abridgment of the text of the large plates of Nephi. These things are very precious to us, and that such would be the case was well understood by the prophets of old, even by Nephi -- that same Nephi I have already been speaking of -- and the Lord promised him that if he would be faithful in recording the history of his people, his writings should be preserved for the benefit of his posterity. In his second book, third chapter he writes: ¶

" Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord."(2 Nephi 3:12). ¶

This promise was repeated later on. Nephi writes, " The Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved and handed down unto my seed from generation to generation."(2 Nephi 25:21). ¶

Enos, a son of Jacob (Nephi's brother), writes, "I had faith and I did cry unto the Lord that he would preserve the records, and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time."(Enos 1:16). ¶

Helaman records that many records were being kept of the proceedings of the Nephites. He says: " There are many books, many records of every kind, and they have been kept chiefly by the Nephites."(Hela. 3:15). ¶

The historian, Mormon, writes in his abridgment, " There are records which do contain all the proceedings of this people and a more short but a true account was given by Nephi."(That is part of the record we now have). " Therefore I have made my record of these things according to the record of Nephi, which was engraved on the plates which were called the plates of Nephi. And behold I do make the record upon the plates which I have made with mine own hands." (3 Nephi 5:9-16). ¶

I will read one more extract. Mormon, in giving the history in his abridgment from the large plates of Nephi, departs from the historical narrative in speaking of the administration of Jesus Christ among the Nephites, and writes: ¶

" And now there cannot be written in this book [Mormon's abridgment] even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; ¶

" But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people [of Nephi]. - ¶

" And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken."(3 Nephi 26:6-8). ¶

I will quote one more instance. The chief recorder in those days was Nephi, not the first Nephi, but one who lived later on. A prophet by the name of Samuel, a Lamanite, had predicted that when Christ should rise from the dead, some of the dead Saints who had lived in former days should arise and appear unto many, and the historian had seemingly overlooked that fact, and when Jesus visited the Nephites on another occasion (for he visited them a number of times) he said: ¶

" Bring the record which ye have kept. And when Nephi had brought forth the records and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said: Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many Saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Were it not so? And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled. And Jesus said unto them; How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many Saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them? And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written. And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded."-- (3 Nephi 23:7-13). ¶

Now, passing on, brethren and sisters, did it ever occur to you that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could not be organized, or at least, it was not organized, until the Book of Mormon had come forth. We are called " Mormons"today, and while the name, of course, is in one sense a misnomer, it is not altogether so, because there were none known as " Mormons"among the children of men in America, or elsewhere, until the Book of Mormon appeared, and that book came into existence just before the Church was organized. Thus there were in reality " Mormons"in the world before there was any Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for as soon as the Book of Mormon had been printed, Joseph Smith and those associated with him at once became known as " Mormons." ¶

We find that the Book of Mormon contained so many truths in regard to the gospel of Jesus Christ that when we place it beside the New Testament, and especially with that which was written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we have most precious documents. The writings of these four evangelists placed by the side of that which was written by Nephi and the other historians on this continent give us what we sometimes call the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That does not imply that we in these two books have everything the Lord wants us to know, for he will yet reveal many things which will make us wise unto salvation. However, until the Book of Mormon was printed in the English language, Joseph Smith was not authorized to organize the Church, but with the Book_ of Mormon and the Bible, put side by side, he understood the principles of the gospel and how to organize the Church, being aided by the revelations which he from time to time received from the Lord. ¶

The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a very interesting theme to speak about. We frequently deliver lectures on the Book of Mormon, and we do not tire of dwelling upon the faithfulness of the Prophet Joseph, upon the testimony of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon and also upon the solemn testimony of the Eight Witnesses. We are pleased to know that all these men were true and faithful to their testimonies, and some of them in the midst of troubles and persecutions staked their all upon the fact that the Book of Mormon is true. ¶

The Nephite record, which, according to prophesy, should come from the earth lay buried in the Hill Cumorah for 1427 years. The people of which the book bears record were destroyed from the earth and the record was sealed up and buried by Moroni -- the last Nephi prophet and historian. When it finally came forth it was like a voice from the ground, or a message from the grave. The Hill Cumorah was opened, the plates delivered by Moroni (who now appeared as a heavenly messenger) to Joseph who translated the records into English, and the people at once began to read it. It was the record of a people which no longer existed, but which had once flourished on this continent, and among the most precious narratives contained in it was an account of that which God, through his Son and his prophets, accomplished in this western continent. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, coming down to our own day and dispensation, I wish to remark that we Latter-day Saints are not destined to go through the same ordeal as the Nephites; we are not to be destroyed; we are to stay here for ever; hence we should learn a lesson from the records of the Bible and the Nephite records in regard to the keeping of our own records. What if we had no historians today? What could we do even now in writing the history of the Prophet Joseph Smith so many years after he suffered martyrdom? It could be done perhaps after a fashion, but could not be done correctly from memory; but we have a good record of the Church from the beginning written at the time when the events occurred. Permit me to remind you of the fact that the very first commandment which the Lord gave to his Church almost immediately after it was organized, was this: " Behold there shall be a record kept among you." You will find this the very first sentence of the very first revelation given to the Church after its organization on the 6th of April, 1830. ¶

Oliver Cowdery, who had assisted the Prophet Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Mormon, was made the first Church recorder. Later, John Whitmer, one of the Eight Witnesses, was called to be the Church recorder, and since that time we have always had Church recorders and historians. ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, I want to emphasize the importance of keeping records. We should feel like Parley P. Pratt who, in writing the preface to his Voice of Warning, said: " Should the author ¶

be called to sacrifice his life for the cause of truth, he will have the consolation that it will be said of him as it was said of Abel, viz: "He being dead, yet speaketh." Parley P. Pratt is alive today. He was martyred in 1857 by a wicked man, near the town of Van Buren, in Arkansas, but Elder Pratt is still preaching the gospel; his Voice of Warning is read by thousands and tens of thousands today. His Key to Theology and his Autobiography are still read by the youth of Zion, and, if I can judge from my own experience, the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt has made a deeper impression upon the youth of Israel than any other book that has been written so far. In saying this I do not slight any other literary production written by the Elders of the Church, but the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt is, in my estimation, faith-promoting from the first to the last chapter, and to me it proved an inspiration indeed. I owe to the existence and to the reading of that book much of what I am today. After reading that book I felt a great desire to become a servant of God, and in my reflections I thought: Why cannot I seek unto God and receive similar blessings to those received by Brother Pratt? So I began as a youth to seek more earnestly after the truth of heaven than I had ever sought before, and I desired to become a missionary. I wanted to preach the gospel, and the Lord in that regard has answered my prayers, as I have filled a number of missions for the Church. ¶

But I have been more particularly interested in the history of our people. A short time ago I summarized the number of miles which I have traveled in my lifetime. That may not mean much, as our salvation does not depend upon the number of miles traveled or the length of sermons preached. But there is nevertheless something interesting connected with preaching and traveling, when done with an eye single to the glory of God; and when I discovered that I had traveled something like 469,000 miles, mainly in the interest of Church history, I felt somewhat satisfied with my efforts and the discharge of my duties in that direction. ¶

Now, I wish to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that we are still pioneers in the cause of Christ. " Mormonism"is not yet one hundred years old, and we have as a fact only just commenced to exist as a people. One thought I desire to impress here upon you. It is this: If you ever had a desire to live in the days of the Savior and to belong to that Church which he and his apostles organized 1900 years ago, you would, after the lapse of 100 years, have had the choice of one of two things: either to become a martyr for the gospel's sake, or to be swept away by the wave of apostasy. Compare this with the assertion made at this conference that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was never in a better condition than it is today, and that its membership was never more numerous or prosperous than it is at the present time. What can we say of the original Church in the light of history, after it had existed one ¶

hundred years? There was very little left of it. The apostasy which commenced to show itself in the days of Paul had spread to such an extent that after the great lights of the Church had fallen as martyrs, the great majority of the Saints had turned away from the gospel as originally taught by the Savior. So we thank God for the dispensation of the fulness of times, and we are writing the history of a people the like of which has never been written before. It is not a history of an ancient people, or of a past dispensation, such as that of the first Christian era or the dispensation of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses. All these dispensations had their day, and we know something of their history. But in our case the work of the Lord is here to remain, and it behooves us to remain with it; and our children after us, we trust, will continue the work even more faithfully and successfully than we have done. ¶

My message to you, my brethren and sisters, is this: You, and particularly the old veterans who sit before me (and you will all be old by and by), write your histories and biographies. I am already grayhaired myself. I commenced my missionary experience when I was the youngest of all my missionary companions, but now I am numbered among the older ones, and I would like to feel that I have not lived in vain. I do not wish to die, I never want to die. I know I shall die as to mortality, but otherwise I want to live on continuously, and I want to leave something for posterity. I have been privileged to write some books which I think will be read with considerable interest after I shall have passed to the other side; they are already appreciated by some. And as I think of myself I think of you -- you fathers and mothers -- who are now living but who in a little while will be in the spirit world, like myself. Do you not desire to leave behind you something for your children to read? Do you not desire to preach the gospel after you are dead and gone as to mortality? If you do, write your histories. Dictate the experiences of your lives to your sons and daughters, that they may write them, for we have among us many young and talented people, our sons and daughters and grandchildren, who can write good English. Let them, from your dictation, record something of your life's work, and do it without delay. Take this timely advice from one of your historians who has spent his whole life in studying these matters. Do not be satisfied to live the short span of seventy years, but live forever! Record that which God has done for you and by you, and if you have a testimony that this is the work of God, bequeath that testimony to posterity. I believe that nearly all who are sitting here under the sound of my voice could bear the same testimony as those who have testified from this stand -- the speakers at these meetings. Based upon many years of observations, I may make the statement that our sons and daughters will think more of us after we have left them than they do now, when we are with them. Parents, as a rule, are not appreciated as they should be until after they have passed into eternity. Then, after the ¶

children become fatherless and motherless, they will appreciate their parentage, and endeavor to remember what their fathers and mothers have taught them by precept as well as by example. Let us not rely upon the public records to do us justice, but let us pay special attention also to our individual records which will be of equal importance to those who shall live after us, and particularly to our own posterity throughout generations to come. ¶

God bless you, my brethren and sisters. My testimony is the same as those which have been borne by my brethren who have already addressed you. " Mormonism"is true. Joseph Smith is a true Prophet. Through him God restored to earth the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and I for one, feel that I owe everything that I am in life, spiritually and temporally, to that gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I feel grateful to the father of these boys (referring to two sons of the late Apostle Erastus Snow sitting on the stand) who came over to Scandinavia in 1850 to introduce the true gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of northern Europe. I was then in the spirit world, and I imagine that I thought it was time for me to enter into mortality, so I asked God to send me down to be born on the 11th of December, 1850, as Erastus Snow and his brethren had arrived in Denmark on the 14th of June previously. I do not remember that I asked to be sent down at the time of my birth, but I can imagine such a possibility, because in the spirit world I may have known something of what was taking place on the earth and may have asked for the privilege of coming down to take part in this gospel dispensation. ¶

God bless you. May he enable us all to do our duty, not only in history-making and record-keeping, but in keeping the commandments of God generally speaking, until the end, so that we eventually may be saved in the kingdom of God. This is my desire and sincere prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶