Remarks

I am very happy, my brethren and sisters, to be able to attend this conference and to partake of the Spirit of the Lord that has been manifested in each session. I earnestly pray that the Lord may direct me to say that which is best at this time. ¶

There is no doubt in my mind concerning the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. I know that its principles harmonize with holy writ. The great migration to the West, led by Brigham Young under the direction of the Lord, and the establishment of the people of the Lord, in this part of the earth, is pointed to as a great achievement by hundreds of thousands of people who visit our country; many often remark to me that they have never seen anything like it. It is truly a great achievement; it is something that could not be done by man alone; the Lord was at the helm, as he is today. But the great thing that appeals to me is the principles involved in this great latter-day work. While sitting in my seat during this conference I have been led to think of the many times that I have heard the principles of the gospel discussed from this stand, and of the many sermons I have read concerning the doctrines taught from the days of Joseph Smith by elders of Israel everywhere. Not only have they been preached, but they have been printed and circulated in all parts of the earth. Surely people who desire to know the truth must pay some attention to a clear exposition of principles of truth. ¶

Before the time of the revelations to the Prophet Joseph, there was not taught, so far as I know, anything concerning the ante-mortal state of man. In fact it was repudiated and is today. Very few people believe it, yet it is in harmony with holy writ. It was one of the principles of the gospel, in the days o-f Adam. It was one of the principles of the gospel, in the days of Noah, and in the days of Abraham, and in the days of Christ. It has never been changed, it cannot be changed. How can men then successfully assail the Church which preaches scripture as it is taught in holy writ dating back even to Adam our Father. What are men going to do with the scripture that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah when he said: ¶

"Before I formed thee I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth ¶

I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." ¶

How can men say there is no truth in the gospel as we teach it, if prophets of old have taught it? How are they going to answer the gospel that was taught by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the answer to the principle taught by Paul, to the Corinthians, when he asked those Jews who were in a controversy concerning the resurrection of the dead — the Sadducees and the Pharisees who had become converted to the doctrines of Christ, but who evidently were discussing the resurrection, and even doubting it: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" ¶

This doctrine also, and all the principles which the Lord revealed to Joseph, have stood the test for nearly a century of time, and there has never yet been a set of men, with all the learning that the institutions of the world have been able to give them, who have successfully assailed the principles of truth as they have been taught. Can you find anything like it in all the history of the world? Investigate the organizations of men called churches and learn if they have closely followed the scriptures. They are changing their doctrines constantly, because they have no real fountain head to deliver unto them the truth. But the monument of truth that this Church has erected as an instrument in the hands of God must certainly stand for or against the human family, or that part of them who come in contact with it. ¶

If I were going to investigate any organization, business or otherwise, I most certainly would look at the foundation principles, the bylaws of the institution; I would investigate the strength of the institution. And the great majority of men look at material things in that way, but they appear to be blinded, so far as the investigation of the gospel is concerned. It is easy enough, evidently, to go to church and listen to the teachings of men, and take it for granted that they are true. They have not thought of having an individual testimony. They take it for granted that they are saved; they have not learned the principles which are involved in the great thing called life through which salvation is obtained. ¶

But when men and women come in contact with the history of this great Church, not only its organization and its establishment, but the eternal part of the Church, they must give unto the Lord their allegiance sooner or later, for after all a Church that has shown a steady growth every year, a Church which has taught the same principles and believed them from the very beginning, must surely draw the sober-minded men and women of the earth, the honest in heart, toward it. That is the great mission of the Church in the earth, as the Lord established it through his servants in these the last days. There can be no question as to the validity of the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

Why is not the doctrine of baptism for the dead being taught in ¶

the great churches of the day? Why is it that men and women do not know anything about the pre-existent state of spirits? Because they are not guided by divine leadership, they are not able truly to interpret the principles of the gospel. Happy is the man or woman who becomes acquainted with the principles of the Gospel here in mortality and is able to assume the position of a child of God, enjoying free agency, with a knowledge that this is God's work, and that we can only return to him in the way in which he has ordained. ¶

I am not at all fearful as to the success of God's work in the earth. If there is any man or set of men or individuals who question it, they need only to investigate without prejudice the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the holy scripture. And the very thing which brings them into communication with these principles will lead the honest in heart into the Church of Jesus Christ.. There can be no other way. ¶

I am not fearful at all of the success of this Church; it will go on until it has finished its mission, until the honest in heart in all the world shall have heard the gospel of our Redeemer. I do not know how many will accept it in this life, I do not know how many will accept it in the spirit world, but I do earnestly believe that those who stood for the great Jehovah, and who worked faithfully with him in that great conflict with Lucifer, those who held his power and who labored under his presidency and direction, who were faithful unto the trust, and who were counted as of the chosen blood as they are counted here, will, in time, be gathered out, and those who did not and do not shall not have the privilege of knowing the Lord; it is very doubtful if they will ever have the privilege of returning unto him unless it may be through repentance as the gospel has provided. ¶

I am not ashamed, as Paul has said, of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God' unto salvation. It is the power by which miracles are wrought. It is the power by which God can and does communicate to man. It is the power by which men may know the Lord and hear him and feel his presence, just as surely, and with as much certainty as they did in the day of their primeval childhood, when they walked by sight and not by faith. The work of God will prevail, truth will prevail. There is no reason why any man with sober mind should doubt the principles of the gospel taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There can be no failure to it, I care not what the world may think, or what men may think. Individuals may fail, but the Church of Jesus Christ is founded upon facts, it is founded upon revelation, and upon true principles that have been in the earth since the earth was peopled, under the direction of Adam, our Father in the flesh. And in this dispensation it is the word of God, and the Church is the organization of God. It will stand when others fail. It will be in the earth to meet the Redeemer when he comes to claim his people. I know that his Priesthood is in the earth, and that holy men are in this Church presiding over it. I know the Church has a prophet in this day, just as surely as it ever had in any dispensation of the gospel, and it will not, nor can it go astray. At times it may be hindered in its growth, but it will eventually triumph, and the principles involved in it will become the common knowledge of the honest in heart in all the world. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless us. Israel will prosper, and the Church, through its ministry, will grow. The results of our work as elders in the earth are being felt daily. Thousands and thousands of people are being led into the waters of baptism. They are found in every part of the country, and the country is filled with honorable people who, in their hearts, desire to know the truth. It is hard to be weeded out from the convictions that have surrounded them, planted there by father and mother and a long line of progenitors, but when they hear the truth and study it, they accept it. I believe that the Lord provides for the restoration of his family according to their faith and as they prepare themselves and are qualified as a result of their faith to come into this Church, they come into it and become members of it, and begin to work for it. That is the history of it, and it shall not change till the end shall come. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless us, in the name of Christ. Amen. ¶