Remarks

My brethren and sisters, my heart has been made to rejoice in the testimonies and experiences given this day. I have pleasure in representing the people of the Western states mission and bringing to you greetings from them, also from your sons and your daughters who are laboring there, preaching the gospel of repentance. I have never associated with a finer group of men and women than those who are ¶

at present laboring under my direction. My heart has been filled to overflowing when I have listened to their testimonies concerning the establishment of God's work in the latter-days. They have an abiding faith in the living God, they have an abiding faith in the divine mission of Jesus Christ and in the atoning sacrifice that he made on Calvary, for the redemption and salvation of the human family. They have an abiding faith in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and those who were associated with him and those who have followed in his footsteps. Undaunted and unafraid they are proclaiming the message of salvation to the people of the Western states, and I want to say to you that those who are accepting their message are receiving the same spirit and the same testimony that have come into the lives of all Latterday Saints who have obeyed the commandments of our eternal Father. They are;not afraid to lay down the gauntlet and say to men and women everywhere: "If you will repent of your sins and yield obedience to the saving ordinances of the gospel, you shall know of the doctrine whether it is of God or whether we speak of ourselves."The testimony of hundreds of men and women who have received the ordinances of the gospel is to the effect that the Spirit of God has come into their lives, and all doubt has been removed from their souls. They have been made happy in the knowledge that God lives, and that his promises are true. ¶

I would like to relate just one or two experiences that have come to me from the men and women who have received the message of the gospel in their hearts and have obeyed it. I do this because several have said to me, since I came to attend the sessions of this conference: "Are those whom you are baptizing worth while? Are they faithful Latter-day Saints? Do they keep the commandments of God?"I want to say to you that I have seen genuine faith manifest on the part of many who have accepted the gospel and who are far removed from our organized branches, isolated if you please, perhaps a single family alone in the community. ¶

I call to mind one family in the state of Wyoming, the only members of the Church in the small community where they reside, baptized a year ago last February, a widow with eight children, six boys and two girls. Just before Christmas of last year I received a letter from the oldest boy, nineteen years of age, to this effect. Said he: "Elder Knight, I believe that I am being neglected. I have been a member of the Church almost a year, and I have not yet been called upon a mission. I want to go and preach the gospel. I may not measure up to the standard of the missionaries that you have in Wyoming, but I will do my very best."Realizing that his mother is a widow, I wrote her a letter and asked her what should be done. She answered: "I knew that my boy had written you. I make approximately one hundred twenty-five dollars a month doing hospitalization work. The desire' of my heart is that all of my boys may do missionary work for the Church of Jessus Christ, and if I can pay a little each month I should like to ¶

have my boy go as soon as he is out of school this year."Since then I have received several letters from that mother. In one of them she said that she had never earned more than one hundred fifty dollars in a single month, but on the first of February I received a letter from her in which she enclosed her tithing for the month of January — thirty dollars and fifty-cents. Said she: "Surely the Lord has been good to me. Last month, I made more than twice as much as I have ever made in a single month, before, three-hundred five dollars;"and in the month of March I received another letter in which, she said: "Enclosed find my thithing forty dollars. I made four hundred dollars in February."I will say that that young man will have the opportunity of going on a mission and preaching the gospel of repentance. The Lord is opening up the way for that widow woman and not only the one boy, but others will follow, and they will make valued defenders of the faith. ¶

In the city of Pueblo, three weeks ago tomorrow, another little woman came to me and said: "President Knight, I am ready to mortgage my home that my oldest boy might have the desire of his heart to fill a mission to the nations of the world."I could mention many other circumstances of like character. One young man recently joined the Church in the state of Nebraska. He was prominently identified with one of the protestant organizations. Since his baptism he has taken an active part with our missionaries and now is spending two to four hours each day, tracting his home town and bearing witness that God has heard his prayers and that he knows the gospel taught by the Latter-day Saints is the power of God unto salvation. These men and women who are receiving the gospel are worth while. The same witness has come into their lives that has come into your lives, and •the lives of all who have accepted the gospel and obeyed the commandments of our eternal Father. I rejoice in my association with these men and women because of their faith and their devotion. ¶

We have been fortunate in baptizing a large number of converts. Among the number baptized three ex-ministers of the gospel. I asked one of them why he joined the Church, and he said: "For years I have been looking for a satisfying religion, and I did not find it in any of the protestant churches, neither did I find it in the Catholic church; but when I investigated "Mormonism"there came a new light into my life, and I am happy to have come in contact with your missionaries." He said further: "I want all the books that have been written by your people, because, though I preached the gospel for many years, I realize how little I know about the great plan of salvation. The Bible has become a new revelation to me. Every time I open its lids, new inspiration comes into my life, and I rejoice that I have at last found the truth."All these things give evidence to me that these men and women have been converted to the gospel of the Master. ¶

I do not desire to occupy more time. I rejoice in the blessings of the gospel. I know, as I know I live, that it is true, that God lives, that Jesus Christ is his Son, the Redeemer of the world, the only name by which salvation may come to his children here upon the earth. I know, too, as I know that I live, that Joseph was the instrument in the hands of 'God of establishing again his work in, the earth. He was the pioneer, the path-finder, he blazed the way and gave to the children of men in our day a new faith in God and in (his glorious work. I know, too. that the men who preside in Israel today are prophets of God, inspired to direct the destiny of Israel. May God bless us all that we may be obedient to their counsel, and that we may have power to reduce to practice in our lives the instructions' that are given to us by our file leaders, that is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶