Remarks

Recently President of the Netherlands Mission ¶

I am very happy to be associated with you here this afternoon and to be in attendance at this conference. I feel tremendously the responsibility resting upon one who is called to occupy this position, to bear testimony of the truth and to give evidence ofc the faith that we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I rejoice in the gospel and in the many blessings that I have received through the same and pray God that the few words that I may utter this afternoon may be directed through his Spirit to the good of all those gathered here. ¶

The throngs that have come into the buildings on these grounds today and that are on the outside bear witness to me of ¶

faith of the Latter-day Saints in the divine mission of the boy who knelt in the grove in Palmyra. I say these multitudes stand as a powerful witness and a beautiful tribute to "the man who communed with Jehovah,"the man who spoke with God our eternal Father and with his son Jesus Christ in holy vision. The brethren and sisters who have come from near and far to be present during the sessions of this conference have come with a faith in the divinity of "Mormonism,"a faith in the divine mission of the Son of God and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Otherwise you and I probably would not have come here to Salt Lake and been in attendance at these meetings. Our presence here is an evidence and a witness unto the world that the labors and the lives and the faith of the early leaders of this Church and the Saints, that faith that impelled them to make the march across the parching plains and over these rugged mountains into these valleys, that subdued the wilderness and made the desert as it were to blossom as a rose, has not been in vain; that they did not live in vain, but that their example, their faith has come down to us; and we witness to them and to all the world by our presence on these occasions that we are determined to carry on the work which they began, until the last son and daughter of God redeemable has been redeemed. The gospel of Jesus Christ is beautiful in every detail to the man and the woman who is willing to live it and keep the commandments that God has given us. There is no peace nor comfort nor cheer nor gladness that can come unto the souls of men from any other source, so great as that experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. To have a witness, a testimony of the truth, to know that God lives, to know that Jesus Christ was indeed his Son, and to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, called to open the work of this last dispensation, is greater, more glorious, than to be in possession of all the riches and wealth of the world. ¶

This gospel, this marvelous work and a wonder, that the Lord said was about to come to pass, is exemplified and fulfilled in the thousands who come here to receive the word of God from his living oracles in the Church today. The Master, on one occasion when he was preaching to the Jews and many of them had believed in his words and accepted the truth by reason of the miracles which he performed among them, said to those who believed in him, "If ye continue in my word, ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." And the Jews wondered what he meant, and said, "We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?"Then the Master answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." That is the message to the world today. This gospel message that is carried to the nations by the elders of this Church is to the believing of the ¶

world, those who profess to believe in the word of God. After it is explained to them and they accept it, they are told in the words of the Master, if they continue in this work, the gospel of Jesus Christ, faithfully keeping his commandments, observing the laws and ordinances, they shall know for themselves if the doctrine be true. Yea, "you shall know the truth,"is the promise, "and the truth will make you free." And that is the freedom that the Latter-day Saints enjoy today. It is not the freedom of riches, of wealth, it is the freedom of the truth, knowing that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, knowing that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, has made them free, free in the expression of the hope and the faith that they have in their existence here and hereafter. It is that freedom that is expressed in the lives of the missionaries, the young boys that are sent into the nations. They are not very far advanced in the gospel, not with a great knowledge of the principles of life and salvation, yet by their living, by the truth of the message which they are sent to bear to the nations, by abiding in the Word of God, they have learned the truth, and the truth has made them free, and they stand up in the meetings or on the street corners, whenever an opportunity presents itself, and declare unto the world that God lives, a personal being, that Jesus lives, a personal being, each separate one from the other, yet united in the things of God pertaining to the salvation of the children of men. They declare that they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the gospel called "Mormonism"is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the plan of life and salvation, given to the children of men. ¶

The world cannot bear that testimony. Then men and the women who have not accepted the word of God and who do not abide in the word of God cannot bear that testimony and say that Jesus is the Christ, with knowledge and with conviction. That belongs to the men and the women who have followed him in the path of the regeneration, who have been born anew in the kingdom of God and have received the Holy Ghost to lead them unto all truth, to make things known unto them, the things of God and the vital things of life; for that is the mission of the Holy Ghost. And as we were told this afternoon by President Shepherd, every man and every woman born into this Church through the waters of baptism has conferred upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost by men who are in authority to administer this ordinance; and if they are faithful, if their repentance has been genuine and sincere and they seek God in the humility of their hearts, they have a right to the gift of the Holy Ghost; and that gift is knowledge, intelligence, revelation; for he will take of the Father and of the Son and give it unto you, leading you unto all truth. That was the promise of the Master. So we are right when we say, if we know it, and feel it, and have received the gift of revelation, we know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is indeed his Son, the Redeemer of the world. ¶

I was thinking, during the remarks of President Grant this morning and of President Shepherd this afternoon, how many people are there in the world not of the faith of the Latter-day Saints who would stand up and say, if the Master appeared unto them or if he came and presented the question as he did to Peter, unto the apostles, "Who do men say that I am?"-- how many would declare as Peter declared, "Thou art Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God"? I tell you, there are not many in the world who believe in that doctrine. There are not many men and women outside of the Latter-day Saints who will declare with conviction that they know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. They doubt it. Many of the men who are called to preach the doctrine of the Master deny his divinity and attribute to him another origin aside from his heavenly siredom. The Latter-day Saints, one and all, the thousands that gather upon such occasions as this, if the question were put to them and they were asked if they knew and could declare "with conviction that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, that our eternal Father in heaven, indeed, is his Father, and that he was born of the virgin Mary -- every man and woman almost without exception would answer in the affirmative that they know it, because they have received the truth and have abided in the truth, and the truth has made them free. ¶

So I glory in the gospel of the Master, its message to. the world. This message is to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they must repent and turn to the Lord, keeping his commandments, obeying his laws, if they will have peace and escape the judgments which God has decreed shall be poured out upon those who forget God and forsake his ways. I pray that we shall ever be humble and prayerful, seeking constantly the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord in all our undertakings, in our everyday life, that our acts will be circumspect, that our lives will be clean before God and man, that the lives we live will speak more eloquently of the gospel which we have embraced than any words that we have power to utter. That this may be our desire, I pray through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶