Remarks

In attending conference this morning, in the Tabernacle, viewing the large congregation gathered there, and knowing that they came from almost every nation under the sun, I could but reflect upon the words of our Savior in the promise given early in the history of the Church to the Prophet Joseph, wherein he said, "Behold a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men." I could but feel what a wondrous thing it was to see that Tabernacle filled with people from almost all nations of the earth and to know that they had heard the call of the Master; that they were of the honest in heart who had listened unto that call, who had forsaken that which was near and dear unto them in other lands -- kindred, friends, wealth in many cases -- and sacrificed for that which they believed to be true, and in various ways gathered unto the land of Zion, where they have reared their families under hardship, toil and struggle and sacrifice, and are watching the work of the Lord grow and prosper. I, myself, was born in far-off Stockholm, Sweden; taught a foreign tongue; trained then in what is now to me a foreign religion; trained in other customs than we have here. And the Lord, in fulfilment of the promise that he would bring about a marvelous work, called upon those who had already accepted the gospel to visit those lands; preach the gospel there, and bring the message of joy and gladness unto other hearts; and it fell to our lot to meet with those missionaries; to hear their story and testimony, and have our own hearts touched with that testimony; recognize its truth and have courage and faith enough to accept it and to come to these lands, unto these valleys. It is 52 years ago last month since I had the privilege of being initiated into the Church and Kingdom of God by baptism. In the experiences that have come to me since, the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, of using that Priesthood in various capacities, I have gained an understanding to some extent of what the Lord meant when he said that he would bring about a marvelous work in the earth. To think that this body of people we saw this morning, and that are there now gathered; those who are here; those who are out in the grounds listening; to think that they have a knowledge and a testimony for themselves that this is the work of the Lord -- with no doubt whatever -- a testimony from God that this work is divine; that all our ideas of the future can be resolved into the mere admonition, "live the laws of God that he has given unto you and all those mysteries will be solved." Give it time; serve the Lord, and we will know all that we desire to know; we will reach to all that our aspirations have sought for, and we will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God. ¶

To me the having within our hearts of that testimony that God lives; that Jesus is the Christ, his Son, our Redeemer; to know that we are his children; to be acquainted with our relationship with him, the purpose of our being here, where we came from, where we are going, and what lies before us in the way of possibility for advancement, growth, and eternal progress -- to have a testimony of that kind -- is the most glorious gift that our Father could give unto us; and once received, brethren and sisters, we ought to guard that testimony as the most sacred gift in his power to give unto us. ¶

Can we lose that testimony? Yes. We may have the Spirit of the Lord bearing testimony to our souls that this is the truth; but if we will not live the laws by which that testimony can be retained, it will fade and grow weaker. We have experiences before us of those who have stood up and borne testimony to the goodness of God, to the divinity of this work, having a knowledge of it for themselves and how they received it, and who have gradually drifted away until it is only a mere memory that they did such a thing; the knowledge has passed away. And why? Because they have not treasured it. They have not kept it bright and fresh in their minds. They have not served the Lord. They have not given of their talents that God has given unto them; of their time and of their means and their thought and their strength. They have not given of it enough to retain a continuation of that testimony. In this very revelation, where the Lord said that he was to bring forth a marvelous work and a wonder, he added this: "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work; for behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; and faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." ¶

Those are the promises of our Father. To me the very thought of losing this wonderful individual testimony that God has given me -- I dare not think of it! To have doubt come into my soul, where there is no assurance and knowledge and certainty, would unsettle all that I have so far been able to do in my life; and it would be the same to you, my brethren and sisters, if you permitted that to be done. Many of us neglect the opportunities offered unto us. We do not develop them. We receive the Priesthood and we do not magnify it; we do not honor and revere it and recognize that it is the power from God to act in his stead, that he has selected those to whom he has given the Priesthood to be his helpers in accomplishing the great work that he has before him. He says, "My work and my glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," and he calls upon his children who have heard his voice, who have accepted it and yielded obedience to his commandments; he endows them with the Priesthood and power to be helpers and assistants unto him to accomplish that -- he tells us that the worth of souls is great in his mind and he sends us out to seek for those souls; "for the field," as he says, "is already white to harvest, and he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might shall have store which perisheth not." In other words, he shall have the souls of men who have heard his message; who have had faith brought into their lives; who have yielded obedience to the commandments of God, and have accepted the truth and striven to shape their lives in harmony with the teachings of the gospel; and in so doing he has added unto himself a store that cannot perish but will live eternally, a blessing, benefit, joy and consolation unto himself. Our Father says that if you should labor, as it were, all the days of your lives, and bring but one soul unto him, how great shall be your joy with that soul in the kingdom of our Father. And if ye bring many souls unto him, behold how great shall be your joy. That is why the Priesthood is given unto us. What will our Father think if we do not use that Priesthood, when we neglect to use it; or if we do use it, if we do it for our own aggrandizement, the advancement of our own purposes, our own personal gain? When we do that, we dishonor it, and instead of being helpers in his cause and laying up a store that shall not perish, we forfeit our rights and our privileges; we are not helpful, we do not obey that second commandment of which President Grant spoke this morning, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." We are not worrying, many times, about our neighbor; whether he is prospering, advancing, walking the path of righteousness, or not; we are caring only for ourselves. Now, in the midst of that kind of a feeling, it is not conducive to a perpetuation of the individual testimony that God has given us. It begins to fade and weaken and finally it disappears from us. ¶

I would say unto you, my brethren and sisters, as a message that I would like to give to all with whom I come in contact: Guard and treasure that individual testimony of the knowledge of the goodness of God. Why, think what it means! You are not afraid in your explorations; you can study any of the mysteries, branch out, seek to gain knowledge, investigate the things in science, go as far as you can; and yet there is no doubt in your mind. Whether you are able to solve the things that come before you; whether you are able to explain them, means nothing; but you have a testimony that this is the truth, and for that reason nothing on the outside can take it away from you. Only that which is within ourselves can rob us of that testimony. ¶

I have heard of brethren and quorums who are studying certain things, coming across certain passages, and having their faith weakened by the fact that they cannot harmonize certain things that they have read therein, certain things that they have heard. Many of them are carried away by alleged scientific principles, that make them feel, that that which they discover in researches concerning this earth does not warrant the beliefs that they have held, and yet I have heard some of those bear testimony to the truth of the gospel. To my mind it seems almost impossible that such a thing could occur. If I know a thing, I know it. How can any one take that away from me? I might as well stand on the rock, dive into the ocean, get out beyond my depth, and then begin to doubt that I ever did stand on land, when I have an absolute knowledge in me that only a few moments before I dived from that rock into the water. If I am wise and have the strength, I swim back to the place from which I dived, and I am again on terra firma, on land. So it is in all our explorations, if we cannot understand them, all we need to do is swim back to that rock, our own individual testimony that God has given unto us and that we know is true. Having gotten back there secure again, we can start out, and we are strong on other explorations and thereby gather a little knowledge here and there, better knowledge, better understanding and interpretation of the things we read and discuss, and therefore strengthen our testimony instead of losing it. ¶

Whatever you do, do not permit anything in your lives, either of sin or transgression, of error, of misinterpretation, idleness, indolence, of failure to accept opportunity, failure to respond to a call -- do not let any of these causes step in and begin to weaken that testimony, but treasure it with the beauty of the knowledge that you know where you are going. There is no uncertainty. You know what is required of you, and all you need do is to live unto it, and your lives will be shaped in harmony with God's wishes, and eternal life and joy and glory and everlasting exaltation shall be yours. ¶

May God bless us, that in our hearts we may have a desire for righteousness, live that which is noble and true and uplifting, and shun the things that are degrading and degenerating in character; live the law of the gospel, the law of the land, the law of our own being, and serve God with full purpose of heart. And remember, his glory and his advancement is our glory and advancement, and if we can go on with an eye single to his glory rather than to our own personal gains, joy and happiness will be ours everlastingly. May we be able to see this, get this portion of the philosophy of the gospel of Jesus Christ into our hearts, and shape our lives in accordance with it! Then we will find that we are sloughing off a little vice here, a little evil habit there, a wrong thought; and we are replacing them with proper thoughts, habits, and ideas in harmony with the gospel, and with God; and we become naturally new men and new women, capable of carrying on God's work and serving him and being indeed his helpers in the accomplishment of his wonderful work. May it be our lot that we may retain these testimonies, in our hearts, live righteously all the days of our lives, and receive eternal life in God's celestial kingdom, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶