Remarks

This is one of the great honors that has been bestowed upon me. ¶

It is the first time in my life that I have occupied this stand, and I feel it a great honor and privilege to bear my testimony to you this afternoon to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ which has been restored. I am thankful that I have had the privilege of raising a warning voice to the nations, and in the land of Norway, to the people in the far north, declaring unto them that the Lord has restored the gospel in these the latter days. ¶

I was indeed pleased when I heard the President speak regarding the Word of Wisdom, for I found it very necessary when I went into the mission field to preach this glorious principle to the world. It is a great responsibility which rests upon us as teachers and leaders in Israel. As I traveled around in the branches in Norway I saw fathers and mothers with their children smoking cigarettes; and I saw in these children the future fathers and mothers; and I thought, what will be the end if they continue to poison and contaminate their souls with this dreadful weed? I found a condition that made my heart ache! Out of the many honest, true Latter-day Saints, in the mission I found only very few who are keeping the Word of Wisdom. Is it not necessary that we as elders in Israel, when we go into the world, set worthy examples for these boys and girls, honest and true, living in those countries who do not, perhaps, understand the great necessity of keeping the Word of Wisdom as we do? Is it not necessary that we lift the voice of warning to them against that which will eventually destroy them if they continue its use? ¶

I did not see this condition in Norway alone, but also in other European countries that I visited -- boys and girls contaminating their souls with these things. And I feel to rejoice, and thank my Father in heaven, that my parents had the courage to join the Church and accept these great principles in Denmark many years ago, and emigrate to this country. As I traveled among my relatives, who have never understood the gospel of Jesus Christ, and saw them, with trembling hands, pouring alcohol into the coffee, I thought then, O how glorious it is that the elders in this day are sent out into the world to teach us the Word of Wisdom, thus to make us better men and women, and make us stronger physically and spiritually, that we may be able to carry the burdens of the day. ¶

I rejoice in the privilege of being a member of this great Church, which has been organized and is costing some of the best blood on earth to establish. We all realize that when the great God of heaven wishes to do anything of importance, it must cost the blood of many good men and women. ¶

When I was set apart as the president of the Norwegian mission, I was told that I was denied a vise to Norway, and I felt very sorry, and also felt it would perhaps be impossible for me to enter that land. When I reached Chicago, I received permission to enter Norway and to remain there for two weeks. When I arrived, I went to the police station where I was to report, and asked for permission to remain, which permission was denied me. I went again the next day with the same result. The officials said they must take the request to higher authority. I was preparing to go the next day, and while putting on my coat and hat, a little girl was in one of the rooms pleading with God that we might be permitted to remain. I felt within my soul that we would not be permitted to remain. She knew where to go. She had confidence in the Lord. She had been taught to pray; and even as the boy prophet went into the woods to pray and had confidence that God would hear and answer his prayer, this little girl also prayed to God. She came to me and said, "Papa, I know we are going to remain, for the Lord has answered my prayer." I thought then, O, if we only had the confidence and the courage of little children! And I thought, too, is it any wonder that the Lord placed before his disciples a little child and said, "Unless ye become as a little child ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." ¶

It was mentioned here yesterday by President Ivins that we are not considered Christians, that we are heathens, in Norway. That is a fact They consider us heathens and not as Christians, and I believe that was the only excuse they had whereby they could keep us from entering Norway. It is a free country, free for the Christian religion, but it is not free for those who are not Christians; in their opinion we are not Christians, therefore they have been using an old law, sixty-five years old, to keep us out of Norway. We do not have any persecution from the people on the whole, but we do meet with persecution from those in authority -- the government officials and the city officials. One young elder was driven from four cities. He said, "O, I will be glad when I can find a place that I can call home for at least two or three nights." The ministers write articles occasionally in the papers against us; but they do not seem to do us a great deal of harm. I remember that one of the great ministers there said, "I am not going to let down the bars now, and let those swine in here!" It was not long after he made this remark until the Lord saw fit to call him away. Men cannot stop the work of the Lord until he may see fit to stop it himself. ¶

There are many honest souls in Norway who are waiting to hear the gospel. The doors have been practically closed against our missionaries and our elders, and we have had a hard time getting in, but there are a few there now and I want to say to the fathers and mothers of those boys, that your boys who have been sent to Norway are honest, true workers in Israel, clean and pure. ¶

One little item I wish to make mention of is this: Be sure, fathers and mothers that you teach your boys to pray. O how humiliating it was to one young man when he came into the mission field, and I asked him to pray. He said: "I have never uttered a prayer in my life." Who was to blame? Let us teach our children to pray, to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is not anything that will bring us such great blessings as living the gospel. It will make us better men and women. I know the gospel is true. I have felt the nearness of God in far-off Norway, away up in the Narvik branch, the farthest north of any branch in the Church. Nestled in those snow-capped mountains, we find a little branch of honest, true Latter-day Saints who are living the gospel. I am glad that I had the privilege of bearing my testimony and warning them, for it is the only hope of the nations today -- that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. May we know and realize who we are; that we are the chosen people of God; that we have been called and endowed with the holy Priesthood of God; and that we may always stand firm and in holy places, and be ready at all times to go into the world to warn the nations, and to let them know that God has spoken in these the latter days, and that his great work is rolling on. May the Lord help us to be true and firm to these principles, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶