Remarks

I appreciate the kind words of our presiding authority here this morning. I have learned to love President Hart through my acquaintance and my associations with him. He was present at the time I was set apart as president of the North Sanpete stake of Zion and had something to do, I am sure, with my being chosen. ¶

Last evening after arriving in the city, I was dining with a person from home who said he intended to leave the city some time today for home. I urged upon him to attend some of the sessions of the conference before he returned. When he informed me that time would hardly permit, I rather insisted that he attend at least the Opening session of the conference, this morning in the Tabernacle, as that, I thought, was the most important session of the conference, the most interesting, and he would feel well paid for spending that much time in the city. This morning, when the president of the Church read my name as one to speak here, it came as a thunderbolt from the sky, and I have been wondering since if that is my penalty for singling out one of the sessions of the conference as being better than another. I am sure, my brethren and sisters, whether it is the opening session or the closing session, it matters little to Latter-day Saints who are present to participate in the Spirit of the Lord and to be fed the bread of life. I am sure the message delivered in one session is as important as that in another, provided our hearts are in tune with the mission and purpose of this Church. I am convinced of that this morning, for I have thoroughly enjoyed myself here, and I pray that while I occupy this position, the same Spirit may actuate my thoughts that has prompted those who have spoken before me, and that has influenced the rendition of the songs and the music listened to this morning. ¶

I was impressed with the testimony of Bishop Smith in his conversation with the non-member of our Church in California. We see on every hand where men are trying to capitalize the organization of this Church for the purpose of making money. I remember reading in the public press of a certain organization that had offered to contribute to this Church a site for a temple in one of the California cities. Their sole motive, my brethren and sisters, was to bring Latter-day Saints there in a body, sell them real estate, perhaps, or in some other way enrich their pocketbooks. ¶

I want to contrast that with the motive of a man with whom I held a conversation just recently, a man whom I have known all my life. We have grown up, virtually, together, at least since boyhood — he a member of the Presbyterian Church, and I affiliated with the Latter-day Saints. He said to me, "Brother Nielsen, I have come to the conclusion that if there is a true Church of Christ on the face of the earth today, it is not the Presbyterian church, but that it is the 'Mormon' Church. I have learned to appreciate you people. I have marveled at the accomplishments of the membership of your Church. I have learned to love and admire you and others with whom I have mingled all my life. I have learned that there is nothing uplifting or that will tend to uplift the souls of men that the Latter-day Saints are not seeking. There is nothing that will tend to destroy the character of individuals but that the Latter-day Saints are always ready to condemn it. They are constantly striving for the development of the talents of their children ; they are anxious to see them grow, and they make liberal provisions for their education and their advancement in life. The social and community life of no other people can be compared with theirs. When I compare a community of Latter-day Saints with one made up of other organizations, I note that when men and women belong to lodges and secret organizations there is a tendency to pull apart, to segregate themselves into classes, each one destroying, or at least tending to destroy, the efforts of the other. I see no good in lodges or fraternal organizations. I see definite good in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are banded together working for a common cause — and that always characterized by the highest ideals." ¶

I said to him, "I have noted you in recent years especially, that you have been more friendly to us, and I have predicted to others that you some day would become a member of this Church ; I trust that I shall not be disappointed." ¶

And he said to me: "I am ready now, if I only dared, if I only had the courage, to enter the waters of baptism, but I know what will happen to me; I shall be ostracized by my family and friends, those who have been near to me all the days of my life, and I have not the moral courage to break away from those associations to become one of your people. I know the criticism that would be heaped upon me. . And yet I am a Latter-day Saint. I am willing to confess that I have accepted of the gospel, that I believe it ; and even now, if I had the least assurance that through my membership in the Church I could enjoy a small portion of the growth and development that I have noted in others, in your Church, even though I am pretty well along in life, if I could be able through affiliation with your Church to learn to stand before an audience, to express myself in public (he is a talented man, by the way, but (timid), if I could acquire that knowledge and ability, even now I believe I would become a member of your Church, in spite of the criticism that I know would come to me." ¶

I promised him that if he would come into the Church, accept the Priesthood, lend himself to its influences and teachings, he would live to see the day that he would be an active member of this Church and that his voice would yet be heard publicly in the defense of its truth. ¶

Brethren and sisters, I want to express to you my appreciation for my membership in this Church, for the fact that I see, as this brother has discovered, that there is no place in the world I would rather be than here. I thank my Father in heaven for the fact that the missionaries of this Church have invaded foreign lands and preached the gospel to my family and made it possible for me to come here and enjoy the associations and the blessings of membership in this Church. I have heard many of, the testimonies borne in this building ; I have been here at Mutual Improvement conferences, where our testimony meeting is usually held, and I have heard some inspiring testimonies borne. Usually they begin by saying, "I have been taught the principles of the gospel by my parents. I am thankful that I was born in a Latter-day Saint home, etc. I am thankful that I have been able to go on a mission and receive there a testimony of the gospel." ¶

I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that being born in the Church is not necessary. I was not born of "Mormon" parentage, though my mother is a member of the Church. I was not raised in a Latter-day Saint home, strictly speaking. I have never been on a mission. But through my affiliation with the auxiliary organizations and the Priesthood quorums of this Church, I have acquired a testimony of the divinity of this gospel. I have learned to know that this is the Church of Christ, that it was reestablished under the inspiration of our Father in heaven and through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that those who adhere to its teachings, make the ideals of the Church their ideals, will enjoy greater blessings than any other people on the face of the earth ; also, that we can become a happier people, and more fully comprehend the purposes of life than any one else, through the study of the gospel. I pray, brethren and sisters, that all of us may sense our responsibility as Latter-day Saints. ¶

In conclusion, may I say that I am confident that the influence brought to bear upon the individual to whom I referred has come from the example set by members of his community, not by their sermons. I believe that the family life of the people of that ward, the community life, the social activities, in other words, the conduct of those people as Latter-day Saints, have converted him to the principles of "Mormonism," and not the sermons they have preached on the Sabbath day. May we so order our lives, brethren and sisters, that those who are watching us, and observing our actions, may come into the fold of this Church through the example we set, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

A quartette, composed of the winners of the M. I. A. Salt Lake District contest, Earl Martin, Ronald Salt, Leonard Strong, and Harold Keddington, sang, "Prayer Perfect." ¶