Words Fail Me Adequately to Express My Feelings

Words fail me, my brethren and sisters, adequately to express my feelings, in attending this conference. I have been thrilled by the testimonies which have been borne in my hearing" by the presiding authorities of the Church. ¶

I am very grateful for the privilege given unto me to render service in the mission field. That service has brought into my life a joy that is more than pleasure, a joy that is greater than happiness. It is a privilege to attend the sessions of conference, held here, semi-annually, and to partake of the spirit of these gatherings, to worship with you before the Lord. "Man," says one great philosopher, ''is incurably religious. The desire to worship is inherent, inborn." ¶

We read frequently in the public press that there are some fifty million people in the United States identified with the various churches in this country ; that there are between fifty and sixty million people who are not identified or affiliated with any church organization. There is, however, a tremendous amount of personal religion in the world. I find in my association with the people that are not identified with any of these organizations that they are deeply religious, many of them, that they think for themselves, and it is from this class that the majority of our converts, in the Western States mission, come. ¶

I asked a prominent clergyman in the state of Colorado, a short time ago, what his greatest problems were. He answered me that the three great characteristics of present-day church life are, our intense triviality, the uncertainty of our position, and our complacency, national, civic and religious. Said he, "We have sociability instead of sacraments, statistics instead of salvation." I assured him that we were not so situated, and stressed the fact that we were not uncertain with regard to our position on fundamental doctrines of the Church. The burden of our message to the world has been that God has spoken and that he has delivered his word and restored his gospel anew to the children of earth, in the nineteenth century. We have renewed the promise that has come flown through the ages from the Master's lips, that if men will serve him and keep his commandments and yield obedience to the saving ordinances of the gospel, they shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or whether we speak of ourselves. ¶

I asked a lady a few days ago why she was not identified with any of the churches of the world, and she replied, "Because in my investigation of the various systems of religion, I have discovered so many theological contradictions." We invited her to make a thorough investigation of the claims made by the Latter-day Saints, and assured her that she would find no theological contradictions ; but, on the contrary, she would discover that the Church is built upon a solid foundation ; that it is built upon Jesus Christ our Lord and upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, the Savior of the world being the chief cornerstone; and that she would find peace to her soul if she would obey the commandments of God and the fundamental doctrines that are taught by the Church. She has later assured me, having come into the Church, that she has had greater joy in the few months she has been identified with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than in all her experience up to joining the Church. ¶

There is only one way that we may be satisfied of the truth, and that is through the power of the Holy Ghost, which is promised to every individual who obeys the gospel of the Master. The clergyman to whom I have referred made this statement: "Christ is the supreme issue confronting the world at the present time." Our declaration to the world is that they may know the Christ if they obey his gospel. Through the power of the Holy Ghost they may be assured of his reality, and the efficacy of his atonement in redeeming the world. He declared to his disciples that all power was given him in heaven and in earth and instructed them to go out and preach the gospel of repentance, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching people to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. He had said to his disciples that no man knoweth the Father save the Son. Neither knoweth any man the Son, save the Father, and him to whom he will reveal him. He invited men and women everywhere to come unto him, and to take upon themselves his yoke, for he said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Amplifying the statement of the Master, the Apostle Paul declared that no man, speaking by the Spirit, calleth Jesus accursed, and no man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost. ¶

We affirm that the Church which we represent out in the world, this Church, is the Church of Jesus Christ. He organized it ; he owns it, and it is his; and the organizations represented here today are the instrumentality through which our Father may promulgate the glorious truths of the gospel to the nations of the earth. ¶

I bear my testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, that I know, as I know that I live, that these things are true, that God lives, that Jesus Christ, his Son, is the Redeemer of the world, and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the living God, and those who have been associated with him are men of God and are the mouthpiece of our Father unto the children of men. ¶

Reference was made to the fact that some of the younger generation would deny the faith. I call to mind that we have in the Western States mission at least one who was associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. I attended a meeting in a small town where he resides and listened to his testimony. I listened to the testimony of his son and his grandson, and his great-grandson, and every one of them testified that he knew that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. The man who had been an eye and ear witness to the power that rested upon the prophet of the nineteenth century was no more sure of his position than the youngest man who bore his testimony, because he had received that witness from the Holy Spirit. ¶

May God help us to appreciate our responsibility and to render service in the cause of Christ, that the world may be left without excuse in the day of judgment, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶