My Dear Brethren and Sisters: This Is Not

My dear brethren and sisters: This is not altogether a surprise to me. However, I was very much surprised this afternoon, because I thought the time would be occupied by the other brethren who were called to the stand. ¶

I am pleased and proud of this opportunity of standing before the Saints in this general conference. It has been my privilege to be called to preside over the Oquirrh stake which lies on the west side of this valley. It consists of five wards and about five thousand members. We are situated in the section where the Utah Copper and the American Smelting and Refining companies have their works. A large number of the members of our stake consists of men and women who are working for these companies. A great many transients come into our midst. One of the bishops, a short time ago, told me that there were 128 recommends sent out of his ward this year. We are receiving new people continually and others are moving out, and it is rather difficult for us to keep our organizations in working order, as we would like to have them. However, we have a faithful people, a class of people who are anxious to serve God and keep his commandments ; and even though men and women come into our community and remain there only a few months, we find them to be good, faithful Latter-day Saints, and willing to do anything that God has asked them to do, or willing to do anything they are called upon to do by those presiding over them. We appreciate this. We appreciate the spirit that exists among the Latter-day Saints in our stake. ¶

What a wonderful privilege it is to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a Church of development, it is a Church of privileges. ¶

When the brethren were reporting their missions today, it took me back to the time when I was called into the mission field, and I sometimes feel that I would like to be called there again. What a wonderful thing it is to go out into the world and preach the gospel to the people, and bear testimony to them, and to know that the gospel is true when you are preaching it to the people. When I went to the doors of the people to carry my message to them, it was a reality to me. I knew as I know today that the gospel is true, and I knew that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. I knew that God had called his servants out into the world to preach the gospel, and I could not understand how it was that sometimes the people could not see and understand that our missionaries were really preaching the true principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because of the strong testimony that they bore and the earnest desire they had to carry that message to the people, and the Spirit of the Lord that accompanied them while they were doing so. The young men would leave their rooms with determined looks upon their faces and with an anxious desire to find someone who was seeking after truth. They would go from door to door and find some who would listen to them, but there were many who would reject them. ¶

I am thankful that my father was a pioneer, and that I was born of goodly parents ; that my mother was a pioneer. I am thankful that I have been born and reared in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that I was born under the covenant. I have a strong testimony that the gospel is true. I am thankful for the privilege of bearing my testimony to you this afternoon, and I pray that God may bless us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶