The Sixth of April and a Century of Divine Guidance

PRESIDENT CHARLES W. NIBLEY ¶

In looking over this vast congregation, composed largely of the priesthood of the Church, — this greatest of all gatherings — my soul is subdued and I feel my own weakness, my own inability. Nevertheless, I am proud indeed to be numbered among you, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel it a distinct honor to be able to assist in some small degree in the furtherance of this great work. ¶

THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL ¶

I would like to call your attention (I think Brother Wood mentioned it in his prayer) to this beautiful Sabbath day, this sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty. Where would you go in all the world to find a more perfect day than this? The Lord, by his overruling providence, has given it to us, and all thanks and honor and praise be given to him. ¶

A wonderful day, the sixth day of April! Many notable things have occurred on it. The organization of the Church for one great and notable thing. The Prophet Joseph recites in his own story that it was early in the spring of 1820, one hundred and ten years ago, when he went into the woods to pray. I like to think of that also as being on the sixth day of April. We have no definite knowledge of it, but I ¶

believe it in my heart and in my soul. And while I have no warrant in revelation for so stating, I believe with all my heart and soul that the sixth day of April was the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Certain it is that the New Testament tells us that the shepherds were tending their flocks on the hills /of Judea when the glory of the Lord fell upon them. More likely was it in the spring of the year than on the twenty-fifth day of December, which is celebrated as the birthday of the Savior; yet we go on celebrating that day, and it is all right to do so, inasmuch as that is the day the world generally accepts. But I repeat it is my individual opinion, firmly fixed in my mind, that the sixth day of April is the birthday of the Savior of the world. I further like to believe that the resurrection of the Redeemer, which marked his triumph over death and the grave, also occurred'on the sixth day of April, though I have no definite proof. ¶

Another notable event that occurred on this day is part of the history of this glorious country of ours — the United States of America. The Lord says in the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith that he raised up wise men for the very purpose of framing the Constitution, which guarantees liberty to all. It was born on the sixth day of April. It had previously been adopted by the Constitutional Convention and submitted to the various States for ratification. While it was intended that the returns should all be in by the fourth of March, it was not until the sixth day of April that the electoral votes of the different States were counted by the Senate and House then in session. And on the sixth day of April George Washington was declared to be the President of the United States. So the nation had its real birth at that time. ¶

Another thing that happened on the sixth day of April: Our nation, in 1917, declared war on Germany, and with all its heart and soul it went into that war. What for? To fight for liberty, to fight against the principle of force, which is Satan's principle, which principle is championed wherever Satan rules. This nation in a short time, with two million men overseas, and with two million more under arms in training, helped to settle the matter; and thus victory was achieved through the action of our government, which government has always stood for liberty and for the blessing of mankind. ¶

I say again that it is my individual opinion — we have no revelation for it — that the Prophet Joseph Smith received his first manifestation on the sixth day of April.: It was the greatest vision ever given to mortal man; for both the Father and the Son plainly manifested themselves before his eyes and spoke to him. I believe that that was on the sixth day of April, and I believe, although I have no warrant in revelation for it, that the sixth day of April is the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ¶

THE MOST OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENT ¶

Now, looking back over the one hundred years that have passed, I have tried in my mind to think what is the most outstanding work that has been accomplished, Of course we as Latter-day Saints know that ¶

the spiritual force, the power of the priesthood that is with this work and in this work, is greater than the temporal. But men who have not been touched with the power of the Holy Ghost, cannot see the kingdom of God. Like Nicodemus they cannot comprehend it. They have not taken advantage of the means of entering it. But temporal things they can see and understand; and to my way of thinking, the great outstanding, beneficent, splendid work that has been accomplished by this Church in the last one hundred years has been the gathering of the poor, not the rich, for we have had scarcely any rich among us. One in a hundred was possibly well-to-do when gathered, but I should say not more than that. The poor have had the Gospel preached to them, and the poor have been gathered to Zion. Gathered to Kirtland, Ohio, in the first place; gathered to Missouri; then driven from Missouri, after which the gathering place was at Nauvoo, Illinois, from 1839 until 1845 and 1846. The gathering in from the States of this Union and from nearby countries to the places I have mentioned occupied from fourteen to sixteen years. The balance of the one hundred years that have passed and which we are commemorating, have been spent by the saints here in the valleys of the mountains. And this gathering has gone on all through that period, even up to the present time. ¶

How has this been accomplished? It has been accomplished by the Church, the power of this Church, the influence of this Church, by the people of this Church, the poor helping the poor to get here to this land of Zion, consecrated and dedicated for the gathering place. For did not Isaiah say that in the last days the mountain of the Lord's house should be established in the top of the mountains, and that all nations should flow unto it ? This has been truly a wonderful work. ¶

THE PERPETUAL EMIGRATION FUND ¶

In the early days of our settlement here the Perpetual Emigration Fund was established, and many were helped here through that fund. And let me say in passing that the widows and the orphans were not forgotten. President Brigham Young said we would dedicate our lives to see that every poor faithful saint, — widows, orphans and all — was gathered to Zion. That work has gone on until tens of thousands and their succeeding generations, amounting now to hundreds of thousands, have been aided and helped. ¶

It would interest you if you were to go into the books of the Perpetual Emigration Fund and see some of the names of families who were beneficiaries of that Fund; rather distinguished, now perhaps, but very poor then — so poor that they had to be helped by that Fund, and yet they are now some of the richest among our people. Some of their children unfortunately have forgotten. It is a bad thing to forget. It is a good thing to remember what the Lord has done for us. And the Lord accomplished that work, and this is the Zion of the Lord to which they came. ¶

TO BUILD UP ZION ¶

I recall, away back in 1869, when I went on my first mission, we ¶

met over in the old Seventies'Hall. President Young instructed us in these words: "Now when you Elders get out in the world and see. conditions there and think of the good things we have here at home, you may get to praising our country too much. Don't do that. This is what I would like you to promise the people who gather to Zion: plenty of hard work and persecution." ¶

So there was no allurement or inducement to come for better circumstances, but only to build up Zion. And this has been Zion all the while. Isaiah said concerning it: ¶

"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her'waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." ¶

The Lord was to do this. To whom? To Zion. Do you know of any other people called Zion upon the face of the earth? Do you know of anything more beautiful than this verse of Isaiah's? I am going to take the liberty of reading it again: ¶

"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places." ¶

HER WASTE PLACES COMFORTED ¶

Were there waste places here when our pioneers came ? Was there anything here but waste and desert and wilderness? There were no paths. Go around in other countries where there is food for wild game and you will find trails — -for jack-rabbits at least. You will find a trail for the deer, you will find tracks. There was not anything of the kind here. For it was so much of a waste and so much of a wilderness and desert, and so barren, that there was scarcely any game except way back in the mountains. It was in very deed a trackless waste, a wilderness. There were no streets, no paths, no trails, no anything, — just a'desert. Yet the prophet of the Lord a few days after arriving here, putting down his cane right on this block, prophesied, "Here we will build the temple of the Lord." ¶

"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and'the voice of melody." ¶

Is the voice of melody here today? Is there any place in the world where there are sweeter singers and more of them in proportion to the population than right here? Is there any more of thanksgiving and the voice of melody anywhere else in the world according to numbers, than there is here in this land? This is Zion. The Lord will comfort Zion and all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. ¶

Another verse by the same Isaiah and with respect to the same Zion: ¶

"And the ransomed'of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion'with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." ¶

This is the word of the Lord concerning Zion. This is the Zion of our Lord. ¶

THE LORD HAS DONE IT ¶

Time will not permit me to speak further in respect to this one great outstanding, wonderful work that the Lord has accomplished with Zion — the gathering of the saints from all parts of the earth. He has brought it about. He has overruled it. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Do not forget that. The sacrifices that our parents have made have been most wonderful. The Lord was with them. My heart sorrows when I think of my own parents, the poverty and sacrifice that they had to undergo in so many different ways; and I glory in the fact that they failed not nor faltered, but stood firm through it all. They gave of their lives for my sake, so that the path is easier for me, and I am blessed more in living and trying to live to help on in that great work. All praise be unto the Lord for his goodness and mercy and blessings. ¶

BLESSINGS THROUGH OBEDIENCE AND SACRIFICE ¶

I praise the Lord for the association of my brethren, for the privilege of meeting with the saints, for the enjoyment I have in laboring for this great cause. I know it is the work of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that this people will be blessed far more than they ever have been blessed, far more than they could hope to be blessed, if we will only, as our President has said, keep the commandments of the Lord, pay our tithes, and sacrifice something for the kingdom of God. It is sacrifice that brings forth the blessings of heaven, let me tell you, and the man or woman who is not willing to make some sacrifice cannot claim the blessings. ¶

May the Lord help us build up his kingdom, glorify his holy name, and remember that in this great hundred years past what a wonderful work of gathering to Zion has been accomplished. Such a beneficent, blessed piece of constructive work, the greatest contribution to tens of thousands of the poor that have been so thoroughly blessed by it, must be recognized by all men, and acknowledged as a good work. Amen. ¶