Our Obligation to the Living and the Dead

Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles ¶

Anticipating an invitation to speak during this Conference, and realizing that the speakers would be heard by a large number of people outside of this building, I prepared some notes that I might speak from, but I don't know that I shall use them. ¶

GRATITUDE FOE BLESSINGS OF LORD ¶

I want to say to the brethren and sisters that I am very happy in my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in the blessings of the Gospel which I enjoy in common with you. I am happy in your fellowship and association, and in the work that I have been honored to do in this Church. ¶

The Lord has been good to us as a people, and he has been good to me as an individual. As I look back over my life and its experiences, I can see where the Lord has held me by the hand, as it were, and led me along the path of duty, shielding me from evil and wickedness that I might have indulged in to my everlasting sorrow and condemnation. I feel that it is as little as I can do to seek to know what the will of my Father in heaven is concerning me, and to do his will to the best of my ability. I believe that every member of this Church should feel the same. If we turn our thoughts back over our past lives, I feel sure that all of us will have occasion to rejoice in the fatherly care that has been given us, and the many blessings that have been showered upon us. ¶

TESTIMONY REGARDING THIS WORK ¶

I have passed the period of question or doubt, which comes into the lives of many people, and I do know of a surety, and have proven over and over again from the scriptures and by the application of reason and good sense, to my perfect satisfaction, that this work is true, so that I have no fear of any man being able to disprove it. I have lived the Gospel, in part, at least, so as to have the witness of the Spirit of God, and I do know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Redeemer and 'Savior of this world. ¶

I know that our Father in heaven lives, a glorified and immortal being, with all power — power to bless and power to save. And I know that this work is true, that in it is the saving power of God to those who will accept and obey it. I know, by sense of reason, that he who was the instrument in the hands of God in restoring this Gospel to earth, must have been and is a prophet of God. ¶

NOT ACCEPTED IN THEIR OWN DAY ¶

It is hard for the people of this day and time to accept Joseph Smith as a Prophet of God. It was ever so that the prophets were not generally accepted by the people of their time. The Scriptures relate that when Jesus was preaching in the synagogue in his own country, the people were astonished, and said : ¶

"Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? ¶

"Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? ¶

"And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? ¶

"And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. ¶

I have often wished that he had added, which I think he could have done with equal truth, "save in the day and time in which he lived." ¶

"And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." (Matt. 13:54-58.) ¶

I firmly believe that the time will come when all men, as universally as they accept Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world, will acknowledge Joseph Smith to have been a great prophet of God in these last days, in the dispensation of the fulness of times. ¶

Brethren and sisters, that which I feel and know to be true, I believe that you, also, who are living your religion, feel and know to be true, by the same means. ¶

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS ¶

An impressive thought came to me this morning while we were singing the hymn, "Come, Come, Ye Saints." ¶

"We'll find the place which God for us prepared, ¶

Far away in the West ; Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid — There the Saints will be blessed. * * * ¶

"And should we die before our journey's through, ¶

Happy day ! all is well ! We then are free from toil and sorrow too; ¶

With the just we shall dwell." ¶

These words express the feeling of our pioneer fathers and mothers in their deep trial when their faces were turned, as it were, from civilization toward the great unexplored West, bringing with them practically nothing but the Gospel, which was the dearest thing they had on earth ; and with the hope that the Lord would inspire his ¶

leaders that they might find a place of refuge, safety and liberty, where they could worship the Lord according to the dictates of their consciences. They endured much sorrow and tribulation, and many died in the effort to make for us what we have here today. ¶

OUR OBLIGATION ¶

.We are their successors in this work. We have inherited the blessings that they finally were able to enjoy. We are indebted to this work for all that we have, all that we hope to obtain. Are we going to carry on the work as faithfully and devotedly as did our pioneer parents, or are we lying down on the job? Are we fainting by the way? Or are we living our religion, and by so doing setting an example to the world worthy of their emulation, such as will cause them to glorify our Father in heaven by an investigation of that which has made us what we are, that is commendable, and perchance, by their embracing the Gospel and engaging with us in the furtherance of the Lord's work? ¶

Do we ever consider that we are under obligation to our fellow men, that we are under obligation to the Church, as well as to ourselves? Do we consider that we are under obligation to our fathers and our mothers, who have suffered and endured so much for us? If we will not live our religion for our own soul's salvation, then we ought to do so for the sake of others, including our children, and our children's children who are coming after us. ¶

PERTAINING TO OUR KINDRED DEAD ¶

We have a responsibility pertaining to our kindred dead. The Prophet Joseph tells us, and it is on record, that the greatest responsibility that God has laid upon us is that of looking after our kindred dead. Until the Church was organized, and there were temples built, and an opportunity for the living to do something for the dead, there seemed to be no occasion for our forebears to look to us. There was nothing we could do for them. But with the introduction of the Gospel, and the building of temples, the Lord sent his servant, Elijah, as predicted by Malachi he would do, who conferred the keys upon Joseph and Oliver of the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. From that day, the 3rd of April, 1836, when in the Kirtland temple that wonderful manifestation was had, there has been a spirit and a desire among the children of men on the earth, not only those in the Church, but those outside as well, to know of their kindred dead. Men and women of education and wealth are expending their fortunes and their time in the search for knowledge of a genealogical character, and in the printing of histories of their families. Governments have made provision for the keeping of records, just such statistics as we need in order to perform this temple work for our dead. Genealogical libraries have been established all through the land, and these family histories, and other genealogical information, are accessible to the Latter-day Saints. ¶

The Lord is using those who are not of us in the furtherance of ¶

his purposes and in helping us, that we may more fully do our duty by our kindred dead. ¶

SERVING A TWO-FOLD PURPOSE ¶

Are we making use of this information, and are we going into the temples of the Lord to do this work? Or if we are not able ourselves to go, are we expending some of our means in the employment of others to go through the temple for our dead? ¶

All the ordinances administered in the temples are performed without any charge to the individual. Those who come there can attend to those labors without any charge whatever. If you cannot come it will be necessary for you, in the endowment work of the temple, to have some one represent you. ¶

In these temples we have some of our aged pioneers who have worn themselves out, as it were, in helping to make this country inhabitable, beautiful and prosperous as we find it today. Their bodies are broken but their spirits are alive and awake as much as ever, and they find in the temples a work that they can do just as well as can younger people, who are more vigorous in a physical way. Some of these people have nothing to live upon except the mere pittance which is given them in compensation for the work they do for others in the temples. If you cannot go to the temple yourselves, send to the temple a little money with a record of your dead and these good people will do the work for you, and you will not only be redeeming your kindred dead but you will by so doing be helping to support the worthy poor of the Church. We had a letter come to us a few days ago from a man here in the city who is interested in genealogical and temple work, and he suggested that in these times, when there are so many of our people out of employment, men who are worthy to go to the temple, it would be an opportune time to make known to the people of this Church that if they would furnish some means now to get their temple work done, these unemployed people would receive a great blessing in being employed to do that work. That, I think, is a suggestion worthy of consideration, as we are looking about us for something to do to alleviate this distressing condition of the unemployed. ¶

ACCORDING TO OUR KNOWLEDGE ¶

Brethren and sisters, are we living our religion to the best of our knowledge? I want to say to you that no man can be saved in the kingdom of God without knowledge, knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the way of salvation, and no man can be condemned without a knowledge of this Gospel. The Lord has made provision that every child of his that comes to maturity in life shall hear and have the privilege of accepting the Gospel either here or hereafter. When the ordinance work is done for those who died without a knowledge of the Gospel, it becomes effective for their salvation upon their acceptance of it. ¶

Are we, brethren and sisters, who know the truth, living according to the light which we have received, so as to not fall under condemnation? I think I can promise the Latter-day Saints, in truth, and in the name of the Lord, if you, my brethren and sisters, will live up to the light of the Gospel as you have received it, you will obtain a salvation in the kingdom of God. If you shall be disappointed and condemned in the end it will be because you have not lived up to the light and knowledge which you have of the Gospel. I wonder if our Father in heaven is going to be disappointed in some of us, his children, when we return, having had the opportunities the Gospel has afforded us here in life. I wonder if we will be disappointed in ourselves, if our parents will be disappointed in us, or our children who come after us. ¶

This is something, brethren and sisters, that I think we should consider most seriously. Our time is brief at longest here in which to prepare for the life which is to come. We cannot afford to waste our time. We cannot afford to trifle with sacred things and sacred duties. The sin of neglect is unjustifiable. "He that knoweth to do good and doeth it not is in sin before the Lord, and he that knoweth to do right and doeth it not is in sin." ¶

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TEACH OTHERS ¶

Our obligation is not only to ourselves but to our fellow men here in the world. We mustn't overlook that. If we be not called to go abroad and preach the Gospel, there is plenty for us to do at home. The spirit of this work is, every man to his neighbor ; he that is warned, to warn his neighbor. Our responsibility to teach the Gospel to others is set forth in Ezekiel, 3rd Chapter, 20th verse: ¶

"When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered ; but his blood will I require at thine hand." ¶

Every man and woman that in sincerity has received the Gospel was at the time of entering the Church a righteous man or woman. Have we held them in righteousness? ¶

The ministry of the Church at home has a responsibility of completing the conversion and holding these men and women. Are we doing it in an organized way, as effectively as we can? Are we, as individuals, doing our part to our neighbors within the Church? If we see men and women neglecting their duties in the Church and we know that they are in danger of losing that which would be more precious to them than life, do we give them a note of warning in the spirit of kindness and brotherly love, and reach out a hand to help them, and bring them back and put them in the way of religious duty? Are we doing our full duty by our fellow men? ¶

Brethren and sisters, these are questions that we may well ask ourselves, and then answer them to our satisfaction, by living up to our obligations and to the light and knowledge of the Gospel which we have. ¶

We cannot accomplish this alone, but if we seek the Lord with desire in our hearts to live our religion, and to do his will, he will ¶

GENERAL i CONFERENCE ¶

help us so that we will be able to come off victorious, conquerors of ourselves, conquerors of evil, devoted adherents and advocates of the truth of God. May he so bless us and save us in his kingdom, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶