Blessings Through Attending Conferences

In the first place, my brethren and sisters, I want to offer my sincere thanks and gratitude to ,my Heavenly Father for the privilege I have of attending this wonderful conference. I have never attended one in my life where I have felt the Spirit of the living God so strongly. ¶

Blessings Through Attending Conferences

I cannot understand how any person could attend services such as we have had during this conference without feeling at least that God was directing and his Spirit was present at every session. ¶

It is indeed a privilege to attend these semi-annual conferences, and it is also a privilege to attend the conferences in the different stakes of Zion. My duties as a senator of the United States have prevented me from attending many of them. Since the war my calling has kept me in Washington most of the time and I have had the privilege only a few times of attending these conferences. ¶

Last night I saw in this building every seat taken by men holding the priesthood. It was a wonderful sight, and the instructions and the spirit present impressed me as I never was impressed before with the duties that devolve upon the men holding the priesthood. I also felt the response that was made at that gathering last night. I could feel it in every word that was spoken and the expressions that followed. I could see that they touched the hearts of the men holding the holy priesthood in this Church, in a way that the labors in the different stakes from which they come would be carried on with a great deal more energy and confidence than they have been in the past. ¶

Testimony Through Prayer

My mother taught me that the way to receive a testimony of this work, and the way to maintain it, is to never cease praying; and she promised me as my mother that if I would follow that course I should always have a knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that this work is his work. Brethren and sisters, I have followed that counsel, and notwithstanding the positions to which I have been called that have taken me away from the body of the people, notwithstanding the year before that happened my avocation called me to meet men who actually ridiculed our belief and the question of God ever revealing himself to man, as being unreasonable and indefensible, thank God I have lived through it all. I thank God for the testimony I have that this is his work and that every prediction made by any servant of God in relation to it shall be fulfilled. ¶

As I see conditions in the world today and contemplate them I know that if the great principles as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were universal in the world no such conditions would ever exist. ¶

I pray God to "give me clean hands, clean words, and clean thoughts. Save me from habits that harm. Teach me to work as hard and play as fair in thy sight alone as if all the world saw. Forgive me when I am unkind, and help me to forgive those who are unkind to me. Keep me ready to serve others at some cost to myself. Send me chances to do a little good every day, and so grow more like Christ." ¶

If we all lived strictly to the laws of the Church and the require- ¶

ments of the Church that prayer would be answered by everyone who offered it. There are no people in the world that I know of who are better capable and more willing and whose numbers are such that the worthy poor among them can be better cared for. ¶

Conditions Throughout the World

We have had pictures today of conditions existing, not half so bad as they are in the balance of the world. God knows what will come out of it, but I believe with all my soul that the times people are passing through today, not only in our own country but in the countries of the world, will cause them to turn their thoughts to a supreme power, the Creator of the world, the God we worship. ¶

Not a Praying Nation

I am afraid that our America is not a praying nation. I do not believe that there is a people on earth, compared by percentages, that pray to God every morning and night such as do the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wherever I go, outside of the families of the Church and the conferences that I attend in different places in which the Church gathers, there are few places where prayer is offered. And sometimes when I hear prayer in other places it is like a tinkling cymbal and sounding brass. It goes in one ear and out of the other. No power whatever is back of it. It is mere words and nothing else. ¶

In Congressional Assemblies

I am thankful to my Heavenly Father that the Senate of the United States and the House of Representatives never begin a session without the offering of prayer. As I read history I find that when the first session of our Congress was held, which was in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, September 5th, 1774, the question then arose as to whether it was proper to open that session with prayer. Thank the Lord there was a majority present who had shortly before passed through the horror of war. I think it was perhaps for that reason there was a decision made that every session of the Senate should be opened by prayer. That has continued down to the present time, and I notice, as I have said, that a majority were in favor of it. They were such men as George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Rutledge, Colonel Fulton, Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, John James, Isaac Law. I am not going to give the names of those who opposed it. The question arose as to whether they should kneel or whether they should stand. My brethren and sisters, I am thankful to my Heavenly Father that that practice has existed down to this day, and it would be a Godless nation if that were not followed. I am sure that the spirit that is asked for many times in the opening prayer is not made manifest a few minutes after the word "amen" is said. But yet it has its influence and I hope and trust that this shall never be a Godless nation. ¶

Not in Unclean Tabernacles

I suppose you all know that I am a firm believer in the Word of Wisdom. I have lived it all my life, thanks to the mother who gave me birth. I know, my brethren and sisters, that he who does not abide by that law, he or she who robs his or her mind of good judgment by the use of intoxicating liquor cannot enjoy the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God never will live in an unclean tabernacle. You cannot tell me that a man — and I am sorry to have to say, 'as it has been quite prevalent in the world, or a woman — who imbibes the damnable stuff can have the companionship of the Spirit of God. ¶

There is no people, according to the numbers, that obey this law as well as do the Latter-day Saints. But I want to say that we are far from perfect, in fact I have witnessed since I have been home members of the Church who have forgotten themselves in this regard. The prophetic spirit was with Joseph ,|Smith a century ago when the Lord announced through him his calling, because of "the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth," and which has come and is coming in our day. The "spirit of prophecy," which is "the testimony of Jesus," also was with him when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was brought into existence. It brought not a new religion, but a restatement of the old, with its divine authority, gifts and blessings, "the power of God unto salvation." ¶

More Godliness or More Godlessness?

And now, what are we Latter-day Saints going to do about it? Shall we awaken to a renewed effort to learn the word of God? Shall we teach our young men and young women more of godliness through actual, intimate knowledge of the scriptures, and less of the godlessness that comes through men's self-glorification in a presumed knowledge which really is not actual knowledge, but which holds the domain of speculation and skepticism? Shall we cling more closely than ever to God-given facts, whether in doctrine, in prophecy or in history? On our reply in practical service depends our own salvation and the salvation of many to whom our precept and example shall come. ¶

The Spiritual Factor

Of the religious aspect, Sir Hubert Barker writes in the London Daily Mail : "The spiritual benightedness of modern men is the paramount evil of our age. Man must advance more swiftly on his spiritual side. It is always the spiritual factor that determines man's destiny. If the churches have become a by-word with thinking men, it is because they have turned from religion to ecclesiasticism." ¶

The wise man said, Proverbs fourth chapter, seventh verse : "With all thy getting get understanding." My suggestion to those who would be instructors is that they lead their students to "get understanding;" otherwise there comes misunderstanding and unbelief. ¶

Another feature to which our present attention may be called is ¶

that the prevailing atheistic instruction which permeates our universities, and our schools, and our social and other clubs, is the chief direct and potent cause of the great crime wave of which we hear and see so much in public discussions today. ' Israel's great Psalmist has said (Psalms 14:1 and 53:1): "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt and have done abominable works." ¶

The criminals in our land today pursue their vocation in the thought that there is no God. The gangster that sometimes takes charge of things in our great cities and makes the police force seem pitiably helpless, has his chief potency in the thought that there is no God. He may be caught, serve in prison, but when released goes on in his career of crime. When protested with, he says : "What difference does it make? No one can touch me until I am caught at it. And I don't expect to be caught again." His thought clearly indicates by both word and act that there is no God. ¶

It is the mission of the Latter-day Saints, in their Church designation, that by thought and word and action they testify to the world that there is a God who is mindful of his children if they will but heed his word. Where God lives in the souls and minds of men there is peace and righteousness ; but otherwise not. ¶

My brethren and sisters, God bless us. God prepare his Church and those who are directing the affairs of it that it shall fulfil the destiny that he has in store for it, whether it comes in this decade or in decades to come. It is the duty, and I may say the pleasure, of God's people to bring into the world the light, the life, the teachings of the Master, Jesus Christ. This I pray for, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶