Gratitude for Priesthood

The musical numbers of this session have been rendered by the Relief Society Singing Mothers, under the direction of Sister Lottie Sackett. We have appreciated them very, very much. ¶

The same spirit that Brother Bowen has was my spirit as a young man, as a child, as a boy. My mother used to tell me, as you have heard me say many times, that if I would behave myself I would become an Apostle. I told her that I did not want to be an Apostle, a president of a stake or a bishop of a ward, I wanted to be a business man, but when the call came for me to go to Tooele, I made an heroic sacrifice. I will not enter into the details. ¶

GRATITUDE FOR PRIESTHOOD ¶

When the local patriarch in Tooele blessed my little baby who was dying and promised her she should live and be a mother and become a leader among her sisters, I thanked the Lord more fervently than ever before in my life for the Priesthood of God and the power that that patriarch had. Subsequently he said, "I have a blessing for you, and I want you to come to my office and get it." After I had received that blessing I saw and believed that my destiny was to devote my time ¶

practically to the Church, because of the promises made to me. And I have done it conscientiously, and there has never been any fear in my mind of the final triumph of this work. ¶

A REVELATION IN BRIEF ¶

I remember that one of my nearest and dearest friends was the late William C. Staines. Staines told me he once received a short revelation of just a few lines from the Lord. He said he was worrying over the rough people, many of them, in pioneer days, and the hardships, and the profanity, a little too much drinking, etc. among the people, and he was broken-hearted regarding these conditions and wondered what would happen when Brigham Young and others of the leading brethren passed away. The Lord gave him a revelation to the effect that he need not worry, that this is His work and the men for leaders of the Church would come when they were needed, and they have come. ¶

TRIBUTE TO ALONZO A. HINCKLEY AND SUCCESSOR ¶

I want to say that we have had no truer, more faithful member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles than was Alonzo A. Hinckley. I believe firmly that 1 whenever the Lord inspires a man to make a promise under the inspiration of His Spirit the Lord is not going to allow that promise to fail. Brother Hinckley was given a blessing in which he was promised as a young man that some day he would be an Apostle. He did not believe it, but the Lord saw fit that that promise should be fulfilled before he passed away to undoubtedly a greater mission. ¶

After the brief remarks that have been made here today by Brother Bowen, I believe that every true Latter-day Saint believes that the Lord has had something to do with the selection of Brother Hinckley's successor. ¶

APPRECIATION FOR MUSIC FURNISHED ¶

I want to thank the choir and the Singing Mothers and their leader, the organist, and the soloists, who have done so much to add to our comfort during this Conference, particularly of course the Tabernacle Choir that sang to us Sunday and that furnished the broadcast. I appreciate our organist and Brother Spencer Cornwall, and all who have furnished music for us. I thank them on behalf of myself and my counselors and the Apostles. ¶

UNITY IN COUNCIL OF TWELVE ¶

I can say that after fifty-five years and a fraction in this Church as an Apostle I can repeat and emphasize what President McKay has said, that from my knowledge I do not believe the Council of the Twelve was ever more united than they are today, and I rejoice in it. We have no fear in asking people to speak because we know that they are seeking for God to help them in delivering their message. ¶

INSPIRED BEYOND NATURAL ABILITY ¶

I am grateful beyond expression that what I had planned in my mind to say in this Conference I have not said — not a word. I am very grateful indeed that many years ago when I sat on my seat in this'tabernacle for quite a while one afternoon listening to Milton Bennion, and planning what I was going to say in my address that I was going to deliver when he got through speaking, and when I got up to speak and opened my Ready Reference book that I had in my pocket, and turned it down at the pages that I had marked, I forgot all about the speech that I had expected to deliver. I prayed with all my heart and soul that the Lord would inspire me beyond my natural ability, that I would have his inspiration so strong that my brother, whom I saw in a meeting in this building for the first time in my life, might be converted to the truth. ¶

I told that congregation that never before in all my life had I so strongly desired the inspiration of the Lord while standing before a congregation in this building, that never before had I desired so much their faith and prayers to help me in my remarks. I did not think again of the Ready Reference book, nor did I think of the sermon that I had planned to deliver, but I preached on the divine mission of the Savior, the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, and principally upon the divine mission of Joseph Smith, the instrument in the hands of God of again establishing upon the earth the plan of life and salvation. ¶

Brother George Q. Cannon used to sit in a chair here on the stand facing north. I was sitting on the stand right below him. When I sat down I heard Brother Cannon say, "Thank God for the power of that testimony." I leaned forward and wept for joy, because I knew God had heard and answered my prayer. I had left three quarters of an hour of the time — forty-eight minutes in fact — for Brother George Q. Cannon, knowing that his brother Angus, who was in charge of the meeting, always believed in a two-hour meeting. ¶

Brother Angus M. Cannon, at the close of my remarks, walked over to where President Cannon sat and said : "George, there is three-quarters of an hour left for you. Please occupy it." ¶

Brother George Q. Cannon said : "Angus, I came in late, I was in pain at two o'clock, and I do not feel like talking ; I don't want to talk. We have had a very wonderful meeting, and I am in favor of your dismissing the meeting." ¶

Angus said: "Well, I am not going to waste three-quarters of an hour. If you won't talk I will call on somebody else." ¶

Brother George Q. Cannon said : "All right, take your seat, I will talk." He got up and said : "There are occasions in the lives of all of us when the Lord sees fit to inspire a man and to allow him to reach such heights of inspiration that it is a very grave mistake for somebody else to try to follow him. Therefore, inasmuch as we have had an occasion of this kind in the remarks of Brother Grant, I ask Brother Angus M. Cannon to call on the choir to sing and on someone to dismiss this meeting." ¶

CONVERSION OF BROTHER ¶

The very next day my brother came into my office and said : "Heber, I heard you preach yesterday." ¶

"Well, well, well, I am glad to know it — the first time you ever heard your brother preach?" ¶

He said, "No, Heber, I have heard you lots of times." ¶

"Well I never saw you in a meeting before in my life." ¶

"No," he said, "I never took a front seat, I generally went to a meeting where I ' could get in the gallery, or somewhere else where you could not see me, and I could see you. But you never spoke before as you did yesterday . You spoke beyond your natural ability," (using my own words in my prayer), "you spoke by inspiration." ¶

I said, "What did I speak about?" ¶

"The idea of your asking that. You know that the main theme upon which you spoke was the divine mission of the Prophet in the hands of God in the establishing of this Church." ¶

"You are praying for a testimony of the Gospel, I understand?" ¶

"Yes, and I am getting discouraged. I feel like I shall quit praying." ¶

I said: "Quit. You say you know there is a God and you know there is a devil, and that the devil tried to get you to commit suicide, and instead of doing it (you went out with your pistol in the high pines of Oregon to do it) you got down on your knees and prayed and got up weeping for joy ; and that you know two things, that there is a devil and that there is a God. If you quit praying you have surrendered to the devil. What in the world is the matter with you ? Do you want the Lord to come down here and talk to you : You tell me that you know that I spoke beyond my natural ability, that I spoke by inspiration, that my theme was the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. What more of a testimony do you want ?" ¶

He said, "I never thought of that before." ¶

Well, before the week was out he applied for baptism. ¶

We know as we know that we live that we have the truth. We have absolute confidence as the Presidency of the Church in the men whom we recommend for the apostleship. President Smith, in my judgment, although he called twelve men to the Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve during his life, made no mistake in any one of the men that he called. It may sound egotistical, but I am sure I have made no mistakes in the appointments to these quorums that I have made. ¶

GRATITUDE FOR GOSPEL ¶

I thank the Lord from the bottom of my heart for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the plan of life and salvation, that we as a people have, and that we as individuals have. I thank God for the young men who go out upon missions without college education and meet the scholastic accomplishments of the world, and that under the inspiration of the living God they have been able to confound the wise of the world and have touched the hearts of honest people, bringing them into the Church. ¶

BLESSING AND TESTIMONY ¶

I pray God with all the power of my being to bless every soul who has embraced the Gospel, and to inspire every one to live the Gospel. "Man is that he may have joy," and there is no joy in the world that equals the joy of knowing in your heart of hearts that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that we as individuals are living the Gospel that will bring eternal exaltation to us and our loved ones. ¶

That God may help each and every one of us to do this, is my humble prayer. I pray God's blessings upon this people. I thank our Heavenly Father for the marvelous attendance of the Priesthood at our meeting last night. I thank him for all the blessings that he has given me. I humbly pray God that he will multiply the rain and increase the fertility of the soil, and increase the love of labor in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, and a determination with the help of God to live the truth, so that our example may so shine before the world that those who know not the truth may seek for it ; and I know that if they will seek for it God will give it to them. I thank the Lord for the statement made by Moroni in the Book of Mormon as follows : "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and, if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." The Book of Mormon is the great, the grand, the most wonderful missionary that we have. ¶

APPRECIATION FOR POLICE SERVICE ¶

I want to express the gratitude of myself and associates in the Presidency and of the Apostles for the splendid way that the police department of this city, under the direction, I suppose, of their chief, have looked after the traffic and prevented accidents. We owe them a debt of gratitude. ¶

A FAVORITE POEM ¶

Even though my time is up, I am going to read you a poem that I ¶

intended to use in my opening remarks : ¶

There are three lessons I would write, Three words as with a burning pen, In tracings of eternal light Upon the hearts of men. ¶

Have faith, tffough clouds environ round And gladness hides her face in scorn. Put off the darkness from thy brow; No night but hath its morn. ¶

Have hope, where'er thy bark is driven, The calm distorts the tempest's mirth. Know this, God rules the hosts of heaven, The inhabitants of earth. ¶