Conference Address

I am pleased, my brethren and sisters, to stand before you in this capacity this afternoon, and bear my testimony, along with the brethren who have already addressed you, to the efficacy and the truthfulness of this wonderful work in which we are engaged. ¶

There are many things that might be said here this afternoon, many lines of thought that might be followed, and one wonders just what he may say that may be of worth and value to the congregation. It is no mean responsibility to stand here and occupy ¶

the time of eight or ten thousand people. You have come for a purpose, and if we fail to meet that purpose perhaps we shall fall under condemnation. ¶

The other day, some little time ago, I was talking with a banker who knew my father, and he wanted to express a word of appreciation for him, and he said : "He comes the nearest to combining religion and business of any man I know." He said: "For me, they don't mix. I am a banker." I wonder whether they ought not to. ¶

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of love. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, he said that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy might, mind and strength. "And the second is like unto it ; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." ¶

Now, we are here to hear about the Gospel, and perhaps to get some stimulus from the discussion, and if I could say anything that would make a single person go out of this Conference feeling more friendly toward his brother and his neighbor than when he came here, I would feel amply repaid. ¶

I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has in it every element that is essential and necessary for the conduct of all the affairs of human activity. In other words, I believe that there is nothing that men do in honor before God, and essential to their development and well-being, in which that fundamental principle of love should not enter. ¶

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan that was given in the beginning, when the foundation of the world was laid, for the maximum and greatest development of mankind. Christ came to emphasize that thing, and to emphasize it by laying down his life, in love, for the redemption of mankind. And I firmly believe that if we would, that principle could characterize every worthy activity of life. ¶

I quite agree with my banker friend that if the purpose of banking is to squeeze out of the populace the last ounce of its lifeblood, so to speak, in interest, that they are inimical. But I believe that that is not the purpose of an institution of that kind. It should not be. It is here for the service of mankind, and when it fails to serve it fails in its purpose ; and when it fails to appreciate man and its responsibility to him, it fails in its purpose. I believe that even such a cold-blooded institution as that could be and should be governed and administered according to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I believe that if men, the rulers of nations, could so eradicate from their hearts the greed and avarice that are likely to accumulate in administering business affairs, that even nations could live in peace and harmony and trust each other ; that even nations could allow a weaker nation to subsist and exist in peace and lend it a friendly hand. ¶

I believe that all of the trouble that the world is going through ¶

now, and all of the headlines that we read in such hideous black type in the newspapers, come about because men fail to appreciate that one principle. If we could only bring that to bear upon the activities of our lives, we would be happy and we would be prosperous, and would be courageous and fearless in facing the future. ¶

I think the greatest fear that men have, perhaps, is the fear that this avaricious spirit will cause somebody to come in upon them in their old age, and deprive them of the means of self-maintenance and the respect that goes with it. If every man knew that he could live to the end of his days with an opportunity to serve the Lord and his fellows, and eat and wear what was essential to his happiness, this would be a wonderful and an Utopian world. But it will never be until we introduce into our daily activities that principle of love. ¶

Sitting before me is a vast body of the Priesthood of God. Every one of you who has accepted that responsibility has allowed a servant of God to lay his hands upon your head and commission you to function in the orders of the Priesthood, and when you do so you either expressly or tacitly agree to serve God to the best of your ability. ¶

Now, if we, all of us who hold the Priesthood, could consciously constitute ourselves, as a body, to apply in our daily activities the principle of love, we could dominate the society in which we live until that spirit would be characteristic of it. ¶

I am sure that there is efficacy in that principle. I have seen it applied in instances. I have seen it in combat with the principle of greed and avarice, and I have seen it come off victorious. I have seen the man who allowed it to actuate his life, grow from one position of responsibility to another, until he commanded the respect of all his fellows. I know, because of observations, that it is a virile principle in human activity. ¶

I have had the experience of living in a — pueblo, I was going to say — in a population where the members of the Church so dominated the activities of that people that the spirit of love was paramount, and I have seen that people grow to independence, isolated by an imaginary boundary line in a foreign country. I have seen them develop along those principles to wonderful accomplishments, and I have seen the spirit of peace and love settle down upon that community, and watched its growth and development. ¶

I bear you my testimony that it is a principle of life and activity, a principle that can dominate our lives and enter into them, and I testify that when it does, peace and joy and harmony come into the lives of those who practice it. ¶

We have been told this afternoon that one of the needs of our youth — or yesterday, rather, we were told that one of the crying needs of our youth is more faith in the leaders of this Church. I want to bear my testimony this afternoon to that fact, and then I want to add that the leaders of the Church are worthy of that faith. ¶

I have been blessed, perhaps, greater than the average member of the Church, in the privilege of associating with the leaders of the Church during the time of my life, and I have associated rather intimately with the man who now directs the destinies, under the inspiration of God, of this body of worshipers we call the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have known his associates in the presiding quorums of the Church. And then I have had almost six years of contact with one of the bodies of the General Authorities of this Church, the First Council of the Seventy. I have met them all in solemn assembly in the Temple of God, and I have yet to hear fall from their lips an expression of an ulterior purpose. I have never heard, in their councils, any advice given but under the inspiration of God, if I could interpret that spirit. ¶

I know that they have your welfare at heart, and I believe that any man or woman who has no "axe to grind," who will come and investigate their lives and their conduct, cannot help but admit it. They try to exemplify in their lives the cardinal principles of the Gospel of Christ. ¶

Now, they do not pretend to be perfect, any more than I do. I do not pretend to come near perfection. But I do want to tell you that they serve you to the best of their ability, and if any man in the congregation, or outside of it, under the sound of my voice, which goes out over the radio, were asked to step into their shoes, the only thing he could do would be to serve according to his light and that which God might give him, and they do it in your interest and in mine. And God has blessed them, and he has carried this Church onward in that spirit of love and unselfishness and sacrifice. ¶

I doubt whether there is a man in those councils who sought the appointment, either personally or through his friends. It comes unbidden. It always comes as a shock to the man who receives it, and usually it requires the giving up of ideals and ambitions that he has had ; to accomplish things in a field of labor to which he is attached ; and every man surrenders that in a spirit of humility and service, and I think, as a people, we ought to honor and respect them, to trust them and to love them. ¶

If we will clean house and put our hearts in attune with the Spirit of God, go daily about our business, under the influence of that Spirit, God will bless us with contentment and a peace and a freedom from worry that we can get no other way. ¶

The Spirit of God is in the Church. The spirit of love is in the Church. While we may have some sordid experiences at times, they but try us, and if we will meet them in that spirit of love God will carry us through. While we may sometimes suffer loss and sacrifice, there is a development even in that which should make us love our God and our fellows more. ¶

I pray that God may be with us, that he may give us an appreciation of the Gospel that we have within our midst, the tool that is given to us, if we will, by which we are to carve out from the ¶

granite of our existence a niche and a place in which to live. If we will try it we will find it effective. ¶

Benjamin Franklin once said that he learned as a boy, that if he ever wanted a man to take an interest in him, the thing he had to do was to let that man serve him some way. God stands ready to serve us through the instrumentality of this organization that we have. We stand as your servants, ready to serve you. We love you. If you will serve the Gospel that has been given to us, in that spirit, you will learn to love that Gospel just the same way. If you will give it your time and your talent, you will love it in proportion to the service that you give unto it. ¶

That is my prayer in your behalf, that you and I and all of us may freely give unto this great body and unto our God the service that we owe it and him, that in giving we may gain greater power to give, and greater love and greater satisfaction. God bless you. Amen. ¶