Love of the Gospel

Former President of the Texas Mission ¶

To stand in this position before this tremendous audience, subdues one's spirit and one's feelings. I cannot stand here and behold this great building, without thinking of the sacrifice, and the wisdom and the genius that went into it, by that generation which preceded us. It is ¶

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still a commodious, pleasant, wonderful place to meet. I don't know where we can go and find more spiritual uplift, more inspiration, than we can receive here from time to time in these wonderful Conferences. ¶

As my wife, Sister Christiansen, and I approached this Block this morning, and saw silhouetted against the sky the form of the Angel Moroni, I said to her: "Think of the significance! Doesn't he look majestic?" My brethren and sisters, if we go away and then return to Zion and participate here we learn to appreciate more deeply the significance of the things upon this Block. I couldn't help but think of what that figure represents, -- the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the last time, for the benefit of man, for his edification and for his salvation. ¶

Joseph Smith, a simple, humble boy, was the servant of God in filling this great mission. He was an ordinary young man, with a very ordinary name -- Smith -- and yet the work that he did was not at all ordinary, for he was an instrument in the hands of God in bringing about one of the greatest episodes that has ever come to the children of men since the time of the Savior -- I suppose the greatest since that time. His name is honored and revered. Also his name is talked against. But, my brethren and sisters, we can very well sing: ¶

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! ¶

Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer -- Blessed to open the last dispensation; ¶

Kings shall extol him, and nations revere. ¶

Some people ask: "If what Joseph Smith did, and what you claim, is divine and of God, why is it that there was so much persecution, and has been so much ridicule in the past? Why is it that this thing had such a struggle, and has been so despised"? ¶

To answer that question all we need to do is to ask another: Why was Wycliffe tormented and driven and persecuted, and why were his books found and burned? Wycliffe, as you know, translated the Bible into the English language. Why was Tyndale, who also translated it from the Greek language, hunted and persecuted by his enemies? Why should there be such a tremendous force against the work of these two men? Surely there was nothing in the Bible that would destroy any one, or their faith or their integrity. Why were the bones of the man I first named, finally dug up and thrown into the river? Why was Tyndale burned at the stake for what he did? They suffered the martyr's crown for doing the work that God had foreordained them to do. ¶

So with Joseph Smith and his work in translating the Book of Mormon. He suffered the martyr's crown, as did these great men, and because this happened to him is no reason that the work he did is not of God. If I were on the outside and knew what I know now, I would begin to investigate because of the drivings and the persecutions that this people had in the early days, and because Joseph Smith and his brother were martyred for the cause that they espoused; because wherever there is driving of any extent you might look and find that it is the work of God that is being driven by the adversary of all good. ¶

And so it was with the Church, and so it was with the Book of Mormon, which has been so much ridiculed. ¶

My brethren and sisters, this report that I make at this time is the last official report I shall make as former President of the Texas Mission. I do it in all humility and with thanks to my Heavenly Father for the blessings unnumbered that He has given to me and my wife and my family. I was overwhelmed when the call came, but I have always believed that the Lord would make us ready for those things which He calls us to do, if we are willing to accept the call. ¶

We have formed a great and beautiful association of and a friendship with those wonderful people in Texas and Louisiana. I too can say that they love the Gospel most dearly. They will travel miles and miles to hear it and to partake of it and to listen to the word of the Lord spoken by the Elders. We have one branch away out in the west plains of Texas, where we found one family and soon located others, that meets every Sunday. Five of these families travel from thirty-five to sixty miles every Sunday, and return. One of these men used to live in the Stakes of Zion, and he told me the last time I saw him: "It was difficult for us to go about six blocks to Church when I was out there, but I will tell you that we appreciate going sixty miles and return to Fort Stockton now, in order to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants and hear the word of the Lord." ¶

In the Rio Grande Valley, those people living in that beautiful paradise there travel at least twenty-five miles every Sunday morning, have their sacrament meeting following Sunday School, and Priesthood meeting previous to Sunday School. Their Relief Society meets also along with the Mutual, on Tuesday evenings. ¶

The people in the Texas Mission have been diligent in trying to build up their places of meeting. They have succeeded in building eight buildings in which to meet, since we have been down there, in addition to a mission home. Two of these buildings were built and the ground provided, without calling upon the Church for any aid, and I tell you those buildings, modest as they are, are a compliment to the Church. That is the way they love to meet, the way they love to work for the Lord, and cherish that which is of most worth to them. This is manifested also in a steady increase in tithes and offerings and in the number observing these commandments. ¶

I don't know where one could look for a finer experience, a more sweet experience, than to labor with your sons and your daughters. To hear them bear testimony of the help that the Lord has given them from time to time, manifesting His power and His spirit through them, in the Priesthood which they hold; to have them stand with tears in their eyes and thank their Heavenly Father for their parents, and for the privilege that they have of finding life anew in the work of the Lord, would touch your hearts, as it has mine, deeply, time and time again. I think there is nothing more holy, more sacred, almost, than a young man or a young woman who has been rejuvenated, who has been transformed after coming in contact with the Lord through prayer and through manifestations such as I have spoken of. ¶

My brethren and sisters, there are only a few in the Church who are called to do regular missionary work, but all of us are called to live our religion. I believe that those thousands who come to see the things of interest upon this Block are entitled, when they meet up with us here in the cities and places in Utah and other States where the Mormons predominate, to expect and to find just the same type of devotion to our religion among us as they find invariably among your boys and girls in the mission field. ¶

I have said it once before, but I have reason to repeat it: I believe that more good can come from having one of these strangers from without our gates come here and find us living the principles of the Gospel that we have espoused; and that Gospel which we send these thousands of young men out to have them accept -- than from many eloquent sermons from those who are qualified to speak. I know this, because I have met many men and women who visit here and return. Most of them have been deeply impressed. A few of them have registered some disappointment in some of the things that they have beheld. We can't afford to have that done. I am sure that if we would have the faith and the strength to live our religion, our progress would be doubled, at least, and we would be known the world over, more rapidly than we are now, for good, and for being a people great among the people of the world. We can't afford to be indifferent to the principles of the Gospel that we hold. From 2nd Nephi may I read this verse, where he says: ¶

Woe unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state. ¶

Those of us who have received the Gospel are expected to more closely account for our actions and our lives, I believe, than those who have never come in contact with it. Let us live so that we may merit the choice blessings of the Lord. Let us be thankful and grateful that the greatest blessings that He has offered, those of eternal life and exaltation in His kingdom, are not at all dependent upon the business conditions of the world, nor upon man's poor power to direct and govern the affairs of men here upon the earth. They are given to us and are receivable upon obedience to the laws of God. ¶

I wish here to bear testimony to the truth of the Gospel. I know that Joseph Smith was an instrument in God's hands, and that these men sitting here on the stand are servants of the Lord, endowed with the holy power of the Prieshood to direct this people. I am grateful for the association that I have had with these men, and for the devotion that I see in them, the unselfish motives that they have in the work that they do. I have been edified in their presence when they have come into our mission and into our various meetings here at home. ¶

May I say this -- I have never said it before, and I know that Sister Christiansen would not approve of it -- I hope she doesn't hear me -- but, my brethren and sisters, I want to pay tribute to my dear wife for the good that she has done among the members and missionaries in Texas and Louisiana, and for the help that she has given me and my children, ¶

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