Our Goodly Heritage

WE certainly have had a glorious time today. From the first prayer that was offered, the first hymn sung, this house has been the abiding place of the Spirit of the Lord. Those of us who have assembled have undoubtedly been enriched by the experiences through which we have passed. Reference has been made to the fact that recently one of the brethren had visited some of our shrines, if we may call them shrines, and that reminds me that within the last year I have been at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is just about the same size village as it was when he was born. I have been at Kirtland, Ohio, where the Latter-day Saints built a temple. It is the largest building in that section of the country now, and Kirtland is a village shrunk to the point that it no longer has a post office. I also have been at Far West where there were three thousand of our people, when they were driven out, and there are only three buildings on the tract of land that we referred to as Far West — only three, and very poor buildings at that. I have been thinking also of other places where our people lived, where they have developed lands and built houses, and then were compelled to leave their homes and go away. Independence, Missouri, is no larger in point of population, or little larger, than it was a hundred years ago. The section of country around Nauvoo is just a village. Nauvoo, when the Saints were driven out, was a city of more than twenty thousand people, and today it has neither a streetcar nor a railroad train, and its population does not exceed one thousand people. Our people came out of the world because they were compelled to come. It was a choice between the world and the wilderness, but see what the Lord wrought and see how He has fulfilled His promise. ¶

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all things will be added unto you." ¶

You will find no place even today, in all America, no house of worship, equal to the house you are sitting in now, in point of convenience and the ability to hear the voices of those who speak. I know of no city more beautifully laid out, in all America, than this with its one hundred forty thousand population, and we have other fine cities. The Lord brought us here when it was a wilderness, and He has made it delightful to dwell in. Surely we are grateful for our heritage. ¶

This morning the patriarch to the Church was introduced to you. His remarkable lineage is worth tracing. He is a son of one of the mighty apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the grandson of one of the great presidents of the Church. He is a great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, the martyr, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who gave his life with his brother that this gospel might be kept in the world. He is a great-great-grandson of Joseph Smith, Senior, the first patriarch in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be so designated, and the first man to receive the testimony of Joseph Smith the Prophet that he had beheld a heavenly vision and had listened to the voice of an angel. ¶

Every family that came into the Church in the early days and remained faithful has enjoyed rich blessings that could be obtained in no other way. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not just another church. It is His Church who gave it His name. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the loving advice of a kind and Heavenly Father who, knowing the end from the beginning, says, "This is the pathway — walk in it, and ye shall find the celestial kingdom," and there is no other pathway that leads to that kingdom. ¶

Where are those who left the Church about the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith expecting to develop a church and lead the people? What has happened to them? I made a mental note while sitting here of the failure of James J. Strang, Sidney Rigdon, Jason W. Briggs, James H. Gurley, Lyman Wight, Granville Hedrick, and I might name others but I will not take time. What became of them and where are their followers today? You could put all of them that make any claim to following those men, in this building and they would be lost. This is only one of the great structures of the Church with which you are identified that if it were required could be filled many, many times over, not by all the people, but by the Priesthood alone. ¶

I am thankful for my membership in this, the Church of Jesus Christ. I think that nobody could be more thankful than I or more grateful for parents and grandparents who were faithful Latter-day Saints. We must not forget that when we see all the richness of our lives we can't separate it from the righteousness of our mothers. It is a wonderful thing to know, as Nephi of old, who said he was born of goodly parents — he didn't say just a goodly father. He was born of goodly parents, and we would do well when we think of our blessings to remember our mothers and our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers. Wherever there was a great leader in Israel there was a great wife or mother or both who stood by his side. I am thankful to be here with you. It is a blessed privilege. ¶

That was a marvelous message that was received this morning from the Presidency of the Church — you can't duplicate it in any other church in the world; and you can't think of anything that would be desirable to enrich the Church and to prepare us for a place in the celestial kingdom that was not included in that message. A marvelous gathering of facts and figures and advice and counsel that we would all do well to listen to and profit by. ¶

Now tonight we are here in peace and quiet. The world is on fire. Everywhere peace has been taken from the earth, and the devil has been given power over his own dominion. God has said if we will honor Him and keep His commandments — if we will observe His laws He will fight our battles and destroy the wicked, and when the time comes He will come down in heaven— not from heaven — but He will bring heaven with Him — and this earth upon which we dwell, will be the celestial kingdom. ¶

What if all the world knew and believed that? What a change there would be in the conditions among the children of men! What joy would be in the place of sorrow and distress today! It is your duty and mine, having received this information, to impart it to others. ¶

We are a little handful of people among the children of men, but possessing the only key to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father. I wonder if we appreciate it. If we do we should evidence it by teaching others. Let us set our homes in order. Let our lights so shine that our neighbors who are not of this Church may see our upright lives and be constrained to glorify the name of the Lord. Let us so adjust ourselves in our business affairs that we will be known for our virtues and for our integrity. Let our homes be the abiding place of prayer and let our premises indicate that we rejoice in living in our homes. Let us set the example to the world that the world needs, that of a choice, sweet, wholesome surrounding in the place that we call home. ¶

I am glad to be identified with this group of men here tonight. I thank you, my brethren, for the joy that has come into my life as a result of this companionship. I have been privileged above many other men in the world. I am thankful for it. I am not inclined to boast about it, but I do feel grateful to my Heavenly Father that all my life I have had the privilege of associating with the best boys and girls and the best men and women that I could find in the world, and it has not been necessary for me to seek my pleasure and my company and my education among those who are evil-minded. Tonight, with gratitude in my heart, and with thanksgiving I associate with these men, the General Authorities of the Church, these men who preside over the stakes and wards of Zion — these men who are seeking to build the quorums of the Priesthood as they ought to be — thankful that I belong to this group and pray that as the days go on and as the opportunities are presented that I may do my part. That I may be worthy of this fellowship and this membership, not only here but throughout the ages of eternity, and that we may all be so blessed I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. ¶