Concluding Words

My brethren: It is not an easy task to say a few concluding words in this great Conference. It has been a great Conference, great in it attendance, for those who are here are the leaders of the Church. It has been a great Conference in the eloquence of its addresses. It has been a great Conference in the wide field of human effort and truth which the addresses have covered. It has been a great Conference in the fundamental philosophy which we have heard. Lastly and most importantly, it has been a great Conference because of the spiritual uplift which has come to each and every man who has been in attendance. No man can go from this Conference without being a better man than when he came to its first session. ¶

The True Meaning of Unity

I referred Friday to the question of unity. "Except ye are one, ye are not mine." ¶

If I might make that just a bit intimately personal: If I am not one with President Grant, if I as his counselor do not hearken to what he says; if I do not follow along the lines that he directs; if I do not lend to him every assistance and every aid which it is possible for me to give, I am not one with him, and I am not then among those whom the Lord calls "mine." I may not be one with him and exercise my own discretion, consult my beliefs, trace out my own path in opposition to his, and what is true of me, is true of every other officer in the Church. ¶

If we are going to bring about and accomplish the great purposes which the Lord has marked out for us and of which we have heard so much, so eloquently, so beautifully, and so truthfully in this Conference, we must be one. As I have said to the Priesthood of this Church over and over again in the past: If we are one, really one, bringing together all of our wills and our forces of character, and our powers, and our abilities into harmony with the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of God on earth at this time, there is nothing which is beyond our power in righteousness. And I can think of nothing that today is more important than that we as individuals shall seek, each and everyone of us, to be one with him who is the Lord's anointed, called and ordained to head His Church. ¶

The Lord's Blessing Invoked

Brethren, may the Lord bless us. May He give us charity and forbearance. May He give us the power to discern truth from error. May He give us the most precious gift He has to give -- wisdom. May He increase our knowledge, our testimonies, for, as has been said today it seems to me that the greatest force which we have is our testimony, which means our knowledge. May He put into our hearts a burning fire of love of freedom and liberty. May we understand what it means to have our free agency. May He be constantly with us by His Spirit, and may we be able always to enjoy the influence and power of the Holy Ghost. May He give us faith, through which the world was made and all that in it is. May He give us power to overcome evil, and to do always that which is good. May He bring constantly nearer to us the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and that we are His Church brought to pass in these last days through the Prophet Joseph Smith, all to the end that we and ours finally may be saved and exalted in his presence, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶