Some of the Privileges of Citizenship

I am very happy, brethren, to have the opportunity of being at this conference and of speaking to you for a few minutes. As has been stated, we recently lost two of the members of our council, men who were great missionaries, men who had good judgment and good inspiration. I am sure that we will miss them; our associations with them have been long and satisfying. Men who have been intimately associated in a common cause become very close to each other. Separations like this come to all of us, but with the blessings of the Lord, other good men are given to us to carry on the work. We are grateful to have two such good men as Brother Young and Brother Hunter associated with us in the First Council of the Seventy. I am quite certain that we shall love them and hope that they will love us and that with the blessings and inspirations of our Heavenly Father, we as a council may be helpful in his great missionary cause. ¶

Some of the Privileges of Citizenship

Some time ago I was in court where there were a number of people being examined as to their qualifications to become citizens of this great country of ours. The judge asked one of the men this question: "What can you receive as a citizen of this country that you cannot receive without being a citizen?" As an alien, a man could reside in our country, could move about in freedom from place to place, could have the advantages of our schools, could have police protection for himself and family and his business, irrespective of the fact that he was not a citizen. But with all these privileges, he was always an alien, having no part in the feeling and enthusiasm and love of country that belong to us as citizens. One all-important thing that he was unable to enjoy was the right of ¶

suffrage -- the right to vote and to participate in the government, in its laws and regulations. He could not go out and represent or speak officially for the country or for the officers who might be elected. Therefore, he failed to have one of the great things we value so much. ¶

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Blessings Through Membership in the Church

We are often asked, "What is there in your Church that I cannot receive without becoming a member?" Well, as a non-member of the Church, he could get all the blessings and all the rewards that have to do with obedience to certain laws. He could be clean and receive from our Heavenly Father all of the blessings that we receive because of our being clean. He could receive the blessings that come to one who is honest, one who is a good neighbor, one who is willing to live up to the obligations of his country. He could participate with us in the blessings of the Word of Wisdom and could have for himself that health and strength and vitality that can come to one who obeys the rules pertaining to this law. ¶

He can have all the blessings that come from keeping the Ten Commandments. By living in harmony with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, he can receive all the blessings promised by the Savior. ¶

That is the thing about the Church and kingdom of the Lord. It gives rewards to those who merit them. It is stated in the Doctrine and Covenants that upon every law there is a blessing attached; and all people, provided they can live up to the laws and regulations, will have the promised blessings given to them. But as in the case of citizenship, there are some things that simply cannot come to a man without his becoming a member of the Church and kingdom of our Heavenly Father. ¶

The priesthood of God is one such thing. This priesthood can come only from God himself or from those who are delegated to hold the priesthood and give it to somebody else. You remember the case of the lame man, sitting in front of the temple. When Peter and John came along, he asked for alms. Peter said to him: ¶

... Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. (Acts 3:6.) ¶

No man has the authority to speak in the name of the Lord unless he holds the priesthood of God. ¶

You remember the occasion when the seven sons of Sceva trying to do the things that Paul had been doing said unto a man who was afflicted, "... We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth," and the spirit returned the answer, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:13, 15.) God has always limited the power and the right to speak in his name to the men who hold his Holy Priesthood. Because of this priesthood we have a number of ¶

blessings that no one else can have. Others may wish them; they may desire them, but the only way they can have them is by becoming members of his Church. ¶

One blessing of membership is that men and women when entering into holy matrimony may be sealed for time and eternity and not only have each other, but also have their children. Only in the temples of the Lord can this work be done. Another blessing of membership is the constant direction by men who speak and act and are called by God to preside over the Church. We are never left without guidance and without help to meet life's changing problems. ¶

As members of the Church, we have the privilege and opportunity of doing missionary work. Men and women can go out in the name of the Lord as they may be called. Men have the right to act in the name of the Lord, and when they teach, they teach correct doctrine. When they perform certain ordinances they perform those ordinances according to the laws and regulations of our Heavenly Father, and they are done right, and when these things are performed men and women are truly members of the Church and kingdom of our Heavenly Father. ¶

Missionary Work in the Stakes

Just in passing I would like to say a Word about our missionaries In the hands of the brethren who have met together today rests the responsibility for the amount of. missionary work that will be done in the Church. You men are the leaders in our stakes and in our wards, and it is through your recommendations that members are called to become missionaries. When we have a ward or a stake that thoroughly believes in the great work that God has given us to do as a Church, we find that we have a great missionary corps of men and women preaching the gospel. Where presiding men are not thoroughly enthusiastic or converted to the missionary cause, we have stakes and wards where not much is done in the missionary line. It is quite true, brethren, that all the priesthood of the Lord can be used in preaching the gospel. Those holding the Aaronic Priesthood can be authorized and sent out to preach the gospel, if necessary, and women can be called to go out and preach the gospel; but to those holding the special calling of seventies there has been given the obligation that they shall preach and teach the gospel. We are in hopes, brethren, you leading men who have this great responsibility in your hands will see that our seventies shall have the opportunity of magnifying their calling through preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, that, if necessary, they may be released from other duties so that they may preach the gospel either out in the world or in the missions of your stakes. I am quite certain if we could get the seventies necessary for missionary work that we would be able to bring men and women into the Church who are at present running to and fro and cannot understand the gospel of Jesus Christ because there is no preacher or no teacher. ¶

Understanding Increased Through Study

Through membership we have a right to understand more about the work of the Lord. Because of, the additional things that have come to us by way of revelation, instead of having only the Bible we have in addition, the Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. These enable us to understand what God expects us to do here upon the earth, that we may walk more uprightly and more sincerely than we could without the additional evidence and the additional testimony that come from these great revelations of the Lord. In addition, because of our faith and membership, we have the privilege of understanding doctrines that are not generally understood by the world, such as pre-existence, salvation for the dead, and the resurrection with its three glories. Our understanding is increased, and we gain strength from many things that the Lord has revealed to us for our consolation, for our blessing, and for our encouragement. ¶

May the Lord bless us and help us to value our membership in the Church and our citizenship in the great kingdom, of the Lord, that we shall not only use the things that are easy for us to understand and to use, but that we shall search deeply into the ways of the Lord and make use of all the principles and the doctrines and live by all of the standards of the Church, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶