Sustaining the President of the Church

What a comfort it would have been if I had known last Saturday that I was not going to have any more time than has been allotted to me. ¶

Sustaining the President of the Church ¶

I have climbed this stairway for fourteen years, and I find it gets no shorter. I used to look into the sympathetic eyes of my father and gain support, and then into the eyes of my uncle, the President of the Church, where I found it. I still look into the eyes of the men who occupy these seats and feel a sympathy, a strength, and a support. My testimony is that it comes from the Spirit of God. ¶

For the first time I have witnessed the inauguration of a President of the Church, and have pledged him my support. I pray that God will make me equal to that pledge. I do not expect him to do his work in exactly the same way as his predecessors have, and I hope that I will not judge him by the yardsticks which they left behind. I grant him the privilege to move in his office as he is inspired by the Spirit of God, and hope that I may have the strength always to support and sustain him, that I may see in the policies which he initiates the advance of the kingdom of God. ¶

I once asked one of my friends what would happen if the President of the Church should die unexpectedly, and he said, "Nothing. It will go right forward." And contrary to the expectations of many people in the Church, this transition has been made with absolute smoothness and without friction so far as I have been able to observe. It is a great and lasting testimony to me. ¶

The Church Given Strength To Carry On ¶

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan of life and salvation. It applies while we are here as well as after we shall leave this sphere. It is based on the correct principles that should govern the lives of men. It is the statement of those principles. The Church of God is the vehicle destined to carry into the lives of the people those principles and develop the people to eternal joy and happiness. It would be a sad commentary if this Church should not be so constructed that it could carry on from age to age and meet its opportunity. It has done so in the past. I have seen it work, myself, over a number of years. ¶

There came a time when it moved the people into a desolate region without any opportunity whatsoever, so far as the world thought, and we saw it develop an organization which conquered an arid land, which established principles of right living, and which developed the country and brought distinction to its people. The Church is properly formed; it meets its opportunity. ¶

It teaches us to till the soil. It teaches us cooperative effort. It teaches us the value of education, and sends us on to unlimited efforts in that direction. It meets all the exigencies of life. The Church is a virile, strong, true organization. My worry is not as to the Church so much as to how I shall serve it. If I can serve it faithfully and well, I shall be fortunate. ¶

I pray that God may give me the strength and the power to do it, to hold up the hands of these men who stand at its head, and as I go throughout the Church ministering to the people, that I may be able to carry to them the gospel of love, and sympathy, and true fellowship; in other words, that I may be true to the charge that has been given to me, and if God will give me that power, then I shall be happy. And what I pray for myself, I pray for all of you who are here, evidencing by your presence that you desire to do the same thing. God bless us all, I ask, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶