Conference Address

"1 can no more remember the books that I have read than the meals that I have eaten," said Emerson, "but they have made me." To countless thousands, who have basked in the spirit of the Book of Mormon, the truth that Joseph Smith spoke comes home to their souls. He remarked that " a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its [Book of Mormon] precepts, than by any other book." ¶

Teachings of Book of Mormon ¶

The Nephite record testifies in a heavenly spirit to the truth that the Bible is true. They are one in God's hand to confound false doctrine and to establish peace in the hearts of men. This sacred book tells us that little children are alive in Christ. They need no baptism until they become accountable for their actions. For many years a great many good people believed in the doctrine of "infant damnation." They didn't understand; but the Book of Mormon brought into the world, into the hearts of men and women, the peaceable thought that children, though unbaptized, do not go to Hades. ¶

A few years ago these people met in solemn convention, and ¶

the action they took was a credit to their righteousness and to their sense of the justice of God. They passed a resolution repealing the) doctrine of "infant damnation," and what a beautiful thing they did when they made that decision retroactive. President Woodrow Wilson, himself a member of that great body of good people that decided against the doctrine of "infant damnation" and declared "the decision retroactive," laughed and said, "Think of all those dear little babies that have been burning in hell so long; now they will all be released." ¶

The Book of Mormon teaches the nobility of service. What is man without work? Work is known by the angels of God. They are immersed in its atmosphere, and that service is eternal. He is a poor "Mormon" elder, hardly worth his salt, who believes that when he goes to heaven, he will sit in inactive, endless bliss. Centuries before he was born in the flesh, according to the Book of Mormon, Jesus said: ¶

. . . for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. (II Nephi 29:9.) ¶

And in another place he said: ¶

For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39.) ¶

Think of it, brethren and sisters, our work is immortal. As Brigham Young said, "This life is a part of eternity." ¶

I think the spirit of the Book of Mormon with respect to the character of Christ's work is wonderful. It entrances the soul. One of the prophets said of him: ¶

. . . for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him. (II Nephi 9:5.) ¶

My brethren and sisters, we do become subject to men in the flesh by the work of the ministry, but in God's own due time the people will look upon us as saviors upon Mount Zion, and they will become subject in a heavenly way unto those who taught them the gospel. ¶

Noble Calling of Wives and Mothers ¶

I think that the most wonderful being on the earth is a wife and a mother. To be a wife and a mother transcends in glory and in service all the missions she can perform, that is, preaching missions. And a mother, uncrowned by any visible diadem, is crowned with a diadem of affection; she becomes subject unto her children, and by and by they become subject unto her. Joaquin Miller, the poet, said: ¶

Beneath our forty stars is she The purest woman, sweetest, best, ¶

Who loves her spouse most ardently And rocks the cradle oftenest: Whose home is filled, whose heart is fed With halo of a baby's head. ¶

Economic System of Ancient America ¶

The Book of Mormon teaches us a glorious economic system. For nearly two centuries after the ascension of Christ, the people were covered with a mantle of the prosperity of Christ. There were no poor, no rich, no one in bonds, and I think that meant the bondage of debt, for debt is a grievous bondage, and we should steer clear of it. For two centuries they lived in peace; they had no strikes; industrial disturbances were not known; but by living the spirit of industry by the golden precepts of the Son of God they prospered and grew in the prosperity of Jesus Christ. God hasten the day when we shall work — the rich and the poor in the kingdom of peace — submitting our troubles to arbitration, for I know that deep down in the hearts of the captains of industry and also of the laboring men, there is an inherent desire to do unto others as they would have others do unto them. We let selfishness repress this feeling that God has placed in our hearts. ¶

Immortality Taught in Book of Mormon ¶

In the Book of Mormon we read of the great intermediate state, the great principle of immortality. Horace Greeley lost a boy five years old, and he said to a friend (I haven't time to quote it all): ¶

Now all that concerns me is the evidence . . . that we shall live with and know those we loved here. ... If I felt sure of the point of identifying and being with our loved ones in the world to come, I would prefer not to live long. ¶

In our hearts, inspired by the Book of Mormon, by its holy and matchless spirit, and it is the spirit of Christ which runs through the Book of Mormon like a golden thread, we know that we shall meet our loved ones, be recognized by them, and we shall recognize them, and throughout eternity, believing that God is a God of work, we shall work with him as co-laborers. ¶

A Presbyterian minister caught this flash of glory in service, and in a hymn which he composed, he said: ¶

We serve no God whose power is spent, ¶

Who rests amid his firmament. ¶

Our God his labors but begun ¶

Toils ever more with powers unspent. ¶

God be praised for the glory of the resurrection, the beauty of eternal life, the knowledge that we shall live with each other, with our wives and our children, with our friends, and live with them in perfect understanding. Did not Paul speak of the whole family in heaven and on earth? These great sections are going to ¶

be joined by the eternity and glory and power of the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. ¶

The Book of Mormon prophets give great comfort to this nation. They declared that this nation was set up by the Almighty and should be pre-eminent among the people of the world. It is pre-eminent in glory and in power, but alas, there are corroding and corrupting influences that are trying to sap the strength of this great republic. This republic is the house of our fathers, our fellow citizens, our friends, and our brothers, and with them we shall stand, by the grace of God, to contest the supremacy of any communist or foreign-born element who seeks to destroy the Constitution. ¶

New Witness That Jesus is the Christ ¶

The testimony that the Book "of Mormon gives us last of all — no. not last of all — from the first page to the last page, is that Jesus is the Christ. If we serve God, this nation will survive, but listen to this solemn warning: Moroni told the people of his day that this was a land of promise, and that God would not suffer any nation to dwell on this earth except they serve him, for if they departed from him they should be swept into the oblivion which lawlessness always provides. ¶

Listen to Moroni's warning: ¶

. . . this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, [this is of our day he is speaking] that ye may know the decrees of God — that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. (Ether 2:11.) ¶

Here is the warning of a prophet of God. He gives a glorious promise with this solemn warning attached. ¶

Fellow citizens, shall we heed this voice of warning? Shall we bend our necks no more to the bondage, to the yoke of sin, but rising in the full fruition of righteousness, in the strength of God, may we stand before him, acceptable as a nation, correct in government, lenient to the poor, righteous in the sight of God; and, oh, how happy we shall be, and then, as Webster said, it shall not be written that this nation had a "decline and fall," for God is our strength. ¶

The spirit and the main purpose of the Book of Mormon is ¶

... to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. (Book of Mormon, Title Page.) ¶

May I humbly answer to this glorious declaration by testifying that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is the resurrection and the life, the author and the finisher of our faith, and if we will obey his commandments, this nation shall prosper and with him all of us shall go into eternal glory, is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶