Conference Address

My brothers and sisters, I trust that the sweet influence of the Spirit of the Lord which has been with us thus far in this conference and in this session will continue with us while I stand before you. ¶

Tribute to Charles A. Callis and Marvin O. Ashton

We miss this morning from our presence two great men, Apostle Callis, whose greatest love was his fellow men and his desire and purpose to spread among them the truths of the revealed gospel of this last dispensation; the other, Bishop Ashton, who loved men as much as did Apostle Callis, whose troubles, the troubles of men and women, appealed to him, and always he did all that he could do, that lay within his power to do, to alleviate those troubles. They were great men. They have gone to a great reward that will take them to a place in the celestial kingdom of God. ¶

The Savior's Mourning Over Jerusalem

When the Savior was just leaving Trans-Jordan to come into Jerusalem to be crucified, the Pharisees came to him and told him that Herod was seeking to kill him. And speaking of Herod as "that fox" the Savior said: Tell him that the sick are healed and that the blind see. Tell him that I must travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, "for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." (Luke 13:33.) ¶

And the mention of Jerusalem seemed to have awakened in his mind all that had gone before since the world was, particularly since Jerusalem was built, and he said: ¶

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! (Luke 13:34.) ¶

When he came to Jerusalem on that last mission and while preaching in the temple, he uttered that fierce denunciation against the Pharisees and the Scribes, the fiercest that I know of in all history, called attention to the fact that they had persecuted and martyred the righteous, and then again broke forth in the same lament: ¶

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37.) ¶

That is the motif of all of God's dealings with mankind, always forgiving, always ready to accept us if we will but put ourselves where we may be accepted. His expression was an expression of divine love, and it is not without interest that in making his comparison he spoke of the love of the mother hen, mother love, the nearest thing we know to divine love. ¶

Love and Forgiveness Manifested by Jesus

Ever since the world was, he has offered us opportunities to serve him. He has tried to have us live righteously. He has forgiven, over and over again. He has tried to bring us back to him. Enoch, Noah, Moses — think of how patient he was with Israel, the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the providing of the manna, the striking of the rock in the wilderness. ¶

When it came to the time of the Savior himself, think how he tried to lead them to repentance, forgiving wherever he found people worthy of forgiveness. All through the history of Israel there has run that one sentiment: ¶

How often would I have gathered thee but thou wouldst not. ¶

In our day the same thing is true. Time and time and time again he has called us to serve him, and has given us mighty promises as to what he would do if we would but do our part. The Church had scarcely organized when he gave the great law of temporal and spiritual salvation, the United Order. And remember, that the Lord very early said that to him all things were spiritual, that he never had given a law which was temporal. He tried to get us to live the commandments that he had given in the matter of the United Order that none might suffer, that all who needed might be provided for, that all might be his people, happy, one with another, because of no jealousies of excess in one and deficiency in another. But the people could not live it. After three years and four months he was forced to take it away, suspend it, and if you want to know why it was suspended I refer you to the fifty-sixth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, beginning with the fourteenth verse. There is crystallized his denunciation of selfishness and greed against us of this dispensation. We tried other measures when we came here to the valleys, but they were no more successful. Here in the last few years we have set up another plan, temporal yet spiritual. He is again trying us. "How often would I have gathered thee together as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings" — that is the issue, my brothers and sisters. ¶

Timely Advice

I do not need to belabor the need we have or that we are likely to see grow greater, particularly in this country with unemployment coming on. We shall all need help, even those, perhaps, with the most. Yesterday's sermons told of the needs of our brothers and sisters who are in foreign lands. Are we going to meet this challenge and provide for those who are in need of help or are we going to let matters go and take up our time complaining? ¶

I want to repeat the suggestion I have made before, the thought was inspired by the reports that came that some of the brethren were counting out what a terrible load they had in dollars and cents. Their computations surely made it big enough. If I remember rightly, the Lord commanded Israel that she should not take a census, should not count her men. I do not know why the command was given, but I suspect it was because if they counted and saw how few they were, they would lose all heart to fight the battle which they had to fight. And the record is that when they did not count, God blessed them. If I were you presidents of stakes, chairmen of regions, I do not believe I would spend too much time figuring out how much money I had to raise but go to work and raise it. ¶

I repeat, as I see it, we are again on trial. The Lord is giving us a continuing opportunity to serve him, to work out his plan, the plan which he gave certainly as far back as Sinai. ¶

May the Lord bless us, give us the power to hold fast to the eternal truths he has revealed. May he open our vision that we may see our duty to our fellow citizens, to our fellow members of the Church wherever they are. May he take out of our hearts all feelings of hate and leave there only love for those who belong to us and to our Heavenly Father, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶