Conference Address

This is the year that we are paying special tribute and honor to our pioneers. Many of us are descended from them. They made great sacrifices to come to these valleys of the mountains. They left their homes, and President Grant used to say they left willingly because they had to. They could not bring very much with them in the way of this world's goods, but they brought something that was more precious than all else in this world. They brought with them faith in the Living God and in the Prophet of this dispensation and in the Holy Scriptures. ¶

The Last Dispensation ¶

We are told that by faith the worlds were formed, and of the many mighty things that have been wrought in days past by the prophets of God. We live in a day that the prophets of old have foreseen, when many of the marvelous things that God had in store for his children should come to pass. In the words of Paul: ¶

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. (Eph. 1:10.) ¶

And God never decreed such a fulness of gospel dispensation for any other period of time. ¶

Some of you will remember reading the words of Roger Babson in Fundamentals of Prosperity, when he told of an interview he had with the president of the Argentine Republic when the president asked him how he accounted for the fact that notwithstanding that South America had so many more natural resources than North America, North America had made so much greater progress than South America. Roger Babson asked the president what he thought was the reason, and he said he had given it much thought, and he decided that it was because those who went to South America went in search of gold and those who came to North America came in search of God. ¶

And so, brothers and sisters, it brings us back to a realization that "except the Lord build the house" as the prophet of old said, "they labor in vain that build it." God has been building this land of North America, and not only that, but he has also been building the work that has been accomplished here in these valleys of the mountains. ¶

The Saints were never discouraged because the Prophet of this dispensation had said that they should suffer much persecution and should continue to be driven until they should ultimately come to the Rocky Mountains, and many of them should live to see the the Saints become a mighty people here in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. It was this prophetic utterance from the voice of him whom they knew to be a Prophet of God that encouraged them to go on and to meet every obstacle that came in their way. ¶

The Saints had their enemies, and they had great persecutions to meet at their hands before they came into these valleys. The evil one is still alert. He is seeking to lead away the souls of men and women from following after God. And right in our own community; in this land that was established by our pioneer fathers who came here in search of God that they might worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, there are many things transpiring, seeking to lead away the hearts of our young people, particularly, from believing the things that were so precious and so dear to the hearts of our pioneer fathers. ¶

A College Man's Question ¶

I was talking with a man recently who in attending one of our state colleges, heard the professor in the room propound this question to his class: "Is there anyone in this class who has any idea whatever that there is any way possibly to foretell the events of the future?" ¶

He was a college man; he was their professor; and there was not one of the students who dared take issue with him. But I have asked myself, and I think every father and mother in Israel ought to ask themselves, what would my boy or girl have said if that question had been propounded to them. They may not have given the answer, but in their own souls they would have had an answer. And when no one dared answer, the professor said, "I am glad to see there is no one in this room who follows the traditions of their parents in this regard." Then he added, "Ninety percent of the things taught you by your parents is false." ¶

Many of our young people would not have been influenced by the statement of that professor, but there are others who might have been. As parents we should be close enough to our children to know that their faith would enable them to withstand even such an attack as that on the teachings of their parents. As far as I am concerned, I do not like to see our tax money go to pay the salaries of such apostles of infidelity, and I believe that not only do the Latter-day Saints feel this way about it but also most of our Christian neighbors and friends. It is not their right to come into our schools and destroy the faith of our children. ¶

Peter of old said : ¶

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. (II Peter 1:19.) ¶

And as far as I am concerned there is nothing in this world more sure than the word of prophecy. The Redeemer of the world said that, ¶

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35.) ¶

And our boys and girls ought to realize this and know that the words of the prophets will be fulfilled. ¶

Many Prophecies Fulfilled ¶

You Latter-day Saints who live in these valleys of the mountains and see this magnificent temple here, on this block, know that it is here in fulfilment of the words of the prophets Isaiah and Micah, when they said: ¶

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. ¶

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2, 3. See also Micah 4:1, 2.) ¶

Is there any unbelief in this world that can stop the God of Israel from fulfilling such promises as this? Every time I walk around this temple, I wonder what these prophets of old could have seen that could have been more grand and glorious and beautiful than the temple of God established in the tops of these mountains. These prophets did not only say that it should be established here, but they also said that men and women should come from all nations of the earth, and this gathering here today is a witness of the divinity of their prophetic words. ¶

If there were time, I would like to show you what the prophets saw about the development of these valleys of the mountains, the fulfilment of which is recorded in the history that has since been written by the coming of the pioneers. Isaiah saw rivers of water flowing down from the high places which, as far as I can interpret, is nothing more than the great reservoirs that have been constructed in our mountains, and he saw fountains in the midst of the valleys — thousands of acres of desert lands are now being irrigated from' flowing wells, and "rivers in the desert," and when you travel up and down these states, and particularly in Idaho, and see the great service canals led out of the Snake River, they are literally rivers of water. Jeremiah saw the people ". . . come and sing in the height of Zion," (Jer. 31:12.) For nearly eighteen years this splendid Tabernacle Choir has been singing over the radio to all the world out of the heights of Zion, and where else can you look to find fulfilment of these words of prophecy? ¶

The thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah is but "Mormon" history written three thousand years ago when the Lord said through Jeremiah: ¶

For there shall be a day, that the watchman upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. (Jer. 31:6.) ¶

Then he indicates that the Lord would gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, a great company should return thither. They should come with weeping and supplications, and he promised that he would cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they should not stumble. And when the pioneers came to these valleys of the mountains, they traveled some six hundred miles along the Platte and North Platte rivers, fulfilling literally the words of Jeremiah in the gathering of the people to Ephraim's mountains, and they did come as a great multitude and with them their sick and their lame and the blind and the woman with child, and they came sorrowing because they were' driven from their homes. And how did Jeremiah know all this three thousand years ago if, according to the teacher I have referred to, there is no way men can know things before they actually transpire? ¶

And then read the final climax of that great gathering, how the Lord should turn their sorrow into rejoicing and their young and old should rejoice together in the dance, and they should sorrow no more at all, and he should satiate the souls of his priests with fatness (See Jer. 31:12-14); and I want to tell you that even though the elders of Israel are not paid for their services, there are no ministers of religion in all the world as well paid as the elders of this Church. ¶

God grant that we may have the faith to carry on as our pioneer fathers, and that we may have the power to plant that faith in the hearts of our children, that we may be worthy of our noble heritage, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶