Conference Address

Tena koutou e nga pononga a te Atua me nga hunga tapu kua huihui mat nei. ¶

Such would be the greetings of any one of our good Maori brethren and sisters who may be called to speak in New Zealand. In other words, greetings to the servants of the Lord and to the saints who have gathered here. ¶

It is a wonderful thing to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am truly grateful for and proud of my membership in this Church. I am thankful for the privilege I have of again attending the General Conference of the Church. It helps satisfy a hunger for such a gathering and such inspiration that we have experienced during the past few years, the past four years, while it has not been our privilege to be here. That hunger has only been supplied in part in our hui tau, our annual conference of the Church in New Zealand, where we have three or four thousand of our good people meet together, not in a building of this kind, not under such favorable conditions, but rather under the covers of a large marquee; it almost takes us back to the days of the children of Israel when they met in the wilderness where they carried their tabernacle with them, and there in those large tents we do receive inspiration, we do enjoy the blessings of the Lord, and we are grateful for our membership and our connection with this Church. ¶

I am truly grateful for the privilege I have at this time of being in the presence of the General Authorities. With all my heart I sustain them as servants of God. I am thankful for them, I am thankful for their faith in me that prompted them to call me and my good wife into the New Zealand mission. I am thankful for what they have done for that mission since that time. ¶

It was a wonderful thrill to all the missionaries and the saints in New Zealand when we received word that our fine President Matthew Cowley, had been sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and a little later when we received the news that he had been appointed president of the Pacific Missions, another thrill came to us, and it has afforded the saints of New Zealand an opportunity for closer contact with the General Authorities of the Church. ¶

Do you know that until the appointment of President Cowley as our Pacific Mission president, that good mission and others in the South Pacific had had but two visits of the General Authorities of the Church, once when President McKay and President Cannon made their visit in the year 1921, and the other the visit of President Smith and President Hardy in 1938. We, undoubtedly, as you will realize, miss that contact which you people enjoy, and so we are thankful for this closer contact that we have. ¶

I appreciate the privilege which has come to me to labor among those people in the land of New Zealand — those good Europeans who reside there, as well as that remnant of the house of Israel who were led away to that far-off land, fulfilling the predictions of the scriptures of the prophets of old wherein they said that the house of Israel should be scattered even to the ends of the earth, to the islands of the sea, and there they should worship other gods, even gods of stone and of wood. Those were the gods of the Maori people until just a little over a hundred years ago. But it is a testimony to us that they are of the house of Israel since in this last hundred years that the gospel has been preached there, even though it has "not always been preached with the understanding that we have of it, they recognized the story of the Lord Jesus Christ and this day they are all Christians. And even though our teaching to those people did not begin until they had all become members of other churches, still we have now more than ten thousand of those good people in our Church. ¶

In my experiences in the mission I have learned many things and some things seemed rather peculiar to me as they do to all missionaries. One of our good missionaries made the remark one day after he had been out tracting for two or three days with one of the experienced elders, "I can't understand why the people that we visit can't accept the teachings in the way that my companion gives them. They are so plain, so natural, so simple, that anybody who really wants to could understand that they are the truth." ¶

Well, it seems that way to all of us. It is just natural to us but the Lord gives unto us his revelations from time to time to guide us. We are the children of God. He would not put us down here without any possibility of knowing what to do, but from time to time while men have been upon the earth, as teachings of the gospel have become changed and different, he has enlightened his prophets and given them the commandment to go teach the gospel to all the world. And though they have been persecuted, though they have been put to death, still the word of the gospel has gone on. To us it is the natural thing, while to the world it seems ridiculous when we say that God the Father and his Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. To us it seems only natural when angels come with knowledge and inspiration. To the world it is false. ¶

I know that this gospel is true. I know that these men who lead this Church are indeed servants of God, that the Prophet Joseph Smith was raised up in this day to bring God's teachings to the earth, and I know that he was directed by the Lord Jesus Christ and by others, who visited him. ¶

It is a wonderful thing, brothers and sisters, to know that not only once did Jesus Christ visit the earth in this day, but several times, that not only one angel, but several have come with messages and with inspiration and with power and have given that power and that inspiration and those messages to men here upon this earth. ¶

I am thankful for the missionary system of this Church. To me it is a wonderful thing. You and I are here as a result of that missionary system. I am truly grateful for the humble missionaries that went into that far-off land of Scandinavia and gathered my ancestors from that land, and when I think of my own cousins in the land of New Zealand who are good people but understand not the gospel, I am that much more thankful for missionaries that converted my father and my grandparents on my mother's side. ¶

I am thankful to you people that you, through your work in this day and age are showing your gratefulness to missionaries in that you have sent your sons and your daughters into the mission field. The one hundred and twenty young men and women that we have in the New Zealand Mission at the present time are truly an inspiration to me and to all who meet them and try to understand them in their work. ¶

Brothers and sisters, it is a wonderful thing to come back and witness the activities of the Church in Zion. May God bless us and help us to realize the importance of the things that we are blessed with from time to time. May we go on and work day by day in fulfillment of our purposes here and appreciate the fact that we are living in a day and age when God is giving us inspiration through his chosen Authorities here upon this earth, I humbly pray, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. ¶