Conference Address

I humbly pray that I may enjoy the blessings of the Spirit of God. To me it is a high privilege to stand before this audience. I am extremely grateful to my Heavenly Father. I pray that he may let me speak his word. ¶

Look Up to the Spires ¶

While coming over to this meeting this afternoon, I had quite an impressive incident happen to me. I greatly admire these grounds. I often chat with the men who make the flowers grow and bloom. Today I met a familiar brother. I said: "Well, I see you are working today." ¶

"Yes, Brother Kirkham." ¶

"Don't you ever get tired? I see you here early in the morning, and I have seen you here late at night." ¶

"Oh, yes, I get tired once in awhile, but the people enjoy the flowers, and once in awhile they look up at the spires." ¶

I would love to put it into the heart of every man and woman in this Church that they must not grow weary. Way out in your own private lives, in service in the kingdom of God, it may be that at times you may be weary, but I bear humble testimony because of what I have seen throughout the stakes of Zion and especially in the missionary field, that men with whom you have patience and with whom you patiently work, often "look up to the spires." ¶

I was deeply impressed at the Smithfield conference last Sunday. A fine young woman was reporting her attendance at a state convention. One hundred and twenty young women had been called to one of our large institutions from all parts of the state. They were studying American citizenship opportunities. At the stake conference she was asked to make a report. She did so, and it was helpful and inspiring. All at once I saw her grasp the pulpit, and with rare dignity she said to the audience: "I want to bear my testimony." ¶

Then in beautifully chosen words, with deep humility, she declared her faith in God and her gratitude for her heritage, for the blessings she enjoyed. ¶

Be Unafraid ¶

I am sure with many of the words of warning that have come to us during this conference, and as we do face a world of great uncertainty, so great, and so fraught with possible destruction we are almost frightened to speak about it at times, or they who know most about it are silent, and yet, in my humble thinking, I say, be unafraid. If we are living as we should live, then there need be no fear. Our faith in God will give us strength, assurance, a sense of safety and security. We need have no fear. ¶

One of our great American thinkers has said: ¶

We do not need to fear these things. We need to fear whether man has faith in God. ¶

Greatness in Youth ¶

All my life I have labored with youth, in the out-of-doors, largely. My humble illustrations come largely from that field. I know that deep within youth there is greatness. It is a natural law that the Lord will preserve the right and the truth, and soon you and I will pass this on to the hands of a great generation of youth. ¶

I stood a few years ago with a group of youth in Holland where the tulips grow. There were about a hundred and fifty young American youths about me. We went down to see the loveliest tulip beds in the world. Flowers were not blooming in abundance then, but here and there and in the hothouses there were some fine specimens. An elderly Dutch gardener came out when he saw we had arrived. I remember he held up a brown bulb and said: "This will be my prize winner at the fair." ¶

All we saw were the brown husks of the tulip bulb, but he saw beyond that. He saw the prize bulb at the Holland fair. ¶

I appeal to you, do not neglect your duty to youth but have faith in them. They may look like brown bulbs today, but they will be prize winners tomorrow. They are marching into the greatest world and are the greatest generation, in my humble opinion, that the world has ever seen. That is my faith. I only wish that I might march with them and be a lad of twelve years. ¶

The Lord will be with them and strengthen them. They are magnificent. I have just left a hundred and seventy-five of them in the Northwestern States Mission. It was thrilling to catch their spirit and their hope and their devotion to the service of the Lord. ¶

Sun Always There ¶

Out in the Zuni Indian village one day I followed the runner who went out to give his daily ceremony to the coming of the sun. On the hilltop he stretched forth his arms and chanted. When he started to return to the village, I walked over to him and said, "It is cloudy this morning. Do you always come?" ¶

And then he said, "Oh, the sun is always there." ¶

That is it. "The sun is always there." Let us have faith and know that the sun is always there. ¶

I would like to read one verse from Timothy: ¶

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7.) ¶

This thought I would like to suggest in connection with youth and in connection with our own lives: There are many things that will give us inspiration and guidance. It is astonishing when you hear men frankly and freely bear their testimonies — when the message came to their hearts, that was the moment when the Lord spoke to them. I pray that the Lord will quicken the best within us. We are likely to refer to it as conscience. I believe that men and women who live humbly and prayerfully may have within themselves the blessing of the Spirit of God, the gift of the Holy Ghost, a power that will guide them, protect them, reveal to them truth, give them knowledge throughout their days, for their own blessing and protection. ¶

"Somehow we must get back to God," said a great American, "and that is very difficult for modern minds who have lost simplicity." I shall read a few verses from the Ninetieth Psalm: ¶

Return O Lord, . . . ¶

O satisfy us early with thy mercy: that we may rejoice and be glad all our days . . . ¶

Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. ¶

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. (Psalm 90:13-14, 16-17.) ¶

The Voice Within ¶

I pray that this spirit of a voice within, the Lord trying to speak to us and guide us, may be with us. It is a very personal affair. We do not need to wait for any great occasion depending on someone else to assist us. His Spirit will be with us every day, at all times, if we serve God humbly and pray for his guidance. ¶

This delightful experience came in the form of a testimony out in the mission that I recently visited. A young missionary bearing his testimony of what it meant to the family for a young man to go on a mission, and how the Lord truly provided, recited this incident: ¶

When I left home I didn't know whether father would be able to make it or not in keeping up the expenses but he and mother said "Go, we'll do the best we can for you, Son." ¶

I came into the missionary field. We had been getting along all right and last week I received a letter from father. He told the story that they were working hard and they had harvested a good crop, and then he told the story of my little brother eleven years old. ¶

Dad said, "I have been giving your brother work on the binder. We were giving him fifty cents an acre to run it. He had done very well; he had worked early and late. Then the day came when we were to pay him. The neighbors had sent in their checks and I was going to pay him. I asked him: 'Now Son what are you going to do with the money?' Your brother said: 'Well, Father, I want a pair of Levis and I want to go to the County Fair and the rest I want to send to my brother on his mission.' " ¶

He enjoyed that voice within. The Lord was guiding him in his tender years. He had caught the spirit that his brother had in missionary service. ¶

With the same feeling I bear my testimony: have patience wherever you are called to labor, that those for whom you work may "look up to the spires," and receive inspiration and comfort. Oh, listen to the voice within, that it may guide you safely on the way. Do not be disturbed by the scare lines of papers and commentators on the radio. Know that you have God with you if you but do his will. ¶

I thank him humbly for these things, and I bear testimony and pray for all of us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶