I Am Delighted My Brethren And Sisters...

I am delighted, my brethren and sisters, to have the privilege of assembling here on this glorious, hallowed Sabbath day, to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and this is as real to me as life itself. I only wish that the world could understand the great mission of our Redeemer, when he gave his life for the sons and daughters of God. ¶

I have been thrilled during the sessions of this conference, to be home and to listen to the wonderful testimonies that have been borne and the counsel and advice that have been given. After spending four years in a war-torn country, it is indeed good to be home. ¶

I would like to say that I have stood in the homes and in the offices of the government of Norway, and been belittled, but I was happy because I was in the service of God. They refused us the privilege of staying in Norway and for eighteen months, Sister Peterson and I were living there without permission. I finally told them, when they said: "We'll give you a few hours now," "How can I leave when I have been called by a prophet of God. The only way I will go out of Norway, unless I receive a release from the Presidency of the Church, is if you come down and move us out. Then of course we will have to go. ¶

They did not come and move us out, but we were up against a stone wall for these many months. We were not able to do anything and we were also denied the rationing cards, and if it had not been for the wonderful saints of Norway, bringing to us food that we needed, that we could not get because we were denied these rationing points, we would have been without food. ¶

I thank God that the way was opened up that we did get permission to stay. And then the missionaries came in great numbers. ¶

I want to bring greetings to you from your wonderful sons and daughters in far-away Norway. The work of the Lord is going on now. We were hampered at first, but we have opened up three new districts and many, many branches of the Church, and the message of the Redeemer is being preached from the southern part of Norway to the northern part, and in the far north where it is impossible to get a place to baptize the people, they are chopping holes in the ice and baptizing them in the cold winter. ¶

I appreciate the privilege I have had of going into the world and preaching the gospel. There is nothing that has been greater in my life than to bring this gospel to many souls, and to teach these young men whom the Lord has called, who come into the mission field with stammering tongues and in a foreign tongue preach the gospel, and instil into the hearts of the people a testimony of this restored gospel. ¶

I am grateful for my membership in the Church. I am grateful for the mother who gave me life, mother of fourteen children, who sent me and kept me as a widowed mother on my first mission. ¶

President George Albert Smith set me apart in 1905, and he said these words, among others: "We send you forth as a lamb among wolves." And two weeks after we had arrived in the mission field, a mob came throwing stones through the windows and I thought, why should I be that lamb. I was frightened. ¶

But he said also this: "I promise you, in the name of the Lord, that if you will testify that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God your tongue shall be loosened and you will be able to preach in plainness the Gospel of Jesus Christ in that land where so many of God's chosen people have gathered." ¶

I have received great treasures of knowledge on this mission as well as others, even hidden treasures, and I bear witness that I no longer need to see heavenly visions to know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God. ¶

I am grateful that this testimony that has been given me. I am grateful for the wonderful experience that I have had, and I thank the First Presidency for the confidence they have had in me in sending me over to Norway where I have spent thirteen years, and this is the fourth mission I have returned from. ¶

I was thrilled the other day in the Temple when I heard the prophet of God, and it seems to me that he was magnified before that audience when he stood and told us, the leaders of this Church, those who stand at the helm, those who are at the headgates, that we should repent and see to it that we were honoring the holy priesthood. If not, sorrow would come unto us, and when the judgments of God should pass over, how could we expect to be delivered or receive the blessings. Has not the Lord said, go into your closets and close the door while the wrath of God shall go over the earth. Has he not told us why we should gather into this country. ¶

How can you stop the emigration. I tell you it is no easy thing to stop the emigration when these souls have received the spirit of the gathering, and here they come flocking to the valleys of the mountains. I say, bless you, brethren and sisters, who have been so kind in helping these poor people when they come over here. ¶

I want to say that I sustain all that the Presidency and the brethren have said. I sustain them a hundred percent and if they need me, even though I have just returned, I will be ready to go any time, if I get the call. ¶

I want to be faithful unto the last. Like the old sister, a sweet old soul who had been in the Church for over forty years, I called her up to speak and bear her testimony — she was over a hundred years old — and after she had sung a song to us, she said, "Oh, I hope and pray that I may remain faithful unto the end." ¶

What a glorious wish, and so I say, how necessary it is for each and every one of us to have with us, or for our companion, the Holy Ghost, and I promise you you will never go wrong, or that you will never say one word against the servants of our Heavenly Father who have been called and sustained. ¶

May the Lord bless us. My testimony has grown and I am grateful for this testimony, and may the Lord bless us and help us all, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen ¶