I Am Indeed Grateful This Morning My...

I am indeed grateful this morning, my brothers and sisters, for the counsel which we have received. I am grateful for the counsel we have received which has come from the President whom we sustain as a prophet, as the mouthpiece of God to his children here on earth. I endorse his timely counsel with respect to our conduct in the coming political campaigns and the keeping of our tempers. I am reminded of a story that was told of Senator Chauncey Depew when he was launching into a campaign for the Senate of the United States. His opponent came to him and said, "Senator, let's make this campaign clean." ¶

The Senator replied, "I fully agree. If you will promise not to lie about me, I'll promise not to tell the truth about you." How clean the campaign was, I am unable to say. ¶

Never Lose a Friend

When I was a youngster employed in the Senate of the United States, there came into the office one day a former governor of this state. While we were visiting, he said, "I'd like to give you a little advice." ¶

I said, "That's fine, I appreciate advice from one of your experience." ¶

He said, "Never lose a friend over politics or religion." ¶

I have tried to keep that counsel in my mind all my life. I was in politics a little bit at one time, for which I have since repented. I was successful in one election. I was defeated in another. But I am very thankful that I can say today that I still have the friendship of my opponents. I cherish their friendship. I respect the principles for which they stood, and I am sure they respect me in the same light. ¶

Brothers and sisters, we are children of God, we are Saints of the Most High God. There is no place in this kingdom upon the earth for God's children to make enemies, one with the other, both professing to be members of the Church, over politics or religion. ¶

Blessings of Gathering

I am reminded now of the opening prayer. In that prayer we thanked God that he had sought us out from far and near places to gather here. How thankful we should be that we have been sought out to gather where we are. And as I stand here this morning, I see two in this congregation who have come all the way from New Zealand, two good Maori Latter-day Saints who have come to receive the blessings in the temple of God. These are the only two who have had the opportunity to come from New Zealand during the past thirteen years. There are thousands of us living in the shadows of the temples of God upon whom there is no financial burden to go to these temples. How I thrill this morning when I see this grand couple who have saved and saved and prayed and prayed that they might one day come to the temple of God and receive their blessings. They have come eight thousand miles to spend a few days with us and to return back home. I trust that they have listened to the admonition which has been given all of us this morning, to keep the covenants which we have made with our God, to remember the blessings which are theirs if they remain faithful to the end. ¶

I see also our good Hawaiian sister, Sister Kauhini, the president of the Relief Society of the Oahu Stake. I see also some of our Japanese and some of our Indian friends. Yes, I thank God that we have been sought out from places far and near to gather here. After this conference I am going among the Indian people of the Southwest Indian Mission. Brothers and sisters, they are our people. The salvation of these people rests upon us. The rewards to which they are entitled must come through us and the service we are willing to render to them and for them. ¶

Love for Native Races

I love these native races. They have given me something that I could have received from no other source. Even though some classify them as heathen, yet I have never seen the veil between God and man so thin as I have seen among these native races. God has restored his gospel for all people. We have had eleven thousand missionaries in the field since 1946, going to all parts of the world where they are permitted to go. As has been mentioned, they are young, unexperienced men and women. But whether in New Zealand or in Hawaii or among the Indians of this nation or wherever they may go in the world, God magnifies his priesthood, and his priesthood speaks as having authority, and the people give listening ears. ¶

Sometimes they are warned, the people of the world, to beware of these Mormon missionaries; and they are referred to the prophecy that one day false prophets would come among them. ¶

God never fulfils his purposes through false prophets. It is only through true prophets that he fulfils his purposes among men. It is a matter of historical record that God said he would scatter Israel. ¶

It is a matter of historical record that he said he would gather Israel from the four corners of the earth. And this congregation today is a witness to the world that it is a matter of historical fact that through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, God is gathering Israel. ¶

Prophecies Fulfilled

God said that in the last days the house of the Lord would be established in the tops of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and all nations would flow unto it. It is a matter of historical record that he uttered that prophecy through one of his prophets. It is a matter of historical fact that the mountain of the Lord's house has been established in the tops of the mountains, and all nations have been flowing into it. It is a matter of historical fact that the stick of Judah has been written and is in the hand of God as one of his mediums of bringing salvation to his children. It is a matter of historical record that there was also to be a stick of Joseph, and that these two should be one in the hand of God. It is a matter of historical fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now distributing this record, this stick of Joseph along with this stick of Judah to the thousands and thousands of those to whom the missionaries are going with their testimonies of the restoration of the gospel. It is a matter of historical record that God was to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children, lest the earth be smitten with a curse. It is a matter of historical fact that in this dispensation Elijah has returned to the earth, for the hearts of the children have been turned to their parents and those of the parents to the children. We know to whom that prophet came. It is a matter of historical record that God said through his Apostle that another angel would fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell upon the earth. To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it is a matter of historical fact that that angel has flown through the midst of heaven, and the everlasting gospel has been restored to the earth. It was said by the Master that this gospel of the kingdom should be preached as a witness to all nations, and then should the end come. It is a matter of historical record and fact that there are right now 5,840 missionaries representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints out in the world, bearing witness to the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

God's Kingdom Established

Brothers and sisters, what more do we need other than the testimony of these historical facts to confirm the fulfilment of God's prophecies as prophesied by his servants? And we know as explained by Daniel that God would set up a kingdom in the last days. We know the story of the image which was seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream and the interpretation by Daniel under the power of God of that dream. We know that those kingdoms and empires symbolized by the head, shoulders, and breast, the belly and thighs, and the legs, all passed away, and that during the existence of none of those kingdoms did God set up his kingdom never to be destroyed. But in the days of the kings symbolized by the toes, God did establish his kingdom in the earth, and it will never be destroyed. ¶

Loyalty to Priesthood

The priesthood of God is among men. Let us who hold it be faithful and loyal to this priesthood. We represent God, brethren. ¶

God must work through you to fulfil his prophecies; therefore, prize your priesthood, be loyal to it, be humble before God, and you will accomplish his purposes in the building up of his kingdom, and this work shall go forth into all the world and will reach out and will touch those who are to be brought out, two of a family and one of a city, and gathered to Zion. ¶

I repeat, I thank God that we have been sought out from far and distant places to gather here. I thank God for the young missionaries who many years ago found my ancestors on the Isle of Man and brought them out, and they came in poverty and found their way to Nauvoo. They met the Prophet. One of these young lads was almost to be attacked and destroyed by a mob as he was lifting water from the Mississippi River, but his life was spared as it had been prophesied it would be. Yes, I thank God with all my heart that we have been gathered out from the world, and I thank God that these people, these islanders, and these Indians are responding to this message, and that once in a great while, these people in their poverty find a way to get to Zion and go into the temple of God. ¶

Thanksgiving for Natives

I offer up my thanksgiving to my Father in heaven for these natives who are here today. My, how much I owe to them! I remember during the war years that this fine couple were both in the military service of their country. And after the service was completed, as we had no missionaries in New Zealand, they both responded to mission calls. One day as I was going to visit them in the city of Rotorua, I discovered that they had built a beautiful new house. As I went into that home, I noticed that over the door there was a beautiful little printed sign with the name on it, Matthew Cowley. That was to be my house whenever I was visiting in that area of the mission. And when my family and I left New Zealand, it wasn't enough that we had lived in their home, they took the blankets from the beds on which we had slept and insisted that we bring those blankets back home with us. ¶

Are these people, brothers and sisters, these islanders of the sea, these Indians of the reservation, worthy of the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, a thousand times, yes! ¶

God bless us all. May we be faithful and devoted to this cause, obedient to the principles of the gospel, sustaining one another in our respective positions, honoring each other in our homes, preserving the integrity of our families, the integrity of our priesthood quorums, and of all the auxiliaries, that God may continue to be and abide with us. This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. ¶

Amen. ¶