His Spirit Bore Witness to My Spirit

President McKay, President Richards, President Clark, my beloved brethren and sisters, and friends: I feel very humble in standing before you this morning, and after a great deal of worrying and fasting and praying, I hope the Lord will bless me. I shall be grateful for an interest in your faith and prayers. ¶

I would like to thank my wife now because I did not do it this morning, when she was kind enough to offer a very beautiful prayer in my behalf. I was too touched then to do it, but I would not feel right if I did not do it now. ¶

I had prepared one or two thoughts, but they have been so beautifully treated already that I do not feel I could possibly add anything to them. I was going back again to an experience I had on the Hill of Calvary, mentioned by President Clark so beautifully yesterday, Brother Sill today, and Brother Sonne just now. I shall not say more on that. So I shall entirely rely on the Spirit of the Lord to guide me today, in what I might say. ¶

It is good to see many in the audience whom we meet in stakes as we come to you each Sunday in stake conferences. Many times we come to you as total strangers, but after we have been with you for a couple of days, we feel as if we have known you forever. After we leave, even though we have held many meetings and are tired physically, we are uplifted in our spirits and our faith because of your great devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the responsibilities to which you have been called. We are grateful for your thoughtfulness and for your kindness and courtesy to us. We are grateful to you for your encouragement. ¶

I cannot help expressing deep affection and appreciation for the stake presidents of this Church and for the ward bishoprics, for we see your great devotion. You so frequently put aside your own personal interests because of your responsibilities in the Church, and particularly among the young people of the Church. ¶

I wish you could have all been at the meeting in the temple Thursday morning where the General Authorities were invited and privileged to meet with the First Presidency. When President McKay was speaking to us and sharing with us his experiences recently in Europe, I could not help thinking of a passage or statement that Brigham Young once made when he was referring to the humble man who converted him to the Church. He said something like this, "His spirit bore witness to my spirit, and I believed." That morning in the temple it was as if the Spirit of the Lord was speaking to the President of the Church and prophet of the Lord, and his Spirit bore witness to our spirits, and we believed. I cannot help thinking you are partaking of that same Spirit in this conference, because it has carried over into the conference so beautifully, and we have all felt that Spirit. What is that Spirit? It is the Spirit of our Heavenly Father, and we are privileged to enjoy that Spirit through the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost, for which I am sure all members of the Church are very grateful. ¶

Sometime ago it was my privilege to visit one of the army camps, a large post of the government where many of our Latter-day Saint boys are stationed. Many of them are stationed there for their entire time in the army. Because they are stationed there for such a long time, many of them are privileged to bring their wives and children to live at the post. I attended their Sunday evening service, and when I entered that chapel hall, it was filled to capacity. It was a thrill to see all those Latter-day Saint boys dressed in their military uniforms, and in the main accompanied by their wonderful wives, and in many instances, their new babies. I wish all the parents of those boys could have looked in on them that night and listened to some of them speak. The brotherhood that existed in that group is not often found in the world. Those men loved one another. They were living with each other and praying for each other. I saw many of the young men in that audience whose fathers I know. I saw some of the young married women with their babies whose parents I know. You would have been very proud of them. They told me that there was seldom a time when any of our Latter-day Saint boys ever missed this Sunday service. President Joseph Fielding Smith just now told us that our servicemen are doing a great work for their country and for their Church. Of this I am confident. ¶

After that wonderful meeting where we were all spiritually uplifted, a young man came up to me with his wife, and I recognized her. I knew her parents well. He asked, "May I ride with you into a certain city where tomorrow morning I must go to the hospital? I have an appointment to be there by eight o'clock." We told him that he could ride with us. I watched him bid goodnight to his wife and baby before leaving for the hospital for surgery. He was so calm and so wonderful, and so was she. When they bade each other goodnight, I thought how unusual. What faith those two young people have in each other! What confidence they have in the Lord! But it did not take me long to find out what was behind it. ¶

As we were riding along, I asked, "Will your wife get to see you while you are in the hospital?" And he said, "Oh no. It is too far away, and she hasn't a car." "Is she here on the post alone?" "Yes. Her folks aren't here, and my folks aren't here, but we have each other." Then he said, "We have the Lord, so she'll get along all right, and I'll be just fine. I'll be home in a few days." What faith! Then he said, "While we've been out here, we've had wonderful experiences that mean so much to us." Then he gave me this experience as near as I can repeat it. ¶

They were going to have a new baby, and his wife was not at all well. She had not been well for months. The doctor was worried about her, and so was he. There they were alone, except for the wonderful buddies that were around them, but no parents on either side were there with them. They were far from home. One day the doctor called this young man and his wife to his office, and said, "I think I ought to tell you that I am very worried about your wife, and I think I should tell you that even your wife's life is in danger as well as that of the baby." Now, that would be quite a hard thing for a young couple to take. The doctor said, "Come back in three days. I am going to have another specialist here because I need his help. I am not a specialist in that line, but I know things are not right." He had made a lot of tests, examinations, and X-rays. ¶

So in three days he asked them to come back. That young couple went home that night, and I believe as nearly every young couple would do in this Church, they fasted, and they prayed nearly all night, pleading with the Lord to bless her that she would be well and that they could have their little baby. Next day he went to his assignment. He came home the second night, and they followed that same procedure, praying into the night with little sleep. The third day he went to his assignment, and he came home again. They followed that same procedure, and the three days were up. They should meet with the two doctors the next day. ¶

The following morning when the sun came up and his wife awoke, she said to her wonderful sweetheart, "I feel much better," and as he looked at her, he said, "I am sure you are better." Her eyes were bright, and there was a little color in her cheeks, but they went off to see the doctors. When they walked in, the first doctor said to her, "Well, you look so much better today," and she said, "I feel much better." Then the new doctor and the first doctor went over the charts and the history of the case. The second doctor was just as alarmed after he studied the charts and the X-rays. Other X-rays were taken, and the two doctors took the X-rays and developed them and went into the other room, and they couldn't believe their eyes. X-rays do not lie. They are factual. They put these X-rays down by the side of each other, and the first doctor was astounded, and the second doctor said, "Are you sure these are the same X-rays you took before?" "Oh yes," he said, "they are the only ones I have. I am sure they are the same X-rays." They went back out to the office and told this young man and his wife that they could go home, that there was nothing for them to worry about, that everything would be all right. The new second doctor went away, assuring the first doctor that he need not be concerned. This young couple was very happy and knew the Lord had answered their prayers. ¶

This young man testified to me that, of course, those doctors, not being in the Church, could not understand the power of the priesthood. They could not understand our faith and the prayers and the fasting of these young people. "That night when we went home," the young man said, "we spent most of that night thanking the Lord for his blessings and for the miracle that had been performed, and in two or three weeks we had our new baby. You saw her tonight — a beautiful, healthy, lovely baby." Then he bore a strong testimony, testifying to the power of the priesthood; and his witness and his testimony was wonderful for a young man. ¶

I am sure that such testimonies are shared by thousands and hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints. What would that young man and his wife have done if they had not had that faith? What would they have done if they couldn't go to the Lord? So, I would plead with all young married couples that you should be careful in everything you do so that nothing will prevent you from going to the Lord when you are faced with similar problems, and you will be faced with them. Perhaps not the exact one of this young couple, but many similar. You will need the blessings of the Lord just as that wonderful young couple needed them. I would plead with all of us that we adjust our affairs and our lives and our living so that when the time comes that we need the blessings of the Lord, we can go to him and know that he will hear us and grant our petitions. ¶

I bear testimony to you that I know that God lives. Yes, his Spirit has borne witness to my spirit, and I believe, and I know, and I know Jesus was the Son of God — our Savior and our Redeemer. We should love him for the mission and the sins that he took upon himself that we might live — probably God's greatest gift to man. God bless you, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶