In Behalf of the First Presidency...

In behalf of the First Presidency, members of the Council of the Twelve, and all of the General Authorities of the Church, with all my heart I bid you welcome — you who are crowding into the Tabernacle, the grounds, Assembly Hall, and all who are listening in — welcome to this, the first session of the One Hundred Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Church. I pray that the request offered in the invocation may be granted, and that the Spirit of the Lord may dwell with those who speak at this session and throughout this conference, and inspire those who listen, that we may have indeed a spiritual uplifting — a spiritual feast. ¶

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3.) ¶

"We are living in perilous times." That is what they said when I was a boy. That is what people thought and said in the days of the apostles, following the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is what people thought and said three thousand years before the Savior came to the earth, if we can rely upon writings taken from an Assyrian tablet dated 2800 years before Christ. ¶

Hayden gives a similar warning: "Today, as seldom if ever before, human society is threatened with disintegration, if not complete chaos. All the ancient evils of human relationships, injustice, selfishness, abuse of strength, become sinister and terrible when reenforced by the vast increase of material power. The soul of man cowers, starved and fearful in the midst of a civilization grown too complex for any mind to visualize or to control. Joy and beauty fade from human living. Yet life, abundant, beauteous, laughing life, has been our age-long labor's end. What other conceivable worth has the mastery of the material world, the exploitation of the resources of nature and the creation of wealth, except as a basis for the release of the life of the spirit? We are witnessing either the crumbling of civilization under the weight of its material mechanism or the birth of a new organization with a spiritual ideal." ¶

The daily press gives ample evidence that there seems to be a general distrust of our young folk. The great majority of them want to know what is right. I have confidence in our young people. It is our duty to show them a proper example. Most of them today will follow it, notwithstanding the fact that they are living in an age full of mysteries and discoveries never before known in the world. Man holds dominion over earth, sea, and air, and now is intent upon conquering space. ¶

Just recently the United States sent a new messenger out among the planets. Pioneer Five, a 94.8-pound sphere only 26 inches in diameter, was the first interplanetary traveler with a far-ranging and long-lasting voice. "If all goes well, scientists will be hearing from Pioneer Five steadily for the next five months, then sporadically for years to come, as it swings back within range." ¶

What a glimpse of the starry heavens! While increasing admiration for man's ingenuity, it should not surprise members of the Church who have been singing for years W. W. Phelps' hymn: ¶

"If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye, And then continue onward With that same speed to fly, D'ye think that you could ever, Through all eternity, Find out the generation Where Gods began to be? ¶

"Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend? Or view the last creation, Where Gods and matter end? Methinks the Spirit whispers, 'No man has found "pure space,"' Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place. ¶

"The works of God continue, And worlds and lives abound; Improvement and progression Have one eternal round." ¶

The more man learns of infinity, the more convinced he should become of the possibility of rising above a mere animal existence. ¶

Wernher Von Braun, Director of Development Operations Division, United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency, a man who has dedicated his life to the conquest of space, in a recent article explains simply and fully what space means to our future, and then concludes as follows: ¶

"We need not fear that future space explorers on their heaven-storming journeys will lose their humility. The heavens will surround them as an eternal reminder that there is a force greater than the thrust of their rocket ships, a spirit greater than the cold logic of their computers, a power greater than that of their own nation." ¶

Yes, we are living in an interesting world. There is another side, too. We are told that 120,000 young people from Asia and Africa each year are indoctrinated with the false ideology of Communism — 120,000! There are now 400,000 trained communist missionaries in southern Asia and Africa saying to the hungry masses: "We are here to liberate you. In Russia and China we have found the way — liquidate the rich classes; take all they have; the land and the machinery will be owned by the government. Then everybody will have enough, and nobody will be oppressing the poor. Communism holds a tremendous fascination for the illiterate, hungry, desperate people of Asia and Africa." (Frank C. Laubach in a speech given in Chautauqua, N. Y. 1958.) ¶

I was very much interested, as you were undoubtedly, at a press dispatch recently about Ardeshir Zahedi, the new Iranian Ambassador to United States, who spent five years between 1945 and 1950 earning a degree in agriculture at the Utah State University in Logan, Utah. He credits Dr. Franklin S. Harris, former president of the Agricultural College (Utah State University), and one of the founders of Point Four in Iran, with doing a major job in cementing United States-Iran ties. Mr. Zahedi remembers Utah and Utahns with fondness, according to a report from Deseret News Washington Bureau correspondent, Warren Zimmerman. ¶

I thought as I read that how important it is for members of the Church, particularly the leaders who are sent out to these various missions, to exemplify the one source of peace — the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How important it is to teach them to support themselves, but at the same time to point out that there is a force higher than themselves, higher and greater than man, greater than the whole universe — that is that God is the Creator of it all. ¶

The duty of the Church is to teach and practise the fundamental principles of the good life. Obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter what the financial or physical conditions may be, will bring peace in the soul. When Nicodemus called upon Jesus about two thousand years ago, a notable conversation took place, during which undoubtedly they spoke about eternal salvation, the real development of man. It is implied in the scripture that the purpose of membership in the kingdom of God is for the fostering of the spiritual life, and the achievement of moral and charitable ends. ¶

"Except a man be born again," said Jesus, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3.) He told Nicodemus that before he could solve the question that was troubling his mind, his spiritual vision would have to be changed by an entire revolution of his "inner man." His manner of thinking, feeling, and acting with reference to spiritual things would have to undergo a fundamental and permanent change with reference to spiritual matters. ¶

It is easy to see temporal things. It is easy to yield to lascivious things. It requires little or no effort to indulge in anything physical and animal-like. But to be born out of that world into a spiritual world is advancement that the Lord requires of each of us. ¶

It is implied in the scriptures that the purpose of membership in the kingdom of God is for the fostering of spiritual life — I repeat — and the achievement of moral and charitable ends; in other words, for the developing of the religious sentiment, the true religious spirit. ¶

This may be done in two ways: first, by seeking the truth and living in harmony with it; and, second, by resisting every influence, every power that tends to destroy or to dwarf in any way the religious sentiment. When an applicant for baptism stood at the water's edge, before being buried with Christ in baptism, he possessed an implicit faith that the Church of Jesus Christ is established upon the earth, and that this organization is the best in the world today for the fostering of spiritual life, for the attaining of true religious development, for the salvation of the soul. ¶

I repeat that this implicit faith was within him; and with that, there was a true repentance, and that repentance carried with it a desire to leave off everything in the past life that was contrary to the teachings of the gospel or the Church. His old life, and the sins, if there were any connected with it, he truly repented of. He looked forward to the time when he would be born anew in the kingdom of God. He was about to go through the ordinance of baptism, typical of the burial of his old life, and with it all the imperfections, the frailties, the evils, the sins that accompanied that old living. He was to be buried by baptism, that as Christ was raised from the dead by the power and the glory of the Father, so he might come forth in newness of life, a member of the Church of God, a child of the Father, a citizen in the kingdom of Christ. By baptism he was born again, and became a fit recipient of the Holy Spirit. His body came forth anew, and the Holy Ghost was bestowed upon him; he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. ¶

That is where we all stood at one time. Those were our feelings, our faith, our hope. We stood that day forgiven of past evils and follies. Now, the whole mission — the life, if you please, of soul development — was before us, and we had thus bestowed upon us the light that emanates from the Father, to lead us that our feet might not stumble, that the truths of his holy gospel might sink into our hearts — the truths that will give us knowledge that our souls might be saved in intelligence. The Holy Ghost was to bring all things to our remembrance, to show us things to come, to testify of the Father; and as we seek that light, and live in accordance with the duties that are placed upon us by that obligation, we are seeking the true religious development we are fostering the true religious growth. ¶

But what is the other element which we must consider? Along with this new life, with this seeking for truth, there should be a strong power of resistance. Though being born anew, and being entitled to new life, new vigor, new blessings, yet the old weaknesses still remained with us. The Evil One was eager and ready to attack and strike us at our weakest point, and he has been striking at it ever since. Why? That he might thwart the very purpose for which we entered the Church of Jesus Christ. ¶

Our mission, then, is to resist evil as well as to seek that which is high. ¶

Our Savior is our Divine Exemplar. After he passed through the ordinance of baptism to "fulfil all righteousness," after he had received the commendation of the Father and the testimony from on high that he was the Son of God, the "Beloved Son" in whom the Father was well pleased, Satan was there ready to thwart his mission. Jesus went forth in fasting and prayer preparatory to the great mission resting upon him, and when in his weakest moment, as Satan thought, when his body was weak and exhausted by long fasting, the Evil One presented himself in temptation. And what was the temptation? An appeal to his bodily weakness: "If thou be the Son of God" — (note the taunt, the very testimony on the bank of the Jordan was, "This is my beloved Son" [Matt. 3:17.]) — "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." (Ibid., 4:3.) In a moment of weakness and hunger that temptation would be strongest, other things being equal. There was the moment of resistance on Jesus' part. His seeking had been manifest in prayer and fasting. His resistance came at the moment of bodily weakness. Though the body was weak, the Spirit was strong, and Christ answered: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Ibid., 4.) ¶

Then, as you recall, Satan tried him on another point. Failing in that, the tempter tried him still on a third point. He tempted him, first, on his love for physical comfort; second, he tempted him on vanity; and third, he tempted him on love for worldly wealth, and the power to rule the world. I say "tempted him," but Christ was above temptations. Satan tried to tempt him. But all these temptations Christ resisted; and the final resistance was: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Ibid., 10.) ¶

We may not have heard audibly on the water's edge the words: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," but the Spirit bore testimony in our souls that God was well pleased with the act, and he was pleased to lead us as we sought his guidance in fasting and prayer. We might not have heard in audible tones: If you are a member of that Church, a member of his kingdom, entitled to the Holy Spirit, do this or do that. Our temptation may not have come in that form. It may have come in the form of old desires. It may have been (and I doubt not that it was) in the form of some bodily temptation, some longing. It may have been the craving for the cigaret, which we determined — if we were sincere — to put aside when going into the waters of baptism. Oh, when that longing came, after we were in the Church or kingdom, who was it who said: "Though you pretend to throw that aside, take it only once more; this once will not hurt." There was the necessary moment of resistance! How many of us stood as did Christ, our leader, and said: "Get thee behind me!" ¶

This element of resistance in regard to our bodily longings — satisfying the passions — applies to every member of the Church of Jesus Christ. In some way the Evil One will attack us. In some way he can weaken us. In some way he will bring before us that which will weaken our souls, and will tend to thwart that true development of religious sentiment. And what I mean by that is this: the development of the spirit within, the strengthening of the inner man, the strengthening and growth of the spirit, which time cannot kill, but which is enduring and lasting as the Eternal Father of that spirit. And the things which will tend to dwarf that spirit, or to hinder its growth, are things which members of the Church are called upon to resist. ¶

We have in the eighty-ninth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the word of the Lord upon a few little things — little as considered by many, and particularly by the men of the world — which the members of the Church are asked to observe. It is a temporal law, and pertains to our spiritual as well as to our physical welfare. I hope that we may have strength to resist all the allurements that come with wealth and worldly position, when we make those two things an end in themselves. Today we have only time enough to consider those few little things with which Satan tempts us in regard to our body. ¶

In that section, you remember, we read: "Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation — ¶

"That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. ¶

"And, again, strong drinks . . . tobacco . . . [and] hot drinks are . . . not good for man." (D&C 89:4-5, 7-9.) ¶

These things mentioned here — strong drinks, tobacco, hot drinks, (tea and coffee included) — are a few of the temporal things which members of the Church who would follow the true religious sentiment of this Church should resist. ¶

Every young man throughout Zion, when he comes forth from the waters of baptism, ought to know that it is part of his duty to resist smoking a cigaret, no matter where he may be. Every young person in the Church should be taught, when coming from the waters of baptism, that he should resist intoxicants when passed around at the social gathering. Every young member of this Church should know that tobacco in any form should not be used. He or she should resist all these habits, not only for the blessing that is promised herein by our Father, but also because of the strength so acquired to resist greater temptations. ¶

Now, just a word in regard to this "resisting" under circumstances that seem difficult. A young man who may refuse cigarets or liquor at home, and who may find it easy to do so, might yield when he is out in company at a social. When all the others partake of these things, he might not have strength to resist the temptation. That is the moment when the true soul growth should be made and fostered. That is the moment, in the hour of greatest temptation, when the strongest resistance does the most good. It is not when it is in the family circle, when father's and mother's influence help to keep these things away. In this respect it is to be hoped that every father and mother will set a good example. I hope that parents will not set bad examples so that the children indulging in weakness may say, "I am following you." ¶

As far as possible let our fathers and mothers restrain themselves in these things. Parents, resist temptation! Control your appetite! What though you do crave these gratifications? The more you crave it, the greater should be your resistance and the greater will be your soul development. It is no credit for us to resist something we do not crave or long for. The man who grows most by resisting is the man who resists what he craves, and who will say, in the strength of the gospel, "I will stop it. I will resist it." ¶

"It is easy enough to be virtuous When nothing tempts you to stray, When without or within no voice of sin Is luring your soul away. But it's only a negative virtue Until it is tried by fire; And the life that is worth the honor of earth Is the life that resists desire." ¶

(Ella Wheeler Wilcox) ¶

May God grant that as we are seeking the further establishment of the kingdom of God, that we may instruct our young people, and the members of the Church everywhere, to resist temptations that weaken the body, that destroy the soul, that we may stand truly repentant as we were when we entered the waters of baptism; that we may be renewed in the true sense of the word, that we may be born again; that our souls might bask in the light of the Holy Spirit, and go on as true members of the Church of Jesus Christ until our mission on earth is completed and God receives us and rewards us according to our merits. ¶

May this be our lot, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶