It Is Always A Great Thrill To...

It is always a great thrill to stand here at this pulpit :where the prophets of God stand. It is most humbling to be in the presence of our great president, prophet, seer, and revel ator. It is wonderful that we love him as we do and that we sustain him and uphold him, and I humbly and earnestly pray that every one of us may do so all the days of our lives. ¶

It is a glorious privilege to be able to live in a day when there are prophets in the earth, and I am humbly thankful for the privilege of associating with CENERAL CONFERENCE Sunday, April 8 President McKay and all of these wonderful men who surround him. I would like you to know that they are prophets of God, that the Lord guides them, that they are men without guile, and that they have their whole purpose set in serving the Lord. ¶

So every one of us as Latter-day Saints may place our full and complete confidence in them, and I surely hope and pray that we will do so by keeping the commandments and maintaining the high standards that the Lord has given us. ¶

My wife and I have had a glorious experience in the last month or six weeks. It was a great spiritual uplift to us. One of these great spiritual experiences began with our accompanying Brother and Sister John Longden into the mission home in Samoa one morning about three weeks ago. There we were met by the little five or six-year-old daughter of President and Sister [J. ¶

Phillip] Hanks, who preside in Samoa. ¶

This lovely little child, filled with excitement, ran up to us and said, "I am going to Sauniatu." We smiled with her and enjoyed her excitement, but we were just as excited as she was, because we were going to Sauniatu, also. We could hardly wait till we got there, just as she. ¶

As we went along in the automobile towards Sauniatu, the mission president told again the story of a tremendous spiritual experience that took place in Sauniatu about forty years ago. President David O. McKay was the central figure in that experience. As we neared the village, we saw the marker which designates the place where he stood as he called down from heaven a great blessing upon that village and upon all of Samoa. ¶

Then we went on into the village, and there we saw the larger monument that has been erected in commemoration of this glorious event and in recognition of the love of the people of Samoa for this great man who has become the president, the prophet, seer, and revelator of this Church. ¶

We were surrounded by the people. ¶

We went to the monument and had again recounted the marvelous experience that had made it significant. There came to us a realization that this monument was also a monument to the great spirituality which is characteristic of so many of the Polynesian people. ¶

We remembered the experiences of Brother Matthew Cowley among those people. You recall how he thrilled us with his faith-promoting stories of the experiences he had had among them. ¶

All of this came back to us as we, ourselves, were deeply touched, and we recognized the wonderful things that had lived on in the minds and the hearts of the people there. ¶

As we met with the people in Sauniatu, we prayed with them, we spoke to them, we sang with them, and again recognized that these people were but representative of all of the Polynesian Saints and that the Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. ¶

Why do they have this great faith? ¶

It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. ¶

As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men. For that reason, from the beginning of our Church history we have had more than an ordinary interest in them as a people. ¶

But now that interest is even more keen. Recent research on the part of world-recognized scientists and scholars has focused a new light upon them, and writings of early explorers in both America and Polynesia have become available now for detailed study. ¶

The new knowledge which has been developed shows that the Polynesians without any reasonable doubt did come from America, that they are closely related to the American Indian in many respects, and that even their traditions and genealogies bear that out. ¶

So pronounced is this feeling among the world scholars of today that one of them, Thor Heyerdahl, widely known Norwegian anthropologist, who sailed the raft Kon Tiki from America to the Polynesian Islands, titled one of his books American Indians in the Pacific. ¶

It is a remarkable volume of great interest to Latter-day Saints. ¶

With him are other writers who confirm and re-confirm the facts now being disclosed that there is every reason to believe that the Polynesians are directly related to the American Indians, that they came from American shores and sailed westward to their Pacific Islands, and that they took with them their customs, their food, and their religion, all of which have left a permanent mark upon Polynesia. ¶

Pronounced as are these views establishing the relationship of Polynesians and American Indians, there are equally impressive data now available to disprove the theory that the Polynesians originated in the Orient and came eastward from Indonesia, Malaya, and nearby lands. Let us just mention a few of the convincing points of evidence. ¶

Most of you have seen the great stone pyramids, or photographs of them, discovered by archaeologists in Mexico, Central, and South America. Pyramids of almost identical structure, both in plan and material, if not in size, have been found in Polynesia. I saw some of them myself within the last month. ¶

Stone roadways, so characteristic of the pre-Inca period of America, are found to be duplicated in some of the Pacific Islands. Giant stone statues such as are found in the lands of South America and among the Incas are now discovered in the Polynesian Islands, with characteristics and markings so similar that few can doubt their common origin. ¶

This includes many of the structures found on Easter Island. ¶

The sweet potato of the Pacific Islands, known in Polynesia as the kumara or kumalla, as it is called in Tonga, is now found by botanists to be the identical plant which is native to South America with impressive evidence as to the manner in which it was transported from Peru to the Pacific Islands. ¶

Cotton, coconuts, pineapples, and papaya are likewise being traced from Polynesia to America by botanists who now announce that the Polynesian varieties of these plants are but offshoots of the parent plants in America. ¶

The ocean currents have been observed in our time to carry drifting objects to Polynesia from two places in America, one being the Pacific Northwest and the other the Central and South American region. Large Pacific Northwest pine logs have been traced in the drifting currents of the Pacific Ocean from the Vancouver area of North America to the Hawaiian, Marshall, and Caroline Islands. Hawaiians and other Polynesians have made canoes from these drifted pine logs and in them have traveled from island to island. There are no such trees growing in Polynesia. They came by ocean currents from the Pacific Northwest of America. ¶

This is the more notable when it is observed that customs and household articles characteristic of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest of America have been found on a wide scale in Polynesia. ¶

Written descriptions of fortifications built on some of the Polynesian Islands remind one of chapters in the Book of Mormon which portray the fortifications built by the great General Moroni here in ancient America. Kivas, characteristic of American Indians today, are found in Polynesia. ¶

Words and place names in the language of the Polynesians of the various island groups are now found to be identical to those common among the early people of Peru. Many of these words are actually identical in spelling and pronunciation. ¶

I cannot resist mentioning one of them. It is Kanakana, the name of one of the dieties of both the Incas and the Polynesians. The reason this name interests me so much is that it means brightness or light or knowledge or intelligence. They believed that the glory of God was intelligence and therefore named him so. This is noted in both pre-Inca and Polynesian religions. ¶

There are many other religious teachings which are the same in both areas. Both peoples believe in the creation by the Almighty. They both believe that the first man was the father of all living and that the first woman was the mother of all living, using these actual phrases. They believe in the Flood. They accept an atonement by a Savior. They both believe in a White God who came among their forefathers and performed mighty miracles. They believe in the water of life or living water which is given by the Savior. ¶

The islanders say that their forefathers came from the east, from a land of high mountains and plateaus in the skies, which fits the description of the western coast of South America. The genealogies of the Pacific Islanders are traced to American ancestors. ¶

Large fonts which archaeologists claim were baptismal fonts have been found in both areas. Burial customs are similar. Both groups believed in an all-powerful governing Trinity of Gods. There is one story in Polynesia which reminds us of the story of the brother of Jared. ¶

One of the most interesting of all the reports brought out by Heyerdahl and other scientists who have made a serious study of the Polynesians and their relationship to the Americans is this, and it surprised me tremendously: ¶

These anthropologists have learned that prior to the coming of the Spaniards there were both white and brown people in America, that the white people were as white as snow, according to their descriptions, and that they had brown, blonde, or red hair. The hair was not dyed nor treated in any way. ¶

It grew that way. Now, to our great astonishment, they tell us also that white people as well as brown people emigrated from America to Polynesia and that some of these white people lived in the islands in the times of the early explorers in the Pacific who saw them and wrote about them. Think of the significance of that fact in relation to the Book of Mormon. ¶

I repeat: Anthropologists now say that white people, more fair than the Spaniards, and brown people like the Polynesians of today, lived side by side in America in pre-Spanish times. ¶

Both white and brown people emigrated from America to the Pacific Islands. ¶

They were seen by the early explorers in those islands. The white people were blondes and redheads, and some had soft, brown hair. Their skins were as white as snow, whiter than the Spaniards. All of this from the anthropologists! ¶

Significantly enough, these white men living in the islands wore beards and their faces resembled the faces of Europeans. Anthropologists now say that these white islanders were of Caucasian descent without a doubt, and remember, they were already there when the first explorers arrived and found them. ¶

Such white people actually were seen on Easter Island, as well as on other Pacific Islands, and although they no longer survive, the traditions of the natives tell of them as do the authentic writings of early historians. ¶

On Easter Island, Heyerdahl himself was told by the mayor of the principal community that there were two kinds of people on that island at first, white and brown, and that the white people were really white people with light hair. The anthropologists have long since discarded the idea that they might have been albinos. ¶

Captain Cook saw some of these white natives on his journeys and wrote about them. One came aboard his ship. The other natives told Captain Cook that this white native was their leader and that he was of divine descent and was therefore held in high respect. ¶

It is notable that the highest ideal of beauty among these islanders was the white skin. It was regarded as a sign of descent from the best of the ancient lineages and as a symbol of chieftainship of pure blood. ¶

But where did these white people come from and how did they reach these islands? ¶

The evidence recently compiled says they came from America. ¶

But were there white men in early America, previous to the coming of the Spaniards? ¶

Recently published records from the Spaniard Pizarro tell about similar white people found in Peru. ¶

Pedro Pizarro, chronicler of the Spanish conquerors, wrote that whereas the majority of the Indians in the Andes Mountains were small and of brown complexion, the members of the Inca ruling family were tall and had whiter skins than the Spaniards themselves. ¶

Pizarro says that these white Incas of Peru actually were white, not albinos, but white people with soft blonde or brown or red hair. ¶

Archaeologists have now found mummies of the Inca period bearing out this fact. They were well-preserved mummies with soft hair, blonde, or red or brown in color. Colored photographs of these mummies have been published and widely distributed. They are available in books sold right here in Salt Lake City. They are the work of anthropologists and archaeologists having no connection with the Church whatsoever. ¶

Pizarro asked the Incas of his day who these white people were and was told that they were the last of the descendants of a divine race of white men with beards. These men were given the name of Viracocha, or "sea foam" because they were so white. ¶

We live today in a time of research, discovery, and knowledge. The new knowledge bears testimony that both Nephites and Lamanites lived in ancient America. Regardless of the names given them by the scientists or the early Incas, to us they were Nephites and Lamanites. This new knowledge likewise bears testimony that both Nephites and Lamanites emigrated from America to Polynesia, that they have been seen by modern explorers and seafarers who have written about them and that their customs and beliefs relate to the Book of Mormon. ¶

To me it all adds up to a renewed testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, that the gospel is true, and that indeed Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the White God known as well to the Polynesians as to the early Americans, and that his coming to America after his resurrection in Palestine is the basis of the religion of both ancient Americans and ancient Polynesians, now handed down to modern times with the rest of their traditions. ¶

It is glorious to see the confirming evidence as it comes forth from unexpected sources, sustaining in principle after principle our holy faith. We do not depend upon it for our faith at all, but we welcome its sustaining power nevertheless. ¶

The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is true. Jesus is the Christ, and Joseph Smith is his Prophet. That is the testimony I leave with you, in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶