The Use of "Our Prophet" in General Conference Reports from 1899 to 1950 for the Then-President of the Church

  

The following is a listing of examples of the use of “our prophet” from General Conferences between 1899 to 1950. One will note that, while some instances it was used of Joseph Smith, it was often used for the then-living President of the Church. This shows that the use of “our prophet” for the then-president was common before the presidency of David O. McKay (1951-1969), contra D. Michael Quinn et al.:

 

Conference Report, October 1899, p.55

Reference was made today by our prophet, Seer and Revelator, Lorenzo Snow, to the Judgments of the Lord that came upon the people in the State of Missouri, in Jackson County, in 1833. The Saints were driven from their homes and stripped of their possessions, not because they were the most wicked people upon the face of the land, nor because the Lord had cast them off forever, but because He was reminding them of the covenants they were under and the necessity of their keeping them. He was reminding them, I say, of these truths, by these chastisements which He had permitted to come upon them, renewing their faith and confidence in Him and humbling them before Him that He might again bless them and pour out upon them blessings and favors which he had in store for His faithful children. And truly, as President Cannon reminded us, the revelation of the Lord, in 1834, was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, saying that inasmuch as the people had been chastened and had repented, the Lord was willing to accept of their repentance, if they would turn unto Him with full purpose of heart and serve Him and keep His commandments. Now, although they were awakened from their slothful condition and were caused to repent of their former neglect and sins, through the grace and favor of the Lord, after having been chastened sufficiently, yet we axe informed that they again became slothful and careless and failed to keep the commandments of the Lord, and, finally, He permitted their enemies to drive them from the State of Missouri to Illinois, where they built a city under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in Hancock County, called Nauvoo, or Commerce. Here the Saints prospered for a little season, although the land upon which they had settled was unhealthy and malarial. Malarial fever seized the Saints in Nauvoo and In Montrose, situated just across the river, and they suffered very sorely from sickness and disease of a dreadful nature for a number of months after settling in that place. To such an extent did they suffer that the Lord was moved to compassion on account of their condition, and He whispered to His Prophet Joseph Smith, who called some of his valiant brethren around him and went from house to house in Commerce, or Nauvoo, and in Montrose, administering to the Saints and commanding them in the name of Jesus Christ to arise from their beds of affliction and walk and be made whole. Wherever they went and these commands were given in the homes of the Latter-day Saints, they were obeyed, and the sick were healed instantly.

 

Conference Report, October 1899, p.57

The Prophet Joseph laid down his life because God decreed that it should be so, and He permitted him and his brother Hyrum to be martyred for the cause of truth. Again a Prophet was selected by the power of Almighty God and placed to lead the people, in the person of Brigham Young. After the Prophet Brigham's demise another Prophet was raised up by the power of revelation from God the Eternal Father, and he, too, stood as the leader of Israel all the remaining days of his life, never flinching, never swerving from any duty laid before him, standing in the majesty of his calling to promulgate to the people the word of the Lord; and so it was when President John Taylor passed away. It was so with President Wilford Woodruff, who succeeded to that prophetic ministry, to lead and guide Israel and to declare unto them the mind and will of the Lord. And now another Prophet stands with the same keys of authority, with the same power of the Holy Priesthood resting upon him. And so it is today. Our prophet, the Prophet of the Lord, the Prophet of the Mighty God of Jacob, Lorenzo Snow, declares unto us as a congregation today, as the congregation of Israel everywhere, he declares unto us, as our spokesman, as the spokesman of the Lord, that it is necessary for us to reform in our lives. These are the conditions that confront us today, the time when we are to observe the commandments of the Lord and accept of the word of the Lord as given through His servant the Prophet. We could bring up by referring to the history of God's people, both in ancient and modern times, year after year, and decade after decade, instances to show that the Lord has ministered unto His children when they have entered into covenants with Him and have kept those covenants, and He has blessed them abundantly from time to time; then again, at times, He has brought upon them His Judgments, showing His displeasure unto them for not keeping His commandments as they should have done. Then they have repented, and again the clouds of darkness and persecution have lifted, and the Saints made to rejoice in the sunbeams, in the light of God's favor and countenance, after the dark clouds have passed.

 

Conference Report, April 1900, p.28

I promise you that if you will keep the commandments of God, repent of your sins, go into the waters of baptism and make covenant with the Father that you will obey him, you shall be born of water and of the spirit, and that spirit of revelation, so beautifully referred to here by our prophet, Seer and Revelator yesterday, will come upon you, and you will know that God lives, that you are the creation of his hands, and that you shall have eternal life, if you will continue to keep his commandments.

 

Conference Report, April 1900, p.43

Brethren and sisters, the Lord in revealing to the Prophet Joseph that a day of vengeance and burning is coming upon the earth, did not desire, I think, to arouse any feelings of fear or anxiety in the minds of His people. It was simply that they should be made acquainted with the fact that such a day is coming upon the earth and also that there should be a preparation made by his people for that time, that they might be able to abide that great and dreadful day of. the Lord. One peculiar feature of this revelation is that while the Lord speaks of this time of trouble and calamity, he also comes down to the simple matter as it might seem to some, of giving instructions to. his clerk. He says that his clerk shall keep a history and a general Church record of all things that transpire in Zion, and in the manner of life and faith and works of His people, and especially that it should be recorded of His people 'that they pay their tithes and offerings, and later perhaps that they shall observe the law of consecration, that they may escape the day of vengeance and burning. We see that the Lord is very particular in this matter. In the early days of the Church, some baptisms for the dead that were not properly witnessed and recorded, were rejected of the Lord, and the work had to be done over again. We know that great care and attention is given to this matter today in our Temples, and that efficient help must be secured to do this. Let me tell you something in relation to this great Temple of the Lord in Salt Lake City. From the time that that Temple was dedicated, in 1893, up to the year 1899, there were 475,662 ordinances performed therein, and for the year 1899, 68,871. making a grand total of 544,337 ordinances performed in the House of the Lord for the living and the dead, and this does not include the work that has been done in other temples of God. Truly it is a great and marvelous work, and not the least important thing about it is that these ordinances are all carefully recorded in the books and are filed away in the archives of the Temple, to be brought forth in due time. From these records the people who have gone to that house will be judged. Nothing that is done in that Temple will be accepted of the Lord, except it is properly witnessed and recorded. The Temple work is strictly looked after each day, so that nothing is neglected or omitted, much to the credit of those who labor in the Temples. The great work performed in the Salt Lake Temple, has thus far been accomplished under the presidency of our prophet and Seer, and we rejoice in it.

 

Elder Wm. H. Smart, president of the Eastern States mission, said: I take great pleasure in assembling with you in this conference and I am enjoying a spiritual feast, in listening to the counsels that come to us from God through His Holy servants. The uppermost thought in my mind is that God has indited the counsels that have been given to us in our meetings thus far. I have been away from the body of the Church for two years, as a missionary to the Eastern States. While I have been absent when conference time has rolled around my spirit has been here and I have longed to sit under the sanctuary and receive the word of God as it is given from time to time by His servants. I desire to bear my testimony to you, my collaborers, that God has inspired His Prophet in this day with regard to the law of tithing, and that this spirit is not only in Zion but that it has spread abroad into every part of the world where the Saints and Elders are living. A little less than a year ago, after the word of the Lord had come through our prophet with regard to this law of tithing, we caught up the spirit of it in the Eastern States mission. It electrified us. It was nothing but the power of God that did it. The spirit bore witness to us that that word was from God and that it was not of man. I do not feel that I have power to take up your valuable time this morning, but I did want to bear this testimony unto you, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1900, p.12

It seems to me that this is a most glorious subject to contemplate. And not only shall the brethren be saviors upon Mount Zion, but the sisters, too, shall share in this glorious work; for they can go to the temple and assist in officiating for the dead. The sisters as well as the brethren shall have credit on the books for their share in this grand work. Brethren and sisters, here are the temples before us. Now let me ask the question, Who shall be worthy to go into them and to do the work that I have indicated? You know something of the power and sacredness of the work; you know something of this binding and sealing-power; you know the great responsibility of exercising that power. I ask you, Who shall be worthy to go into these temples? We have been told by our prophet and president that the man who does not pay his tithing in this Church shall not have access to them. Not that he shall be coerced, not that he shall be frightened, by this saying of the president's; but simply because he is unworthy to go into the temple. If he violates this great commandment of God--the law of tithing--then he is not worthy to receive and participate in the blessings of the House of the Lord. It is a simple proposition. The Bishop shall not recommend him; the president of the Stake shall not recommend him. They cannot do it. It would not be pleasing in the sight of God. And they who violate the other commandments--and there are many who disregard the authority of the Priesthood, who slight the counsels of the servants of God, and who will not give ear to their teachings--are not worthy to go into the house of the Lord and officiate for the living and the dead. And that shows a very close connection between the living and the dead, between this world and the other world; for you can scarcely mention the work for the dead, except you shall say something concerning the living; and you can scarcely speak of the living, except you shall say something concerning the dead.

 

Conference Report, October 1901, p.40

I rejoice in the principles of the Gospel, because they are saving in their nature. I am rejoiced at the condition of the Stakes and wards of Zion and the organizations of the Holy Priesthood. I am rejoiced above measure at the glad response given to the words of our prophet Lorenzo Snow in relation to the law of tithing; still, there is yet room for improvement. I rejoice at the numerous missions that have been opened, where the Elders are permitted to go forth and proclaim the word of the Lord and the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I rejoice that a new mission is being opened in Japan, and I feel assured that there will be no failure in it. Whatever trials these brethren may have to meet will only tend to make them live nearer to the Lord and to feel after Him for their own sustenance. They will prosper in that mission, and the door will be opened wide for the Elders to proclaim the Gospel among those teeming millions of brown men. So will it be in other lands. President George Q. Cannon, in the conference prior to his death, said that the doors of the Gospel must be opened to other lands; and in saying that he echoed the very sentiments of President Snow and President Smith. This mission to Japan is the beginning of this great opening to nations where yet the Gospel has not been preached by the Elders. I rejoice also in the condition of the Stakes of Zion. I observe in the hearts of the people a desire to improve, a desire to advance, a desire to live nearer to the Lord, to keep His holy commandments, and to be worthy of the blessings that He has in store for the faithful.

 

Conference Report, April 1902, p.61

I endorse all that has been said here this morning. I am delighted to see this building full of Latter-day Saints. It is a testimony and a confirmation of the remarks of our prophet yesterday, that Zion is growing, and that the Latter-day Saints are increasing in faith and good works and are laboring for the advancement of the kingdom of God. I rejoice exceedingly in being here with you today to lift up my voice in testimony of the divinity of the work of God in which we are engaged. I rejoice that the testimony of the Gospel grows and increases within me day by day; for every day of my life it seems as though the Lord blesses me with additional knowledge. I rejoice, as I said the other evening in Priesthood meeting, that we stand as a united whole. I rejoice that the adversary, who inspired the men to kill our prophet and Patriarch, has been routed. I rejoice in thinking that a son of the martyred Patriarch stands at the head of this Church. I rejoice that a love has al ways existed in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints for all the Prophets of God since the organization of the Church down to the present time. I rejoice in the love and confidence the Latter-day Saints have for the First Presidency of the Church, and for the Apostles. I rejoice in the testimony that is borne in my heart that all of the authorities of the Church--the First Presidency, Apostles, Seventies, Stake presidents and ward authorities, as well as the presidents of the various auxiliary organizations -- are seeking for and desiring the advancement of God's work. I rejoice in seeing the barriers broken down whereby the Gospel may be carried to all the nations of the earth. I rejoice in the testimony in my heart that, as was stated by Brother Penrose, the opening in Japan will prove the opening of the oriental world, not merely the opening of the little islands that form the nation of Japan, but it shall also lead to the Gospel being preached in China and other oriental nations.

 

Conference Report, April 1902, p.84

I feel to bless this people with all my heart and soul. I feel to bless every man and woman, of whatever land or religious denomination they may be, who feel to exalt Christ and Him crucified, and who preach this doctrine for the salvation of the human family. God help them; God help us. When the record is written and published that this people have made, under the guidance of inspired men, it will equal if not surpass any record that the people of God have ever made on this globe. It is a testimony in and of itself that should convince all men who are acquainted with it, that the people are guided by the hand of Jehovah. But there is something beyond this to the Latter-day Saints. Who is there in this congregation that has the living testimony and the fire of the Spirit of God in them? Brethren and sisters, answer that yourselves. Have I that testimony in me? Have you that testimony in you? It is the priceless gem that God bestows upon His anointed, and upon His sons and daughters who seek Him with undivided hearts. I know that this people have it, because I see and feel it. The inspiring. influences of that Spirit are in the midst of this people; and we are bound to succeed, because there is no power that can resist the influences of that Spirit and the revelations of God, Never in the history of this people will evil come upon them, unless they forsake their Redeemer. Never will sickness, death or anything come in your homes, but what God designs it for the benefit, the upbuilding and enlarging of the dominion of the Latter-day Saints. We have control over sickness--how far? Are there any deaths among us? There are, and good people die; but there is something in this that is far beyond my understanding; for I remember the time well when our prophet Joseph Smith and our Patriarch Hyrum Smith--two of the noblest men that ever stood upon the earth--rode to rode to their death. They went to death at Carthage. What for? To leave the people without a shepherd? To leave us there in the midst of our enemies, trembling and like lost sheep? Oh, no! They went to seal their testimony with their blood, which cannot be refuted by all the world. They gave their lives to sustain this work, and it was necessary, according to the revelations that we have received. Are we any better than they? Are we any better than Christ? No. If God permits a thing, shall we complain at it? But I do testify to you this day that nothing will come to me, nothing will come to you, to your families, or to anything that God has given you, but what you will acknowledge His hand in it, and it will be for your salvation and the salvation of your families. I know it because God is doing this work. He has the issues of life and death in His hands, and I know that when these things occur, His hand is in them, if we are living right before Him; and there is no power beneath the earth nor above the earth that can check this handiwork of the Almighty for the uplifting, guiding and consolidating of His people. These things are hard to bear; but, brethren and sisters, I say to you as I say to myself; in my prayers every day I acknowledge His hand in all things, because I know He has my welfare at heart, come life or death, poverty, riches, persecution, or whatever it is. The Church of Christ will rise; the kingdom of God will burst forth, His purposes will be accomplished, and the exaltation of the faithful will be assured, and no one can hinder it.

 

Conference Report, October 1902, p.10

I feel well in the Gospel. I know it is the power of God unto salvation. I love to hear the servants of the Lord address us from time to time. I love to, hear the voices of those who love the Gospel. I have been delighted this morning in hearing the voices of my, brethren who have spoken the principles of the Gospel. I have been made glad to hear our prophet say that Zion is prospering and growing In the land. I can realize this myself. I can also realize the influence which the good people of Zion have among the people of the world. As has been said many times, I know that God and one righteous man is a majority; and I know that if we will live according to the light which we receive from time to time through the servants of the Lord, the Elders who are in the mission field preaching the Gospel will have an easier time.

 

Conference Report, April 1903, p.6

My brethren and sisters, let us take heed to the admonition of our prophet and leader today. While we are in a condition of prosperity, let us not forget the obligations that we owe to our Heavenly Father, and see to it that we tithe ourselves honestly before the Lord all the time. Let us make good every obligation that is laid upon us, so living before the Father and before each other that we can claim a continuation of the great blessings that we are in possession of today. I testify to you that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God, and that he went to his fate knowing that he was to be martyred for the truth that God had given to him; yet, like his great leader, the Savior of the world, he did not flinch or turn aside from the course that the Lord had marked out for him to pursue. In like manner the brethren who have been his successors have been unswerving in their integrity, true to their faith, true to their covenants with God and with each other. As the Lord blessed them, so He is blessing His servants and people today; and He will continue His blessings upon us if we will continue to serve Him faithfully. Although we may have the evidence of the hatred of wicked men, that need not discourage us at all, but rather give us more determination, that through the grace of our Father and through the blessings of the Gospel we will remain true and faithful to Him who has thus blessed us. I pray that the blessings of the Lord may be upon the speakers during the remainder of this conference, and that the spirit of our leader may fill every heart and encourage every one of you, my brethren and sisters, and lead us all on in the paths of life eternal. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

My dear brothers and sisters, I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for this honor that is bestowed upon me this morning in being called to address you and to represent the Big Horn Stake of Zion. I feel proud of the people that you have sent into that stake. I presume that there are before me many of the fathers and mothers, the sisters and the brothers of that body of people that compose the Saints in the Big Horn Stake of Zion. I wish to say to you that I feel proud of them. They have honored me in my position. I never have had yet an unpleasant word from one of the colony in the Big Horn stake in the last three years, It is three years the 22nd of this month since I left my home in Rich county, in the Woodruff Stake of Zion, to go to that land, according to a call; and I feel to thank the brethren for that call. I thank my Heavenly Father that I was taken up root and branch and moved into that land. I feel satisfied now with my labors, which I never have been before. As has been said by Brother Woolley, I was born and raised in the Church, and I was born in your beautiful city, and immediately after my birth was taken to what is known as Bountiful. I thank my Heavenly Father that my parents have obeyed every law that God has revealed for them to obey; and I thank my Heavenly Father that a great portion of the people in our land have obeyed those laws, and are the issue from some of the highest laws that God has ever revealed. Do not worry about your sons and your daughters. Do not think that they are going to starve to death in that land. We have a goodly land, and we are prospering. Out-canal is finished. The brethren are fencing their farms, and were plowing their land long before I left home, and I left there two weeks ago last Wednesday. I can truthfully say that none of them have mortgaged their farms, for the simple reason that they have not the title to them yet, and I thank the Lord for it. We propose to keep them out of the title just as long as possible; we do not want them to have it till we have complied with the laws of our state. We love the laws of our state. I believe that there is no better laws in any state of the Union than they have in the state of Wyoming. We love the executive; we love the officials of that state. I have been fortunate enough to live for 80 years on the borders of the state of Wyoming, and all the business that I transacted has been transacted in that state. I have known two of the supreme judges for over 26 years, and I have known the governor for 26 years, and I have known nearly every state official. I have had the honor of being in that legislative body in connection with President Osmond of the Star Valley stake, during the winter; and I have gone to the governor of that state just as I would go to my father whenever any doubt or dubiety pertaining to any measure that was for the welfare of the common people has arisen. I have gone to him and got his advice. The first thing he told me before he let loose of my hand when I went there was, "Now, then, I want you, Byron, to use my office just as if it was your own, and my secretary; I want you to come to my home and visit me and stop all night with me and eat with me." The same with the supreme judges. They want our people in that land. They invite us there. They know that when the authorities of our Church take hold of a proposition, whether it be in building canals or anything else, there is no doubt in their minds in regard to the success. They have learned that we have the only successful colonization people that there is in that land. They have tried it repeatedly, and they have made failures. In a great many instances men have come to me and wanted information. "How can we handle a people like this people are handled by Mr. Woodruff and yourself?" Apostle Woodruff, you know, we look upon as our father, as our common instructor and guide in that land, in temporal matters as well as in spiritual matters; and I thank my Father in Heaven for him. I thank my Father that I have become so thoroughly acquainted with him, although sometimes it has been quite a trial for me to follow him, I followed him about 15 days before coming down here, holding one end of a surveyor's chain and he holding the other, and I thought he would walk me to death. There was no lie down, no stop. He has that same desire and anxiety in his heart regarding the work up there. He has remarked to me that he would rather die than see it fail. I have made that remark, and I make it again. Send men there, if you are going to send men, that are not afraid to labor. I endorse every word, and thank God for the words that we have heard here this morning from our prophet. Let us keep out of debt, brethren. Let us be true; let us not be traitors to our brethren and to one another. Preach the Gospel by honoring ourselves and honoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those who have in charge His work-here in the earth. Preach it by being honorable to our fellow-man. I teach the people in our country to put up the fences of their neighbors, Jew or Gentile; drive the cattle out of their fields; lift the poor cattle out of the mire, and show unto them that we do believe the teachings of our Lord and Savior. That is the way I propose to preach the Gospel to the people, until I am directed otherwise, as well as sitting down by their firesides and preaching it to them.

 

Conference Report, April 1903, p.10

Brothers and sisters, I pray that God may bless this conference, bless our prophet and these Apostles, and help us to be true to them, to honor them in their positions, and not to be traitors. It would not be a healthy thing for a traitor, if ever I sat on a jury to try him. God bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

Conference Report, October 1903, p.75

There is much glamor of sophistry, which may be taken for profound reason and argument, in the work to which I call your attention. But one word answers this philosophical accounting for our prophet. The work accomplished by him, the institutions he founded, destroy the whole fabric of premises and argument on which this theory is based. Great as was the Prophet Joseph Smith--and he was great; to him more than to any other man of modern times was it given to look deep into the things that are; to comprehend the heavens and the laws that obtain there; to understand the earth, its history, and its mission. He looked into the deep things of God--always, be it remembered, by the inspiration of God--and cut of the rich treasure of divine knowledge he brought forth things both new and old for the instruction of our race, the like of which, in some respects, had not been known in previous dispensations. Hence I repeat that Joseph Smith was great; but great as he was, rising up and towering far above him is the work that he accomplished through divine guidance; that work is infinitely greater than the prophet--greater than all the prophets connected with it. Its consistency, its permanency, its power, its institutions, contradict the hallucination theory advanced to account for its origin.

 

Conference Report, April 1904, p.27

Recently I was at the Stanford University, and upon the bulletin board there I read a proposition like this, which was to be debated upon: "Resolved that a new religion, for all men and for all time, should be established for the human race." Down in the city of Los Angeles I observed a new structure going up, bearing the name of "The Church of the New Christian Religion." I thought to myself that the people of the earth, those outside of our own Church, feel the necessity of living oracles, else why debate this question? else why establish a church called the new Christian religion? If the principles that were set forth by Christ and His Apostles were maintained in their purity, and completeness, there would be no need to establish such a church, nor to debate such a question; for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. It does not deal with the past alone, nor with the uncertain future, but with the living issues of today. Within it is that agency that will uplift and save humanity in every land and clime, if they will but heed its teachings. There is nothing that the heart of man can conceive of, that is desirable and good, that is not included in the Gospel. There has been no system of ethics evolved that parallels the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, as contained in the fulness of the Gospel. Despite the scattered truths that were revealed by Christ, and the great men of the earth since His days, those who have spent years in writing ethical truths have never been able to eclipse the old pagan fathers of Greece, who knew not the Lord Jesus Christ, nor His teachings, and they have never evolved a better scheme for the evolution of mankind, to bring them to a plane of perfection. It takes the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to do this thing; but the people of God are in the minority, as they have ever been since the earth was organized, apparently, for no sooner did Adam and Eve commence to beget sons and daughters than there were those who strove against the righteous and the righteousness of the law. Although God had instructed Adam not only in His word and in the plan of life and salvation, as we can see from the scriptures, but also in the art of agriculture, how to prune and dress the vine, how to clothe their own bodies, and how to live, yet, notwithstanding this, Adam's sons rebelled against the truth, and one of them put to death righteous Abel. Even in the time of Noah, despite the fact that there were many great men, such as Jared, Lamech, Cainan, Methuselah and Enoch, who heard the testimony of father Adam--and one of them, Enoch, had walked with God for 320 years--yet the majority of the people in that day turned a deaf ear to the word of God. Noah labored with them upwards of 120 years to convert them to the testimony of their fathers. Many of them, doubtless, had a knowledge of the Lord, and knew that He had appeared and talked with men, and yet how few received his testimony. Well, after this time, we find that even Abraham had to flee from his father's household, and from the idols his father worshiped, and go into a strange land and among a strange people to receive the Priesthood of the fathers--which by right, belonged to him--that he, too, might worship the Lord God, according to the dictates of his conscience, free and untrammeled from the superstitions and unjust laws of his father's household. It was not the majority even, that believed after the miraculous manifestations of the Lord in Egypt. Although He brought His people from that land and overturned, one by one, the gods of the Egyptians, what a short time it was after Moses was removed from them that they forgot God, and returned to the worship of the Egyptian god, Ammon, symbolized by the calf made by Aaron and his brother, and, as a result, the wrath of God prevented all, save two, from going in to the promised land. Take the history of the prophets later: They were subjected to insults and injuries, and many of them were put to death by the people who said we have no need of prophets, we have Moses for our prophet and have no need of thee. This history was repeated in the days of the Savior who called the people to account because they embellished the sepulchers of the prophets, but stoned to death the living prophets. It was the Savior who said to the people of His own country who were offended at him: "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house." He was put to death, and His Apostles, save one, were all put to death because of the testimony they bore, and that, too, largely by those who were looked upon as the wise of the earth, students and scholars of the law. In this day and generation, while history has repeated itself, by us being in the minority and our prophet and his brother and many of the Saints being put to death for the testimony of Jesus, the promise is made unto us that in this day the Gospel will continue, as you heard by the mouth of the Prophet of God this morning, until every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, when there shall be none to hurt or make afraid in all God's holy mountain. I say, may God hasten the day, and may He help us so to live, my brethren and sisters, that people abroad may sense the fact that our desires are to uplift humanity, that "Mormonism" has revealed unto us that plan, that system, that scheme that will save mankind, being the truth which makes men free.

 

Conference Report, April 1905, p.18

We have heard the voice of inspiration through our prophet who stands at the head of the Church, and in our field we know that he is a prophet of the living God; for we can testify that our hearts have burned within us when we have listened to his voice and testimony; and when we have yielded obedience to his counsel, we, too, have received revelation and inspiration from on high, such as men can only receive upon principles of righteousness.

 

Conference Report, April 1905, p.38

As there has been some voice, some word, some murmuring heard through the land against our prophet-leader, it is natural that his friends should rally to his support and give expression to their feeling. This morning, President Ben E. Rich bore testimony to the fact that he knew President Joseph F. Smith had his ears open to hear the voice of God, and was ever ready to heed the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. I want to bear my testimony to the fact that he also has his ears open to his fellowmen, and that he sympathizes with them. He has not forgotten, as others have often done, "That the love of the Lord and of man are one." When I stood here six months ago I had a rather heavy heart, because our mission was without a home. We had been forced to leave our headquarters because of the agitation then going on, and were obliged to take shelter with the conference president in a little room about 10X10. I thought I would appeal to the authorities of the church and see if we could not get some aid to establish ourselves firmer in the city of New York, where it was important that the Latter-day Saints should be well represented and established; but, I accidentally heard that the funds of the church 'had already been so divided, there had been so many calls, that word had been sent out that improvements not already started should not be commenced during that year. Still I felt I must ask for aid, and I testify that my appeal received kind consideration, and five thousand dollars was given to us to make the first payment on a place we might call our own in the city of New York. Part of your tithing has gone there, my brethren and sisters, and I hope you do not regret it.

 

Conference Report, October 1905, p.46

Another item. During the last few months of the Prophet's earthly career, the one subject which rested upon his mind more than any other was the subject of the salvation for the dead, the building of the Nauvoo Temple, the erection of a baptismal font and a house in which the keys of the holy Priesthood might be given to the servants of the Lord, where they might receive their conversations, as described in one of the later revelations to the Prophet, wherein they might receive that spiritual instruction that should better equip them for the work of the ministry which God had laid upon them. This was the burden of his discourses, this the burden of his letters written to the Church from his place of exile, while being compelled to hide from the officers of the law under the false accusation of having transgressed the law parenthetically: the Prophet Joseph was as frequently in that condition, aye, more frequently than any of the brethren have been since. But this temple work was the one thing that seemed to press most heavily upon him just previous to his death. Have this people been true to that spirit of temple building and temple work? Let this monument of granite to the east of us, a collective discourse in stone by the Latter-day Saints, bear witness to the world that we have been true to that part of the work which way of such importance in the mind of the Prophet. Let the stone temple in St. George bear a similar testimony. Let the splendid temple in Sanpete county be another witness; and the one at Logan in the north, let it also testify to the same fact. Bring forth the records of those temples, and let the millions of baptisms for the dead answer whether this people have been true to the mission, in the redemption of the dead, which God has placed upon the Church. Let the records of sealings of husbands to wives, wives to husbands, children to parents and parents to children--let the hundreds of thousands of ministrations of this kind bear witness to the faithfulness of the people of God to this doctrine advanced by our prophet in the last days. I say that the blending together, or, if you will, in the language of Paul, the gathering together of all things in earth as well as of things in heaven; the uniting together of the past with the present, of the fathers with the children, is one of the most stupendous facts connected with this great work of the Lord in the last days. Do you not remember that this doctrine, which is now so gloriously developed among us, was a matter of early concern to the Prophet Joseph? This work was foreshadowed in the very first interview the Prophet had with Moroni, for he quoted the words of Malachi, though a little different from what they are in the Bible, to the effect that the Lord Would soon reveal the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah, and the hearts of the children shall be turned to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children. If it were not so, he said, all would be consumed at the Lord's coming. After that, step by step, line upon line, precept upon precept, this doctrine was delivered, until it has borne fruit in the manner that I have indicated to you by the administration of the ordinances of the Priesthood, wherein the power of godliness is made manifest, and without which ordinances of the Priesthood, we are informed, the power of God is not made manifest.

 

Conference Report, April 1906, p.73

We are united and in harmony in striving to build up, in that part of the world, the kingdom of God. We sustain not only each other but also our prophet and President, Joseph F. Smith, and the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. We sustain the presidencies of missions by sending our Elders to them to preach the Gospel. I have brought with me from that country on this trip 20 boys and girls who have come up to the Temple, and the boys are going on missions. I never saw such happy responses to missionary calls in my life, and for twelve and a half years I presided over what is now the Middle States mission. The Presidency of the Church called upon our stake for ten missionaries, and in almost less time than it took to get an exchange of mail there were 14 who responded. In nearly all instances the call had been answered not alone by letters, but the boys have come and answered in person, and they are here ready to go anywhere that the Priesthood of God desires them. That is the kind of response that I love to witness. I say, God bless the youth of Zion. I am not discouraged in the boys and girls of this Church, for I have found that there is the spirit of patriotism and the love of the Gospel in them. They may not be doing just as well as some older members; they may have fallen into some foolish habits, which we could possibly excuse under some circumstances; but I tell you there is determination to do their duty when they are willing to drop everything, leave their young wives, their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, property interests and everything that is dear to them, not knowing what is ahead of them, taking their lives in their hands, and going to the different nations of the earth to preach the Gospel. That is the kind of people we have in the Church down in Arizona. The climate there is warm; we have genial sunshine, and that has some effect upon the people. They are warm hearted, generous, good, and faithful. I am willing that my lot should continue to be cast with the people of Arizona, and I am willing that my bones should be buried there. I say God bless them, and bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1908, p.29

I want to bear witness here today that no man or woman ever lived, who kept the commandments of God and lived according to the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose example was not worthy of the imitation of all men and all women, in any land, and in any clime. This Gospel of Jesus Christ, which you and I have embraced, is in very deed the plan of life and salvation. It is in very deed is the Gospel revealed again to the earth. It is the same Gospel that was proclaimed by our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ; and He gave His life in testimony of the same. And the lives of our prophet and Patriarch were given as a witness to the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. For seventy-eight years this Gospel has been proclaimed to the world without money, without price. Freely we have received, and freely we have given to the world.

 

Conference Report, April 1909, p.111

I rejoice in hearing the choir and congregation sing all four verses of the great pioneer song, "Come, Come ye Saints." It has been a source of regret to me that we seldom if ever heard that fourth verse. I remember, on one occasion, while speaking in this hall, I made the request that, whenever the choir or congregation should sing this hymn, that they sing the fourth verse. As I listened to the remarks of our prophet, I was deeply impressed. He asked the question, "Are we as faithful, are we as diligent as our fathers and mothers were?" While that hymn was being sung I remembered his words; and as we were singing it, I asked myself the question, Do I feel as did our parents?—

 

Conference Report, October 1909, p.48

May the Father grant that this time shall not be far away, but that we shall do well our part, that the coming of the Son of Man may be hastened, and the time soon arrive when men shall study war no more, that every man shall render that which is just and true to all his fellows, come into God's peace, and be able to say, as did our prophet and Seer, the martyred President of our Church, "My conscience is void of offense towards God and all men." in possession of this peace we shall be "as calm as a summer's morning." May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and give us of His Spirit, to know, to feel, and to live these Gospel truths, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1910, p.79

I bear testimony to the truth of the Gospel. It is my testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that the leaders of the Church are men of God, and that our prophet and leader today is a prophet of God; and I bear this testimony in the fear of the Lord, and in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1910, p.86

Now we come to those who have followed Joseph. Those of us who were acquainted with President Young and his ministrations among the people, and those of his successors, President Taylor, President Woodruff, President Snow, can we not testify that those men in their ministrations to us reflected the Prophet Joseph? Did we not give reverence to their counsels and to their instructions? Did we not sustain them as we should sustain them, as the representatives of our Father, as the representatives of the Prophet Joseph in the midst of the people? Yes. And while my heart was made to rejoice in the testimony that our present President, Joseph F. Smith, bore concerning his labor among this people up to date, and especially since he occupied the position of President, yet I want to follow him still farther. Do you know that the inspiration of God is in that man and dwells there? Do I know that he has the word of the Lord to deliver to this people, exactly suited to conditions and circumstances as they present themselves? Do I know that the true inspiration of heaven rests upon him? Yes, I know it. I make my deposit by my confidence in that man, as I would make my deposit of money in the bank; and I go to that place of deposit to draw therefrom that which I have placed there, together with the interest that accumulates because of that deposit. This is the testimony that I wish to bear concerning our present President. The strength of Brigham Young, let me tell you, consisted largely--shall I say entirely--in following along the line closely and persistently, all the days of his ministry among the people, that had been marked out by the prophet Joseph Smith. He had treasured his sayings in his heart concerning this people and their future, and he was prepared to act upon those suggestions of the Prophet, in order that there might be fulfilled in the life of the people and in their experience, the words of the prophet. And all those others that I have mentioned that have followed him have walked in the same path. Our prophet today, Joseph F. Smith, has certainly reflected that prophet of the last dispensation; and he himself, and his actions, and his ministrations in the midst of the people, I want to say, are acceptable to our Father. Our observance of the words that come to us, let me tell you, is our strength, our power, our deliverance, our advancement, and will be eventually our glory. God, the Father, is essentially a creator, God, the Son, as Brother Ballard has beautifully shown today, is essentially the Redeemer. God, the Holy Ghost, is essentially the Witness of the Father and the agencies employed by Him, ministers to all those who are willing to listen. That spirit talks to your spirit; it passes by your body. It desires to bring you all in subjection to its teachings, to its counsels and suggestions. It will confirm your faith in the gospel, and no matter whether you have all confidence in the world in the Testament, in the Bible, or in any other book, all the principles that have ever been revealed from heaven will be confirmed in you by the power of God, and you will never get an assurance of these truths short of that.

 

Conference Report, October 1910, p.105

We heard yesterday from one of the speakers in the Tabernacle that some one had said that we were very lath, in fact afraid, to stand up by the side of the scriptures, that we were afraid to have our ideas and doctrines investigated in the light of the revelations of God, as contained in Holy Writ, particularly in the Bible. I say to you, as an elder in Israel, and I do not need to tell it to those of us who have embraced the truth and have knowledge of it, but, should there be any here who are not converted to the doctrines of Mormonism--I want to say to you that nothing is farther from the truth than that. I know there is nothing that I like better, that pleases me more, than the privilege of lining up the principles of Mormonism with the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. There is nothing I like better than to demonstrate the truth of the principles enunciated by our prophet in the light of the revelations contained in the Word of God. I bear testimony to you today that Mormonism, as it was enunciated by the Prophet, and as it has been taught from that day to this, as it is proclaimed by us throughout the length and the breadth of the world today, is nothing more, is nothing less, than the doctrines laid down in the Word of God; is nothing more nor less than the preaching and teachings of the prophets of all ages since the world began. I repeat, it is an especial pleasure to any missionary to compare the doctrines of Mormonism, so called, with the doctrines taught in the Bible.

 

Conference Report, April 1912, p.38

We look upon Joseph Smith as one of the noblest of the sons of God, reserved in the spirit to come here upon the earth in these last days to be a prophet, yea the great prophet of the nineteenth century, of the dispensation of the fulness of times. His life was subject to sorrow and suffering, for his people, and he experienced constant anxiety and interest for the welfare of the Latter-day Saints and the children of men. He was persecuted as was the Savior, and was wont to swim in deep water, all the days of his short life; he was prosecuted in the courts, some thirty-nine different charges having been falsely brought against him, and he was as many times acquitted, for Joseph Smith was an innocent man. When the persecution became so rife, and he had thought to flee from it, that he might be of service perhaps for many years to come unto this people, whom he loved better than his own life, some supposed friends intimated that it was cowardice on his part to leave the people under these circumstances, and Joseph Smith remarked: "If my life is of no further value to this people it is not to me ;" and he returned. As he was going to Carthage, or about to go, he made this remark: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but my conscience is void of offense toward all men ;" and he met his death bravely. He was martyred and sealed his testimony with his blood. And we love him; he is our prophet, the prophet of the dispensation of the Gospel when we have figured, when it has been our privilege to tabernacle in the flesh. He has been the instrument in the restoration of the everlasting Gospel to earth, in the establishment of the Church and Kingdom of God, in the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, that power and authority to minister unto the children of men in the ordinances of life and salvation, and to preach this Gospel in all the world. The many revelations which the Lord gave through him to this people, for our enlightenment, for our comfort and joy, and our guidance through life, these all we appreciate, and it makes us to love more and more our dear and departed prophet, Joseph Smith.

 

Conference Report, April 1912, p.96

Now, if we attempt to follow out this injunction, and prepare ourselves as Elders in Israel, as ministers of the gospel, as teachers of righteousness, as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, there is a vast deal of labor in which we may engage, wherein we may secure our vindication and the conversion of the world. Are we doing that, my brethren and sisters? Are we following those injunctions that have been given unto us by our prophet?

 

Conference Report, October 1912, p.39

It has been pointed out briefly that we have had a great history. I believe our people have always been tolerant, charitable, and above all, constant to the principles which they hold to be true, and which they know with all their hearts. I am glad for all the organizations of this Church, for they have made history by their acts as well as their thoughts. I believe that the one great organization that has impressed the world with its charity and its bigness of activity has been the Relief Society, from the beginning to the present day. It was my privilege but a few weeks ago to listen to a man who had not been to Salt Lake City since 1856, He asked the question--How the Mormon Church had grown? He wanted to know whether or not we hold to be sacred and true principles that we held to be sacred and true in 1856 when he came here on a visit on his way to California. I answered him as best I could, but one thing he said that impressed me, and I want to say it to the sisters of the Relief Society. He said that he landed here with some emigrants. They were penniless, they were hungry, thy were without shoes and stockings; but he never forgot the time when some "Mormon" women came into camp, gave them stockings, brought them bacon and flour, and they did it because, said they, "Our prophet leader tells us to, and not only he told it, but greater still, we have the Spirit of God that dictates to us, and it says that no one must starve or be in need where there is plenty, and where we have the chance to give, and to live and let live." This man said that these woman were members of a society organized for charitable purposes. It was the Relief Society of one of the wards of Salt Lake City, which as early as 1850 was doing charitable acts and helping humanity in its need. I am grateful today for such an organization, and I am proud of it, for I think you have done great deeds, and manifested your faith in God by your acts.

 

Conference Report, October 1912, p.119

I know that this is the work of the Lord, and that we are His chosen people in these the last days. Where much is given much is expected; and I do earnestly pray that both young and old will take to heart the instructions that have been given by our prophet, and by those who have followed him, in teaching and warning us concerning these trying times, and in regard to our lives as Latter-day Saints. I do hope, and pray, that the young people especially will take the advice of those who are older, and not go into by and forbidden paths, and partake of the evils that exist in our midst, by following bad examples set before us by those who are not of us. Let us look to our leaders, those who hold the Holy Priesthood, and take their advice, and, in the spirit of humility and prayer, I feel sure that if we take this admonition we shall not go astray spiritually, but be raised up by the power of the Lord and made equal to the responsibilities as they come to us from our fathers.

 

Conference Report, April 1913, p.111

May the Lord bless the people, comfort, everyone. Those who could not come to this conference, may they receive from their friends the message of good will and kindliness that came from the lips of our prophet, and leader, and from the lips of his brethren who have spoken during this conference. May health and peace continue to abound in the homes of the Latter-day Saints, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1914, p.77

Continuing my story, let me direct your attention to more recent events. The Saints lived in Nauvoo six or seven years. While there, the mob killed our prophet and Patriarch; and when the wicked saw that the death of these men had not destroyed the work of God, they became more furious than ever, and did not rest until they had driven about 20,000 Saints into the wilderness, far beyond the borders of civilization The people of Illinois witnessed the exiled Saints disappear on the prairies of Iowa, going toward the land of the setting sun.

 

Conference Report, October 1915, p.16

I wonder, my brethren and sisters. how it is possible to give back to the latter-day Saints, in this day and age of the world, our prophet and our Patriarch. His words and his life work have been pictured by poets, by orators, and by historians--and these we have with us--that we may revere him, and know him as he was. We have gifted singers who sing the hymns of Zion, and tell us in beautiful language what the Prophet Joseph Smith has done for the Latter-day Saints and for the world. But I wonder, at times, if there is not yet in the future another means which will be used in order that we may have with us the Prophet of our God, in this age of the world. It occurs to me, inasmuch as it has been stated, that there never has been a true likeness and picture given to the world of the Prophet Joseph, that there must come a time in the future when, out of the gifted young men or women of Israel, there shall arise a sculptor or painter who will picture upon canvas, or in marble, a true likeness and representation of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Then I cast my eye back over the pages of history. and I wonder which of the many great incidents in his life is the most appropriate one, that reveals the true character and manhood of this wonderful man.

 

Conference Report, October 1915, p.100

I pray that the blessings of the Lord may continue with us. May we be united in our supplications to the Lord that He will bless our prophet, that He will bless all those who are called to preside over this great work here upon the earth, this is my prayer and I ask it in the name of the Lord. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1916, p.143

This was the universal feeling respecting modern war. I remember that several young men of our own faith who came to me to converse upon this very revelation and warning on war that the Lord caused to be written by his Prophet, and wondered if we would not have to find some interpretation that would be harmonized with continual peace among the nations; but the word of God proved to be true, and notwithstanding all the hopes and opinions of men, the great calamity has come; and we stand in the relationship of having fore-knowledge of the event, not by any wisdom of ours, but because the Lord was pleased to reveal the impending danger of the nations to our prophet. There is another relationship in which we stand to this great event of the last days--one which grows out of our fore-knowledge of this calamitous event of the world's war, and that is the relationship of duty to warn the inhabitants of the earth of this calamity. If you will read that revelation which is called God's Preface to his Book of Commandments, you will find it stated there that God "knowing the calamities that were to come upon the earth," of pestilence, and war, and famine, he had sent forth his angel to his Prophet and had commissioned him to teach it, to establish his Church, make proclamation of judgments to come, especially of this calamity of war, and proclaim also the existence of a place of refuge and safety in the midst of these calamities, even Zion, the land of America--for such America is, the land of Zion, "And it shall come to pass among the wicked", saith the Lord, "that every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee into Zion for safety, and there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another."

 

Conference Report, April 1918, p.69

The Lord bless our leaders, and may God our Father touch our prophet with his finger, as it were, and heal him from his infirmities; that we may hear his glorious voice and his powerful testimony yet many years. When I heard that he was not well it seemed to me that my very own had been stricken. So I pray, with all Zion, that God will bless him; that he will bless us all; that we may keep clean and pure and do our full part that we may be worthy of the glorious opportunities that our Church and our Nation afford, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1918, p.96

Now, our prophet has warned us during this conference, along certain lines. He spoke concerning the Word of Wisdom. I should like to read to you today that prophecy, or that word of the Lord as it came through the Prophet Joseph Smith, eighty-five years ago. I call attention to the fact that scientific research and the scientists of the earth have never from that day to this, found one thing concerning the laws of health and those things that were good and those that were not good for man, that has contradicted, in any sense, the word of the Lord in the Word of Wisdom. On the other hand, we find nations who are steeped in the vices condemned in this scripture, and peoples who thought that they could not live without partaking of these things, that have universally risen up and condemned the very things that they upheld before, and that, in accordance with this scripture as revealed to us through, the prophet of the Lord.

 

Conference Report, October 1918, p.103

I rejoice exceedingly with you that the President of our Church, the Prophet of the Lord, is so fully recovered that he could be with us in this conference. I believe all Israel throughout the length and Breadth of the land has been pleading for him. Let us continue to pray that God will bless "our prophet dear." And may God establish us fully in the truth and enable us to appreciate his revelations, as given unto us through the Prophet Joseph Smith, is my earnest prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, June 1919, p.14

May God bless each and all of us who have a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, and may we be faithful to the end as our prophet was, our beloved leader who has left us, Joseph F. Smith, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

I am very thankful for this privilege. Just to look at this congregation is a pleasure and a treat. To be called upon to speak--I was going to say--is a task, and it really is, for I do I do not feel prepared to deliver a discourse upon any particular topic or subject. But I feel thankful that I am able to be here, and to lift up my voice once more in testimony of the truth. I bear testimony that what we heard this morning, that which was delivered from this stand, was true, divinely revealed and divinely spoken. I felt like shouting and singing, "Hallelujah, Praise to God," when President Grant closed his remarks: for I felt that he was inspired of God to give to us words in due season: and I believe the whole congregation, this immense audience, was thrilled with the same feeling and spirit. I enjoy preaching of that kind. I do enjoy a well said discourse, prepared already in thought and in language to deliver to a public assembly, but I must say that I do much more enjoy addresses that are delivered by the power of God, accompanied by that splendid spirit which came to us all when we first embraced the gospel. When we first heard the glad tidings of salvation brought to earth in the latter days through the Prophet Joseph Smith and his associates, our whole souls thrilled with joy, with thanksgiving and praise to the Lord: and no matter how often we heard the same simple truths declared, we enjoyed the hearing of them, and the same spirit that rested upon the speakers rested upon the hearers, so we rejoiced together. I felt that this morning, as I have many times during the conferences that we have held in years that are past, and I was impressed with the feeling that the promise made by the Almighty in regard to the continuance of his work, was verily true, and will be fulfilled to the uttermost, no matter what may occur, no matter what changes may come, either through the martyrdom of our prophet or the decease of our leaders, by what we call "natural means." No matter what the opposition may be in the world, though thrones may totter, empires fall, and the systems of men may be broken up and perish, the Church and Kingdom of our God shall continue and abide and increase.

 

Conference Report, April 1920, p.81

Men come from afar and witness what the Latter-day Saints have accomplished in this intermountain region, and go away deeply impressed with these achievements. Often when these men are approached on the subject of "Mormonism" they say, "I care nothing about your religion, but I am greatly interested in what you people have accomplished." This is a very superficial commentary upon the history of the Latter-day Saints. For, apart from the living faith taught and exemplified by our prophet, the Latter-day Saints would not have been able to accomplish any more than any other people.

 

Conference Report, April 1920, p.83

The great philosopher Emanuel Kant said, "Two things inspire me with awe, the starry heavens and human accountability." This sense of "human responsibility" to God is the only thing upon which enduring civilization can be built. The world more than anything else needs an intensified consciousness of its responsibility to Almighty God. Nothing but the living, vital faith that our prophet discovered one hundred years ago can bring back to the human race the awful thought, "There is a great final Judge to whom we are responsible for all our thoughts, aspirations and acts." Only this thought will bring peace to the nations.

 

Conference Report, April 1920, p.152

I admonish my brethren and sisters to be more prayerful in the future than they have been in the past, and to be more diligent in teaching their children to pray, that we may triumph in the end over the powers of darkness, and be permitted to join in this glorious work with our prophet on the other side and with all other prophets of God. I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in his blessings unto me, and although a weak and humble instrument in his hands, I have observed many sacred testimonies which have come to the Latter-day Saints through the words that have come to me as a servant officiating by virtue of the Holy Priesthood and by that authority, I bless the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all the faithful members thereof, especially you, brethren and sisters, who have been PG My heart goes out to you in blessings from the Lord, because I say to you in his name that he is pleased with those who are true and faithful, with those who can stand up, as the brethren have in this conference, in the different sessions thereof, and testify in boldness and in wisdom pertaining to the growth and truth of this work. God is at the helm. This is his work and not ours, although we are his agents, authorized with power and with authority to carry it on. These are instruments for our guidance, and a principle of power with us and our children, my brethren and sisters, is prayer. May you take it home and cultivate it and practice it to the glory and honor of God and his work in the earth, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1920, p.114

Brethren and sisters, thank God for this vision, that we may see our duty clearly and thank God for our prophet, seer, and revelator, who by the mercy and the goodness of God, guides his people, and unto whose counsel we will rally -- because I know and I bear my testimony that the sons and the daughters of this people love the Church –

 

Conference Report, October 1921, p.63

We are living in a time of commotion. We are still in the struggle of what has been called the "back-wash of the war." It is a time of unsettled conditions. The right of suffrage has been widely extended throughout the earth. There has come within the scope of governmental powers increased duties and increased powers, and men are trying to keep their bearings by fixing their gaze upon the land marks. I thank the Lord for the marks that we have in this latter-day revealed religion of ours; that we have been kept steady, just as an ex-secretary of state found during the war evidences of steadiness here among our people. We might now have fewer instances of suffering and more evidences that we are prepared to stand not only the shock of war but the shock of war's aftermath, if there had been more obedience. People have passed through a stressful time during the last few years. You people within the sound of my voice can testify to that, if not from personal experience, from the instances in the lives of your friends, some of whom have gone down in the financial struggle. I know of one instance of creditors pursuing their debtor, and after the struggle of the debtor had been so severe that he in the meridian of his life had been a victim of adverse circumstances, and had given his life as forfeit, the merciful creditor then greatly rejoiced. In speaking to me of it, he expressed great joy that he had exercised mercy and forbearance and had not contributed in any way to the untimely taking off of his brother. Some find themselves in the position they now are in as the result of disobedience, failure to hearken to the counsel of their stake presidents. I know of some neighborhoods where there is financial distress, and the people feel the pinch of indebtedness, just now as a result of failing to obey the caution given them by their respective stake presidents. I feel sure that the remedy has been offered for any little, or any considerable, inconvenience that the people may be passing through just now, if they will hearken to the voice of our prophet, seer and revelator. You are familiar with the story of the necessity for the cleaning up of a municipality in olden times, in order to properly receive certain guests; and the consideration by the municipal authorities as to how they could do it upon short notice. Someone suggested that each one clean in front of his own property. That is all we have to do, it seems to me, each one of us, whether we belong to the Church or not, each one to, whom this message of the opening address of this conference comes, to be obedient, to give heed to the suggestions, and the distress and discomfiture, if any exists, will surely disappear.

 

Conference Report, October 1921, p.95

I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that the work which was entrusted into the hands of Joseph the Prophet, in these the last days, is to be a literal type. In other words, it is the actual restoration of this great plan of redemption which will not only save the house of Joseph, not only to save you and me who are here, representatives of that great family in Israel through our lineage and our obedience, but, it will save all who come in from the lands surrounding us, from the nations of the world, who render obedience unto the laws that govern it. Its fulfilment will be literal in these the last days. I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that we are enjoying today the blessings of plenty, the blessings of the productions of the land; and as a servant of the Lord, I give thanks to, our Father for those glorious blessings. I praise and thank him for the glorious plan of redemption, and trust that we shall return unto him that portion of our increase which he requires at our hands, and continue to live and enjoy the blessings of this land of Joseph; and in these the last days be instruments in the hands of God to bring about this literal salvation to the souls of men, that we may not only enjoy the blessings of our home and our lands, but that we may enjoy those unto his chosen children, that we may live, unitedly together, sharing our blessings, and our privileges and returning unto God the faith and works which he requires at our hands, that we may continue to live. In so doing we will not only honor ourselves and receive our blessings as they have been promised, according to the records, as they were promised to that Joseph who was sold by his brothers, and to our prophet Joseph Smith who was raised up of the Lord in these the last days, but we shall enjoy the blessings as they have been multiplied unto us in these the last days, to bring about that wonderful and glorious salvation of the souls of all men. We sang yesterday that song about Joseph who gave his life as a martyr, for his testimony concerning the work which the Lord entrusted into his hands. I should like to read again the last verse of that song:

 

Conference Report, October 1921, p.104

The President, the man whom we sustain as our prophet, also appealed to us yesterday to support home industry. I propose not to talk about his eloquence, but to leave the building determined to reform in this respect. Will you do the same thing?

 

Conference Report, April 1922, p.110

My brethren and sisters, I rejoice in the gospel, and in all the principles thereof, and, as President Brown has said, I trust that we will give every loyal support in every way to those who were placed over us to lead and to guide us at this time. In that remarkable address of president Ivins, the other day, he pointed out to us in a very clear manner, the administrations of the respective prophets who have presided over us since the organization of the Church, and that each had his special work to perform. Now it is up to us. President Grant is our prophet. We have our problems to solve. We love and appreciate the brethren, those in authority who have gone before; but this is our day, let us make the best of it. Let us give full support to the living prophets, and may we be able to do so with all our might, mind and strength, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

I think, my brethren and sisters, that this is one of the most wonderful institutions in all the world. I have been impressed, ever since I was a boy, with the fact that the majority of the people of the world have been followers of leaders. I have been impressed, as a young student, with the life and influence of the great Confucius, Socrates, Plato and many of the modern wonderful scholars. I always had a longing desire to understand their marvelous principles and methods and systems of thought. I wanted to be on the inside, so to speak, of all that they knew, and all that they did, and strove to find out their ways. Quite early in life a call to a mission came to me. I saw an opportunity in that to gain experience. I struggled for a testimony. It came; and then the dream that I had of a student's life was very much upset. I was impressed with the character of Joseph Smith, of Brigham Young, and of the other presidents and leaders of this Church. But I immediately noticed a wonderful difference between them and the so-called scholars of the world. It soon dawned upon me that there was a vast difference between them and the other men of the world. The first class had been led and directed, apparently, by their own powers. They had taken credit unto themselves for that which they had unfolded for their followers. I noticed in the life of President Joseph Smith, our prophet, God's inspired servant in the world, a disposition not to take credit unto himself, but to give credit to that God with whom he said he had conversed-- not that indescribable God that so much puzzles the world today. So I began to give my allegiance to him as a leader, and to try to follow the teachings that he had given to the world through revelation from God. My testimony soon grew, and was strengthened, and I learned that we, in this world, my brethren and sisters, are children, not of the men of the earth, but that we are children of God. All that I have, all that I ever hope to be, I trust will be given as service to this great cause of the Latter-day work which I know is the work of God, not that invisible, incomprehensible God, such as is taught in the world, but he who was revealed to Joseph Smith in person, who has been revealed to many of our leaders, and whom we know by testimony, as we have known, if our hearts have been attuned to it.

 

Conference Report, October 1923, p.94

I rejoiced in our first session of this splendid conference, when I heard our president relate the experiences of the past six months, when he told of his dedicating the temple at Cardston. He also related his attendance, at a conference in Rotterdam. It was my pleasure to be in attendance at that conference, and at that time I said that I never before had felt the Spirit of the Lord in such power manifested as it was at that time. It was also my good pleasure to be called by the president to attend the conference at Bradford, in England, to which he has made reference, and there again we heard some wonderful testimonies which made an impression upon my soul, which never can be eradicated. I also had the pleasure of accompanying our president through Germany, through Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; and I also had the pleasure of once being in a room with him at one o'clock in the morning. He called me in, and he took a newspaper and read from it in the light of the midnight sun. And I have thought: O, what a joy it would have been to me could I have attended that service at Cardston--the dedication of that temple. We have heard that a number of the leading authorities of the Church were present and men from all parts of the Church gathered at that most wonderful gathering. There were the presidency, the prophet who holds the keys, the only man upon the earth who holds the keys and the powers to commune with God for the good and for the advancement of his people here upon the earth. Those keys were conferred upon him when he met there to dedicate that temple. There were not alone these men, living here in the flesh, but I have felt, deep down in my soul, that that great man, our prophet and president, Joseph F. Smith, the great leader Brigham Young, and the Prophet Joseph Smith were present in spirit. Why? Because they are not alone interested in the work of the living here upon the earth, but they know the conditions on the other side, they know that there are thousands who are waiting for the ordinances that will be performed in that sacred temple. The doors will be unlocked and they will be made free through its ordinances. It must have been a grand and glorious vision and sight to see.

 

Conference Report, April 1924, p.77

In the city of Palmyra, near the center of it, there are four corners, facing one another. On each stands a church, and these churches existed there one hundred years ago. The ministers of those four churches united in what was called a "Union Service"; and for weeks a very earnest kind of Christian propaganda was carried on, a revival meeting, and great interest was aroused there and throughout the surrounding country in religion. All went well, many people were drawn to contemplate the religious life, and much good seemed to have been accomplished, until the time came when the new converts were to file off to the respective churches of their choice, and then strife, division, and confusion confounded, seemed to prevail. This very greatly distracted the mind of our prophet. The questions under consideration then were such as these--something about the decrees of God: Would people be saved by the free grace of God, and the free will of men combined, and would they thus be drawn to the feet of the Christ? Or had God pre- determined before the foundation of the earth the exact number of those who should be saved, and had so definitely fixed upon the number that it could not be increased nor diminished by any human effort, by any personal desire, or searching or seeking after righteousness? Those who were to be saved were to be saved by the pre-determined will of God, without any act of their own. On the other hand it was just as explicitly known who would be reprobate, and they could not escape by any means of repentance or other device whatsoever. The question was discussed as to whether this pre-destination of men, to salvation or destruction, affected infants as well as adults. A division existed, some claiming that all infants dying in infancy would be saved, and others claimed that only those whom the decree of God bad fixed for salvation would be saved. Would the heathen be saved? That was a question debated. Was baptism essential unto salvation? Would unbaptized infants be saved, or were they among the number that it would be impossible to save, baptized or not ? And so the controversy went on. Time will not permit to go into all the details of it, but this perhaps will indicate the nature of some of the discussions. None of those questions were settled by the debates which occurred, but you have been hearing very little about them for a long time. People have not been discussing them. But the point I desire to bring to your attention is this, that notwithstanding the debate on those particular questions have ceased, Christendom is not yet united. The confusion and divisions have broken out in new places.

 

Conference Report, April 1924, p.89

The first Patriarch in this dispensation, the father of our prophet, when he was upon his dying bed, called his family around him and gave them his dying blessing; and when his oldest living son came, he said: "Hyrum, the only blessing I have for you is to reconfirm upon you your Patriarchal blessing which you have already received." That was his dying blessing, with very few other remarks of comfort and consolation; this assures me that there is a fundamental principle in a patriarchal blessing when pronounced and recorded. It is an eternal anchor for our soul with the Lord; so it is not particularly necessary to receive a multitude of written blessings. But when these blessings are given and properly recorded, they are just as eternal and binding upon us through our faithfulness as were the blessings which were given by Adam, Abraham, Jacob or any of the former patriarchs in the times which have passed.

 

Conference Report, April 1924, p.90

"For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." And I am most thankful to the Lord that in this day and age in which we live he has again set up his kingdom and established his Church and restored his gospel, and in them has placed his power' for I testify to you, this morning that the Prophet Joseph Smith was raised up of God, and did not take unto himself power, but from our Father in heaven received power to establish this great work; and the work of the Lord, in this day and age in which we live, is characterized by the power of our Father in heaven in all of its ramifications. We who have listened to the inspired words of our prophet and leader and his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles in this conference, surely are witnesses of the power of God that has accompanied their words. I marveled last night, when we saw the body of this hall filled with men bearing the holy Priesthood, at the wonderful power there is in this Church for the work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the preaching of the gospel, for the warning of all men everywhere in order that they may turn from error, from false traditions, and receive the principles of the gospel and be saved in the kingdom of our Father in heaven.

 

Conference Report, October 1925, p.97

As to the second question, do we believe in Christ? Yes; we not only believe, but we know that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives because we have seen him. It is no longer a question of simple belief, but an absolute knowledge, as the Father and the Son appeared to our prophet Joseph Smith and talked with him, and this is the important message which we have to bear to you, that these holy personages, after whose images we were created, came to the earth and restored the everlasting gospel in its fulness, and this is what we preach to you today and bear our testimony to you that it is true, is God-given, and we call upon you to repent and to embrace the gospel.

 

Conference Report, October 1926, p.123

David, in the Psalms, has not equaled that ecstasy. I know of no passage in human literature that rises to the grandeur and sublimity of these thoughts of our prophet as he reviews the commandments of God and the great events in which the work, of which he was the prophet, seer and revelator, had its birth, and its growth, and its development. It is generally accorded that the imagery of our National Anthem, America, is splendid. A verse or two runs as follows:

 

Conference Report, October 1926, p.124

That is regarded as very splendid imagery, poetry. I wish sometimes our congregations in this house would sing it more frequently, in our conferences. While this is regarded as fine imagery, how tame in comparison with that more splendid imagery that stirred and inspired the soul of our prophet when he contemplated the commandments of God and the facts in which this work had its origin and which I have just read to you. Well, Joseph Smith drew inspiration from that contemplation and from the commandments of God he received. And it is important that from time to time we gather in these conferences and have our minds refreshed with these things, because in these general conferences we do make frequent references to these things--we have frequent recurrence to fundamental facts in which our Church had its origin. There is something real in this frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, just as real are they as when we partake of the holy Sacrament, the symbols of our salvation; the broken bread and the water representing the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord. By partaking of these symbols in remembrance of him, though they are material things, this bread and this water, although they are but words that make up that most splendid prayer of consecration, yet they evoke in the soul a spiritual power that is as palpably food to the spirit of man as is the material food that he partakes of to strengthen his body from day to day. So it is in contemplating these commandments of God and the great events in which our Church had its origin. They do impart a spiritual uplift, they do give impetus to the spiritual forces, and raise to higher levels the ideals of the Saints. They lift the Saints above the normal, and draw them close into fellowship with God. The volume and quality of faith are renewed, and are made to blaze forth with a clearer light, with greater warmth, that carries the Saints through the trying affairs of life, over all the disappointments of it, and makes faith triumphant in their souls.

 

Conference Report, October 1926, p.126

I rejoice that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is gradually gathering into its control the sacred places where great historical events happened. I am sure that it will tend to intensify our remembrance of those events. I remember the effect the general conference of the Eastern States mission had upon our young missionaries--the conference that was held at the Hill Cumorah in 1923, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the revealed existence of the Book of Mormon. I noticed the effect on a group of missionaries only a few days ago of a visit to the Memorial Cottage and the monument that mark the birthplace of our prophet. It seemed to inspire them with confidence and faith in what they had heard of him. I rejoice that we have these places. I rejoice that we have the Joseph Smith Farm, the farm on which the prophet toiled in his boyhood, and where some of the important revelations of God were given to him. I never visit that place but what I feel that I am living in the atmosphere of the great events that took place there. The most uplifting, sanctifying and glorifying inspiration that I have ever experienced has been in the Sacred Grove where the Lord appeared unto him who was to become the New Witness for God in the dispensation of the fulness of times. I am happy in the opportunity of visiting that place and of receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper there, from time to time. I rejoice that recently, acting under instructions from the First Presidency, we were able to secure the place where the Church was born, the house in which, as I now believe, the Church was organized. I know that that is disputed, and that a house is referred to about one hundred feet or more from the house that now stands, that was destroyed, and is said to be the old Whitmer home and occupied by the prosperous Whitmer family during the time that the Prophet Joseph was a guest at their home, and in which he organized the Church. We now have a complete abstract of title with the name of every man and woman through whom the title has passed; and I think we shall be able to patiently investigate the matter until we arrive at the absolute truth as to whether or not the house now standing there is the old Peter Whitmer home. If that is not the house, we don't want to hold forth to the world that it is; but if it is really the home of the Whitmer family, where these revelations in section 20 of the D&C were given at sundry times, and where the Church was organized--if really we have that house, what a treasure it is! And what an inspiration it will be to the Church to be conscious of the fact that we do possess it. It was to this home that the Prophet Joseph, his wife Emma and Oliver Cowdery were brought by David Whitmer from Harmony, Pennsylvania, and were received as guests; and where the Prophet completed the translation of the Book of Mormon. As soon as it was completed, the prophet, by messenger, sent the glad word to his parents living at their home in Manchester township, and they with Martin Harris immediately repaired to the Whitmer home, where the prophet took the step necessary to obtain the testimony of the Three Witnesses. That testimony was received in a grove that then existed either on or near the Whitmer farm. They had prayer in the morning at the Whitmer home, for the Whitmer family were devout Christian people. Old father Peter Whitmer was a member of that strictest of sects, the Presbyterians. He was a sincere and good Presbyterian and followed the practice of prayer at his family altar. The day after the arrival of the prophet's father and mother and Martin Harris, as they completed prayer that morning, the Prophet Joseph walked across the room, and speaking directly to Martin Harris, he said in effect: Martin Harris, you must repent. You must humble yourself before the Lord this day as you have never done before, and get a forgiveness of your sins; and if you will do this you shall, with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, obtain a view of the plates from which the Book of Mormon is translated.

 

Conference Report, October 1926, p.127

What? And yet, give a sunburst of inspiration like that which I have read to you here from the D&C, given in 1842? Out upon it! It could not be true. He who voiced that reverence for God, and had that exalted spirit awakened within him by contemplating the early scenes of his mission--as I have read to you--is no fallen prophet. His life ended en crescendo. It grew richer, it grew greater as it neared its close. His nearness to God was emphasized more in the closing years of his life than ever before. The revelations that he gave increased in power and magnificence. And so, too, in his discourses, they grew in magnificence and power as he proclaimed God's great and mighty truths in the last few months of his life. The Saints of God who witnessed the inspiration of God upon him, come to us with testimonies of his increasing power as a Prophet of God in the latter years of his life. Joseph Smith was no fallen prophet, nor could he be and give such evidence of inspiration both in the revelations he received, and in the great sermons that he delivered near the close of his life, such as the King Follett sermon, and other great discourses. I rejoice in this evidence of the inspiration of our prophet, the grandeur of his work and the evidence that we gather of the truth of it from these things we have considered. Amen.

 

I rejoice with you, my brethren and sisters, in the testimonies which we have received today. It was inquired of old: "If a man die, shall he live again?" That question has been answered well this morning. I rejoice, and I think you do, in the information given us by our prophet, seer and revelator at the opening of this conference, that Cumorah's hill is now in the possession of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In standing upon that sacred ground on the one hundredth anniversary, I wished then, and I expressed the thought at our last semi-annual Conference, that this property might belong to the Church; because in connection with the Hill Cumorah and the revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, there has been a flood of information answering that question of old: "If a man die, shall he live again? What joy must have come into the heart of Job when he was able to exclaim: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

 

Conference Report, April 1930, p.73

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has lived through a century of varied experiences, and has passed through much tribulation. It has builded cities and temples from which its members have been driven by ruthless mobs--self-styled enemies of the Mormon people. Our prophet Joseph and his Patriarch brother, Hyrum, were murdered in cold blood by a brutal mob, for their religion's sake. Many of the saints have suffered death at the hands of their enemies and through exposure to the inclement elements while being driven from their once peaceful and happy homes.

 

Conference Report, April 1930, p.113

That soul-reviving blessing from our beloved President, Sunday morning, thrilled home to our hearts, and we, the people of Israel, love our leader. We proclaim that we ask the blessings of God upon our prophet, and upon all the General Authorities of the Church, for with them, by the help of the Most High, we propose to go on to the glorious consummation of the work of God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1930, p.130

Four weeks ago Sunday, there stood before two hundred and fifty of the Mexican people there, most of them members, but many of them not members, a young Aztec. When I first knew him he wore the costume of the country. He wore white factory pants, with sandals on his feet, and a white blouse. He could scarcely speak, intelligibly, the Spanish language. He is well educated now. He joined the Church some twenty-two years ago. He dresses well; he knows the scriptures from cover to cover. He stood before the people and for an hour spoke to them of the principle of authority and brought up this proposition of the people and the suggestion that our people join with them in making a national church. Now he said, "Brethren, we must be consistent. The Lord does not know national limits in regard to his Church, and it has been his good pleasure to reveal his will to a prophet, who is as much our prophet as he is the prophet of the people among whom he was raised up, and that prophet is Joseph Smith. We hold the priesthood and we have seen its power, we have seen its manifestations, we have seen our sick healed, we have been blessed by it and held together; and all we have we know we owe to the restoration of that power that came to Joseph Smith. That is the power of God that will guide his Church, and we cannot make it any more Mexican than it is."

 

Conference Report, October 1931, p.54

We like to feel, in a modest, humble way, like that--that for this cause came we into the world, that we might testify of the truth that God, our Father in heaven, lives: that Jesus, our elder brother, gloriously resurrected, lives; that these two heavenly beings have condescended to again appear in these last days to our prophet, and have taught him concerning the things necessary to life and salvation.

Conference Report, October 1933, p.75

 

I feel if we who have sung that this afternoon really mean what we have sung, then we can count upon all of us to do that which is right in this matter, and as missionaries bring as many more to the same attitude of mind. Our prophet has spoken; counsel has been given. Years past have proven to us the wisdom of abiding by the counsels given unto us. Why not learn by experience already had, rather than the lamentable experience that is bound to come to us otherwise?

 

Conference Report, October 1934, p.15

These are but samples of the language and the inspiration contained in some of the words given to us by the Prophet, our prophet, the Prophet of the Lord, the Prophet of these last days.

 

Conference Report, October 1934, p.40

May the Lord bless us, my brethren and sisters, that we will commence to pay more attention to the holy scriptures, that we may go to them to solve the problems as they come into our lives, because I am confident that within the books of God, in addition to what comes to us from our prophet, we can ascertain what God wants us to do, how far we shall go, and how we can please him from day to day. May he bless us to this end, that we might obtain additional light and comfort and blessing and eventually find our way into his kingdom. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1934, p.82

I testify unto you, my brethren and sisters, that I know that God lives, and that this is his work. I know that the General Authorities of this Church are called of him; I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and further, that Heber J. Grant is today our prophet and seer, the representative of God upon the earth.

 

Conference Report, April 1935, p.82

We feel to ask of him whom we have acknowledged to be our prophet and Seer, that he inquire of God for us, and obtain a revelation, (if consistent) that we may look upon it when we are separated, that our hearts may be comforted. Our worthiness has not inspired us to make this request, but our unworthiness. We have unitedly asked God our Heavenly Father to grant unto us, through his Seer, a revelation of his mind and will concerning our duty the coming season, even a great revelation, that will enlarge our hearts, comfort us in adversity, and brighten our hopes amidst the powers of darkness.

 

Conference Report, April 1935, p.82

There is yet another lesson, which I think we need. In their request the brethren of the first Council of the Twelve said, "We feel to ask of him whom we have acknowledged to be our prophet and Seer:" I wonder also if all of us do acknowledge our prophet and Seer as these men acknowledged him. They declared for the generations to come that he was their prophet and seer, that he had the power to guide them and the Church. They placed themselves, as it were, at his disposal, because of the inspiration that was his as the President of the Church. Perhaps we fail to receive some revelations in our day which are waiting for us because we do not recognize our prophet and seer with the same deep faith with which these first apostles approached the prophet of their day as they pleaded with him and with the Lord for a great revelation to guide and comfort them.

 

My brethren and sisters, I am orthodox. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in Joseph Smith, and I know that I understand the Savior's life better because of that which has come to me through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I believe just as sincerely and truly in Heber J. Grant. I have known him personally for years, and I know that Joseph Smith was no greater in doing his work than President Grant is in doing his. I have been inspired by his utterances. I have marveled at his strength, at his kindness, and at the manner in which he has stood as our prophet, seer and revelator.

 

Conference Report, April 1937, p.100

I should like each of you to imagine a great chandelier with hundreds of thousands of small globes, with a rather intricate, yet, when understood, simple design, through which each of those globes is connected with the main wire which brings the current from the powerhouse, to supply the power for the lighting of those globes. Compare this, in your minds, to the organization of the Church. Our Father in heaven, the power house, is supplying the power coming to us through the medium of his Son Jesus Christ, transmitting it to their representative here upon the earth, our prophet, seer and revelator; through him disseminated to the General Authorities; from them to our stake presidents; from the stake presidents to our bishops, or in the missions to the mission presidents and to the branch presidents; through them to the different auxiliary heads in the wards and to the block teachers. Thus each of us, every member of this Church, if we are in harmony with this organization, may connect our lamp to the source of power, and gain that strength and that current which will make our light so shine that men, seeing our good works, will come to glorify our Father which is in heaven.

 

Conference Report, October 1937, p.72

Faith is one of those spiritual gifts that I believe is based upon law. We learn, from the teachings of the Prophet Joseph, that if we get any blessing from heaven, it is because we fulfill the conditions upon which that blessing is based, and that is a truth that not only comes from the mouth of our prophet, it is also a truth that has been established by scientific research. Every investigator in the field of material science knows that when he fulfills the conditions he can predict the results, and if the conditions vary, then the results will vary, and when the conditions are completely fulfilled the result will be realized completely. So faith is one of those gifts that we may acquire, that we may cultivate, only if we fulfill the conditions upon which faith is based.

 

I am conscious of what is known as the "dizzy heights." I am humbled by the great responsibility that rests upon one who is called to address the Saints of the Lord, but I am grateful to bring to you a report of the California Mission, and to bring to you the greetings of the missionaries and nine thousand fine Saints in that mission. I am happy to bring you word that the call of our prophet at the last Conference, that "the presiding officers of the Church shall be keepers of the law," has been carried out in the California mission, with the result that there has been a revival, if we may call it that, in the faith of the people.

 

My brethren and sisters: Following in Brother Broadbent's steps, I can say amen to his opening remarks. I wish to say that I am happy to be with you and I have thrilled to the testimonies we have heard this morning, and particularly was I thrilled again by the voice of our prophet leader and by his testimony. I feel that his vigor, his clear-cut testimony, and his quoting of the scriptures to us are a challenge to every member of this Church, and particularly to the missionaries and those who hope to be missionaries. I feel also that his life is an example to all of us, which we can well follow, and we know that he has reaped the benefit of the scripture in the statement that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven."

 

Conference Report, April 1939, p.38

This theological doctrine of free agency which has been proclaimed by our Church from its very beginning, this glorious concept of man's intelligence and his incomparable status in the universe, upon which more light and clearer explanation have come through the latter-day revelations of our prophet than from any other source whatsoever, lie at the very foundation of, and indeed constitute the essence of the most discussed, the most contested, and the most priceless thing in the world today,--human liberty. It is as a premise to a few observations on this important subject that I have cited some of our doctrine.

 

Conference Report, October 1940, p.72

May our Heavenly Father bless the leaders of this nation that we may be kept in the paths of peace. May he bless our prophet and President and his associates that they may lead, guide, and direct this Church to its glorious destiny. And above all, may He bless us all with the spirit of humility and obedience so that we may follow our leaders and so live as to be worthy of all the blessings He has seen fit to grant us and may yet bestow upon us, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, October 1943, p.14

I am sure we have now demonstrated in this Welfare program, and in the more or less ancillary home canning, in what has heretofore been more or less on an experiment, what we can do, we of the Church, if we set our minds and our hearts on carrying out the admonition of our prophet in becoming self-sustaining.

 

Conference Report, April 1944, p.114

The oneness must come, brethren, through being one with him who stands at the head of the Church. And it is the duty and obligation of every officer of the Church to square himself fully, wholly, unreservedly, without deception, without equivocation, to the mind and will of the Lord as revealed to our prophet, seer, and revelator. I say again, this principle relates to all the things that affect the well-being of the Church.

 

Conference Report, April 1944, p.116

God bless us all, give us His spirit and help us so to live that the Holy Ghost may be our constant companion, help us always to walk down the straight and narrow way, give us always the knowledge of the truthfulness of the Gospel and a reverence for our prophet, seer and revelator, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Conference Report, April 1944, p.143

Six months ago I was first sustained by you in this position of responsibility; it was six months ago, day before yesterday, when I knelt at the feet of President Heber J. Grant, our prophet, Seer and Revelator, and his hands, together with the hands of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve and the Patriarch, were placed on my head and I was ordained an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Conference Report, April 1946, p.50

And Joseph Smith, our prophet:

 

Conference Report, October 1946, p.14

This Church is not merely for me and for you who are in the Church. I must begin with myself, undoubtedly. My own salvation comes first; but unless I give of my strength to the winning of other souls for God, my own salvation will be incomplete. That applies to all of us. It cannot be otherwise if we follow the message given us this morning by our prophet and leader. We have a calling, not merely to build the Church of Christ, and to save ourselves therein, but also a commission to save the whole world. We are, as it were, set apart, consecrated for that great purpose. All of Israel must remember, every man or woman who enters the waters of baptism must keep in mind, and every child that comes into the Church must be taught that by the ordinance of baptism we accept the great and divine commission to serve the Lord in building his Church. It will then be easy to keep the commandments of God, to lay aside or meet courageously the temptations that face us. To stand alone, saying selfishly, "I have received the gospel; it is good to be a Latter-day Saint" will not be doing our duty; but, when we say, "Now, I have received this great blessing. I shall pass it on to others"; there comes the flowering in the hearts of men of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I've often had occasion to say as I traveled through the Church in the welfare work that President Grant, when he called me to the general welfare committee, did not ask me if I was converted to this great principle of the Church taking care of its own; he simply told me that I had been called to this work and was expected to go forth and do those things which were necessary to build up this plan among our people. I felt very much impressed this morning with what President Smith said to us about what we see and hear. That is not the important thing. The important thing to you and to me is the thing that we feel, and I am here to tell you today, brethren and sisters, in all humility that there has never been a moment in my life since President Grant called me to this welfare work that I haven't felt well in it and felt that I was doing something that the Lord desired should be done. And so governed by the standards that our prophet has set us here today, it gives me pleasure to bear my testimony to you that there is still great need in the world today and in this Church for this great welfare program.

 

Conference Report, October 1948, p.80

Now our prophet, Joseph Smith, and the prophets since his time--and there has always been a prophet in this Church, and prophets, and you sustain the brethren here, conference after conference, as prophets, seers, and revelators the Prophet himself through the Lord by revelation, gave certain great principles that would save the world if the world would but listen. We do not lack a prophet; what we lack is a listening ear by the people and a determination to live as God has commanded. That is all we need.

 

Conference Report, April 1950, p.87 - p.88

To those who contend that the way of repentance is too slow, I can but reply there is no other way. Our prophet has so declared in this conference. If we do not come to ourselves soon and repent, individually and as nations, of our light regard for human life, our unchastity, our lying and deception, our pride and boastfulness, our covetousness, envying, greed, and thirst for power, our drunkenness, our lack of humility, reverence, and prayer, our desecration of the Sabbath day, our lack of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and, in short, of all our unrighteousness, we shall find it is too late, for other proposed remedies to the world's present predicament will prove futile. There are no armaments, no governmental schemes, no international organizations, and no mechanisms for the control of weapons which can preserve an unrighteous people. "Wickedness never was happiness," declared Alma to his wayward son Corianton; and Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, said to an unrighteous generation of his day . . .