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I rejoice, my brethren and sisters, in the opportunity of adding my testimony to the testimonies of my brethren who have spoken this afternoon. While I realize the responsibility that rests upon every one who is called to speak to the Latter-day Saints, and to testify of the hope that is within him, I do feel to rejoice and bear my testimony to the divinity of this work. I rejoice in the opportunity of attending this conference, and of listening to the sound instructions and counsels which have been given the Latter-day Saints for their welfare. I rejoice in the prosperity that is being enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints, and in the many evidences which are manifest of this prosperity, of the manner in which the Lord is blessing the Latter-day Saints, both in a spiritual and temporal way.
I have felt and realized that while the church is growing in numbers and increasing in spirituality, there is evident also a tendency on the part of some of its members to grow cold and to fall into paths of temptation. There are so many allurements and temptations in the way of our young people that there are many who are being tempted, both in this city and in other parts of the land, some of whom are being led astray by those things which tend to lead them out of the path of truth, and to make them indifferent to the truths of the gospel, and to the importance of living in accordance therewith.
I have had the opportunity, recently, of visiting various parts of the state, and I was struck with the remarks made here this afternoon by Brother Seegmiller, and also this morning by Brother Smoot with regard to the opportunities which are before us as Latter-day Saints, and before the people generally. I feel that the Lord has blessed the people. When we consider the progress that has been made in this country, in this state of ours, in the last fifty or sixty years, we have occasion to be doubly thankful to the Lord for His blessings which He has given to us, that He has given to our parents and to those who have gone before, who have come here as pioneers, and established this people in the midst of this land. Recently I stood upon one of the foothills overlooking the Utah Valley, and the thought came to me this morning. while I was listening to Brother Smoot, of something that occurred to me there. I looked over that valley, and I can assure you, it was one of the most magnificent sights I ever beheld, to see the many manifestations of the prosperity that is attending the people generally in that section of country. While I saw the people cultivating the land and gathering the fruits thereof, I saw also that there is ample room for very many more to settle in that part of the country, as there is also room to settle in this county, and to settle in many other places in this state. There are many opportunities for us, as Latter-day Saints, of which we can take advantage to introduce industries in the midst of the people. These things, I believe, are being realized to a great extent by the Saints, and they are in line with the spirit that was manifest through President Brigham Young when he brought the people to this country, to organize the elements, to improve conditions; and while they are improving their temporal condition, to improve their spiritual condition also.
I believe that we have great opportunities before us; and among the greatest opportunities is the improvement of the young people, the improvement of the home, the power to draw around us the children, and to teach them those things that are for their welfare, that will establish them in the truth, and that will enable them to remain true and faithful in after years. It seems, sometimes, in looking over the conditions which prevail within the city, that the temptations and trials which our young people have to undergo, the tendency to be led away from the truth, to indulge in the pleasures of the world, and to become indifferent to those things which are considered sacred, are greater today than they ever were before, that the tendency among the people to follow those things, to be led away in youth, has increased. At the same time, I believe the opportunities which are before the Latter-day Saints for the improvement of their children are such that they can have greater control and greater influence with them in their homes and families, and in their surroundings, if we exercise the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, in our dealings with our children, and undertake to train them up in such a way that they will be a source of joy unto us.
I have had the opportunity of being in the mission field. On various occasions I have partaken of the spirit of the Lord there to an even greater extent than I ever enjoyed in any other part of my life. I have rejoiced in the spirit that is manifested by the missionaries, and I feel that this spirit comes through the elders willingly taking upon themselves the labor to which they have been called to work in the service of the Lord, a willingness to make sacrifices and to go out into the world to meet persecution and prosecute this work in humility and in faith. I realize that in this way our young men are strengthened and broadened in their comprehension of the truth, they obtain a reason for the hope that is within them; they can testify of the truth, declare it in plainness and substantiate it by the scriptures. Sometimes here at home, through not having had the experience, these things are, in a degree, lacking, because they have not had occasion to meet and benefit by these experiences nor be subjected to the temptations that are met with in the world.
I believe every one of us who will endure in the truth, will be tried and tested, as the Prophet Malachi said, as by fire. He says the time will come, when the messenger (the Savior) will come to His temple, and shall sit and purify the sons of Levi, even as gold and silver are purified in the fiery furnace. We realize from this, partially, the manner in which the sons of Levi will be purified and sanctified. I believe that every one of us Latter-day Saints will be tried and tested as gold is purified, that the dross will be removed from us. We will be refined and purified through the trials that we undergo, and we will thus be developed and draw nearer to the Lord and seek to serve Him. Now, I believe that one of the things that is going to test the Latter-day Saints is the test of prosperity, the prosperity which we are enjoying and which we have enjoyed, and which the people will enjoy to a greater extent in the future. I believe this is going to be one of the strongest and severest tests to the Latter-day Saints. We find that people, generally, who are prosperous become indifferent to the things of the Lord. This has been the case in history, both sacred and profane. We learn from the Book of Mormon that while the Lord has blessed the people, and has promised that if they would be faithful, He would bless them in temporal as well as in spiritual matters, when the time has come that they have been blessed in almost everything they could desire, they have become indifferent, they have lost the spirit of humility, and have reveled in the pleasures and luxuries of life, forgetting the Author and Giver. This has been the case in the history of the nations, when the people have been humble, poor, industrious, and had to labor for their living, labor earnestly and hard, they have developed those characteristics and virtues that have tended to make them great; but when they have enjoyed luxury and prosperity they have become indifferent to principles of virtue, humility, and uprightness, have been led away and have fallen. This has been the history in very many cases. I believe that while we as Latter-day Saints are enjoying prosperity, through the blessings of the Lord and our own efforts, we should continue to bear in mind the importance of training our children in such a way that they also will labor for that which they obtain, because they will then appreciate that which their fathers and mothers have done to secure these things. President Roosevelt has made the statement that there are two classes of parents to be condemned those who are too strict with the children, and those who are too indulgent. Of the two, he said those who were over-indulgent were the worst, that in indulging their children, in getting them things that they did not appreciate, they were hurting them in such a way that it would redownd to the injury of the community at large, and to themselves as individuals. I believe that as Latter-day Saints, there is nothing that will tend so much to our joy and happiness hereafter, and in this life, as to train up our children so that they will appreciate the blessings they have, and to do this they should learn to labor, and comprehend the importance of working every day, both in a spiritual and in a physical way.
My father has expressed himself on one or two occasions publicly, I believe, that he would rather that his children should die than that they should depart from the church; and I desire to bear my testimony to this effect, that I would rather die than lose the testimony of the gospel; I would rather die than become so affected in any way that I would lose the spirit of this work, because I know that it is true. I know this work is true, and that it means the salvation of every human being who will remain true and faithful, who will covenant that he will, in humility and faith, endeavor to live up to the commandments of the Lord and the revelations that He has given, and comply with the instructions and counsels of those who have been placed to lead the people.
I rejoice in the spirit that has been manifest in this conference, 'and in the testimonies 'that have been given to us. I rejoice in the integrity of the servants of the Lord who are called to guide this work and direct it. I know they are men of God, and that they have been blessed in those positions, that they have been placed there by proper authority, that they have received revelations from the Lord to guide them and to guide this people; and I realize that this work is progressing. The only fear I have is as to whether I will be able to remain true, as to whether you will remain true, and as to whether we shall be able to exercise such an influence with our posterity that they will be true, because our salvation here and hereafter depends greatly upon our children as well as upon our fathers. As plainly stated in the revelations of the Lord, we are bound to one another, the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children. Through the revelations of the Lord concerning the sealing ordinances, we are made to realize that our salvation depends largely upon those who have gone before and upon those who shall come hereafter.
I pray that we may be true, and that we may carry with us the spirit of this conference, and seek to put into effect the instructions imparted, that in going to our homes we may seek to introduce in our families and homes and communities such things and influences as will tend to develop our young people aright that they may grow in those things that are for their welfare and betterment, that they may not spend their time idle on the street corners or anywhere else, telling vulgar stories, forming vicious habits that will be fixed upon them for life, but that they will do those things that shall tend to their progress and development in all that is good in this life and in eternity. I pray that the Lord will bless us unto this end, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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