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This is the first General Conference Address delivered by Elder Morris after being called to the Holy Apostleship
My dear brethren and sisters: I am sure you know how one feels in this place and under these conditions. I have gained a more thorough understanding of one passage of scripture in the last few moments than I ever had before, which says that the Lord shall select the weak things of the earth to do his work But I also must have faith, as he also says that those who are weak he will strengthen, and that the weak things of the earth shall rise and go forth and break down the mighty and the strong, which means that we trust in God. We are engaged in his work.
And I recall the passage in the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord says through the Prophet Joseph Smith to Orson Hyde and to all the faithful elders of the Church:
Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come. (D. & C. 68:6.)
I bear that humble witness with all my heart. I am glad to place on the altar whatever I am and whatever I possess.
I know that this is the work of God, that he lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, and that he lives, that he is very close to us, and that he directs our beloved President and Prophet, David O. McKay, and his associates, and that these are men of God. And I am very grateful to them for the kindness and consideration and patience they have shown toward me. I love them and I try to emulate their example. I am privileged beyond my power to express my gratitude for the opportunity of continuing my labors with them.
My mind naturally goes to my dear mother, to whom I pay tribute, than whom I can imagine no man or woman ever being more valiant than was she in her service to her God. She came as a girl fifteen years of age, a true believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, to St. Louis, where her mother died, and she came on to Zion. At nineteen she had lost her husband and her first child, thousands of miles away from her home in England, in a wild, unbroken country. She entered into conditions that tested her soul, and would test the soul of any man or any woman, but she was valiant, uncomplaining, cheerful, and true under all conditions, and I thank God for her, and know she is happy today.
I pay tribute to my dear wife, who through years of sickness has been forced to be absent from me at sea level and under a doctor's care. She has been lonesome but she has always stood by me through all these years when I put my Church work first, before my business and before my home. She has sustained me in it. And as I left her ten days ago in New York, sick in bed, she would not have it any other way, and she stands by this principle.
My mother taught me to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I want to bear witness to you, my dear brethren and sisters, that that principle is true, that in this the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of the living God, there is no other principle that we should follow, no other principle, J except to seek first the kingdom of God and keep his commandments, and all else will be added. And I thank the Lord for the abundant and unexpected and continuing and unfailing blessings, temporal and spiritual, that he has given to me, beyond all my hopes and all my deserts, and I acknowledge his hand in these things. And I am glad to lay them on the altar for his service and for this work.
I do not feel that I should say more. My duty now is one of performance, but I do bear witness that this Church is the Church of Jesus Christ, set up by him, directed by him, a power for the salvation of the human family. And that this Church is equal to every situation that arises in the world, and if the world would accept it, it would meet every situation. This Church is an organized movement for world peace, if the world only knew it. This is the world peace movement, both for individuals and for nations, and there can be no substitute.
I thank the Lord for the love and confidence of my brethren with whom I am to labor. I love them and sustain them with all my heart; and I thank the people of this Church who have received me so kindly, for their kindness and their consideration. I want to pay a tribute to the men and the women throughout the Church who carry forward so faithfully and so well, this great work to the humble and duty-loving men and women, who forget themselves and lose themselves in their families, in their children, and in the Church. God will bless them, and they will enter into their celestial joy.
May God help us all to be true and give ourselves with all our hearts to his service, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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