George D. Pyper. A Sketch

WHY I AM A LATTER-DAY SAINT. 841

by the extensive researches of modern archaeology. Its authenticity is proved by twelve creditable witnesses. The combined Christian world cannot prove another origin for it besides the one this Church claims. Many attempts have been made to do so, but in every case the alleged "explanation" has been proved fallacious. The book is its own evidence. Wherecome from ? .Joseph did it

Smith was not learned enough at the time it was first published to have written it. Sidney Rigdon knew nothing about it till after it was published. The true explanation is the simplest and the best; it was revealed to Joseph Smith by an angel, and he translated it by

means of the Urim and Thummim, which was found with the plates. 14. I can see that the Lord has been with this Church from the beginning, and brought her out of every trial and difficulty. No church has had more opposition and persecution to contend with. The saints have been blessed and prospered temporally and spirit- ually when they have heeded the counsel of their leaders, and when they have not done so they have not been prospered. 15. In "Mormonism" I find the most rational theory of the

universe, the purpose of creation, and man's capacity for eternal progression. Here I can learn what eternal life really means. 16. The law of consecration and stewardship, which was re- vealed to Joseph Smith is able to iemedy the economic evils which exist in the world today. I can conceive of nothing else that is capable of regulating properly the accumulation and distribution of wealth. This law is the best political economy ever revealed. If men will receive and live the gospel of Christ, as revealed in this dispensation, I am sure it will redeem them temporally and spiritu- ally.

17. The elders of this Church promise all who will in sincerity obey the first principles of the gospel that they shall receive the Holy Ghost, and through him a testimony that this i3 the true Church of Christ. I have never heard of any one who has sincerely accepted this promise and put it to the test, that has not been able to testify, sooner or later, that he has received the Holy Ghost and a testimony of the truth of this work. I have been able to see in such persons, when they continued obedient, the fruits and manifestations of the Spirit. I have tested this promise

842 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

myself, and have seen it tested by hundreds of others. No other church dares to make such a promise. 18. But the best proof of all to me is the direct testimony of the Spirit of God, an actual consciousness in the soul, chat is diffi-

cult to explain to another who has not experienced the same him- It is a sensible, spiritual illumination of mind — a quick- self.

ening of the finer feelings — "a burning of the the heart" such as the two disciples of Emmaus experienced when the Savior in disguise expounded to them the Scriptures concerning himself. The better I live the more conscious I am of this influence, and the more negligent I am, the less I feel it. With convincing proofs from almost every conceivable source, with conviction in my soul — every in fibre of my being, how can I doubt ?

FEAR.

Do not fear; banish fear. Deliver yourself into the keeping of God, and his Spirit will give you peace. Says J. Lincoln Brooks in Success:

Go into almost any gathering, no matter how gay and luppy the crowds seems to be, and you will find, if you question any one of even the gayest, that the canker worm of fear gnaws at the heart in some form. The fear of accident, of sickness —of the development of some terrible disease, — of poverty, some great misfortune, of death, or of still lingers during the greatest apparent gayety.Many men and women narrow their lives by worrying over what may happen tomor- row. The family cannot afford to have any little, legitimate pleasure, to travel or to take the leading magazines or papers. They "cannot afford to take much-needed vacations. They must economize on clothes, on food even, and every form of culture or recreation costing money, simply because times may be hard next year. "There may be a financial panic," urges the pessimist. "Some of the children may be sick, the times may be bad, our crops may fail, or some business venture

may not succeed. We can't tell what might happen, but we must prepare for the worst." The lives of hundreds of families are mutilated, sometimes utterly ruined, by this bugbear of misfortune just ahead.