In the Presence of the Divine

In the Presence of the Divine*

BY PRESIDENT TOSEPH F. SMITH

I shall need the assistance of the Good Spirit, and of the good feeling and faith andsympathy of my brethren and sisters this morning in an endeavor to speak to yon for a short time. I do not feel nor design to occupy very much of the time. I can not express my gratitude, with the language in my possession, which T feel this morning in being permitted, under the mercies of the Father of us all, to be present with you and behold the sight that I see in the assembled multitudes gathered here in the opening session of this conference, on the eighty-sixth anniversary of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE REJOICE WITH US I feel sure that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his associates,

who, under the guidance and inspiration of the Almighty, and by his power, began this latter-day work, would rejoice and do re- joice, if they are permitted to look down upon the scene that I behold in this tabernacle. And T believe they do have the privilege of looking down upon us, just as the all-seeing eye of God beholds every part of his handiwork. For I believe that those who have been chosen in this dispensation and in former dispensations, to lay the foundation of God's work in the midst of the childern of men, for their salvation and exaltation, will not be deprived in the spirit world from looking down upon the results of their own labors, efforts and mission assigned them by the wisdom and pur- pose of God to help to redeem and to reclaim the children of the Father from their sins.

THE EVES OF THE PROPHETS GUARD THE KINGDOM OF GOD So, I feel quite confident that the eyes of Joseph the Prophet, and of the martyrs of this dispensation, and of Brigham and John and Wilford, and those faithful men who were associated with

*Thousands felt the Divine inspiration that accompanied the deliv- ery of this remarkable sermon, uttered at the opening session of the animal conference, Thursday, April 6, 1916, the eighty-sixth anniver- sary of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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them in their ministry upon the earth, are carefully guarding the interests of the Kingdom of God in which they labored and for which they strove during their mortal lives. I believe they are as deeply interested in our welfare today, if not with greater capa- city, with far more interest, behind the veil, than they were in the flesh. I believe they know more I believe their minds have ex- ;

panded beyond their comperhension in mortal life, and their in- terests are enlarged in the work of the Lord to which they gave their lives and their best service. Although some may feel and think that it is a little extreme to take this view, yet I believe that it is true ;and I have a feeling in my heart that I stand in the presence not only of the Father and of the Son, but in the presence of those whom God commissioned, raised up, and inspired, to lay the foundations of the work in which we are en- gaged. Accompanying that sense or feeling, I am impressed with the thought that I would not this moment say or do one thing that would be taken as unwise or imprudent, or that would give offense to any of my former associates and co-laborers in the work of the Lord. I would not like to say one thing, nor express a

thought, that would grieve the heart of Joseph, or of Brigham, or of John, or of Wilford, or Lorenzo, or any of their faithful asso- ciates in the ministry.

. WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF HEAVENLY BEINGS Sometimes the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that other sphere. If we can see, by the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God and through the words that have been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that separates us from the spirit world, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is possible I believe we for us to see to them from our sphere of action. move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. We _

begin to realize, more and more fully, as we become acquainted with the principles of the gospel, as they have been revealed anew to our kindred, to in this dispensation, that we are closely related our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them we do not cease to love them we always hold them in our hearts, ;

in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties we can not dissolve or free ourselves that we can not break, that our finite condition, surrounded from If this is the case with us in weaknesses, short-sightedness, lack of inspiration by our mortal certain it is and and wisdom, from time to time, how much more those who have been reasonable and consistent to believe that

648 IMPROVEMENT ERA faithful, who have gone beyond and are still engaged in the work for the salvation of the souls of men, the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound, and proclaiming liberty to the cap- tives, can see us better than we can see them that they know us ;

better than we know them. They have advanced we are advanc- ;

ing we are growing as they have grown we are reaching the ; ;

goal that they have attained unto and therefore, I claim that we ;

live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our wel- fare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us they can comprehend, better than ever be- ;

fore, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils that be- set us in life and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temp- tation and to wrong doing hence their solicitude for us, and ;

their love for us, and their desire for our well being, must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.

A GLORIOUS VISION I thank God for the feeling that I possess and enjoy, and for

the realization that I have, that I stand not only in the presence of Almighty God, my Maker and Father, but in the presence of his Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Savior of the world and I ;

stand in the presence of Peter and James (and perhaps the eyes of John are also upon us and we know it not) and that I stand ;

also in the presence of Joseph and Hyrum and Brigham and John, and Wilford, and Lorenzo, and those who have been valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ and faithful to their mission in the world, who have gone before. When I go, I want to have the privilege of meeting them with the consciousness that I have followed their example, that I have carried out the mission in which they were engaged as they would have it carried out that 1 have been as faithful in the discharge of ;

duty, committed to me and required at my hand, as they were faithful in their time and that when I meet them, I shall meet ;

them as I met them here, in love, in harmony, in unison and in perfect confidence that I have done my duty as they have done theirs. hope you will forgive me for my emotion. You would I

have peculiar emotions, would you not? if you felt that you stood in the presence of your Father, in the very presence of Almighty God, in the very presence of the Son of God and of holy angels ? You would feel rather emotional, rather sensitive. I feel it to the very depths of my soul this moment. So I hope you will forgive me, if I exhibit some of my real feelings, I am only a child, I am only learning, and I hope I shall not be ever learning and never come to a knowledge of the truth. I sincerely hope that as I learn, little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little

and there a little, day by day, and month by month, and year by

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year, that there will come a time when I shall have learned, indeed, the truth and shall know it as God knows it and be saved and ex- alted in his presence.

TO KNOW GOD AND JESUS CHRIST IS LIFE ETERNAL Now, my mission, my duty, from the days of my childhood, has been to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of God unto salvation unto all who will receive and obey it. It is my duty to proclaim to my brethren, to the household of faith, as well as to the world, when opportunity presents, that I believe in the living God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who begot his Son, his Only Begotten in the flesh, and that Son grew from his birth unto his manhood, and developed into the very image and likeness of his Father, insomuch that he declared on one occasion that "he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." I do not believe in the doctrines held by some that God is only a spirit, and that he is of such a nature that he fills the immensity of space, and is everywhere present in person or without person for I can not conceive it possible that God could be a person if he filled the immensity of space and was everywhere present at the same time. It is a physical, a theological inconsistency and un- reasonable to imagine that even God the Eternal Father would be in two places, as an individual, at the same moment. It is im- possible. But his power extends throughout the immensity of space. His power extends to all his creations, and his knowledge comprehends them all. He governs them all, and he knows all. It is a scriptural truth, that this is life eternal to know the only true and living God and Jesus Christ whom he hast sent. I

believe that the Latter-day Saints, through the teachings of the scriptures and through the revelations that have come to them by the voice of the Prophet Joseph Smith, are able to learn the true and living God and know him and also his Son whom he has sent into the world, whom to know is life eternal. Not simply the knowledge of it but, having that knowledge, we are inclined and ;

determined to observe his precepts, obey his laws, be submissive to his requirements, in every particular, and accept every ordinance '

of the house of God and of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been devised by the will of the Father for the qualification of his children in the earth to return unto his presence. And he that knoweth God and Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal, will verify that knowledge by ample, continuous, and faithful obedi- ence to every requirement that God makes of his children, and therein consists the salvation and the gift of eternal life. The devil knows the Father much better than we. Lucifer, the son of the morning, knows Jesus Christ, the Son of God, much better than we, but in him it is not and will not redound to eternal life for, knowing, he yet rebels; knowing, he yet is disobedient; he

650 IMPROVEMENT ERA will not receive the truth he will not abide in the truth hence, ; ;

he Perdition, and there is no salvation for him. is The same doctrine applies to me and to you and to all the sons and daughters of God who have judgment and knowledge, are able to reason between cause and effect, determine the right from the wrong, the good from the evil, and who are capable of seeing the light and distinguishing it from the darkness.

THE GOSPEL OUR SCHOOLMASTER Then this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, to know the only true and living God and his Son whom he has sent into the world, which knowledge comes through obedience to all his command- ments, faith, repentance of sin, baptism by immersion for the re- mission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by divine authority, and not by the will of man. This, then, is the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power of God unto sal-

vation obedience to the truth, : submission to the order that God has established in his house, for the house of God is a house of order and not a house of confusion. God has set in his Church apostles and prophets and evangelists, and pastors and teachers, whose duty it is to administer to the peo- ple, to teach, instruct, expound, exhort, admonish and lead in the path of righteousness. The people who are associated in this or- ganization must hearken to the voice of him who has divine au- thority to guide and direct and counsel in the midst of Israel. All these are necessary in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and many other things, too many for me to mention here, are necessary, including the ordinances of the house of God, revealed in greater plainness in this dispensation than perhaps in any former dispensation since the world was formed. All these ordinances are essential in their place and in their time, and none of us are big enough, or good enough, or possess sufficient independence in ourselves to ignore these things that God has revealed and required of us. No man is so big, so great, or knows so much, that he is independent of

God. We are here on his earth, we breathe his air, we behold his sunlight. We eat his food, and we wear his clothing. He has pro- vided all the elements by which we are clothed and fed, and live and move and have our being, in the world. THE PRIESTHOOD RESTORED We are not independent of God, not for one moment. Not only do we believe in the Father and in the Son, and in their words, counsel and divine authority, which they brought and gave to men in the flesh, but we believe, also, in the divinity of the mission of Joseph the Prophet. We accept him as the one au- thorized, empowered, clothed with wisdom and knowledge in our day and time, to lay the foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ,

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and to restore the fulness of the gospel of salvation to the world to revive and renew in the hearts of the children of men the doc- trines of Christ, the ordinances of his gospel which he taught, which he administered, and which he authorized his disciples to administer to all that would repent and believe in the name of the Father and of the Son. We believe that God has restored the divine priesthood, which holds the keys of ministration of the ordinances of life, to the chil- dren of men. Without that divine priesthood no man could re- ceive or would receive a remission of sins by being buried in the water. It has to be by divine authority, and without that divine au- thority our works would not be acceptable to the Lord, for he will not accept at the hands of the children of men that which he has not authorized them to do, which he has not qualified them to do, and called and appointed them to do but when God calls men, and ;

ordains, and appoints, and gives them authority to administer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, what they do can not fail to be sanctioned and approved by the Author and giver of the authority. When we receive the priesthood of God, and we do according to his word, then is he bound, but other- wise there is no promise.

THE TWELVE ARE EYE AND EAR WITNESSES OF CHRIST Now I can't tell you all that I would like to. Time will not permit, and there are others to speak. All these, your brethren, who are called to the apostleship, and to minister in the midst of the house of Israel, are endowed, or ought to be endowed, richly with the spirit of their calling. For instance, these twelve disci- ples of Christ are supposed to be eye and ear witnesses of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It is not permissible for them to say, I believe, simply I have accepted it, simply because I believe ;

it. Read the revelation. The Lord informs us they must know, they must get the knowledge for themselves, it must be with them as if they had seen with their eyes and heard with their ears, and they know the truth. That is their mission, to testify of Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead and clothed now with almighty power at the right hand of God, the Savior of the world. That is their mission, and their duty; and that is the doc- trine and the truth, that it is their duty to preach to the world, and see that it is preached to the world. Where they can not go themselves, they are to have the help of others called to their as- sistance. The seventies first, also the elders and the high priests. Those who hold the Melchizedek priesthood, not otherwise ap- pointed, are under their direction to preach the gospel to the world and to declare the truth— that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph is a prophet of God and was authorized and qualified to lay the foundation of the Kingdom of God. And when I say

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652 IMPROVEMENT ERA Kingdom of God I mean what I say. Christ is the King not — man. No man is king of the Kingdom of God God is the King ;

of it, and we acknowledge him and him only as Sovereign of his Kingdom.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUISITE FOR LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Now we all need patience, forbearance, forgiveness, humility, charity, love unfeigned, devotion to the truth, abhorrence of sin, wickedness, and rebellion and disobedience to the requirements of the gospel. These are the qualifications requisite to Latter-day Saints, and to becoming Latter-day Saints, members in good standing in the Church of Jesus Christ, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. No member in good standing in the Church will be drunken, riotous, profane, or will take advantage of his brother or his neighbor, or will violate the principles of vir- tue, honor, and righteousness. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing will never be charge- able with such offenses as these, because they will avoid these evils and they will live above them. Then we have a mission in the world, each man, each woman, each child, who has grown to un- — derstanding or to the years of accountability all ought to be ex- amples to the world, ought not only to be qualified to preach the truth, to bear testimony of the truth,, but they ought to live so that the very life they live, the very words they speak, their every action in life, will be sermons to the unwary and to the ignorant, teaching them goodness, purity, uprightness, faith in God and love for the human family. God bless you and all the household of faith, and help us to be true and faithful to the end, realizing that the battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but to him that endures to the end. Amen.

Interesting Financial Report and Statistics

After the delivery of the introductory sermon at the annual April conference, President Joseph F. Smith read the following figures, making remarks concernig them. He stated that the figures covered a period of about fourteen years, and proceeded I do not wish in reading this to appear to be in any way dis- tinguished from any of my brethren. I do not wish to claim any honor more than my brethren, but I do think that we have a record that we need not be ashamed of for the last fourteen or fifteen years or more.

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The report which follows will inform you concerning- some of theChurch expenditures and activities, from the year 1901 to December 31, 1915: At the close of the year 1906 the One Million Dollar bonded indebtedness and interest had been paid, mak- ing a total of $1,200,000.00 There has been paid on account of Church Schools 3,714,455.00 For repairs, improvements, operation, maintenance and building of temples 1,169,499.00 For building stake and ward meeting houses and amuse- ment halls 2,007,733.00 For real estate and buildings, for mission house and meet- ing house purposes in Europe 266,236.00 For real estate and buildings, for mission house and meet- ing house purposes in the United States 292,795.00 For Agricultural Colleges and for meeting houses in New 600,000.00 Zealand and Samoa Expended the missions for all purposes, less amount in 2,625,3Z8.UU expended for real estate and buildings •

For the Joseph Smith Memorial Farm and monument, and estate for the Joseph Smith Farm at Palmyra; for real covering Adam-ondi-Ahman; for Carthage Jail- and for Missouri 161.000.UU real estate at Independence, Jackson County, For real estate and buildings surrounding the Temple Block at Salt Lake City, and for new buildings that have been erected thereon ;••-- 1,555,000.00 ,

Groves For buildings and equipment for the Dr. W. H. Latter-day Saints Hospital . . •• cnan- 600,000.00 •

There has been paid to the poor through all Church 327g9Q00Q nels

There has been a net increase in the Church membershio of stakes of Zion. 187 733 souls; and there has been organized 22 missions. There are now 72 stakes of Zion, / J/ 202 wards and 6 wards and 22 missions. .

houses. There have been erected and remodeled 465 meeting mission meeting houses, in the stakes of Zion, besides branch and in the various missions of the Church. for the dead There have been 1,468,437 baptisms performed in the temples. ._ the c . . Sun- The Relief Societv membership has increased 347c Associa- :

day school 40% the Youne Men's Mutual Improvement ;

Mutual Improvement Association tion 23% the Young Ladies' ^7% the Primary Association 39% and the Religion Class 85% ;

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I scarcely need to add one remark to this report but I want;

to tell you this, that the tithes and means of the Church of Jesus stuck to my hands nor to the Christ of Latter-day Saints have not They have gone to their legiti- hands of any of my associates.

""VoTwe'are building a temple in Canada We building building for the - building an office another in Hawaii, and we are depository that will be safe for Church, a library, and a record

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654 IMPROVEMENT ERA the records of the Church, which for many years have been ex- posed to danger of destruction by fire or by other means and we ;

hope soon to have a place that will be practically fire-proof, and that will be capacious enough to hold the records of the Church for many years to come. How has it been done? How can we continue to do such things as these? Simply by the Latter-day Saints observing the laws of God and the rules of his Church and while you do your ;

duty I will guarantee to you, so long as my brethren- are in charge, with whom I am associated, you will never have cause to suspect that your means will be misused or misappropriated.

'To Him That Overcometh"

Elder William A. Morton, the inimitable religion class worker and story-teller, agrees with the Era in its condemnation of the cigarette, but thinks us wrong in bearing down too heavily upon the victim of the evil. He points out that rather than condemn the smoker, we ought to show him how to overcome his dirty habit. His criticisms reminds us that, how? is a very important question in all teachings and reforms, including those of the tobacco and booze habits. Also, it calls to memory the remarks, bearing on the same point, of a young boy who was urged by his mother to attend fast meetings, but strenuously objected for this expressed reason :"They always get up there and tell us they know the gospel is true, and they know this, that, and the other, but they never tell us how they know it And I get !

awful tired." But Brother Morton went on with his story, how? so rapidly that the stenographer was nearly beaten in the race "During the past few months, I have read a number of de- nunciatory articles in the Era, on the use of tobacco, and on cigarette-smoking in particular. In all of these articles the use of tobacco has been strongly condemned — and justly, too. Cigar- ettte smoking is not only an injurious but also a very filthy habit. A few days ago I rode twenty-three miles in an auto stage with a man who smoked cigarettes, and the fumes from the obnoxious weed made me sick. I said to myself, 'I wonder what this man would do if I were to spit in his face? No doubt, he would throw me off the car.' Yet that man continued blowing cigarette smoke into my face, which annoyed me more, I believe, than he would have done had he spat in my face. "But my object is not so much to condemn cigarette smoking

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as to show how this vile habit may be overcome. A few years ago the principal of one of the Church schools called into his of- fice one of the students who he knew was a user of cigarettes. The young man acknowledged this, and said he smoked as many as fifteen cigarettes a day. The principal talked kindly to him, and asked him if he would not like to overcome the habit. The student said ne would, but was afraid he would not be able to succeed, as he had tried a number of times and had failed. " 'Well,' said the principal, will help you. 'I You pray to the Lord to give you power overcome, and I will add my to prayers to yours. Now, I will tell you what I would like you to do : Each day, when we are going into devotional exercises, you hand me a slip of paper containing the number o f cigarettes you smoked the day before.' The young man promised to do so. "The first day's report was, 15 the second day, 13 the third ; ;

day, 10; the fourth day, 15; the fifth day, 8. The number grad- ually diminished. One day the young man passed the principal without giving him a slip of paper. The next day he did like- wise. The third clay the principal stopped him and said, 'You haven't given me a slip for the past three days.' The student smiled and said, 'I'm not going to give you any more. I've quit.' " "All honor to 'the quitter.'

Messages from the Missions

The Church in Scandinavia

The annual statistical report of the Scandinavian mission which includes Denmark and Norway is printed in the March 15 "Skandina- vicns Stjerne." From the report it appears that there are 16 branches in Denmark and twelve in Norway; that there are 22 missionaries altogether laboring in those two countries, 13 in Denmark and 9 in Norway. Out of these there are 5 high priests, 10 seventies and 7 elders The Church membership in Denmark is 1,375, and in Norway, 1 260 making a total of 2,635. There are 619 children under eight years of age, making a total of 3,254 souls. Thirty-seven people were baptized in Denmark, and 53 in Norway. A total of 58 children were blessed in the two countries. There were 86 adults, and 3 children under eight years of age, making a total of 89, who emigrated during the year.

"Exposure of the 'Mormon' Bogy" represents the Jack E Bent, Liverpool, England: "This picture elders laboring in the Blackburn, Acrington, and Wigan branches of Clarence J. Woods, presi- the Liverpool conference; left to right: Parley M. Condie, Preston, dent Liverpool conference, Provo, Utah; Provo, Utah; Ray- Idaho- Lester C. Pocock, Tooele; Jack E. Bent Salt Lake City. Because of the scarcity of elders, monds Knight,

656 IMPROVEMENT ERA Acrington and Wigan are circuited each Sunday from Blackburn where we five are at present living. In spite of the spirit of strife and con- tention permeating the nations of Europe, the work of the Lord is gaining friends and adherents. On February 20 last a successful dis-

trict meeting of the Blackburn and Acrington branches was held. President Hyrum M. Smith and Elder J. M. Sjodahl were present. About four thousand hand bills were distributed entitled 'Exposure of the "Mormon" Bogy.' As a result many new faces were out, and it is to be hoped much good accomplished."

Five People Baptized

Elmer J. Call, branch president of the Waterloo branch, East Iowa conference, writes February 26: "This branch is growing rapidly and the spirit of the gospel is taking hold of many worthy people. We have just baptized five people and have several more who are ready for baptism. We have recently organized a Relief Society, and the

local sisters are very much interested in their work. Elders and lady missionaries: E. J. Call, Rigby, Idaho; Hazel Fridal, Tremonton, Utah; G. M. Romney, conference president, Vera North, Salt Lake City; C. G. Hansen, Central, Idaho."

The Local Priesthood in the War Elder Vern R. Ekins, Norwich, England, March 13: "The effects of the war in this conference are that in another month only three of

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the following group of elders will be left in this conference to carry- on the work. We have four branches to be kept open, if possible, which will necessitate more traveling back and forth by the brethren. Prior to the war, fourteen elders worked this conference. At that time some help was received from the local priesthood. Our brethren are loyal, and hence every able-bodied man in our conference, whose nationality is English, is now either in the army or doing other gov- ernment work, which condition takes away much of our local priest- hood help. Our conference comprises the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and part of Essex, situated along the east coast. This gives us the sensational advantage of witnessing some of the German Zeppelin and aeroplane raids. The streets of our cities are kept so dark that it is difficult for aircraft to find them. All blinds must be dark and absolutely light proof. No street lights are allowed, and the smoker who lights his pipe on the street is fined. Bands of illuminating paint

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decorate posts and other obstacles that one might bump against in the dark. Clouds as a rule hang low over England, and it is only moonlight evenings that allow our older Saints to attend the evening service. So far, none of our Saints have been seriously injured through air raids, for which we thank the Lord. Their undaunted spirit of in- dustry in the service of the Lord causes them to attend their meetings and take hold of the work with great zeal. Elders, back row: Vern R Ekins Provo, conference president; Francis M. Skinner, Safford, Arizona; William Werrett, Jr., Silver City, Utah, retiring conference president; G. Sanford Pincock, Sugar City, Idaho; front: John G. Bullock, Provo; Benjamin Ward, Richfield, Utah."

For the World's Best Good John A Young, conference president of the South Texas confer- laboring in ence Houston, February 25: "The following elders are Houston- John A. Young, Henry R. Selin, Dell G. Hymas and Arthur We rejoice in our work of proclaiming the gospel to the peo- Asay ple of South Texas. Many are investigating'Mormonism, and as soon world for the world s best as they do, they realize that it is in the good,— here to bless the people."