--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 20 number: 9 published: 1917-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "Editor’s Table: A Message to the Soldier Boys of Mormondom," *Improvement Era* 20, no. 9 (July 1917): 821–829.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2009unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2009unse start_page: 821 end_page: 829 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1917-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2009unse publication_year: 1917 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1917, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editor’s Table: A Message to the Soldier Boys of Mormondom A Message to the Soldier Boys of wMormondom' By President Joseph F. Smith I avail myself of the opportunity, which seems to offer, to say a few words as the Spirit of the Lord may give me utterance. I sincerely hope that, by the assistance of the Spirit, I may be able to say what may be given to me, in a manner acceptable at least to the Lord. I have faith to believe that if what we say and what we do in the cause of Truth will be acceptable to the Lord, it will find favor in the hearts of his people every- where. Misfortune and Evil not Attributable to the Will of God We have it enunciated in the revelations to Joseph the Prophet, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that the Lord is greatly displeased only with those who do not confess or acknowledge "his hand in all things and obey not his command- ments." Many things occur in the world in which it seems very difficult for most of us to find a solid reason for the acknowledg- ment of the hand of the Lord. I have come to the belief that the only reason I have been able to discover by which we should acknowledge the hand of God in some occurrences is the fact that the thing which has occurred has been permitted of the Lord. When two men give way to their passions, their selfish- ness and anger, to contend and quarrel with each other, and this quarrel and contention lead to physical strife and violence between them, it has been difficult for me to discover the hand of the Lord in that transaction; other than that the men who thus disagree, quarrel and contend with each other, have re- ceived from God the freedom of their own agency to exercise their own intelligence, to judge between the right and the wrong for themselves, and to act according to their own desire. The Lord did not design or purpose that these two men should quar- rel, or give way to their anger to such an extent that it would lead to violence between them and, perhaps, to bloodshed. God has never designed such a thing as that, nor can we charge such things to the Almighty. People become sick, suffer pain, sorrow ♦Delivered at the Joint M. I. A. and Primary Conference, Sunday, June 10, 1917. 822 IMPROVEMENT ERA and anguish. They linger for months, and perhaps for years, in feebleness of body and of mind. The question arises in them: Why does the Lord suffer it? Is the hand of God in that suf- fering? Has God designed that person to suffer? Has he touched him with his hand of affliction? Has he caused the evil that has come to him? Too many of us are inclined to think, or lean toward the feeble thought, that the illness that conies to us, the afflictions that we suffer, the accidents that we meet with in life, and the troubles that beset us on our way in the journey of life, are attributable either to the mercy or the displeasure of God. Sometimes we are prone to charge God with causing our afflictions and our troubles; but if we could see as God sees, if we could understand as he understands, if we could trace the effects back to the cause, and that truly, by the spirit of correct understanding, we would unquestionably discover that our trouble, or suffering, or affliction is the result of our own indiscretion or lack of knowledge, or of wisdom. It was not the hand of God that put affliction and trouble upon us. The agency that he has given to us, left us to act for our- selves— to do things if we will that are not right, that are con- trary to the laws of life and health, that are not wise or prudent — and the results may be serious to us, because of our ignorance or of our determination to persist in that which we desire, rather than to yield to the requirements which God makes of us. You may trace the downfall of the inebriate to his drunkenness. You may trace dishonor to dishonesty. You can trace visible results to the various known phases of our own conduct in life. "Thou shalt not steal" is the law of God. Yet men do not always ob- serve the law, and the penalties and pains follow them as a na- tural sequence. The Lord has said, "Thou shalt not lie;" yet some men will not tell the truth, and do themselves great wrong, and in the end suffer the consequences. God has given to us certain rules by which we may eat food and be healthy, by which we may obtain life and strength; run and not be weary, and walk and not faint; but do we observe the law that the Lord has given, or the command that he has sent forth to his people in relation to these things? Far too many of the members of the Church have failed in this, who have lived for years — many of them since their childhood, in the very face of the law of God, by which we may eat and not be poisoned, by which we may drink and have health, by which we may enjoy light and intelli- gence, understanding and comprehending the promptings and in- spiration of the Holy Spirit; laws by which we might shun evil, avoid anger, and strife, contention and hatred; love our neighbor, rather than hate him; and do good to our brother, rather than to persecute him or to do him an injury. The law of God, if obeyed by his children in the world, would produce EDITORS' TABLE 823 peace on earth and good will to man, throughout all the world. Then, when two men quarrel, the only thing I can see in it that can be charged to the hand of God is that God permits it. He has given you your agency, your freedom, and he holds you responsible for your acts. You will suffer the consequences of your own mistakes, of your own errors, though they bring sor- row, or sickness, or death ! So, I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in this free agency that he has given to the children of men; but I acknowledge the hand of man in the consequences of his own acts, following his disobedience to the law of God. I do not charge the weaknesses, the mistakes or errors, the crimes and wickedness of men, and the evils that exist in the world, to God the Father, for he is not a God of evil, of wickedness, of strife, of anger, of sorrow, of sickness, and of imperfection; but I acknowledge that he has given to men the power to do good, and he has set before them the Truth, the knowledge of good and evil — in the law that he has promulgated to the world, by which mankind may follow the footsteps of the Son of God, who is without sin, who was perfect in life, and who set the example for all the world to follow if they would, and permitted them to take the opposite course, that of rebellion against the law of God, and suffer the consequences. The Hand of God Striving with the Warring Nations Would the nations of the earth, that are at war with each other be at war as they are, if the Spirit of God Almighty had pervaded their souls and moved and actuated them in their de- signs? No; not at all. Worldly ambition, pride, and the love of power, determination on the part of rulers to prevail over their competitors in the national games of life, wickedness at heart, desire for power, for worldly greatness, have led the nations of the earth to quarrel with each other and have brought them to war and self-destruction. I presume there is not a nation in the world today that is not tainted with this evil more or less. It may be possible, perhaps, to trace the cause of the evil, or the greatest part of it, to some particular nation of the earth; but I do not know. This I do believe, with all my heart, that the hand of God is striving with certain of the nations of the earth to preserve and protect human liberty, freedom to worship him according to the dictates of conscience, freedom and the inalien- able right of men to organize national governments in the earth, to choose for themselves their own leaders; men whom they may select as standards of honor, of virtue and truth, men of wisdom, understanding and integrity; men who have at heart the well- being of the people who choose them to govern, enact and exe- cute the law in righteousness. I believe that the Lord's hand is 824 IMPROVEMENT ERA over the nations of the world today, to bring about this rule and this reign of liberty and righteousness among the nations of the earth. He has some hard material to work with, too. He is working with men who never prayed, men who have never known God, nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent into the world, and whom to know is life eternal. God is dealing with nations of infidels, men that fear not God, and love not the Truth, men who have no respect for virtue or purity of life. God is dealing with men who are full of pride and ambition; and he will find it difficult, I fear, to control them and lead them directly in the channel that he would have them pursue to accomplish his pur- poses; but he is striving to uplift. God is striving to bless, to benefit, to happify, to ameliorate the condition of his children in the world, to give them freedom from ignorance and a knowl- edge of him, to learn of his ways and to walk in his paths, that they may have his Spirit to be with them always, to lead them into all truth. Soldiers for Liberty and Sound Government Must be Men of God Therefore, when our boys and our maturer men are invited and chosen, selected and called, to go out to help to protect and defend these principles, we hope and pray, and we certainly have some reason to believe that there will be some, at least, from amidst the great family of mankind in the world, who will have some affinity with the Spirit of God and at least some de- sire, some inclination, to hearken to the whisperings of the still, small voice of the Spirit, that leadeth to peace and happiness, to the well-being and the uplifting of mankind in the world and to life eternal. When a Latter-day Saint, a man born, perhaps, and reared under the bond of the New and Everlasting Cove- nant of the gospel, enlists in the army of the United States, in the National Guard, which has been recommended here by President Penrose to you — and which I confirm and empha- size, because I think the citizens of the State should be united together, and the cities and the State should stand together and should have sympathy and fellowship for each other, more than they could expect to derive from those of other States and places, who are strangers and foreigners to them — that when our boys, thus born, are called into the army of the United States, I hope and pray that they will carry with them the Spirit of God, not the spirit of bloodshed, of adultery, of wickedness, but the spirit of righteousness, the spirit which leads to do good, to build up, to benefit the world, and not to destroy and shed blood. Will the Men of "Mormondom" Forget God? Remember the passage of scripture that was quoted here by President Lund, as related in the Book of Mormon, concern- EDITORS' TABLE 825 ing the pure young men that abjured war and the shedding of blood, lived pure and innocent, free from the contaminating thought of strife, of anger, of wickedness in their hearts; but when necessity required, and they were called to go out to de- fend their lives, and the lives of their fathers and mothers, and their homes, they went — not to destroy but to defend, not to shed blood but rather to save the blood of the innocent and of the unoffending, and the peace-lovers of mankind. Will those men who go out from Utah, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, forget their prayers? Will they forget God? Will they forget the teachings that they have received from their parents at home? Will they forget the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the covenants that they have made in the waters of baptism, and in sacred places? Or will they go out as men, in every sense — pure men, high minded men, honest men, virtuous men, men of God? That is what I am anxious about. I want to see the hand of God made manifest in the acts of the men that go out from the ranks of the Church of Jesus Christ and from the State of Utah, to help to defend the prin- ciples of liberty and sound government for the human family. I want to see them so live that they can be in communion with the Lord, in their camps, and in their secret places, and that in the midst of battle that they can say: "Father, my life and my spirit are in thine hand!" I want to see the boys that go away from here in this cause, to go feeling just as our missionaries do when sent out into the world, carrying with them the spirit a good mother feels when she parts with her boy, on the morning of his departure for his mission. She embraces him with all the mother's love in her soul — ! I know how the mother feels for her boy when he goes away from home on a mission, where he will be in the midst of strang- ers, without friends, trying to preach the gospel to the world. She says to him: "My boy, I have taught you the principles of the gospel. I have taught you to pray to God, at my knees, from the time you were a child until you have reached manhood. I have taught you virtue. I have taught you honor. I have taught you to stand for the Truth, and to honor your father and your mother in the world, and by so doing honor the fathers and the mothers, and the daughters of all men, wherever you go. Never in your life think of defiling any man's wife, or daughter, any more than you would think of defiling your mother or your sister! Go out into the world from your home clean. Keep yourself pure and unspotted from the world, and you will be im- mune from sin, and God will protect you. You will be in his hands. Then, if anything should happen that would cost you 826 IMPROVEMENT ERA your life, you will lay it down in the service of humanity and of God. You would lay down your life pure and undefiled. Your spirit would ascend from that tenement of clay inhabited in this world, into the glorious presence of God, undefiled, uncon- taminated, pure and clean as the spirit of a child just born into the world. Thus you would be acceptable to God, ready to receive your crown of glory and everlasting reward." As True and Pure in the Army as on a Mission So I would say, "My boy, my son, and your son, when you go out to face the disasters that are now afflicting the world, go out as you do on a mission, be just as good and pure and true in the army of the United States as you are in the army of the Elders of Israel that are preaching the gospel of love and peace to the world. Then, if you unavoidably fall a prey to the bullet of the enemy you will go pure as you have lived ; you will be worthy of your reward ; you will have proved yourself a hero, and not only a hero, but a valiant servant of the living God, worthy of his acceptation and of admission into the loving pres- ence of the Father!" It is in such things as this that we can see the hand of God. If our boys will only go out into the world this way, carrying with them the spirit of the gospel and the behavior of true Latter-day Saints, no matter what may befall them in life, they will endure with the best. They will be able to endure as much as anybody else can possibly endure of fatigue or of suffer- ing, if necessary, and when they are brought to the test they will stand it! Because they have no fear of death! They will be free from fear of the consequences of their own lives. They will have no need to dread death, for they have done their work; they have kept the faith; they are pvire in heart, and they are worthy to see God! I have some feeling in these matters, for I have boys of my own, and I love my sons. They have grown up with me. They are mine ! The Lord gave them to me. I expect to claim them, in the relationship of father and sons that exists between us, throughout all eternities that will come. I would rather see my sons shot down by the enemies of God and humanity, by those who are inimical to the freedom of the children of men, while defending the cause of Righteousness and Truth, a thousand times rather, than to see them die the vile death of sinners and of transgressors of the laws of God. While death in battle might be instantaneous, or it might linger, perhaps, to one whose cause is just it would be honorable; but the death that is caused by the transgressions of the laws of God, by the poison and sting of sin, is to be dreaded worse, a thousand times than to die sin- less in defending the cause of Truth. EDITORS' TABLE 827 I don't want to see one of my boys lose the faith of the gos- pel of Jesus Christ. I don't want to see one of them deny Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world. I do not want one of them to turn his back upon the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith whose blood courses in their veins. I would rather see them perish in defending a cause of right- eousness, a thousand times, while they are firm in the faith, than I would see them live to deny that faith and the God that gave them life! That is where I stand with reference to the matters that are facing us at this moment! The Gospel a Shield from Terror We hear about living in perilous times. We are in perilous times, but I do not feel the pangs of that terror. It is not upon me. I propose to live so that it will not rest upon me. I pro- pose to live so that I shall be immune from the perils of the world, if it be possible for me to so live, by obedience to the com- mandments of God and to his laws revealed for my guidance. No matter what may come to me, if I am only in the line of my duty, if I am in fellowship with God, if I am worthy of the fel- lowship of my brethren, if I can stand spotless before the world, without blemish, without transgression of the laws of God, what does it matter to me what may happen to me? I am always ready, if I am in this frame of understanding, mind, and con- duct. It does not matter at all. Therefore, I borrow no trouble nor feel the pangs of fear. The Lord's hand is over all, and therein I acknowledge his hand. Not that men are at war, not that nations are trying to destroy nations, not that men are plotting against the liberties of their fellow creatures, not in those respects at all; but God's hand is not shortened. He will control the results that will fol- low. He will overrule them in a way that you and I, today, do not comprehend, or do not foresee, for ultimate good. He fore- sees the end as he foresaw that war should come upon all the nations of the world, and as the Prophet has declared it would. The Lord knew it would come. Why? Because he knew what the world was doing. He knew the trend of the spirit of men and of nations. He knew what the results would be, in time. He knew when the time would be, and the results that would be manifest, and so he declared it by the voice of his servants, the prophets ; and now we see the fulfilment of the predictions made by the servants of God, as they were inspired to utter them, when they declared that the time would come to pass when war would be poured out upon all nations — not to fulfil the pur- poses of God, but the purposes of the nations of the earth in consequence of their wickedness. It may be a very difficult thing 828 IMPROVEMENT ERA for me, with the range of words that I possess, to express my thoughts and to explain my full intent; but I repeat to you that the Lord, God Almighty, is not pleased, nor was it his purpose or design, or intent, to foreordain the condition that the world is in today: nor did he do so. He foresaw what would come, by the conduct of men, by their departure from the Truth, by their lack of the love of God, and by the course that they should pursue, inimical to the well-being of his children. He foresaw what would be, but he had given them their agency, under which they are bringing it to pass. The results of it, eventually, will be overruled for the good of those who shall live after, not for the good of those that shall destroy themselves because of their wicked propensities and crimes. The Time to Proclaim the True Gospel of Christ Now is a time — never a better time since the organization of the Church, perhaps, never a better time since the death of the ancient apostles of Christ, — to proclaim to the world and make known to all men that which we have been taught by the voice of Jesus who spoke the truth and lied not, that which must be in order that men may enjoy eternal life. Now is the time to proclaim to the world the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith. God possesses a body of flesh and bone, as tangible as man. Joseph Smith proclaimed that. Christ himself proclaimed it, in his teachings, and in the example of his own existence. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," he said. Why? Because He was in the express image of his Father's person. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, is a man, possessing flesh and bones as tangible as man's. "Come and feel of me," he said; thrust your hand into the prints of the wounds of the nails and of the spear. Be not faithless but be- lieving. "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." This was, the doctrine declared by the Son of God himself. Joseph has revealed and restored to the world this knowledge possessed by the Son of God and his disciples, as far as they could comprehend him and his purposes — this knowledge — to know the true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, is life eternal. Every Latter-day Saint possesses that knowledge. All Latter- day Saints who have reached the years of accountability and understanding ought to have the testimony of that truth in their hearts, and they ought to proclaim it to the world, that a knowledge of God may increase among the children of men, as well as the knowledge of the discoveries of science and the progress of the age in which we live. Knowledge is increasing throughout the world, with reference to material things; and all this knowledge that has been restored to the world through EDITORS' TABLE 829 science has been inspired of God; and, as it has been expressed and is often expressed, so I repeat again : The men who are led to wonderful discoveries are inspired by the Spirit of under- standing that cometh from God, that giveth them light and knowledge; for there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. So, Latter-day Saints acknowledge those men who discover how to control the light- ning, how to control and utilize the power of steam that pre- vails so universally among men today, and all those who have discovered all the other secrets of nature, like the telegraph, the telephone and all other means of communication by which the voice of men may be conveyed over a wire, and now, of later times, through the atmosphere by means of wireless com- munication— all these discoveries are by the promptings of the Spirit of God that giveth to the mind and spirit of men under- standing. Yet they will not confess or acknowledge the hand of God in it. I do. So, in these things I acknowledge the hand of God in the increase of knowledge and wisdom and power that is so multi- plied in the world today, over what it was in the days of my childhood. As this knowledge is growing and increasing among the children of men; so does it here among this little handful of people called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each member possesses the knowledge of the true God and Jesus whom he hath sent into the world — which knowledge is life eternal, because it will lead to obedience to all other truths and all other requirements made by the Spirit of God, of his chil- dren. Every Latter-day Saint should be a witness, and testify to the world of this truth, that the knowledge of God also may ex- pand and extend to the children of men, that all men shall know the true God and Jesus whom he hath sent, whom to know is life eternal. Now, I did not expect to occupy so much time; but in an unpremeditated and more or less disjointed way, I have ex- pressed some of the deep feelings and sentiments of my heart, as I feel the Lord has revaled them unto me. I believe with all my soul in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost; and I believe in the divine mission of the Son, as the Savior of the world, and in the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was chosen in his childhood to restore to the world the knowledge of Truth, as it is necessary for men to know it; who was chosen to restore the authority of the Holy Priesthood, by which the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ may be administered in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holv Ghost, with power unto life eternal. I believe it. God bless you, and help us all to believe it, and to live by it, and be faithful to it, is my prayer. Amen.