A Testimony

A Testimony ife

By Bishop Gs&rge Romney

[The following letter, dated Box 523, Santa Monica, Calif., December 14, 1917, is a fitting introduction to the testimony of Elder Romney, which follows, and which was uttered in the Salt Lake Temple fast meeting, January 6, 1918. The wish of President Smith that thousands might rejoice in Elder — Romney's testimony is fulfilled in its publication in the Era. Editors.] Patriarch George Romney, Salt Lake City, Utah. My Dear Brother Romney: —I saw by the paper the other day, that your last remaining wife had passed away, leaving you wifeless in the world, possibly during the remainder of your life. I think I can realize to some extent your keen sense of loss after the long experience in your life with a large family and devoted wives and mothers. Of course, no one can say anything which in the least can compensate for such bereavement: Time only and the consciousness of the love of God can heal such wounds. But I know you are reasonable, and will accept kindly from me just a word of advice which, although it may be devoid of comfort, is sincerely meant for your good. Do not allow ihe keen sense of your loneliness to prey upon your mind or health. The world needs just such men as you, and thousands would rejoice to hear your testimony of the truth of the restored gospel of Christ. Please keep on living in order to do all the good you can for a good while yet to come. I am enclosing this with a letter to my son David, who mentioned by letter that you were in fairly good health, although sadly bemoaning the loss of your wife. Praying God to bless you and preserve your life, I am, Affectionately your brother and fellow servant, Joseph F. Smith. My brethren and sisters: I feel that I should not be satisfied if I should go away from this meeting without bearing my testimony to the work of God. Some of the brethren have mentioned the number of years that they have been members of this Church. It is a little over seventy-eight years, now, since I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a little over eighty years since my father and my mother were baptized in the Church. I want to state a little of my first experience, and I believe and hope it may do some good with parents. When my parents joined the Church in Preston, in 1837, when Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, John Snyder and another one were there, we lived in Penworthen, two miles from Preston. Soon after the organization Peter Mellen was set apart as a patriarch. They lived about two of these short blocks from where my parents lived. At this time

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I was six years of age ; one of my sisters was four, and the other, two. One Sunday morning my parents got up in the morning, and about eight o'clock they got us children ready, and they went to this prayer meeting. They went home again and got what they call a Lancashire bagging, and went to Preston, two miles from there, father and mother alternately carrying the two-year-old child. In the morning we attended a meeting, and at eleven o'clock, at two o'clock and at seven o'clock, and returned home again the same night. They kept this up for years; and I want to tell you, my brethren and sisters, that I shall never forget, neither in this world nor in the world to come, the expectation, the joy, and the pleasure that I had in looking forward, though a child, to the day when I would be baptized a member of this Church. I was baptized when I was eight vears old. We remained there, after that, some two years. In the year 1841 we arrived in the city of Nauvoo, having crossed the ocean on the ship Sheffield, carrying the first shipload of Saints that ever came from a foreign land. I remember well when the boat landed there. It took three weeks to go up from New Orleans to Nauvoo. We were met there by the Prophet Joseph and some others, to welcome us there, just a short time after they had been driven from Missouri. It was a sickly place. About one-third*^ our ship-load died inside of three weeks. I want to say this, my brethren and sisters, that the experience I have had in this Churchy from that day to this, has increased my faith in the work of God. I have seen so many manifestations of his power in the days of the poverty that the Saints passed through, and since that time, that my faith could not be otherwise. I knew the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch. I have heard them speak. I have heard the Prophet Joseph speak as I never have heard any other man on the face of the earth speak, under the power of Almighty God; and I want to testify to you today that I know, through every fiber of my body that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Most High God, inspired to bring forth the gospel and to restore it again to men upon the earth. I knew him when he passed through the trying scenes, when he had to leave his home and go into hiding; and the Saints feeling like children would feel, ten or twelve years of age, when the parents went away. The Saints then had not had the experience that we have now in the work of God. And then his return! I saw him and Hyrum, lying side by side, in their gore! Men of his brother God who were raised up to bring forth the principles of the gospel to fallen man, and going through all the privations and poverty we passed through in those days. I had a sister seven years of age who was sick, asking for a

712 IMPROVEMENT ERA little and we could not get it. The parents could not sweet, get it. They could not even get a little light to see the child as she passed from this mortal life. Still, we were there; that was our condition; and many of the Saints were far worse off than we were. Then the temple of God was started, in poverty. I with others have lain, though a young boy, upon the seats in the Temple, with my gun close by, ready for the bell to ring at the signal, "The mob approaching!" These were some of the experiences that came to me. The Prophet Joseph had but very little, and Brigham Young lived in a log house there, not over twenty feet square. Still they were men of God. I want to tell a little about these things, because there are not many left who can do it. When the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyruni, the Patriarch, were killed, John Taylor, who was severely wounded, and Willard Richards, came home. Then Strang and others arose, even Sidney Rigdon, and they each said: "I am the leader of this people;" and they would talk to us, and did talk for two or three months, until the Twelve returned from the East to Nauvoo. Then a meeting was called, and Sidney Rigdon got up and spoke. Of course, he was a man of eloquence, a man who had studied rhetoric and everything that pertains to being a speaker. He talked for one hour and a half. Then Brigham Young got up, and I want to testify to you, in all soberness, this morning, that the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham, and his voice was as the voice of Joseph Smith. This, my brethren and sisters, I testify to you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. I saw it and I heard his voice. I have seen so many of the providences of the Almighty, from that time till the present. I have seen the Church grow until it occupies the proud position that it now occupies. I have passed through a good many experiences. I have had three wives, and I want to say here that they lived in peace, and we had joy and comfort and satisfaction. I have some thirty-five children. My wife, the first one, died a few days after I returned from Uncle Sam's board on the hill. Another wife died two years ago; and four weeks ago tonight, at ten minutes past four, my last wife drew her last breath. I had a wife for sixtyseven years, and now I am left alone; but, brethren and sisters, I want to state to you that I am not alone. I know that my wives are safe on the other side; and the prayer of my heart is, God, that I may remain faithful till I draw my last breath; so that when I leave this state of existence I will meet them, and my father, and my mother, and the servants of God that I have known. I knew Brigham Young personally, because I was connected with the public works here when he was only about fifty-four years of age. I have known John Taylor; I

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knew Wilford Woodruff; I have known all the presidents of the Church. I know Brother Joseph F. Smith who is here today, and I know if ever there was a man on earth who sought the welfare of the human family, he is the one. Now I am going to bear a little testimony with reference to myself, showing the power of God that was made manifest to me. I lost my wife Margaret, and a year after that I was taken with a deadly sickness. The doctors gave me up; they said I could not live unless some other power intervened. My family were standing around my bed, crying, thinking that I was going to pass away; and I knew, as well as I know I am here today, that unless the power of God intervened I was going to leave this state of existence. My wives, the two that were left, had talked together, time and time again, and their prayer was that, as I was getting along in years, they might be saved and preserved, so that they might put the old man away. One was nearly ten years younger than I was, and the other fourteen. I was taken sick soon after one of the two had gone, and I was lying in that condition, the family expecting every moment that I would go; but President Joseph F. Smith, his wives Julina and Edna, and Bishop Nibley came, and they laid their hands upon me, and the folks all knelt down. In President Smith's prayer, he said: "Bishop, you shall live;" and I am here today, as a testimony, before you, that it was through the power of Almighty God. When Bishop Nibley went out he said: "How dare you make a crying man such a promise?" President Smith replied, "It was not I who made that promise." I have seen so many things that have made me think of the power vested in the Holy Pristhood, as I said to them. When the Saints were here, in 1849, with scarcely anything to eat or wear, many of them barefoot, and with very few tools with which to till the soil, Heber C. Kimball uttered a prediction that by a certain date in the near future goods from the East would be as cheap here as in New York. The people could not understand how this prophecy could be fulfilled; it seemed impossible. In fact Brother Kimball seemed very much concerned about it himself. I talked with him a number of times about conditions, and in conversing privately one day he told me, in his characteristic language: "I thought I had burst my boiler!" But it was the Lord who spoke through him, and the prophecy was fulfilled. My brethren and sisters, I want to testify before you this morning that I know, as well as I know that the sun is shining in yonder heavens, that this work is of the Lord. I feel it

through every fiber of my body, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet; I know it not only by occular demonstrations but, above all, by the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

© Underwood & Underwood, New York

BAILLEUL One of the most important stragetic points on the Western front fell to the Germans in one of the recent drives. The British, in their early attack used it as the strong point from which they hurled back the waves of the enemy on the Flanders front. This view shows the principal street and the church in the city which the enemy now holds. When the photograph was made Bailleul was far behind the lines, and still unmarred by enemy bombardments.