Ninetieth Annual Conference Themes

IMPROVEMENT ERA Vol. XXIII JUNE, 1920 . No. 8

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Ninetieth Annual Conference Themes By President Heber J, Grant.

It is certainly an inspiring sight to see so many of the Latter- day Saints gathered here at the opening of our conference. Consider- ing the weather I had expected that there would be no need this morning of having an overflow meeting in the Assembly Hall, but I was mistaken. I rejoice exceedingly in the faith that is in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. I rejoice in the loyalty of the people to the Church of Jesus Christ, wherever they are located, from Canada on the north, to Mexico in the south, and in all the various missions through- out the world. I am convinced, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there are no other people upon the face of the earth who are as de- voted to their religion, or who are ready and willing to and who do in very deed make as many sacrifices for their church, as an absolute practical demonstration of their faith, as do the Latter-day Saints.

THE SAINTS ABSOLUTELY SINCERE. When we realize that thousands of Latter-day Saints who are absolutely honest in the payment of their tithes, who look upon the obligation to pay one-tenth of all they make as sacredly as they would look upon the obligation to divide with a partner, if that partner had a one-tenth interest in their business when we think of the dona- ;

tions that are made for the support of the poor, for the erection of meetinghouses in the various wards, for the erection of stake taber- nacles, for the building of academies, the construction of temples, and last, greatest of all, when we think of the wonderful sacrifice that is made by the men and women, giving two, three and five years of

their time for missionary work, and some of them ten and fifteen years, at their own expense or the expense of their families, not only — giving their time but paying their own way I am sure that any per-

*Opening address delivered Sunday morning, April 4, 1920, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

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son who stops to reflect upon these sacrifices must acknowledge that there can be no greater evidence of absolute sincerity and devotion given by any people to their faith and to the cause of God, as they understand it, than is given by the Latter-day Saints.

DISPOSITION OF TITHING. I will read for your information some of the things that have

been assisted by your tithing during the past year. The Saints them- selves have contributed $500,000, because it has been the custom for the Church to pay one-third only in the building of meeting- houses. During the latter part of the year, however, the Church has been doing one-half in the constructing of meetinghouses, and I would like to call attention to the fact that there are no ap- plications now made for assistance from the Trustee-in-Trust, but what the different wards and stakes ask for one-half of the money needed to erect their meetinghouses and their schoolhouses, and there are applications on file now with the Trustee-in- Trust for considerably above one million dollars. It is just as well for you to know that it is a financial impossibility for us to comply with all of those applications. Buildings cost today twice as much as they did a few years ago, so if a building that would cost $30,000 three or four years ago were erected now it would cost $60,000. In the past the Church has given ten thousand; today it is asked for thirty thousand, which is an increase of two hundred per cent. We can not possibly comply with all the requests, much as we would like to. There has been appropriated for maintenance of meetinghouses in the various wards during last year $254,108.59 for stake tabernacles, ;

$35,811.82; appropriations to the various stakes, $167,410.96; for wards throughout the Church, $444,763.60; for hospitals, $70,121.00; for temple maintenance and construction, $214,476.51 for the various ;

missions, $420,359.88 ;in addition to money contributed in these missions. Expended for charity, $354,283.26. For education, the Church gave $722,353.83, and the applications now for our schools amount to over one million for the coming year. We can not reach all that is required, but we will do as much as we possibly can. The total amount that has been expended in the various stakes, wards and mis- sions of the Church funds, for the year 1919 is $2,683,689.45.

REVELATION TO THE PROPHET'S FATHER. I am reminded of the fact that in two more days we will be cele- brating the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth in this last dispensation. Before the Church was organized there were a few people who believed in the vision that the prophet Joseph Smith had had as a boy, fourteen years of age. They also believed that he had been visited by heavenly messengers, that he had had years of instruction, and they believed beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he had in his possession the golden plates

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from which he was translating the Book of Mormon. They believed in the many revelations that God gave to him and which he wrote out and delivered to the few with whom he was associated prior to the organization of the Church. One of those revelations was to the prophet's father — it is brief and I will read it — given a little more than a year before the organization of the Church. Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the chil- dren of men; Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, miglht, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day; Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work, For behold the field is white already to harvest, and lo, he that thrust- eth in his sickle with his might, tihe same layeth up in store that he perish not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. (Doc. trine and Covenants, Section 4.)

Truly a great and marvelous work has come forth and been pro- claimed in every land and in every clime all over the wide world. The — gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored by a personal visitation of the apostles Peter, James and John, laying their hands upon the heads of Oliver Cowdery and the Prophet Joseph Smith and ordaining them to the apostleship; by a personal visitation of John the Baptist, who baptized the Savior, laying his hands upon Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith and ordaining them to the Aaronic, or the lesser priesthood the gospel is again restored to the earth, with the power and authority that existed in the days of the Savior. Millions of dollars in money have been expended for erecting and maintaining temples wherein or- dinances are performed for the salvation of those who have died without a knowledge of the gospel. All these things bear witness of the inspiration of God to that man Joseph Smith, when he delivered this statement in a revelation to his father, that a great and a marvelous work was about to come forth among the children of men. TRIBUTE TO LATTER-DAY SAINTS. Thereadiness, the willingness, the spirit of sacrifice among the Latter-day Saints are an inspiration to those not of our faith. I had intended to read here this morning some of the very splendid things that were said in the United States Senate regarding the Latter- day Saints by the senators from Nevada, from Colorado and from Ari- zona. I did not intend to read anything said by our own senator from Utah, but I rejoice when men not of our faith can bear the testimony that these men did, respecting the loyalty of our people. [President Grant here read selections from the speeches of the sen- ators referred to. The tributes, in full, however, including the speech of

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Senator Smoot, are published in the Improvement Era, for January, 1920, also in he Conference Report, April, 1920, and are therefore omitted here.]

I thank the Lord that these Senators can truthfully pay such tributes to our people. ,

LATTER-DAY SAINTS WORK AGAINST DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. ' I wish to lift my voice and to warn every member of the Church .

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints against the destruction of the property of any man, of any corporation or of any city in these United States of America. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable, it is a positive good in the world; that some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work dili- gently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built. — Abraham Lincoln. There is an evil rampant, at the present time, among some who teaching that are it is justifiable to destroy property, and even to destroy life in trying to accomplish their purposes, and I desire to lift my voice, with all the ability and with all the power with which God has endowed me, against anything of this kind. I have been criticized and letters have been written to me by professed Lat- ter-day Saints, finding fault with my remarks at the last conference, about upholding the law and the only answer that I desire to give to ;

these criticisms, as I have not taken the time to answer the letters, is to read again the identical words that I delivered when I stood here before you six months ago. They were not premeditated or thought out and I have concluded that I could not do any better than to read them, word for word, and say they are my sentiments today: MUST RESPECT RIGHTS OF OTHERS. As Latter-day Saints we have what is known as The Articles of Faith, and one of them reads: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law," and no Latter-day Saint can in very deed be a Latter-day Saint if he does not honor and sustain and uphold the law. Nearly all over the world, at the present time, there is a spirit of lawlessness, a soirit of ridicule, and a lack of respect for the men who hold positions. I want to say that 1 am perfectly willing that men shall join labor unions, that they shall band together for the purpose of protecting their rights, provided they do not interfere with the rieht? of other people. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness belong to all people in the United States, according to the laws of our country, and should, upon all the face of the earth; and I say that, to my mind, a provision in a labor union is all wrong that favors boycotting and the laying down of tools or the quit- ting of employment because a non-union man obtains employment while exercising his God-given right to stay out of a union. Men who have that kind of a rule have a rule that is in direct opposition to the laws of God. — There was a battle fought in heaven for what? To give to man his in- dividual liberty. An attempt to take the agencv of man away is made when he does not see fit to join a union, and when men in that union, with-

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out any complaint or grievance, strike because a non-union man is em- ployed. Now, I'd better not say any more, perhaps, on this question, or I may offend somebody, I may hurt somebody's feelings; but it is the God-given right of men to earn their livelihood. The Savior said it was the first great law or commandment to love the Lord with all our hearts, and that the sec- ond was like unto it, to love thy neighbor as thyself. That is the doctrine for every true Latter-day Saint. How much love is there in starving your neighbor because he will not surrender his manhood and his individuality, and allow a labor union to direct his labor? Mighty little love, mighty little of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in any such a rule! I hope to see the day when no Latter-day Saint will join a union unless the union eliminate that clause from its rules. I am not going to ask them to leave their union. I am not going to lay it down that they must, that it is the mind and the will of the Lord for them to leave a union, I want, as I ! aid here two weeks ago, to give every man Lis free agency, to give every man the right to act as he thinks proper, but I cannot see how a Latter- day Saint who is a member of such a union can get down on his knees and pray for God to inspire and bless him, to bless the Saints and to protect them and then be a party to allowing one of his own brethren to go, year after year, without employment, because that brother will not sur- render his manhood and join a union with him. There is none of the Spirit of the Lord in that, to my mind. That is exactlv the way I see it.

I desire, as stated, to emphasize and re-emphasize those statements delivered here six months ago. I believe that it is the absolute right

of men to combine together for their protection, for their advance- ment, for their welfare in unions, but as stated here, I deprecate the idea of their undertaking to dictate to those who will not join them. I believe this is all I desire to say upon that subject.

PROGRESS IN THE MISSIONS.

Since we last met here, it has fallen to my lot to hold meetings in the Central States Mission, in the Eastern States Mission, in the Canadian Mission, and three times in various parts of the California Mission. It has fallen to my lot to visit the capital of our Union and to hold a meeting there. It has fallen to my lot to visit some of the stakes of Zion, especially two in Arizona, the Maricopa and the St. Joseph stakes, and to hold a meeting in the capital of Arizona. I wish to say that I rejoice in the wonderful change of sentiment regarding the Latter-day Saints that has come to people wherever I have met with them during the past six months. In addition to these visits I have had the privilege of visiting the Hawaiian Islands, with some of the brethren of the general authorities, and of dedicating there to the Lord one more temple for holy ordinances for the salvation of the dead. And I want to bear witness to the Latter-day Saints that there was, with our small party on that trip to the Hawaiian Islands, in the dedication of that temple, in the various services that were held there, lasting for a number of days, the inspiration of the Lord God Al- mighty, and that we were blessed abundantly, beyond our power to

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tell. There is something that no mortal tongue can tell, when an in- dividual realizes and knows that while proclaiming the gospel of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ he has been blessed by the inspiration of the Lord and that was our experience in dedicating another ;

temple to the Lord in that far-off land. The Hawaiian people have a dark skin, but their hearts are white, their loyalty to God is per- fect, and the Lord Almighty has abundantly blessed many of that people by giving to them an absolute knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.

RESPECT GROWING FOR OUR CHURCH.

I am thankful that wherever I have traveled during the past six months I have found a feeling of respect, a feeling of love in the hearts of many for the Latter-day Saints, in the hearts of those not of our faith. I heard many very splendid compliments while in Washing- ton by members of the president's cabinet, by senators and representa- tives, and by officials of the government in the Federal Reserve bank- ing departments, and in others, wherever I went, and with all the people that I met, bankers in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities, I heard good things said of the Latter-day Saints; we are coming into our own, so to speak. Our character is becoming known, and no longer can men lie about the Latter-day Saints, or women either, and get away with the lies with the great majority of the people in our country. While our reputation has been bad, this reputation has come to us, how? Because of the lies, as a rule, by men who have been ex- communicated from this Church. No loyal, patriotic American citizen wants the people of our country to be judged by the Benedict Arnolds that the country has produced but the men of America desire that our ;

country shall be judged by its achievements, by the men who have been loyal to that God-inspired instrument, the Constitution of our country. All we ask of any people upon the face of the earth is that they shall judge the Latter-day Saints by Joseph Smith, the prophet of the living God, by the record that he made in the few short years that he stood at the head of the Church. The Church was organized in 1830, 90 years ago, and he presided over it for only 14 years. The accomplishments of those 14 years under his administration, what he did, and what he left to the Church in the wonderful revelations that he gave to us, in the translating of the Book of Mormon, that sacred Scripture of the forefathers of the American Indian, and the wonder- ful labors that he performed, these stand as a monument stamping him, in very deed, a prophet of the living God. No man without the inspiration of God, in 14 short years, could have accomplished what Joseph Smith did could have laid the foundation of this great work ;

to which you and I belong. And as the years come and go, men are beginning to recognize the greatness of the labor he performed.

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MAKE SACRIFICES FOR GOSPEL. I remember as a boy that I borrowed a book from the Thirteenth ward Sunday School library it was on the evidences of Christianity by ;

Dr. Paley, and I remember among other things, in that book, that he stated that the strongest evidence of the divine mission of the Savior of the world was the absolute loyalty of those who embraced Christian- ity, and their willingness to lay down their lives, if need be, for the testimony that they possessed of the divine mission of the Savior. I remember thinking as a boy If that is the strongest evidence, of men :

being willing to lay down their lives and to voluntarily make sacrfices and to stand up under persecution, then that same identical evidence applies to the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lat- ter-day Saints were driven from city to city, county to county, state to state, and finally beyond the confines of the United States to the Rocky Mountains, then Mexican territory. They could have had im- munity, they could have dwelt in peace, had they renounced their faith; but our fathers and our mothers had received the witness of the Holy Spirit and they knew that Jesus was the Savior, they knew that Joseph Smith was in very deed a prophet of God. The Lord Al- mighty had implanted in their hearts a knowledge that God did, one hundred years ago this spring, appear to a boy; that he did speak to that boy; and that when the boy asked of our Father in Heaven, "Which of all the religious denominations in the world is the true Church of Christ?" in answer to that question our God and our Father pointed to the Savior of the world and said "This is my beloved Son, :

hear Him." The Savior of the world told that boy to join none of the sects, that they had all gone astray, that they were teaching for doctrine the ideas and the commandments of men, and that they did not have the true Church of Christ. When that boy returned from that wonderful and marvelous vision, the greatest event in all the his- tory of the world, excepting only the birth and death of the Savior, his mother saw that there was something strange about his appearance and asked him some questions and he simply answered, in substance, ;

and said to his mother (who was a Presbyterian) :"Mother, there is one thing I know now, and that is that the Presbyterian church is not the Church of Christ." When he related his vision to ministers and others the boy was ridiculed. Three years later an angel of God appeared and told him there were buried in the hill Cumorah some golden plates containing a record, a sacred record of the forefathers of the American Indian, and that he should be the instrument in the hands of God of translating those plates. The angel gave him many wonderful instructions and quoted much Scripture to him; then disappeared. He returned and repeated his instructions and disappeared. He returned again and repeated those instructions, the three visitations occupying the entire night. The next

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day when that boy went to his work in the field with his father, having had no rest during the night, his father saw that he was not feeling well and told him to go homeland as he was climbing a fence he faint- ed, but he was aroused from his faint by the voice of the messenger who for the fourth time repeated all that he had said during the prev- ious night, and told him to go back to his father and tell his father all that he had heard and seen. This he did, and the boy's father answered "This is of God. Listen to the teachings of the angel." The :

boy visited the hill Cumorah he saw the plates and was instructed ;

by the messenger to come there once a year for four years, to be in- structed by that angel of God, regarding the great and marvelous work that was to come forth in the last days. At the end of four years the plates containing the record were delivered to him by the angel Moroni. H«e translated those plates, and the translation is the Book of Mormon.

VAST MULTITUDE HAVE TESTIMONY.

but, says one, I don't believe a word of it. There are thousands, there are tens of thousands of men and women, from the midnight sun country in Scandinavia to South Africa, all over Europe, from Canada to South America, in every state of the Union of the United States, upon the islands of the Pacific, who stand up and in all humility bear witness before high heaven that God has given to them a knowledge that Joseph Smith did see him, that Joseph Smith did see the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith was visited by angels of God, that he was ordained to the apostleship, that he did in very deed commune with the Savior of the world, that he was a prophet of the living God. All the non-belief, all the lack of faith of all the people in all the world cannot change that fact, if it be a fact, and God has given many of us a knowledge, an absolute knowledge that it is a fact, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this Gospel, called by the world "Mormonism," is in very deed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

TESTIMONY OF PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 1 want to read one of the latest testimonies regarding the divinity of this gospel, given from this stand by our late beloved Prophet, Joseph F. Smith, as to where divine authority exists today The Church of Jerus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no partisan church. It is not a sect. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the only one today existing in the world that can and does legitimately bear the name of Jesus Christ and his divine authority. I make this declara- tion in all simplicity and honesty before you and before all the world, bit- ter as the truth may seem to those who are opposed and who have no reason for that opposition. It is nevertheless true and will remain true until he who has a right to rule among the nations of the earth and among the individual children of God throughout the world shall come and take the reins of government and receive the bride that shall be prepared for the (oming of the Bridegroom. Many of our great writers have recently been querying and wondering

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where the divine authority exists today to command in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, so that it will be in effect and acceptable at the throne of the Eternal Father. I will announce here and now, presumptuous as it may seem to be to those who know not the truth, that the divine authority of Almighty God, to speak in the name of the Father and of the Son, is here in the midst of these everlasting (hills, in the midst of this intermountain region, and it will abide and will con- tinue, for God is its source, and God is the power by which it has been main- tained against all opposition in the world up to the present, and by which it will continue to progress and grow and increase on the earth until it shall cover the earth from sea to sea. This is my testimony to you, my 1 rethren and sisters, and I have a fulness of joy and of satisfaction in being able to declare this without regard to, or fear of, all the adversaries of he truth.

OH, SAY, WHAT IS TRUTH?

We heard sung here three verses of the hymn, "O, say what is truth?" ani I tequest that in the future the choir sing all four verses, and not omit the last: O, say, what is truth? Tis the fairest gem That the riches of worlds can produce And priceless the value of truth will be, When the proud monarch's costliest diadem Is counted but dross and refuse.

Yes, say what is truth? 'Tis the brightest prize To which mortals or Gods can aspire: Go search in the depths where it glittering lies, Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies; 'Tis an aim for the noblest desire.

The scepter may fall from the despot's grasp, When with winds of stern justice he copes; But the pillar of truth will endure to the last, And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast And the wreck of the fell tyrant's hopes. Then, say, what is truth? 'Tis the last and the first, For the limits of time it steps o'er: Though the heavens depart and the earth's fountains burst, Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst, Eternal, unchanged, evermore.

CLOSING TESTIMONY.

And I bear witness to you here today that we have the truth, that God has spoken again, that every gift, every grace, every power, and every endowment that came through the Holy Priesthood of the living God in the days of the Savior, are enjoyed today. God lives, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and the living God. "Mormonism," so called, is in very deed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given me a witness of these things. I know them and I bear that witness to you, in all humility, and I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.