Editor’s Table: Results of Keeping the Commandments

OT0R8TABIJ, Results of Keeping the Commandments

On many occasions in the past, the Latter-day Saints have been severely criticised by the English people, as well as by peo- ple of other nations. However, every now and then, matters arise that should convince the critics, that the Latter-day Saints are really the live actors in the religious field. They combine the gospel of Jesus Christ with practical labors, interweaving into their everyday lives, the saving principles by our Lord and Master. At the October conference, which, by the by, was a very interesting and auspicious occasion, in which the keynote, as announced by President Heber J. Grant, was, "Keep the Com- mandments," Elder James N. Lambert, recently returned from presiding over the New Zealand mission, gave the following expressions, in the course of his remarks, at one of the meet- ings, which bear out the statement that the Latter-day Saints are pratical in their religion. He said that the missionaries were happy in that field of labor, desirous of living and teaching the gospel, and are equal in every way to the demand made upon them as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are doing a good work, and the Church in that land is in a healthy condition. "The principles that have been published abroad in Ne*- Zealand ever since the gospel was introduced to the people there, have demonstrated," he says, "that we are preaching a gospel of temperance, a gospel that is beneficial to the people who obey it. It has also had its influence upon the people who represent the British government." As an example of this, he related this incident: "Dr. Ponare, a prominent native, who spent years in the United States and was educated here and in Germany, stated in Parliament, a short time ago, that in all his visits to the vari- dus parts of New Zealand, he had never seen a place that could compare with Nuhaka, a place composed of 98% Latter-day Saints or 'Mormons.' When asked further why it appealed to him, he said: 'Because of the cleanliness of the Latter-day Saints, because of their sobriety and temperance, because of their teaching the people to be industrious, and to attend to

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their own business.' The members of Parliament were astound- ed. He was questioned over and over again in regard to it, and yet he claimed that it was the truth in every way, for he had demonstrated it while he was an officer in the health depart- ment, later when he was a representative in Parliament, and then as a member of the prime minister's cabinet." The history of the Latter-day Saints shows that where they live in conformity with the revealed will of the Lord, they are a model people in every respect, believing, as they do, not only in the theory of the gospel, but in its practice; and further believing, that religion is an everyday affair, one that cannot be put off and on as occasion may arise, but one that must be in the soul, and interwoven in the daily lives of those who have adopted and received it. If our young people will comprehend this fact, keep the commandments, live as they should, being strong to combat the evils that seek to creep in among them, they will be made still stronger and still mightier, for that is the purpose of God so to make those who keep his commandments. We can not recall the sacrifices and faith of our fathers and mothers and the labors which they accomplished, without feeling in our hearts that we have a wonderful reputation to uphold, and a great work to do. We must not, therefore, forget the ideals of faith, honesty, thrift, industry, and the splendid religious examples they have set be- for us, in the toils and sacrifices of their lives. Let us be- ware, however, that we do not take credit for their virtues, without doing their works. A recent current poem, a reminder to the youngest present generation, expresses the idea: 1 \ "The dreams they dreamed, and the fights they fought, And the prayers that their lips had prayed, Shall be your dreams, and shall be your prayers; Your fights are the fights they made. The lives they lived and the deaths they died, You shall live and die again. In you is the seed of a million hopes Of a million maids and men. God grant, my son, that you fight the fight, And hold to the faith, Amen."— A.