IMPROVEMENT
CONFERENCE EDITION
You'll get all the hot water you want for shaving and for all other purposes — whenever you want it — as hot as you want it! Remem- ber . . . gas heats faster!
A speedy automatic gas water heater costs less to buy — less to operate! And if its storage tank is properly sized, it can keep ahead of any family. That's important, because an average household uses plenty of hot water — up to 140 times daily. See the chart.
If your present water heater is inadequate, replace it with a new one of proper size.
|
MINIMUM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NORMAL HOT WATER REQUIREMENTS |
||
|
NUMBER BATHROOMS |
NUMBER BEDROOMS |
STORAGE CAP'Y GALLONS |
|
1 |
1 or 2 |
30 |
|
1 |
3 or 4 |
40 |
|
2 |
2 or 3 |
40 |
|
2 |
4 or 5 |
50 / |
|
3 |
3 |
50 // |
|
3 or 4 |
4 or 5 |
75 // |
See Your Gas Appliance Dealer, Plumber, Heating Contractor or . . .
MOUNTAIN FUELSUPPLY COMPANY
Serving an Ever-Increasing Number of Customers Since 1929
By DR. FRANKLIN S. HARRIS, JR
TPhe rotation o£ the earth upon its axis is not exactly constant but instead slightly irregular. A clock set by earth time compared to perfect time would have been twenty-three seconds slow in 1680, twenty-seven seconds fast in 1780, two seconds fast in 1862, twenty-nine seconds slow in 1898, nineteen seconds slow in 1920, and thirty-two seconds slow in 1938. The changes are usually rapid, with intervals of nearly uniform rotation in between. Professor E. W. Brown has calculated that an increase in rotation rate of one and a third seconds a year would result from a uniform shrinkage of the earth's radius by five inches.
'T'he submarine earthquake of June 15, 1896, had its center 120 miles off the coast of Japan. The seismic sea wave resulting attained a height of one hundred feet at Ryori. The wave crossed the Pacific to San Fran- cisco— 4,780 miles in ten hours and thirty-four minutes, with an average speed of 450 miles an hour.
Pictures taken three and one-half miles under the sea with a camera developed by Dr. Maurice Ewing have shown there is much life on the ocean floor. One picture shows a sea spider with a leg spread of twenty-eight inches.
An important, simple discovery has ]
been made in the treatment for acne by Dr. Abner Kurtin and Dr. Ruben Yonteff. The pimples, blotches, and breaking out of the skin that give so much trouble from teen-age until the forties, in some cases, seem to be cured by the use of an ointment and sunlight. The ointment contains crude coal tar, sulfur, sulfathiazole, and lanolin and is inexpensive.
A LIGHT-SENSITIVE glass has been de- veloped by Corning Glass Co. Salts sensitive to ultraviolet light are mixed in the glass, which is exposed to various wave lengths of ultraviolet light, each of which produces a dif- ferent color. Salts of cobalt and selenium are mixed in the glass exposed to ultraviolet light, as one would in making a print with visible light, then heated to near the melting point of the glass. This brings out colors and the glass is then insensitive to further light.
MAY 1950
SAVE TIME
Why go to the trouble of mixing and baking cookies at home, when all you need to do is open a box of TOWN HOUSE Choco- late Drop Cookies — and please everyone!
AVOID DISAPPOINTMENTS
You know TOWN HOUSE Cookies are always per- fectly baked and perfectly delicious. No disappoint- ments.
SAVE MONEY
You just can't bake chocolate chip cookies as cheaply as you buy TOWN HOUSE Chocolate Drop Cookies. In cellophane- protected packages, averaging 34 cookies apiece — the cost per dozen is very low indeed
PURIW BISCUIT COMPANY
SALT LAKE - PHOENIX
3^3
IMPROVEMENT
iil\r\
"THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH"
^ ^ ^ n^ VOLUME 53 ^ NUMBER 5 ^ Wim f950
n^
RICHARD L. EVANS
fd/fors; GEORGE ALBERT SMITH - JOHN A. WIDTSOE
Monog/ng fd/for: DOYLE L. GREEN
Associofe Managing Editor: MARBA C. JOSEPHSON
Manuscript Editor: ELIZABETH J. MOFFITT - Research Editor: ALBERT L ZOBELL, JR.
"Today's Family- Editor: BURL SHEPHERD - Art Director: NELSON WHITE
Contributirjg Editors: ARCHIBALD F. BENNETT - G. HOMER DURHAM
FRANKLIN S. HARRIS, JR. - HUGH NIBLEY - LEE A. PALMER
CLAUDE B. PETERSEN - SIDNEY B. SPERRY
General Manager: ELBERT R. CURTIS - Associate Manager: BERTHA S. REEDER
Business Manager: JOHN D. GILES - Advertising Director: VERL F. SCOTT
Church Features
The Pathway of Righteousness .....George Albert Smith 362
President Smith Relates Mission Field Experiences 363
"He is Risen" (Church of the Air Address) J, Reuben Clark, Jn 364
A Humble Heart and a Contrite Spirit J. Reuben Clark, Jn 365
Free Agency — ^A Divine Gift David O; McKay 366
*' * , ♦ This is my Work and my Glory" George F. Richards 368
See Conference Index 355
Lehi in the Desert — Part V Hugh Nibley 382
The Church Moves On 358 The Finest Fence, Alfred I. Tooke
Melchizedek Priesthood 403 449
Presiding Bishopric's Page —.404 March Missionaries : 455
Special Features
For Example! — VII Louise Linton Salmon 369
A Church History Travel Service — ^m John D, Giles 388
The Spoken Word from Temple Square ..'.
...... Richard L, Evans 416, 425, 444, 450
Exploring the Universe, Franklin S. Harris, Jr 353
European Situation, These Times, G. Homer Durham 356
On the^dokrack 359
Today's Family Burl Shepherd
Am I Safe, Moramie? 442
Blueprint for Beauty 442
X-ike Bananas? 444
Handy Hint^J: 447
Your Page akd Ours ...456
Stories, Poetry
Substitute Mother I|ene McDermott 452
i
Spring of Another Year, Lizabeth
. \yall i.. 432
The Great, Evelyn Wooster Viner 451
Poetry Page .: .t... 360
Frontispiece .. 361
Path Breakers, Ruth Harwood 378
Plantinjg in Rain-fall Weather, Anooel Armour 384
Lymciai Lyfaan of
THE PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS, MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIA- TIONS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCA- TION, MUSIC COMMITTEE, WARD TEACHERS, AND OTHER AGENCIES OF
^ke L^kupch or
/jeiui L^knit
of cJLaitef-aatA ^ainti
THE COVER
From Temple Square in Salt Lake City, "where stands the imposing monument of the Prophet Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the word of the Lord, each con- ference time, goes forth unto all the world. The monument is the work of Mahonri M. Young.
M.I.A. CONFERENCE
M. L A. June conference will convene on Temple Square June 16, with sessions being held June 17, and 18. A drama festival is scheduled for the evening of June 15, preceding the conference ses- sions.
EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES
50 North Moin Street
Y.M.M.I.A. Offices, 50 North Main St.
Y.W.M.I.A. Offices, 40 North Main St.
Salt Lake City 1, Utah
Copyright 1950 by Mutual Funds, Inc., a Corpora- tion of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All rights reserved. Sub- scription price, $2.50 a year, in advance; foreign subscriptions, $3.00 a year, in advance; 25c single copy.
Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 1917, authorized July 2, 1918.
The Improvement Era is not responsible for un- solicited manuscripts, but welcomes contributions. All manuscripts must be accompanied by sufficient postage for delivery and return.
Change of Address
Fifteen days' notice required for change of ad- dress. When ordering a change, please include address slip from a recent issue of the magazine. Address changes cannot be made unless the old address as well as the new one is Included.
Notional Advertising Representatives
EDWARD S. TOWNSEND COMPANY
Russ Building
San Francisco, California
HENRY G. ESCHEN,
EDWARD S. TOWNSEND COMPANY
1324 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles 17, California
HARRY V. LYTLE
332 South Michigan Ave.
Chicago 4, Illinois
SADLER AND SANGSTON ASSOCIATES
342 Madison Ave.
New York 17, N. Y.
Member, Audit Bureau of Circulations
354
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
^^pnl (^onfe
emnce
^ndex
SPEAKERS
Benson, Ezra Taft 377
Bowen, Albert E 374
Clark, J. Reuben, Jr 364, 365
Cowley, Matthew 379
Evans, Richard L 391
Hunter, Milton R .394
Isaacson, Thorpe B. 401
Ivins, Antoine R. 390
Kimball, Spencer W. .376
Kirkham, Oscar A. ...: 392
Lee, Harold B 375
McConkie, Bruce R ...395
McKay, David O 366
Merrill, Joseph F 373
Moyle, Henry D 380
Petersen, Mark E .378
Richards, George F 368
Richards, LeGrand 397
Richards, Stephen L 371
Romney, Marion G 385
Smith, Eldred G 381
Smith, George Albert 362, 363, 410
Smith, Joseph Fielding 370
Sonne, Alma 387
Widtsoe, John A ..372
Wirthlin, Joseph L 399
Young, Clifford E 386
Young, Levi Edgar 389
Young, S. Dilworth 393
SUBJECTS
Acknowledging Authority 397
Adult Members of the Aaronic Priesthood ....401
America 392
Articles of Faith 380
Atonement 380, 395
Blessings 386
Brotherhood 372
Charity 394
"Church of the Air" 364
Church Progress 362
Constitution 366, 370, 389
Discernment 371, 379
Donations 392
Duties of Seventies 390
Easter 364
MAY 1950
Faith .371, 374, 391, 393, 394
Forgiveness 365, 379
Free Agency . .366, 373
Freedom 399
Genealogy ..372
Gossip 394
Government .370, 389, 399
House of Israel 377
Indians 376
Joseph Smith 362
Labor Unions .373
Liberty ....'. .376
Love 394
Loyalty 375
Marriage 368
Missionary endeavor 387, 393
Obedience 380
Perfection 378
Prayer 392, 401
Priesthood 368
Progress, Church 362
Prophecies Fulfilled 377
Religion in America 389
Repentance
364, 373, 377, 379, 385, 391, 395, 401
Responsibility 381
Resurrection ...^ .364, 380, 389
Second Coming 377
Security 376, 399
Seventies 390
Slavery 373, 399
Teaching 381
Temple Marriage 368, 381
Truth 397
Unity 375
Warning 385
Welfare Work 387
Witness 386
^
NOTE: Elder Thomas E. McKay was in attendance at one session, but did not speak. Addresses were presented during the conference sessions by June B. Sharp, former president of the South African Mission; Chief Blue of the Catawba Tribe of South Carolina, and A. Richard Petersen, former president of the Norwegian Mission.
Bound Volumes of the ERA make valu- able reference books.
Preserve each issue for bind- ing when volume is complete.
A fine addition to any library, both for value of contents and ap- pearance.
Economical $2.50 per volume
F.O.B. Salt Lake City (Postpaid, add 30c)
1949 Index is now- ready so send your ERAS for binding to
DESERET NEWS PRESS
40 Richards St. Salt Lake City
355
An h^ Keeper
Massey-Harris Tractors deliver more horsepower hours per gallon of fuel . , . cost less to own and operate
Actual tests prove a Massey-Harris is more economical to own and operate. Its heavy-duty high-compression engine delivers more power . . . does more work on a tank of fuel.
The Massey-Harris is designed for better farming— built to give you more years of dependable service. Its helical-gear trans- mission means greater efficiency . . . extra draw-bar pull for tough, hard going. Whether you're plowing, discing or cultivating, the Massey-Harris furnishes sure, steady power— geared for the job. It helps you do your field work faster, at lower cost. There's a Massey-Harris for your farm— with a complete line of custom- built implements for plowing, bedding, planting, cultivating, mow- ing. See your Massey-Harris dealer. Let him give you ALL facts on Massey-Harris Tractors and Farm Equipment. You'll see why more and more farmers are swinging to Massey-Harris.
Ask your nearest DEALER for a demonstration
UTAH
Delta— Hunsaker Motor Co. Heber-M & H Welding Works Kamas— Hoyt's Store Logan— Farm Service Monticello— Randall & Barton North Ogden and Sunset—
Baugh Repair & Farm Service Payson— Allan's Farm Equipment Parowan— Parowan Service Co. Richfield— Harw/ard Brothers Spring City— Strate's Garage St. George— St. George Service Co. Tremonton— Volley Implement Co.
(Wayne Sandall)
COLORADO
Alamosa— The San Luis Valley Implement Co.
Craig- Brinkley Hardware
Glenwood Springs— Blewett Implement Co.
Grand Junction— Knov/les Implement Service
Meeker— Wayne Sales & Service
Pleasant View— J. C. Denton
Son Luis— San Luis Lumber & Supply Co.
WYOMING
Afton— Valley Tractor & Implement Co. Casper— Noland Feed Company Sheridan— Coffeen Sales Co.
Intermountain Distributor
WESTERN MACHINERY COMPANY
748 West 8th South
Salt Lake City 13, Utah
MAKE IT A MASSEY-HARRIS
356
THE EUROPEAN
By DR. G. HOMER DURHAM
Head o/ Political Science Department, University of Utah
Tt is now five years since "V-E" day. Writing in one of the more popu- lar American journals, Fleet Admi- ral William D. Leahy has revealed the tortuous events by which the diplomatic machinery of Russia, Great Britain, and the United States finally caught up with the military defeat of Hitler, and how, finally, their peoples were in- formed that the war in Europe was over. Similar memoirs, past, present, and future will shed additional light on how the war was fought and con- cluded.
In similar vein, the passing of a half- decade has thrown certain events into proportional, measured view. The emergence of the U.S.S.R. as the dominant Eurasian power, apparent in 1945, is now historic. Writing in the Era in August 1942, this author under- took to make a set of predictions.^ Four postulates were advanced:
/. The political controls o/ the future will bear heavy, if not primary, re- sponsibility for the economic well- being of human beings.
II. Some type of world organization as a stabilizer of peace and se- curity is an essential environ- mental factor in the society of the immediate future.
III. World organization after the war will recognize in modified form the national state system, but will supply means of world control by means of Anglo-American sea power and industrial strength, maintained by air power.
IV. Presidential leadership will in- crease and not decline in impor- tance in the U.S.A. . . . meanwhile Congress tvill have to reorganize and strengthen . . . the representa- tive principle.
Explanations followed the postulates, predicting the dwarfing of Europe, with world control "shifting to this (the American) continent as the mar- ket and waterway area between east and west."
Postulate I has been borne out by communist extensions of state respon- sibility for economic life throughout Europe and Asia; by the British so- cialist victory in 1945; by the British election of 1950 in which both Labor and Conservative Parties promised to continue the enacted socialist services of 1945-50 (steel alone excepted by the Conservatives ) ; by the role of American government in trade disputes,
'"The Forces of Our Times," volume 45:499, 531-3 (August 1942).
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
SITUATION
production policies, agriculture, and world recovery schemes.
Postulate II sees the United Nations as an "environmental factor," but with Postulate III, the national state system is still dominant. The British loan of 1946 and the Marshall Plan (EGA) of 1948, with the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949, sees the United States attempting to "supply means of world control." And Presidential leadership and dominance ( Postulate IV ) , despite the predicted reorganization of Con- gress (which occurred in 1946), con- tinues.
But nowhere did the circumstances of 1942, eight years ago, suggest the contemporary position of Russia. The rise of the Soviet power explains most of the postwar phenomena — in- cluding the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic military alliance engi- neered by American diplomacy.
The hard solid fact at the core of these American policies is our reliance on the French army as the rallying point of land-resistance to Soviet land power. We have also created the West German republic as a hopeful bastion to French povv^er (a most remarkable exercise in hopefulness and belief in political magic ) . We have attempted to re-create Italy as a protective flank in the Mediterranean to cover our commitments in Greece and Turkey, should they collapse before Soviet strength. We may expect to learn more of the covert overtures to make the "space" and resources of Spain available to our strategy. And encom- passing all these plans in Europe, and extending in wider ripples to the wide world itself, is the unwritten Anglo- American alliance which, given limited expression in the North Atlantic Treaty of April 4, 1949 (signed at Washington, D. C. ) , ranges across the north Atlantic to the St. Lawrence seaway, then spreads in two great wings — one downward towards the Caribbean and the south Atlantic, splitting there and extending east and west around Africa and South America to meet the other — ranging across Can- ada to the Pacific and tiongkong, thence to meet the globe-circling cur- rents of Anglo-American power from the Atlantic.
Two facts, besides the rise of Rus- sia, are apparent in 1950. First, Ameri- can and British policies in Europe are diametrically opposed in the economic field. We, through ERP billions, try to build up multilateral trade — a "Eu- ropean economy." The British primary [Concluded on page 421 ) MAY 1950
Dress up your Windows for Spring With Decorative (yet thrifty) Lustron. .
Rayon Draperies
Full Luxury Size Draperies 75" width to the pair; 21/2 yards long.
i^ Lustron's 100% non-woven fabric
^ Ready to hang
if Graceful draping qualities
■^ Sun-fast and fire-resistant
^ Fully hemmed and headed ready to hang
Come in, Write in, Phone in
Send all mail orders Lo: Margot Manners, ZCMI, Salt Lake City 10, Utah. Please state the number of drapes desired, pattern and domi- nant (or basic) color. Indicate if it's to be cash, charge, or C.O.D. Please include 15c postage for 1st pair; \ 3c for each additional pair. 2% sales tax if Utah resident.
Available in
if Floral patterns if Solid patterns if Stripe patterns
DRAPERIES—
Downstairs
Store
357
THE CHURCH MOVES ON
February 1950
0 [^ Victory Acres Branch, Mari- ^ ^ copa (Arizona) Stake, organized with Marlin McLaws as president.
March 1950
1 A A nine-hundred-thousand-dollar -'- ^ field house was approved for Brigham Young University. It is ex- pected that the building will be ready for occupancy during the coming basketball season.
New Hall Branch, San Fernando (California) Stake, transferred from California Mission with Romney Stewart, acting president.
1 O Provo Fourteenth Ward, -*- '-' Utah Stake, formed from parts of Provo Sixth Ward, with T. Henry Heal as bishop.
Val Verda Ward, South Davis ( Utah ) Stake, formed from portions of Orchard Ward, with C. Douglas Rollins as bishop.
Kentucky District, East Central States Mission, separated into three districts. Kentucky East, with Clarence E. Nichols as district president; Ken- tucky Central, with William Wells as district president, and Kentucky West, with William Ray as district president.
■j O After several months of discus- -*- ** sion, the joint senate-house li- brary committee agreed that the statue of Brigham Young would be placed in the main part of the statuary hall in the capitol at W^ashington, D. C. It will be placed alongside the statue of Ethan Allen, Vermont's Revolu- tionary War leader.
Wallace F. Toronto, president of the Czech Mission and the last Ameri- can elder to remain in Czechoslovakia, was notified by that government to leave that country by March 18.
Sons of Utah Pioneers began their enactment of the last portion of the march of the Mormon Battalion. They left Salt Lake City in nine chartered buses for a week-long trip across Arizona and California.
Workmen began this week preparing the buildings on Temple Square for April conference. Approximately two hundred gallons of paint \vill be used on the Tabernacle interior.
1 fC The Presiding Bishop's Office -*- " announced that Waimaualo Branch, Oahu (Hawaii) Stake, had been organized with Julian H. Karaa- kaku as president.
Announcement was made that West- chester Ward, Inglewood (California) Stake, has been formed from parts of Lennox Ward, with Donald A. Bar- raclough, bishop.
358
1 7 An eighty-one-foot, Diesel-pow- ■*• ' ered, two-masted schooner left Wilmington harbor, Los Angeles, for Papeete, Tahiti, where it will be used by missionaries.
1 0 The Sons of Utah Pioneers -'- ^ ended their modern re-enactment of the march of the Mormon Battalion with ceremonies at Fort Moore in Los Angeles and at San Bernardino. At- tending were President George Albert Smith, President Milton R. Hunter, Governor Earl Warren of California, and Governor J. Bracken Lee of Utah.
1 Q Donald Ellsworth sustained -*- " as president of the Mesa (Ari- zona) Stake, with Ralph E. Brown and Egbert J. Brown, counselors. Re- tiring presidency were Lucian M. Mecham, Jr., now president of the Mexican Mission, and counselors Alma M. Davis and Frihoff P. Nielson.
Pacific Beach Ward, San Diego (CaUfornia) Stake, organized from parts of Ocean Beach Ward, w^ith Grant B. Hodgson, bishop.
Lakewood Branch, East Long Beach (California) Stake, organized from parts of Bellflower Ward, with Lorin B. Daniels, Sr,, president.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., dedi- cated the Tooele Third Ward, Tooele (Utah) Stake, chapel.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Council of the Tw^elve dedicated the Vale Ward, Nyssa (Oregon) Stake, chapel.
O 0 John B. Matheson, former ^ " president of the Riverside (Salt Lake City) Stake, appointed as presi- dent of the East Central States Mis- sion, by the First Presidency. He succeeds Thomas W. Richards. Presi- dent Matheson and his wife are ex- pected to take charge of the mission headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, about May 1.
0 9 Czechoslovakian Interior Min- ^ " ister Vaclav Nosek accused western powers of sending spies to his country in the guise of religious mis- sionaries, singling out the L. D. S. elders with: "Their activities, of course, had absolutely nothing in com- mon with Christ's teachings, and there- fore we had to send thern back from where they came,"
O \ Contract for the new Brigham *-' ^ Young University field house was let to Mark B. Garff , Ryberg and Garfl Construction Company.
The second album of Tabernacle Choir records was released by Colum- bia Records.
O p; M Men between the ages of ^ " seventeen and twenty-nine may play basketball beginning October 1,
The former age limits were seventeen and twenty-five, although during the war years the age limit was temporar- ily raised.
Brigham Young University placed third in the annual Western N. C. A.
A. tournament held at Kansas City, Missouri.
2/» President J. Frank Peel sus- W tained in Oquirrh ( Salt Lake County) Stake with Omer E. Hall and Maurice A. Tuttle, counselors. They succeed President Vivian B. Coon and his counselors. Alpha G. Johnson and LeGrande W^, Sadler.
East Pasadena Ward, Pasadena (California) Stake, organized from parts of Pasadena Ward with Verness
B. Stonebreaker, bishop.
North El Monte Ward, Pasadena (California) Stake, organized from parts of Baldwin Park Ward, with Murray Cluff, bishop.
Fort Hall Ward, Pocatello (Idaho) Stake, formed from Fort Hall Branch, with J, Roy Car don, bishop.
2n The Presiding Bishopric's bul- ' letin announced that Strawberry Branch, Duchesne (Utah) Stake, had been discontinued and its members transferred to Duchesne Ward.
2 A The First Presidency an- " nounced the appointment of President George A, Christensen of Emigration (Salt Lake City) Stake to preside over the Australian Mission. He succeeds Charles B. Richmond.
April 1950
2 The Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir and guest soloists presented a special Easter program in the Taber- nacle this Palm Sunday. The principal offering was Brahms' German Requiem.
President George Albert Smith celebrated his eightieth birthday anniversary. An informal birthday reception sponsored by the Church auxiliary organizations was held at Hotel Utah in the evening, at which a new^ bust of the President by Avard T. Fairbanks was shown.
Primary Association began their an- nual two-day conference in Salt Lake City.
fr Y. W. M. I. A. General Presi- " dent Bertha S. Reeder announced the appointment of Winnifred Bowers to the general board.
President George Albert Smith laid the cornerstone of the new Primary Children's Hospital, now under con- struction. Earlier in the day were held the concluding sessions of the annual Primary Association confer- ence,
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
m THE
Bookraek
THE HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN UTAH
(John Clifton Moffitt, Ph.D. Dr. John C. Moffitt, Provo, Utah [Pub.] 1946. 175 pages. $3.00.)
'TPhe successful superintendent of Provo City Schools has in this volume made accessible the widely scattered information concerning the development and present condition of education in Utah. In eighteen well- written chapters, sometimes over- lapping one another, the story of Utah education is told from pioneer years to the present. The essential princi- ples of education in the state are discussed, such as free schools, state and county administration, school con- solidation, school buildings, the course of study, teacher personnel, including training selection, certification, salaries and rating of teachers, and other sub- jects vital in school work. To clarify some statements, several figures and tables are inserted. The book makes interesting and instructive reading. It would give information and stimula- tion to teachers and enjoyable hours to the public generally, all of whom are or should be interested 'in educa- tion. The book is notable for its careful documentation of the state- ments made. It represents much scholarly work which probably will not for many years be repeated, if indeed it needs repetition. This well- done piece of work of Dr. Moffitt makes the past educational efforts of the state a challenge to the future.
— /. A. W.
JOHN ROCKY PARK IN UTAH'S FRONTIER CULTURE
( John Chfton Moffitt, John C. Moffitt, [Pub.], Provo, Utah. 1947. 100 pages.)
John R. Park, president of the Uni- J versity of Utah from 1869 until he retired in 1892, was a colorful, at- tractive figure. It was he who launched the university as a teaching institution, after the many years it confined itself to supervising state education. Upon the foundations that he laid, the school has been building ever since. The story of this man's life is here told simply but viyidly. Dr. Park en- livened many of the pioneer activities. Above all he was a teacher who reached the heart of youth and stimu- lated his students to honorable lives and an ambitious desire to rise in the affairs of men. The little book makes good reading.
Some authorities differ from Dr. Moffitt as to Dr. Park's visit to Cali- fornia. Otherwise the statements made are safely documented.
— /. A. W.
MAY 1950
¥HRESHES l¥
Rubbed in the palm of your hand, grain or seed shells out of the head easily when it's ready for harvest
Rubber-against-rubber shelling contacts in the ALL- CROP harvester give that natural rubbing action, the most effective threshing principle known.
The crop falls on a wide rubberized draper and rides straight to the full- width, spiral-bar cylinder in a thin stream, just as it grew in the field. Rubber-cushioned cyhnder bars rub out the seeds against rubber concaves.
Then comes the second unique step in ALL- CROP harvesting. Tossed in a high arc, straw is floated free from kernels by Air Blast Separation; is left long and fluffy for livestock bedding. It's easy work for i the oversize straw rack and cleaning shoe from there on. They save more grain and clean it better.
That same handling of over 100 grains, beans and soil -building seed crops makes the ALL- CROP what it is ... a truly versatile harvester.
THE
(ILICROP
Harvester
Now Has Optionql HYDRAULIC Header Lift*
flUIS-CHIILMGRS
■ TRACTOR DIVISION • Ml LWAU KEE 1, U. S. A.
*Plus 17 other new features and advantages. Also available with
auxiliary engine. Ask your Allis-Chalmers dealer.
359
THE MOTHER By Margery S. Stewart
COME in from your play, my children, Only an instant. I must be assured By touch of your brown bodies, by high Sweet voices. I must add to the measured Store this new picture of your eyes Holding another wonder, the word That is not large enough to tell The mystery you have seen. I am stirred As always by the miracle of your being. My gratitude for the gift of you Breaks from me in these foolish tears. Come from your play, it takes Only a moment for the eye to tell The questioning heart that all is well.
ALCHEMY
By Caroline Eyring Miner
'T'his morning when I saw the pear tree ■■■ white
With clustered, iridescent bloom, it took My breath away, for in the dusk last night It did not have this near-celestial look. This is the alchemy so often sought By men of magic in the ages past. The spell that, changing common things,
has wrought In them a beauty that will always last. Thus love and light give one this inner
sight; Who loves sees beauty in the clearer light. Love truly has the power to make us see That each in turn reveals divinity.
FALLING PETALS By Eva Willes Wangsgaard
So often I have seen this pink and white Falling in rumpled brown to dust, to
dark, Without a backward turning toward the
light Which long will warm the thrush and
meadow lark! The petals fall and leave these nubs of
green To feed on sun and rain till they distend To savory roundness with a crimson sheen And never wait to see the branches bend. Each year I find it harder to let go Of spring perfected here in applebloom. Of petals falling soft as moonlight glow Turning the orchard to a silver room. How fast they fall! How many, many
springs Have floated earthward on pale, scented
wings
DOUBLE ADAGE By Elaine V. Emans
** A stitch in time saves nine,"
'**• They told me in my youth. And through poor times and fine I learned they spoke the truth.
But this they failed to tell: A ^vord in time as well Can sometimes even save Love from an early grave.
360
SEGO LILY By Lydia Hall
Tn springtime in a desert land •*■ I found a treasure in the sand: The white wings of a flower graced An upland of the arid waste.
And, oh, I wished that I could share That splendid thing that blossomed there With all who walk day after day Where streets and hearts are cold and gray;
For many souls have need to go Along a sun-drenched trail. To know How loveliness and healing spill From petals on a painted hill.
WINSOME MAY By Mabel Jones Gabboff
A young new May has startled all the hills And brushed the wisp, white clouds to
higher air; Her laugh is gay as any spring that spills New waters, like staccato sunshine, down
a stair Of stone and earth to fill the little brooks That edge her new green raiment with fine
lace; Her step is soft as dew but swift, from
nooks Of hidden fragrance to the highroad's
flaunted grace; Her hands are gentle, tying petal bows On bushes, bonneted in pink surprise; Her stay is brief; so suddenly she goes We can but glimpse the wonder in her
eyes.
Oh, winsome May so generously giving A thousand young new dreams to spice our living.
» ^ »
MAKE THE DAY TO GLOW By Genneva Dickey ^^^atson
SOME little thing we seldom count can make A day begin to glow; The fragrance when a cake begins to
brown; The baby crooning low And sweet when she awakes; or the
happiness That passing strangers show For the scarlet silken poppies that you took Such keen delight to grow; And moments when earth seems to hold
its breath Before a summer shower; Or bright remembered beauty that you've
kept To light some darker hour.
At evening when the loved one's step draws
near, Your heart is all abloom — Oh, every day brings joy enough to make A home of any room.
A MOTHER'S PRAYER
By Matia McClelland Burk
So short a time since his small form Was lying helpless on my breast. So short a time — his father's hand Caressed his head while he was blessed.
Now, after years, through ordered steps He's been a deacon, teacher, priest, My son grown tall and strong and fine, His reverence and faith increased.
He kneels in calm humility. Upon his face a solemn light. Dear Lord, forgive a mother's pride; He blessed the sacrament tonight.
WALK SLOWLY
By Efhelyn M. Kincher
WALK softly here and slowly too, And beautiful your thoughts will be, Though loveliness lies in the blue
Of distant places you can't see.
Run not ahead, nor try to know
Tomorrow's joy before that day;
Walk slowly here, and as you go.
Find strength before you turn away.
Walk slowly now, take time to see;
The race is never to the swift, But for hours spent beautifully
A richer joy is life's best gift.
DUST IN HEAVEN By Martha T. Fugate
IF there is dust in heaven, does it he Upon your floors to catch the eye Of angel visitors? Does your bed Stay rumpled while you clean instead A neighbor's house? On earth some ailing
child Was your excuse for dishes piled
Unwashed within your sink.
Dear one, I like to think Of you as still the same, unchanged By heaven; your mansion not arranged As orderly as heaven's homes should be, While you perform your deeds of ministry.
FOR A GENTLE MOTHER By Inez Tyler
COMPANIONED by the dreams of other years, When gracious living filled our every day, I listen to the symphony; veneers And make-believes all seem to fade away; Tawdry conceits and boorish selfishness Are all forgotten; soul rhythms go deep; My mother's strain of tranquil blood I
bless. And pray this heritage be mine to keep!
In life's great symphony she played her
part, Blending her tones to make a perfect
whole; A dreamer — so she was — but works of art Sometimes are masks to hide a lonely
soul; A dreamer — yes — but kind and gently
wise. Who learned to look on life with quiet
eyes!
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
earken, O ye people, and open your hearts and give ear from afar; and listen, you that call yourselves the people of the Lord, and hear the word of the Lord and his will con-
cerning you.
(D.^C63:1.)
ittftb
^-^<i-if.
f^imA
r
.-Ss-^ iM
■-.?■■ ■■■.:;■:»::- ^
.v-'^"v7
ff
'/,
i^-i
OPENING ADDRESS
Address delivered at the Thursday morning session of the 120th an- nual general conference, April 6, 1950, in the Tabernacle
ATHWAY OF
ll5u f-^i^eildent
ONE hundred twenty years ago to- day six members constituted the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. Today more than a million souls claim membership in the Church, and this morning the Taber- nacle is filled to overflowing, and many hundreds more are in the Assembly Hall and on the grounds. It does not seem possible that so many people could be here this morning.
But there is one man missing, and I think you will all remember him. He always has been here; he has not failed, since I can remember, to be in a conference. He always has had a boutonniere in his coat. He came in from the north side of the stand to see that everybody was seated. In the providence of our Heavenly Father that good man has been summoned home. He has gone back to the God that gave him life. I refer to our faithful usher, George B. Margetts.
One by one we are going. The years are passing. A year ago I was only seventy-nine years old myself. Now I am eighty. There are those on the stand who are older than I. The Church is getting older, but fortunately, to take our places in the ranks are the younger people, not only of the Church, but who are coming out of the world into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the various nations of the earth.
It is wonderful to be here this morn- ing. It hardly seems possible that there would not be room for everybody on a busy weekday, but the Taber- nacle is filled to capacity, and the thing that impresses me most is that our Heavenly Father is keeping his word when he said, if even two or three shall meet together in his name, he will be there to bless them.
But this morning we are here in great numbers, and this morning the Spirit of the Lord is here, and all of us who have come prepared to be edified under the influence of it will not go away disappointed.
Conditions in the world remind us of the fact that our Heavenly Father, knowing what would occur — realiz- ing that the people o£ the world were not paying attention to him, and that those who were in charge of religious worship in the various nations of the earth had disregarded his teachings — a little over a hundred and twenty years ago called a boy, not yet fifteen years of age, one w^ho had not been spoiled by the philosophies of men, but one who believed in God sufficient- ly to go out in the woods and ask 362
the Lord which of all the churches he should join. He was no doubt astonished when the Father and the Son appeared to him and told him to join none of them, that they were all astray.
As a result of that remarkable ex- perience of Joseph Smith as a boy, we see in the world today hundreds of thousands of men and women who have turned to our Heavenly Father, who have understood the purpose of life, and who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Today we have more than five thousand of our brothers and sisters of this Church scattered throughout the world as mis- sionaries, urging the people of the world not merely to be satisfied with what they now have, but to seek the Lord and go on, with the promise that if they will do that, they may know the truth. The Lord himself has said.
If any man will do his [God's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17.)
Our work in the world, my breth- ren and sisters, is to reach out after all of our Heavenly Father's children at
is for the children of men to repent of their sins, turn to the Lord, honor him and keep his commandments. That is the only way.
Because the Lord knew that, one hundred and twenty years ago he es- tabhshed his Church, and from that time until now his sons and daughters have been going through the world pleading for the opportunity to share with their fellows the joy and happi- ness that results from keeping the commandments of God.
I am very grateful indeed to be here this morning. Since I was here with you last, I have not been in many parts of the world, but I have traveled, and I have found faith- ful members of the Church, found the wards and branches of the Church increasing in some sections to the point that their meetinghouses will not hold them. The result is that two wards, and in some cases three wards have to meet in the same house.
Since World War II closed, we have built more than two hundred meeting- houses and dedicated them, and we are still building and are short of places in which our people may worship. The
MoNE of US are secure except we keep the command- ments of our Heavenly Father. The pathway of righteousness is the highway of happiness. There is no other way.
home and abroad; and if we will do that, the Spirit of the Lord will dwell in our souls; and we will be happy; and our homes will be the abiding place of his Holy Spirit.
When we reaUze the uncertainty that exists in the world today, reahze that the strongest nations of the earth as well as the weaker ones are arming to the teeth preparing for war, we may know that it is only a question of time, unless they repent of their sins and turn to God, that war will come, and not only war, but pestilence and other destruction, until the human fam- ily will disappear from the earth.
The world does not know that. brothers and sisters. Our Father's other chfldren who are in different parts of the earth do not understand that — those who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. They have an idea that they can legislate and fight it out, but there is only one way to enjoy peace and happiness in this world, and that
Church has increased during the past year more than any other year since it was organized. It is not our Church. It is the Church of Jesus Christ. God gave it the name, and it is flourishing. How happy we should be, not that we have increased in numbers in the organization that we belong to, but that more of our Father's children, more of his sons and daughters, have been brought to an understanding of the truth, and are coming into his organization that he prepared to teach us the way of life and lead us along the pathway to eternal happiness.
I want to take this occasion per- sonaOy to thank you, my brethren and sisters, for your kindness to me. I have received a host of birthday con- gratulations and cards that it will not be possible for me to acknowledge, and if any of you do not receive any word or an acknowledgment, I want you to know that I appreciate just the same your kind remembrance of me in my advancing years.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
IGHTEOUSNESS
Ljeoyae -^y^lhevt S^wiiik
This is the \vork of the Lord. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and we have all the blessings that may be enjoyed by anybody anywhere in the world. That is what the Lord prom- ised.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33.)
As, we sit here in comfort in this marvelous auditorium today, listening to the sweet strains of music of the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, listening to the voices of those who are called to address us, we do so in peace and quiet, not in anxiety, as is the case in so many places in the world. Here we are in the land of Zion, and in this part of it that our Heavenly Father set apart for the gathering of his people more than a hundred years ago. Ought we not to be grateful?
I cannot understand how people can be other than happy under all these circumstances. Think of our opportuni- ties. There is not a desirable bless- ing, and all blessings are desirable, that we may wish to have that we may not enjoy if we are faithful to God and honor our membership in his Church.
He has promised us that all things will come to us if we are righteous.
This morning among the many things that we enjoy, we are meeting in this house, built during the poverty of the Latter-day Saints, erected for the "wor- ship of our Heavenly Father; and as I look over this audience, I see people from nearly every section of the coun- try and from parts of other nations of the world. We have the mission presidents who are here from their various fields of labor, as well as presidencies of stakes, bishops of wards, and presidents of branches. This audience is an example of a gathering of the Latter-day Saints.
I am sure that as we come together to worship we will go from here feel- ing grateful that we have had this privilege. Now again, may I say this is not the work of man. This is not the Church of Joseph Smith nor any of those who have succeeded him in the presidency. This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, named by his Father.
I bear you "witness of it in love and with a desire that all of our Father's children may learn the truth and ac- cept of it, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
j-^^mildent J^mitk rKeiaL
e6 a
Mission Field Experience
Address delivered at the Sunday
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 9, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
WHEN I was twenty-one years of age, I was sent on a mission to the southern states. I became secretary of the mission, and while there was called to Columbia, South Carolina, because some of our elders had become seriously ill. It was diffi- cult to get word back and forth, so I got on a train and went down there. I found that they were improved and getting along all right.
When I bade them good-bye, 1 MAY 1950
boarded the train and started home, and we passed a little Indian settle- ment at the side of the track. I saw evidence that there were quite a num- ber of Indians there, so I reached over and touched the man who was sitting in the seat in front of me, and I said, "Do you know what Indians these are?"
He said, "They are the Catawbas." That is the tribe that Chief Blue rep- resents, who has just spoken to us.
I asked, "Do you know where they come from?"
He said, "Do you mean the Cataw- bas?"
I replied, "Any Indians." He said, "Nobody knows where the Indians came from."
"Oh," I said, "yes, they do." I was talking then to a man about forty-five or fifty years old, and I was twenty- one.
He questioned, "Well, where did they come from? '
I answered, "They came from Jeru- salem six hundred years before the birth of Christ."
"Where did you get that informa- tion?" he asked.
I told him, "From the history of the Indians."
"Why," he said, "I didn't know there was any history of the Indians."
I said, "Yes, there is a history of the Indians. It tells all about them." Then he looked at me as much as to say: My, you are trying to put one over on me.
But he said, "Where is this history?"
"Would you* like to see one?" I asked. And he said that he certainly would. I reached down under the seat in my little log-cabin grip and took out a Book of Mormon and handed it to him.
He exclaimed, "My goodness, what is this?"
I repHed, "That is the history of the ancestry of the American Indian."
He said, "I never heard of it before. May I see it?"
I said, "Yes," and after he had looked at it a few minutes, he turned around to me and asked, "W^on't you sell me this book? I don't want to lose the privilege of reading it through."
"Well," I said, "I will be on the train for three hours. You can read it for that long, and it won't cost you anything." I had found that he was getting off farther on, but I had to get off in three hours.
In a little while he turned around again and said, "I don't want to give up this book. I've never seen anything like this before."
I could see that he apparently was a refined and well-educated man. I didn't tell him I really wanted him to read the book, but I said, "Well, I can't sell it to you. It is the only one I have." (I didn't tell him I could get as many more as I wanted. )
He said, "I think you ought to sell it to me."
I replied, "No, I'll tell you what I'll do. You keep it for three weeks, and at the end of that time you send it to me at Chattanooga," and I gave him my card with my address on, secretary of the mission.
So we bade one another good-bye, and in about two weeks he wrote me a letter saying, "I don't want to give this book up. I am sure you can get another, and I will pay you any price you want for it."
Then I had my opportunity. I wrote back, "If you really enjoy the book and have an idea it is truly worth while, accept it with my compliments." I received a letter of thanks back from him.
I speak of that because that was the
(Concluded on page 410)
363
Els
Ba
OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY
ON THE second morning after the day of the crucifixion, Mary Magda- lene, Mary, the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, and other women, came early to the tomb where Jesus had been laid on the evening of the crucifixion, "and entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them. Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified." "He is not here: behold the place where they laid him." "He is risen." "Remem- ber how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee." (Mark 16; Luke 24.)
The crafty plan of the fearsome chief priests and Pharisees, to guard the tomb lest his disciples should come and steal him away; the mighty power of Rome witnessed by the Roman watch set to prevent the theft of the body; the sealing of the tomb to make certain no one could enter — all came to naught. The Christ that died to atone for the fall of Adam had risen from the dead to make se- cure the resurrection of all men from the grave. For had he not said months before, speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem: "I am the good shep- herd. ... I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10:14- 18.)
As he came out from the tomb that early morning, the darkness that had covered the earth since the day Adam fell rolled back before the divine light of the risen Lord, and then was come to pass the fruition of the divine plan that as in Adam all had died, so in Christ had all been made alive.
In the morning of the resurrection
ISEN"
he came forth a being of flesh and bone, even as he laid himself down. Though he forbade Mary Magdalene to touch him, the other women who came to the tomb "held him by the feet, and worshipped him." (Matt. 28:9.) Sometime during this first day, he showed himself to Peter and, in the late afternoon, to the two on their way to Emmaus. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex- pounded unto them in all the scrip- tures the things concerning himself." As he sat at meat with them, "he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them." (Luke 24:27, 30. ) Their eyes were opened, they knew him, and he vanished from their sight. They returned to Jerusalem, met with the Twelve, except Thomas. The doors were shut. They told of their visit with the risen Lord. Even as they spoke, Jesus stood amongst them. He- reproved and calmed their fears. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." He asked for food. They gave him and he ate a piece of broiled fish and honey- comb. (Luke 24:39-42.)
Eight days later, the Twelve being again in a room with the doors shut, Thomas now being with them, Jesus again suddenly stood in their midst. He bade Thomas to look at and touch his hands; to thrust his finger into the spear wound in his side, and then, said he, "be not faithless, but believ- ing." (John 20:27.)
On the shores of the sea of Galilee, he appeared to Peter, and Thomas and Nathanael of Cana, to the sons of Zebedee and two others, who had gone fishing. (John 2L)
"After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once," and of James. (I Cor. 15:6-7.)
Eleven of the disciples visited him on a mountain in Galilee, where he had appointed them to come. (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18.)
Finally, after forty days, he assem- bled them together in Jerusalem and then leading them out as far as Beth- any, where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived, and while they still beheld him, "a cloud received him out of their sight." Two men stood before them in white apparel, and said to them: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Address presented as the "Church of the Air" sermon over Radio Station KSL and the Co- lumbia Broadcasting System at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, Sunday, April 9, 1950.
Jesus, which is taken up from you in- to heaven, shall so come in like man- ner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
There is no word in the record that does not bear witness that the actual body that Joseph and Nicodemus had laid in the tomb (John 19:38-42) had come forth out of it, a resurrected, glorified being, a body of flesh and bone, as he himself said.
Sometime after his resurrection, he came to this continent, set up his Church, and did mighty works.
From the beginning of his ministry he had foretold this mighty miracle of death and resurrection. To the multitudes in the temple courts, challenging his first cleansing of the temple and demanding a sign of his authority, Jesus said: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They thought he spoke of the marbled courts, the holy place, the holy of holies, "but he spake of the temple of his body." (John 2:13-22.) Declaring to the Jews his relation- ship to the Father, he said: "When ye have hfted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself." (John 8:28.)
To the Jews in the temple, Jesus de- clared: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." (John 12:32-33.)
Time and again he declared his Messiahship. First by implication when, in the temple at twelve years, with the doctors, "both hearing them, and asking them questions," he asked, on Mary's reproof, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:46-49.)
To the woman of Samaria who said that when the Messiah came he would tell them the truth, "Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." (John 4:16-26.)
At Caesarea Philippi, Peter, reply- ing to his question: "But whom say ye that I am," declared: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus blessed him, saying, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 16:13-17.)
When the Jews, lifted up in the pride of their hearts, proclaimed Abraham their father, Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Be-
364
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
fore Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58.)
To the impudent demand of Caia- phas, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus rephed: "I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:61-62.)
Thus did Jesus testify again and again to his own Messiahship; thus did those touched by a divine testi- mony likewise testify.
The central point in the great plan framed in the Grand Council of Heaven before the world was formed, was the redemption from the mortal death brought by the Fall, and this mortality was necessary that the spirits of men might be tabernacled in the flesh. (Moses 5:11.) His whole earthly career was pivoted about his atoning sacrifice, his crucifixion, and resurrec- tion. He, himself, had proposed the plan. Yet, so tutored, so led, so destined, so knowing, as the hour of his sacrifice drew near, his mortal heart grew fearsome.
In the temple, after saying, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit," he added, sensing the approaching sacri- fice, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour : but for this cause came I unto this hour." (John 12:24-27.) In Gethsemane, he prayed: "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me;" but then, immediately, the divinity in him rising and taking command, he said, "nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." (Mark 14:36; Matt. 26:42.)
As they met the Judas-led multitude coming to arrest him, Peter cut off the right ear of Malchus. Jesus said unto Peter: "Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:10-11.)
On the cross, in the agony of ex- piring mortality, he cried aloud to the Father: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46.)
Of the Messiah's place in the divine economy of God's universe, John de- clared: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the hght shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:1-5.)
To the woman of Samaria, of whom Jesus asked a drink of water drawn from the well of Jacob, Jesus said about himself: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou would- est have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. . . . who- soever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but {Concluded on page 406) MAY 1950
j A HUMBLE [|EART
contriteTpirit
§
I
J
ana a
Address delivered at the Sunday afternoon session of the 120th annual general conference, April 9. 1950, in
the Tabernacle
1HAD hoped and supposed that my many speeches before the various groups at this conference would relieve me from saying anything more, and particularly I had thought at this morning's sermon would count as something said here. But President Smith has asked that I say a word or two. I shall not detain you long because we must have President Smith close this conference.
So many things have been said, so much good has been told us, that it would be folly to try to summarize or repeat, but I think that most of us will leave this conference with two matters principally in mind — that of repentance and its recipro- cal, forgiveness. The call has been made: Repent, for the hour of his judgment is nigh. The Lord has said.
By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins — -behold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D. & C. 58:43.)
I would like to point out that to me there is a great difference between confession and admission, after transgression is proved. I doubt much the efficacy of an admission as a con- fession.
In the ancient days, men made sacrifice that they might be forgiven. Today we are told that we must bring to the Lord for our forgiveness a humble heart and a contrite spirit. As to forgiveness, the Lord has said,
I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is re- quired to forgive all men. (Ibid., 64:10.)
which means, as I understand it, that where there is repentance, we shaU forgive and receive into fellowship the repentant transgressor, leaving to God the final disposition of the sin.
This is Easter, and I have already borne my testimony to the risen Christ but I do want to read from the 76th Section the all know, part of which was quoted by Brother
verses we
§
Evans this morning. This was the great vision that came to Joseph and Sidney in 1832:
And now, after the many testimonies which have been yiven of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father —
That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (Ibid., 76:22-24.)
I renew the bearing of my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the first fruits of the resurrection, the Only Begotten of the Father.
And I cannot but remember that glorious message that came out of the chamber on that night most memorable perhaps in all the history of the world, the night t>efore the crucifixion, ^ when he had his discioles together and gave them his great
& final discourse: &
>^ Peace I leave ^vith you^ my peace I give unto you: not as the ^^
& world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, ^
? neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27.) X
^ That message to the disciples in the chamber is a message ^
y that comes to all of God's children, that peace be with us ?
J always, and may we live so that we may rightfully ask therefor, y
§ I humbly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. §
§ -K ^ -^ I
365
MOST sincerely I join President George Albert Smith in express- ing appreciation for the inspira- tional singing furnished us this day by the Brigham Young University stu- dents, and equally inspirational is their presence here — three hundred and twenty young men and young women devoting their service willingly, glad- ly, to the inspiring and upbuilding of the members of the Church in attend- ance at this conference.
I feel impressed to say to you young folks that I know of no greater bless- ing you can receive than to be an- chored to the truth, and by that I mean three things : First, always to feel a surety that this Church is divinely guided. Second, that the Lord has authorized his servants and placed upon them the duty to proclaim to the world the restoration and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Third, and most appUcable to us all, that inspira- tion from the Lord is a reality, just as real as the love each one of us has for his loved ones. Young men and young women, God bless you that this testimony may be yours as it is mine this day!
. . . Remember, my brethren, ... ye are free; ye are permitted to act for your- selves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. (Helaman 14:30.)
These words taken from the Book of Helaman indicate the purport of what I should like to say this after- noon. I pray for his inspiration and your sympathy and prayers that I may give this message in accordance with his will.
Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God's greatest gift to man. Among the im- mediate obligations and duties resting upon members of the Church today, and one of the most urgent and pressing for attention and action of all liberty- loving people, is the preservation of individual liberty. Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any pos- session earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. Whether born in abject poverty or shackled at birth by inherited riches, everyone has this most precious of all life's endow- ments— the gift of free agency; man's inherited and inalienable right.
Free agency is the impelling source of the soul's progress. It is the purpose of the Lord that man become like him. In order for man to achieve this it
366
GENCY..
Address delivered at the Thurs- day alternoon session of the 120th annual general confer- ence, April 6. 1950, in the Tabernacle
^2).
was necessary for the Creator first to make him free. "Personal liberty," says Bulwer-Lytton, "is the paramount es- sential to human dignity and human happiness."
The poet summarizes the value of this principle as follows:
Know this, that every soul is free To choose his life and what he'll be, For this eternal truth is given, That God will force no man to heaven.
lucne
bility is correspondingly operative with his free agency. Actions in harmony with divine law and the laws of nature will bring happiness, and those in op- position to divine truth, misery. Man is responsible not only for every deed, but also for every idle word and thought. Said the Savior:
. . . every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (Matthew 12;36. )
*J^EMEMBER, my brethren . . . ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knotuledge and he hath made you free"
{Helaman 14:30.)
He'll call, persuade, direct aright — And bless -with wisdom, love and light — In nameless ways be good and kind, But never force the human mind.
Freedom and reason make us men; Take these away, what are we then? Mere animals, and just as well The beasts may think of heav'n or hell. — William C. Gregg
With free agency there comes re- sponsibility. If man is to be rewarded for righteousness and punished for evil, then common justice demands that he be given the .power of independent action. A knowledge of good and evil is essential to man's prog- ress on earth./ If he were* coerted to do right at all times, or were helplessly enticed to commit sin, he would merit neither a blessing for the first nor pun- ishment for the*second.
Says the Prophet Lehi,
Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. . . .
Wherefore, men .are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be mis- erable like unto himself. (II Nephi 2:16- 27.)
There is more of that in II Nephi to which I call your attention.
Thus we see that man's responsi-
As a boy I questioned that truth when I first heard it expressed by my father. I remember saying to myself, "Not even the Lord knows what I am thinking now." I was very much sur- prised, therefore, when later as a stu- dent in the university, I read the fol- lowing in [William] James' psychology about the effect of thought and action on human character. I am giving it today for the young people par- ticularly:
SPINNING OUR OWN FATES
We are spinning our own fates good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its ever so little scar. The drunken Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson's play, excuses himself for every fresh dereliction by say- ing, "I won't count this time." Well! he may not count it, and a kind Heaven may not count it; but it is being counted none the less. Down among his nerve-cells and fibres the molecules are counting it, regis- tering and storing it up to be used against him when the next temptation comes. Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out. Of course, this has its good side as well as its bad one. As we become permanent drunkards by so many separate drinks, so we become saints in the moral, and authorities and experts in the practical and scientific spheres, by so many separate acts and hours of work. Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, v/hatever the line of it may be. If he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he may
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
have singled out. Silently, between all the details of his business, the power of judging in all that class of matter will have built itself up within him as a possession that will never pass away. Young people should know this truth in advance. The ignorance of it has probably engendered more discouragement and faint-heartedness in youths embarking on arduous careers
been accepted, human beings would have become mere puppets in the hands of a dictator, and the purpose of man's coming to earth would have been frustrated. Satan's proposed system of government, therefore, w^as rejected, and the principle of free agency estab- lished in its place.
Ow l-^fesident .JJjauld \J. l/l/lc^\a
OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY
than all other causes put together.*
There is another responsibility cor- related and even coexistent with free agency, which is too infrequently em- phasized, and that is the effect not only of a person's actions but also of his thoughts upon others. Man radiates what he is, and that radiation affects to a greater or less degree every per- son who comes within that radiation.
Of the power of this personal in- fluence William George Jordan impres- sively writes:
Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil — the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the constant radia- tion of what man really is, not what he pretends to be. Every man, by his mere living, is radiating sympathy, or sorrow, or morbidness, or cynicism, or happiness, or hope, or any of a hundred other quali- ties. Life is a state of constant radiation and absorption; to exist is to radiate; to exist is to be the recipient of radiation.
N'
[ex^ to the bestowal of life itself the right to direct that life is God's greatest gift to man.
Man cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this con- stantly weakening or strengthening of others. He cannot evade the responsibility by saying it is an unconscious influence. He can select the qualities that he will per- mit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweet- ness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, jus- tice, loyalty, nobility — make them vitally active in his character — and by these quali- ties he will constantly affect the world.
Freedom of the will and the responsi- bility associated with it are funda- mental aspects of Jesus' teachings. Throughout his ministry he empha- sized the worth of the individual, and exemplified what is now expressed in modern revelation as the work and glory of God — -"To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Only through the divine gift of soul freedom is such progress possible.
Force, on the other hand, emanates from Lucifer himself, fiven in man's pre-existent state, Satan sought power to compel the human family to do his will by suggesting that the free agency of man be inoperative. If his plan had
Force rules in consequently, our
the world today; government must
keep armies abroad, build navies and air squadrons, create atom bombs to protect itself from threatened aggres- sion of a nation which seems to listen to no other appeal but compulsion.
Individual freedom is threatened by international rivalries, inter-racial ani- mosities, and false political ideals. Un- wise legislation, too often prompted by political expediency, is periodically be- ing enacted that seductively undermines man's right of free agency, robs him of his rightful liberties, and makes him but a cog in the crushing wheel of a regimentation which, if persisted in, will end in dictatorship.
The Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede, June 15, 1215, was an expression of freedom-loving men against a usurping king. It was a guarantee of civil and personal liberty. These guarantees later found fuller and complete expression in the Constitution of the United States. To- day, seven hundred years later, con- sider what is happening in Great Britain! With nationalization of in- dustries, planned economy, control of all productive power, including per- sons and property, that country of liberty-loving people is on the verge of a totalitarian state as dictatorial as that which the feudal barons and the peo- ple wrested from King John. People are bargaining their liberty for a chimera of equality and security, not
debt. We must take our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labors and in our amusements.
If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under pretense of caring for them, they will be happy. The same prudence which in pri- vate life would forbid our paying our money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the disposition of public money. We are endeavoring to reduce the government to the practice of rigid economy to avoid burdening the people and arming the magis- trate with a patronage of money which might be used to corrupt the principles of our government.
This principle of free agency arid the right of each individual to be free not only to think but also to act within bounds that grant to every one else the same privilege, are sometimes vio- lated even by churches that claim to teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ. The attitude of any organization to- ward this principle of freedom is a pretty good index to its nearness to the teachings of Christ or to those of the Evil One. For example, I read re- cently the statement of a leading cler- gyman who claimed the divine right of his church, wherever it was in power, to prohibit any other church from promulgating its doctrine. . . . And, "if religious minorities actually exist, they shall have only a de facto exist- ence without opportunity to spread their beliefs."
He who thus tramples underfoot one of God's greatest gifts to man, who would deny another the right to think and worship as he pleases, propagates error and makes his own church in that regard as far as he represents it a propagator of evil.
Contrast this unchristian-like stand with the statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship
IpVEN in mans pre-existent state, Satan sought power to compel the human family to do his will by suggesting that the free agency of man be inoperative . . . If his plan had been accepted, human beings would have become mere puppets in the hands of a dictator . . .
"Psychologv. Henrv Holt & Co., N. Y. 150.
MAY 1950
1892. p.
realizing that the more power you give the central government, the more you curtail your individual freedom.
Governments are the servants, not the masters of the people. All who love the Constitution of the United States can vow with Thomas Jefferson, who, when he was president, said,
I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
He later said:
To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual
how, w^here, or what they may. (Eleventh Article of Faith.)
And, again, in one of the greatest revelations on government ever given, we read the following:
That the rights of the priesthood are in- separably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the ' powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the chil-
{Concluded on page 378)
367
"... THIS IS MY
Address delivered at the Thursday
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 6, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
THE following is a quotation from the Pearl of Great Price, the word of the Lord to his servant Moses, the Prophet:
For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39.)
Hence we have the gospel and the Church of the Master as enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints of today, for it is through these sources that he pur- poses the accomplishment of all his designs pertaining to man's salvation.
There are therefore tremendous re- sponsibilities resting upon his Church, the Chtirch of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, pertaining to the salvation of the children of men; one of the greatest of which is to preach this gospel of the kingdom in all the world as a witness unto all nations before the end shall come.
And what is the Church doing about it? It is keeping about five thousand missionaries in the mission fields and stake missions of the Church, with several hundred in excess of that number at the present time in the na- tions of the earth and on the islands of the seas, where an intensive work of proselyting is being carried on and a wonderful work of conversion is being accomplished. There is also a condi- tion at home, in the stakes of Zion, which calls for able missionaries who are zealous for the cause of the Mas- ter, and for the welfare and salvation of their fellow men.
According to the latest statistics compiled in the office of the Pre- siding Bishopric, there are 53,392 male members of the Church over twenty- one years of age who hold some office in the Aaronic Priesthood who have not received the Melchizedek Priest- hood. These are designated as adult members of the Aaronic Priesthood. There are 17,643 male members of the Church over twenty-one years of age who hold no priesthood at all. Taking these two groups together, we have 71,035 male members over twenty-one years of age who do not hold the Melchizedek Priesthood; a sufficient number to fill this Taber- nacle to seating capacity seven times over, estimating the seating capacity at ten thousand. 368
ORK AND MY
£5u f^redldenl: eofqe -jr. f\ickardi
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
C
LORY...
99
These figures are appalling, and they represent only those living in the organized stakes of the Church. The missions have their quota also.
Worthy boys of the Church at twelve years of age are supposed to receive the office of a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood; at fifteen years the office of teacher; at seventeen years, the office of priest, and at nine- teen years the office of elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Statistics show that there are in the Church 3,648 male members between the ages of twelve and twenty-one years who hold no office in the priest- hood.
One may ask, how important is it that male members of the Church should receive the priesthood; and how serious for them to not do so? The Lord answers this question on this wise:
And wo unto all unto this priesthood.
those who come (D. & C. 84:42.)
not
As Latter-day Saints, the goal of our existence and purpose in life is to obtain an exaltation in the king- dom and presence of the Father and the Son; and a man may not attain to that glory without receiving the Mel- chizedek Priesthood. This being true, the importance of re- ceiving the Melchize- dek Priesthood by the men of the Church is as important as is sal- vation itself.
The holy endow- ments administered in the temples of the Lord are to prepare men and women t6 enter into the celestial kingdom and presence i of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. But to receive these endowments a man must first receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Marriage for time and eternity as or- dained of God is necessary for man's salvation.
. . . neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. (I Cor. 11:11.)
But a man must receive the Mel- chizedek Priesthood and endowments before he can go to the temple and be married for time and eternity — hence, the importance of receiving the Mel- chizedek Priesthood.
Of the 71,035 men of the Church
**pOR behold, thh is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immor- tality and eternal life of man.^^
(P. ol G.P.Moses 1:39.)
over twenty-one years of age who have not received the Melchizedek Priesthood, a large percentage of them, no doubt, are married and rearing families. Not having received the Melchizedek Priesthood, we know that their marriages are not for eternity as ordained of God, and that their chil- dren are not being born under the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. Men of the Church who have been married for time only are in danger of losing their wives and their children if they do not take the necessary steps to receive the priesthood and sealing ordinances "... my Spirit [the Spirit of God] will not always strive with man. ..." (Ether 2:15) neither will the patience of a good woman. For example, a man and woman came to the temple recommended for mar- riage, and with them were two children born to the woman by a former hus- band. The mother desired the children to be sealed to her and to the man to whom she was about to be sealed. But how about the father of those children and his rights in the matter?
There is a rule (rule 30) governing in temple work which says:
Children should not be sealed to other than their own parents, except for im- portant reasons, and then only by special authorization of the temple president.
Hlence, the appeal to the temple presi- dent: The rights of the father in this case must receive consideration. The father being dead, the mother was the I only witness available. Her story was as follows:
The father and moth- I er before marriage ■ =:v,sA were members of the Church, and when con- templating marriage, she desired to go to the temple for marriage, but he had not been living his religion so as to be counted worthy of a recommend for that purpose. She decided to marry him by the civil law with the understanding, and his promise, that he would make himself worthy, and they would later go to the temple and be sealed. He failed to keep his promise. Several years after these children were born, he was taken ill and finally passed away. She said she nursed him through a long spell oJE sickness before his death and felt that
(Continued on page 406)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
For
VII
No greater teacher has ever lived than our Savior, and he was a master of the art of storytelling. When he wanted us to realize that where much is given much is expected, he told us the parable of the talents. He did not deal in generalities; he got down to cases.
This is a lesson every aspiring speaker should learn. Once you have phrased your main ideas as concisely and vividly as possible, it is time to get down to cases; for instance:
STATEMENT— This Church has been built by the big sacrifices of its little people.
EXAMPLES— Sister Peterson was as- sessed twenty-five dollars as the total donation she could afford. It took sacrifices for her to be able to give twenty-five a month until the building was completed.
A father with eight young children was urgently needed at home, but Sister Jones assumed many responsi- bilities of both mother and father so that Brother Jones could work as a carpenter on the chapel evenings and holidays.
Young Tommy McBride wanted a bicycle, but when he sold newspapers, he gave what he earned to the build- ing fund.
In the example there is no trying to put across the point by rephrasing it again and again "in other words." The point of speech is stated first; then it is supported with specific information.
Supporting material may take a variety of forms, such as facts and figures, examples, comparison and con- trast, authority, and visual aids. The kinds you use depend upon the unique needs of each speech you give.
1 . Pacts and Figures. Statistics can be very misleading; they can be very boring and dull. But when handled carefully, they can present dramatical- ly, vividly, and convincingly the ideas you want to clarify or prove.
The 1949 federal budget called for twenty billion dollars to be spent for na- tional defense and veterans' benefits. Do you know what we could do with that sum of money if we used it constructively?
We could build a $10,000 house, furnish it with $3,000 worth of furniture, place it in the middle of two acres of land worth $1,000 an acre, and give this estate, as well as a $2,000 automobile, to every mar- ried man in the states of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Ari- zona, and Nevada.
We could give to each city in these seven states with a population of 2,500 or more an $8,000,000 library and a $12,000,-
MAY 1950
Example!
£5u cU.c
ouiSe
(zJ^lviton S^ciu,
mon
000 college. We T^ could give $450,000
|h^VERYONE to each school in
loves a story, J^"^ ^^T\ ^"'J
. f' hire one teacrier at
and examples $3,500 a year for
are stories. ^^^^ ^^^^^^ Pu-
pils.
And out of what was left we could buy every youngster in these schools enough ice cream cones to make their tummies ache.^
2. Examples. Everyone loves a story, and examples are stories. They may be short and several in number as in the above example of the build- ing of the chapel, or they may be long; one extended illustration may be all you need to accomplish your purpose. Christ's parables very often were of this kind.
jgxAMPLES may or they fnay tious, depending objective. Every tion, however, one or the other, true to life.
be true be ficti- on your illustra- whether fnust be
Examples may be true or they may be fictitious, depending upon your ob- jective. If you are trying to prove, for instance, that the Church was built by sacrifice, you must be sure that your illustrations are true. If, however, you are trying to explain something like the organization of the welfare plan, it may be better to use a fictitious example, for by combining the important parts of several actual cases, you may be able to draw up an example that makes your point clearer than several actual cases would. Every illustration, however, whether true or fictitious, must be true to life.
3. Comparison and Contrast. We learn by relating the unknown with the known, the new with the old. A com- parison does exactly that. It relates the qualities of one experience with those which are similar in another experience; for example:
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for pearls must dive below.
Dryden, "All for Love"
On the other hand, contrast brings out the dissimilarities in two or more experiences.
iBascd on U. S. Census Reports for 19-JO
'Twixt optimist and pessimist
The difference is droll: The optimist sees the doughnut, The pessimist, the hole.
McL. Wilson
"Optimist and Pessimist"
Your analogy may be so brief that it is merely a figure of speech as in the Dryden comparison above, or it may be so extended that it becomes your entire speech,
4. Authority, There are two kinds of quotations you may wish to use: those which interest and those which prove. Those which express your ideas more clearly or more vividly than you could express them will add color and interest to your speech and will probably help your listeners to remember your point. Such are most selections from Shakespeare, and they are very useful in their place; however, such quotations should never be used as proof unless they are made by per- sons qualified by special training or experience to pass judgment on the subject.
5. Visual Aids. Whenever you ap- peal to the eyes as well as to the ears of your Hsteners, you better than double your chances to succeed. Your listeners will be more interested; they will understand your ideas more thoroughly and easily; and therefore, they will probably be more completely convinced that you are right.
One Sunday School teacher recently spent most of the hour trying to ex- plain the progress of man from pre- existence to resurrection and the vari- ous possibilities for salvation and damnation. Another teacher showed a symboUc drawing of these ideas and then spent about fifteen minutes ex- plaining the drawing. His students understood the lesson in less than one- third the time that it took the members of the other class.
Often visual aids are thought to be- long in the classroom and not in the pulpit. But sufficient time and thought on the part of the speaker can usually produce visual aids that will be ap- propriate to almost every subject and occasion.
Finding specific supporting material is not always easy. It can be so time- consuming that popular speakers often make it a constant task, keeping a file of material they might use. (See Arti- cle IV of this series, February 1950, p. 99. ) Their time is well-spent, for specific examples are the most effective means not only of proving a point but also of making a speech interesting and easy to understand.
When you have exhausted your sup- ply of "cases," conclude your speech. You have nothing more to say.
369
Founded in the
Address delivered at the Sunday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 9. 1950, in the
Tabernacle
&
f
/joiepk ^ieidlna J^mltk
F
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
OR a number of years on the edi- torial page of The Deseret News this has appeared:
We stand for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments of government as therein set forth, each one fully independent in its field.
I thought it would not be amiss or out of order to say something about the Constitution, to give a little history of it perhaps briefly; for I am con- vinced that the people generally of the United States have not studied it. Many of them have never read it, and some know nothing concerning what it is all about.
At the close of the Revolution the several states of this American govern- ment became independent of Great Britain, but they were confronted with dangers of disintegration, or falling apart. They did not have a stable form of government. Some of the wiser statesmen among the patriots saw^ this danger and attempted to di- vert it. George Washington, in a cir- cular letter to the state governors, wrote in June 1783, saying:
It is yet to be decided whether the revo- lution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse.
This is the moment to establish or ruin [the colonies'] national character forever. There should be lodged somewhere a su- preme power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the confederated re- public, without which the Union cannot be of long duration.
John Fisk, the historian, in treating of this period says that the period be- tween 1783 and 1789 was the most critical in the history of the United States. John Fisk was right. That was a critical period. We are today facing another critical period, one which evidently the majority of the citizens of this country fail to realize exists, but nevertheless that is the situation.
At the time the war ended, as well as during the period of the Revolution, the states were joined by a very loose 370
ISDOMoF
ni
OD
confederation. The war had held them together. After the war each state looked upon itself practically as an independent government. They were a number of small nations that had entered into an agreement to live together and act in concert in relation to their common w^elfare. The idea prevailed that this federation could be severed at any time. Each state re- served the right to withdraw at will from the union thus far created. From July 4, 1776, to March 1, 1781, when the confederation was adopted, the United States was governed by the Continental Congress under the "Arti- cles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States." This union had no president, no supreme court, and consisted of one house of congress made up of delegates elected by the legislatures of the states, and the jurisdiction was greatly limited. There were so many defects and re- strictions in this confederation that the wise men of the nation, like Wash- ington, readily perceived that some- thing more nearly perfect, more powerful and binding upon the colonies was essential.
It was with this object in view that in May 1787 a convention of delegates from all the states except Rhode Island
Nathaniel Gorham and Rufus King, Massachusetts
William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman, Connecticut
Alexander Hamilton, New York
William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, and Jonathan Day- ton. New Jersey
George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, Delaware
James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thom- as Jenefer, and Daniel Carroll, Mary- land
John Blair, James Madison, Jr., and George Washington, Virginia
William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Hugh Williamson, North Carolina
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thom- as Fitzsimmons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Pennsylvania
John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and Pierce Butler, South Carolina
WiHiam Few and Abraham Bald- win, Georgia*
These delegates, after a stormy pe- riod of nearly four months in which some of the delegates almost despaired of ever coming to a peaceful agree-
A ND now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them.
And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.
(D. & C. 98:4-5.)
met in Philadelphia. The number of delegates was fifty-five, but only thirty- nine of them signed the Constitution after it was framed. Most of these delegates were men in the prime of life, few of them were aged. Benjamin Franklin, the dean of the Convention, was in his eighty-second year, but it is said of him that he was very active and alert. I think the names of these thirty-nine who signed the Constitution are worthy of our remembrance, and I am going to take the time to name them. They were:
George Washington, President and Deputy from Virginia
John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, New Hampshire
ment, brought forth the Constitution of the United States. As you have
*The following were appointed as delegates to the convention but never took their seats: John Pickering and Benjamin V/est, New Hampshire; Francis Dana, Massachusetts; John Nelson and Abraham Clark. New Jersey; Patrick Henry (de- clined), Virginia; Richard Caswell (resigned), Willie Jones (declined), North Carolina; George Walton and Nathaniel Pendleton, Georgia.
The following delegates were absent at the time of signing: Caleb Strong. Massachusetts; Oliver Elsworth, Connecticut; Robert Yates and John Lansing, New York; William Churchill Houston, New Jersey; John Francis Mercer and Luther Martin. Maryland; George Wythe and James McClurg, Virginia; Alexander Martin and William Richard- .son Davie, North Carolina; William Pierce and William Houston, Georgia.
The following refused to sign: Eldridge Gerry, Massachusetts; Edmund Randolph and George Mason, Virginia.
(Continued on page 412) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Address delivered at the Sunday afternoon session of the 120th annual general con^ ference, April 9, 1950, in the Tabernacle
IFTS "/'ff
1 BELIEVE in the gifts of the gospel. I believe they will come to those who live and strive for them. I believe that the gifts of the gospel comprehend more and wider powers and attributes than those specifically mentioned in our Articles of Faith, namely: " . . . the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc." (Article 7.) I believe that these listed gifts and others of comparable seemingly supernatural nature have come to men and women of faith, and I believe that they will continue to come from time to time as conditions and circumstances war- rant. I place no limitation on the power of the Lord to manifest him- self through his children and his chosen servants, however miraculous many may think the manifestation to be. I do place one limitation on those who exercise such powers — that they be very sure the inspiration is from the right source.
There are gifts of the gospel which are not usually thought of as being miraculous or supernatural. They would commonly be spoken of as mere attributes of character, but I believe they have spiritual foundation. This conclusion seems to be borne out by the scriptures. The Apostle Paul tells his brethren:
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administra- tions, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations,
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. (I Cor. 12:4-6, 11.)
Modern revelation emphasizes this diversity :
To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, . . .
To others it is given to believe on their words. (D. & C. 46:13-14.)
The Book of Mormon, as usual, brings further clarification:
... to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;
And to another that he may teach the word of knowledge . . .
And to another, exceeding great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing,
... to another, that he may work mighty miracles;
... to another, that he may prophesy;
... to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;
MAY 1950
Stephen cU. r\lckard6
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
... to another, all kinds of tongues;
... to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues. (Moroni 10:9-16.)
While this wide diversity of gifts mentioned in the scriptures may bring to our Father's children greatly vary- ing talents and capacities, I feel sure that there are some highly important gifts of the gospel, which it is in- tended that all men of faith shall enjoy at least to some extent. It is to these precious gifts, available to all the Church and to many good men and women outside the Church, that I would direct attention.
. . . to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;
And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge ... And to another, exceed- ing great faith; and to an- other, the gifts of heal- ing ...
to another, that he may work mighty miracles . . . to another, that he may prophesy . . . to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits; .
to another, all kinds of tongues . . .
to another, the interpreta- tion of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.
(Moroni 10:9-16.)
First, I mention the gift of dis- cernment, embodying the power to discriminate, which has been spoken of in our hearing before, particularly as between right and wrong. I believe that this gift when highly developed arises largely out of an acute sensitiv- ity to impressions — spiritual impres- sions, if you will — to read under the surface as it were, to detect hidden evil, and more importantly to find the good that may be concealed. The highest type of discernment is that
GOSPEL
which perceives in others and uncovers for them their better natures, the good inherent within them. It's the gift every missionary needs when he takes the gospel to the people of the world. He must make an appraisal of every personality whom he meets. He must be able to discern the hidden spark that may be lighted for truth. The gift of discernment will save him from mis- takes and embarrassment, and it will never fail to inspire confidence in the one who is rightly appraised.
The gift of discernment is essential to the leadership of the Church. I never ordain a bishop or set apart a president of a stake without invoking upon him this divine blessing, that he may read the hves and hearts of his people and call forth the best within them. The gift and power of discern- ment in this world of contention be- tween the forces of good and the power of evil is essential equipment for every son and daughter of God. There could be no such mass dissen- sions as endanger the security of the world, if its populations possessed this great gift in larger degree. People are generally so gullible one is some- times led to wonder whether the great Lincoln was right, after all, in the conclusion of his memorable state- ment, "You can't fool all the people all the time." One does feel at times, however, a sense of pity and sympathy for some of the peoples of the world whose education, information, and ex- posure to higher ideals and exalted concepts have been so arbitrarily and ruthlessly restricted.
There is a class of people now grown sizable in the world who should possess this great gift in large degree. They know how the gift is attaiiied. They have been educated in its spiritual foundations. They have been blessed with the counsels which foster it. They know how to order their lives to procure it. You know who they are, my brethren and sisters. Every member in the restored Church of Christ could have this gift if he willed to do so. He could not be de- ceived with the sophistries of the world. He could not be led astray by pseudo-prophets and subversive cults. Even the inexperienced would recognize false teachings, in a measure at least. With this gift they would be able to detect something of the dis- loyal, rebellious, and sinister influences which not infrequently prompt those who seemingly take pride in the de- struction of youthful faith and loyal- ties. Discerning parents will do well {Continued on page 419)
371
NIVERSAl
Irotherhood
M'
[Y DEAR brethren and sisters, I am very happy to have this opportunity of mingling my testimony with yours concerning the truth of this great latter-day work.
I always marvel at conference time to see these great throngs assemble in the Tabernacle, and on the grounds surrounding it. Yet I have no real reason to marvel. Truth is always alive and vital. We have the truth. God be thanked for the gift of truth!
One hundred years ago at this con- ference, the brethren then in authority, Brigham Young and those who assisted him, sent out a small army of men into the world to preach the gospel. These were scattered far and wide. Some went into the non-English speak- ing parts of Europe and there founded missions which are celebrating this year the hundredth anniversary of their beginning.
Rich harvests were gathered. Through the years since that time a stream of men and women, lovers of truth, have flowed from those coun- tries to us here. Even today hundreds and thousands come from those coun- tries to share with us in the blessings of this land and our associations. The fruits that came from the work were further illustrated yesterday, when we had the pleasure and enjoyment of listening to the splendid singing of the Swiss-German Choir. The Church maintains in Salt Lake City and be- yond the borders of the city organiza- tions which conduct meetings in several languages. In fact there are seven different language organizations in Salt Lake City. They are maintained to assist these newcomers from foreign lands.
It is not easy, brethren and sisters, for men and women, no matter how much they love the gospel, to come at a mature age, and most of them are mature, into a new land, to learn a new language, and to become used to new customs. But it does not take long for them to adapt themselves to conditions here. They become very valuable citizens, both of the Church and of the land which has adopted them.
372
-UJl.
it Save the wo Ha —
Address delivered at the Sunday
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 9. 1950, in the
Tabernacle
iju ^okn ^Af. lA/idtsoe
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
Our hearts go out to these brethren and sisters. We want to help them all we can. Their response is tre- mendously generous. My heart fre- quently overflows with emotion when I read the letters that come from these newcomers, not only from the foreign speaking countries, but also from England — letters that bear testimony of their gladness in the possession of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and gladness to be with a group of Saints larger than they can find in their native lands.
In this conference we have talked a great deal about Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Jesus the Christ is the central figure of the gospel. His res- urrection from the grave is an integral part of the Father's plan for man's eternal progression.
We can never say too much about Jesus the Christ and his work. It is always re- freshing to hear the old story told, as it was told this morning by President Clark, and the words of Jesus later repeated to us by President Evans. It is always a delight to hear , this old sacred story. It is the most important story upon the face of the earth for the blessing of the children of men.
The resurrection is a certainty, not a delusion. That has been told us time and time again in the last few days. I think as modern knowledge has advanced, as men have learned to look more clearly into the mysteries of things, that more than ever before.
the resurrection seems logical, ration- al, and necessary. There are not so many thinking people today as there were yesterday who question the pos- sibility of a resurrection. Multitudes know, thank heaven, that Christ rose from the grave, yet there are many who need our teaching and our help. Despite the fact that this certainty of knowledge gives comfort to us all, there is much fear and uncertainty in the hearts of men today. As far as I can remember, in my lifetime there has never been a time when men and women have been so anxious about the future. There is fear of the future in their hearts. Fear is the devil's first and chief tool. With fear he destroys humanity. Men have learned to let loose the forces that hold together the very ground under our feet. Of course, without the steadying power of faith, men are afraid. Sometimes they say the type of chain reaction talked of by physicists may be set into such motion that the whole earth will vanish in a flash. That, of course, is an idle dream. That will not happen. Only when the Lord speaks will the end come.
But uncertainty remains. Men are unhappy. Some people, however, de- clare that we have too much knowl- edge; that it would be better for us if we had not quite so much; that if we knew a little less, we would be happier and stronger. That, also, we know is a mistake.
God has told us that we should se- cure to the best of our ability all knowledge. The well of truth will never be drained dry. The problem is not how much knowledge we possess, but how wise we are in using it proper- ly for our own good in accordance with God's commands. Use and misuse lie at the foundation of every good thing that comes to humanity. Therein lies the right of the free agent.
So we can lay aside the doctrine that we have too much knowledge. We do need, however, to secure mastery over ourselves. This lies at the foundation of life in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has been talked about here time and time again. To conquer an army, it was said in olden days, is a great, a very great achievement, but to conquer oneself is greater still. It is the duty of Latter-day Saints to learn little by little to be conquerors of themselves. Self- conquest is the great desire of all Latter-day Saints who understand the gospel of the Lord Under the power of self-conquest knowledge becomes pre- cious to man. The Lord has given us an abundance of truth.
I wonder if in the scriptures given us by the Lord there may not be some fundamental basic solution of the world's difficulties, those that have
{Continued on page 428) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
"[Jnless we have the spirit of brother- hood developed with- in us, if we remain selfish, self-contained, unwilling to help our fellow men, there will be no salvation.
Jesus Christ.
EPENTANCE ... or Slavery
^ (yo^^P^ -J'- rvlernii
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
Address delivered at the Saturday
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 8, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
BRETHREN and sisters: It is trite to say we are living in perilous tinaes. There are number- less troubles, disputes, dissensions, dan- gers, complexities, everywhere. People in every land want and earnestly pray for peace, and yet the outlook for peace is seemingly becoming darker and more gloomy. Talk of war is getting louder; and war preparations are being accelerated, particularly in means so destructive that if generally and widely used, nearly total extinc- tion of human life would result. The recent world war was so expensive and destructive that everywhere the feeling was prevalent at its close that nations never again would engage in such a foolish and disastrous conflict. But what do we now see? Notwith- standing no treaties of peace with
recently cost the hves of thousands in the deadly fight between Moslems and Hindus in Pakistan, and the expul- sion from Czechoslovakia of mission- aries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Religious tolerance is perhaps the most difficult of all types of tolerance for devout people to grant, giving which they could also be tolerant in other matters related to moral standards.
Speaking of how the Lord would have us live in all our relations with human beings, there is another sen- tence that beautifully expresses the way. It is: "Do unto others as you would have others do linto you." This is known as the Golden Rule. The second great commandment requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves. To do this, must one not comply with the requirements of the Golden Rule? — not always an easy thing to do, but a divine requirement, nonetheless. If all individuals, peoples, and nations would do this, peace would come at once to every part of the currently disturbed world. The measure of peace that we have or shall have will be
**J])o unto others as you would have others do unto
you
major nations have yet been made, rearmament programs are going for- ward as rapidly as is feasible.
Why do the conditions here in- dicated exist? There are many rea- sons, some of which have been stated many times from this pulpit. These may all be summed up in a single sentence — failure to live as the Lord has indicated we, his children, should live. Some fundamentals of this way are given to us by the Prophet Joseph Smith in articles 11, 12, 13, of our faith, which are as follows:
n. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. . . .
Article 11 is an ideal statement of religious tolerance, a condition sadly lacking in the world today, as indi- cated in so many places, examples of which are the bloody conflict that has
MAY 1950
proportionate to the degree of ful- ness to which the aggressor observes the Golden Rule.
But as to aggressors, they are found everywhere — -locally, nationally, and internationally; and wherever found they all have in common at least one fault — excessive and inordinate selfish- ness. They want, and usually insist on having, more of something that does not rightfully belong to them and, if necessary, will fight to get it. As a rule, however, they prefer to satisfy their unrighteous desires and wicked cravings by other means than physical- ly fighting for them. Bloodshedding is not as general, therefore, as it might otherwise be; for example, does Russia want war? Why should she? Has not communism made rapid prog- ress in the control of peoples and na- tions since fighting ceased in World War II?
But the fear of a war, of appalling bloodshed, is so great in this country that our government is spending many billions of dollars annually to ward it off, seemingly believing that an up-to- date readiness to fight is the surest preventive of war. The people of the United States most certainly do not
want another war of nations, and the majority of them are willing to do everything feasible to prevent it. How far it is necessary to go to attain this objective is a debatable question.
But it is not of war between nations and the danger of it that I desire to speak further, for I feel that an im- mediate greater danger of destruction of the best interests of the people in the United States lies within our borders rather than beyond them. And these dangers are rooted in the unreasonable and damnable selfishness that is mani- fest on every level of our society by individuals, groups, and organizations.
For many years this country has had anti-monopoly laws to govern business corporations. The federal gov- ernment and the states have set up controls and boards and commissions to administer these laws, the purpose being to protect the public against unfair commercial practices and un- reasonable charges for the goods and services of corporations. The intent of these laws has met with over- whelming pubUc approval. But dur- ing recent years another form of monopoly has been developing that, if not controlled, imposes a type of slavery on the country unknown and undreamed of by the founders of our glorious republic, which, from its be- ginning, has served as a cherished ensign to all the world of personal liberty and free enterprise.
But these two essentials of a free people are being more and more re- stricted in this country. They have been practically destroyed in Russia and some other communistic con- trolled countries where it is claimed a people's democracy rules — a highly absurd claim in the light of the facts.
What do I mean by the words "free enterprise"? I mean individual freedom of action and of opportunity. Everyone born in mortality, according to our teachings, comes from God, our Father, with the priceless gift of "free agency" and will be held ac- countable for its use. Naturally, in the exercise of this gift one may not, without sinning against God and man, do anything knowingly to hurt or in- jure a fellow human being. Further, our Church teaches that the Constitu- tion of the United States as given to us by the founding fathers of our repub- lic is a divinely inspired document, de- signed to protect the citizens in the enjoyment of their inalienable rights among which are "hfe, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Hence, are not restrictions to our freedom of ac- i Continued on page 426) ■ 373
The Basis of
Address delivered at the Thursday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 6, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
HRISTIAN
Ui
n
AITH
K ^{Ld C 8l
J
owevi
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
IF I can manage it, I should like to- day to make a little comparison. Something more than nineteen hundred years ago, twelve obscure men with conviction and a message entered upon an undertaking which turned the world over and shaped the course of history.
They were acting under a commis- sion given them by the risen Lord as the final injunction of his early minis- try. Coming to them at an appointed place on the occasion of his last ap- pearance, he made this epoch marking announcement, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matt. 28:18.) That was a monu- mental assertion of authority. It was the premise upon which he based his solemn charge:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. {Ibid., 28:19-20.)
As Mark narrates the incident, the commission was accompanied by a promise of equally positive and sober- ing import: "He that believeth . . . shall be saved." (Mark 16:16.) To be sure, certain requirements were en- joined upon believers as a condition to the fulfilment of the promise, but they would follow as a consequence of genuine, sincere belief — the kind of belief that Jesus was talking about. A tremendously arresting quality of this whole matter is the tone of finality of it all. There is no uncertainty, no qualification, no temporizing. It is the voice of complete assurance, supreme confidence, final authority such as is not to be matched in the words of any other man who has lived in mortality. It is in keeping with the character of one who had declared himself to be the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
During the period of his mortal min- istry, the crowd had perceived this quality in his utterances and said in wonderment one to another that "he taught them as one having author- ity." (Matt. 7:29.) Neither does one get the sense that there is any bombast 374
or vanity or pretentious arrogation of power. Straight and clear in the calm authoritative tones of one who had conquered death and thus redeemed the race from its power came the words, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." {Ibid., 28:18.) It is the bedrock upon which the foundation of all his teachings rests. No one else in all the world has ever spoken like that, and no one can disprove the assertion. On the contrary, there have been and are vast multitudes who for nearly two thousand years have proclaimed and now proclaim assurance of its truth.
It would be difficult to conceive of an assignment more awesome than that one just referred to as being given by the Lord to his chosen disciples. Con.sider for a moment their station. They were humble men — fishermen and peasants — without wealth or social posi- tion or high-placed friends. They had neither political pres- tige nor armed might. They lived in a remote province of the haugh- tiest and mightiest em- pire of the earth, whose proud legions had car- ried its banners to remote corners. Mem- bers of a turbulent,
troublesome, and there-
fore unpopular race, they were directed to carry an un- known and hitherto unheard-of mes- sage to all the world, calling upon its inhabitants to observe all things what- soever the crucified Lord had com- manded, promising salvation to all who beHeved and complied. Before the magnitude of that task, the stout- est heart might well have quailed.
What their personal feelings were we are not told. The record is silent. We are left to inference from what they did about it. They seem not to have been overwhelmed or weighted down with apprehension. Perhaps they were not too much startled be- cause they had previously been sent out as emissaries under the personal direction of the Master and had had personal experience of his sustain- ing power. During the period of his mortal ministry they had been under his personal tutelage and had heard
'T'he principles and teachings of Christ revered for centuries throughout the world, had to be undermined and destroyed before a Hitler and a Mussolini could corrupt the Ger- man and Italian youth.
him with unwavering assurance de- clare:
... I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 11:25.)
And again:
For I came down fror.i heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:38, 40.)
With like definiteness they had heard him declare:
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my hfe, that I might take it again.
. . . This commandment
have I received of my
Father. (John 10:9, 17, 18.)
They had seen him crucified and, in fulfil- ment of his words, rise from the dead. All this must have given them an immensely fortify- ing trust in his promise. At any rate they went unhesitatingly to their work.
The quality of their faith and their courage was soon enough put to the test. When Peter and John, going up to the temple, healed the crippled man, they got themselves hailed before the rulers who demanded of them by what power or by what name they had done this thing. Peter boldly answered.
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (Acts 4:10.)
They were forbidden further to teach in that name and, ignoring the warning, were thrown into prison. Being liberated, they continued their teachings and were beaten and en- joined from teaching, but still they persisted, saying,
{Continued on page 423) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
oLattei^-dau S^aL
au
fain
td:
LET US BE AS
I
F I might enjoy the Spirit of the Lord to direct me for a few moments this afternoon, I would like to talk about a subject which has been discussed in all the general conferences of this Church by members of the First Presidency — in every conference, so far as I can recall.
I refer to the importance of unity and oneness of the Latter-day Saints.
As I have pondered the importance of this matter, I have recalled some of the blessings we could enjoy if we would be united as a people. If we would be united in paying our fast offerings and observing the law of the fast as fully as the Lord has taught it, and if we were united in carrying out the principles of the welfare pro- gram as they have been given to us by our leaders today, we would be free from want and distress and would be able fully to care for our own. Our failure to be united would-be to allow our needy to become the pawns of politicians in the public mart.
If we were fully united as a people in our missionary work, we would rapidly hasten the day when the gos- pel would be preached to all people without and within the boundaries of the organized stakes of Zion. If we are not united, we will lose that which has been the lifeblood and which has fed and stimulated this Church for a generation.
If we were fully united in keeping the law of sacrifice and paying our tithes as we have been schooled to- day, we would have sufficient to build our temples, our chapels, our schools of learning. If we fail to do that, we will be in the bondage of mortgage and debt.
If we were united as a people in electing honorable men to high places in our civil government, regardless of the political party with which we have affiliation, we would be able to safe- guard our communities and to pre- serve law and order among us. Our failure to be united means that we permit tyranny and oppression and taxation to the extent of virtual confis- cation of our own property.
If we are united in supporting our own official newspapers and maga- zines which are owned and operated by the Church and for Church mem- bers, there will always be in this Church a sure voice to the people, but if we fail to be united in giving this support, we permit ourselves to be subject to abuse, slander, and to mis- representation without any adequate voice of defense.
If we were united in safeguarding our
MAY 1950
E.
NE!
Address delivered at the Saturday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 8, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
..J^arold vJ>. <=JLe
youth from promiscuous associations that foster marriages out of the Church and out of the temples, by having so- cials and recreations as a united peo- ple, as has been the practice from our pioneer days, we would be building all our Latter-day Saint homes on a sure and happy foundation. Our failure to be united in these things will be our failure to receive eternal bless- ings that otherwise could be ours.
If we were united in safeguarding the Church from false doctrines and error and in standing as watchmen upon the tower as teachers and leaders in watching over the Church, then we would be free from these things that cause many to stumble and fall and lose their faith. If we are not thus united, the wolves among us will
B"
united in paying your tithes and fast offer~ ings.
Be united in the missionary work to hasten the day when the gospel will have been preached to all peo- ple.
Be united in safeguarding the Church from false doctrines and error.
Be united in safeguarding our youth from tempta- tion.
Be united in your temple work and your gene- alogical research.
Be united in all things that pertain to the glory of God.
be sowing the seeds of discord, dis- harmony, all tending to the destruction of the flock.
If we were united in our temple work and in our genealogical research work, we would not be satisfied with the present temples only, but we would have sufficient work for temples yet to come, to the unlocking of the doors of opportunity to those beyond who are our own kin, and thus ourselves become saviors on Mount Zion. Our failure to be united will be our failure to perpetuate our family homes in the eternity. So we might multiply the blessings that could come to this peo-
ee
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
pie if they were fully united in the purposes of the Lord.
The importance of unity was prayed for by the Master of us all. In that last great prayer — you will recall it — he prayed:
... I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. ...
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:11, 20-?l.)
The purpose of unity in the Church has been expressed by the Lord both from a positive standpoint as herein expressed, and also in a negative way as given in a revelation at the beginning of this dispensation. The positive purpose of the unity of Saints here is clearly suggested: "that the world may know." May know what? That this is the Church and kingdom of God on the earth to whom Jesus, the Christ, was sent.
In the command which he gave in this dispensation, the Master again expressed this same thought from a negative view,
... be one; and if ye are not one, ye are not mine. (D. & C. 38:27.)
If we are not united, we are not his. Here unity is the test of divine ownership as thus expressed. If we would be united in love and fellow- ship and harmony, this Church would convert the w^orld, who would see in us the shining example of these qualities which evidence that divine ownership. Likewise, if in that Latter- day Saint home the husband and wife are in disharmony, bickering, and di- vorce is threatened, there is an evi- dence that one or both are not keeping the commandments of God.
If we, in our wards and our branches, are divided, and there are factions not in harmony, it is but an evidence that there is something wrong. If two persons are at variance, arguing on different points of doctrine, no reasonable, thinking persons would say that both were speaking their different opinions by the Spirit of the Lord.
{Continued on page 416)
375
Address delivered at the Thursday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 6, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
AMANITES ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE
Om J^pencet"
l/i/. ^\imbali
INDEPENDENCE
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
M-
'Y brothers and sisters: You have already heard much today about certain trends that would engulf us and destroy us. As President McKay was talking about the freedoms which we seem ever more eager to exchange for bread, my thoughts went back to old Israel, who, becoming hungry, went south to Egypt and found corn. That corn tasted so good to them that they continued eating the corn of another people. Eventually they accepted the grain and the se- curity it symbolized in full payment for their liberty. Chains and abject slavery came to them and to their children and their children's children. Their suffering accelerated in intensity until a great Moses, under God, came to emancipate them. Thank the Lord for a deliverer! But how much nobler if people could accept the advice of God's leaders before the bondage comes!
Some of these destructive trends remind me of the river which drops from Niagara's precipice. Time and again I have stood on the banks of this river far above the falls and watched its waters flowing normally toward the sea. At this point a small craft, manned by strong oarsmen, could be controlled and sent up or down or across the stream. I watched the river farther downstream. Having started downward there is no stopping. Faster and faster it goes, splashing, boiling, frothing. The boat in full control on the upper reaches would now be at the merciless fury of the lashing stream. Even strong men who a few miles above could control their movements, would now, at the near- ing of the falls, lose power to guide their boat to safety.' Suffering, sor- row, and destruction are inevitable after a certain point has been reached.
Not only the Israelites but more modern people have also fallen victim to this evil. Our pioneers came across the plains and developed a great com- monwealth here by their toil and in- dustry, frugality, savings. They were independent of all agencies except the Lord and their own hands and efforts, but many of their descendants have embraced, against counsel, the de- structive philosophy that involved and well-nigh destroyed the ancients.
In the figures that were given to us this morning, it appeared that many 376
people had relinquished public agency assistance and had returned to their own efforts and to the Church for their support. But it was a com- paratively small number, and there are many in this Church who, even yet, join the hordes outside of the Church to accept gratuities from public agencies.
Some Lamanites, in whom I am greatly interested, have fallen victim to the same enslaving principle. The Lamanite did not, like the Israelite, go into another country for food. He re- mained in his own country, but he was dispossessed of his food. His conquerors took from him his means of livelihood and his country and liberty; and in exchange for his very freedom they gave to him reservations of some millions of acres, generally of little value. In a hundred years or more the Indian has learned quite well the lesson that his Israelitish brothers taught him of accepting what- ever was offered.
He is, like many of his white con- temporaries, dependent and grasping. But he was not ever thus. He, like
gations at Chichen Itza, a free medical clinic was maintained for Indians of the surrounding region, medicines being dis- tributed among them without charge. Al- though the Indians, from long experience, came to know that this service was free, invariably after receiving treatment and medicines at the clinic, they offered to pay for the same, and when payment was refused, the next time they visited Chichen Itza they would bring gifts of food — chickens, eggs, deer meat, and native embroidery. There seemed to be a deep- felt desire not to accept something for nothing, but rather to repay an obliga- tion in some way.
Down along the Mexican border in the yesterdays, even the notorious Apaches were quite self-reliant. They, like almost all the rest of their country- men, have become dependent now. But I want to quote from another author. Cochise, the great warrior and man of peace, continued his lamentation and said:
"Look at my people." This was after he had been placed on the reser- vation given to them in exchange for all that they possessed, including their liberty.
**J^AY God bless you and me, that we may go back to our stakes and wiissions tvith the determina- tion to pray for the red man ..."
our pioneers, in the great yesterday, before contaminated by these influ- ences of destruction, was quite inde- pendent. Read his scripture, and you will find that for hundreds of years he tilled the soil, made his way, and lived in peace and prosperity.
Up north in Canada, about a half- century ago. Chief Yellow Face of the Crees called his people together and said, "Don't accept the reservations from your government, for when you accept a favor, you always pay, and you pay heavily."
Down in the far south, in Maya land, the Indian was self-sustaining. Dr. Sylvanus Morley in his book, The Ancient Mayas, gives us this para- graph:
Nor are the Mayas given to begging. During the seventeen years the Carnegie Institution carried on archaeological investi-
Look at my people. Do you think they were made to live this way, on charity, like women? No, this is wrong. My warriors have hunted their own deer, built their own wickiups, and fed their own children. We were like the animals ol the forest, doing all for ourselves, but now we wait for our food to be given to us, and when it does not come in time, we go hungry. Look, look at my people. They are without blankets. We sit like rabbits and ■wait until the white man gets ready to feed us.
And then the Hopi in northern Ari- zona is an example to us all, and we can learn many things from the Indian. Just one or two quotations from an author and a great student of the Hopi Indian, Oliver LaFarge.* He says that the orthodox Hopi also resists the en- croachment of governmental agencies who give security in exchange for (Concluded on page 448)
'Quoted from a letter to U S. Government
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
EWS RETURN
i5(^ (Lzt'a J aft iSenion
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
.Address delivered at the Saturday
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 8, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
MY beloved brethren and sisters: If I may have an interest in your faith and prayers and a portion of the Spirit of the Lord, I desire to give expression to a few thoughts which I have had in my heart since returning from the shores of war-torn Europe some three years ago.
I should like to speak with refer- ence to a rather miraculous drama that is taking place today before our very eyes. In large measure it is unob- served, particularly by spiritual lead- ers, and yet it has been predicted by prophets anciently thousands of years ago, and in modern times has been referred to frequently by Latter-day prophets during the past one hundred and twenty years.
In spiritual matters mankind seems inclined to worship the past and ignore new revelation of the present. People generally revere prophets dead and persecute or ignore the living while disregarding current fulfilment of an- cient and modern prophecy. This condition was evidenced in the Meridian of Time as the people pro- claimed Moses and Abraham and re- jected the greatest of all prophets — yea, even the Redeemer of the world. In large measure the same spirit char- acterizes the present.
This great event of which I speak is one of the signs of the times, and is very important, it seems to me, particularly to all Christian people. It is transpiring in a small strip of coun- try about one hundred and ten miles long and fifty to sixty miles wide, in an area about the size of the state of Vermont. This little section has a population of approximately three mil- lion, divided as follows: about 1,700,- 000 Arabs; approximately 140,000 Christians and other relatively minor sects; and about 1 ,000,000 descendants of Judah, the son of Jacob.
The number of Jews has multipHed in recent years in this area in a rather remarkable manner. Plans are under- way for the incorporation of about a million and a half more during the immediate months ahead, and pro- jected plans call for an eventual popu- lation of some four million in this small area.
This one and a half million to be
MAY 1950
added during the next few months ac- cording to plans, will bring approxi- mately two hundred thousand Jews from displaced persons' camps through- out war-torn Europe; about seven hun- dred thousand other European Jews; some six hundred thousand now living in Moslem countries; and approximate- ly one hundred thousand from other continents.
In connection with this great drama, it seems to me that the words of the Lord through Isaiah are being fulfilled again, namely that in the last days the Lord would proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder, that the wisdom of their wise men should perish, and the understanding of their prudent men should be hid. (See Isa. 29:14.)
While in Europe in 1 946, when men- t|on was frequently made in the Euro- pean papers of the Jewish problem, I received a comment from one of our great industrial leaders in this country who is a student of this particular problem, in which he said the only
nTHE miracle of the return of the Jews to their ari" cieni homeland was to be one of the events to precede Christ's second coming . . . Isaiah said that they shall gather the dispersed of ]udah from the four cor-^ ners of the earth and set them in their own land, that they will build the old wastes and repair the waste cities.
salvation the Jew has is to be as good a citizen as he possibly can of what- ever country he is a resident.
Then later, one of our prominent business leaders quoting a high church authority whose church numbers into many millions in the South American countries, stated that the Jewish peo- ple would do their cause much more good if they attempted to move their people from places where they are not wanted to places where they are wanted, for example, South America, where there is ample room.
As Latter-day Saints, familiar with ancient and modern prophecies, we of course do not agree that some other
ALESTINE
an
J
^uini f-^^wphecif
mote suitable place should be and will be found for the descendants of Judah. We believe in the over-ruling power of Providence in the affairs of men and nations. We believe that the Old Testament prophets clearly predicted the dispersion and scattering of Israel and the eventual gathering of Judah in the land given to their fathers.
Some of our magazines have com- mented editorially on this same prob- lem. I have before me a quotation made in 1948 from one of our most popular magazines and reprinted in the New York Herald-Tribune, which has a wide circulation through their European edition printed in Paris, in which the author states:
What the Jews really need is not a national state, but the right sort of world. "If the nations carried out the provision in the United Nations charter for universal respect for, and observance of, human rights, and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, lan- guage or religion," it would do far more to solve the Jewish problem than any multiplication of the Jewish population in Palestine.
In 1949, about a year ago, the United States News and World Re- port commented on the miscalculations of government officials and military experts with reference to the outcome of the struggle then being waged in Palestine, and reported that the "prophecies of the military experts, in particular, have had to be revised." Then it continued by outlining the predictions of military authorities in our own country and in Great Britain particularly, to- the effect that it was only a matter of a very brief time until the Jews would be overcome and be wiped out and "the Arabs would win quick control of Palestine. Now," the article continues, "these official but private forecasters are in a state of confusion," and the "U. S. and Britain, as a result, have to adjust their diplomacy, their military strategy to this fact of a strong Israel in the midst of Arab weakness."
It seems as though this probably is one more evidence of the fact that the wisdom of the wise shall perish. The prophecies of economists, would- be statesmen, and military experts fail, while those of the Lord through his prophets are vindicated.
An interesting sidelight on this re- {Continued on page 433)
377
Address delivered at the Sunday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 9. 1950, in the
Tabernacle
As I have listened to these beautiful sermons on repentance, I have thought over and over again about one of the commandments given by the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount. In it he said,
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. {Matthew 5:48.)
Paul tells us that the Church organi- zation was given to us, among other reasons, for the perfecting of the Saints. In spite of this commandment, and in spite of this statement of Paul, there are some people who believe that it is impossible for us to become per- fect. Perfection is not for this life, they say, and so why try?
I would like to say that I beheve with all my heart that if the Lord had any idea that we could not begin in mortality on the march toward per- fection, he would never have given us that commandment; neither would he
"Be Ye Therefore
]ERFECT"
E,
'^k (L-. j-^eti
\am C-. J'-' eCerden
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
have given us a Church organization for the perfecting of the Saints.
I believe that in many ways, here and now in mortality, we can begin to perfect ourselves. A certain degree of perfection is attainable in this life.
I believe that we can be one hundred percent perfect, for instance, in ab- staining from the use of tea and coflEee. We can be one hundred percent perfect in abstaining from liquor and tobacco. W^e can be one hundred percent per- fect in paying a full and honest tithing. We can be one hundred percent per- fect in abstaining from eating two meals on fast day and giving to the bishop as fast offering the value of those two meals from which we ab- stain.
We can be one hundred percent perfect in keeping that commandment which says that we shall not profane the name of God. We can be perfect in keeping the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not commit adul- tery." (Ex. 20:14.) We can be per- fect in keeping the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not steal." {Ibid., 15.) We can become perfect in keeping various others of the com- mandments that the Lord has given us,
I am confident that one of the great desires of the Lord our God is that we shall keep that great commandment which says, "Be ye therefore perfect," (Matthew 5:48) and that we may do so is my humble prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
{Concluded from page 367)
dren of men, in any degree of unrighteous- ness, behold, the heavens withdraw them- selves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love un- feigned;
By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile —
Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting do- minion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. (D. & C. 121:36-37; 41-46.)
If you can find more sublime thoughts anywhere in literature than expressed in that great revelation, please let me know where they are.
In conclusion, I repeat that no greater immediate responsibility rests
378
FREE AGENCY ... A DIVINE GIFT
upon members of the Church, upon all citizens of this Republic and of neighboring Republics than to protect the freedom vouchsafed by the Con- stitution of the United States.
Let us, by exercising our privileges under the Constitution —
( 1 ) Preserve our right to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience,
(2) Preserve the right to work when and where we choose. No free man should be compelled to pay tribute
PATH BREAKERS
By Ruth Harwood
IVyfANY are the ways which have been ^^^ cut through outer darkness Leading into inner and eternal light. And there are many paths still waiting tc
be opened, Many ways of liberation, many roads to
freedom.
For everyone who breaks a path into the
hght There are those searching and bewildered
souls Who would not find their way but for
his strivings.
And so it gives him courage to press ever
onward, upward. Through long years of aloneness. Through the struggle and the darkness, Toward heights of his ideal, the gleaming
universal summit!
in order to realize this God-given privilege. Read in the Doctrine and Covenants this statement:
... it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. (Ibid., 101:79.)
(3) Feel free to plan and to reap without the handicap of bureaucratic interference.
(4) Devote our time, means, and life if necessary, to hold inviolate those laws which will secure to each indi- vidual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.
To sum up this whole question: In these days of uncertainty and unrest, liberty-loving people's greatest respon- sibility and paramount duty is to pre- serve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to Deity, and, (repeating the message of our President, to which I subscribe with all my soul) the necessity of obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ- — only thus will mankind find peace and happiness:
... If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32.)
God enlighten our minds to compre- hend our responsibility, to proclaim the truth and maintain freedom throughout the world, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Address delivered at the Sunday morning session of the 120th annual general con- ference, April 9, 1950, in the Tabernacle
SPIRIT OF
£5w fl'/attkew K^owleu
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
I THINK by now we are convinced, brothers and sisters, that the theme of this conference is re- pentance. We have been called to repentance in sermon and in prayer. For thirteen years I have spent much of my time among people who know how to repent. I have never seen such beautiful repentance in all my ex- periences as I have seen among the people of the South Pacific.
And while I have been thinking about this principle of repentance, there has come to my mind one ex- perience I had during the war years when our young men were going from New Zealand to the war. There came into my office one day two young Maori brothers. They were in uniform. They had volunteered. Natives of New Zealand are not drafted or conscripted in the miUtary service; they have to volunteer. These two young men were about to em- bark for the Near East and when they came into my office, I detected the odor of liquor. But I was not sur- prised when they asked for a blessing, for I knew them well; I had lived at the home of their mother on my first mission. I said to them, "Do you deserve a blessing?" They knew what I meant, and they said, "We think we do now; we repented a few minutes ago." That's the speed with which a Polynesian repents.
Under ordinary conditions I think I wouldn't have given them a blessing at that time, but as I looked at them in the uniform of soldiers who had volunteered to give their lives that I might enjoy liberty, religious freedom, and all the other freedoms, the Spirit prompted me to bless them. In my blessing I called them to repentance and told them that the blessings were conditioned entirely upon repentance. I promised them that through their repentance and their righteous ex- amples as soldiers in the theater of war to which they were going, they would return home. And how proud one of those young men was just a year ago when he came to me and said that he was counselor to the president of one of the branches in New Zea- land, and that . his brother was very active in the Church. From the min- ute they repented, coming to my office, up Queen Street in Auckland, New Zealand, they had not broken the Word of Wisdom.
MAY 1950
ISCERNMENT
I think one of the great responsibili- ties we have, we who hold the priest- hood, is the responsibility of acquiring a discernment, a spirit of discernment, so that we may really know when a man has repented.
I was walking along the street in one of our towns in New Zealand one day with my mission president during my first mission. I had been staying at the home of one of our Church members, and that's all he was, just a member. Hie had been a heavy drinker for years, and I had seldom seen him without his pipe in his mouth. The president and I met him on the street. We walked up to him, and the president said, calling him by name, "I want you to get ready to take your wife and go to the tem- ple of God and be sealed to each other." When I went back to New Zealand on my second mission, that man was the president of the best district we had in the New Zealand mission, and how I thrilled when I heard his testimony that from the min- ute he was asked to repent by the priesthood of God he had never
Joseph F. Smith ever uttered anything but words of love to those people, whether they were active or inactive in the Church. So also my heart has always gone out to them in great love. They are different from us. They have to be treated differently. We have to understand them, but don't we have to understand ourselves, as well? And in this business of re- penting and forgiving men and women of their sins, we must understand one another. We must try to see them as much from their own eyes and get their own viewpoint as we do from our own.
How we need to pray to God for the spirit of discernment! How we need to know that God is love, and that he forgives those who repent!
Just yesterday I had copied from one of the sermons of President Joseph F. Smith a few words which he de- livered from this pulpit at one of the general conferences. It was on the last day of the conference, and they were his last words to that great as- sembly. I would like to read them here. I think you will read into these
We ought to say in our hearts ''Let God judge be- tween me and thee, hut as for me, I will forgive."
broken the Word of Wisdom. And he not only came to the Hawaiian TTemple, but he also came to this temple and received the blessings which God gives to all who properly repent.
I love the spirit of repentance in those people. And I am reminded now that this is the centennial year of the Hawaiian Mission, a mission made great by such missionaries as President George Q. Cannon, Presi- dent Joseph F. Smith, Lorenzo Snow, and many others. And as I have been laboring among those people, and as it has come to me to judge them even when their membership in the Church was involved, I have always said to myself, "What would Joseph F. Smith have done in this case? What would President George Q. Cannon have done in this particular instance?" I have spent much of my time in finding out or trying to find out what the attitude of those grand aftd noble men was toward the Polynesian Islander^, and I have yet to hear that President George Q. Cannon or President
words the spirit of love, of forgive- ness, which I know President Smith acquired from his association with those wonderful people in the Poly- nesian Islands. "Brethren and sisters, we want you to be united." We have heard that theme also in this confer- ence, and many of us need to repent because we are not one; we are not as loyal as we should be.
We hope and pray that you will go from this conference to your homes feeling in your hearts and from the depths of your souls to forgive one another and never from this time forth to bear malice toward another fellow creature. I do not care whether he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not, whether he is a friend or a foe, whether he is good or bad. It is extremely hurtful for any man holding the priesthood and enjoying the gift of the Idoly Ghost to harbor a spirit of envy, or malice, of re- taliation, or intolerance toward or against his fellow man. We ought to say in our hearts, "Let God judge between me and thee, but as for me, I will forgive." I want to say to you that Latter-day Saints who harbor a feeling of unforgiveness in {Concluded on page 451)
379
c:,a;^tf^g^jKg3REPi
"...In the morning of the
Address delivered at the Sunday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference,
April 9, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. (Hebrews 5:8-9.)
Closely allied with this statement of the New Testament is our third Arti- cle of Faith.
We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
Just as surely as our Savior became the author of our eternal salvation, so must we through that same degree of obedience become the authors of our own exaltation. We celebrate this Easter Sabbath with a knowledge that we shall come forth in the morning of the resurrection. We likewise know that we shall be judged according to that which we do in the flesh. We shall not be saved by grace alone. And how grateful I am to my Father in heaven for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has taught us the importance of obedience to his will and to his command.
We sometimes feel that we need further light and knowledge from our Father in heaven in order to carry out the duties and the responsibilities of our calling. It is my humble convic- tion that if we were able to make our- selves entirely submissive to the will of our Heavenly Father, his direction to us would be complete.
Closely allied with the day which we celebrate today was Christ's ascension to heaven. He realized well that he had been the stay and the staff of his disciples during his ministry here upon this earth. It would hardly have been possible for them to carry on in his absence unless another comforter were given to them, and that comforter was indeed promised them, and the disci- ples of old received it. It is my testi- mony to you today that every son and daughter of our Father in heaven here upon this earth who lends obedience to the first principles and ordinances of the gospel receives this comforter. The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Just as John of old records:
. . . The Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26.)
So he will today. Without that gift and without that power of the Holy Ghost you and I would not be able 380
Hesurrection"-
£Su ^.J^enru <UJ. /f/ouie
y
1
r
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
to become submissive to the will of our Heavenly Father. We would not know what his will is, except by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. Then when we know what his will is, we must be as clay in the hands of the potter to permit our lives to be molded in the pattern that the Savior of man- kind set for us.
I am grateful beyond measure this day to know that I have the privilege of associating with men who have been called of God, to lead and guide Israel in these latter days, I know that as we submit ourselves to the will of our Heavenly Father there comes into our life a consciousness, a peace that passeth all understanding. It is through submission to the will of our Father in heaven that we receive all of the blessings that are essential for our welfare and our happiness and our advancement in his kingdom. Following the resurrection, in which we shall participate, we shall stand be- fore the judgment bar of God with our record before us — one I hope of which we shall be proud, one which
The birth and the mission of Jesus Christ is just as real to me as was that of my own earthly father. Christ was born and died for the sins of men. I know his resurrection from the grave was as real as his life, and that before he ascended to heaven he stood before his disciples and gave to them a promise of a comforter which would be sent to them. They received the comforter, and that same comforter has made itself manifest in the lives of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Saints in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. I know that comforter exists today and builds us up and strengthens us and qualifies us for every responsibility and every duty and obligation of life. The power and gift of the Holy Ghost can draw us close together, can make us united, can make us discern the word of the Lord when we hear it from his servants, that we will be immediately obedient and susceptible to his will thus expressed.
I want to say that when we hear a sermon on repentance, it is meant for
^^X^E celebrate this Easter Sabbath with a knowledge that we shall come forth in the -morning of the resurrection, and we know that we shall be judged according to that which we do in the flesh.
will entitle us to associate with those of our loved ones who have gone to the great beyond, and who will be there to welcome us. May we all en- joy the blessings and the privileges which we desire through our obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. If we can become entirely submissive and obedient to the will of our Heavenly Father, our problems will be solved temporally and spiritual- ly. W^hen we are called upon to mourn, there will come a comfort and a con- solation into our hearts "that passeth all understanding." I stand here before you today to express my thanks and gratitude to my Heavenly Father for this knowledge, this conviction, this witness that has come into my life.
you and me. Sister Choules of the Southern States Mission addressed an audience at Macon, Georgia, at the dedication of the chapel, and in that talk she expressed this beautiful thought: "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all sit and listen to a ser- mon on repentance and not immediate- ly think of our neighbor?" I knew she had in mind such sermons as we have heard in this conference. They were intended for you and me.
May the Lord help us to realize that we need repentance, that we need to be obedient and susceptible to the will of our Heavenly Father; and may he bend us to his will, I pray humbly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Address deliveved at the Saturdat)
morning session of the 120th
annual general conference
April 8, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
&
'^
PATRIARCH TO THE CHURCH
1HOPE the Lord will bless me with an interest in your faith and prayers while I stand here before you. I appreciate the honor and privilege that is mine to talk to you at this time. I am grateful for the many blessings given to me and mine, and above all I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Latter-day Saints as a people arc more blessed than any others on the face of the earth because we have this gospel which offers to us such great blessings, both for this life and for all eternity. Perhaps the very magnitude of the blessings makes it difficult for us to comprehend them, I wonder if that is why some of us are not taking advantage of our op- portunities. We cannot appreciate what we do not understand. Perhaps our parents or our teachers neglected to instil in our minds the glorious blessings promised for keeping the commandments of God.
/^REAT is our responsibility as parents, teachers, or mis- sionaries to try to instil God's true teachings in the minds and hearts of our children, neighbors, and fellow
men.
I would not hesitate to say that many of our failures to comply with the laws and ordinances of the gospel come from a failure to understand completely the blessings gained there- from. No one in his right mind would knowingly turn down such gain for a fleeting satisfaction, liow great is our responsibility then as parents, teachers, or missionaries to try to in- stil these teachings in the minds and hearts of our children, neighbors, and fellow men.
We might do well to look to the methods of our teachings. We are all familiar with the slogan, "If the learner hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught."
In our schoolrooms, teaching has become an art instead of a mere presentation of fact. Material that used to be dry as dust to me as a child has now been made so attractive that children learn because it is fun, a pleasant experience. But children learn because they want to. It has
MAY 1950
teach by love, then we cannot really teach at all. It is a human failing to resent being told we must do thus and so without being given a reason. Even some reasoning does not produce the desired results.
I am thinking now of a young man who came from a good family, who had been taught that tobacco was poisonous to the system and did great bodily harm. He had been told of the great waste of money involved in the use of tobacco. (And, by the way, may I say that eight million, four hun- dred seventy-two thousand, nine hun- dred and fifty-three dollars were spent in Utah for cigarettes for the year 1949. Compare that figure with some of the figures President Clark gave us the other day. ) This young man re- sented the curtailing of his actions. He said it was his own business. The Church had no right to order his per- sonal actions. Well, the result was the same as in thousands of other similar cases. He could not feel com- fortable in church because he reeked of tobacco. He forfeited his chances to increase his knowledge, to asso- ciate with his brethren in sacrament and priesthood meetings, and to ad- vance in the priesthood. Not permitted to enter the temple, he has given up eternal blessings in exchange for the fleeting satisfaction of a little tobacco. Why? I cannot think that he knew the blessings he was passing by.
The most important part of the Word of Wisdom is that which we so often fail to emphasize — the blessings promised. Beginning with the eight- eenth verse of the 89th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord said,
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings,
Now I believe that has reference to what is given in the 89th Section. And then he continues,
- ... walking in obedience to the com- mandments, strong as gentleness, and nothing so
gentle as real strength. Be careful, I think that means more than just
you parents and teachers. Explain the the 89th Section, I think it means to
beauties ol the gospel, play up the keep all the commandments and all
blessings that the Lord promised as a the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
reward for faithfulness.
. . . walking in obedi- ence to the command- ments, shall receive health in their navel and mar- row to their bones;
And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.
TRONGEST
id ike Ljentie -^J^and
been said that the only satisfactory way to make people do things is to make them want to do them.
Truly, my dear brothers and sisters, this is an age of advertising. Products both good and bad are made so entic- ing that we think we cannot live with- out them. The art of salesmanship must first attract interest, and then create a desire. Is not the gospel im- portant enough that we use this proved psychology in selling it to others? I do not mean by this that we must use billboards along the highway or glam- orous ads in the magazines, etc., but can we not present the blessings promised for faithfulness in keeping the commandments of the gospel in such a way that the desire for the blessings will be far greater than the temptations to do wrong?
We have found in teaching children that each child responds differently. When we are teaching our own chil- dren, therefore, we must know their nature and appeal to them accordingly.
It is said that there is nothing so
Sheer force rarely ac- complishes anything.
I cannot help think- ing of the father of a large family, who ruled by force. Every meet- ing must be attended by every child. Tithing was enforced, depar- ture from the truth was punished by physical
T ET us present the blessings promised for faithfulness in keep- ing the commandments of the gospel in such a way that the desire for the blessings will be greater than evil temp- tation.
violence, but there was little love and less teaching of the principles of the gospel in an attractive form to make the children want to do right. As a result, when each child grew old enough to rebel, it left home. It is hard for others to penetrate this rebellious spirit and right the wrong that has been done. If we cannot
Those treasures of knowledge, I think, are the greatest part of the promises given in the Word of Wis- dom.
And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
And I, the Lord, give unto them a prom- ise, that the destroying angel shall pass
i Continued on page 436)
381
Part V Contacts in the Desert
THE Book of Mormon makes no mention of Lehi's people meeting any other party in their eight years of wandering. Casual meet- ings with, stray families of Bedouins then as now would merit no special attention, but how were they able to avoid any important contacts for eight years and some twenty-five hundred miles of wandering? One illuminating "aside" by Nephi ex- plains the whole situation; It was only after reaching the seashore that they were able to make fires without danger, "for the Lord had not hitherto suffered that we should make much fire, as we journeyed in the wilderness; for he said; I will make thy food become sweet, that ye cook it not; and I will also be your light in the wilderness. . . ." (I Ne. 17:12f). That tells all. "I well remember," writes Bertram Thomas, "taking part in a discus- sion upon the unhealthfulness of campfires by night; we discontinued them forthwith in spite of the bitter cold."'^^ Major Cheesman's guide would not even let him light a tiny lamp in order to jot down his star readings, and they never dared build a fire on the open plain where it "would attract the attention of a prowling raiding party over long distances and invite a night attack.""" Once in a while in a favorable sheltered depression "we dared to build a fire that could not be seen from a high spot," writes Raswan.^**^* That is, fires are not absolutely out of the question, but rare and risky — "not much fire" is Lehi's rule. Things are hardly better by day. Palgrave tells how his party were forced, "lest the smoke of our fire should give notice to some distant rover, to content ourselves with dry dates," instead of cooked food."*'" So again another of those strange-sounding passages from the Book of Mormon rings the bell.
As for the matter of cooked food, "Throughout the desert," w^rites Burckhardt, "when a sheep or goat is killed, the persons present often eat the liver and kidney raw, adding to it a little salt. Some Arabs of Yemen are said to eat raw not only those parts, but likewise whole slices of flesh; thus resembling the 382
ui
EHI
£5u -.J^uak y (ibieu^ f-^k. cZJ.
^^
IN THE DESERT
Abyssinians and the Druses of Lebanon, who frequently indulge in raw meat, the latter to my own cer- tain knowledge. "^'^" Nilus, writing fourteen centuries earlier, tells how the Bedouin of the Tih live on the flesh of wild beasts, failing which "they slaughter a camel, one of their beasts of burden, and nourish them- selves like animals from the raw meat," or scorch the flesh quickly in a small fire to soften it sufficiently not to have to gnaw it like dogs."*' Only too well does this state of things match the grim economy of Lehi; "they did suffer much for want of food," (I Nephi 16:19, ".. . we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness." {Ibid. 17:2.)
All this bears out the conviction, supported both by modern experi- ence and the evidence of archaeol- ogy, that Lehi was moving through a dangerous world. In ancient times Jewish merchants traveling through
other ... to surprise the enemy by a sudden attack, and to plunder a camp, are the chief objects of both parties.""" "Raiding to them is the spice of life . . . might is right, and man ever walks in fear for his life and possessions."'"^ Lehi could ill afford to get embroiled in perennial desert feuds, and the only way of avoiding them is to observe a rule which Thomas lays down for all travelers in the desert, even today: "an approaching party may be friend, but is always assumed to be foe."^°* In the words of the ancient Zuhair, "He who travels should con- sider his friend to be his enemy."^"^ St. Nilus describes Bedouins on the move in the fifth century as pos- sessed by the same jittery nervous- ness and unbearable tension that makes the accounts of Cheesman, Philby, Thomas, Palgrave, and oth- ers such exciting reading,^'*' A state of almost hysterical apprehension.
^RABic inscriptions from Lehi's tiute show that ''in the peninsula . . . there was constant unrest . . . " then as in modern times.
the desert fell so often into the hands of Bedouin raiders that by the beginning of the Christian era their word for "captor" normally meant simply "Arab"!^*"^ Arabic inscriptions from Lehi's time show that "in the peninsula . . . there was constant un- rest ..." then as in modern times .'^" Ordinary times in the desert are bad times when, in the words of one of the oldest Arab poets, "the honored man did not dare stay in the open country, and flight did not save the coward, , . .""" Desert life has ever been the same: "A lonely life it is," writes Philby, "... a life of con- stant fear . . . hunger is the rule of the desert. . . ."""^ Hunger, danger, loneliness — Lehi's people knew them all. What was the danger? "The Arab tribes are in a state of almost perpetual war against each
these people have learned, is a basic condition of survival in the desert.^"' "A bedawy never tells his name, nor his tribe, nor his business, nor the whereabouts of his people, even if he is in a friendly district. They are and must be very cautious . . . a word out of season may bring death and destruction.""" When the Beni Hilal migrate, it is "under the darkness of the night, under the obscuring veil of the rain," by-pass- ing settled places in darkness and in silence. Nothing can better de- scribe the state of mind that goes with this way of life than the Book of Mormon expression "a lonesome and a solemn people." Doughty said he had never met a "merry" man among the Arabs — and there is no humor in the Book of Mormon. This mood is not accidental; the Hebrew
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Family Life
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
HISTORY AND RELIGION
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
This modern-day scene of a caravan being made ready shows some of the cautious apprehension and careful prep- aration against trouble which is upper- most in the minds of desert travelers.
gets it from his desert ancestors. Why not the Lamanite?''*
Lehi's party, Hke the Beni Hilal, were trespassers wherever they walked. Every inch of the desert is claimed by some tribe or other that will demand the life of a tres- passer.'™ "Marked boundaries do not exist, and it is natural that ques- tions of ownership should be settled by fighting, which becomes an an- nual affair, while looting of camels grows into a habit.'"*" After a raid a whole tribe will go into hiding, to avoid reprisals,'"" and Philby sums up the crazy economy in the simple formula, "you chase me, and I chase you."'"' Extreme caution and strict avoidance are therefore the first rule for travel in the desert. "In most cases," says Jennings-Bramley, "Arabs do not think it prudent to allow the raiders near enough to de- cide whether they are friendly or not," and he describes a typical meeting in the desert: "both we and MAY 1950
— Photograph by Adelbert Bartlett
they were doing our best not to be seen."^'* Of course this sort of thing leads to comic situations, ignoble panic, and ridiculous anti-climaxes, but in a game of life and death one simply can't take chances, and Lehi was playing for the highest stakes. The picture of a wandering band sticking glumly to themselves for years on end, impossible as it seems to us, is a normal thing in the desert, where the touchy, dangerous, un- social Bedouin takes his stand as the most "difficult," challenging, and fascinating creature on earth.'""'
But how do the members of such closed corporations hit it off among themselves? It is the domestic history that presents the really dif- ficult problem. To handle it con- vincingly would tax the knowledge of the best psychologist, and woe to him if he does not know the peculiar ways of the eastern desert, which surprise and trap the unwary west- erner at every turn!
TThe ancient Hebrew family was a peculiar organization, self-suf- ficient and impatient of any author- ity beyond its own; "these are ob- viously the very conditions," writes Nowack, "which we can still ob- serve today among the Beduin."^"" Thus, whether we turn to Hebrew or Arabic sources for our informa- tion, the Book of Mormon must con- form. Lehi feels no pangs of con- science at deserting Jerusalem, and when his sons think of home, it is specifically the land of their in- heritance, their own family estate, for which they yearn, and not even Nephi feels any loyalty to "the Jews at Jerusalem," split up as they were into squabbling interest-groups. In- deed, Nephi speaks of his book as "an account ... of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry," as if the wandering family recognized no government but that of its own head — v/hich is strictly according to the rules."" While Lehi lived, he was the sheikh, of course, and the relationship between him and his family as described by Nephi is ac- curate in the smallest detail. With the usual deft sureness and un- troubled simplicity, the book shows Lehi leading — not ruling — his peo- ple by his persuasive eloquence and his spiritual ascendency alone, while his reluctant sons follow along behaving exactly like Philby's Arabs — "an undercurrent of tension in our ranks all day . . ."; the leader must make every effort to "appease their evil, envious souls . . . , "'"* and like Burton's: "we left Suwaykah, all of us in the crossest of hu- mors. ... So 'out of temper' were my companions, that at sunset, of the whole party, Omar Effendi was the only one who would eat supper. The rest sat upon the ground, pouting and grumbling. . . . Such a game at naughty children, I have seldom seen played even by Oriental
•« «„ "209
men. ...
The character and behavior of Laman and Lemuel conform to the normal pattern. How true to the Bedouin way are their long bitter brooding and dangerous outbreaks! How perfectly in keeping with the Arabs of Doughty, Burton, Pal- grave, and the rest are their sudden and complete changes of heart when their father has lectured them, fiery anger yielding for the moment to a {Continued on following page)
383
LEHI IN THE DESERT
{Continued [com preceding page) great impulse to humility and an overwhelming repentance, only to be followed by renewed resentments and more unhappy wrangling! They cannot keep their discontent to themselves: "the fact that all that happens in an encampment is known, that all may be said to be related to each other, renders in- trigue almost impossible."""' "We were all one family and friendly eyes,"^^ says Doughty, but then de- scribes another side to the picture "Arab children are ruled by en- treaties. ... I have known an ill- natured child lay a stick to the back of his good cherishing mother, and the Arabs say, 'many is the ill- natured lad among us that, and he be strong enough, will beat his own father!' """'^ The fact that Laman and Lemuel were grown-up chil- dren did not help things. "The daily quarrels between parents and chil- dren in the desert constitute the worst feature of the Bedouin char- acter," says Burckhardt, and de- scribes the usual source of the trouble: "the son . . . arrived at manhood is too proud to ask his father for any cattle . . . the father is hurt at finding that his son be- haves with haughtiness towards him, and thus a breach is often made."^'* The son, usually the eldest one, does not feel that he is getting what is coming to him and behaves like the spoiled child he is; Doughty has described the attitude of a great Bedouin sheikh to his son: "the boy, oftentimes disobe- dient, he upbraided, calling him his life's torment, Sheytan, only never menacing him, for that were far from a Beduin father's mind."^* In these altercations, the usual thing is for the mother to take the part of the son, just as Sariah joins with her sons in chiding her own hus- band, and rates him roundly when she thinks he has been the cause of their undoing. '^'^
Is it any wonder that Laman and Lemuel worked off their pent-up frustration by beating up their younger brother with a stick when they were once hiding with him in a cave? Every free man in the East carries a stick, the immemorial badge of independence and of au- thority; and every man asserts his authority over his inferiors by his stick;^" "a blow for a slave," is the 384
maxim of Ahikar, and the proper designation of an underling is ' abida l-'asa, "stick-servant." This is ex- actly the sense in which Laman and Lemuel intended their little lesson to Nephi, for when the angel turned the tables he said to them, "Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over
you ?" (I Nephi 3:29.) But age
and dignity count for everything in the East — witness the importance of the beard — and Nephi's two brothers were never reconciled "that our younger brother should rule over us." (I Nephi 18:10, Ibid. 16: 37.) All that saved Nephi's life on one occasion was the pleading of a daughter of Ishmael and her mother — another authentic touch, since the proud Semite may yield to the en- treaties of a woman without losing face."^'"" Through it all, Laman, as the eldest son, is the nastiest actor: "when only one boy is in the family, he is the tyrant, and his will domi- nates over all."'" So we see Laman still thinking to dominate over all and driven mad that a younger brother should show superior talents. The rivalry between the sons of a sheikh "often leads to bloody tragedies in the sheikh's household,"^"" and Nephi had some narrow escapes.
The nature of Lehi's authority is made clear in the Book of Mormon. Of the Arab sheikh we have noted Burckhardt's remark: "His com- mands would be treated with con- tempt; but deference is paid to his advice . . . the real government of the Bedouins may be said to con- sist in the separate strength of their different families . . . the Arab can only be persuaded by his own rela
PLANTING IN RAIN-FALL WEATHER
By Anobel Armouv
HIS father had to spade the monstrous hole Wider than wide to cover all the roots Because the boy just reached the tree's top
bole Although he stretched from cowlick to
brown boots; And yet he didn't really mind at all, Not being big enough to dig, that is. Because his father was so strong and tall And being here with him made all earth
his, Here, where they stood in early rain-fall
weather Planting a tree for growing tall together!
tions. " The sheikh's "orders are never obeyed, but his example is generally followed.'""** Especially on the march it behooves all to follow that example; while the tribe is in motion the sheikh "assumes all re- sponsibility and the whole power of government."'"* Yet in leading the march he gives no orders : when his tent is struck "it is the rahlah," and all the others without a w^ord strike theirs; and "when the place of encampment is reached the sheikh puts his spear in the ground, and at once the tents are pitched. "^^ The sheikh's tent is always the center of everything; "a white flag is some- times hoisted above his tent to guide strangers and visitors. All visitors are led directly to the tent of the sheikh."^^ When Nephi urged the frightened Zoram to join the party in the desert, he said: "If thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place w^ith us." The correctness of the proposal is attested not only by the proper role of Lehi in receiving members into the tribe but also in the highly characteristic expression, "thou shalt have place with us," for the proper word of welcome to a stranger in a tent is ahlan wa sahlan wa marhaban, literally, "a family, a smooth place, and a wide place!"^^" In the sheikh's tent the councils of the tribe are held (I Nephi 9:1-2) and all decisions for the journey are made, but "no sheikh or council of Arabs can condem,n a man to death, or even inflict a punishment ... it can only, when appealed to, impose a fine; it cannot even en- force the payment of this fine."^" Why, then, if there was no power to compel them, did not Laman and Lemuel simply desert the party and go off on their own, as discontented Arabs sometimes do?"'* As a matter of fact, they tried to do just that
(I Nephi 7:7), and in the end -were prevented by the very considera- tions that keep any wandering Bedouin party together, according to Philby: greed and fear. They hoped for a promised land and were bitterly disappointed when they reached the sea without finding it:
'Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions. ..." {Ibid, 17:21.) It was by convincing them of the great {Continued on page 448) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Address delivered at the Saturday
afternoon session of the 120th
annual general conference.
April 8, 1950, in the
Tabernacle
I
igfT is only a question of time, un- less people repent of their sins, until war will come, not only war but pestilence will come, until the human family disappears from the world. There is only one way to en- joy peace and happiness in this world, — repent and turn to the Lord, That is the only way."
In these words President Smith in- troduced the theme of this conference at the opening session last Thursday. This statement went down into my heart like fire, because I did not accept it as the statement of a man but as the word of God through his living prophet to this living generation. I desire to say a few words about this theme. It reminds me of the eloquent statement of Alma.
O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. (Alma 29:1-2.)
Here indeed is a consummation de- voutly to be wished.
In the Prophet's journal under date of March 1, 1842, he made the follow- ing entry:
At the request of Mr. John Wentworth, Editor and Proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, I have written the following sketch of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints. {His- tory oi the Church, Vol. IV, p. 535.)
The sketch thus introduced, he con- cluded with the Articles of Faith, the fourth one of which reads:
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: (First) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: (Second) Re- pentance; (Third) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (Fourth) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
You will note that in the sequence here' followed by the Prophet, re- pentance as a principle of the gospel is preceded by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is clear from the three articles preceding the one I have quoted that to have this faith requires first, belief in God as our Eternal Father, in Jesus Christ as his Beloved Son, and in the Holy Ghost; and second, acceptance of the doctrines fhat men will be held accountable for their own sins, and that through the
MAY '1950
BARREN
...and
^.je.
ASSISTANT TO THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
atonement of Christ they may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordi- nances of the gospel.
To one believing these truths and, in the light of them, having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance means not only "a turning with sorrow from a past sinful course of action" — as it has been defined — but, in addition thereto, that through repentance he may bring himself within the reach of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, so that thereby he may be cleansed from the effects of his transgressions and obtain forgiveness of them. His re- pentance is a preparation for baptism by immersion for the remission of his sins and reception of the Holy Ghost.
^^ ... ye shall go forth . . . saying: Ke pent ye, re- pent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.''^ (D. & C. 42:7.)
While turning from a sinful course at any time and for any cause is com- mendable and desirable, the repentance which "worketh ... to salvation," as Paul puts it, is inseparably connected with the other first principles of the gospel.
Many sober and earnest people arc recognizing the need for men to re- pent of their sinful ways and are ad- vocating that they turn to God. This is good as far as it goes, but the only people who can call the inhabitants of the earth to true repentance are the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The rea- son this rather sweeping statement is true is because such a call to repent- ance cannot be made without a divine commission.
For such repentance to be declared under a divine commission, as Presi- dent Smith declared it at the opening of this conference, is by no means a new thing. It was not new in the days of the Prophet. It is as old as this world. In the morning of earth's temporal existence, an angel com- missioned by the Lord himself declared repentance unto the first mortal man. saying,
, . . thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son foreverraore . . .
And the Lord God called upon men by the I4oly Ghost everywhere and com- manded them that they should repent;
And as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree. (Moses 5:8, 14-15.)
From then until now, men have Hved upon the earth, and particularly in the land of America, under this firm decree. As it has been in the past, so must it continue to be, for the Lord Almighty has spoken it. It seems to me, therefore, that the most desperate need of this hour is repentance, and that quickly, for it is later than we think. As long ago as 1829 the Lord said:
Behold, the world is ripening in iniquity; and it must needs be that the children of men are stirred up unto repentance. (D. & C. 18:6.)
Time and time again in the past, as men and nations have faced destruc- tion, the Lord has sent his commis- sioned servants to declare unto them re- pentance as the way of escape. "Noah called upon the children of men that they should repent," and although "they hearkened not unto his words," he "continued his preaching unto" them, saying.
Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, . . . and ye shall receive the fioly Ghost, . . . and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you; never- theless they hearkened not. (Moses 8:24.)
Melchizedek, king of Salem, was commissioned by the Lord and de- clared repentance unto his people. He,
. . . having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace. (Alma 13:18.)
Upon our own beloved land of America, God has repeatedly commis- sioned his servants to call the people to repentance that they