some dragged in the streets of Rome, some thrown from pinnacles, and some stoned to death. What for? For obeying the law of God and bearing testimony to that which they knew to be true. So may it be today. But let the spirit of this Gospel be so imbedded in my soul that though I go through poverty, through tribulation, through persecution, or to death, let me and my house serve God and keep His laws. However, the promise is that you shall be blessed through obedience. God will honor them that honor Him, and will remember them that remember Him. He will uphold and sustain all those who sustain truth and are faithful to it. God help us therefore to be faithful to the truth, now and forever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus, Amen. as ELDER WM. H. SMART, president of the Eastern States mission, said: I take great pleasure in assembling with you in this conference and I am enjoying a spiritual feast, in listening to the counsels that come to us from God through His Holy servants. The uppermost thought in my mind is that God has indited the counsels that have been given to us in our meetings thus far. I have been away from the body of the Church for two years, a missionary to the Eastern States. While I have been absent when conference time has rolled around my spirit has been here and I have longed to sit under the sanctuary and receive the word of God as it is given from time to time by His servants. I desire to bear my testimony to you, my co-laborers, that God has inspired His Prophet in this day with regard to the law of tithing, and that this spirit is not only in Zion but that it has spread abroad into every part of the world where the Saints and Elders are living. A little less than a year ago, after the word of the Lord had come through our Prophet with regard to this law of tithing, we caught up the spirit of it in the Eastern States mission. It electrified us. It was nothing but the power of God that did it. The spirit bore witness to us that that word was from God and that it was not of man. I do not feel That I have power to take up your val uable time this morning, but I did want to bear this testimony unto you, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ELDER E. H. NYE, president of the California mission: My brothers and sisters, it is a wonderful privilege to meet with you in this conference. It seems as though I am hardly able to control my feelings, I am so overcome with joy in meeting with the Saints of the Most High. The spirit that has prevailed throughout this conference thus far has been a joy to my soul. I thank the Lord my God and my brethren the Presidency that I have been permitted to come to Zion from the State of California, where I have been laboring for the last three years and a half as a missionary. This grand question of tithing has been with us, and I bear testimony with my brother, Elder Smart, who has just preceded me, that the same spirit permeated the hearts of the Saints throughout the State of California, so much so that they have come to the front, paid their tithes and their offerings and enabled us to carry on the mission in that part of the world. I rejoice in this and in the testimony that has been given and in the spirit that has actuated the servants of God, who have spoken to us the words of life and salvation in these meetings. It seems to me that if we could comprehend the situation, every man and Woman would rise in the strength of their manhood and womanhood and rejoice in the privilege of performing this wonderful work. We have in our own hands a key to the spiritual blessings of the Almighty. We meet together in our various wards and branches and partake of the sacred emblems of the flesh and blood of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. I am always impressed with the importance of that sacred ordinance, for in that it seems to me we have a key to the spiritual blessings of the Almighty. Let me call your attention for a moment to what we do in partaking of that ordinance: "Witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember Him, and keep His commandments which he has given them." What for? "That they may always have His spirit to be with them." Every time that we partake of that sacred ordinance we enter into a covenant with the Lord that we will keep the commandments He has given. What are the commandments? "Love one another," is one of them. "Thou shalt not lie," is another. And our brethren, the Presidency and the Twelve, have been impressing upon us in a most wonderful manner that there is a commandment to pay our tithing. Now if we go to meeting, partake of this sacred ordinance, enter into this covenant anew, and then ignore these commandments, do we not, my brethren and sisters, become covenant breakers before the Almighty? This is the way it strikes me. This ordinance is instituted that we may continually renew our obligations unto the Lord, and the ordinance itself says what we do it for-that we may always have His spirit to be with us. Some of the brethren have quoted from the Book of Mormon. I will call attention to one passage in it. On the occasion of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ visiting the people upon this continent, He called them to prayers. He prayed, and they prayed: "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them." And further on the Book of Mormon tells us, after enumerating the wonderful gifts and blessings that the Lord bestowed upon the people, that it was because the love of God did dwell in the hearts of the people. This is a key to the whole grand question. If we will keep the covenants that we make before the Almighty every time we partake of this solemn ordinance, we shall come right up to the standard of perfection that the brethren have been talking about, and that those old Nephite Saints arrived at when there was no wickedness of any kind among them, because the love of God did dwell in their midst, and the record declares that they were a most prosperous people in everything. Here is a lesson for us, if we can take it to ourselves. I rejoice in the great work as it is rolling along. In the law of tithing there is a key to the wealth and blessings of the earth; for the Lord makes a declaration that if we will pay our tithes and our offerings he will open the windows of heaven and pour forth such blessings as there shall not be room to receive. These things have been manifested time and time again in the California mission. I could enumerate instances where individuals through the payment of their tithes have received wonderful gifts and blessings; have been prospered in all that they set their hands to do, and have proved to their own satisfaction that the blessings of the Almighty do come unto them through obedience to this command. May God bless you. Amen. The choir and congregation sang: The Spirit of God like a fire is burning; The latter-day glory begins to come forth; The visions and blessings of old are returning, The angels are coming to visit the earth. Benediction by Elder Rulon S. Wells. CLOSING SESSION. 2 p. m., singing by the choir, Prayer was offered by Elder Joseph E. Taylor. The choir sang: Come, listen to a Prophet's voice, THE GENERAL AUTHORITIES OF THE CHURCH were presented to the conference for the votes of the assemblage, as follows: Lorenzo Snow, as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world. George Q. Cannon, as first counselor in the First Presidency. Joseph F. Smith as second counselor in the First Presidency. As members of the council of the Twelve Apostles: Brigham Young, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teasdale. Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund, Matthias F. Cowley. Abraham O. Woodruff and Rudger Clawson. At this point President Cannon stated that owing to the death of Franklin D. Richards a vacancy had been created in the council of the Twelve Apostles, and that the conference would be given an opportunity to vote for some one to fill the position. He then, in this connection, presented the name of Reed Smoot, and the vote was taken. The counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators. Patriarch of the Church-John Smith. First seven presidents of SeventiesSeymour B. Young, Christian D. Fjeldsted, Brigham Henry Roberts, George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Joseph W. McMurrin. William B. Preston as presiding Bishop, with Robert T. Burton and John R. Winder as his first and second counsel General Church board of education: Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Karl G. Maeser, Willard Young, Anthon H. Lund, James Sharp, Joseph F. Smith, John Nicholson and George H. Brimhall. G. General superintendency of religion classes: Anthon H. Lund, Karl Maeser and Rudger Clawson. Lorenzo Snow, trustee-in-trust for the body of religious worshippers known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John Nicholson, clerk of the general conference. The voting in every instance was unanimous. President Cannon announced that, in accordance with a legal requirement, the names of the members of the board of directors of the Brigham Young Academy, Provo, would be presented for the vote of the conference. They are: George Q. Cannon, Wilson H. Stephen L. Chipman. The vote was unanimous. ELDER REED SMOOT, of the Council of the Twelve, said: "My dear brethren and sisters, I feel exceedingly weak in standing before this vast audience this afternoon. No doubt many of you are surprised at my being called to this position, but I can assure you that no one in this audience was more astonished than I. Five years ago I was called by the mouthpiece of God to occupy a position in the presidency of the Utah Stake. That was a surprise to me at that time and I thought then that the Lord moves in a mysterious way. This afternoon when the mouthpiece of the Lord told me it was the will of the Lord that I should occupy a position as one of the Twelve Apostles, I certainly felt a more humble and more weak instrument in his hands for doing good than ever I did in my life. I beg of the brethren of the Twelve to bear with me in my mistakes. I beseech of you, my brethren and sisters, to give me your faith and prayers for I need them, and to fulfill this position that I am called to, I must have them. If I can be humble and have the confidence of the people and of the Priesthood, as God has called me so will I receive it in the same spirit; and as He gives me wisdom and light and revelation, just so far can I do His will and serve Him in this calling. If I did not know that Jesus was the Christ and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was His Church I can assure you that this calling that has been placed upon me would be the farthest from me to accept of any position that I could think of. My life in the past has been in a business direction more than in any other way, and now that this change has come and this call from God has been placed upon me, I hope and trust that I will do nothing-aye, I would rather lose my right arm than to betray the "Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness; "And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory, shall then receive of the same, even a fullness: the confidence you have placed in me this I ask God's choicest blessings upon His Church and upon every member thereof, that unity, peace and strength may be with us continually until we become a light unto the whole world, as has been predicted. In the name of Jesus Christ I ask it. Amen. PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON. Future exaltation dependent upon obedience to law-Having kept our first estate, our present aim should be to keep well our secondHeavens filled with higher truths, which, as we progress, will be revealed. I arise, trusting that the remarks which I may be led to make may be inspired by the Spirit of God. To this end I beseech you, my brethren and sisters, to give me the assistance of your faith and prayers, for I would like the time I occupy to be of profit to those who listen. Time is precious, and this is a vast congregation, and they should not be kept here listening to something that is not of worth. I do not profess myself to be able to impart anything that is worthy of being listened to only as God shall give it through His Holy Spirit. I will read a few paragraphs of the 88th section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants. "And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law. "Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it; "For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again a spiritual body; "They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a na tural body, even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened. "And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fullness; "And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have re ceived. "For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receiveth not the gift? Behold he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in Him who is the giver of the gift." I would like this next paragraph to be noticed by my hearers: "And again, verily, I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law, and perfected and sanctified by the same. "That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice nor judgment. Therefore they must remain filthy still." There is to my mind a great amount of importance in these words that I have read in your hearing, and they should be understood by us, because they pertain to our future exaltation. We have been taught by the Lord that this is a preparatory state, that we are here to be tested, to see whether we shall prove worthy of the promises that he has made unto his children. He has given unto all of us our free agency, and that agency is differently exercised. We see mankind divided into classes. Some exercise their agency in one direction and some in another, and there is a great diversity of views and aims among the children of earth. But the Latter-day Saints have had revelation given to them, which places them, it may be said, in a position different to the rest of the world. We are not ignorant of the purposes of God. We have been informed why we are here and what we should do to obtain the glory that God promises unto his faithful children. We have had pointed out to us the path to pursue to continue progression. We all believe, I suppose, that we have kept our first estate, or we would not be here. The reward of our fidelity in our pre-existent state is manifest in the fact that we have received earthly tabernacles. We have taken a great step in advance by being permitted to come here. Now much depends upon our second estate and the manner in which we keep it. If we are faithful in our second estate, as we were in our first, then glory will be added to us, and we shall go on progressing eternally. Through the revelation of God's will and our observance of it, the opportunity is given us to continue in the path of progress. The Lord has shown to us that there are differences of rewards. Some of his children will attain to what is called celestial glory. Others of his children will not have faith enough nor exercise their agency in the direction to gain that glory; but they will gain terrestrial glory. There are others that will not progress that far; they will feel reluctant to obey the laws that pertain to the terrestrial, and they will obtain telestial glory. There are still others that will not attain even to the telestial glory. Why is it that there are these differences? Is it because God has chosen some of us for the telestial glory, some of us for the terrestrial glory, and some of us for the celestial glory? No, there is no such predestination as this. We are all born with our free agency; with the power within ourselves, aided by the blessing of God, to attain unto the highest glory. How shall we attain unto the highest glory? There is only one way, and that is by observing the highest laws. The highest laws, when obeyed, bring as a reward the highest glory; and the man or woman who expects to attain to the highest glory without obeying these laws, deceives himself or herself. It cannot be done. If I rise above the telestial glory, I must obey a law that will lift me above that. If I rise to the terrestrial glory, it will be by obeying terrestrial law. If I do not obey laws higher than that, I cannot attain to a higher glory. I want to impress upon you, my brethren and sisters, that our exaltation, our future glory, depends entirely I We should A man will the as if I were hear a good Some of the Elders upon our obedience to law. |
