Selections from the Sermons and Writings of
Heber J. Grant
Seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Compiled by G. Homer Durham
Level 1 headings mark the beginning of each of the 4 main books and the Addendum.
Level 2 headings mark the various introductory items at the beginning of the book, and also each of the chapters.
Level 3 headings mark the sections within each of the chapters.
Level 4 headings mark the topics within the sections.
Infobase (c) 1991, 1992 by Infobases, Inc.
Introductory...................................................v
Book One: Religion for the Modern World........................1
Book Two: The Church and Society..............................81
Book Three: The Ministry of Heber J. Grant...................189
Book Four: Stories From Life.................................265
Affectionately Dedicated
by
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
to
PRESIDENT HEBER J. GRANT
A Founder, Senior Editor, and Constant Friend
Grant, second counselor to Brigham Young and first mayor of
Salt Lake City, and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins Grant.
Saints. Ordained an elder at about fifteen years of age.
Ward Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, which was the
first ward organization effected by Junius F. Wells under
direct appointment of Brigham Young.
superintendency of
the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association.
over the Tooele Stake of Zion, before he was twenty-four years of age.
became a member of the Council of the Twelve.
Men's Mutual Improvement Association.
which he was one of the principle founders.
Missions.
British and European Missions.
Apostles.
of Latter-Day Saints.
Canada.
birth,
beloved by all his people.
Continuous revelation is the life-giving doctrine of the Church of Christ. It must be so, for constant human progress, with corresponding changes, forms the objective of the plan of salvation. Therefore, as need arises in an increasing Church, the Lord provides, through the duly chosen president, new revelation or further applications of truths already revealed. Communication with the Lord is always open. To supply such inspired guidance is a main function of the president of the Church.
The reality of this doctrine is shown in the teachings of the presidents of the Church, from Joseph Smith to Heber J. Grant. Indeed, the history of the Church, the soul of it, may be read in these utterances. Each leader, under the spirit of revelation and inspiration, has fearlessly and wisely met the issues of the day. Additional organizations, such as the Mutual Improvement Associations, have been authorized; new procedures set forth; or increased emphasis has been placed on certain doctrines. New uses of unchanged truth have been made to fit changing times. Thus, the Church has kept step with progress, and indeed has led out in the field of improvement. The steady advancement and present condition of the Church are fruits of such leadership.
The leadership of President Heber J. Grant conforms to that of his predecessors. It has probed the evils of the day, and set up safeguards against them; it has pointed the way to progress, and provided helps along the journey; it has sacredly preserved the fundamental truth and authority of the restored gospel, yet used them for the welfare of the Church. The response, through the goodness of the Lord, has been great. The Church has grown in every division and activity. This period off leadership has been notable, second to none in this dispensation. We who are part of it, so near to it, may not be able to evaluate it fully, but they of the future will acclaim its magnitude. However, one needs but read the published discourses of President Grant, to recognize the greatness of his service.
The approach of the eighty-fifth anniversary of President Grant's birthday, suggested to The Improvement Era staff that a compilation of his essential teachings would be a fitting tribute to President Grant's leadership, and an acceptable addition to Latter-day Saint libraries. The compilation has now been accomplished. A book of unusual merit and interest has resulted. Under the title Gospel Standards it covers the gospel field as we of this day have known it. Gospel themes are elaborated; practical questions of life discussed; wise suggestions made; and more than forty of President Grant's favorite, spell-binding stories are retold. It will hold the interest of all to the last. The book will come to occupy an important place in Mormon literature. It is "affectionately dedicated by The Improvement Era to President Heber J. Grant, one of its founders, senior editor, and constant friend." The whole Era family--subscribers, contributors, workers in field and office, and the General Era Committee, and the compiler--offer this volume to President Grant upon his eighty-fifth anniversary as a token of gratitude, loyalty, and love.
We, President Grant's associates in the editorship of The Improvement Era, have found joy in suggesting and supervising the preparation of this volume of eternal truth.
John A. Widtsoe,
Richard L. Evans,
Marba C. Josephson.
Dedication ....................................................v
Highlights in Heber J. Grant's Official Career ...............vi
Foreword ....................................................vii
Key to Abbreviations and Note on Sources ....................xvi
Introduction ...............................................xvii
BOOK ONE: RELIGION FOR THE MODERN WORLD
1. Some Fundamentals of Mormonism .............................3
2. Some Fundamentals of Mormonism (Continued).................22
3. Living Our Religion .......................................35
4. The Word of Wisdom and Health .............................48
5. Tithing--Law of Financial Security ........................58
6. Church Administration .....................................67
BOOK TWO: THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY
7. The Mormon Church and People ..............................83
8. Mormon Economics .........................................106
9. Government and Public Affairs ............................125
10. Women, Marriage, and Family Life ........................150
11. Education and Music .....................................160
12. Youth and Achievement ...................................173
BOOK THREE: THE MINISTRY OF HEBER J. GRANT
13. Approach to Church Service ..............................191
14. Experiences in Japan ....................................205
15. Glimpses of Some Famous Contemporaries ..................214
16. Report of 1937 European Tour ............................230
17. Some Memoirs as Church Leader ...........................240
BOOK FOUR: STORIES FROM LIFE
18. Thirty Favorite Stories .................................267
19. More Stories and Personal History .......................316
20. Some Intimate History ...................................339
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AND NOTE ON SOURCES
The large capital letters refer to sources noted in the text and explained in the key which follows. Dates are self-explanatory. Numerals which appear refer to volume numbers where they precede a colon. Numerals after a colon refer to page numbers. Thus Era 41:316 refers to volume 41 of The Improvement Era, page 316.
CR--Annual and Semi-Annual Conference Reports CS--The Deseret News Church Section DN--The Deseret News, Daily Edition GM--The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine Era--The Improvement Era JH--The Journal History of the Church (Manuscript) JI--Juvenile Instructor RSM--The Relief Society Magazine YMJ--The Young Woman's Journal
Other sources than the above are noted in the text itself.
The work of President Heber J. Grant cannot be adequately portrayed within the covers of one book, even when he speaks for himself, as in this volume. His life spans altogether too much of Mormon and American history to permit, at this time, adequate perspective in compiling and arranging the items which best reveal his character and his work. A man who has seen virtually every building erected in Salt Lake City, with the exception of a few temporary structures; who has dealt with the intimate problems of a great pioneer commonwealth; who has witnessed and for many years directed the expansion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from a driven, Utah-centered, persecuted group into a respected, far-flung, world organization; who has experienced the personal problems of manhood and parenthood; whose known public service, and little-known public and private service, rank uppermost in human annals--such a man's work can only be hinted at, when told in print.
In this work President Grant has been allowed, as is his frank and honest characteristic, to speak for himself. Four subdivisions, called "books," have been set up, the first dealing with more or less doctrinal materials, the second with materials which reveal the power of the Mormon faith when interpreted in terms of actual, living problems of men and women. The third section is an effort to set forth, in part, the unusual scope of President Grant's sixty-year ministry and the exemplary attitude with which his tasks have been approached. Without the fourth section, presenting a selection of his favorite stories, this work would be incomplete. These stories, including those reflecting intimate personal and Church history, give the opportunity to read, and read again reflectively, the incidents by which this prophet-teacher has fortified his people, striving always to teach "that which will be of benefit to them." The world's greatest teachers have used the medium of stories and parables to illustrate the truths they were inspired to convey. Heber J. Grant is no exception to this rule.
Since President Grant's call to the apostleship in 1882, The Deseret News has faithfully reported his major sermons. Beginning in 1897, the reports of the general conferences of the Church have contained his semi-annual messages. He wrote much for the old Contributor, and since 1897 for The Improvement Era, which he has fathered from the beginning. In addition, much of his material appears in The Young Woman's Journal, The Relief Society Magazine, The Utah Historical and Genealogical Magazine, the Church Section (since 1931) of The Deseret News, and other Church publications. These and other sources were all examined and materials selected for the purposes of this book.
Appreciation should be extended especially to Richard L. Evans, managing editor of The Improvement Era, for assistance in the preparation and editing of the manuscript, for directing publication, and for making available the monthly editorials by President Grant which have appeared since 1937 under the heading, "The Editor's Page," and which have been drawn upon freely in preparing this book. To Marba C. Josephson, also, appreciation is expressed for much able assistance generously given during the process of bringing forth this volume.
For financial support, thanks and credit are due the executives and general boards of the Mutual Improvement Associations, represented on the Era staff by General Superintendent George Q. Morris, who is also general manager of The Improvement Era, and General President Lucy G. Cannon, who is also associate manager of The Improvement Era.
Gratitude is also expressed to Rachel Grant Taylor for reading the manuscript; to members of the Era staff, John K. Orton, Marvin E. Smith, Albert L. Zobell, Jr., and others, for technical help; and also to the staff of the Church Historian's Office, which made available, through the remarkable Journal History of the Church, President Grant's addresses from 1882 to 1897.
For suggesting this volume and urging it to completion, credit must go to Dr. John A. Widtsoe of the Council of the Twelve. The first work of this type, intended to present the teachings of a president of the Church, was Gospel Doctrine, the writings and sermons of President Joseph F. Smith, in 1919; that was followed in 1925 by Brigham Young's Discourses (the first under the partial and the other under the general editorship of John A. Widtsoe), and now this monument to Heber J. Grant appears under the title, Gospel Standards. Together, the three volumes form a remarkable and useful trilogy, a body of doctrine and practice based upon the teachings of Joseph Smith, without which Mormon literature would be less complete. In expressing appreciation to all who have contributed to this volume, and admiration for its contents, the compiler and The Improvement Era only mark another tribute to the genius of the restored gospel and to the many lives which have been faithful to its principles.
G. Homer Durham Utah State Agricultural College Logan, Utah November 22, 1941
"Our aim and purpose is to
carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation under heaven."
--HEBER J. GRANT
Estes Park, Colorado
Institute of Human
Relations, August 1936
The day can never come when we will do that. As well might we undertake to leave out Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Either Joseph Smith did see God and did converse with Him, and God Himself did introduce Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ did tell Joseph Smith that he would be the instrument in the hands of God of establishing again upon the earth the true gospel of Jesus Christ--or Mormonism, so-called, is a myth. And Mormonism is not a myth! It is the power of God unto salvation. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, established under His direction, and all the disbelief of the world cannot change the fundamental facts connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Every Latter-day Saint believes that God appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, and every Latter-day Saint believes that God Himself did introduce Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph Smith as: "My beloved Son: hear Him."--Era, 41:519.
Mormonism is in very deed the plan of life and salvation, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The little stone has been cut out of the mountain. It shall roll forth until it fills the whole earth.--CR, October, 1919:15.
When preaching to those not of our faith, in different parts of the world, I read, whenever I have the opportunity, the articles promulgated by Joseph Smith known as "The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." I rejoice in reading them and in testifying to those who know not the truth that in very deed those articles have been vindicated; that we believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ. And I testify to the world that we know that They live, because They appeared to Joseph; that we believe men must be called of God, and we know that they have been called of God in our day, because the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. We believe that men should receive the Holy Ghost, and we testify to all the world that they have received it in this Church. I rejoice that all the gifts and graces that were enjoyed in ancient days--the speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the healing of the sick, and kindred gifts as enumerated in the Articles of Faith, are enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints all over the world, wherever this gospel has gone.
I rejoice in the wonderful faith and knowledge of the Latter-day Saints regarding the divinity of this work. I am thankful beyond expression that wherever this gospel has gone, in answer to humble faithful prayers, God has given to individuals all over the world a knowledge for themselves concerning the divinity of this work.
What kind of men and women should we be, as Latter-day Saints, in view of this wonderful knowledge that we possess, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God? We should be the most honest, the most virtuous, the most charitable-minded, the best people upon the face of the earth.--CR, October, 1925: 9-10.
We believe God to be a person. We believe absolutely that we are made in the image of God. We believe that Jesus Christ was actually the Son of God, His Father, as I am the son of my father, and as you are of your father, and we believe They are Personages. Why? Because the boy Joseph Smith saw God, and God introduced Jesus Christ to him as His "beloved Son," and told this boy to listen to the Savior and the Savior gave him instructions.--CS, September 3, 1938.
We believe absolutely in God, that He is a personal Being. We believe absolutely that the scripture is true which says: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."--Era, 41:519.
In other words, as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. We do not believe in what we consider a doctrine of devils, so to speak, that little children, dying in innocence, are going to be damned if they have not been baptized. We believe that through the atonement of Christ all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability will be saved.--CS, September 3, 1938: 1, 7.
We must save ourselves and stand for our own sins. We cannot blame our negligence upon somebody else.--JH, June 3, 1889: 8; Utah Enquirer, June 4, 1889.
In other words, we do not believe that the mere confession of faith, when a man is dying, is going to save him. I remember as a youngster, working in a bank, seeing some cartoons that illustrated the absurdity of that belief. They were in Puck magazine. A very villainous-looking man came into a room, stabbed a man, and stole some money that he was counting. In the next picture he was in jail and a priest said: "Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved." The criminal thought: "A mighty easy bargain! I believe." In the next picture he was tried and convicted; in the next, he was on his way to the gallows, with sentimental ladies throwing flowers in his path "a soul going to Jesus." The next showed him hanging at the end of a rope by his neck; and in the next he was soaring up to heaven, escorted by angels.
The final picture showed the good and benevolent man whose money had been stolen and who had been stabbed, down in hell being pitched from one fire to another. He said he did not have time to say he believed. He had been stabbed.--CS, September 3, 1938: 7.
Of what good are our faith, our repentance, our baptism, and all the sacred ordinances of the gospel by which we have been made ready to receive the blessings of the Lord, if we fail, on our part, to keep the commandments? All that we expect, or all that we are promised, is predicated on our own actions, and if we fail to act, or to do the work which God has required of us, we are little better than those who have not received the principles and ordinances of the gospel. We have only started, and when we rest there, we are not following our faith by our works, and are under condemnation; our salvation is not attained.--Era, 24:259.
On a recent trip, I cut from a newspaper a clipping. It was a recommendation by an English lord that people discard the "absurdity" of Jesus Christ as a God on earth and a Redeemer of the world, and that they accept the Mohammedan philosophy; suggesting that they could believe in all of the ethical teachings of the religion of Christ and Mohammed, but that they should get away from the absurdities of Christianity, and settle the various disputes and troubles that they were having in the Christian religion.
Whenever I have read that statement--and I have read it in a number of places--I have taken the trouble to state to the people in the various places where I preached, the position of the Latter-day Saints as to the gospel in which we believe.
I announced in those meetings, in some of which the majority of the audience were non-members of the Church, that every Latter-day Saint must subscribe to the doctrine that God Himself visited the boy Joseph Smith, and that God Himself introduced Jesus Christ to the boy as His beloved Son. I announced to these audiences that among the Latter-day Saints there is no evidence of "modernism" so-called, and that no man or woman will be fellowshipped in this Church who denies the individuality, the personality of God, or that Jesus Christ is in very deed the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world.--CR, April, 1925: 7-8.
There have been many things in my life, as I am sure there have been in the lives of you, one and all, that have been inexplicable to me; that it has been difficult for me to understand and comprehend. But I am a firm believer that faith is a gift of God, and I am grateful indeed for the gift of faith that has been with me. When I have not comprehended things, I have had faith that some day they would be made plain to me.--CR, October, 1935: 3.
Faith is a gift of God, and faith comes to all of us who serve God and supplicate Him for the guidance of His Spirit.
There is no danger of any man or woman losing his or her faith in this Church if he or she is humble and prayerful and obedient to duty. I have never known of such an individual losing his faith. By doing our duty faith increases until it becomes perfect knowledge.--CR, April, 1934: 131.
Salvation will come only to those who repent and have their sins washed away by baptism, and who thereafter show by a godly life that their repentance is genuine.--Era, 15:785.
And we announce to all the world--(of course, we know the world does not believe it)--that we have that authority. We announce that the identical man who baptized the Savior of the world, known as John the Baptist, came to this earth, laid his hands on the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and he gave them the Aaronic, or lesser Priesthood, which has the authority to baptize. After giving them this ordination, he told them to baptize each other, and he promised them that Peter, James, and John, the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who stood at the head of the Church after the crucifixion, should visit them later and bestow upon them the apostleship, the Melchizedek, or higher Priesthood.
We announce to all the world that they did come and that we have received that authority, and all the disbelief of all the world cannot change the fact of those two visitations,--those two ordinations. If these things are a fact, disbelief cannot change them. And we announce that these are facts.--CS, September 3, 1938: 7.
When I go into a house to administer to those who are afflicted, if I know that they have observed what is known as the Word of Wisdom, if I know they have fulfilled the law whereby they are entitled to the blessings of the Lord, I can administer to people of that kind with faith, knowing that if it is not the will of the Lord for them to pass away, He will hear and answer the prayer of faith, and they will be restored.--CR, October, 1919:10.
I shall not take your time further than to refer to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We believe that he was a prophet of God, and we not only believe it but we know that he was. Why? He declared that he would be chosen, when he was a child, and he was chosen. He announced to the world that he would receive the Book of Mormon, and he did receive the Book of Mormon, which he translated from the plates, to which he was divinely directed. Eleven men, in addition to himself, bear witness that he had the plates. Eight of these men handled them and saw the engravings, and the plates were shown to three of these men by an angel of God who came down from heaven. "Oh, but," says one, "I don't believe it." But if eleven honest, reputable men testified that a man had committed murder, that man would hang all right. There is no one who can say that the statement of the witnesses regarding the Book of Mormon is not true, and there are tens of thousands who can say, by the witness of the Spirit of God, that these things are true. Joseph Smith proclaimed that he would yet be a prophet, before he was one, and he was chosen. He predicted that the Latter-day Saints would be driven from city to city, from county to county, from state to state, and finally driven from the confines of the United States to the Rocky Mountains, which was then Mexican territory. People laughed him to scorn for saying that he, whom they considered a miserable upstart, at the head of a deluded lot of people, would attract the attention of anybody to the extent that they would be driven out of a state, and particularly be driven beyond the confines of the United States.
He also announced that the day would come when not only a city, not only a county, not only a state should be arrayed against the handful of Latter-day Saints, commonly called Mormons, but the day should come when the whole United States would be arrayed against them. People hooted at that statement, but the day did come when we were driven from city to city, from county to county, and state to state, and the day did come when we were driven to the Rocky Mountains, where he had said we should become a great and mighty people. And that is exactly what we have become, because in proportion to our numbers, we are a great and mighty people, and people are beginning to recognize it today. Finally the United States of America, on the statements of lying judges and others, sent an army against us--for doing what? For doing what we never did. Subsequently the government pardoned us for our sins that we had never committed, but they sent their army here all the same. And later, because of false statements made to Congress, the government confiscated all the property, both real and personal, belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as if the Lord desired doubly to fulfill the prediction of Joseph Smith. I picked up the paper day after day myself, when the trial was going on here in the courts, and read in bold headlines, "The United States of America vs. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and laid the paper down and said: "Thanks be to Uncle Sam for putting the absolute stamp of divinity upon the utterances of the Prophet Joseph Smith!" This is one of the reasons why we believe in prophets--because their prophecies are fulfilled. It is only fair to say that this property was afterwards restored to the Church by acts of Congress.--CR, October, 1919:29-30.
Now, we have had many men who have had the gift of tongues, out in the world, preach this gospel in a language of which they had no knowledge. At one time, I was a ruined man, financially. I had too good a credit and was able to borrow too much money; and when the panic of 1893 came on, it wiped me off the earth, financially, with all I had and more too. I would work until midnight, one and two o'clock in the morning, many times, to maintain my credit and my honor. It was understood that the people at home should not wait up for me; but on one occasion when I came home my wife, whose body now lies in the tomb, was sitting up waiting for me, and she started to lecture me, saying that I was breaking the Word of Wisdom. She suddenly stopped, and by the gift of tongues she gave me a most remarkable and wonderful blessing and promised me that I should live to pay off all my debts, which I did live to do.
My mother always told me: "Behave yourself, Heber, and some day you will be an apostle. If you do not behave yourself, you will not be, because we have in a revelation, recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, the following statement: `There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of the world, upon which all blessings are predicated--And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.'" I said: "Mother, get it out of your head. I do not want to be an apostle. I do not want to be a bishop. I do not want to be anything but a business man. Just get it out of your head."
After I was called to be an apostle, she asked me about that meeting where this blessing was given, and whether I remembered it. I said, "No, I do not remember anything, only that when Aunt Zina was talking she said, `You will become a great big man,' and since I have grown tall I have often thought of that." She said, "She did not promise you any such thing; she said that you should become a great big man in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the reason I have told you to behave yourself. I knew it would not come true if you did not live worthily, but it has come true." Then she said: "Do you remember Heber C. Kimball's picking you up when you were a young boy, and putting you on a table and talking to you, at a great dinner he was having with a lot of his friends?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember anything he said?"
"No. I only remember he had the blackest eyes, I thought, I ever looked into, and I was frightened. That is all I can remember."
"He prophesied in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you should become an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and become a greater man in the Church than your own father; and your own father, as you know, became one of the counselors to Brigham Young. That is why I told you to behave yourself."--CS, September 3, 1938: 7.
Unless the gift of tongues and the interpretation thereof are enjoyed by the Saints in our day, then we are lacking one of the evidences of the true faith.--YWJ, 16:128.
There is no need of believing in an evangelist unless he has the evangelical inspiration of his office. When I was a baby, my mother took me to the patriarch, or the evangelist, Brother Perkins, who afterwards moved to St. George and located there, and that patriarch put his hands upon my head and bestowed upon me a little blessing that would perhaps be about one-third of a typewritten page. That blessing foretold my life to the present moment. The promises made to that baby have been fulfilled. I went to Tooele as a boy not twenty-four years of age, to preside over that stake of Zion. I was without experience, and I felt mightily my weakness. Soon after I arrived there with my wife and two little babies, my youngest baby was taken very sick and came nigh to death's door. I did not know one single solitary soul in Tooele City when I went out there except John Rowberry and Francis M. Lyman. Brother Lyman lived next door to me, but he was not at home. Knowing that my little baby was in a dying condition, I sent for my friend, John Rowberry, the patriarch, the evangelist in that stake of Zion, asking him to come and assist me in blessing the baby. After blessing the little one he said: "Brother Grant, looking at it naturally, your baby is going to die." I said, "I have no doubt of it, unless the Lord hears and answers our prayers." He said, "Well, the Lord is going to hear and answer them. Go and get a table and a piece of paper, and sit down by the bed; I want to give this baby its patriarchal blessing." He laid his hands upon that baby and promised her that she should live; that she should grow to womanhood; that she should marry a servant of the living God; that she should become a mother in Israel; that she should become a leader among the sisters in the Church. A year or so ago, President Joseph F. Smith handed me the list of Church authorities to present to the people, as he quite frequently did. I read the names and presented them, and when I came to the last name, as one of the General Board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association, I had to read that name through tears of gratitude, because I was presenting the name of my daughter, who, I believe, but for the power of God, would have died when a baby. I was presenting her name to be one of those to preside among her sisters, over thirty or forty-odd thousand of the young women, in the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association.
Why do we believe in evangelists? Because they have the inspiration of God, the inspiration of their office, and they are able to foretell the lives of the men and women upon whom they place their hands.
While in Tooele, I received a patriarchal blessing myself from this same man, John Rowberry, and he promised me that I should be taken from that stake of Zion and become a leader in the Church of Christ; and I stand here today a witness of the inspiration of God to that man, John Rowberry. Not only did he promise me that, but many other things all of which have been fulfilled.--CR, October, 1919: 30-31.
But we claim absolutely no right, no prerogative whatever, to interfere with any other people. We desire the good will of all mankind, and we pray God to bless every man that is striving for the betterment of humanity in any of the walks of life; and we say of every man who believes that Jesus is the Christ and who proclaims it: God, bless that man! But we cannot pray for those who pretend to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and deny the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and who proclaim He was only a man. Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, Who came to the earth with a divinely appointed mission to die for the redemption of mankind. Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, the only begotten in the flesh. He is our Redeemer, and we worship Him, and we praise God for every individual upon the face of the earth who worships our Lord and Master as the Redeemer of the world.--CR, April, 1921:203.
When we stop to think of the marvelous work that the Prophet Joseph did, sometimes I wonder how any man of intelligence can look into the life of that man, can know of his imprisonment, of the drivings, of the persecutions, of the tarring and feathering, of the sentence of death having been passed upon him, and then read the wonderful things that we have in the Doctrine and Covenants, without failing to acknowledge the inspiration of the Lord in his accomplishments.
I cannot understand how any intelligent man could think that anyone without the help of the Lord could have produced the Book of Mormon, which has been before us now for more than a hundred years and has stood the test during all that period of time, notwithstanding the ridicule that has been brought against it, for one reason and then another. Today that book, which was translated by Joseph Smith as the instrumentality of the Lord, stands out supreme. It is today the greatest missionary that we have for proclaiming this gospel; there is nothing else to compare with it.--Era, 42:655.
Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of the living God of restoring again to this earth the true plan of life and salvation. I know that much of the world disbelieves this, but every true, faithful Latter-day Saint, sooner or later, gets an individual testimony from God regarding the divinity of this work--that it is in very deed what it purports to be, namely, the plan of life and salvation,--the gospel of the Redeemer.--Era, 41:519.
The most glorious thing that has ever happened in the history of the world since the Savior Himself lived on earth, is that God Himself saw fit to visit the earth with His beloved, only begotten Son, our Redeemer and Savior, and to appear to the boy Joseph. It is the most wonderful and marvelous thing that ever happened, and no wonder that the good people of the world cannot and do not believe it. We not only believe it, but there are thousands and tens of thousands (counting those who have gone on before, hundreds of thousands) who have had a perfect and individual testimony and knowledge that this vision was given to the boy Joseph Smith.--Era, 42:393.
It was the most wonderful vision ever bestowed upon mortal man; for, while Jesus the Son had walked and talked with men both before and after His resurrection, I know of no record in which we are informed that both ever appeared together in a visit to the earth, as in this marvelous vision to Joseph Smith.
The event marks the beginning of "a marvelous work and a wonder," which was foretold by Isaiah the Prophet (29: 13, 14) confirmed by Daniel (2:29-44), and further predicted by John the Revelator (14:6, 7). The personal visitation of the Father and the Son, choosing Joseph to be the leader of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, marked the beginning of this work, and this was supplemented by the visitation of angels and other holy messengers, conferring upon Joseph the powers of the Priesthood, the authority to act in the name of God--to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ by divine authority to mankind, and by divine direction to organize and establish the true Church of Christ in the latter days.
The vision was a reality and direct. When Joseph received it, men were loath to believe that it was possible for God or holy beings to speak to man on the earth. But after he had declared his message, there followed, even up to this day, false "spiritist" communications in many directions all over the land. This was doubtless the design of Satan, done to deceive the people. But note the difference between the right and the genuine, the wrong and the spurious. As far as I am aware, there has not been a single case of direct revelation or visitation from the spirit world, except through the authority of the Priesthood restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Alleged communications have been received without number, but almost invariably, these have been made through mediums, or mechanical devices, and as invariably have resulted in little or no particular good or purpose. Joseph Smith received his divine message direct from the messengers sent of God, and was not dependent upon a medium of any kind, either through person or by mechanism; there was nothing that stood between him and the messenger who was sent of God to deliver, personally, the divine message which he had been entrusted to deliver to the Prophet, for the purpose of establishing the great work of the Lord and to further His purposes in the earth. Furthermore, each message delivered resulted in good to the human race. Joseph required no medium, but personally heard from the divine messengers the glorious tidings that God desired to intrust to him, and which were necessary for the founding and building of God's "marvelous work and a wonder" in the latter days.
The greatest evidences of the divinity of the first vision, as well as of the visitations of angels and other messengers to Joseph the Prophet that followed the first vision, are the practical results that have come from the messages that were delivered and the authority that was conferred. The gospel in its purity has been restored to the earth. The wonderful record of the ancient people of this continent, the Book of Mormon, was brought forth from its hiding place in the Hill Cumorah, containing a fulness of the gospel as taught by the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, upon this continent of America. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the 6th of April, 1830, in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, New York, and has prospered in temporal and spiritual, in moral and economic affairs, from the day of its organization, regardless of the persecution and obstacles that it has persistently encountered and overcome in its career of practically one hundred years. This Church is built upon the rock of revelation, through which means the constituted authorities thereof receive authority from God direct, to act in their callings and to enjoy the gifts and powers of the gospel. The mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of peace. It aims to prepare the people of the world for the second coming of Christ, and for the inauguration of that blessed day when the millennium shall come and Christ shall reign as the King of kings, standing at the head of the universal brotherhood of man.--Era, 23:472-473.
As I listened to the very wonderful tributes that were paid here this morning to the Pioneers, I thought of the fact that all that has been accomplished here is due to the faith of a boy who went out into the woods and supplicated God for light and knowledge. His prayer was answered, and he had the privilege of conversing with God and Jesus Christ.--CS, August 1, 1931:1.
Several times I have gone to meetings in the old Endowment House, knowing that a certain matter was to be discussed, and my mind was as perfectly set upon a certain position on that question as it is possible for a man to have his mind set. I believe I am as decided in my opinions as the majority of people. (I have heard it said that there is nobody as stubborn as a Scotchman except a Dutchman: and I am Scotch on my father's side and Dutch on my mother's.) While I have gone to meetings in the old Endowment House determined in favor of a certain line of policy, I have willingly and freely voted for the exact opposite of that policy, because of the inspiration of the Lord that came to John Taylor. Upon every such occasion the servant of the Lord, President Taylor, was vindicated, and his superior judgment, by the inspiration of the Lord, asserted itself in favor of those things that were for the best good of the people.
I could relate circumstances when the apostles have been sent out to accomplish certain labors under the inspiration of the Lord to John Taylor, when they thought they could not accomplish the labors. They have returned and been able to bear testimony that by and with the help of the Lord they had been able to accomplish the labor placed upon them by President Taylor, the prophet of the Lord.--CR, June, 1919: 7-8.
It is stated that men do not amount to much after they pass fifty, and that when they are sixty you ought to get some kind of drug and put them to sleep, and that when they are seventy they are simply useless. But Lorenzo Snow came to the Presidency of the Church when he was eighty-five years of age, and what he accomplished during the next three years of his life is simply marvelous to contemplate.
He lifted the Church from the financial slough of despond, so to speak, from almost financial bankruptcy--when its credit was hardly good for a thousand dollars without security, when it was paying ten percent for money--he lifted the Church out of that condition and made its credit A-1, so that people solicited and asked for the privilege of buying the bonds of this Church at six percent. Ten percent is sixty-six and two-thirds percent more than six percent, and in three short years this man, beyond the age of ability in the estimation of the world, this man who had not been engaged in financial affairs, who had been devoting his life for years to labor in the temple, took hold of the finances of the Church of Christ under the inspiration of the living God, and in those three years changed everything, financially, from darkness to light.--CR, June, 1919:9-10.
We rejoice in a knowledge of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in those who have been faithful and diligent in serving Him, and in knowing that each and every individual who keeps the commandments of God grows in the light and knowledge of the gospel. We rejoice in knowing that no man or woman who keeps the commandments of God ever loses the testimony of the divinity of this work in which we are engaged.--CR, April, 1912:106.
It is a remarkable fact that we can never read or hear of the labors which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ performed, without taking pleasure in it, while, on the other hand, there is nothing so interesting in the life and history of any other individual but what by hearing or reading it time and time again we become tired of it. The story of Jesus the Christ is a story of old that ever remains new. The oftener I read of His life and labors the greater are the joy, the peace, the happiness, the satisfaction that fill my soul. There is ever a new charm comes to me in contemplating His words and the plan of life and salvation which He taught to men during His life upon the earth.
We all know that no one ever lived upon the earth that exerted the same influence upon the destinies of the world as did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and yet He was born in obscurity, cradled in a manger. He chose for His apostles poor, unlettered fishermen. More than nineteen hundred years have passed and gone since His crucifixion, and yet all over the world, in spite of all strife and chaos, there is still burning in the hearts of millions of people a testimony of the divinity of the work that He accomplished.--Era, 43:713.
There are no revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants that have made such a profound impression upon my heart and my mind as the one known as The Vision, recorded in the seventy-sixth section, and the one known as Prayer and Prophecies, given in the Liberty Jail, and to be found in the one hundred twenty-first section. I rejoice every time I read the wonderful testimony of the Prophet Joseph and Sidney Rigdon as contained in The Vision. When bishops over large churches in England announce that Jesus was not the Son of God; that He was not divine, but merely a great moral teacher; when men who are ministers deny the divinity of Christ and are being tried for their lack of faith, I rejoice in reading the testimony of these two men, and never read it but my heart swells with gratitude to God:
And now, after the many testimonies which have been given 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. (D. and C. 76:22-24)
I rejoice that the Church of Jesus Christ is founded upon the first great vision that was enjoyed by the boy Joseph Smith over one hundred years ago. He declared that he saw two Heavenly Beings, whose glory and grandeur were beyond the power of man to describe and that one of them addressed him and pointed to the other and said: "This is my beloved Son, hear Him." There cannot be any doubt in the heart of a Latter-day Saint regarding Jesus Christ's being the Son of the living God, because God Himself introduced Him to Joseph Smith. It is a fundamental truth of the Church of Jesus Christ in our day that Joseph Smith was and is and ever will be a prophet of God, and with the testimony in our hearts of that fact, there will never be schism, so to speak, in the Church of Christ.
Any individual who does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, has no business to be associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This Church is . . . a marvelous work and a wonder. There is nothing like it in all the world, because Jesus Christ manifested Himself to the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery, and to others; and because God, in answer to prayer, has given to people all over the wide world where the gospel has gone, an individual knowledge and testimony regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.--CR, October, 1924: 6-7.
What is the gospel? It is the plan of life and salvation. It is that which is of more value than life itself. No wonder we are ready and willing to make sacrifices for the gospel, when we realize what it means if we live it.--Era, 41:455.
There is nothing in all the world for which I am so grateful as an absolute knowledge that we, the Latter-day Saints, have the true gospel of Jesus Christ.--CR, October, 1940:130-131.
The gospel . . . takes the selfish, sordid man and makes of him a generous, noble, freehearted individual--one that we can love, one that God can love.--JH, October 4, 1895:7; DN, November 30, 1895.
Now, the one thing above all others, that I want impressed on the heart and soul of the young people, is to pray to the Lord. Get faith. If you haven't knowledge, have faith. Cultivate that faith and sooner or later knowledge will come.--GM, 17:93.
I have little or no fear for the boy or the girl, the young man or the young woman, who honestly and conscientiously supplicate God twice a day for the guidance of His Spirit. I am sure that when temptation comes they will have the strength to overcome it by the inspiration that shall be given to them. Supplicating the Lord for the guidance of His Spirit places around us a safeguard, and if we earnestly and honestly seek the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, I can assure you that we will receive it.--GM, 17:90, 91.
Let me say to all you young men and young women who have ever been to Brigham Young University, and those who haven't: Remember this one thing by Brother Maeser: "Oh, boys, pray, oh, pray to your Heavenly Father that you be not a scrub. Pray with all your heart that you be not a scrub. I hate a scrub."--CS, July 3, 1937:5.
Experimental knowledge is the very best knowledge in the world; and any man who will believe what he is told to believe, in one of the closing paragraphs of the Book of Mormon, and who, after reading it, will ask God for a knowledge of its divinity, and live worthy of that knowledge, will receive it.--CS, April 10, 1937:1.
I am convinced in my own mind, my dear brethren and sisters, that this book is the greatest converter of men and women, as to the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.--CS, November 28, 1931.
The theme of this conference has been the Book of Mormon. I do not believe that in any court of justice in the world if a man were being tried for murder and twelve reputable citizens testified of their knowledge of the circumstances leading to the murder, and there were no one who could testify against what they said, there would be failure to convict the man. We have the testimony of Joseph Smith and the testimony of three witnesses to the effect that God gave them a knowledge regarding the Book of Mormon, that an angel of God declared from heaven that the book had been translated by the gift and power of God. These men were Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris. They left the Church, but to the day of their death they maintained their testimony regarding the declaration of the angel, and that they were commanded to bear witness of the divinity of this book, and they did so. Eight men, some of whom were excommunicated from the Church, maintained their testimony that they had seen and handled the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and they remained true to that testimony to the day of their death. The disbelief of all the world does not prove that those men did not tell the truth, because there are no witnesses on the other side.
It has been said that the Book of Mormon has fraud written upon every page of it. The Book of Mormon is in absolute harmony from start to finish with other sacred scriptures. There is not a doctrine taught in it that does not harmonize with the teachings of Jesus Christ. There is not one single expression in the Book of Mormon that would wound in the slightest degree the sensitiveness of any individual. There is not a thing in it but what is for the benefit and uplift of mankind. It is in every way a true witness for God, and it sustains the Bible, and is in harmony with the Bible.
No group of men can write a book of six or seven hundred pages that is a fraud and have it in harmony in every particular with the scriptures that were given to us by the prophets of God and by Jesus Christ and His apostles.
A gentleman told me that he had read Joseph Smith's own story. He said that no liar ever told such a story. No liar could write such a book, and the evidences of the book's truthfulness are coming to light day by day.
I have often said and desire to repeat here that when I was a young unmarried man, another young man who had received a doctor's degree ridiculed me for believing in the Book of Mormon. He said he could point out two lies in that book. One was that the people had built their homes out of cement and they were very skillful in the use of cement. He said there had never been found and never would be found, a house built of cement by the ancient inhabitants of this country, because the people in that early age knew nothing about cement. He said that should be enough to make one disbelieve the book. I said: "That does not affect my faith one particle. I read the Book of Mormon prayerfully and supplicated God for a testimony in my heart and soul of the divinity of it, and I have accepted it and believe it with all my heart." I also said to him, "If my children do not find cement houses, I expect that my grandchildren will." Now, since that time, houses made of cement and massive structures of the same material have been uncovered.
Not very far from the City of Mexico there is a monument two hundred and ten feet high, built of cement, that was supposed to be a big hill. My first counselor [Anthony W. Ivins] has stood on that monument. You could put forty tabernacles like this one inside of it. It covers more than ten acres of ground and is two and a half times higher than this building. From the top of that monument one can see small mounds, and as these mounds are being uncovered they are found to be wonderfully built cement houses, with drain pipes of cement, showing skill and ability, superior almost to anything we have today so far as the use of cement is concerned.
Another statement that this doctor made was this: that the voice of man can only carry a few hundred feet, and yet the Book of Mormon teaches that when Jesus Christ was resurrected and came to this country He spoke to the people and His voice was heard all over the land. "That is a lie," said he, "and you know it." I said, "That is no lie at all. Jesus Christ, under God, was the Creator of this earth, and if He had the power and ability to create the earth I believe that He could arrange for His voice to carry all over the world at one and the same time."
The radio is doing what? I read the other day that a song had been heard nine thousand miles away, not only every word of it, but every note. (There are several notes in every word.) We had four letters from New Zealand or Australia, I have forgotten which, to the effect that people there had heard perfectly the programs that had been broadcast over the radio. . . . In that program the announcement was made that if anybody in a foreign land who heard the program would so indicate there would be sent to him a pound box of candy, and four people wrote for the boxes of candy. It takes the sun eighteen and one half hours to travel that far [with reference to the rotation of the earth], yet the voice carried that distance as quickly as you can snap your finger.
I said to this man: "The voice of the Savior could go all over the world if He so arranged it." The radio has proved what I said.
Faith is a gift of God, and I thank God for the faith in and the knowledge of the divinity of the Book of Mormon which I had in my youthful days, and that these two alleged scientific facts, which are now known to be fallacies, did not destroy my faith.--CR, April, 1929:128-130.
I rejoice in the wonderful spirit of the Book of Mormon. I believe that it is one of the greatest missionaries in the hands of the elder that it is possible for him to have. I believe that no man can open that book and read it with a prayerful heart, and ask God, in the name of Jesus Christ, for a testimony regarding its divinity, but what the Lord will manifest unto him by His Spirit the truth of the book itself. And God has performed it; He has done it in thousands of cases. There is a mark of divinity on this book; and I maintain that no man can read, for instance, the thirty-sixth chapter, the commandments of Alma to his son, Helaman, without receiving an impression of this kind. It is claimed by some that this book was written as a novel. I maintain that a man ought to have his head tapped for the simples who would undertake to say that any one would be idiotic enough to write a book like the Book of Mormon as a novel, hoping to sell it to the people.--CR, April, 1908:57.
The time when our means and our talent will be subject to the Lord is near at hand, although when I come to examine the tithing books and find men holding important positions in Israel who do not pay one-tenth of an honest tithing, I am led to the conclusion that the day for the redemption of Zion is further off than we expect.--JH, June 3, 1889:7; Utah Enquirer, June 4, 1889.
TESTIMONY AND EXPERIENCE. Men have said to me: "If you know that you are engaged in the work of God explain it, so that we can know it as clearly as we know that two and two are four." Now I may tell such my experience and of the influence of the Holy Ghost. . . . But this may not bring conviction to them. I may tell a man that I have the toothache, and he may say he does not believe it, but he cannot change my experience. So no man's denial can change my conviction that I have heard tongues spoken and interpretations of the gift of God and that I have seen the sick raised.--JH, Sept. 9, 1888:2; DN, Sept. 10, 1888.
The saving of souls, including our own soul, is the one great labor of all others that is most valuable and important, and that will bring to us the blessings of our Father and the good will of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.--Era, 24:259.
Let us cultivate the love of God, the love of our brothers and sisters, and the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ.--RSM, 24:629.
It seems to be the hardest thing in the world for people to grow in wealth and keep the spirit of the gospel.--RSM, 24:628.
The devil is ready to blind our eyes with the things of this world, and he would gladly rob us of eternal life, the greatest of all gifts. But it is not given to the devil, and no power will ever be given to him to overthrow any Latter-day Saint that is keeping the commandments of God. There is no power given to the adversary of men's souls to destroy us if we are doing our duty. If we are not absolutely honest with God, then we let the bars down, then we have destroyed part of the fortifications by which we are protected, and the devil may come in. But no man has ever lost the testimony of the gospel, no man has ever turned to the right or to the left, who had the knowledge of the truth, who was attending to his duties, who was keeping the Word of Wisdom, who was paying his tithing, who was responding to the calls and duties of his office and calling in the Church.--CR, October, 1900:60.
We are living in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, when all things are to be restored, and every gift and blessing of the gospel of our Master should be enjoyed by the Saints.--YWJ, 16:128.
I am deeply interested in this work. I am anxious to encourage the people to press on in securing their genealogies and after doing so in laboring in our temples.--GM, 22:106.
We can generally do that which we wish to do. A young man can find an immense amount of time to spend with his sweetheart. He can arrange affairs to do that. We can arrange our affairs to get exercise in the shape of golf and otherwise. We can arrange our affairs to have amusements. And if we make up our minds to do so we can arrange our affairs to do temple work, judging from my own experience of the last fifteen months.--CR, April, 1928: 8-9.
I say to all Latter-day Saints: Keep the commandments of God. That is my keynote speech, just those few words: Keep the commandments of God.--CR, October, 1920:10. ON LIVING OUR RELIGION. I regret exceedingly that from my earliest recollections I have had to listen to the servants of the Lord pleading, with very little success, with the people to live their religion. My own counsel and advice to the Latter-day Saints have been to do their duties towards God and to keep the commandments that He has given them. Notwithstanding the brethren have labored hard to teach the Saints their duties, and have frequently repeated the commandments of the Lord unto this people, many of them have not yet learned the necessity of performing their duties. I believe if I were to call for those people here today who have been taught and believe all the revelations contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants to be the inspired words of God, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, nearly all who are in this congregation would raise their hands and say they knew these things to be true. But if I were to call for all those who had been absolutely honest with God in keeping His commandments, I am afraid a majority of the congregation would not raise their hands. If I were to ask for those who observed the Word of Wisdom, and who did not spend a part of their means for tobacco and liquor, and who paid an honest tithing to the Lord, one-half of those here today would, I am afraid, fail to lift up their hands. A great majority would answer that they had received their endowments in the temple of God, that they had entered into covenants with the Lord. They know the covenants they have made with our Heavenly Father, and how many are there who carry out these covenants that they have entered into? I have heard a great many people, in my time, pray unto the Lord for blessings. And they would dedicate their time and strength and all that they possessed for the onward advancement of the Kingdom of God. But when they are called upon to help the Church in a financial way they are very careful to keep their means hid from the Lord--they keep it for their own advancement. We are not ready and willing to keep the commandments of God, but we are ready and willing to carry out our own wishes. We do not ask what it is desired that we should do, but generally suit ourselves as to what we would like to do. Is this right? No, it is not. I feel that there is plenty of room for improvement, and we should improve.--CR, April, 1898:15.
When I look around and see the mistakes that I have made, and those that my brethren make from time to time; when I realize how many of those who have been wonderfully blessed of the Lord have fallen by the wayside, it fills me with humility. It fills me with the spirit of meekness and with an earnest desire that I may ever seek to know the mind and the will of God and to keep His commandments rather than to follow out my own desires.--CR, April, 1899: 26.
If we keep the commandments of God, He will love us, and the Savior will manifest Himself unto us. If we fail to keep the commandments of God, there is no promise made to us. The Savior said: "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven." It is the keeping of the commandments of God that causes men to grow and to become strong and powerful in the Church and Kingdom of God.--CR, October, 1900:36.
Let our actions count. That is the thing of real value.--RSM, 24:629.
These duties and obligations are calculated to make us Godlike in our disposition. They are calculated to make Gods of us, and to fit and qualify us that we may become joint heirs with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.--JH, October 4, 1895: 7; DN, November 30, 1895.
There are two spirits striving with all men--one telling them what to do that is right, and one telling them what to do that will please themselves, that will gratify their own pride and ambition. If we live as we ought to live, we will always follow that spirit that teaches us to do that which is right.--CR, April, 1938:12.
There are no people that make the sacrifices that we do, but for us it is not a sacrifice but a privilege--the privilege of obedience, the privilege of entering into a working partnership with our Father in Heaven and earning the choice blessings promised to those who love Him and keep His commandments.--Era, 42:457.
I promise you, as a servant of the living God, that every man and woman who obeys the commandments of God shall prosper, that every promise made of God shall be fulfilled upon their heads and that they will grow and increase in wisdom, light, knowledge, intelligence, and, above all, in the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help each and every one of us who has a knowledge of the gospel, to live it, that our lives may preach its truth.--Era, 42:585.
The Doctrine and Covenants is full of splendid things with which we ought to be familiar. But you can read this book through and through, and learn it off by heart, and it won't do you a particle of good unless you put into practice the teachings. To read a book through without carrying out any of the things that are taught in the book is of no value. It is the things that we read and learn and then put into practice that count.--Era, 42:585.
We are told in this same Doctrine and Covenants that we should be anxiously engaged in laboring and bringing to pass many good works, of our own free will and accord. The power is in us wherein we are agents unto ourselves. We should not wait to be commanded in all things. He that is compelled in all things is a slothful and not a wise servant. We should have the ambition, we should have the desire, we should make up our minds that, so far as the Lord Almighty has given to us talent, we will do our full share in the battle of life. It should be a matter of pride that no man shall do more than you will do, in proportion to your ability, in forwarding the work of God here upon the earth. That has been my ambition all my life--to do my full share.--Era, 42:585.
No man should want any blessing in this life unless he earns it. No man should want somebody else to carry his burdens. No man who has a testimony of the divinity of the work in which you and I are engaged should want some other man to pay the tithing. He should want to pay tithing himself; he should want to feel that he has done his part, and then that satisfaction that comes to every human being by doing what is right will come to him.--Era, 42:585.
That is what we are laboring for.
We are in a school, fitting, qualifying, and preparing ourselves that we may be worthy and capable of going back and dwelling in the presence of our Heavenly Father, and the man who claims that he knows the gospel is true and then does not live it, does not keep the commandments of God. Such a man will never attain to that strength, to that power, to that eminence, and to that capacity in the Church and Kingdom of God that he would attain if he obeyed the laws of God.--Era, 42:713.
A great many people in the Church act as though the Presidency of the Church, or the presidency of the stake, or the bishopric of their ward are under obligation to them if they obey the Word of Wisdom or if they obey the law delivered to us regarding tithing. They feel that they have done something that places the Church, or the authorities of the Church locally, or the General Authorities, under obligation to them. Every law that is given to us in the Church is for our own individual benefit.
Our children often feel that we are under obligation to them if they learn their lessons in school; they feel that they have done something that places the parents under obligation, while, as a matter of fact, they have done something, if they have learned their lessons, that for all time will be of benefit to them individually.--Era, 42:713.
The teachings in the Epistle of James have always impressed me forcibly. He lays down the law to us that we are to show our faith by our works, and I have always believed in the man that showed his faith by his works. Upon one occasion a large group of men were discussing another man who was in very great distress. A wonderful amount of sympathy was expressed for this man in his financial distress. One man said, "Well, I am sorry fifty dollars' worth," and laid the fifty dollars down. The other sympathizers disappeared immediately. No one else was sorry enough to do anything. This man showed his sorrow by his works, by doing something for the man who had met with a great accident and who needed assistance.--Era, 42:713.
We find recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants that if we labor all the days of our life and save but one person, great shall be our joy with that person in the life to come. And if that one person is only our dear self, that is the thing that counts.--Era, 39:396.
The people should study the gospel. But the greatest testimony we can receive is that of the voice of revelation--the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No one can get this without living for it.--JH, September 30, 1888: 2; DN, October 1, 1888.
By the way, I hear that card playing is becoming very, very popular, and that the Church must be in favor of card-playing, because the Church authorities never say anything against it. From the time I was a child and read the Juvenile Instructor, published for the benefit of the people, I have read nothing except condemnation of card-playing and the wasting of your time in doing something that brings no good, bodily, intellectually, or in any way, and sometimes leads your children to become gamblers, because they become expert card-players. The Church as a Church requests its members not to play cards. I hope you understand me, and I want you to know that I am speaking for the Church when I ask the people to let cards alone.--CR, April, 1926:10.
So far as I have been able to learn the duties devolving upon the Latter-day Saints, those duties consist in keeping the commandments of God and in setting examples before our fellow men which will be worthy of imitation. I do not discover among the duties devolving upon us that of undertaking to regulate, by finding fault, the conduct of any Latter-day Saint other than ourselves. Nor do I find that it is necessary for us . . . to devote a portion of our time to finding fault and seeking occasion against our brethren.--JH, October 30, 1892:4; DN, December 17, 1892.
My brethren and sisters, if we will study the scriptures, the plan of life and salvation, keeping the commandments of the Lord, all the promises that have been made will be fulfilled upon our heads. And we will grow and increase in light, knowledge and intelligence.--CR, April, 1902:80.
It is not position, it is not education that gives the Spirit of God; but it is keeping the commandments of Almighty God and being lowly in heart and desiring to fulfill the commandments of God in our daily walk and conversation. I bear witness to you here today that no man has ever fallen in this Church, and no man ever will fail in this Church, who is honest in his heart, honest in the payment of his tithes and offerings, who obeys the Word of Wisdom, who attends to his family prayers and his secret prayers, and who attends to his quorum meetings. No man will fail who is doing his duty in this Church. But Satan has power over those who become selfish and sordid and set their hearts upon the things of the earth and fail to render thanks in all things unto God.--CR, April, 1901:64.
I say to you, Latter-day Saints, that the pearl of great price is life eternal. God has told us that the greatest of all the gifts He can bestow upon man is life eternal. We are laboring for that great gift, and it will be ours if we keep the commandments of God. But it will not profit us merely to make professions and to proclaim to the ends of the earth that this is the gospel, but it will profit us if we do the will of God.--CR, April, 1900:24.
I cannot understand how people with a knowledge of the gospel, . . . how men, holding the holy Priesthood and possessing this knowledge, can, year after year, neglect the duties and the obligations that rest upon them. The Savior told His followers that they were the salt of the earth, but that if the salt lost its savor, it was henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. He told them also that they were the light of the world, a city set upon a hill which could not be hid. He told them that men did not light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it might give light to all that were in the room. And He admonished them to let their light so shine that men seeing their good deeds might glorify God.
This admonition applies to us. We are the light of the world. We have received the inspiration of Almighty God. We have received a testimony of the gospel, and we do know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. . . . Every true Latter-day Saint has this testimony burning within his or her heart. Now, are we so living that the good deeds that we perform bring credit to the work of God? Are our examples worthy of the imitation of all men? Do we by our example show that we have faith in the gospel?
We are told that faith without works is dead; that as the body without the spirit is dead, so also is faith without works dead, and I am sorry to say that there are many professed Latter-day Saints who are spiritually dead.
We many times ask ourselves the question, why does this man progress in the plan of life and salvation, while his neighbor, of equal intelligence and ability, of apparently the same testimony and power, and perchance greater power, stands still?
I will tell you why. One keeps the commandments of our Heavenly Father, and the other fails to keep them. The Savior says that he that keeps His commandments is the man that loves Him, and he that keeps the commandments of God shall be likened unto the wise man who built his house upon the rock, and when the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. On the other hand, those who heard His sayings and did them not, the Savior likened unto a foolish man, who built his house on the sand, and when the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; it fell; and great was the fall thereof. There are many Latter-day Saints who are building their houses upon the sand. They are failing to carry out the commandments of our Heavenly Father that come to us from time to time through His inspired servants.
Now, if we have the gospel (and we know we have), I say to each and every Latter-day Saint, who desires to grow and enlarge in the gospel, he must keep the commandments of God. As we keep the commandments of God and live God-like lives, we become full of charity, long-suffering, and love for our fellows, and we grow and increase in all those things that go to make us noble and God-like. We also gain the love and confidence of those by whom we are surrounded. It is by the performance of the plain, simple every-day duties that devolve upon us that we will grow in the Spirit of God. You find me a man that attends his quorum meetings, that performs his duties in the ward in which he lives, that honestly pays his tithing, and I will find you a man full of the Spirit of God and growing and increasing in the testimony of the gospel. On the other hand, you find me a man that has seen angels, that has had wonderful manifestations, that has seen devils cast out, that has gone to the ends of the earth and preached the gospel, and yet who is failing to keep the commandments of God, and I will find you a man that is criticizing the Lord's anointed, and finding fault with what the President does, with where he goes, what he engages in and how he administers the affairs of the Church.--CR, April, 1900:21-22.
I have given much advice to the Latter-day Saints in my time, and one of the principal items was never to criticize anyone but ourselves. I believe in fault-finding for breakfast, dinner and supper, but only with our own dear selves.--CR, April, 1902:60.
We cannot say that we do not know what our duties are, because they are so often and so forcibly brought to our minds by those who speak to us.
I realize that it requires a constant effort on the part of each and every one of us to make a success of our lives. It requires no effort at all to roll down the hill, but it does require an effort to climb the hill to the summit. It needs no effort to walk in the broad way that leads to destruction; but it needs an effort to keep in the straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal, and we are told that but few there are who find this path. The all-important thing for you and me is to discover whether we are walking in the straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal, and if we are not, wherein have we allowed the adversary to blind our minds and to cause us to depart from that path which will lead us back into the presence of God? Each one should search his own heart to find out wherein he has failed, and then he should diligently seek our Heavenly Father for the assistance of His Holy Spirit, that he may come back into the straight path. By the assistance of our Heavenly Father there is no obligation and no law in the Church that we cannot fulfill. The Lord will give us the strength and the ability to accomplish every duty and labor that rests upon us in an acceptable manner in his sight. The only question is, have we the disposition? I heard yesterday of a bishop who said that he could not give up drinking coffee. I do not believe that that man tells the truth. I think he lacks the disposition to try and give up the habit.--CR, October, 1900:33.
If you and I desire that the windows of heaven shall be opened, and that God shall pour out such blessings upon us that we will hardly be able to contain them, we must observe His other law, the law of tithing, and God is bound to give us that blessing.--Era, 24:261.
Health is one of the most precious gifts of God to man. All the wealth in the world cannot produce health. Sick people, of course, are sometimes benefited by medicine. But sickness and disease for the most come upon us by our disregard for the commandments of God. If they who are broken in body and mind could purchase health they would give all they possess, no matter how much their wealth.--Era, 44:73.
Health of body and of mind, and hidden treasures of knowledge from God are all predicated upon keeping this simple law of the Word of Wisdom.--Era, 44:120.
If we desire that we shall have influence over our children, so that they shall grow up with a disposition to love God and keep His commandments, so that they shall have the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must remember this commandment: "And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents." (D. and C. 68:25) If we desire the Spirit of God, so that we can teach our children and inspire them, we must obey that law. So with all the requirements that are made of us as Latter-day Saints.--CR, April, 1909:109-110.
I want to say to the young people that, as a cold-blooded business proposition, as an investment, there is nothing that will give a young man more credit, or better standing in the world, than to obey this simple law of God.
Many of the greatest corporations, employing thousands of men, will not employ a man who smokes; neither will they employ a man who drinks. They are beginning to find out that men who drink, who smoke, and break these commandments that the Lord has given to the Latter-day Saints, lack the intellect, lack the physical strength, and the moral character which is so necessary to efficient service. They discover that those who break these laws of God are not so capable in the performance of any labor as are those who keep these laws. Now, let us fit and qualify ourselves morally, intellectually, and physically, that we may be able to fulfill every duty and obligation in all the walks of life. Let us have this capital as a part of our reserve; for it will prove to be one of the means by which we can make a success in the battle of life.--CR, April, 1908:27.
The Lord has said that the Word of Wisdom was given to the people for their temporal salvation. When you and I stop to reflect upon the fact that tea, coffee, tobacco, and liquor, with the exception of the small amount manufactured in our state, all come from a distance; and that every dollar expended in breaking the Word of Wisdom goes out of this country, never to come back, with nothing in exchange for it; and when we realize that the profits of all the sugar factories in Utah would not begin to compare in amount with the wasted money thus sent away, it does seem to me that our financial sense ought to teach us to obey this law of God. . . .
Money accumulates very rapidly when it is allowed to remain in any country, and goes from pocket to pocket, or is compounded from year to year. All the money that has been spent for the breaking of the Word of Wisdom, during the sixty years that we have been in this country,--almost every single, solitary dollar of it, might have been retained in this community, it might have been here accumulating and multiplying, and growing all the time.--CR, April, 1908:26-27.
I would like it known that if we as a people never used a particle of tea or coffee or of tobacco or of liquor, we would become one of the most wealthy people in the world. Why? Because we would have increased vigor of body, increased vigor of mind; we would grow spiritually; we would have a more direct line of communication with God, our Heavenly Father.--Era, 44:73.
Many a professed Latter-day Saint in hard times has lost the home that sheltered his wife and his children, who, if he had observed the Word of Wisdom, would have been able to save it.
The violation of the Word of Wisdom has meant the difference between failure and success. By observing the Word of Wisdom, sufficient money to pay the interest on the mortgage would have been forthcoming, with additional help to take care of his family and farm.--Era, 44:73.
The prayers do not amount to much of those Latter-day Saints who pray for the Lord to bless and prosper the Saints that they may get out from the bondage of debt and who at the same time go on squandering their substance in breaking one of the commandments of God. What does money do? Why, a dollar of money has the same effect as a drop of blood in the human body. It is a circulating medium. It goes over and over again. We find that the heart of man beats, on an average, about seventy-six times every minute, and that it handles four ounces of blood every time it beats. In other words, it handles nineteen pounds a minute. Multiply that by twenty-four, and you will find how much it handles in a day. Over twelve tons! I have figured this out since I have been sitting here on the stand. Over twelve tons in twenty-four hours, and yet there are only about eighteen pounds of blood in the human body; but it goes over and over again. It is exactly the same with a dollar. It is calculated that every dollar does at least twenty-five dollar's worth of work in a year, and I have known it to do more than that in a single week. Now we spend nearly a million dollars a year in breaking the Word of Wisdom, and every dollar of that money goes out of this country. God said that the Word of Wisdom was given to the Latter-day Saints for their temporal salvation, and I say that if we had obeyed it we would be the richest people in this intermountain country.--CR, October, 1900: 35.
I have heard some people say that those who preach reform movements, overstate the evils, and over-estimate and over-emphasize the particulars, and that they stand up so straight that they lean backwards. We need not employ this method in the matter of tobacco. Its evils are found on every hand, and there are witnesses in every city, in public places and on the street corners, to prove the financial, moral, physical, and spiritual deterioration that is correlated with this evil, and that appears to be a certain consequence of the breaking of the word of the Lord on this subject. Besides, no man can stand up any straighter than he ought to stand, in keeping the commandments of God and urging the people to do the same. The life of every true Latter-day Saint should be a bright and shining example, worthy of imitation by all men.--Era, 24:260.
I hold in my hand a little pamphlet of which I have given away hundreds of copies. It is entitled, "The Case Against the Little White Slaver." Its a book against the cigarette published in pamphlet form by Henry Ford, the manufacturer of the Ford automobile.
Some years ago we had on our Mutual Improvement course of reading a book entitled The Strength of Being Clean, by David Starr Jordan. President Joseph F. Smith remarked that it was one of the finest vindications, by a great educator, of the inspiration of God to Joseph Smith in giving us the Word of Wisdom, that had ever been published by a non-Mormon. David Starr Jordan is not only a national but an international character.
I have written in the front of Mr. Ford's pamphlet a remark of Mr. Jordan's: "The boy who smokes cigarettes need not be anxious about his future. He has none." I would like that to soak in. Just think it over: "The boy who smokes cigarettes need not be anxious about his future. He has none."--CR, April, 1916:40-41.
So far as cigarettes are concerned--a person is really and truly not using good judgment who will smoke cigarettes or anything else. Why? Because he is just simply burning up money, exactly the same as though he took the money itself and burned it. He is injuring his physical and mental capacity as well. Those who smoke are to a certain extent destroying those fine qualities of manhood and womanhood--courtesy and kindness. You know that years ago when traveling by train there would be certain sections set aside for smokers; now I would be glad if there was a place for non-smokers. I would be much obliged if there were a small part of the diner where I could go and not have four young girls behind me and two in front smoking cigarettes. I have seen men who smoke whose hands trembled so that they could hardly sign their names. The cigarette creates an appetite for itself, and the habit of smoking cigarettes is one of the hardest and most difficult things in the world to overcome. It is absolutely no good morally, intellectually, physically, or in any other way.--RSM, 25:14.
At the present time it is terrible, a great crime against humanity, the propaganda that is being used in an effort to educate the people to do those things that are contrary to the Word of Wisdom. We have a newspaper here, known as The Deseret News. We have been losing money now for many, many years. We would make money from it tomorrow if we would admit tobacco advertisements, particularly of cigarettes, and advertisements of beer and other things that we know are not good for us.--CS, July 3, 1937:2.
I have heard any number of Latter-day Saints say, "Why, the Word of Wisdom is not a commandment."
What does the Word of Wisdom say? That it is the mind and the will of the Lord. And why was it given? "In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days." And a more damnable and evil design was never in the heart of any man than the advertisements that we see on the billboards showing a beautiful woman with an engagement or wedding ring, the smoke of the cigarette making the ring.
What is the purpose of these advertisements? To get money by selling cigarettes to destroy the mind and the body and the intelligence of boys and girls. I get hot under the collar, as the saying is, every time I think of the millions upon millions, and the billions upon billions, of cigarettes that are consumed.--CR, October, 1933:9.
I want to say at this time [1941] that the crying evil of the age is a lack of virtue. There is but one standard of morality in the Church of Christ. We have been taught, thousands of us who have been reared in this Church from our childhood days, that second only to murder is the sin of losing our virtue. I want to say to the fathers and to the mothers, and to the sons and daughters, in our Primary, in our Mutual Improvement Associations, in our seminaries and institutes, in Sunday School, in the Relief Society, and in all of our Priesthood quorums--I want it understood--that the use of liquor and tobacco is one of the chief means in the hands of the adversary whereby he is enabled to lead boys and girls from virtue.
Nearly always those who lose their virtue, first partake of those things that excite passions within them or lower their resistance and becloud their minds. Partaking of tobacco and liquor is calculated to make them a prey to those things which, if indulged in, are worse than death itself. There is no true Latter-day Saint who would not rather bury a son or a daughter than to have him or her lose his or her virtue--realizing that virtue is of more value than anything else in the wide world.--Era, 44:73.
For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;
Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;
And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts. (D. and C. 1:31-33)
We have been letting out high councilors and bishops who were failing to keep the commandments of God, and there will be more of them let out unless they repent. It is a disgrace for a man blessed with the Priesthood of God and with a testimony that God lives burning in his heart, to be so weak that a little insignificant cup of coffee is his master. How he must swell up in vanity when he thinks what a wonderful man he is that a cup of coffee is his master. The example is pernicious.--CR, October, 1900:34-35.
If a man thinks more of a cup of tea or coffee, or a cigarette, or a chew of tobacco, than he does of his Priesthood, let him resign his Priesthood.--JH, October 6, 1894:12; DN, December 15, 1894.
I have been requested time and time again--principally by anonymous letters--"For heaven's sake--find a new subject, and quit preaching so much on the Word of Wisdom."
Never in all my life have I thought and believed and been convinced that the Latter-day Saints need the Word of Wisdom so much as they need it today. Why? Because the whole United States has discarded prohibition. They have gone back to liquor. This they have done because the cry went out, "There is more drunkenness, there is more drinking of whiskey under prohibition than there was before we had prohibition."
Pardon me, but all of the advertisements of that kind were pure, unadulterated falsehoods. During prohibition I traveled up into Idaho quite frequently attending conferences. During all the years of prohibition I never saw a drunken man or woman while on those trips. I recently went up to Rexburg to dedicate a meetinghouse. When we reached Pocatello, I had to change from the train to a bus to go to Idaho Falls, and at Idaho Falls I changed again. Two men on the bus were drunk. During the fifteen minutes that I waited in Idaho Falls, I saw three more drunken men. Men and women by the dozens in this city have been seen standing around in front of one of the principal places where they dispense liquor, waiting for their chance to get their liquor. I have met drunken people in more than one place in Salt Lake City since we did away with prohibition.
Millions upon millions of dollars of money were spent in propaganda, which was based on falsehoods, to bring back whiskey to the people. At a great national convention the people shouted, "Hurrah! Hurrah! We want our beer; we want our beer; we want our beer!" And they got it. Of course it does not intoxicate anybody legally, but they are very careful to keep the Indians from drinking any of it for fear they will become intoxicated.--CR, October, 1935.
I would rather die in poverty knowing that my family could testify that, to the best of my ability with which God had endowed me, I had observed His laws and kept His commandments, and by my example, had proclaimed the gospel, than to have all the wealth of the world.--CR, April, 1925: 10.
I say when the Latter-day Saints will pay an honest tithing unto the Lord there will be no need of talking about debts and of being in the bondage of debt. But the trouble is we do not do it. Scores of men compromise with the Lord on the basis of ten cents on the dollar, and they rob Him of the other ninety cents. Some discount their debts to the Lord twenty-five percent. Why, a man would be ashamed of himself to go into Z.C.M.I. and ask them to knock off twenty- five percent from his bill. But with God they discount their bills ten cents, twenty-five cents, and fifty cents on the dollar, and then call themselves honest. I wish the Lord would inspire us with a determination to be honest, and that the brethren could inspire this feeling among the Latter-day Saints, so that we would all try to be upright with the Lord.
A man will say, "I owe my neighbor and must pay him before I can settle my tithing." Well, I know I owe lots of my neighbors, and they try to collect from me. But I owe God an honest tithing. He has given me a testimony of Jesus and a hope of eternal life, and I intend to pay Him first, and my neighbors afterwards. It is our duty to settle with the Lord first, and I intend to do it, with the help of my Heavenly Father. And I want to say to you, if you will be honest with the Lord, paying your tithing and keeping His commandments, He will not only bless you with the light and inspiration of His holy Spirit, but you will be blessed in dollars and cents; you will be enabled to pay your debts, and the Lord will pour out temporal blessings upon you in great abundance.--CR, April, 1898:15-16.
If there is any man living who is entitled to say, "Keep out of debt," his name is Heber J. Grant. Thank the Lord that I was able to pay it all, and pay it all without asking a dollar discount from anyone.
I do not believe I ever would have paid it if I had not been absolutely honest with the Lord. When I made any money, the first debt I paid was to the Lord. And I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if the Latter-day Saints as a people, had taken the advice of the prophet of the Lord, and had been efficient tithe payers they would not be in the condition they are today. If they were honest and conscientious in the payment of the equivalent of two meals for themselves and their families once a month, the amount of money actually saved (and they would benefit physically by fasting two meals) would take care of every person in distressed circumstances in this Church--with the fast day donations alone. There would be means also in the hands of the Church, to furnish employment for every Latter-day Saint needing it. I believe what I have heard Bishop Partridge say, "Pay your tithing and be blest." I believe that had the Latter-day Saints on an average been honest and conscientious with the Lord in the payment of tithing, and had they followed the advice of President Joseph F. Smith, they would not be in distress today.
. . . I am a firm believer that faith without works is dead, and I am a firm believer that the Lord meant what He said when He promised to open the windows of heaven and pour down a blessing on us if we would pay our tithing.--RSM, 19:302-303.
I believe, and believe it firmly, that among all the people of the Latter-day Saints who are in financial distress there are hardly any who have been honest tithe payers. Somehow or other God enlarges the capacity and ability of those who are liberal. "It is more blessed to give than to receive," and we want to cultivate the spirit of giving.--RSM, 24:629.
Again I say it is beyond my comprehension how any man who is absolutely honest in his dealings with his fellow men and would not think of such a thing as compromising his store bill if he were able to pay, would compromise his obligations with God. I can speak upon the payment of tithing because from my childhood every dollar that has come into my hands has been tithed. And I have endeavored in addition to be as liberal as any of my associates have been in contributing to the various public enterprises that have been required of us--the erection of ward houses, school houses, etc., etc.
I appeal to the Latter-day Saints to be honest with the Lord and I promise them that peace, prosperity, and financial success will attend those who are honest with our Heavenly Father, because they are fulfilling the law and an obligation. He will bless them for doing so. And being strictly honest with the Lord is the most splendid way to teach your children faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The most tender portion of the human anatomy of the male variety is the pocket. . . . When we set our hearts upon the things of this world and fail to be strictly honest with the Lord, we do not grow in the light and power and strength of the gospel as we otherwise would do.--CR, October, 1929:4-5.
I recollect one man's boasting that he had consecrated his property and all that he had to the Lord. My subsequent relations with that man led me to the conclusion that he had indeed consecrated it so that no one save him or the Lord could touch it.--JH, June 3, 1889: 7; Utah Enquirer, June 4, 1889.
Some people have found it very hard to pay their tithing. The harder it is for an individual to comply with requirements of the Lord in the payment of his tithing, the greater the benefit when he finally does pay it. The Lord loves a generous giver. No man living upon the earth can pay donations for the poor, can pay for building meetinghouses and temples, academies, and universities, can take of his means and send his boys and girls to proclaim this gospel, without removing selfishness from his soul, no matter how selfish he was when he started in. That is one of the finest things in all the world for men--to get to that point where the selfishness in their natures is cured. When it is eradicated from their dispositions, they are glad and anxious and willing and seeking the opportunity to do good with the means that the Lord places in their hands, instead of trying to get more of it.--Era, 43: 713.
Of course, they all held up their hands. Then she said, "That is what the Lord does for us. He gives us the ten apples, but He requests that we return one to Him to show our appreciation of that gift."
The great trouble with the majority of people is that when they get the ten apples, they eat up nine of them and then they cut the other in two and give the Lord half of what is left. Some of them cut the apple in two and eat up one-half of it and then hold up the other half and ask the Lord to take a bite. That is about as near as they see fit to share properly and show their gratitude to the Lord.
The payment of our tithing in the season thereof--when we get our income--makes it come easy. I find that those who pay tithing every month have very much less difficulty in paying it than those who postpone payment to the end of the year, when they have eaten the nine apples, so to speak. But if they pay the minute they get the apples in their possession, there is no hardship. Their hearts are full of gratitude, and they are willing to express their gratitude. But after the nine apples are eaten, they think the Lord is very hard to want all they have left.
One great trouble with tithing is that men, because of their natural selfishness, become blinded and they cannot see straight. They cannot calculate properly. If we can only have the proper vision, the more we make, the easier it is to pay our tithing because of the greater amount that is left.
Now, I can talk tithing, because from the time I was a little boy earning money, I have paid my tithing. I have been honest with the Lord and I am willing to be and have been all the days of my life--that is, to be honest with the Lord first. The Lord, you know, does not send collectors around once a month to collect bills. He does not send us our account once a month. We are trusted by the Lord. We are agents. We have our free will. And when the battle of life is over, we have had the ability and the power and the capacity to have done those things which the Lord required us to do and we cannot blame anybody else.
There are a great many people who say, "I do not pay my tithing because I do not think it is expended right. I do not think they use the proper wisdom is the expenditure of tithing."
Well, you know that if someone steals a calf, the Lord will never charge it up to my account, and He will never charge it up to yours. If the Authorities of the Church and the wards and the stakes do not make a proper use of the tithing, you will never have to account for it. But if you keep that which belongs to the Lord, you may read from one of the ancient prophets and find that the Lord says, "You have robbed me," in plain English. "Wherein have we robbed you?" "In your tithes and your offerings." That is the way it was laid down. The Lord, as a rule, in nearly everything He says, says it plain enough that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.
I have found a great many people who do not know what their tithing is. I have never met people of that kind but that I believe if I were in partnership with them and they had a tenth interest in that partnership, they would know pretty well what part their tenth was. I do not think they would have any difficulty whatever in finding how much I owed them. So, I am inclined to think that if we wanted to, we would have no difficulty in finding out what is one-tenth of our income, and that is what we owe the Lord--no difficulty whatever.
Now, I believe that people are blessed in proportion to their liberality. I am not saying that they always make more dollars, perhaps, than the other man. But so far as an increase in the faith and in the testimony and the knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, men that are honest with the Lord in the payment of their tithing grow as men never grow that are not honest. There is no question in my mind. Moreover, I am just foolish enough to believe that the Lord magnifies those who do pay their tithing and that they are more prosperous, on the average, than the men who do not. I believe that to those who are liberal the Lord gives ideas, and they grow in capacity and ability more rapidly than those that are stingy. I have that faith, and I have had it from the time I was a boy.--Era, 44:9, 56.
What was the matter?
Prosperity distorted their vision. They could see what they were giving the Lord, but not what the Lord had given them.
I know one man who paid $600.00 a year tithing. Being in the banking business and having available financial statements of many people, I knew that he made a little more than $45,000 that year, instead of the $6,000.00 which his tithing indicated. If he made $45,000.00 and paid $4,500.00 tithing, what would he have left? Over $40,000.00. If he had the right vision his heart should almost have burst with gratitude to God for the difference, rather than dwell upon the amount of tithing to be paid. When he paid the $600.00 originally, what did he have left? $5,400.00. The more he made, the easier it should have been to pay his tithing. But no, he had set his heart on accumulating money.
How many of his children are laboring for the Church today? To my knowledge, but one of them. The best example in the world to set our children is to be honest with God ourselves.--Era, 41:585.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the statement, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," is from God our Heavenly Father. There is no doubt in my mind that the giver shall be had in remembrance before the Lord.--RSM, 25:12.
I believe it is acknowledged that the average man is born with a capacity to stand on his tiptoes and reach out just as far as he can to gather in all that he can get and hold it tight. But it requires a great deal of exertion to open the arms and give out something. Now we are giving away several millions of dollars a year of our time and money in proclaiming the gospel. In addition to that, the Latter-day Saints give to the Church ten percent of all they make. They also contribute of their means for the erection of meetinghouses. They contribute for the support of the poor, for the erection of stake houses and school buildings, as well as for the maintenance of our Church schools. And they have contributed millions of dollars for the erection of temples, in which vicarious labor for the dead is performed. . . . The honest payment of tithes is one reliable guide to a man's faith and spiritual condition.--Era, 41:585.
And there is one thing about contributing our money for meetinghouses, temples, and other things--we grow in the spirit and testimony of the gospel, and I do not believe that we are ever poorer financially. I am a firm believer that the Lord opens up the windows of heaven when we do our duty financially and pours out blessings upon us of a spiritual nature which are of far greater value than temporal things. But I believe He also gives us blessings of a temporal nature. I know in my heart that we grow financially, spiritually, and in every way as Latter-day Saints by doing our duty.--Era, 41:455.
I have heard some of my own acquaintances preach remarkably fine sermons on tithing, and I have taken the opportunity to look up their records, because I knew they were neglecting their duty, and I found there was no credit on the tithing record. The record is what counts. Faith without works, we are told, is dead, and we all know how valuable the body is when it is dead.--Era, 41:327.
I tell you it is the duty of the Presidency of this Church to ask the people to do anything and everything that the inspiration of God tells them to do.--CR, October, 1903:10.
I wish to bear witness here today that every man who is chosen to be one of the General Authorities, or to preside over a stake or a ward, or in the Improvement Associations, and every woman who is chosen to preside in the Primary Association, or in the Relief Society, and those chosen for the Sunday School work--we aim to get the very best that there is. The offscourings of the earth can go on howling as long as they like and as loud as they will, it will not make any difference.--CR, April, 1935:8.
You need have no fear, my dear brothers and sisters, that any man will ever stand at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ unless our Heavenly Father wants him to be there.--Era, 40:735.
You need have no fear that when one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ delivers a prophecy in the name of Jesus Christ, because he is inspired to do that, that it will fall by the wayside. I know of more than one prophecy, which, looking at it naturally, seemed as though it would fall to the ground as year after year passed. But lo and behold, in the providences of the Lord, that prophecy was fulfilled.--Era, 40:735.
There is no danger of a Priesthood of this kind--gentleness, and meekness, and love unfeigned. But when we exercise control, or domination, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves. The Spirit of the Lord is grieved. And when it is withdrawn, "Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man." These are the words of God.
I am reminded of a man that lost the apostleship. Time and time again he quoted the above to himself. But he failed to sustain the Priesthood and exercised unrighteous dominion over those under him.--CR, April, 1902:80
I desire to read part of the wonderful revelation given to the Prophet Joseph in Liberty Jail. Remember, though he was chained in that prison, the Lord Almighty could and did speak to him, and gave to him a revelation that I commend here today to every Latter-day Saint. I particularly commend it to every man presiding in the stakes and wards of Zion, and in the various missions throughout the world. If we exercise the power of the Priesthood of the living God as He tells us in this wonderful revelation to exercise it, then there never can be and there never will be any just complaint made against the Church of Jesus Christ, because of the use of the Priesthood that has been restored again to the earth. It is when men do not follow the teachings and the revelations given of God to us through His prophet that mistakes are made.--CR, October, 1924:8.
The following inspired words should never be forgotten by any bishop or any president of a stake or any apostle, or any president of the Church as long as he holds office in the Church:
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 unfeigned;
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.--CR, October, 1923:159.--(Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-45)
I rejoice in knowing that all these charges of tyranny and oppression and of a dictatorial management of the Church are absolutely false. There is not a man of the General Authorities of the Church but that desires to do--what? To exercise the Priesthood exactly as the Lord says it should be exercised--CR, April, 1931:13.
I know of nothing that I feel is of so great value in life as to be obedient to the counsel and advice of the Lord, and of His servants in this our day.--RSM, 20:301.
Many an elder in Israel today owns one hundred sixty acres of beautiful land that he owes to the foresight, inspiration, and determination of President Young. Why? Because they themselves lacked faith to settle the very places they now occupy.--JH, October 6, 1894:12; DN, December 15, 1894.
The idea that businesses have been established by the Church for the individual profit of men who are connected with the leadership of the Church is absolutely false. Many of us borrowed money and put it into the sugar factory at the request of President Wilford Woodruff and lost the money that we invested.
I know something about it individually because I personally borrowed a large sum of money, bought stock, paid interest on it for five years and then sold the stock for less than one-half of what it cost. I gained a whole lot of experience financially out of it and have never recovered, so far as the sugar company is concerned. I thought I would make this much of an explanation.--CR, October, 1931:4.
"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 unfeigned"; and it has been exercised that way.
Talk about compulsion in obeying the law of tithing! I bear witness--and I know that the witness I bear is true that the men and women who have been absolutely honest with God, who have paid their tithing as religiously and as correctly as though God were their partner, and when they settled up their accounts at the end of the year that they had made a just division, and they paid their one-tenth--I bear witness that those men and those women testify to all the world of the blessings of God that have come to them by the fulfillment of this law. God has given them wisdom whereby they have been able to utilize the remaining nine-tenths, and it has been of greater value to them. They have accomplished more with it than they would if they had not been honest with the Lord. I bear witness that the people who have fulfilled this law of God have been blessed, and have rejoiced in the privilege of showing their gratitude to God in a substantial way, for His blessings to them.--CR, April, 1912:30.
We expect all the general officers of the Church, each and every one of them, from this very day, to be absolute, full tithe payers, to really and truly observe the Word of Wisdom. And we ask all of the officers of the Church and all members of the general boards, and all stake and ward officers, if they are not living the gospel and honestly and conscientiously paying their tithing, to kindly step aside unless from this day they live up to these provisions.--CR, October, 1937:129.
I ask every man and woman occupying a place of responsibility whose duty it is to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to live it and keep the commandments of God, so that their example will teach it. And if they cannot live it, we will go on loving them. We will go on putting our arms around them. We will go on praying for them that they may become strong enough to live it. But unless they are able to live it we ask them to please step aside so that those who are living it can teach it.
No man can teach the gospel of Jesus Christ under the inspiration of the living God and with power from on high unless he is living it. He can go on as a member and we will pray for him, no matter how many years it may require, and we will never put a block in his way, because the gospel is one of love and of forgiveness, but we want true men and women as our officers in the Priesthood and in the Relief Society.--Era, 44:267.
A man has no right to be in a high council who can not stand up and say that he knows the gospel is true and that he is living it.--Era, 41:263.
I have seen men, even in high places--as high as it is possible to reach in this Church. I have seen them fall and gradually die spiritually. In every case it has been because of neglect of duty. It has been because of failing to live up to the requirements of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no one thing that has made a more profound impression upon my mind than the statement that "Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Those who are obedient to the commandments of the Lord, those who live up to the requirements of the gospel, grow from day to day and year to year in a testimony and a knowledge of the gospel, and a determination to encourage others to investigate the plan of life and salvation.--Era, 39:396.
There is nothing that will count so much with you officers who are directing these great Improvement Associations--every superintendent, every president of the Young Men's and Young Women's Associations, and every ward and stake board member--as living the gospel in very deed. By so doing you will have a power and influence that will even enable you to bring some of the wayward back into that straight and narrow path that leads to life eternal.--Era, 39:396.
It is of very great importance from the time children come to us in the Sunday Schools, in the Primary Association, in the Mutual Improvement Associations and in the Church seminaries, that impressions for good shall be made upon their minds. The feeling of gratitude and thanksgiving that I have in my heart for the teachers that I had as a child in the Thirteenth Ward Sunday School will last, I am sure, through time and all eternity.--Era, 42:135.
With our Church schools, religion classes, Sabbath schools, and Mutual Improvement Associations, it would be a very difficult matter to find, among the intelligent young men and women that have attended these institutions, one who could not stand up and speak intelligently for fifteen minutes or a half hour on the principles of the gospel. I rejoice when I realize that this is the case, and that there has been such an advancement among our children in the knowledge of the gospel and their ability to explain the same and to give a reason for the hope that is within them.
The destiny of the Latter-day Saints is very great. I realize that the prophecies that have been made with reference to this people will all have to be fulfilled. The little stone cut from the mountain without hands is to roll forth and fill the whole earth. I realize that it will be necessary that our children be fitted, qualified, and prepared by education, by study, and also by faith in God, our Heavenly Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, if they successfully fulfill their destiny. That the Saints will fulfill their destiny, that they will accomplish all that God desires them to accomplish, I have no doubt. Whether we, as individuals, shall do all that is possible for us to do is a personal matter. I have often said in my remarks to the Saints, that each and every one of us are the architects of our own lives; that God will bless us in proportion to our faithfulness and diligence.--Era, April, 1902:92-94.
We want all the young people to have the benefits of attending school. We don't want a single, solitary one of our children neglected. We understand that people who are not of us are establishing schools in private homes. It is said that the Catholics boast that if they can have the children to educate until they are thirteen years of age, they will defy the world to turn them away from Catholicism. If they can make this boast, then if we as fathers and mothers and teachers in the Sabbath schools do our duty, we can defy the world to turn our little ones away from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let the Latter-day Saints be alive and looking after every one of their children, and then there is no danger of their being stolen; and one of the best ways is to have these cottage Sunday schools where there is no opportunity for our children to get to the regular Sunday schools.--CR, October, 1900:74 (Sunday School Section).
And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great will be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (D. and C. 18:15.)
Every subscriber to the Era has done something in this line. I have no doubt whatever but that many souls have been brought to a knowledge of the gospel in a large measure through the instrumentality of the Era, because its contents have always been of a missionary character.
The Era has no excuse for living, only as it shall be able to go as an instrument to preach, sustain and uphold the truths of the gospel of the Master as revealed to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith. . . . It has been true to this calling.--Era, 15:650.
Personally, I would not do without the valuable instructions in the Era for ten times the price of the subscription. Many complain that they can get a larger eastern paper for less, but this only shows that they do not know how to estimate real value. Life eternal is the pearl of great price that we are after, and little if anything to aid us in securing it is to be found in the eastern magazines, if they do print more matter; but much is printed that will cause us to lose this, the greatest of all God's gifts to man. If the Era had done nothing but supply the elders in the mission fields with the magazine free, it is worthy of the support of all of the Saints.--Letter from Liverpool to Edward H. Anderson, October 10, 1906.
The Era gives pleasure and profit to every faithful member of the Church who reads it; and it has a tendency to inspire every reader with a desire to have his friends share the same pleasure, and partake of the spirit of the gospel breathed from every page.--Era, 15:648.
The spirit of the Relief Society is one of charity, long suffering, forgiveness, and that is the finest spirit in the world.--RSM, 23:340.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE CHURCH. I thoroughly enjoy my labors, as one of the General Authorities of the Church, in visiting the various stakes of Zion. I find, as a rule, integrity and devotion and love of the work of the Lord in the hearts of those who preside and a desire on their part to labor. This is very pleasing indeed to me. I regret, however, that there is a growing tendency, as was referred to here by the President this morning, for many who occupy places of responsibility to desire to step down and out. I believe that the spirit which possessed the people thirty-six years ago to remain in office was stronger then than now. When, as a young man, I was made the president of the Tooele Stake, although I considered it quite a financial sacrifice to be president, and to have to leave my business here which was reasonably prosperous--it never entered my head but what I was to stay there all the days of my life. I never thought of anything else. I remember, however, saying to President Lyman: "Brother Lyman, I am willing to have you send me on a mission for ten years, with the understanding that when the ten years are up, I may go back to Salt Lake City where my business, my mother, my relatives, and my natural associations are." The thought of asking for a release at the end of ten years or twenty years, provided I was wanted and possessed the ability to continue as president of the stake, never entered my head. I felt this way because of the training I got in listening, in this tabernacle, to President Brigham Young, and others in my early days. Also in listening to my own bishop, the late Edwin D. Woolley and associates, in the Thirteenth Ward. I felt that when the Lord honored any man with a place or position in this Church, that the first thing to which he should be loyal was the magnifying of that position.--CR, October, 1916:31.
"The mission of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints is one of peace. It
aims to prepare the peoples
of the world for the second
coming of Christ, and for
the inauguration of that
blessed day when the millennium
shall reign as King of kings,
standing at the head of the
universal brotherhood of
man."
--HEBER J. GRANT,
The Improvement Era,
Volume 23:473
The whole foundation of this Church rests firmly upon the inspiration of the living God through Joseph Smith the Prophet.--CR, October, 1931:7.
The Church is growing in power and ability and strength along all lines.--Era, 39:131.
This gospel has been proclaimed now for over one hundred years all over the world, in every land and every clime where religious liberty has been granted, and it has gathered out people from every denomination under heaven.--CR, October, 1931:8-9.
I rejoice in the great growth of the Church, in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the Latter-day Saints should be driven, and many put to death by their persecutors, and others lose their lives in consequence of exposure and disease; and that some should live to go to the Rocky Mountains and assist in building settlements and cities, live to see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. I rejoice that we have become a mighty people. The growth of the Latter-day Saints, in view of all the opposition and persecution against the people, is simply marvelous, and we are being looked upon in wonder and amazement by intelligent people.--CR, April, 1902:80-81.
I rejoice in the growth and in the advancement of the work of God here on earth. In hearing the remarks that have been made in this conference of the great growth of the people I was reminded of being with President Wilford Woodruff, standing in a wagon in Idaho, some fifteen years ago next May, and talking to a half a dozen, or a dozen young people that were located there, and I was also very forcibly reminded of the remarks of that prophet of God who made them. I remember that the young people were somewhat discouraged on Sand Creek, as they looked around over land without a tree, without a shrub except sagebrush, without so much as a log cabin. Brother Woodruff said to the young people: "Be not discouraged; be not disheartened, because God's blessing is upon this land. It will only be a little time before there will be prosperous and happy settlements of the Latter-day Saints here. You feel that you have gone away from your friends, that you are almost out of the world, but it will be only a short time when you will have a meetinghouse, and a schoolhouse and all of the facilities here that you had at home before you came here. God will bless and multiply the land." What is the result today? On that spot of ground stands the town of Iona, the headquarters of one of the stakes of Zion, with about five thousand people instead of six or seven young people; the words of the Prophet Wilford Woodruff have been fulfilled to the very letter. CR, April, 1899:28.
We as a people are set upon a hill, so to speak. We have a great work to perform, and we are performing it splendidly.--RSM, 24:627.
Just before becoming one of the apostles I traveled from Tooele to Salt Lake City, then through Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder stakes to Brigham City, and two days and a fraction west, sleeping on the ground two nights, to visit a branch of the Grantsville Ward of the Tooele Stake of Zion. We now have half a dozen stakes west of Brigham City.
I rejoice in the organization of new stakes in California, and of one in New York. When I think of the opposition toward the Church in early days by the people of New York; of the opposition toward our people in Ohio, and in Far West; of their expulsion from Missouri under an exterminating order of the governor of the state; when I think that Joseph Smith and others of his companions were condemned to be shot by order of a court martial, I am grateful for a change in sentiment toward our people.--CR, April, 1935:6.
We are growing splendidly. There is a feeling of absolute confidence. There is no fear on our part of the final triumph of the work of God.--CR, April, 1939:15.
I have often been surprised that so much of the time of our elders had been wasted in the world in discussing with members of the Reorganized Church as to which Church was in very deed the Church of Christ. I have been astonished at this for the reason that it seems to me an utter waste of time to undertake to discuss with a man, after you have knocked him down, as to who holds the ground. We read that in heaven there was a rebellion and that God, our Heavenly Father, cast out one-third of the hosts of heaven with Lucifer at their head. We have no account after they were cast out that God stopped to argue the question with those that had been cast out as to who held the ground. In the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, about one-half, if not more, of its members are those who have been cast out of the real Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They do not begin to have one-tenth the number we have, and why should we waste our time in arguing with them as to who holds the situation, and as to which is the Church of Christ? If the prophecies of Daniel and other prophecies concerning this latter-day work are true, and we know they are true, then is the mountain of the Lord's house to be established in the tops of the mountains? Here it is, and here it is rolling forth and will fill the whole earth. Can any of these claims be made by this shadow, so to speak, of a reorganized church? We know that Joseph Smith prophesied that the Latter-day Saints should be driven from city to city; that they should be driven from county to county; and that they should be driven from state to state; and finally, that they should be driven out of the confines of the United States to these Rocky Mountains and become a great, a prosperous, a mighty people. We know that this has been fulfilled to the letter. The Reorganized Church can lay no claims to being persecuted and driven from city to city, from county to county, from state to state, or of being driven to the Rocky Mountains. Not only did Joseph Smith proclaim that the day should come when a city, a county, and a state should be arrayed against this people called Latter-day Saints, but he said, "The time shall come when the whole United States shall be arrayed against this people." Not a state militia, but "the army of the United States shall be arrayed against the Mormons." And the day did come. I remember in my childhood days when the army of the United States came against this people--not a state militia, but the army of the United States of America. Every one of these predictions of the Prophet Joseph Smith has utterly failed if there is one claim that amounts to anything in the claims of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, because the United States of America has never lifted its hand nor sent its army against or confiscated the property of the Reorganized Church. Never has one thing been done by the United States of America against that church.--CR, April, 1899:27-28.
I rejoice in having had ex-President Taft say to me when I met him upon a trip to Washington: "Mr. Grant, you did not call on me the last time you were here. Now I want it understood that you are never to come to Washington without coming to see me. There is in my heart a warm feeling for your people. I have great respect for them, and I want you to call on me whenever you are here."
He was in such a condition of ill health that I couldn't call upon him the last time I was in Washington. I rejoice in the friendship for our people of every president of the United States from President Theodore Roosevelt down to the present time.
I rejoice in the friendship of Ulysses S. Grant. He sent out many officials whose work and only object seemed to be to destroy our people politically and to take away from us the franchise, and to do everything against us that they possibly could. But he came here himself and met the people. He saw twenty thousand vigorous, fine children on the side hill out near where the Catholic cathedral now stands, waving American flags, and young girls all dressed in white, singing a song. And as his carriage stopped and they welcomed the president of the United States, he said: "Whose children are those? Are they Mormons?" When he was told that they were, he said: "I have been lied to outrageously." He went home and chopped off the heads of the officials, figuratively speaking, whom he had sent out here, and then sent us some good men. To everybody who undertook to tell him untruths about us, he said: "I have been there. I have met them. I know."--CR, April, 1930:186-187.
I have just returned from a trip to the east, and I rejoiced as I mingled among the people to find the good feeling there regarding the Latter-day Saints. I was impressed with the contrast between the feeling now and what it was some twenty years ago, when it fell to my lot to travel a good deal, and to mingle with business men. The change in sentiment toward the Latter-day Saints is very marked indeed, and I thank the Lord that the prejudice and the hatred that there used to be in the hearts of the people, from New York to San Francisco, has disappeared, and I will thank the Lord when it disappears at home. This is about the only place today, thank the Lord, that there is any hatred toward the Latter-day Saints.--CR, October, 1909:28.
I can remember when I was the junior member of the Council of the Twelve, forty-eight years ago this month, that during my first trips away from home, almost invariably, wherever I went I found opposition. I found ill-will toward the Latter-day Saints. I found men so full of bitterness toward us that they said if they had their own way the Mormons would be shut up in their tabernacle and the guns of Fort Douglas be turned upon them. Today, wherever I go I find the opposite feeling. I find good-will. I find kindness. I find readiness and willingness on the part of newspapers to give us favorable public notices.--CR, October, 1930:2-3.
Accusations like this, that are published all over the world, must fail when the truth is known.
I called on an editor in London, who had published about ten columns of the vilest kind of matter against the Latter-day Saints, and asked him to take one single column in refutation, and he refused it. I presented letters of introduction from leading influential men in America, stating that I was a gentleman of unquestioned integrity, and that my word was as good as my bond; but he would not take a word from me. He said, "We have published all we care to publish on the Mormon question." I said, "But all you have published is lies, and I know it, and I now ask you to publish one-tenth as much truth." He declined again. His name was Robinson. I arose and started as if to leave the office. I did not intend to go, but I put my hat on and pretended that I was going. I stopped, when I got to the door, turned around, and again took off my two-story hat, and said to him:
"My friend, if I remember correctly, your name is Robinson?"
"Yes," he said, "that is my name."
"Did you ever hear tell of Phil Robinson?"
"Yes."
"Is he an honest and honorable man?"
"Yes."
"At the time of the first great Boer war, was he the correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, one of your greatest newspapers?"
"Yes."
"Anything he wrote, would you accept as truth?"
"Certainly."
Then I said, "Spend a couple of shillings and buy his book, Sinners and Saints. Then you will find that everything you have published in your paper about the Mormons is a lie."
He said, "You surprise me."
I said, "You are not the first newspaper man who has been surprised, when it comes to the Mormon question."
Then he said, "Maybe you'd better write us something, Mr. Grant; make it brief; don't make it more than a half a column."
Think of the liberality of a great newspaper, one of the great newspapers of London, that had published from seven to a dozen columns of lies, and then would give only a half column to answer! I wrote it--or to be frank, I suggested the ideas to Brother Richard Shipp, and he wrote it for me. I sent the communication to them, and I got it back--as has been the case with many newspapers--with a printed circular stating that the editor was very sorry, but he did not have room for it. Whenever I get one of these circulars I always think of the little saying that, "Polite lying is a gentlemanly accomplishment; it lubricates business, varnishes unpleasant facts, and promotes friendship."--CR, April, 1909:114-115.
We have converted people from the midnight-sun country of Scandinavia down to South Africa; we have converted people from Canada to South America, in the countries and islands of the Pacific, and in many other lands. I have met many people who have belonged to as many as four churches, and who never found peace, contentment, joy, and satisfaction, until they found the gospel of Jesus Christ, as established again upon the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.--Era, 41:519.
I have an abiding and perfect faith in the Latter-day Saints, and a perfect and abiding faith in the triumph of this great country of ours. It is a land choice above all other lands, so the Lord has declared. I am thoroughly converted to the fact that in no other part of the world except America could the Church of Jesus Christ have been again established on the earth.--RSM, 25:12.
Move where you cannot be forgotten and where there is an organized stake or ward of the Church. There is plenty of opportunity in the organized stakes of Zion for those who want to change their location here in the United States and in Canada.--CR, April, 1926:162.
There is a lack of unity among the Saints. There is a disposition among the people to think more of their own interests than those of the work of God. It is our duty to follow the counsel given us by the leaders of the church--to seek first the Kingdom of God.--JH, October 4, 1889:5; DN, October 5, 1889.
And if any man shall seed to build up himself, and seeketh not my counsel, he shall have no power, and his folly shall he made manifest.
Seek ye; and keep all your pledges one with another; and covet not that which is thy brother's. (D. and C. 136:19-20.)
I cannot think of anything that appeals to me as being the mind and the will of the Lord stronger than the last words that I have read, namely: "Covet not that which is thy brother's."
I want to impress upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints not to covet that which belongs to any public institution, or that which belongs to any city, or county, or the government of the United States. Unless I have been misinformed, many people have said, speaking of the distribution by the government of supplies to the people: "Well, others are getting some, why should not I get some of it?"
I believe that there is a growing disposition among the people to try to get something from the government of the United States with little hope of ever paying it back. I think this is all wrong. I believe that there is not that same moral sense among the people today that there was forty-five years ago.--CR, October, 1933:4-5.
Inasmuch as the Church to which you and I belong is the Church of Jesus Christ, established by the Savior Himself through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I do not think we need to worry about being admitted into the various Christian denominations. The one thing that you and I need to worry about, and the only thing, is with regard to keeping the commandments of the Lord, living our religion as Latter-day Saints.--CR, October, 1931:4-5.
There are some who say they will not go to meeting because they know just who will talk and what they will say. I realize that such persons are becoming indifferent to the spiritual things of the kingdom. I know people, who, in the old world, would go many miles to a meeting because they were in love with the gospel. They will not cross the street now because they have lost that love. Just as surely as failing to eat will cause our physical frames to shrink and die, just so sure neglect to supply our spiritual natures will bring death to them.--JH, September 30, 1888:2; DN, October 1, 1888.
When I say Mormons, I mean those who are living their religion. No man, woman, or child, who lives up to the teachings that have come to us through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith and who is keeping the commandments of the gospel--there is no such person whose character is not above reproach.--CS, November 11, 1933:5.
I am reminded of an incident wherein a young man applied for a prominent position for which his predecessor had received a salary and commission of a little over thirty thousand dollars a year. This was in one of the outlying states where the Mormons have but few members in comparison with others. In this particular state I do not think we have five percent of the entire population. The man who had the position to offer said to the young man: "You are a Mormon?"
"Oh no," said the young man. "I have outgrown that."
The gentleman said: "Well, we are considering your application with others. Come around at a later date."
In the meantime he sent for the president of the stake and said: "What is the matter with that young man?" (He thought that by announcing that he had outgrown Mormonism he would get the job.) "Unless you can vouch for his honesty," said this gentleman to the stake president, "he will not get the job. What has he done?"
The stake president said: "Well, he has been studying psychology, and he thinks he has outgrown Mormonism. But I can say to you that I think he is an honorable and energetic young man."
"Then," said the gentleman, "we will give him the position."--CR, April, 1930:188.
I call to mind that upon one occasion a man ridiculed the Latter-day Saints, saying, "You people are always happy. If a man hits a Mormon and knocks him down, the Mormon thanks the Lord because he needed a little chastisement; and if you hit at a Mormon and miss him, he thanks the Lord for not getting hit."--CR, April, 1933:12.
We have now become known for what we are--upright, God-fearing people; and just in proportion as we live the gospel, knowing that it is the truth, will we continue to break down prejudice, build good will, and draw other men to us.
This condition has been brought about by the fact that we have knowledge, and that so many of our people have lived up to it. Every man among us carries on his shoulders the reputation of his Church, and as you and I live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we bring credit to the work of the Lord that has been established again upon the earth in this dispensation.--Era, 41:327.
I rejoice in the advancement in art, in literature, and in science, and in everything that tends to the progress and accomplishments of our people. I believe that anybody who would stop to reflect that the Latter-day Saints come from every nation in the world and that they bring the culture and advancement of those nations with them, as well as the blood of the various nations, will agree that the mingling of the blood of these nations of the world is bound to bring forth a people, if they remain true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that are going to be at the head and not at the tail, figuratively speaking.--70th Birthday Pamphlet, November, 1926:16.
Many have said that the Mormon people were better than their religion. I heard a magnificent talk from this stand a few Sundays ago by Brother Joseph S. Wells, in which he repudiated this statement. He told how utterly impossible it is for a people to be better than the gospel of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. I don't know that I ever listened to remarks that impressed me more profoundly than his did upon that occasion, and I endorse them with all my heart. No man lives today, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is fully living up to the teachings of the gospel of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. By and with the help of the Lord, we are trying to do it; but there is no man in the Church of Christ who claims infallibility. We acknowledge our weaknesses, but while we acknowledge them we can also proclaim to the world our strength, strength in the knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and that we have the truth to proclaim to the world.--CR, October, 1907:25.
In the faithfulness of this people, and in their liberality, there are no other people like them, with all our faults and failings there are no other people so devoted to the Lord, there are no other people who make such an impression on those not of our faith, because we live nearer to the Lord and nearer to our professions than most people.--Era, 41:327.
Every Latter-day Saint who is loyal to the principles of the gospel is not seeking wealth; he is not asking himself the question, "What have I?" and "What can I gain?" The true Latter-day Saint is asking, "What can I do to better myself, to encourage those with whom I am associated, and to uplift the children of God?" That is the inspiration that comes to every Latter-day Saint who realizes the force of this gospel that we have espoused.--CR, October, 1909:30.
It is not out of place to predict that the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to thrive and prosper, spiritually and temporally, as long as they (1) keep the commandments of God and (2) walk in the way which He shall point out through His inspired servants holding the Holy Priesthood. They are a people whose faith, teachings, thrift, and temporal and spiritual progress will be a blessing and an advantage to the whole nation. A people whom none need to fear, but on the contrary, bless and welcome, because they seek to do the will of the Lord, to treat all people in conformity with the principles of justice and righteousness, themselves loyal and law-abiding, obedient to the rules and regulations of the just governments of the earth, and the vitalizing gospel of Jesus Christ, established and restored through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith by visitation of God and His Son, Jesus the Christ, who stands at the head of the great and marvelous work in which we are engaged. Their motto is "Truth and Liberty," and they would extend these to all mankind, and make all mankind partakers of the influence of peace and righteousness which accompany the true gospel of Jesus Christ--the only means by which peace and the brotherhood of man may be established in all the world.--Era, 23:474.
There is nothing in all the world that is of more value than so to order our lives that those who know us best shall love us; and, above all, the one thing that is of greater value than life itself is to so live that God loves us. And I can say to you that every man, woman, and child that has lived the gospel of Jesus Christ and continues to do so has the love of God Almighty, our Father in Heaven and of His Son Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.--70th Birthday Pamphlet, November, 1926:18.
The missionary work of the Latter-day Saints is the greatest of all the great works in all the world. We find recorded in the eighteenth section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
And if it so he that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
And now, if your joy will he great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.
Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men. (D. and C. 18:10-18.)
And if we have not faith we cannot please the Lord, the revelation goes on to say. We should have faith in God and not only have faith, but works also, and exhibit our works by supporting those who are in the missionary field.--CR, October, 1921:5-6.
The Spirit of the Lord accompanies the elders. God blesses those who go forth to preach the gospel. If this gospel were not the truth, honest, prayerful, diligent, humble men would discover that fact. But I have yet to hear of one man in all the years that this gospel has been preached, who has gone forth to proclaim it and who has been a diligent, faithful man, who has returned and announced that he has discovered that they have the gospel of Christ in some other land or some other clime. But I have heard of thousands who have studied other gospels, tens of thousands; I have known many who have been members of many different denominations, who never found peace and joy and perfect contentment until they embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ.--CR, October, 1912:49.
Why is it that Latter-day Saints are enabled to convert people? It is because they have the truth to offer, because they have no doubt in their minds regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.--Era, 41:519.
I rejoice in seeing the barriers broken down whereby the gospel may be carried to all the nations of the earth.--CR, April, 1902:61.
There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated--
And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D. and C. 130: 20-21.)
I bear witness to you, as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, that material and spiritual prosperity is predicated upon the fulfillment of the duties and responsibilities that rest upon us as Latter-day Saints. . . .
I propose with the help of the Lord to be true to my fellow men in fulfilling every obligation that I have entered into with them. But above all and beyond all, I propose to fulfill my obligation, to the best of my ability to God, my Heavenly Father.
I have been ridiculed in the public prints because I said that a man's duty was to pay his debts to the Lord if he did not pay his debts to his fellow man. I repeat that. God, my Heavenly Father, has blessed me with a knowledge of the gospel. I do know that God lives; I do know that Jesus is the Christ; I do know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; I do know that Lorenzo Snow is a prophet of God; I know that God loves me; that He blessed me; that I am one of His children; that I am under obligations to Him; and that all I have on earth, all that I will ever receive here or hereafter, I am indebted to Him for it. Therefore, I say, shall I not fulfill the duties and obligations that I owe to my Creator and loving Parent before I fulfill my obligations to my fellow man? Has any man ever lent me money because he loved me? No; he has lent it to me because he wanted his interest. With the help of the Lord I propose to keep the commandments of the Lord, and then I do know that I shall be able to pay all that I owe; because I know that God blesses those who keep His commandments.
I know that I never made a sacrifice of a financial nature in my life to help the advancement of God's work, without being abundantly rewarded therefor. Not only materially, but I grew in the knowledge of the gospel and in the Spirit of God which is worth more than all the wealth and honors of men. I desire never to allow my heart to wither up, so to speak, but rather to have it grow and expand. I desire to seek first the Kingdom of God. I do know and bear witness to you that if I do it, all other things for my good will be added unto me. And what I bear witness to pertaining to myself, I bear witness to for all the Latter-day Saints. If you desire the Spirit of God, be honest in keeping the commandments of God. If you desire prosperity, and at the same time the testimony of the gospel, pay all your obligations to the Lord and you shall have it. If you are not honest with God, you may prosper, and you may be blessed with the things of this world, but they will crowd out from your heart the spirit of the gospel; you will become covetous of your own means and lose the inspiration of Almighty God. The Savior told us that if we gained the whole world and lost our own souls, it would profit us nothing.
We have started out for life eternal, the greatest of all gifts of God to man, and keeping the commandments of God will bring it to us.--CR, October, 1899:19-20.
It annoys me when men whom the Lord blesses with great abundance are not willing to do their full duty.--RSM, 24:629.
I am very grateful indeed that you good sisters are going to try to educate people to take care of themselves. But it is only fair for me to say to you that there are a number of people you are not going to be able to change. There are many people who are born tired and never get rested. There are any number of people who just naturally have no conception of self-independence. Our country today is in a terrible condition on that account principally.--RSM, 24:626.
I believe there may be a disposition on the part of some Latter-day Saints to say, "Well, after we get to be sixty-five, we will not have to work any more." I want this body of good sisters to know that I have done just as much work for the past sixteen years, since I passed sixty-five, as I ever did before. And with the blessings of the Lord, if He will let me stay here another fifteen or sixteen years--which I doubt--I want to do just as much if not a little more than I have done the last sixteen years. I am a firm believer that work does not kill anyone, but that laziness does kill a man at an early age.
There should be in the heart of every man and woman, the cry, "I am going to live. There is nothing given to me but time in which to live, and I am going to endeavor each day of my life to do some labor which will be acceptable in the sight of my Heavenly Father, and if it is possible, do a little better today than I did yesterday."--RSM, 25:12-13.
I have never seen the day when I was not willing to do the meanest work, (if there is such a thing as mean work, which I doubt) rather than be idle.--Era, 3:197.
Said he: "At the last meeting a report was made of how much per capita everybody would receive when all of the wealth was appropriated and distributed, and already I have more in the savings bank than would come to me."
It cured him completely.--CR, April, 1932:4.
Men should have a pride in doing their full share and never want to be paid for that which they have not earned. Men should be rewarded for doing the best that they can. There is a practice in some quarters, in the working world today, to tell a man how much he may do, regardless of his ability to do more, and to penalize and criticize the man who is able and willing to do more than his indolent or incompetent neighbors. If one man has the ability and the power to do three or four times as much work and is willing to do it, he should get the pay for it, and this idea of saying, "Don't you do any more than you are told or you will lose your job, or your standing," is fundamentally wrong.--Era, 42:585.
If the people known as Latter-day Saints had listened to the advice given from this stand by my predecessor, under the inspiration of the Lord, calling and urging upon the Latter-day Saints not to run in debt, this great depression [1932] would have hurt the Latter-day Saints very, very little.
Nearly every livestock man that I know who has gone broke, has done so because he borrowed all the money he could get on the sheep or cattle, in order to get more sheep or cattle. When the depression came all that he had was not enough to pay the debt.
To my mind, the main reason for the depression in the United States as a whole, is the bondage of debt and the spirit of speculation among the people.--RSM, 19:299.
Notwithstanding the great trouble financially all over the world, I believe that as a people we are suffering less than are those in other sections of the country, for which I am very grateful to the Lord.--CR, October, 1931:2.
There is a peace and a contentment which comes into the heart when we live within our means. There is no question about it.--RSM, 19:301.
If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet.--RSM, 19:302
Of course you all know that depositors, when they get excited, want all their money, and want it in a hurry, and of course they cannot always get it. I have advocated since 1893 that no savings bank under any circumstances should allow anybody to have his money without giving the proper notice. The people get excited and sometimes break banks. About nine times out of ten the banks would not need to break. It is ridiculous for people to expect a bank to pay interest for money, and then have it on hand all the time.--RSM, 19:299.
I find a great many people run into debt to buy stock in corporations that I have happened to be president of. When they received good dividends they were glad that they were in the company. But when they were struck financially, I had a great many of them come to me and say, "You are president of this company; I want you to buy my stock." Of course I was not in a position to buy it.
We cannot tell all that is coming in the future. But there is one thing that we can tell, and that is if we have the money in our hands to buy a radio, automobile, or anything else, and we buy it, no matter how much it comes down in value it is ours.
The majority of automobiles that are purchased are purchased on time, and not on time with ordinary interest. But they are purchased on time with a tremendously high interest, interest that no legitimate business could afford to pay. The result is that people lose their automobiles. There is nothing more true than that we have tried to live beyond our means as a people, and any person who does that gets into trouble.
There are one hundred thousand cars in Utah [1932]. One hundred thousand cars at three hundred dollars a year, to keep them up, and the actual wear and tear and interest on the instalment plan, and so on, will work out to two or three times as much as all the agricultural products of our state. It runs way up into the millions.
I think the whole country is mortgaged. You know it is bad enough to have a mortgage on a house, without having a mortgage on something which is considered about twenty cents on the dollar at the end of four or five years of depression.--RSM, 19:300.
The first money that I ever made I put into a vinegar factory, and lost it. Why? Because the people and the merchants would not patronize it. I remember I said to one merchant, "I have had your vinegar analyzed by a chemist, and there is about one-quarter of it that is mineral--it is acetic acid--and you are burning people's insides up."
He said, "It sells well."
I said to him, "I will sell you a barrel two-thirds full of vinegar, at a much less price than you are paying. Then you can go to the drug-store and for seventy-five cents you can buy that mineral poison and put it into the barrel; then fill it up with water."
Oh, no--he would not do that. He thought that would be wrong. But he went on selling the stuff manufactured that way. I could not get the patronage. At one time I also went into the business of manufacturing soap. The only people who patronized the soap I made were the Chinese. They bought it almost exclusively. They discovered it was the best they could get in the city. There were, also, a few of the good sisters who patronized it. I know of one lady--I won't mention her name, but she is the wife of one of the General Authorities who is quite cranky on the question of having first class washing in her house--she looks after it herself, and sees that the linen is in mighty good shape. She always believed in Beehive soap.
The reason we closed up was because the people would not patronize us. I had about twenty thousand dollars to add to experience on account of soap-making. I have a bigger experience account than all the money I am worth. And I have had a lot of this sad experience in trying to build up and establish home institutions and home manufacture. If I ever get any money, I will put some of it into home manufacturing institutions again; and, perhaps, I will lose it. They say I am a crank on home manufacture. Perhaps I am, and I am proud of the appellation, if it means that I am an enthusiast in that direction. I do not believe we accomplish very much in life unless we are enthusiastic, unless we are in earnest, and unless we practice what we preach.--CR, April, 1910:39-40.
From the time that I was a boy of sixteen until the factory closed, with only two or three exceptions, I never wore a suit of clothes that was not made of cloth manufactured at Provo. I purchased a suit, once, while in California for six months, as my clothes became the least little bit shabby. I paid more than twice as much for it as I would have paid for a Provo woolen Mills suit, and I was ashamed of it at the end of four months and gave it away. I have worn many a suit of Provo goods continuously for three years, barring the time that it was at the tailor's being cleaned and pressed, and then I did not wear it out. And it didn't get shiny either. But I can't get a suit of clothes today, for ten dollars a suit more than I used to pay for a Provo suit, that does not shine, and shine like everything, in three months, instead of three years. I remember when the Wyoming legislature was here, that I was wearing a light-colored suit. I happened to be a member of the Utah legislature. They gave a ball in the theater so I had to buy a black suit, so as not to be the only "white sheep" in the crowd at that ball. But I gave the suit away the next day for fear I might want to preach home manufacture when I had it on and that the chips would fly back in my own face. Subsequently, when in New York for over six months at one time, I bought a suit there. But as that was in the panic of 1893, which wiped me off the earth financially, I could not afford to give that suit away. So I wore it out. With these exceptions, I wore nothing but Provo goods until the factory closed down.
The way I figure, the wool that would have made a suit of clothes, if shipped out of our country, will bring back about one dollar to help enrich the community. But if that wool were put into cloth, and the cloth into a suit of clothes, at least twenty-five dollars of the value of that suit would remain here and would be received by somebody for labor or in the increased value.--CR, April, 1910:37-38.
I know that it is beneficial to any community to raise and manufacture those things which they use. I believe it is a disgrace to us, as a people, that we are importing chickens, turkeys, and butter by the carload. This community ought to produce all of these things, and it is a reflection on us that we bring them from abroad. I believe that no greater benefit, or moral uplift, can come to a people than the establishment of industries whereby the young can have employment.--CR, October, 1909:26.
I would like to impress upon the minds of the members of the Relief Society the wonderful amount of good that they can do, in so far as such a thing is possible, if they spend their money for that which is made in our state, or in our states, I might say, because I may remark we have 100,000 people in Idaho [1931].
People get fads into their minds and imagine that goods that come from London, Paris, Italy, and other places, are superior to those which we can get at home. I am first for Utah and Idaho, or where our stakes are. I am next for the United States. And I think that every one of us can contribute very materially to the success of our communities, and of our state and our nation if we are careful to, as far as possible, patronize homemade goods and articles. We have the capacity and ability ourselves to help change the condition financially. There is a little prejudice in the minds of people because they spend their money for things which oftentimes are not one iota better, just because they are foreign, and because they are advertised as being better.--RSM, 18:343-344.
[The following significant questions for our time, in which vocational education comes increasingly to the fore, were put to President Grant in 1894.--Editor.]
I. As a foundation for future success would you advise the young men of the west to acquire a trade or a profession? II. What class of artisans or professional men do you think the west will most need during the next twenty-five years? III. What special natural qualifications should a young man possess to acquire the trade or the profession you think most needed?
Answering the three questions propounded, I will say:
I. As a rule I think that it is better for a young man to acquire a trade rather than a profession.
II. Those skilled in manufacturing, as in my opinion the west must be built up by the establishment and success of its manufacturing institutions. I do not think that it will make much difference which branch a young man shall learn, provided he is careful to master the same thoroughly, after having first made sure that there will be an ample demand for that class of articles which he may engage in manufacturing.
III. A firm determination to succeed, and prompt and faithful attention to business are sure to bring success, provided the young man is strictly honest and has the ordinary ability which falls to mortals. (Signed) Heber J. Grant, March 7, 1894, The Contributor, 15:358, 360.
We should unitedly study to create improvements whereby the land will produce more, instead of trying to see where we can go to get a big piece of land. There are many men who, with a few acres of property, looked after and cultivated, produce more than the men with large farms which they simply scratch over. Chickens should do the scratching, but men should thoroughly cultivate their land.
I call to mind a man who lives at Lehi, a little more than a stone's throw from the railroad station. One year that man raised, on a little less than four acres of ground, one hundred twenty-eight tons of beets. He was a very honest man, and he realized that many of those beets were not good for sugar. You know, in the early history of the Lehi sugar factory, we had to take everything in the shape of beets that the farmer raised. It was not like wheat; if the farmer raised some wheat and it got frost-bitten, and was no good, the miller did not have to buy it. But when we started the sugar industry we figuratively got down on our knees to the farmer. If that would not do, we almost lay down and crawled to him, and begged him to raise beets. We had to take all the beets they brought us, and pay five dollars a ton for them, and then had to feed some of them to the pigs, because they were no earthly good, not having any saccharine matter in them. The man of whom I speak, however, realizing that the large beets which had grown on the edge of his little garden farm, close to where the water ran, had but little sugar in them and that they were not worth five dollars a ton, picked out about eight tons of the large beets and kept them to feed his own stock. The rest he brought to us, and he got six hundred dollars in cash for them--from four acres. (I was rather sorry he did not have four hundred acres.)
I asked another man how much he had raised that year. He said about five hundred dollars worth. He had scratched and worked, plowed and harrowed his big farm and had raised that little. Whereas, my friend with the four acres (by the way, he had a flower garden and raised vegetables for his family, so he did not have the entire four acres in beets) made six hundred dollars in cash. He also had the pleasure of living right there with his friends, having the benefit of schools and other advantages for his children, instead of living away off on a ranch, with no educational advantages, no society, no improvement associations, no Sunday schools, and where he would have to scratch, walk, harrow, plow, and wear himself out. . . .
President Young tried to establish the silk industry, when I was a boy, and some of the people pooh-poohed and laughed at it. They also pooh-poohed and laughed at the sugar industry. I remember that every farmer I talked with said we could not afford to raise beets; that it would cost more to plant them, dig them up, and take the tops off than they were actually worth. They have found out better now. A whole lot of them have discovered that it pays reasonably well to plant beets. . . .
I find there are many opportunities, if we will but take advantage of them, and constantly study to improve and increase the production of the soil, as well as make the best possible use of our means. I am told that much of the land in some sections of Cache Valley, which was considered of but very little value, is today very valuable, because of the creamery industry. I rejoice to hear of this increase in values because of the establishment of manufactures. . . .
I believe that if the Latter-day Saints would more generally practice economy, frugality, and increase the production of the soil, there would be greater opportunities for not only the people who are here, but for many times the number. We do not need to go to Mexico, Canada, Wyoming, or any other place to improve our condition, as a rule. Mind you, there are exceptions, and I do not want anybody to think I am not willing to see Canada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Mexico built up. I rejoice to realize that Zion is spreading. But, in spreading, let the people try to improve. Do not get so much land that you will work yourself to death, and leave your children to quarrel over it. Be satisfied with a moderate sized farm one that you can cultivate, and make it produce to the fullest extent.--CR, October, 1903:7-9.
I believe that we are making a very great mistake, many of us, especially those who are farmers, in disposing of our land. Much of the land on the Provo bench and in other sections of the country, adapted to fruit raising, is being sold to people who are coming in here from Colorado. The same identical class of land which they are buying here for two hundred dollars and three hundred dollars an acre, they have sold in Colorado for two, three, and four thousand dollars an acre. They have sold their orchards in the east, and are coming here and buying just as good land for much less than they got for their lands in the east.
Let us keep our own lands, which are really gold mines. The great trouble with us is that we do not know their value. We do not know how much they will produce. We have not learned that by intense cultivation, by raising fruits, and by being careful to see that we get rid of the worms, and do our full duty by the soil, we can make it worth three and four times its present value.--CR, October, 1909:28-29.
The story has been told of a banker who was approached by one of these good people for a loan. He said: "Certainly, I have often lent you money, and will be glad to do so again, if you will give me a mortgage on your crop."
The man replied: "Oh, I am not raising any crops, but I will give you an order on `Uncle Sam.' I get more money by being on the dole."
That kind of spirit is not the spirit that should belong to a Latter-day Saint. I hope that it is just a story. It seems almost incredible to me that anybody could make such a statement. But I have it from the mouths of presidents of stakes that there are individuals in their stakes and communities who are "lying down" when, if they would farm their land, they could take care of themselves [1938].--RSM, 25:14.
At the present time there is quite a feeling that it is not worth while to stay on the farm, that the thing to do is to sell the farm. Or, if it is mortgaged for a large amount, to say, "Well, we will let the man who owns the mortgage cultivate it. It does not pay us to cultivate it."
This is wrong. I believe that with the blessings of the Lord and with economy and the raising of products from the ground, and utilizing those products to feed cattle, sheep, and hogs, and to increase your income by producing butter, eggs, cheese, and in other ways, that the farms can be made profitably productive.
I remember that when I was in the far-off land of Japan, I ate butter from Scandinavia. And I know that while I was in England the great majority of the time I ate butter from Scandinavia. If butter can be shipped all the way from Scandinavia to Japan, I believe that butter can be raised and shipped at a profit out of this intermountain country. There are no finer farms to be found anywhere than can be found in this intermountain country. It is the best dairy country. There is no stronger, more substantial and splendid soil that will produce year after year if it is only treated right, than that of this intermountain country.--CR, April, 1923:7-8.
I want again to assure you that the best place in the world to rear Latter-day Saints is on the soil.--CR, April, 1923:9.
So far as farming is concerned I want to tell you that it is the splendid blood from the farm that keeps the cities from dying with their immoral weight.
Fifty-two percent of all of the missionaries that have been sent out into the world by our Church, as high as twenty-two hundred at a time, at their own expense and the expense of their families, come from the farm.--Era 39:526.
Please, every Latter-day Saint farmer, farm your land. If you do not, you will lose your inheritance, and some one else will get possession of it sooner or later. Do not take anything which you are capable of producing yourself.--CR, October, 1936:16.
If we inspire in the hearts of the people a desire to do their duty, it will be the easiest thing in the world to take care of all those who are in distress among this people. The fast day donation alone, if we were absolutely honest with the Lord, would take care of the poor among us. You cannot get a good meal for less than ten cents, and twenty cents a month for every man, woman, and child in the Church would take care of those who need care and who are not chronic beggars. I am in favor of Bishop Hunter's way with such people, of just wearing them out. I am in favor of Brigham Young's statement, "It is against my policy to give anything to a person unless he works for it."
Why do we find great walls of cobblestones picked up from the hills? Because Brigham Young would say, "Go and dig up some rocks and build a wall." In other words, I believe he would tell them to dig a hole and then fill it up rather than have nothing to do.--RSM, 24:630.
I do not think that we need to worry the least bit about any of the Latter-day Saints suffering on account of lack of food or shelter during these hard times. I am confident beyond the shadow of a doubt that with our system of fast day donations and the work that is being done by our Relief Society, the bishops in all the various wards, with the help of the auxiliary officers, will be able to look after those who are in real distress.
I am converted to the fact that if the Latter-day Saints as a people would actually do without two or three meals once a month, as prescribed, on fast days, and give the full equivalent to the bishop, thus benefiting their own individual health and that of their families--if they conscientiously paid a full fast day donation, each and every person giving the equivalent of two or three meals one Sunday in each month--it would fully take care of those who are in distressed circumstances.--CR, October, 1931:2-3.
Every living soul among the Latter-day Saints that fasts two meals once a month will be benefited spiritually and be built up in the faith of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ--benefited spiritually in a wonderful way--and sufficient means will be in the hands of the bishops to take care of all the poor.--CS, June 18, 1932.
I am delighted with the wonderful publicity that has been given and the favorable reports that are being made about our Security [Welfare] Program. At the same time we have to work, and work hard, and more and more diligently, and do our duty better, or we are not going to live up to the reputation that we now have. Our reputation has been so bad in the past that many people felt we were worthy of the same treatment as the Savior, that we ought to be crucified. Today our reputation is getting to be fine, and perhaps better than some of us deserve to have. The Presidency are very anxious indeed, as are all the General Authorities, that to the very best of our ability we live up to our reputation.--RSM, 25:13.
As we respect the authorities in the nation of which we form a part, and uphold and sustain the government, just in that proportion are we legal citizens, and our government will respect and uphold us.--JH, Oct. 4, 1895.
These claims are made against us because there are none of the Latter-day Saints who have arrived at manhood and have been married but who have received--provided they were married properly in the temple--the higher Priesthood. We are all members of the Priesthood. And if you undertake to separate the Priesthood, so-called, from the people, you cast out the entire people from taking any interest whatever in politics. While I deny emphatically that there is any mingling in the sense in which the world puts it of church and state among the Latter-day Saints, I do not deny for a moment that if I, as a member of this Church, have any power or influence which I can wield in the endeavor to get the best man to serve the people, I shall exercise it as long as I live.--JH, July 7, 1888; DN, July 8, 1889.
Because of oneness of purpose and action amongst the Latter-day Saints at large, the accusation is made that they are priest-ridden and have no mind of their own. . . .
It is a surprise to me that any intelligent man can make a claim that the Latter-day Saints are an ignorant and deluded people, without minds of their own--that they are led and directed by men who are cunning and shrewd, and who preside over them because of the advantages which they (the leaders) hope to gain. It seems to me that if any man of candid mind would examine the history of the Latter-day Saints . . . he would find them to be the most independent people on the face of the earth. . . . The moment they embraced the gospel . . . what did these men and women do?
They asserted their manhood and womanhood, and showed that they were possessed of force of character; that they had the courage of their convictions. Than this there is no greater courage. . . .
Go where you will, from one end of this nation to another. Seek for the men with moral courage in the halls of Congress, in the legislatures, and what do you find? Men almost without number, voting time and time again against their honest convictions because they fear they might not be returned to office.
How different is the case of the Latter-day Saints. Instead of, in many instances, caring for affluence and wealth, keeping to family and friends, and the comforts of this life, they gathered to Utah and suffered hardships, poverty, and privations, because of the testimony they had received. . . .
The Latter-day Saints by their acts, by their history, have shown to the world that they have an independence of character and the manhood and womanhood to follow their convictions. . . .--JH, July 7, 1888; DN, July 8, 1889.
Now I generally endeavor, to the best of my ability, to seek to know the mind and will of God as it comes through the man who stands at the head of this Church--who either is a prophet of God or the whole structure of Mormonism is false. . . . I discover that he desires the onward advancement of God's kingdom more than anything else, and that is what every Latter-day Saint should desire. But I find that there are many of us who desire, above all things else on earth, our own advancement, our own financial welfare, or our own political welfare. We do not seek first the kingdom of God and then expect all things else will be added. But we seek first for our own personal aggrandizement.--JH, Oct. 30, 1892:4; DH, Dec. 17, 1892.
Some people write . . . that we would like to set up a republic of our own; that we are a great financial combine of people who are arranging to eventually conquer our country. Our boys who gave their lives in France; our boys who went forth in far greater number than the government had requested, according to our population; our money so freely given for Liberty and Victory bonds; our declaration to all the world, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the men who wrote the constitution of this country were inspired of the living God--all of these things give the lie to all the liars who are perpetually saying that we are opposed to this country.
When the Latter-day Saints were being driven to these Rocky Mountains from their homes, when they were coming to these Rocky Mountains in fulfillment of the prediction of Joseph Smith--they were being expatriated. They were driven from the confines of the United States and were coming to Mexican soil. Our country was then in trouble with Mexico, and the government called on Brigham Young for five hundred men to help fight Mexico. To this call President Young replied: "You shall have your men, and if we have not enough men we will furnish you women." And within three days the men were ready. . . . Show to me, if you can, in all the history of the world another case of a people being expatriated, being driven from their own country, from their own lands which they had purchased; being driven out from a beautiful city, the last remnant of them crossing the Mississippi River in the dead of winter on the ice; nine babies being born during the night of that terrible expulsion, with no shelter but their mother's breasts; going forth on their journey of a thousand miles in the wilderness after having appealed to the president of their republic who could only say: "Your cause is just, but we can do nothing for you"--show me another people, I say, who under like circumstances would have furnished five hundred men to fight their country's battles! Show me greater patriotism and loyalty to country than this! It can't be done.
Allow me to announce that from the day of Joseph Smith to this identical day, the leaders of this people have had absolute respect, love, and reverence for their country. Allow me to announce further that we are patriotic Americans to the core and that we have learned it, many of us, at our mother's knees where we said our prayers. We believe absolutely in the inspiration of God to the men who framed our constitution.--CR October, 1919:33.
I know that any ruler who claims to be the representative of Almighty God who would take away the liberties of his fellow men, is not a representative from God. You can draw your own conclusions whom he does represent.--CR April, 1918:24.
From my childhood days I have understood that we believe absolutely that the constitution of our country is an inspired instrument, and that God directed those who created it and those who defended the independence of this nation. Concerning this matter it is my frequent pleasure to quote the statement by Joseph Smith, regarding the constitution:
"The constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is, to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a weary and thirsty land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun."
And such the constitution of the United States must be to every faithful Latter-day Saint who lives under its protection.--Era, 43:127.
We have been taught by the Prophet Joseph and by every leader who has stood at the head of the Mormon Church that this is a land--as taught in the Book of Mormon--choice above all other lands, and that no king shall ever rule here.--CS, August 6, 1938:6.
When any law is enacted and becomes a constitutional law, no man who spends his money to help men break that law can truthfully say that he is a loyal citizen.--CR October, 1927:5.
I pray for our country and ask the Lord to bless those who preside in the nation; in the states, in the cities, and in the counties. I pray God to inspire the people that they will obey His commands, and elect good men to office; that they will bury their political differences and seek for good men to hold office, and not men who connive with those who are breaking the laws of our country. It is one of the Articles of our Faith to obey and uphold the laws of the land. May God help us to do it.--CR April, 1928:121.
I wish to emphasize that "We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government."--CR October, 1928:10.
I am sure we all love America. I am sure there are no more patriotic people on the face of the earth than the Latter-day Saints; in fact, our belief is that the men who established this country were blessed of God, that they were inspired of God, and as we depart from those things we are not doing that which is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. I think that without doubt we are getting just about as far away as we can at the present time--shall I say, politically. I do not care how you put it. We are starting on the broad path that leads to destruction, and had we stayed in the straight and narrow path we would not need to be arranging to be in a war. The Lord points out the way, and if we walk in it all will be well.
Many of the Latter-day Saints have surrendered their independence; they have surrendered their free thought, politically, and we have got to get back to where we are not surrendering the right. We must stay with the right and if we do so God will bless us.--CS, October 11, 1941.
It has been whispered around frequently, and I hear the murmur now, that the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ standing at the head and holding the Priesthood desire this man or that man or the other man elected to office.
The Presidency of the Church, so far as they are concerned, allow every man, woman, and child who is old enough to vote, to vote according to his or her own conviction. But we do appeal to all men and women, realizing the responsibility resting upon them, to seek God our Heavenly Father to guide them politically as well as religiously; and to stand for right and for those things that are for the good of this nation. The Latter-day Saints believe absolutely that the constitution of our country was written by inspired men. We believe in upholding the laws of our country. We believe in being obedient to the laws. One of the Articles of our Faith says that it is our duty to do so.--CR October, 1928:9.
Allow me to read a news clipping sent me in a letter by former Governor John C. Cutler of Utah. He wrote: "I thought the annexed clipping would be information to you, as it was to me":
MORMON LEADER POLITICAL BOSS SAYS REFORMER (Exclusive Dispatch)
Winona Lake (Ind.) August 9.--"The most powerful political individual in America today is H. J. Grant, head of the Mormon Kingdom," declared Dr. __________ of Pittsburgh, superintendent of the National Reform Association, in addressing the annual Christian Citizenship Institute here today. "Twenty-six years ago," he continued, "there was not a principal man in all Mormondom who had even so much as a vote. All had been disfranchised by the United States government on account of their crimes. Today H. J. Grant patronizes presidents, makes bargains with great political parties, dictates the political policies of Utah and at least five surrounding states and wields effective political influences in at least five others."
The gentleman must have been listening to one of the lying speeches of a notorious anti-Mormon woman. Dr. __________ is the superintendent of the National Reform Association. If he is properly quoted he'd better reform himself, and purge himself of falsehood. There is a special place prepared for his kind, and if he does not repent he will land there. I announce to all the world that I do not even control, politically, Utah, and that I have no desire to control Utah, that I have never opened my mouth in favor of or against any individual in any of the adjacent states that he is reported to say I control politically. Joseph Smith was told that his name "should be had for good and evil among all nations," or that it should be both "good and evil spoken of among all people." And we his successors have had the same privilege. We have been lied about most scandalously. One anti-Mormon is reported to have said that I had fifteen million dollars in a Wall Street bank, as Trustee-in-Trust for the Church; and I never had fifteen cents.
As I have said, all the disbelief of all the world and all the lies of men like Dr. __________, who might inform themselves and therefore do not need to tell these lies, cannot stop the progress of this work. Just to show you that it cannot be stopped, let me read again what the Lord told Joseph Smith when he was incarcerated in Liberty Jail. You cannot keep the revelations of the Lord from coming to the Prophet even while in a jail. I will let you read some of it yourselves. It is Section 121. Read it all. I will start with the thirty-third verse:
How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson--
That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. (D. and C. 121:31-36.)
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, or any of his successors, cannot, and never could, handle the powers of heaven only in righteousness. And they never tried to.--CR October, 1922:8-9.
We are told that agitation is going on in some sections of the country in favor of so-called "liberty," which instead of being liberty is anything but liberty.
I do not want to be accused of engaging in politics, but let me tell you that if any state in the union of the United States shall elect a man to stand at the head of that state who has ridiculed the Savior of the world, . . . I lift my voice against it, and I am willing to have it said that this is politics, if they want to make politics out of it. Any Latter-day Saint who sustains or votes for a man to be governor of a state who has ridiculed in print the Savior of the world is doing that which I as president of the Church hereby condemn.--CR October, 1934:131.
I am a thorough convert myself to the idea that it is not possible for all men to see alike. You know the remark made by a young man once: "It is a splendid thing that we do not all see alike, because if we did, everybody would want to marry my Sally Ann"; and the other man remarked, "Yes, thank the Lord. If everybody saw your Sally Ann as I see her, nobody on earth would have her, and she would die an old maid."--CRJune, 1919:19.
A COMMENT ON THE PRINCIPLES OUTLINED IN SECTION 134 OF THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS. These principles are fundamental to our belief, fundamental to our protection. And in the providences of the Lord, the safeguards which have been incorporated into the basic structure of this nation are the guarantee of all men who dwell here against the abuses and tyrannies and usurpations of times past.--Era, 43:127.
I was astonished to find the lack of interest, a lack on the part of the people in being interested in a thing of this kind, something for their general benefit. I was astonished to find that we could spend any amount of money legally for schools, for roads, for bridges, for public improvements, but we could not spend a dollar from the country's funds to aid educationally, for the benefit of the people's health. I read of one good lady up in Dakota who said if one of her hogs was sick, or if anything was the matter with any of the fruits, or flowers, or vegetables, or garden truck; if there were troublesome insects or anything of that nature, all she had to do was to send down to Washington, and the agriculture department would supply her with information on how to cure the hog or protect the plants in the garden. But, if her husband, her son, or her daughter was sick, and she should write to the government, she could not get any information or help. Moral: Be a hog, and the government will take care of you, if you get sick. [laughter] . . .
Let us seek to better our condition--intellectually, physically, morally, and above all let us seek for the inspiration of Almighty God to guide us in all the walks of life.--CR April, 1911:24-25.
Certainly Latter-day Saints ought to be as liberal in their judgments as the cold law of the land. And certainly every man ought to be considered innocent in the estimation of the Latter-day Saints--particularly if that man is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has devoted his life for the upbuilding of God's kingdom, until such time as he has what is known as "his day in court." We can afford, I believe, to be as liberal as the cold law itself.--CR October, 1920:9.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness belong to all people in the United States, according to the laws of our country, and should upon all the face of the earth. And I say that, to my mind, a provision in a labor union is all wrong that favors boycotting and the laying down of tools or the quitting of employment because a non-union man obtains employment while exercising his God-given right to stay out of a union. Men who have that kind of rule have a rule that is in direct opposition to the laws of God.
There was a battle fought in heaven--for what? To give to man his individual liberty, An attempt to take the agency of man away is made when, if he does not see fit to join a union, men in that union without any complaint or grievance strike because a non-union man is employed.
Now I'd better not say any more, perhaps, on this question, or I may offend somebody, I may hurt somebody's feelings. But it is the God-given right of men to earn their livelihood.
The Savior said it was the first great commandment to love the Lord with all thy heart, and that the second was like unto it, to love thy neighbor as "thyself," That is the doctrine for every true Latter-day Saint.
How much love is there in starving your neighbor because he will not surrender his manhood and his individuality, and allow a labor union to direct his labor? Mighty little love, mighty little of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in any such a rule! I hope to see the day when no Latter-day Saint will join a union unless the union eliminates that clause from its rules. I am not going to ask men to leave their unions. I am not going to lay it down that they must; that it is the mind and the will of the Lord for them to leave a union, I want, as I said here recently, to give every man his free agency; to give every man the right to act as he thinks proper. But I cannot see how a Latter-day Saint who is a member of such a union can get down on his knees and pray for God to inspire and bless him, to bless the Saints and to protect them, and then be a party to allowing one of his own brethren to go year after year without employment, because that brother will not surrender his manhood and join a union with him, There is none of the Spirit of the Lord in that, to my mind, That is exactly the way I see it.--CR October, 1919:13-14. I believe that it is the absolute right of men to combine together for their protection, for their advancement, for their welfare in unions. But as stated here, I deprecate the idea of their undertaking to dictate to those who will not join them.--CR April, 1920:11.
I have had some of the most insulting letters that ever came to me, condemning me for not being in favor of the Townsend Plan, and that I must be ignorant of the plan. I am not ignorant of the plan. I have not read every word of it, but I have asked one of my secretaries to read every word of the plan and to give me the important points, and to my mind it is in direct opposition to everything I have quoted from Brigham Young and from the revelations of the Lord. The idea of allowing every man and woman who has reached the age of sixty years and wishes to retire from working to get two hundred dollars a month from the government! There is nothing truer than Brigham Young's statement, that we should give nothing to people, unless they are not able to work, without requiring them to do something for it.
I want to say to the people that one of my nearest and dearest relatives criticised me for not favoring the Townsend Plan. I love him just as much as though he did not criticise me. I am perfectly willing for him to think and believe and act just as he wants to do. I want everybody to do this.
I do not want the people of the Church, when they are working for the government, to work by the day--by the day--by the day. But I do want them to work by the job, by the job, by the job.
Let every Latter-day Saint who has a farm, farm it, and not try to borrow money to be paid back by the government, Let every man feel that he is the architect and builder of his own life, and that he proposes to make a success of it by working. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work," and rest on the seventh. Do not be willing to labor four or five days and then only half labor, Let every Latter-day Saint give value received for everything he gets, whether it be in work, or whatever he does.--CR October, 1936:13.
Money is the life blood of a nation. It is exactly like the blood in our bodies; it is the circulating medium. Keep your money at home.--Era, 39:525.
The women have the vote in Utah and if they, in connection with the young men and young women of the Mutual Improvement Associations, will only do their part, prohibition will come without fail. When? Right now. Do not allow a primary to go by but what you are organized with men and women selected to be there to vote intelligently and to a known purpose. You are the rulers, you are the sovereign people.
No man should ever represent Utah in any place or position of trust, unless he has stood up and declared himself, unequivocally, without any mental reservation, upon his honor as a man, that he will stand for this thing.--Era 19:837.
Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the revolution never to violate, in the least particular, the laws of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of "seventy-six" did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor. Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges. Let it be written in primers, in spelling books, and almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.--Era 43:73.
When I heard that yesterday, I thought of the position of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the testimony of this man, Josiah Quincy:
Smith recognized the curse and iniquity of slavery, though he opposed the methods of the Abolitionists. His plan was for the nation to pay for the slaves from the sale of the public lands. "Congress," he said, "should be compelled to take this course, by petitions from all parts of the country; but the petitioners must disclaim all alliance with those who would disturb the rights of property recognized by the Constitution and foment insurrection." It may be worth while to remark that Smith's plan was publicly advocated, eleven years later, by one who has mixed so much practical shrewdness with his lofty philosophy, In 1855, when men's minds had been moved to their depths on the question of slavery, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that it should be met in accordance "with the interest of the South and with the settled conscience of the North. It is not really a great task, a great fight for this country to accomplish, to buy that property of the planter, as the British nation bought the West Indian slaves." He further says that the "United States will be brought to give every inch of their public lands for a purpose like this." We, who can look back upon the terrible cost of the fratricidal war which put an end to slavery, now say that such a solution of the difficulty would have been worthy a Christian statesman. But if the retired scholar was in advance of his time when he advocated this disposition of the public property in 1855, what shall I say of the political and religious leader who had committed himself, in print, as well as in conversation, to the same course in 1844?
I will tell you what I will say: He was a prophet of God, And this nation would have been spared the bloodshed and the millions of money expended in the war, and year after year in pensions; and the widows and orphans, made by the war, would not have been deprived of their husbands and fathers, had this nation listened to the inspired words of the boy prophet, Joseph Smith.--Era, 4:689.
RESOLUTION
Believing in the words and teachings of President Joseph F. Smith as set forth this morning on the subject of temperance, it is proposed, therefore, that all officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will do all in their power, that can properly be done, with lawmakers generally to have such laws enacted by our legislature, soon to be elected, as may be necessary to close saloons, otherwise decrease the sale of liquor, and enact what is known as the "Sunday Law."
(On motion, the immense congregation voted in favor of the resolution submitted, proclaiming "aye" in a unanimous shout.)--CR October, 1908:64-65.
You have a daughter--splendid, beautiful and fragrant as a morning in June, with all its music and sunshine--a daughter fit to be mated to an Apollo, a king! I come to you and say to you: "I am a man of lawful age, I am sound of body and clean of soul. I love your daughter. I want her for my wife, and I ask you to give her to me, to give her to me body and soul." I am putting to you a supreme question--one that makes you thoughtful--and if you yield assent at all it is only upon the condition that I will go with you and with her, into God's holy temple, and before his high altar, and in the presence of His minister and under the ordinances of the Church and the laws of the commonwealth in which we live, and pledge myself in solemn compact and covenant--pledge myself to her, and to you, that if you give her to me I will love, cherish and defend her with my life. That is the condition. I assent to it. I go with you and with her, into God's holy temple, and in the presence of His minister, under the solemnity of the ordinances of the Church and the laws of the state, I solemnly enter into that compact and sign and seal it with my honor.
Then I take her away. You have given to me the dearest treasure of your life--given her to me--and I have accepted her under the sanction of the highest and holiest of covenants. But the next day I come back to you and say to you, that, notwithstanding this covenant, and the solemnity in which I entered upon it, in the name of personal liberty I have a right to drink a thing that will make it impossible for me to perform my part of the covenant--come to you and say I have a right to drink a thing that will send me home to her, your daughter, whom I have so taken, a frenzied fiend; send me home to her to beat her flesh and scar her soul--that in the name of personal liberty I have a right to drink a thing after I have taken her to myself and through her begotten children--that in the name of personal liberty I have a right to drink a thing that will put the fire of degeneracy into her children's blood, the frenzy of insanity into their brain, and the rack of palsy into their hands. Men and women, hear me! That thing is not liberty! It's crime! Crime before God! Crime before men!--Era, 19:834-835.
That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither, meet in the sight of your Father. . . .
The Lord says it is not good. And all the legislatures and all the congresses and all the senators and all the officers in the kingdoms of the world can say otherwise. But that will not change the word of the Creator of heaven and earth.--CR April, 1933:7.
And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.
I do not suppose that when we get whiskey, wine, beer, etc., much of it will be used for the washing of people's bodies.--CR April, 1933:8.
Let me promise you right here and now that if you vote for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, there will be a great many more professing Latter-day Saints who will be drunkards than there have been while the Eighteenth Amendment has been in force.--CR October, 1933:6.
Now, brethren, get down on your knees and pray to God to guide you in all you do. Do you think that there are a lot of people holding the highest offices in the government of the United States that are praying for guidance, men who voted for the repeal of the liquor law? Do you mean that the men who drink their cocktails right along--and we are spending billions of dollars for whiskey--and some of them are now in high places--that those are the men whom God is directing? If you do, I do not. I tell you that no greater crime was ever committed than the repealing of the prohibition law. Billions of dollars squandered, and poverty, and heartaches, and death and damnation to many men, have come because of liquor.--CS, October 11, 1941.
Everyone said: "We do not want the saloons to come back." Well, they have more than come back. It is said that on Second South Street today there is more drinking than there was in all the saloons we had formerly in the same amount of territory. And it is said there is also as much if not more bootlegging than there was before we repealed the prohibition law.
I could not help but feel humiliated when the Latter-day Saints knew as well as they knew that they lived that I wanted them to remain true to the Word of Wisdom and not vote for the repeal of prohibition.--CR October, 1934:129,
I feel to have charity at the present time for the Latter-day Saints who have voted for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, notwithstanding the fact that they knew very well, without my coming out and saying, "I want you to do it," that I would have been mighty happy if they had voted the other way. I lived in hopes, and I announced myself in public, that if all other states in the Union went "wet," Utah would go "dry."
Some of my friends begged me to come out and appeal to the people individually, to ask every Latter-day Saint to vote to maintain the Eighteenth Amendment.
I believe men that have lived the gospel just as well as I have ever lived it, many of them, were conscientious in voting for repeal. On the other hand, if they did it just merely out of politics, well, of course, I felt--always have--that politics are like the measles.
But I don't feel any harshness, I did feel annoyed, in good plain English, when one of the members of the cabinet saw fit to quote the president of the United States as wanting Utah to go wet. I had a lot of copies of speeches printed, which I was going to send out to the people. I announced that anybody who wanted copies should write for them. Finally I decided not to send them till after election. It annoyed me for one of the cabinet members to undertake to dictate, on behalf of the president, to the people of Utah to vote wet. I decided to keep still until after election, and I am glad to have done so. I don't want to offend any man who disagrees with me.
But I am very grateful indeed that the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment will not make any difference to any true Latter-day Saint. No Latter-day Saint will patronize those things when the Lord has told us it is His will that we let them alone. If our people are going to take license to follow after the things of the world and the people of the world, and do those things that the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches them not to do, they are not living up to their religion. So, really, the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment will make no difference whatever to a true Latter-day Saint.
On the other hand, I believe honestly and conscientiously that we ought in the future to be more diligent, more faithful, more energetic--those of us who in the past have kept the commandments of the Lord, than we have been in the past, for fear of the temptations that are coming to our young people; and be sure to set examples before them that will be worthy of their imitation because example is the finest way to preach in all the world.--CS, December 23, 1933:7, ONE SOLUTION OF WORLD PROBLEMS. I have been thinking very seriously of the condition that the world is in today during the great depression all over the globe. I am convinced in my own mind, without a shadow of a doubt, that a revelation covering only one page, given by the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, to the Prophet Joseph Smith, would solve the problems of the world if it were obeyed by the inhabitants of the earth; not only solve the problems in our own country but in every country. (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89)--CR April, 1933:6.
When that time comes, I expect a reign of liberty in Germany, and there will be a great harvest of souls in that land.--CR June, 1919:140-141.
There should be no ill-will, and I am sure there is none in the heart of any true Latter-day Saint, toward the Jewish people. By the authority of the Holy Priesthood of God that has again been restored to the earth, and by the ministration under the direction of the prophet of God, apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ have been to the Holy Land and have dedicated that country for the return of the Jews. And we believe that in due time of the Lord they shall be in the favor of God again. Let no Latter-day Saint be guilty of taking any part in any crusade against these people. I believe in no other part of the world is there as good a feeling in the hearts of mankind towards the Jewish people as among the Latter-day Saints.--CR April, 1921:124.
We further declare that God is grieved by war and that He will hold subject to the eternal punishments of His will those who wage it unrighteously.--CR October, 1939:8, (Statement from the First Presidency.)
Now, I pray the Lord to bless the Latter-day Saints. I pray the Lord to bless the people of the world. I pray with all my heart and soul that any man--I do not care who he is or how high his position--who is doing anything to get us into war, that he may be confounded; and I pray that we will all pray for guidance with all our hearts and souls. I feel as though it might be well for the Latter-day Saints to set aside a day to pray and to fast and to ask the Lord to preserve us as a nation from getting into war.--CR October, 1941.
I wish to impress upon the workers in all the organizations of the Church, the need for laboring prayerfully, untiringly, and diligently at this time to persuade the youth of Zion to be more faithful, more diligent, in observing what is known as the Word of Wisdom. I feel that while there are tens of thousands of our young men who are doing this, ever since the first World War there has not been so diligent an observance among young men as prior to that time. In order to be counted as hail-fellows-well-met, seeing that smoking was the rule in the army, many of them became cigarette smokers. And since many of our young men are now eligible for military service, and some actually so engaged, I ask them to remember well all of their principles and ideals, under all conditions and circumstances, when they are at home, and when they are away from home.--Era, 44:73.
I understand there are many of our boys here today that are in the army. I hope and pray and plead that every boy will feel in his heart: "I want to know what is right and clean and pure and holy, and I want God to help me." I want every Latter-day Saint soldier to get down on his knees and pray God to help him to lead a clean life, and to preach the gospel while he is in the army. The army, as a rule, is a demoralizer of the morals of men, to a very great extent. They think: "Oh, well; we are going to be killed anyway--let's have a h--l of a good time." Do not wish for any such good time; there is no good time anywhere for any human being except by doting good and doing right, There is a peace, a joy, and a happiness that comes from doing right that nothing else can compare with.--CS, October 11, 1941.
Now, I pray the Lord to bless our boys. I give them my blessing, and I have the right to bless them, and I promise them that if they will be prayerful God will give them joy even in the army, if they will live sweet and clean lives. I do hope and pray that they will be like the Lamanites who were converted and who when they went into war none of them lost their lives.--CS, October 11, 1941.
I remember well in Japan of reading an article by a man who stated it was his business to analyze the faces of people, and he said he had just come from visiting the president of the Mormon Church (that was when Lorenzo Snow was president) and he said, with one single exception, in all his life he had never looked upon a more God-like face than that of the Mormon leader. If the Mormon Church can furnish leaders like this, it will need no greater proof of the integrity of the people.
I have often felt that a photograph of our dear sisters, with the intelligent, Godlike faces that they possess, would be a testimony to all the world of the integrity of our people.--RSM, 17:679-680.
She shapes their lives more than the father, because he is away much more; his associations in the world take him away from the family circle; so that to our mothers we owe everything. I, of course, owe everything to my mother, because my father died when I was only nine days of age; and the marvelous teachings, the faith, the integrity of my mother have been an inspiration to me.--RSM, 17:335.
It is our sisters who carry the burden of the work. We talk about the missionary work of the elders who go forth to proclaim the gospel. We talk about the great pioneer work of the early settlers of this country. But I wish to say here that it is the mothers at home who are making the sacrifice for the boys who go into the mission field. It is the mothers who stand the hardships far more than men. Men are engaged in many activities, and without the devotion and absolute testimony of the living God in the hearts of our mothers this Church would die. May God bless the mothers of men, is my most humble prayer; and I do bless them in the name of God, our Heavenly Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.--CR April, 1930:23.
All faithful Latter-day Saint sisters have a very remarkable mission placed upon them. As you shall inspire the young girls with the love of God, with the love of home, the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with a desire to seek to do that which will be pleasing to our Heavenly Father, you will grow in ability, strength, and in the power of God.--YMJ, 30:351.
It is more blessed to give than to receive, and the women are always ready and willing to give, more than the men are. There is a willingness to sacrifice on the part of our dear sisters, and of women generally, all over the world, that we do not find in men. They are leaders in all things that make for spiritual uplift.--RSM, 17:336.
I have no fear for the Church of Jesus Christ as long as the women of the Church are as devoted as you are and as others are in their various organizations.--RSM, 17:679.
If we can only keep a deep spiritual interest in the hearts of our sisters in the Primaries, in the Mutuals, and in the Relief Societies, this work is bound to progress.--RSM, 17:679,
Speaking of a young couple who went east to become great in certain lines, reminds me of a teacher coming to me in Liverpool, where one of my daughters was taking vocal lessons, and saying: "It is a shame, although I have the credit of being the best teacher in Liverpool, for you to keep your girl here with me. Send her to Paris--send her to Berlin, She has the finest quality of voice of any singer I have ever heard. She can make herself famous."
I said: "My dear friend, I never expect her to make a single dollar with her voice. I would sooner have her sing lullabies to her own children than to make millions and become the greatest singer in the world," Why? Because in rearing children to God through her example, she was giving them a chance to get in that straight and narrow path that would lead them to life eternal.--RSM, 20:302.
I can think of nothing that a devoted wife would prize more than to be made the instrument in the hands of the Lord in bestowing His blessings upon her husband and the father of her children through the instrumentality of a special gift.--YMJ, 16:129.
The blessings and promises that come from beginning life together, for time and eternity, in a temple of the Lord cannot be obtained in any other way. Worthy young Latter-day Saint men and women who so begin life together find that their eternal partnership under the everlasting covenant becomes the foundation upon which are built peace, happiness, virtue, love, and all of the other eternal verities of life, here and hereafter.--Era, 39:198-199.
I believe that many of the troubles of those Latter-day Saints who have sorrow in their homes and difficulties with their families come from neglect in carrying out the commandments of God, one of the most important of which concerns temple marriage, Much sorrow is chargeable to indifference to this and other requirements.
One of the serious evils of our day is divorce, the breaking up of families, the infidelity of husband and wife. There are fewer divorces among the Latter-day Saints than among other people. In our own communities the divorce rate is lower among members of our Church who have been properly married in the temple, as compared with those married by civil ceremony, showing that the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, when observed, tend to make the marriage covenant sacred. Thereby the evil of divorce is greatly lessened.
Latter-day Saints who are living their religion go to one of our temples and are married for time and for all eternity. Members of the Church who are not living up to the standards of the Church and cannot secure a recommend to go into a temple to be properly married are married by the law of the land or by the bishop of their ward. But they are not sealed as husband and wife for time and for all eternity.
Another of the great evils of the age is race suicide. This also is not consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Providing opportunity for the spirit children of our Father in Heaven to come to earth and work out their own salvation is one of our sacred privileges and obligations. We teach that among the choicest of eternal riches are children.
No man or woman in all the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, worthy of a recommend to the temple, and properly married, has been married except for time and for all eternity. And there is no doubt in the mind of any true Latter-day Saint, man or woman, as to the fact of individual existence beyond the grave, as to the fact that we shall know each other, and as to the endless duration of the covenant of marriage that has been performed in the House of the Lord for time and eternity. Of these things we have assurance in the knowledge that God Himself has spoken them, and this is one of the very foundation principles of the Church.--Era, 44:329.
Faith is a gift of God. If we seek for faith the Lord blesses us with that faith. It becomes a gift from Him, and we are promised that if we will do the will of the Father we shall know of the doctrine. If we as parents will so order our lives that our children will know and realize in their hearts that we are in very deed Latter-day Saints, that we actually know what we are talking about, they, by seeking after the Lord, will get that same testimony.--CS, September 26, 1931.
I . . . bear my testimony . . . that if we will study the . . . Doctrine and Covenants . . . get the Spirit of the Lord, and teach our children in their youth, that God will bless us. Our children will grow up with a love for the gospel.
Let us teach our children by example as well as by precept. When we earn a dollar let us pay ten cents as tithing. When we give the children a dollar tell them to pay ten cents to the Lord. Let us see that they go regularly to their Sunday Schools, their Primaries, and their Mutual Improvement Associations, and, in this way, they will get interested and learn to love the work of the Lord. Their time and talents will be occupied, and they will not have time to waste with those things that are of no good.
I have heard men and women say that they were going to let their sons and daughters grow to maturity before they sought to teach them the principles of the gospel, that they were not going to cram the gospel down them in their childhood, before they were able to comprehend it. When I hear men and women say this, I think they are lacking faith in the principles of the gospel and do not comprehend it as they should. The Lord has said it is our duty to teach our children in their youth, and I prefer to take His word for it rather than the words of those who are not obeying His commandments. It is folly to imagine that our children will grow up with a knowledge of the gospel without teaching. Some men and women argue, "Well, I am a Latter-day Saint, and we were married in the temple, and were sealed over the altar by one having the Priesthood of God, according to the new and everlasting covenant, and our children are bound to grow up and be good Latter-day Saints; they cannot help it; it is born in them." I have learned the multiplication table, and so has my wife, but do you think I am a big enough fool to believe that our children will be born with a knowledge of the multiplication table? I may know that the gospel is true, and so may my wife; but I want to tell you that our children will not know that the gospel is true, unless they study it and gain a testimony for themselves. Parents are deceiving themselves in imagining that their children will be born with a knowledge of the gospel. Of course, they will have greater claim upon the blessings of God, being born under the new and everlasting covenant, and it will come natural for them to grow up and perform their duties; but the devil realizes this, and is therefore seeking all the harder to lead our children from the truth.--CR April, 1902:79-80.
There are many who have made a wonderful record in the battle of life even after they have done things in their youth that were not pleasing in the sight of our Heavenly Father or for their own good. But it is far better, if it is possible, for us to start the children out in the battle of life with nothing recorded on the pages of their years except good deeds and faith-promoting thoughts. There is a saying that, "As the twig is bent the tree is inclined." You who teach our children are engaged in the labor of bending the twig.--Era, 42:135.
Every father and mother should make it their particular business to set an example worthy of emulation in keeping the Word of Wisdom, then the children are free to do as they wish, and if they do not keep the commandment, there will be no charge laid to the parents.--RSM, 25:14.
I pray that your example may be such that your children will live the gospel of Jesus Christ, because that is of more value than anything else in the world.--RSM, 20:302.
I am thankful that healthy, vigorous, strong, sweet babies are the best crop of Utah, and I hope and pray earnestly that it will ever be so. I hope that the fashion which is a thousand times worse than are the fashions of dress, namely, that of drying up the fountains of life, will never become popular among the Latter-day Saints.--CR October, 1913: 89.
Children notice the example of their parents, their friends, and their teachers. Upon one occasion, in one of the southern counties, when home missionaries were stopping at a brother's home and they had prayers, a little child said: "Papa, we never pray, do we, unless we have company?"--CS, December 23, 1933:7.
To me it is a reproach, a real genuine reproach on every Latter-day Saint home that does not have the Era. I do not hesitate to say that. The Latter-day Saints in one particular fulfil their obligation to the Lord almost beyond what we could expect. I am sure that two thousand missionaries require between forty and fifty dollars each month to support them in the mission field. That means a little raising of a million dollars a year that we are expending for missionary work.
Now I do not think that I am exaggerating the least particle when I say that the very finest missionary we have in the Church today is The Improvement Era, and I am sorry to say that in many homes men are called upon missions where the father and the mother make wonderful sacrifices but have never seen fit to have this magazine in their home. They will spend between forty and fifty dollars a month for two years or two and a half to support a young man in the mission field, and yet they have not stopped to reflect that with two dollars they might have been educating that boy for the labor he is to perform. It is holding up not nickels but pennies in front of your eyes, figuratively speaking, not to take the Era in our homes in order to save two dollars. I believe that every bishop in the Church and every president of a stake and every high councilor is under obligation as a missionary to see that this missionary, The Improvement Era, gets into his home.--Era, 41:694.
That is the only way that they can possess them in the next world, for those they have will be taken away, unless they keep the commandments of God.--CR October, 1900: 59.
To the next man I said: "I happen to have lived in Salt Lake before I came out here, and although you are vouched for by your bishop he is not familiar with your conduct when you are in Salt Lake. I happen to have seen you under the influence of liquor, and your kind cannot get a recommend from me to obtain another wife. It is bad enough to have a man who breaks the Word of Wisdom and gets drunk raising one family, without giving him the opportunity to raise another."
There never was a time in the history of the people of Utah that two percent of the population were liable under the Edmunds-Tucker act. But it was a very fine argument to say that we imported, as people are saying yet that we do, women to Utah, and forced them into plural marriage.--CR April, 1930:185.
We have excommunicated several patriarchs because they arrogated unto themselves the right, or pretended right, to perform these ceremonies. And after our having excommunicated several patriarchs, another one, so I am informed, has committed the same offense. I announce to all Israel that no living man has the right to perform plural marriages. I announce that no patriarch has the right to perform any marriages at all in the Church. We have delegated, at the present time, to the presidents of stakes, and to the bishops of wards, the right to perform lawful marriages, and there has been delegated to some elders who held positions as county clerks, the right to exercise the authority of the Priesthood to perform legal marriages for time.--CR April, 1921:202.
When I was a young man, in reading some statistics I was astonished to find that there was a higher percentage of education within the state penitentiary of Massachusetts than there was outside of it; that is, that the average was better in the penitentiary than in the remainder of the state. This made a very profound impression upon my mind. From that time until the present, I have seen nothing and read nothing but what has confirmed me in the conviction that the mere development and improvement of the body and the intellect by education, without developing the spirit, does not accomplish what education ought to do for a person.--Era, 26:1091.
If we can get the love of God into the hearts of all in our schools, and open up radio communication with God and keep it open, I am not afraid of scientific facts or knowledge of any kind or description affecting the faith of the Latter-day Saints.--GM, 17:97.
We, of course, seek after knowledge, light, and intelligence and to inform ourselves upon all matters of importance. The glory of God, we have been told by the Prophet Joseph, is intelligence; and we desire to gain knowledge and to become as intelligent as we possibly can. But above and beyond all other things the fathers and the mothers in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints desire that their sons and daughters shall secure an abiding testimony, an absolute and a perfect knowledge regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. That is of more value than anything else in this world, provided, of course, that those of us who receive that testimony, who obtain the knowledge that we are engaged in God's great work, abide therein and continue in the faith.--Era 24:866.
It has been said that, "To do that which before us lies in daily life is the prime wisdom." By having this for a motto, in addition to having a purpose in life, and making practical use of our knowledge, I have no fear but that all the students of the University, in after years, will be instruments for good in the hands of God, in accomplishing His purposes on earth. . . .
I know that you love and respect the president of your university, and in no way can you show that love in a manner that will be more highly appreciated by him than in doing your duty, and living worthy lives, both while in and out of school.
The university, to a certain extent, is judged by its graduates. Let every student feel that when he shall graduate and go forth to do the battle of life, that he will so order his conduct that he will bring credit to himself, and thereby, of necessity, credit to the institution of learning to which he owes so much.
All that I have said with reference to showing your love and gratitude to the president of your institution, applies with equal force to the professors, who labor diligently for your advancement; and, above and beyond this, it applies to your fathers and your mothers, to whose hearts you can in no other way bring greater joy than by faithfully performing the daily duties that devolve upon you, and living worthy lives.
I am reminded that if I were talking to you, it would now be about time for the bell to ring, announcing that the time has expired for your devotional services; and, therefore, I will close with the earnest prayer that God our Heavenly Father will bless each of you, that you may enjoy His Holy Spirit to guide and direct you through all the changing scenes of life; that peace, prosperity, and happiness, may be your portion in this life, and that you will be welcomed back into His presence in the life to come, there to have an eternity of joy.
I am sincerely your friend and brother in the cause of true education, which, to my mind, embraces an earnest desire for the guidance of the Father of our spirits which are eternal.--Era 5:288-291.
When teachers stand before their classes and ask students to hold up their hands in answer to a question whether they believe something that is in the Bible, such instructors are doing that which I think they should refrain from doing, because that is not what they are paid for. Let the Bible alone, and not attempt to get a "ha-ha" out of those who do not believe its teachings.--CR October, 1935:102-103.
I will thank the Lord when the public sentiment of America shall say that a man who does not believe in prayer cannot teach our children, at the expense of the public. Why should my money be used to employ a man to teach my children infidelity and a lack of faith in God? I remember as a boy, when we had our small common schools, that they hired a non-Mormon to teach in the Twelfth Ward school. He got up and said: "I understand that in the past you have prayed in this school. We will not have any more prayers, because we do not know whether or not there is anybody to pray to." I consider it an outrage that the money of people who believe in the Lord God Almighty can be spent to teach our children that kind of "rot." I endorse Nicholas Murray Butler's words, "The fool who says in his heart: `There is no God,' finds his god when he is looking in the mirror."--CR April, 1922:167.
Never while the world stands will it be necessary for us to shift our faith. God lives, Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. He has appeared to Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and Sidney Rigdon, and we proclaim to all the world that we know that He lives and that God has given to us individually a testimony regarding the divinity of the mission of Joseph Smith.--CR October, 1930:5-6.
Unless we provide better means of religious instruction for the rising generation, I fear that many of them will turn away from the truth.--JH, September 2, 1889; DN, September 2, 1889.
I remember speaking, upon one occasion, in one of our great Church schools. I said that I hoped it would never be forgotten that the one and only reason why there was any necessity for a Church school was to make Latter-day Saints. If it were only for the purpose of gaining secular knowledge or improving in art, literature, science, and invention, so far as our information was concerned, and adding to it on these subjects, that there was no need of Church schools, because we could gain these things from our secular schools supported by the taxation of the people; and that we had an abundance of uses for all the means that the Church possesses, all the tithing that might come into our hands, without expending vast sums of money upon Church schools. But if we kept in our minds the one central thing, namely, the making of Latter-day Saints in our schools, then they would be fulfilling the object of their existence. The amount of money expended would cut no figure at all, because we cannot value in dollars and cents the saving of a single soul.--Era, 24:866-867.
Unless the heart of a man is right, unless a man is determined to do good, unless he believes in God and in Jesus Christ, and believes in the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, he cannot accomplish what he might achieve in this Church if he had that knowledge. It is to implant that knowledge in the hearts of the people that we have a school system, and if the Church school system fails to do this, it will not have accomplished the thing for which it was organized, that which is expected of it, and which we all hope and pray for it to do.--Era, 26:1091.
There are today [1929] twelve thousand five hundred students in our seminaries and three thousand eight hundred students in our Church schools. It is costing more than twice as much to support the three thousand eight hundred students the Church schools as it is to support the twelve thousand five hundred students in the seminaries. It costs over ten times as much per capita to give the same amount of religious instruction in our Church schools as is given in our seminaries.
It is only fair to say that the religious instruction given in our seminaries is equally as extensive and as thorough as that given in our Church schools. We have appeals from all over the Church, wherever Church schools are located, that we do not close these institutions. The people in each stake feel that their particular school is the one that ought not to be closed. While we are expending now, and have done so for the past three years, more than all the tithes paid by the people in the various stakes of Zion from Canada to Mexico, it is an impossibility to extend our seminary system further--which has been greatly expanded in the last three years--and still continue our Church schools. When you stop to reflect that it only costs a little less than one-tenth as much to educate our young people religiously in the seminaries as it does in the Church schools, you will realize that we are justified in curtailing our schools and in enlarging our seminaries--when we can give for the same amount as much if not a little more religious education to ten people in a seminary as we can give to one person in a school. We would be delighted if it were possible, not only to keep every one of our Church schools operating, but to have more of them. I am sure that, figuratively speaking, it breaks the hearts of the Presidency and of all of the General Authorities of the Church to close any one of the Church schools. We appreciate the wonderful labors that have been accomplished and the wonderful good that has been done in these schools. But we cannot, without facing a deficit, continue to expend three or four times as much money for building meetinghouses and Church schools with only a very slight increase in our tithes.
Because of these facts we would like the people to understand that in closing Church schools and opening seminaries we shall be able to give religious instruction to about ten times as many students.--CR April, 1929:3-4.
I am very sorry indeed that a great many simply study and learn the words, so to speak, the letter of things, without getting the spirit of them. The spirit, we are told, gives life and animation and power, and it is to develop the spirit of man that we have established this Church school system.--Era, 26:1091.
The whole sum and substance of my subject is contained in the fact that there is one thing, and only one, that these [Church] schools ought to do, and that is to make Latter-day Saints. And, as the salvation of the children of God here on the earth is the purpose for which the gospel has again been revealed, that is the reason for the establishment of these schools, and the specific reason.
Unless these schools had been established, I believe that some of the strongest, best, and most noble workers in the Church of Christ would not be such noble workers, would not have their faith, would have gone away for their education without a love of God in their hearts, and would not today be numbered in the membership of the Church. I believe that as a cold-blooded business proposition, we should try to discern and find out the spirit of men and women teaching in these schools, to see to it that we haven't somebody teaching there just because there is as good a salary as he could get somewhere else or because he can do better financially; and who pays his tithing simply because he is working in the Church school system as I know some have done, for the day they got another job they discontinued paying their tithing. When we can get rid of every teacher who has not the love of God and the love of Jesus Christ and the love of this work and of implanting in the hearts of the children the testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and have only those who are determined to make Latter-day Saints, then this school system will grow more rapidly than it has in the past, and the specific object for which it was created will be more rapidly attained.--Era, 26:1093.
The singing of our sacred hymns, written by the servants of God, has a powerful effect in converting people to the principles of the gospel and in promoting peace and spiritual growth. Singing is a prayer to the Lord, as He has said: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."--Era, 43:522; Doctrine and Covenants, 25:12.
I have listened in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Christiania, Zurich, and Rotterdam to our Mormon choirs. Their singing has been the equal in its inspiring and uplifting character to any that I have heard in the stakes of Zion.--Era, 15:786.
I rejoice in our wonderful Tabernacle Choir. I rejoice in the fine management of this choir and our fine organists. I rejoice in our having such fine groups of singers indifferent parts of Utah that we can bring here to sing for us. I do not think there is another people in the world of the same number that can begin to compare with our people as congregational singers.--CR October, 1939:127.
I am free to confess that when I go out into the country district and hear sung certain anthems, I wonder why the people do not show preference for the home-made article. I thing that Evan Stephens and these other men were inspired of the Lord to write music for us. I do not want to reflect on any of the magnificent things that have been written by others, but I have gone to many a conference where I have listened to anthems when I would rather have heard a good Latter-day Saint hymn sung.--CR April, 1933:120.
The more beautiful the music by which false doctrine is sung, the more dangerous it becomes. I appeal to all Latter-day Saints, and especially to our choirs, never to sing the words of a song, no matter how beautiful and inspiring the music may be, where the teachings are not in perfect accord with the truths of the gospel.--Era, 15:786.
To my mind the musician who pays little or no attention to the words of a song destroys half the value and charm of his or her singing.--Era, 15:784.
It is not the eloquence that you possess which will carry conviction to the hearts of the people, but it is the Spirit of Almighty God that is burning in your hearts, and your desire for the salvation of souls. Brigham Young said that the Spirit of the Lord would do more to convert people than the eloquence of men. And I say that the singing of the songs of Zion, though imperfectly, with the inspiration of God, will touch the hearts of the honest more effectively than if sung well without the Spirit of God. Sing with the Spirit of God. Love the words that you sing. I love the songs of Zion.--Era, 4:686.
I am confident that the hymns of Zion, when sung with the proper spirit, bring a peaceful and heavenly influence to our homes, and also aid in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I recommend to the youth of Zion, that they go to work with determination and learn to sing. Particularly is this recommendation made to the young men, because, next to a familiarity with the scriptures, the ability to sing will assist them when they are called to the nations of the earth to preach the gospel. It will insure them many a friend, furnish them many a meal and bed, which they would otherwise go without.--Era, 3:894.
And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! all is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow too; With the just we shall dwell.
Do we feel that, if we die, all is well? Are we living so that if the summons should come to us, that we are worthy to go back to our Heavenly Father, when we leave this earth, and be welcomed there? Are we so living that we are worthy of the blessings we have received? I ask myself the question, am I doing all I possibly can for the uplifting not only of myself but of my fellows, am I in very deed a shining light to the people, by reason of the example I set before them?--CR April, 1909.
I have always been interested with all my heart and soul in the welfare of the young men and young women of our Church.--Era, 39:396.
So far as the youth of Zion are concerned, I have no fear, because those who are keeping the commandments of the Lord are progressing and growing in strength and in power and in influence. Those who are drifting away from the principles of the gospel are losing in influence and power and prestige.--Era, 39:471.
I rejoice in the splendid progress of our young people. I am sure there is no other place in the United States where a body of young people could be gathered together, such as I am facing here today [June Conference, 1938], who would pledge themselves, as you have done, to live one of the laws of God [the Word of Wisdom] for the benefit of mankind.--Era, 41:391
"Oh," he said, "President Adams was never better in his life, never younger, never in finer condition, but this house he is living in is becoming rather old and he is hoping for a better one in the near future."
I hope to keep that spirit of youth.--Era, 41:391.
I sympathize with our young people because of the temptations that beset them. I urge them as I always have to live the gospel of Jesus Christ fully. In that way they will have health and happiness and will meet with success in this life and will have an eternity of joy in store for them in the life to come. I bless them with courage to meet the problems that lie ahead.--Era, 43:267.
I have ever taken an interest in the Mutual Improvement Associations because of the realization of the fact that as a young man I stood as it were upon the brink of usefulness or upon the brink of making a failure of my life, and to a certain extent I give the credit to the Mutual Improvement Associations and to the Sunday School that I have become a faithful member of the Church of Christ.--The Contributor, 16:640.
I am convinced of the deep obligation which rests upon all parents and officers in the Y.M.M.I.A. to exert the best energy of our minds to direct aright the labors of the youth of Zion.--Era, 3:197.
The Y.M.M.I.A. gives the young men an organization which they can call their own, which young people much desire. I feel young enough to desire it.
No greater calamity could befall the young men of this Church than for them to have no organization of their own.
Our Associations teach the young men to preside and conduct public assemblies, and to express themselves in public gatherings. I have met men with salaries ranging from twenty-five to one hundred thousand a year who were not as capable as some of our boys of twenty when it came to making an impromptu speech.--Era, 15:872-873.
We want the boys to get practice in speaking and in conducting themselves properly. Kill our Associations and the needed practice is done away with.
They give opportunity for study along religious, social, scientific, intellectual, and physical lines. They prevent the general organization of clubs, social and select educational societies, and meet the desires and wants of young people in such activities under Church influence and direction. If we fail to provide our young men with the opportunity of doing this, they will go outside of Church influences to indulge in these things.--Era, 15:873.
Our M.I.A. is a rallying place in which the youth may learn from study and experience to develop all noble gifts within them. This implies class work in conduct, application of religious doctrines, literature, science, history, biography, art, government, etc. It is a forum where those who have special talents may be encouraged to cultivate them by public expression, where the young men [and women] take part in debates, orations, music, story-telling, lectures, writing essays, reading, and speaking.--Era, 15:875.
You cannot convert a bishop who has an active, wide-awake Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association but that it is one of the finest organizations that could possibly exist in his ward. He knows the benefit, he knows the support, the same as the bishop knows the benefit to his ward of a young man who comes home from a mission filled with the Spirit of God, and who can feed the people the bread of life. There is no labor that pleases the Lord more than for young men to prepare themselves for missions. From my own experience, I know that the active M.I.A. member is better prepared for missionary work than one who has not attended Mutual. In this field the young men may have the opportunity for preparation to do good, effective missionary work. There is no place better for men and women of experience to do good than can be found working in our Mutual Improvement Associations. The best missionaries, the best workers, should be called, if necessary, to do missionary work among the young people in their association activities. Often more practical good and more genuine religion can be impressed by a word in the right place, in the games, parties, entertainments, classes, and festivals of the young than in much preaching and exhortation.--Era, 15:876-877.
I feel that the receiving of a testimony is the one great central object to be accomplished in these Associations of our young men and young ladies.--Era, 24:866.
It is a real satisfaction to me to know that through the cooperation of our general, stake, and ward officers we have more Boy Scouts per capita than any other church in the United States.
I hope that our Scout leaders will remember that it is our privilege and obligation, in connection with the promotion of this program, to see that our boys also receive proper religious training in order that they may become real American citizens.--Era, 38:69.
Young men who are laboring in the M.I.A. cause should be true to themselves. When they resolve to accomplish something, they should never become discouraged, but should labor cheerfully and with a determination until the promise to themselves has become a reality. I cannot possibly impress this lesson too strongly upon the minds of my readers. If we fall into the habit of making resolutions in relation to ourselves, and of constantly breaking them, such a course will tend to make us careless in the fulfillment of promises to others.--Era, 3:84.
The one central thing, the one great message that I desire to deliver to the youth of Zion is to get a knowledge of the divinity of this work, and then to love the work and to follow out the admonition given to the father of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"Oh, ye that engage in the service of the Lord, see that ye serve him with all your might, mind and strength."
That is the central message that I wish to deliver. But how can we serve the Lord? By obeying His commandments. Faith without works is dead, like the body without the spirit.
Let the young people be honest tithe payers; let the young people observe the Word of Wisdom; let the young people attend to their secret prayers and supplicate God, night and morning, for the direction of His Holy Spirit; let them honor their fathers and their mothers, that their days may be long in the land which the Lord their God has given them.--Era, 24:873-874.
My message to the young people of the Church is this:
Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the true and the living God. Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of God of establishing upon the earth the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; Brigham Young was the lawful successor to Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young gave to all the youth of Israel, Associations for their improvement, but the keynote he gave to those Associations was that they should secure a testimony of this gospel.--Era, 24:869.
If there is one thing more than another that I would like above all other things to impress upon young men it is a desire to find some labor, some work in connection with the gospel of Jesus Christ, through which they can give something to this gospel.--Era, 42:393.
I want to say that the young Mormon boy who apes the habits of those not of our faith is in greater danger of making a moral and financial wreck of himself, than the boy who has not been trained as our boys have been trained.--Era, 25:956.
boy or girl ought to sit down and say, because she cannot do as well as somebody else, that she will not do anything. God has given to some people ten talents. To others, He has given one. But they who improve the one talent will live to see the day when they will far outshine those who have ten talents but fail to improve them.--Era, 4:684-685.
"Not he who merely succeeds in making a fortune, and in so doing blunts the natural affections of the heart, and chases therefrom the love of his fellows, can be said to be truly successful: but he who so lives that those who know him best shall love him most; and that God, who knows not only his deeds, but also the inmost sentiments of his heart, shall love him; of such an one, only--notwithstanding he may die in poverty--can it be said indeed and of a truth, `he should be crowned with the wealth of success.'"--CR October, 1911:23-24.
I assert with confidence that the law of success, here and hereafter, is to have a humble and a prayerful heart, and to work, work, WORK.--Era, 3:195.
The Lord is no respecter of persons, and will give success to all who work for it. If I can only impress upon the minds of the youth of Zion the eloquence, the inexpressible eloquence of work, I shall feel fully repaid.--Era, 3:195.
I believe in the man who is willing to do the things which the Lord has commanded, and who shows his faith by his works.--Era, 24:259.
What are we working for? Wealth? Riches? If we have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we are working for eternal life. Then we are laboring to save our souls. And after saving our own souls we are laboring for the salvation of our children. Perchance we leave them wealth. What does it amount to? Look at some of those families among the Latter-day Saints who have been left in affluent circumstances. Show me, my friends, if you can, their increase in faith and works in laboring for the onward advancement of God's kingdom, because of their increase in wealth. . . . I want to say that the best inheritance that you can leave to your sons and daughters is an investment in the kingdom of God.--JH, October 30, 1892:5; DN, December 17, 1892.
The most prosperous men all over this country, wherever the Latter-day Saints are scattered, are those who have paid an honest tithing and who have been the most liberal in donating for temples--so it will always be.--JH, October 4, 1895:7.
There is nothing like example. I like to encourage people to do their duty and to have a mind to do something, and if they have the mind and the desire, I am convinced they can do almost anything they want to within the bounds of reason.--Era, 44:459.
The other spirit--to get all we can, and give as little as possible in return--is contrary to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not right to desire something for which we do not give service or value received. That idea is all wrong, and it is only a question of time when the sheep and the goats will be separated, so to speak.--Era, 43:137.
It is by exercise and by practice that we become proficient in any of the vocations or avocations of life, whether it be of a religious or of a secular character.--YWJ, 30:351.
There is a lack of doing things in the world, and it is that doing of things with us that counts and gives us strength and power with the Lord and develops the people.--YWJ, 30:352.
Nothing destroys the individuality of a man, a woman, or a child so much as the failure to be self-reliant.--RSM, 24:627.
Every young man should . . . have an ambition to qualify himself for labor to the full extent of his ability, so that he will be able to accomplish all that is possible for him to do in planting the standard of truth firmly on the earth.--Era, 3:197.
The man that grows each day of his life is the man that fills the plain, simple, everyday duties which devolve upon him.--JH, October 4, 1895:7.
I have found nothing in the battle of life that has been of more value to me than to perform the duty of today to the best of my ability. I know that where young men do this, they will be better prepared for the labors of tomorrow.--Era, 3:82.
I am not afraid of any individual ever injuring me, but I am afraid that perchance I may fail to be as faithful and diligent as I ought to be; I am afraid I may fail to use all the talents God has given me, in the way I ought to use them.--CR April, 1909:111.
I hope that no young man will throw away any of his time waiting for "something to turn up."--Era, 3:195.
I would urge upon the young men to do nothing for show, but to do their best to obtain knowledge and then strive to put the knowledge obtained to practical use. I am acquainted with some people who are regular encyclopedias of knowledge, but so far as their knowledge being utilized for the benefiting of their fellow men, they might just as well not possess it or be deaf, dumb, and blind; this is all wrong.--Era 3:304.
Faith and knowledge without practice are of no value. All the knowledge in the world would not amount to anything unless we put that knowledge into actual practice. We are the architects and builders of our lives, and if we fail to put our knowledge into actual practice and do the duties that devolve upon us we are making a failure of life.--CR April, 1939:18.
I believe unless we have ambition to accomplish things and to do things that we amount to but very little in the battle of life. I know of nothing at the present time that seems to me sadder than to find the number of our people who are losing the spirit of integrity and devotion and ambition to do things. It seems to me all wrong. Every individual should have a desire to grow and increase in capacity and in ability to do things. Certainly by mere exertion of the will, by mere desire, we accomplish nothing. We must put with that desire the labor to accomplish the things we desire. I am sure that a young man who is perfectly satisfied with what he is doing, although he may be doing very little, and has no ambition to do more, will stand still. But I am convinced that every individual can improve from day to day, from year to year, and have greater capacity to do things as the years come and the years go. I believe in that with all my heart.--Era, 41:391.
I would sooner have the approval of my own conscience and know that I had done my duty than to have the praise of all the world and not have the approval of my own conscience. A man's own conscience, when he is living as he should live, is the finest monitor and the best judge in all the world. Men can accuse you of wrong-doing, and it has no effect at all if you know they lie and you have done that which is right.
No amount of lying hurts a man if he has done what is right. No amount of criticism bothers a bishop or a president of a stake as to the expenditure of tithing or the managing of Church affairs if they know that with all the power and all the ability and all the strength they possess, they are doing the best they know how and doing that which they think and know is right. Criticism does not have any effect upon a man who is doing his duty. A man who does his duty has the approval of his own conscience and that is the finest pay in all the world.--Era, 42:585.
I am a firm believer that in this life alone, without going into the next, nearly every man gets his compensation for anything that he does, not only in dollars, but in something far more valuable than dollars. As long as a man will do his duty, he will be all right. Furthermore he will get over being selfish, which is one of the world's greatest needs. The Lord does not need your tithing, as far as He is concerned, but you need it for your growth, spiritually and temporally, that the windows of heaven may be opened and the Spirit of the living God given to you.--Era, 41:585.
I am converted to the thought that the way to peace and happiness in life is by giving service. Service is the true key, I believe, to happiness, because when we perform labors like missionary work, all the rest of our lives we can look back upon our accomplishments in the mission field. When we perform any acts of kindness, they bring a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure into our hearts, while ordinary amusements pass away. We can't look back with any particular satisfaction upon having spent an evening just for the privilege of laughing loud and long.--GM, 23:10.
I see that my time has expired, but I want to make just one suggestion. I rejoice in the financial growth of the Church organ; I rejoice in the increase of seven thousand subscribers to our paper, which belongs to the Latter-day Saints. I say, continue the good work. Subscribe to The Deseret News. Have it in your homes. Read the sermons that are published there; read the teachings of our Heavenly Father that come to us through His servants, that are published in that paper. Do not allow your selfishness and your penuriousness to cause you, in order to save a few dollars, to not have the inspiration of the Lord through His servants, as published in that paper. Sustain this paper. Why? Because it is yours. Because the prophet of God desires its success; because it is fighting for Zion, and because it desires the triumph of Zion. Sustain every other good institution and God will bless you.--CR, April, 1900:24.
Preaching and talking mean but very little unless our lives are lived in perfect harmony with our teachings.--RSM, 23:339.
In all the work that we do let us not lose sight of the spiritual part of it.--RSM, 24:628.
"It has been one of the joys of my life, because of the knowledge which I have of the divine mission of the Savior, to bear my testimony in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Mexico, in most of the states of the American union, in far-off Japan, and in the Hawaiian Islands, and to lift up my voice declaring that our Heavenly Father and His beloved Son have again spoken from the heavens and that God introduced His Son to Joseph Smith and instructed him to hear His Son; and the Savior promised Joseph Smith that he should be the instrument in the hands of God of again establishing the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth." --HEBER J. GRANT 1938, Christmas Radio Message.
I am in favor of trying to save the weak-kneed; I am in favor of trying to help those who need help; and I want never to forget the teachings in the Doctrine and Covenants, from start to finish.--RSM, 24:629.
I have never had any desire in my heart in standing before the Latter-day Saints other than that I might be able to say something that would be for their good, for their benefit; and that would be calculated in its nature to encourage them, and to fix in their hearts a desire and a determination to be more faithful, more diligent, more energetic in the discharge of the duties that devolve upon them in the future of their lives than they have been in the past.--CR April, 1908:55-56.
I entered an office as a young man fifteen years of age and I labored among those not of our faith until I engaged in business for myself at nineteen. Then I was connected with institutions at home and abroad, none of which were Mormon institutions--companies in England, France, Germany, and from New York to San Francisco. All of my contacts in a business way were with those not of our faith.
Years rolled on, and before I was twenty-four I was made the president of the Tooele Stake of Zion. I announced in a speech that lasted seven and a half minutes that I would ask no man in Tooele to be a more honest tithe payer than I would be; that I would ask no man to give more of his means in proportion to what he had than I would give; I would ask no man to live the Word of Wisdom better than I would live it, and I would give the best that was in me for the benefit of the people in that stake of Zion.
That night I heard in the dark a man say in a contemptuous way: "It is a pity if the General Authorities have to send a man out here to preside, if they could not find one in Tooele County, that they could not have sent one with sense enough to talk at least ten minutes; and that they had to send a boy to preside over us."
When I heard this, I remember thinking: "The boy is the only one who has any right to complain." (My income fell off four thousand dollars the first year that I was in Tooele in comparison with what it was the year before.) However, I was not able during the next three or four Sundays to talk as long as I did the first one. I ran out of ideas in five, six, and six and a half minutes.
At the lunch table after my first short speech which lasted seven and a half minutes, President Smith said: "Heber, you said you believe the gospel with all your heart, and propose to live it, but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Don't you know absolutely that this gospel is true?"
I answered: "I do not."
"What, you! a president of a stake?" said President Joseph F. Smith.
"That is what I said."
"President Taylor, I am in favor of undoing this afternoon what we did this morning. I do not think any man should preside over a stake who has not a perfect and abiding knowledge of the divinity of this work."
I said: "I am not going to complain."
Brother Taylor had a habit, when something pleased him excessively, of shaking his body and laughing. He said, "Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, he knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it. It will be but a short time until he does know it. He leans over backwards. You do not need to worry."
I went to the little town of Vernon in Tooele County, took two others with me to do the preaching, and I got up to say a few words and spoke for forty-five minutes with perfect ease under the inspiration of the Lord. That night I shed tears of gratitude to the Lord for the abiding, perfect, and absolute testimony that came into my life of the divinity of this work.
The next Sunday after speaking at Vernon, I was at Grantsville. I told the Lord I would like to talk forty-five minutes. I got up to speak and ran out of ideas in five minutes, and I was sweating.
After the meeting I walked out past the farthest house in the west part of Grantsville, I am sure nearly three miles, and I got down behind a haystack and I shed some more tears. But they were tears of humiliation. I made a pledge to God there upon that occasion that never again in my life would I stand up before an audience with the feeling that all I needed to do was just stand up and talk; but that I would get up upon all occasions with a desire to say something that might be of benefit to the people to whom I spoke, and not with the spirit of pride, such as I had that day when I stood up in Grantsville. And I have never failed from that day until now--fifty-odd years ago--to have any desire in my heart when speaking except that I might say or read something that would be of lasting benefit to those who listened to my voice.--Era, 42:393.
Forty years ago this October conference [1922], I met the late Elder George Teasdale at the south gate of the Tabernacle grounds. He shook hands with me and said: "Brother Grant, I am delighted to see you. You and I are going to be--" and he stopped suddenly and his face turned red. But the Lord gave me the balance of the sentence. Four times in my life I have been permitted to read the thoughts of people. The balance of Brother Teasdale's sentence was--sustained this afternoon as apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ to fill the vacancies in the Quorum." And that went through me like a shock of electricity.
I came to the Sunday afternoon meeting of the conference, because of this partial sentence, and the balance that was given to me, with the assurance in my heart that Brother Teasdale and myself would be sustained as apostles. Those of you who were at that conference remember that it adjourned without filling those vacancies. I do not believe that any mortal man ever more humbly supplicated God during the next few days to forgive him for his egotism than I did for thinking I was to be chosen as an apostle. As you are aware, within a week a revelation came to John Taylor calling Brother Teasdale and myself to those positions.--CR October, 1922:2-3.
It has never ceased to be a wonder to me that I do represent the Lord here upon the earth. My association from childhood with the remarkable and wonderful men that have preceded me has made it almost overwhelming to think of being in the same class with them.
The last words uttered by President Joseph F. Smith were to the effect that, when he shook hands with me--he died that night--"The Lord bless you, my boy, the Lord bless you; you have got a great responsibility. Always remember this is the Lord's work and not man's. The Lord is greater than any man. He knows whom He wants to lead His Church, and never makes any mistake. The Lord bless you.
I have felt my own lack of ability. In fact when I was called as one of the apostles I arose to my feet to say it was beyond anything I was worthy of, and as I was rising the thought came to me, "You know as you know that you live that John Taylor is a prophet of God, and to decline this office when he had received a revelation is equivalent to repudiating the prophet." I said, "I will accept the office and do my best." I remember that it was with difficulty that I took my seat without fainting.
There are two spirits striving with us always, one telling us to continue our labor for good, and one telling us that with the faults and failings of our nature we are unworthy. I can truthfully say that from October, 1882, until February, 1883, that spirit followed me day and night, telling me that I was unworthy to be an apostle of the Church, and that I ought to resign. When I would testify of my knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of mankind, it seemed as though a voice would say to me: "You lie! You lie! You have never seen Him."
While on the Navajo Indian reservation with Brigham Young, Jr., and a number of others, six or eight on horseback, and several others in "white tops"--I was riding along with Lot Smith at the rear of that procession. Suddenly the road veered to the left almost straight, but there was a well-beaten path leading ahead. I said: "Stop, Lot, stop. Where does this trail lead? There are plenty of footmarks and plenty of horses' hoof marks here." He said, "It leads to an immense gully just a short distance ahead, that it is impossible to cross with a wagon. We have made a regular `Muleshoe' of miles here to get on the other side of the gully."
I had visited the day before the spot where a Navajo Indian had asked George A. Smith, Jr., to let him look at his pistol. George A. handed it to him, and the Navajo shot him.
I said, "Lot, is there any danger from Indians here?"
"None at all."
"I want to be all alone. Go ahead and follow the crowd." I first asked him if I allowed the animal I was riding to walk if I would reach the road on the other side of the gully before the horsemen and the wagons, and he said, "Yes."
As I was riding along to meet them on the other side, I seemed to see, and I seemed to hear, what to me is one of the most real things in all my life. I seemed to hear the words that were spoken. I listened to the discussion with a great deal of interest. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had not been able to agree on two men to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. There had been a vacancy of one for two years, and a vacancy of two for one year, and the conferences had adjourned without the vacancies being filled. In this council the Savior was present, my father was there, and the Prophet Joseph Smith was there. They discussed the question that a mistake had been made in not filling those two vacancies and that in all probability it would be another six months before the Quorum would be completed. And they discussed as to whom they wanted to occupy those positions, and decided that the way to remedy the mistake that had been made in not filling these vacancies was to send a revelation. It was given to me that the Prophet Joseph Smith and my father mentioned me and requested that I be called to that position. I sat there and wept for joy. It was given to me that I had done nothing to entitle me to that exalted position, except that I had lived a clean, sweet life. It was given to me that because of my father's having practically sacrificed his life in what was known as the great reformation, so to speak, of the people in early days, having been practically a martyr, that the Prophet Joseph and my father desired me to have that position, and it was because of their faithful labors that I was called, and not because of anything I had done of myself or any great thing that I had accomplished. It was also given to me that that was all these men, the Prophet and my father, could do for me. From that day it depended upon me and upon me alone as to whether I made a success of my life or a failure.
There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated--And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.--(D. and C. 130:20, 21.)
It was given to me, as I say, that it now depended upon me.
No man could have been more unhappy than I was from October, 1882, until February, 1883, but from that day I have never been bothered, night or day, with the idea that I was not worthy to stand as an apostle, and I have not been worried since the last words uttered by Joseph F. Smith to me: "The Lord bless you, my boy, the Lord bless you: you have got a great responsibility. Always remember this is the Lord's work and not man's. The Lord is greater than any man. He knows whom He wants to lead His Church, and never makes any mistake. The Lord bless you."
I have been happy during the twenty-two years that it has fallen to my lot to stand at the head of this Church. I have felt the inspiration of the living God directing me in my labors. From the day that I chose a comparative stranger to be one of the apostles, instead of my lifelong and dearest living friend, I have known as I know that I live, that I am entitled to the light and the inspiration and the guidance of God in directing His work here upon this earth. And I know, as I know that I live, that it is God's work, and that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world and that He came to this earth with a divine mission to die upon the cross as the Redeemer of mankind, atoning for the sins of the world.--Era, 44:267, 315.
I bear witness to you here today that I do not believe that any man on earth from that day, February, 1883, until now . . . has had sweeter joy, more perfect and exquisite happiness than I have had in lifting up my voice and testifying of the gospel at home and abroad in every land and in every clime where it has fallen to my lot to go. And I have gone to Japan; I have been in the Hawaiian Islands; I have been from Canada to Mexico; I have been in nearly every state in the union of the United States. I have been in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and I have had joy beyond my ability to express, in lifting up my voice in bearing witness to those with whom I have come in contact that I know that God lives, that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of mankind; that I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the true and living God, that I have the abiding testimony in my heart that Brigham Young was a chosen instrument of the living God, that John Taylor, that Wilford Woodruff, that Lorenzo Snow were, and that today [1918] Joseph F. Smith is the representative of the living God, and the mouthpiece of God here upon the earth.
I do not have the language at my command to express the gratitude to God for this knowledge that I possess. Time and time again my heart has been melted, my eyes have wept tears of gratitude for the knowledge that He lives and that this gospel called Mormonism is in very deed the plan of life and salvation, that it is the only true gospel upon the face of the earth, that it is in very deed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That God may help you and me and everyone to live it, is my constant and earnest prayer.--CR October, 1918:23-25.
I stand here today in all humility, acknowledging my own weakness, my own lack of wisdom and information, and my lack of the ability to occupy the exalted position in which you have voted to sustain me. But as I said as a boy in Tooele, I say here today, that by and with the help of the Lord I shall do the best that I can to fulfill every obligation that shall rest upon me as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the full extent of my ability.
I will ask no man to be more liberal with his means than I am with mine, in proportion to what he possesses, for the advancement of God's kingdom. I will ask no man to observe the Word of Wisdom any more closely than I will observe it. I will ask no man to be more conscientious and prompt in the payment of his tithes and his offerings than I will be. I will ask no man to be more ready and willing to come early and to go late, and to labor with full power of mind and body, than I will labor always in humility. I hope and pray for the blessings of the Lord, acknowledging freely and frankly that without the Lord's blessings it will be an impossibility for me to make a success of the high calling whereunto I have been called. But, like Nephi of old, I know that the Lord makes no requirements of the children of men save He will prepare a way for them, whereby they can accomplish the thing which He has required. With this knowledge in my heart I accept the great responsibility without fear of the consequences, knowing that God will sustain me as He has sustained all of my predecessors who have occupied this position; provided, always, that I shall labor in humility and in diligence, ever seeking for the guidance of His Holy Spirit; and this I shall endeavor to do.--CR June, 1919:2-3.
I shall not occupy your time by reading section one hundred twenty-one of the Doctrine and Covenants. I will leave that for every one of those holding the Priesthood, and as many of the audience as may feel so disposed, to read it when they go home. With the help of the Lord, I shall endeavor, standing at the head of the Priesthood of God upon the earth, to exercise the authority that has come to me in keeping with that wonderful revelation: "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 unfeigned." God being my helper, the Priesthood that I hold, the position that I occupy, shall be exercised in accordance with these words that I have quoted to you. We can do nothing, as recorded in that revelation, only as we exercise love and charity and kindness--love unfeigned. With the help of the Lord that is exactly how I shall administer, to the best of my ability, the Priesthood of God that has come to me.--CR June, 1919:4-5.
I can pledge to you the best that is in me to fulfill the high and holy calling that has come to me, to exercise in righteousness the power of the Priesthood of the living God, which centers in me, and to administer my office as the Trustee-in-Trust, holding your property, to expend it and use it to the very best of the ability with which God shall endow me.
I expect to counsel with my counselors, with the twelve apostles and with the presiding bishopric of the Church--the men to whom the Lord refers in the revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, naming the men who are to expend the funds of this Church, although I realize and know that legally and technically, I have the right to handle your funds personally, because of your vote, just as my predecessors have had that right. Yet I know that in a multitude of counsel there is safety, and I expect to have the multitude of counsel.--CR June, 1919:43.
I pray constantly for all of the officers of this Church, whether in the Priesthood or in the auxiliary associations. I am sure, in my secret prayers particularly, that I never forget, morning or night, those that have been called to preside, to direct the affairs in the Priesthood quorums and in the auxiliary associations. My prayer is that each of you holding a place of responsibility shall so order your lives that they shall be examples of diligence and energy and of the Spirit of the living God, that can be followed in every part by those over whom you preside.--RSM, 17:679.
There is but one path of safety to the Latter-day Saints, and that is the path of duty. It is not a testimony, it is not marvelous manifestation, it is not knowing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that it is the plan of salvation--it is not actually knowing that the Savior is the Redeemer, and that Joseph Smith was His prophet that will save you and me; but it is the keeping of the commandments of God, living the life of a Latter-day Saint.--CR April, 1915:82.
I quote with pleasure from Lord Bulwer-Lytton: "What man wants is not talent--it is purpose; not power to achieve, but the will to labor."--Era, 3:82.
I may not have been a very good preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from the standpoint of doctrinal preaching. But I have endeavored to the best of my ability, since I was called as a boy forty-odd years ago to preside over the Tooele Stake of Zion, and forty years this coming October [1922] to be one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, to preach the doctrine of James: "I will show thee my faith by my works."--CR April, 1922:5.
I have never seen the day since I became the president of Tooele Stake of Zion, at the time I was not yet twenty-four years of age, when I did not want to know what the president of the Church wanted, and what the leading officials of the Church wanted me to do, and that I did not want to do whatever they would have me to do, no matter what my personal likes or dislikes might be. I have sacrificed my own financial prospects to a great extent, among the prospects being the one this dear friend of mine offered me [Colonel A. G. Hawes], a little job of forty thousand dollars a year when the Church was making me an allowance in tithing office orders of three thousand six hundred dollars.--Era, 42:329.
Now I want to make all mistakes on the side of mercy. But once in a while I want to see justice get just a little bit of a chance among the people.--JH, October 6, 1894:12; DN, December 15, 1894.
I am naturally emphatic in my talk, and I want to say to all of our young people that I hope they will never get the impression that because they fail to live up to the Word of Wisdom and other teachings of this Church there is any hatred in my heart towards them. I try even to love my enemies, to say nothing of the sons and daughters of men and women who would readily give their lives for this cause. There is no section in all the Doctrine and Covenants from which I have quoted more often and that I have tried to live up to more perfectly than section one hundred and twenty-one, that wonderful revelation given to the prophet of God while he was in Liberty Jail.--CR April, 1932:124.
Age is a quality of mind: If your dreams you've left behind, If hope is cold; If you no longer look ahead, If your ambitions' fires are dead-- Then you are old. But if from life you take the best, And if in life you keep the zest, If love you hold; No matter how the years go by, No matter how the birthdays fly-- You are not old. --CR April, 1932:13.
I rejoice in what I have seen in the seventy-five years of my life. It may sound a little egotistical, but few men reach the age of seventy-five years in perfect vigor of health of body and mind, and I desire in this conference to express to my Heavenly Father and to the people composing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my gratitude for this vigor of body and mind, and for the health that I possess. I am grateful, beyond all of my ability to express my gratitude, for the prayers and the faith and the good will of the Latter-day Saints.--CR April, 1932: 8.
I am grateful beyond expression that it has fallen to my lot, in humility, but with gratitude and thanksgiving to God, to lift up my voice and testify that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I have rejoiced that in all of my travels and in all of my meetings with men during the fifty-six years it has fallen to my lot to travel in the interests of this Church, I have never found one thing that has in the slightest degree affected my faith or caused me to have any doubts regarding the divinity of the work in which we as Latter-day Saints are engaged.--Era, 41:519.
I have for fifty-seven long years been working in this Church--two years as president of a stake, and fifty-five years in this identical month [October, 1937], as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to bear my testimony that during the fifty-seven years I have never found anything in this gospel of Jesus Christ that has in the least weakened my testimony as to the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.--RSM, 25:15.
I am thankful that instead of finding things to weaken my faith day by day and year by year I am finding that which strengthens it.--Era, 39:396.
When we stop to contemplate the great hardships that our fathers and mothers have had to pass through in establishing the work of God in the earth, it should cause us to be thankful because of our comparatively pleasant surroundings. I sometimes feel that we know but little of their sorrows and of what they have had to endure. When we realize how easy it is for us to live, we cannot begin to imagine what hardships they have had to pass through. I am truly grateful that I have not been called to endure such trials. I never had a desire myself, to have experiences of this kind. We sometimes meet people who say they would like to have witnessed the trials of the early Saints and taken a part in them, but I have no wish to nominate myself for a martyr. I tell you what I do desire: it is to be tested and tried only so far as is necessary to qualify me for the duties which have been imposed upon me, and to gain an exaltation in the presence of my Heavenly Father.--CR April, 1898:14-15.
I leave with you my testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. . . . How do I know it? I know it as well as I know that I stand before you tonight. I know heat; I know cold; I know joy, and I know sorrow; and say to you that in the hour of sorrow, in the hour of affliction, in the hour of death, God has heard and answered my prayers, and I know that He lives. I leave my testimony with you.--Era, 4:691.
Above everything else in all the world, I desire our young people to love our Redeemer, our Savior, who gave His life for us.--Era, 42:437.
If I know my own heart, I believe it is set upon the advancement of the Church and kingdom of God. I know that there is nothing on the earth that I rejoice over so much as I do in the fact that I am associated with the servants and handmaidens of God in the Church of Jesus Christ; and I do not believe that there ever is a day that passes over my head that I do not thank God for the restoration again of the plan of life and salvation, and that I have been made a partaker of the same. I supplicate Him earnestly that my mind may never become darkened, that I may never depart from the truth; that I may never forget any of the covenants that I have made, but, as I grow in years and increase in understanding, that I may grow in a testimony of the gospel and in the desire--not only a desire, but in doing it--to labor for the onward advancement of the kingdom of God on the earth.--CR April, 1899:26.
May God bless you, one and all, and every honest man and woman that lives upon the face of the earth, is my humble prayer, and I ask it in humility in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.--Era, 41:263.
Gaburo Kikuchi, the second convert [in Japan], for a number of years has separated himself from the Christian sect to which he belonged, because, he said, they did not teach the Bible, and he has been teaching the people the truths of the Bible in the parks in the city of Tokyo, having audiences of from five hundred to one thousand five hundred people. He seems to be a very sincere, determined man, and I have enjoyed my conversations with him. The day I baptized him, before attending to that ordinance, I told Brother Kelsch to try to discourage him from becoming a member of the Church and that I would do the same, because I told him I desired him to study more and to comprehend more before he was baptized. He came to the hotel before I was out of bed in the morning and insisted upon baptism. When I told him that he had better study more and get a better comprehension of the gospel, he said, "It is true. I believe it. I want to be baptized. And I can understand it better after I have been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church." I knew this was true; so I told him he would be persecuted and he quoted the scripture, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." Brother Kelsch and I went on in this line, trying to discourage this man. I referred to the drivings of our people, to the killing of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, and to the fact that many men had to give up their lives for the truth; and I wanted him to be thoroughly converted. He said, "It is true; and if I die and am the first martyr in Japan, it would be the best thing that could happen to Japan." "That's enough," I said, "I'll baptize you."--CR April, 1902.
I have the assurance in my soul that there is to be a wonderful work accomplished in Japan; that there will be many, yea, even thousands of that people that will receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have made no effort whatever to try and baptize people. Many have come and applied for baptism--ten young men at one time. Many have written us letters and asked to be baptized into the Church. But we have realized that they did not understand the gospel. And we had no desire to baptize and seal the Holy Ghost upon a person who would be likely to lose the Spirit and turn around and fight the Church. We have had no desire to baptize people just to make a showing. We prayed earnestly every day for the guidance of the Spirit of God. We fasted and prayed often. We had a delightful time. Time passed very pleasantly and did not hang upon our hands. I never spent an hour in sightseeing. I did make one little trip through the country on the cars, to get some knowledge of it. But I never went away for the sake of seeing the sights and enjoying myself in that city. I was busy all the time, talking with those that called upon me, answering letters, and studying the language. The Lord granteth unto men according to their desires, whether it be for life or death, joy or remorse of conscience; and the only desire that I had was to fulfill my duty in that land from day to day. And if I should return after three or five years without converting or baptizing one soul I would be satisfied. However, I have been exceedingly grateful to my Heavenly Father that He saw fit to impress with His Spirit two men who, I believe, are honest. They may not prove faithful, but I believe they are honest today. The other man was a Shinto priest who could not speak a word of English. We had to talk to him through an interpreter. This man was cast out from his congregation of one thousand five hundred by his superiors and told that he would be reinstated in his office, provided he quit calling upon the Mormons. He said, "I believe that there is some truth with them; I am not yet convinced, but I will not stop calling on them." Finally he was cast out. He continued to call upon us and was baptized.--CR April, 1902.
The Lord has raised up friends to us. Many influential men have called and visited with me. I am told that a certain man there by the name of Goro Takahashi is by far the strongest writer in defense of Christianity in the nation of Japan. This man, before I ever met him, wrote an article in one of the leading magazines of Japan, opposing the Mormon religion. My interpreter interpreted this for me, and I afterwards read it to the man. He laughed and said, "He has not interpreted my article. The very first line says that `The people of Tokyo welcome with loud huzzahs Lamanism, which is polyandry, or a plurality of husbands,' and I did not say any such thing. I said, `The enlightened people of Tokyo.' The whole sarcasm is lost by your interpreter. It was not the common people, it was not the laboring people, but it was the enlightened people of Tokyo that were crying out against the Mormon people." I asked him if he would not translate the first page for me himself. (I had about ten pages of it.) He said he was a very busy man, but he would translate the first page. As nearly as I can remember, the first page was as follows: "The enlightened people of Tokyo have recently welcomed a sect from Tibet that preaches Lamanism, polyandry, a plurality of husbands, and scarce have they welcomed them with extraordinary enthusiasm and the huzzahs died away before they are condemning, with absolute ignorance, the Mormon religion! And these people who are condemning the Mormons and polygamy are believers in concubinage! Can there be under the sun a greater inconsistency than this? We might say something about the emperor and his concubines, but perhaps it would be considered disloyal, and therefore we will keep quiet."--CR April, 1902.
I rejoice to be here. I rejoice in the testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the increased testimony that my mission has given me. I never expected that it would be possible for a man of my temperament and disposition, who from a boy of fourteen years of age has been actively engaged in business, to forget it, and that I could content myself in a foreign land studying a language that put me to sleep nearly every time I tried it, and yet be happy. But I was. There was the sweet Spirit of God with us, and many times in our little meetings we shed tears of joy, because of the outflow of the Spirit of God. If I had the privilege of picking the Church over for three companions I could not be better satisfied than with those that I have. I had my choice, and I have not been disappointed.
I say to you, my friends, that I am happy to be here. All of the officers that have been chosen during my absence, my head and my heart have been pleased and satisfied with. It is a sorrow to me to come home and not receive the handshake of my beloved President Snow, whom I loved as dearly as life itself. But I rejoice that the son of one of the two martyrs for the cause presides over the Church of Christ. I rejoice in the knowledge that the work of God is onward and upward, and that each of us who is true and faithful will be saved. I rejoice that this gospel is going to all the nations of the earth. I rejoice in being a messenger of the plan of life and salvation. God has blessed me with this knowledge: I know that He lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know that I shall live forever, and that if I am faithful I shall be exalted. I know that this same blessing will come to all of you, if you are faithful; and that you may be, and obtain the blessing, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.--CR April, 1902.
I rejoice to say we had a delightful trip to Japan; and a very pleasant trip home, except the first three days, when we were in a typhoon. When we held a service, the captain paid us the compliment of coming to meeting. He had his seventieth birthday on the vessel as we were returning, and the passengers contributed a few dollars apiece, and gave it to a gentleman for the purpose of buying a very handsome silver loving cup to present to the captain, on his arrival in Seattle. I held services on the boat during the voyage, and spoke forty or fifty minutes The captain said he had been on the ocean from boyhood, but had seen so much hypocrisy in religion that he would never go to any of the meetings that were held on his vessel. But, it seems he learned to like us, as we went with him to Japan, and he came to meeting and listened to us. Said he, "I declare it's pretty good sound sense that you folks talk. Yours is a pretty good practical sort of a religion. I rather like the Mormons, and will always be glad to have them travel on my boat."
In Japan we have many warm friends; and we rejoice to know that our elders are doing very well indeed; and the two sisters there have an excellent spirit. There were a dozen of us there, and I do not believe I ever associated with the same number of brethren and sisters, for the same length of time, whom I loved any more dearly. They are very choice. Of course they are young and inexperienced. But the Lord is blessing them and the younger ones are learning the language very rapidly. I am well satisfied with the progress they are making. . . .
The people there were as kind and considerate of us as we could possibly ask them to be. We followed the advice we received from the Presidency to the best of our ability. We have published two tracts. One of them was a short tract I wrote, containing a little information about the Church era. The other was a tract written entirely by Brother [Alma O.] Taylor, on God. He did not attempt to write on the Godhead for fear of confusing the people. It is a very able tract. He first wrote one that would have been very satisfactory in any land where the people understood English. But it struck me that it would be too deep and far beyond what the Japanese could understand. So I handed it to him and said, "Brother Taylor, I wish you would ask the Lord to help you write this in a kind of second reader style." He wrote it again, and simplified it. And if you had not known the same man had written the two tracts you could hardly have believed it. It delighted us all and we praised the Lord for the ability He had given Brother Taylor to write this tract. We feel it will do a great deal of good. . . .--CR October, 1903:10-13.
I said: "Turn the card over, and maybe you will find they have arrived."
He turned the card over and saw the Articles of Faith of our Church. He said, "Oh, you cannot stay in my house, I would not allow a Mormon to sleep under my roof."
I said: "Thanks."
He rushed to a newspaper, published by an Englishman (and in English by the way), telling that he would not let a Mormon sleep under his roof.
Brother Louis A. Kelsch, the minute we arrived in Yokohama, went to see a minister whose picture he had seen in a newspaper. I think it was in St. Paul that he had seen a picture of this minister taken in Japan with two converts. Brother Kelsch cut the picture out of the paper because a voice, figuratively speaking, without making any noise--a communication to that part of him that shall live after he is gone--said, "You shall meet that man in Japan."
When he returned to Chicago, he said to his wife, "Brother Grant has been called on a mission to Japan, I see by The News, and I know two men who are going with him." This was at the dinner table. He had then received no notice of his call.
"Who are they?" she asked.
He said: "One of them is Horace S. Ensign; the other I do not care to mention."
That night after they retired, his wife said: "Lou, are you the other one?"
He said: "Yes."
As I was saying, as soon as he got to Japan he called on this gentleman, and the minister was delighted to meet him. He showed him the picture and said: "A voice told me that I should meet you in Japan. Here I am. I am delighted to meet you." The minister went on talking to him and said: "You know, we are expecting Mormons here and all of us have joined together and have petitioned the government not to allow them to be permitted to speak here."
Brother Kelsch said: "Turn that card over and maybe you will find that they have arrived," and gave him his opinion in good plain English of his Christian spirit.
The editor of the newspaper literally "ripped the man up the back" who refused to allow us to stop in his boardinghouse. I called on the editor of the paper and thanked him for his attacking the man for his lack of Christianity and a decent respect for other people. And he said: "Don't you bother about thanking me. I have been reading stories about you, and I am going to publish a lot of them."
I said: "Go right ahead. The more you publish the more grateful I will be if you will only give me the privilege of replying to them."
"You shall have all the space you want."
He published a lot of things not very good, and I took space, occupying one entire page and a fraction answering them. Then there was another small publication against us, and I wrote another long reply. The gentleman no doubt concluded that space was too valuable to let me say all that I wanted to say, so there were no more attacks.--CR October, 1936:10-11.
I received a letter from William George Jordan, the author of a number of books which we have published in serial form in The Improvement Era [Individuality of Self Control, Little Problems of Married Life, and others]. He is also the author of The Power of Truth, the English edition of which is Great Truths.
I sent him a number of tracts, a Book of Mormon, and some pamphlets, and in acknowledging their receipt he thanked me for them and expressed the hope that some day he might visit Utah and learn by personal contact regarding our people.
"From what I know of your people," he said, "your religion more than that of other creeds yields dividends of finer individual lives. No faith is of any value unless it does yields dividends of better lives."
I feel that compliments or praise of this kind, coming from those who are not of us, are precious and should be appreciated by every Latter-day Saint.
I rejoice that men not of us discover that for honesty, for sobriety, for uprightness of life, for virtue, that no other people can make a better record than do the Latter-day Saints. I rejoice exceedingly in the magnificent record which has been made by our boys who have gone to Harvard and to the other universities from one end of the country to another. For quality and quantity, and for upright lives, the record which our boys have made is one that every Latter-day Saint should be proud of. I rejoice in this record for, because of it, we are becoming better known. People are beginning to recognize what Mr. Jordan has said, namely, that this gospel of Jesus Christ, commonly called by the world Mormonism, is in very deed yielding dividends of better individual lives.--CR October, 1913:89-90.
While in Japan, I prayed to the Lord with all my heart, in the woods of that country, that I might be permitted to succeed Brother Lyman as the president of the European Mission. And why? Because I knew from my experience in following him in the Tooele Stake of Zion that he would have all the holes filled up, the bridges made, and the roads all in a good condition. I knew that I would find the mission well organized and everything in fine shape, with a good foundation upon which to build.
I built upon that foundation, and the young missionaries seconded my efforts there. God blessed us in our labors, and there was an increase of our Church work in that land during my administration. I feel that there will be still greater increase under the administration of Brother Penrose, because of the foundation laid by Brother Lyman, seconded by my efforts.
When people say that the Latter-day Saints do not believe in education and investigation, they simply tell that which is not true. Last year, in the British Isles alone, over four million tracts were distributed by the elders, and those tracts were principally written by Elder Charles W. Penrose.
In ability to expound the scriptures, Brother Penrose has that qualification pre-eminently.
I once heard a man talking with Rev. Dr. Iliff on the railway train. (They did not know I was in the seat behind.) This man said to Iliff that he had heard nearly every great preacher in the United States, but that when he was in Salt Lake City he had heard in the Mormon Tabernacle the best and most logical sermon he had ever listened to. He asked Dr. Iliff: "Who is your great Mormon preacher out there?"
Iliff said he didn't know any great Mormon preacher.
"Why," said the man, "you must know that man; there could not be another one like him."
"Well," replied Iliff, "I don't know whom you mean."
"Well, who edits the Mormon paper out there?"
"Oh! that's Penrose," said Iliff.
"That's the fellow," said the man. "He preached the best and most logical sermon I ever heard in my life."
Thin as I am, that put fat on my ribs. This man who preaches such a fine sermon today is president of the European Mission [1907]. I tell you that, with all the intelligence in the British Isles, there is no man there who, with the Bible as the standard, can confute Brother Penrose.
We are not ashamed of our religion. We know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. We have set our light so that it can be seen of all men.--CR April, 1907:36.
I desire, and I am sure that all Latter-day Saints desire, that the inspiration that comes from God may be given to President Coolidge in the great office which he holds, and that wisdom may come to him and his cabinet in directing the affairs of our beloved country.--CR October, 1923:2-3.
I pray that the Lord will bless the president of the United States of America and his cabinet, and that He will vindicate the president and every honest member of his cabinet. I believe that there are honest, upright, God-fearing, patriotic men in the cabinet of President Coolidge. I believe he is a man worthy of the blessings of Almighty God. That is my opinion of the president of the United States. I believe that he has the welfare of the people of this great country at heart.--CR April, 1924:160.
Speaking of the accomplishments in our Mexican colonies, that great president and warrior who ruled Mexico with an iron hand for so many years--Porfirio Diaz, when he visited (just a short time before he was driven from his country) the fair in Chihuahua; when he came to the exhibits of industry and frugality; when he saw the products of our canning factories, our harness factories, the shoe factories; when he saw the exhibits from our academy there--as fine an academy as is in all Utah, barring only Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, and Provo, our four principal cities; when he saw all the exhibits there, that warrior, whom nobody would expect to, shed a tear; when he saw what this "ignorant" people had done in Mexico, he wiped his eyes and said: "What could I not do with my beloved Mexico if I had more citizens like these Mormons?"--CR October. 1923:160.
In the Scandinavian missions we are still [1924] having difficulty in getting people into Sweden. I regret that the present condition is altogether different from what it was in the days of King Oscar. It fell to my happy lot, with Brother Alex Nibley and some of my friends, to have the privilege of calling on King Oscar on the 4th day of July [1906], many years ago. With characteristic American assurance, I presented myself at the king's palace and requested an interview. The man who came to the door looked at me as if he thought I were crazy, not to be properly presented through the minister plenipotentiary. I wrote a letter of introduction to his majesty, enclosed a letter from Governor Heber M. Wells of the state of Utah, told him that day, July 4th, was the day that we Americans celebrate, and asked for an audience; and added that I knew that I ought to be presented in proper order, that I had letters from the Utah senators to our minister; but, the day being the 4th of July, we hoped that he would waive all of the customary formalities necessary to see a king. And he very kindly consented, stepped out of the palace, and greeted us. After learning that only two or three in our party understood the Swedish language, he immediately changed to faultless English, perfect English. He was a magnificent specimen of humanity, standing over six feet high.
He made this remark to me: "Mr. Grant, I have sent my personal representatives, unknown to the people, to nearly every state in the union of the United States, to find out how my former subjects are getting along, how they are prospering; and in no other state in the union are the former subjects of Sweden and Norway more contented, more prosperous and happier than in Utah. As long as I am king of Norway and Sweden, your people shall have religious liberty, notwithstanding all the priests and religious denominations are against you."--CR April, 1924:153-154.
Elder Reed Smoot, as you all know, is a Senator from Utah. And thank the Lord for such a Senator, a man who has gained for himself a national and an international reputation for his honesty, for his integrity, and for his great and wonderful ability. He stands today [1926] at the head of the greatest committee [finance] in the senate of the United States.
I remember when ex-President Taft was here he said, with that little chuckle of his that made us all laugh, "And to think that when he first came down to Washington nearly everybody tried to keep him out of the senate. Now I have come all the way to Utah to plead with the people to be sure and send him back again."--CR April, 1926:11.
I am particularly grateful that Elder Reed Smoot has had the privilege of being with us, and of bearing his testimony to us here today. From the reports that we received of his condition of health, I little expected that we would have this privilege. I rejoice in the very remarkable and wonderful mission that he has been performing as a senator of the United States. He has gained the confidence and the respect of men all over this country.
In my trips from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic, I came in contact with many influential men, and in the southern states I met many men whose training and politics were in direct opposition to those of Senator Smoot. All these influential men expressed to me their admiration for his devotion to his work as a senator. I believe that few men have ever made a finer record for themselves in the senate of the United States than Elder Reed Smoot has done. I rejoice in his accomplishments. I have met influential men from away across the Atlantic who have said to me that they had a poor opinion of our people until they saw the remarkable and splendid work and upright, honest life of one of the apostles.
One man said: "If you were not a good people I am sure that Senator Smoot would not permit himself to be associated with you as one of the leaders of your Church." I pray that the blessings of the Lord may be and abide with him, that he may be restored to perfect health and strength, and have the opportunity of continuing his labors for the benefit of the people of this great country that we, as Latter-day Saints, love so well, and believe that the Lord Almighty was at the helm when it gained its freedom, and as the revelations say, that he inspired the constitution of our beloved country.--CR April, 1925:77.
The nearest and dearest friend I ever had in the world, outside of my own people, was the late Colonel Alexander Gilchrist Hawes. He came to my mother's home as an unmarried man, when I was a child, and he resided with us for six months. Years later he returned with his bride, and his first child was born in our home. He was a loyal friend, not only to me but also to our people. He was here when Senator Smoot was striving to maintain his seat in the senate [1903-1906], and he called on the senator and asked if he could do anything for him. The senator said, "What can I do for you, sir?"
He said, "Nothing; I have come to ask you if I can do anything for you." He said, "Have you the votes of the senators from California for you to keep your seat?"
The senator said, "No."
"I will go right out and fix that for you. They are my personal friends. They are members of the Bohemian club."
He and one other man, Raphael Weal, were the survivors of the originators of that club. He succeeded in getting those men to pledge themselves to vote for the senator first, last, and all the time, notwithstanding they had received petitions from California bearing thousands of names, against the senator's retaining his seat.
And then he said, "I remember fighting with so and so in the `Bloody Seventh,' as it was called, of Illinois, which lost more men in proportion to its numbers than any other regiment. He was one of my fellow officers and I got his vote." Then he spoke of another vote he had secured. He said, "I would like to stay here all summer, if my business didn't call me away, and fight that this man shall keep his seat. A more un-American, damnable idea never entered into the brains of a man than to deprive an honorable man of his seat in the senate because he is an apostle of a Church that is looked upon with contempt." He said, "Heber, I have done this little work for the senator for three reasons:" (I was in England at the time that I received his letter, presiding over the European Mission.) "First because it was right, and I like to be always on the right side." (By the way, he was one of John Brown's men in early days.) "Second, because I knew how much it would please you, my dear old friend. And I always try to get my numerals right; you ought to come third instead of second. Third, because it was mighty good Republican politics."--CS, November 11, 1933:5.
At one of our general conferences some years ago we were honored with the presence of Senator Owen from Oklahoma and the Honorable William Jennings Bryan. These gentlemen remained until after the conference session, when an informal organ recital was given in their honor. Perhaps a hundred or a hundred and fifty people were present and, following the recital, requests came from different parts of the small audience that Senator Owen and Mr. Bryan make some remarks. They did so and from the press reports of the occasion we read the following:
Mr. Bryan said the truths he had heard expounded there that day he should endeavor to carry with him throughout life, and he believed that through him many people might hear the truth concerning Mormonism, for he would endeavor to give an exposition of what he had heard, in plain truth, to the people with whom he associated. Mr. Bryan said he had been undecided about coming to Salt Lake. He had been asked to speak in Los Angeles, Monday, but he had obeyed a whim almost and had come to Salt Lake. He did not know why, but now he said he believed it was providential. At any rate he said he had heard truths uttered that impressed him deeply, and he knows that he is better equipped to perform his work in the world for having heard Mormonism expounded. Particularly was he impressed, Mr. Bryan said, with the Mormon belief in the personality of God. It is a beautiful belief, he said, and one by which the world might profit. He referred to the application of the gospel in the lives of the Mormon people, and said such principles applied to the problems of the world would in very deed solve the difficulties with which the world is beset.
He referred to the single standard of morality, as expounded by one of the speakers, and said that in very truth that is a principle that might well be applied to the lives of all men.
The publishing house of Revell & Co. have published a book containing the last address of William Jennings Bryan, which address was prepared for the celebrated evolution case in Tennessee, but was never delivered. I have had the privilege of reading and re-reading the book. It shows that he had perfect faith in God our Heavenly Father, and in my judgment it is a very strong defense of the divinity of Christ and of the Godhood of our Father in heaven.
I had the pleasure of visiting with Mr. Bryan after his remarks following our conference. He said that he was expected to deliver three speeches in California before leaving, but that he believed the world at large would get more benefit from what he had learned in our conference than the people would have received had he remained in California and delivered those three speeches. He promised to send me a little pamphlet containing his ideas about God. After reading it I remember saying to my family that William Jennings Bryan ought to be a Latter-day Saint, because many of his views were in perfect harmony with our faith.
Every Latter-day Saint upon the face of the earth believes in the individuality and personality of God our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. A man who does not so believe has no right to be called a Latter-day Saint. Every Latter-day Saint believes absolutely that God conversed with Joseph Smith, and introduced to him the Lord Jesus Christ as His beloved Son.--CR October, 1925:3-4.
When I was only a young man, I rejoiced in the splendid tributes that were paid to us by the late Bishop Daniel Tuttle [of the Episcopal Church]. He went east and told the truth about us, that we were "a God-fearing, upright, conscientious people, serving God." While he did not agree with us, he admired our integrity, and said that truth and righteousness always prevailed amongst us.--CR April, 1935:10.
Fifty-four years ago [1863], as a little child, I took a sleigh ride with President Brigham Young. That is, I ran out and took hold of the back of the sleigh, intending to ride a block and then drop off and walk home. But President Young was driving such a fine team, or at least his driver was, that I dared not let go, hence rode on till we reached the Cottonwood, and then when the sleigh slowed up to pass through that stream, I jumped off and the president saw me.
He said, "Stop, Brother Isaac, stop. The little boy is nearly frozen. Put him under the buffalo robe and get him warm." Isaac Wilson was his driver.
After I got warm he inquired my name, and told me about my father, and his love for him. He told me to tell my mother, and he wanted her to send me up to his office in six months to have a visit with him; and in six months I went for the visit. From that time, fifty-four years ago, until the day of his death, I was intimately acquainted with President Young. This I can say also with respect to John Taylor and with all of the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
For thirty-four years and a half I have been one of the General Authorities. I have been associated with them in all of their councils. I know the hearts of these men. I know their desires. I know their devotion to God and to all that is for the uplift and the betterment of mankind. I can bear witness that I know, as I know that I live, that every word spoken here this morning by President Joseph F. Smith, bearing witness of the honor, the virtue, the integrity, and the uprightness of the men who presided over this Church, is true.
I rejoice that in all my associations with the General Authorities of the Church since I was six years of age I have never heard one word, in public or in private, fall from the lips of these men, but what would be for the benefit, for the uplift, for the improvement morally and intellectually, physically, and spiritually of the Latter-day Saints.--CR April, 1917:23-24.
I became acquainted with Brigham Young when I was a little child six years of age. From that time until the day of his death I was intimate with him. I was as intimate with one of his boys--the late Feramorz L. Young--as any two boys ever could be. Perhaps no three young men were ever more intimate than Heber J. Grant, Feramorz L. Young, and General Richard W. Young. We grew up together. We slept together. We played together. We attended Sunday School together. We attended day school together.
I was almost as familiar in the homes of President Brigham Young as I was in the home of my own mother. In one home, that of Aunt Emily Partridge Young, if I was hungry I felt as free to go in and ask for something to eat there as in my own home. I have spent hours and hours, as a child, in the rooms of Eliza R. Snow, listening to her counsel and advice, and hearing her relate incidents in the life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and bearing witness of the wonderful blessings of God to Brigham Young. As I say, I was familiar with the Prophet Brigham Young. I knelt down time and time again in his home in the Lion House at family prayers, as a child and as a young man. I bear witness that as a little child, upon more than one occasion, because of the inspiration of the Lord to Brigham Young while he was supplicating God for guidance, I have lifted my head, turned and looked at the place where Brigham Young was praying, to see if the Lord was not there. It seemed to me that he talked to the Lord as one man would talk to another. I can bear witness of his kindness, of his love to me as an individual, of his love of God and of the inspiration of the Lord that came to him as he stood where I am standing, when I had the privilege of being in the audience and listening to his inspired words.--CR June, 1919:7.
Do you know that all this trouble about the Hoover [Boulder] Dam and the division of water never would have come about if we had got all that President Young tried to get.
All that he asked for when he knocked for admission into the union as the State of Deseret was all of Utah, fully one-half of Colorado, a little patch down in New Mexico so as to take in the San Juan River, all of Arizona, Nevada as far as the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Idaho way up into the north, and one-third of what is now California. Los Angeles and that whole section would have been included. Every drop of water that goes into the Hoover Dam would have been in the State of Deseret. Texas would not have been in it for size.
This shows the great capacity of the man. He sent scouts into the various sections of the country, realizing as he did that irrigation was what was going to count, through the inspiration of the Lord, in this country, and he arranged to get all of the watershed of the Colorado River.--CR April, 1932:11.
The last interview I had with Brigham Young was on the very day he was taken sick. I met him coming out of his office with a cape on his arm and I said:
"President Young, I was elected yesterday the assistant cashier of Zion's Saving Bank, and I have been told this morning that I must give a bond of twenty-five thousand dollars to vouch for my honesty. It occurs to me that it would be very appropriate and a nice thing for the president of the bank to sign the bond of the assistant cashier."
He smiled and said: "Heber, I have had a very strenuous day, and I am just going for a ride. I shall be glad to sign the bond. I do not see how I could get out of it because I said so many good things about you in the directors' meeting yesterday (or the day before, I have forgotten which) about your integrity and honesty and favoring you for this job. If I refuse to sign your bond now, the directors would say, `What did you say all those good things about him for if you are afraid to sign his bond?'"
He came home, was taken sick, and passed away. I am sure, from my own experience and all of the symptoms that were published in the paper, he died of appendicitis. During all those years of my acquaintance with him, fully fifteen, I learned to love and respect him as a man of God, a man of great ability.
I remember saying to the vice-president of a great bank with hundreds of millions of dollars, that the day would come when Brigham Young would be acknowledged as one of the greatest pioneers and colonizers who ever lived.
He said: "Why say the day will come? No man who knows anything of the accomplishments of Brigham Young but what could say the day has come."--CR April, 1932: 10-11.
I remember that when George Q. Cannon was elected a delegate to Congress his right to a seat in Congress was contested. The attorney who went to Washington to oppose Brother Cannon--and in behalf of the man who had received (as I remember it) just ten percent as many votes as President Cannon--told the Congressmen that we were a vile lot and went on to say that if a man were opposed to the Mormon hierarchy he was liable to disappear and nobody would know what had become of him; that a man took his life in his hands if he dared to be in opposition to the Mormon people. When he got through, President Cannon said to him, calling him by name:
"You pride yourself that than you, no more bitter, no more relenting, vicious opponent of this awful Mormon system lives, do you not?"
"I certainly do."
Brother Cannon said, addressing the committee hearing his case: "Gentlemen, I do not think it is at all necessary for me to answer the gentleman's arguments. He has lived with us for over twenty years. He has a fine dwelling that has cost about $25,000 to erect." Then he sat down, and the committee voted for Brother Cannon to retain his seat.
Years later it was suggested that the horrible Mormon problem could be solved by giving the franchise to the women. It so happened that the legislature was in session at the time, and there was not a single non-Mormon in the legislature. Within forty-eight hours, if my memory serves me right, the women were enfranchised by our legislature. The same identical gentleman who was employed to fight George Q. Cannon's taking his seat in Congress was sent to Washington to have the franchise taken away from the Mormon women, as he said that it only added power to the awful hierarchy. He announced that the Mormons had from two to twenty wives, etc., and that these women were all slaves and voted just as they were told to do by their husbands.
When he got through speaking, President Cannon remarked: "Does it not surprise you, gentlemen, as you are all married, how some intelligent men believe that other men's wives can be bossed?" He then sat down. He had killed the gentleman's argument.
However, when the discussion came before the Congress of the United States, the franchise was taken away from the women of Utah, but it was later restored when Utah attained statehood.--CR April, 1930:184.
It has fallen to my lot, although a very weak, humble instrument in the hands of the Lord, to succeed the wonderful men who have presided over this Church--the Prophet Joseph Smith, than whom no greater man I believe has ever graced the earth; that marvelous pioneer, Brigham Young; that mighty champion of liberty, John Taylor; that exceptional converter of men to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Wilford Woodruff; Lorenzo Snow, an extraordinary man of eighty-five years of age, who in three years lifted the Church from the slough of despondency financially to a place of financial standing; and that man, beloved by all who knew him, one of the outstanding men of all the world, Joseph F. Smith, the greatest preacher of righteousness I have ever known.--CR April, 1930:22.
Back in 1921, during the confusion of post-war finance and economic upheaval, a gentleman came here from New York, representing the bankers, in connection with the indebtedness of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, which was frozen, owing to the company's being unable to market its sugar inventory without heavy loss. He himself was the vice-president of the Banker's Trust Co., one of the greatest banks in New York--a very magnificent man--Mr. Fred W. Shibley by name. An effort was made by some, before he came and after he arrived here, to discredit the Church, its leaders, and its people.
Mr. Shibley told me one man said, in substance: "Those Mormon leaders are a bright lot; they are just getting rich at the expense of the credulity and superstition of their followers, and gathering in the tithing for their own benefit."
He said: "I smiled and stated: `Yes, I had a practical illustration of how the president is robbing his people. I went a few nights ago through the most beautiful and elegant school of music I have ever seen in my life. I doubt if there is a finer one in all the United States of America. I doubt if you could buy the building in which that school of music is housed for less than three-quarters of a million dollars, and I enjoyed going through the school. I learned that that school building was presented to the president of the Church and that the man and woman who presented it, a Mr. and Mrs. McCune, begged and pleaded with him time and time again, to occupy it as the official residence of the president of the Church, and thus magnify the Church and have a place that was worthy of entertaining the greatest, the best, and the finest of the great men that visit Utah. And he refused to do it. What would it cost to maintain such a home? Not less than one thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred dollars a month, if it were kept up properly with necessary servants.'"
He continued: "Yesterday morning the president of the Church invited me to come and have breakfast with him. He had invited me to dinner, but I had a previous engagement. The next day I had another engagement, and the following day I had to leave for New York, so he said: "Come up and take breakfast at eight o'clock in the morning." I agreed. There was no hired girl there. His daughter came in from the next house where she lived, and fried the pancakes. Oh, yes, I had a practical illustration of the way he is grafting the Church, living in a modest house that any ordinary man with a salary of three hundred fifty dollars a month would support, if not a better one."
Now they had tried to make this gentleman believe that the leaders of the Church were robbing the people. But Mr. Shibley is not an easy man to deceive. His life has been spent in analytical affairs. He is what he termed himself to be a financial doctor. He said: "I am not a banker, in the ordinary sense of making loans; I am simply the man who is sent out to look into the condition of companies that are in financial distress." And it was his duty, like a doctor, to diagnose the case and to administer some restoratives to keep the patient alive. With his analytical mind, he realized that the fellow who was trying to "stuff" him was not telling the truth.
He went through our sugar factories, examined the books of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company covering a period of twenty long years. He made out a detailed statement of our prospects for one year, two years, three years, and made a very optimistic report that at the end of three years, at the outside, the company ought to be in a condition whereby it would be worthy of living and would be of great financial benefit to the community here if it were sustained. As a result of his visit to Utah a plan was developed under which the banks, in cooperation with the Mormon Church, effected an extension of the debt of the company which gave it time to dispose of its surplus sugar profitably and pay in full its indebtedness to the banks.--Era, 43:585, 631, 632.
On the first trip I ever made into Arizona, Old Mexico, and New Mexico, with Brigham Young, Jr., I read the synopsis of a speech delivered by Henry Ward Beecher the day previous. It was in a Monday morning paper published in Albuquerque.
Mr. Beecher said, "You must not accept the Bible literally. If you did, you would all have to be Mormons."
I turned and read it to Brother Brigham, and said, "Hurrah for Henry! He has told the truth this time, whether he tells it again or not!"--GM, 17:95.
I cannot sit down without paying a tribute to Erastus Snow, than whom I know of no more devoted servant of God, and no man more interested in the work of the Latter-day Saints. Although he lived three hundred fifty miles from Salt Lake City, he never came to this city to a conference without coming to my mother's home, to eat a meal, and to inquire as to what I had been doing during the past six months. More than all the rest of the General Authorities of the Church I am indebted to him for an individual interest and for the teachings, advice, and counsel he gave to me.--CS, August 1, 1931:4.
As you are all aware, since our last Conference (April, 1937) it has fallen to my lot to visit nearly all of our missions in Europe. We have had a very enjoyable time. Statistics are never interesting, but I feel that it is only fair to give you some information pertaining to our trip.
We left Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 13, 1937, and sailed from Quebec on the 16th. Our party, consisting of Hugh B. Brown, Joseph Anderson, and myself, arrived in Cherbourg, France, June 23rd, where we were met by President Richard R. Lyman of the European Mission, and President O. F. Ursenback of the French Mission. We went directly to Paris where I delivered a talk before the American Club in that city. This talk was received very favorably and nearly all of it was published in the Paris edition of the New York Herald.
After our visit in Paris we went to Liege, Belgium, a part of the French Mission, at which place we visited three Sunday Schools. We also held a meeting in Herstal, near Liege, where I dedicated a new building; and in the evening we held a meeting in Liege. The attendance at each of these meetings was very good indeed. In fact at nearly every meeting we held the attendance was in excess of what we expected it to be, and upon more than one occasion over one-half of all the people in our audience were non-members of the Church.
We held a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 30th, and one on July 1st in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The branches in all these places, that is, at Liege, Geneva, and Neuchatel, are a part of the French Mission. From Neuchatel, President Ursenbach returned to headquarters in Liege, and President Philemon M. Kelly of the Swiss-German Mission met our party at Neuchatel, and accompanied us through the Swiss-German Mission.
We held a meeting in Bern at which there was a large attendance; as I remember it, over four hundred people. The following day a brief meeting was held at Interlaken, as we were passing through that city to take a trip on the cog railroad to see the wonderful Alps. Never before at any time have I been able to get such a magnificent view of the Alps as I did on this occasion. The clouds disappeared just before we reached the highest point on the railroad, and we could see five or six of those great towering mountains, covered with snow. When we made the return trip, the clouds covered the top of the mountains, so that we were unable to see them. We were very grateful for that wonderful, magnificent sight, second only of course to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.
On July 4th, meetings were held in the morning and in the afternoon at Basel. Three or four hundred people attended each of these meetings. Tuesday, July 6th, we held a meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, and there were also over four hundred people at this service.
Services were held in Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany, and there were more than nine hundred people in attendance at this meeting. This was the last meeting that we held in the Swiss-German Mission. From Frankfurt, we went to Prague, Czechoslovakia, by way of Nuremburg, at which latter place we were met by President Wallace F. Toronto. We held a meeting with the Saints and friends in Prague. The hall . . . was crowded and many people were standing up during the entire session. While in Prague we visited the buildings that have been erected in that city for the benefit of feeble-minded children, those who are undernourished, and the old people. It was the most wonderful exhibit of fine, modern buildings and efficient work along the line of taking care of the unfortunate that I have ever had the privilege of visiting. The lady in charge spent three or four hours with us in visiting all of the places of interest there. These homes are named after the first president of the republic, Mr. Masaryk.
We were received in a very cordial way by the officials of the republic, and they expressed regret that the president of the republic (Mr. Benes) was absent, also that President Masaryk, the founder of the republic at the conclusion of the Great World War, was away.
On the following day, July 10, in company with President Toronto and wife we left for Dresden, Germany. Here we held a fine meeting with over six hundred people in attendance. Here we met Elder Roy A. Welker, the president of the German-Austrian Mission, who, by the way, has filled a most satisfactory mission, following the very successful presidency of Elder Oliver H. Budge, of Cache Valley.
On July 14th, we held a meeting in Breslau, and from Breslau we went to Berlin. In the latter city we visited three Sunday Schools, and in the evening held a meeting in a large auditorium where there were over eleven hundred people present. Some of them stood up during the entire session. We were assured that over two-thirds of that audience were non-members of the Church.
One thing that was very pleasing to us was that we had perfect liberty in the holding of our meetings in Germany, notwithstanding the fact that more than thirty different denominations have been prohibited from preaching there.
I thought it was very remarkable that we should have the privilege of holding meetings with the people of Germany.
I learned that upon one occasion our elders were prevented by the officials from preaching at a meeting. The officials said: "You have no right here, you must not preach."
The elders said: "We have not been prohibited from holding meetings and preaching."
The officers said: "We know better. You will have to stop, and we will bring you the evidence that you are not permitted to preach."
They came back and said: "We could not find the word Mormon nor the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the prohibited list."
From Berlin our party went to London. Brother Richard R. Lyman was with us until the time when we reached Dresden. But as he was advertised to deliver a speech in London on "World Peace," he returned to London and was not with us at the meetings held in Dresden, Breslau, and Berlin. The various mission presidents were with us at the meetings held in their particular missions, namely: Presidents Kelly, Welker, Ursenbach, and Toronto, all of whom have made very fine records in presiding over the various missions on the continent and have made friends of many leading officials in all of those countries, and stand well with them.
On July 20th, we held a meeting in Liverpool, England, at which I dedicated a building that we have purchased there that is to be remodeled and used as a chapel.
On July 21st, we held a meeting in Burnley, and I dedicated a Church building there.
July 22nd, we held a meeting in the Bradford Branch, and I dedicated the meetinghouse. At this meeting there were between three hundred and three hundred fifty people in attendance. They have a very nice Church building and quite a few of those who were present at the meeting were non-members.
Sunday, July 25, we held meetings in the London South and the London North Branches, and a church building was dedicated in each of these places. We have a very nice, expensive dwelling in the South Branch which has been remodeled to answer our purpose as a meeting place. In the North Branch we have a new chapel that we have erected that is very comfortable and answers our needs very well.
On the 26th of July, we visited Wales and held a meeting at Merthyr Tydfil where a little Church building was dedicated. The attendance at this meeting was approximately one hundred people. There are very few of our people in Merthyr Tydfil, but those we have there were very grateful to have a little meetinghouse of their own instead of renting a hall.
On July 30th our party visited Vauxhall Chapel in Preston, where Elder Heber C. Kimball and his associates delivered the first sermons that were preached in Great Britain in this Dispensation (1837). It was at that time that the gospel was introduced in Great Britain.
We visited the place where the Cock Pit was located, although it has now disappeared, and there is merely a hole in the ground where the Cock Pit once stood. The same afternoon, services were held near the River Ribble where the first British converts were baptized. (Really and truly, I feel a good deal like the old lady who had been attending Fast meetings for twenty or thirty years but had never had sufficient courage to bear her testimony. Finally one day she got up and bore her testimony and when she came home she said: "We had the finest fast meeting today that I have ever attended." The question was asked: "Who spoke?" She answered: "I did.")
I feel a little that way myself. And I know that Brother Clark and I and the other speakers enjoyed talking to the Saints there assembled. We had really a spiritual feast upon that occasion, and there was no one who captured the audience more completely than did Sister Ruth May Fox, the president of the Young Women's Improvement Associations of our Church.
On July 31st, we attended a baseball game between the Rochdale team consisting of Mormon missionaries and a Liverpool team. About three thousand people witnessed the game. The missionaries had a very easy time in winning over their opponents. Really it gave me a great thrill to watch the game. It took me back to my boyhood days when I played in the nine that won the championship of the Territory of Utah, and I have never played since. (I decided to quit while my credit was good.) It thrilled me to hear that audience cheering and shouting, "Saints! Saints! Saints!"
I confess I was greatly pleased. It is a good thing to have a fine lot of boys playing ball and making friends. The people who were present were principally non-members of the Church.
On the evening of July 31st, there was presented a very beautiful pageant by the missionaries and Saints in the Town Hall of Rochdale. More than eight hundred people were present and hundreds were turned away. I assure you that it was a very creditable pageant indeed, a beautiful presentation. I was astonished at the splendid way in which the pageant was presented, considering the fact that those who participated did not have the time to have a rehearsal.
There are about six thousand people in the British Isles belonging to the Church, and there is many a stake--in fact sometimes two stakes adjoining each other, here at home, in which there would be more than twenty thousand people, who do not produce pageants that are better than was that one. It was a great credit to the people.
There was such an appeal from those who could not get into the building to see the pageant that it was repeated Sunday night, although somewhat abbreviated.
The meetings that were held in the Town Hall in Rochdale on Sunday were very wonderful indeed. The Lord was very good to all those who spoke. The speakers at these meetings, in addition to myself, were President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Elder Richard R. Lyman, Elder Joseph J. Cannon, Elder Hugh B. Brown, Elders George D. Pyper, and Arthur Winter, Sister Ruth May Fox, and others. The same afternoon we dedicated a small chapel at Rochdale.
On the following day, August 2nd, some auxiliary meetings were held.
On August 7th, we visited the Scout jamboree in Holland. The party consisted of myself, my daughter, Mrs. Lucy G. Cannon, Joseph J. Cannon and wife, Elder Richard R. Lyman, and Joseph Anderson. We left London on August 6th for Holland, and were met at Rotterdam by Brother Franklin J. Murdock who is the president of the Netherlands Mission. At the Scout jamboree we were very cordially received by Chief Scout Executive James E. West, expressing the deep appreciation of himself and associates for our having lent them, as they put it, part of the time of Brother Oscar A. Kirkham, who did a very fine work, and had an important position at the jamboree.
Sunday, August 8, we held a meeting in Amsterdam, and in the evening of the same day held a meeting in Utrecht. On August 11th we held a meeting in Rotterdam. All of these meetings were very well attended, and among those present were many non-members of the Church. We subsequently authorized by telegrams signed by myself and Brother Richard R. Lyman, the sale of our mission headquarters in Rotterdam for fourteen thousand guilders, and the purchase of a building at the Hague for twelve thousand guilders. Our new quarters are on a very fine residential street, and the property cost something more than forty thousand guilders. The building is in a very fine state of repair. It was built by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and is a creditable place for our mission headquarters in Holland, for which we are very grateful.
Our party went from Rotterdam, Holland, to Hamburg, Germany, where we were met by Presidents Philemon M. Kelly, Thomas E. McKay, and Alfred C. Rees. A meeting was held in Hamburg the night of August 13th, at which there were more than six hundred people in attendance.
We held meetings in Esbjerg, Denmark, Sunday, August 15, at which in the afternoon, the Esbjerg Branch's new Church building was dedicated. At all three of the meetings held in Esbjerg the attendance was large, particularly in the evening. While in Denmark, the party was accompanied by President Alma L. Petersen of the Danish Mission. Sister Clarissa Beesley joined us at Esbjerg, and accompanied us on our tour of the Scandinavian Missions.
We held a meeting in Copenhagen, where there were nearly five hundred in attendance. Brother Oscar A. Kirkham was also present at this meeting and at Stockholm. During our tour of the Swedish Mission we were accompanied by President Gustive O. Larson.
The first meeting was held in Malmo on August 19th, and there were between two and three hundred people in attendance. Meetings were held in Stockholm, Sunday, August 22nd, which were very well attended, nearly all present being our own people. There were between three and four hundred people present at each of these meetings. We then held a meeting in Goteberg, Sweden, where our party was met by President A. Richard Petersen of the Norwegian Mission, who accompanied us on our tour of Norway. At the meeting held in Oslo, on August 26th, there were nearly five hundred people present.
In Bergen, on Sunday, August 29th, we held two meetings, one in the morning and one in the evening, and at the evening meeting there were more than six hundred people in attendance--fully two-thirds of those who were present being non-members of the Church.
I am sure that there were in the building fully one hundred people who could not get seats and they remained standing, as far as I could judge, without any of them going out during the entire service. After the close of the meeting the choir sang three very beautiful selections. One was particularly beautiful; I cannot recall the name of it, but we all decided that the singing of it on this occasion was better and sweeter than we had ever heard it sung before.
I am very pleased to tell you that Evan Stephens' anthems were sung in nearly all of the places we visited. They have been translated into the various languages and we enjoyed them very much, indeed. . . .
Brother Joseph J. Cannon--who has just been released from the presidency of the British Mission, after having filled a very fine mission and was succeeded by Brother Hugh B. Brown at the time we left on this trip to visit Holland and the Scandinavian countries--to our astonishment was able to speak the Swedish language to the people, and they assured us that he spoke good Swedish. We thought this was very remarkable, seeing that it had been about thirty-five or thirty-eight years since he first went there and filled a mission of nearly three years.
We held a number of M. I. A. meetings in addition to the regular meetings, and I met with the missionaries many times in the different missions where only the missionaries and the mission presidents were present.
The party returned by steamship from Bergen, Norway, to London by way of Newcastle, leaving Bergen, August 30th. The weather was all right, but the ship rocked a little, and I enjoyed lying in bed during the trip from Bergen to Newcastle.
We sailed for home on September 4th, arriving here on Sunday, the 12th--just thirteen weeks from the Sunday we left on our trip.--CR October, 1937:2-8.
It melted my heart to find how anxious the people who are in those countries are to hear the Authorities of the Church, how their hearts swelled with gratitude when President Clark, myself, Brother Lyman, and others were with them. I feel really and truly ashamed of myself that I have neglected so long returning to that part of the flock. They are just as much a part of this Church as we are, and, the Lord helping us, they shall not be neglected in the future as much as they have been in the past. They are a part of the work of God, and they are entitled to visits every year or two from some of the leaders of this Church. We have taken care of our people here at home, and we have sadly neglected those fine people over in those countries. Pardon me, but I do feel in my heart condemned that I did not take the time to go back there sooner, and if the Lord spares my life I am not going to wait very long before going back again.--CR October, 1937:12, 13.
While upon this mission one thing that thrilled me was to read the book by Richard L. Evans giving a history of missionary work in Great Britain. Fifty thousand, as I remember it, of the staunchest, finest of all the people of Great Britain have helped to build this Church by emigrating to this country. A marvelous work.
Wilford Woodruff baptized over two thousand people, and Orson Pratt nearly the same number. Heber C. Kimball, Lorenzo Snow, and others did marvelous and wonderful work there also.
President Heber C. Kimball was inspired in the most marvelous and wonderful way in opening up that mission. I had great joy in contemplating these things.--CR October, 1937:12.
More than one hundred and twenty-six thousand people have entered the waters of baptism in the British Isles during the century, nearly half of whom have emigrated. Nearly six thousand missionaries have been sent by the Church to Great Britain. And these converts and emigrants and missionaries have interchanged skills in the arts and crafts and in the professions--have interchanged thought and culture and truth and eternal principles. They have sealed their service to each other with friendship, with conviction of truth, with testimonies of the gospel, and with fellowship in the Church of Jesus Christ. And out of it all has come a loyal Church membership in Great Britain and a mighty posterity in America who cherish their British lineage and heritage. . . .
For the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the century under the sovereigns of the British Empire has been a century of mighty accomplishment. That the Lord our Heavenly Father may greatly bless this nation and all its righteous people is my most earnest and sincere prayer for the land that has harbored, for one hundred years, the oldest overseas mission of the Latter-day Church of Jesus Christ.--Era, 39:405.
The accomplishments of the Latter-day Saints are in absolute and full accord with the prophecy delivered on the west bank of the Mississippi River by the Prophet Joseph Smith, as recorded in the prophet's journal under date of August 6, 1842:
I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains. Many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives as consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities, and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.
This has been fulfilled to the very letter and we have over one thousand wards and branches from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south. The Church has expended during the last three years between three and four million dollars in assisting to erect local meetinghouses. The people have contributed a like amount. As you know we have built here [in Salt Lake City] a four-million-dollar temple, and we have built temples in St. George, Manti, Logan, Canada, Arizona, and the Hawaiian Islands, costing in all many millions of money. We have in very deed fulfilled that prophecy notwithstanding the fact that this western country was considered worthless. When you think of this arid region, when you think that it was considered of no value, and then realize what has been accomplished, it is beyond question that we have fulfilled that prediction.
At the very time this prophecy was uttered, Daniel Webster, one of the foremost statesmen in the United States at that time, said:
What do we want with this vast worthless area, this region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of shifting sands, and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to put those great deserts or those endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast of three thousand miles, rock-bound, cheerless, uninviting, and not a harbor on it? President, I will never vote one cent from the public treasury to place the Pacific Coast one inch nearer Boston that it now is.
When I think of the magnificent harbor at Seattle, and the wonderful Golden Gate harbor as well as others on the Pacific Coast, I am aware that Daniel Webster was not very well informed. When we think of this "worthless" country--Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and California--having furnished more wealth so far as the precious metals are concerned than any other part or all of the balance, I think, of the United States; when we realize that we have one mine here, a copper mine, the copper being mined in a most unusual and wonderful way, having paid as I recall over one hundred and fifty million dollars in dividends, working successfully ore that does not run one percent--less than twenty pounds of copper to a ton--handling upon one occasion more than eighty thousand tons in a day, or double as much as was handled in a day in the construction of the Panama Canal; when we think of the millions upon millions of dollars' worth of gold produced in California; when we think of the rich copper mines in Arizona, to say nothing of silver, lead, and gold in all these sections, and Colorado's immense wealth, we realize that Daniel Webster did not know very much about this country.--CR October, 1930:4-5.
It would be of interest to you to know that some years ago I played a game of golf in Kansas City with a son of former Governor Crittenden. He handed me a pamphlet in which appeared the pictures of the founder of the Kansas City Star, his wife, and the first presiding bishop of the Mormon Church. Mr. Crittenden checked off a description of some of the property in that vicinity and jokingly remarked, "Mr. Grant, you are playing on your own links, as the title stands in the name of the presiding bishop of the Mormon Church."
Subsequently I was asked to speak before the Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City, and I remarked that I owned as president of the Church nearly one-half of Kansas City, but I could not get possession of it, because, under the law, adverse possession for a certain number of years gives one a title.
Nearly all the abstracts of title to land in the eastern part of Kansas City show the title to the land in the name of Edward Partridge, the presiding bishop of the Mormon Church.--CS, August 22, 1936:1.
I happened to be the chairman of the committee that raised their proportion of the six-billion-dollar fund during the [first] World War. There are very few who realize what a billion is. A billion is the equivalent of a dollar a minute for every minute from the birth of the Savior until the time of the great World War. We raised our proportion. There was a great meeting being held in California, and the presidents of the various state organizations of defense and the chairmen of the Liberty Loan drive were invited to that meeting. We had a meeting of what were called the "Patriotic One Thousand," and then afterwards a brief meeting at which there were about one hundred present. In that brief meeting there were many doubts expressed as to the war's being won by the allies. I said: "So far as the Mormons are concerned we have no fear whatever as to the outcome. Every Mormon believes in the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon teaches that this is a land choice above all other lands, and that no king, or kaiser for that matter, will ever reign here."
Several said, "My gracious, we had better join the Mormon Church."--CS, August 6, 1938:6.
I remember, upon one occasion--having had placed upon me by the Presidency of the Church a somewhat difficult mission to raise a large sum of money in the way of donations to maintain the honor and credit and good name of certain prominent men--receiving a letter from one man saying that he heard I was engaged in this financial mission, and he said he rejoiced to hear of it, that he had long wanted the opportunity of doing something, in addition to his tithing, to show to the Lord his appreciation of the wonderful blessings that had come to him. He concluded: "I have pleasure in sending you five thousand dollars to assist in this mission that has been placed upon you, and if you need more from me, do not hesitate to call."
I could not help contrasting in my feelings, the position that this man took with that of a president of a stake to whom I appealed for one thousand dollars, and who, I am sure, was worth at least twice as much as the man who, without solicitation, had sent me a check for five thousand dollars. He not only did not give me anything at all, this stake president, but he made it his special business to see the men of means in his stake and forestalled my visit there so that when I went there, I did not get anything from anybody.
I remember, upon one occasion, when this mission was upon me, of hearing a man pray in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. He was also in a stake presidency. He dedicated to the Lord his time, his talent, his substance, and all that he had. I thought: "This is just the man I am after; he has plenty of money," and immediately I called upon him with my letter of appointment from the First Presidency. I did not get anything from him, and I concluded that his "dedication" to the Lord of all that he had was done believing that the Lord would not come and ask for any part of it.
At the time that stake president failed to respond, he utterly lacked the inspiration and the spirit and the willingness to carry out the prayer that he had previously uttered, because I had heard him dedicate his time and talents to the Lord. His prayer was merely a matter of form and I knew that it was only a matter of time when that man would no longer be a stake president. I made no complaints whatever, but I saw him gradually losing his faith and power with the people; finally a change was made.
I also watched the other man, who of his own free will and accord showed his appreciation of the blessings of the Lord by sending me this five thousand dollars without any solicitation on my part. I made no recommendations for promotion in the Priesthood of this man, but it was only a short time before he became a president of a stake, because he was showing his faith by his works, by making a practical demonstration that he did love the Lord, that he was grateful to the Lord, that he did desire to show that gratitude substantially.--Era, 42:713.
Twice in my life I prayed to the Lord to be appointed to a position.
The first time was when there was a disorganization of the general superintendency of the Mutual Improvement Associations because of the failure of one of the men in that superintendency to retain his standing in one of the high positions in the Church. I got down on my knees and I asked the Lord to call me to be one of the superintendency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. The Contributor was a very splendid magazine, one of the very finest magazines the Church has published. I am willing to make the assertion that if you will look through the volumes of the Contributor, you will find that they are full of good matter, worthy of the attention of any Latter-day Saint. It . . . died a natural death because of the lack of support on the part of the people.
We had no magazine, and there were no meetings of the general board, except that they met once in about every six months. I realized that they ought to meet every week, that they should come together and converse and work out programs. I prayed to the Lord that I might be chosen as one of the general superintendency. The very next day when I was in the president's office, President Joseph F. Smith said to President Woodruff, who was then also general superintendent of the Y. M. M. I. A.: "Brother Woodruff, I believe you ought to have two other counselors in the superintendency of the Young Men's Mutual. I suggest that Brother Grant here and Brother B. H. Roberts be counselors as well as myself."
They asked me if I was willing to work in that capacity. I told them: "Yes." But I did not tell them I had prayed to the Lord to give me the job. We immediately called a meeting, and we considered the proposition of starting The Improvement Era. I signed my name in one year over eight thousand times to letters that were sent to people, asking them to take that magazine. I contributed one hundred dollars a year for three years to a fund to be used in sending the Era to the missionaries free of charge, and The Improvement Era spent over thirty thousand dollars actual cost afterwards in sending this magazine out to the missionaries to help them in their work. It has been a success ever since, and it is growing all the time. It is worthy of our support.
The other thing that I asked of the Lord was this: When in Japan, feeling that I was not accomplishing anything, I went out into the woods and got down on my knees and told the Lord that whenever He was through with me there, where I was accomplishing nothing, I would be very glad and thankful if He would call me home and send me to Europe to preside over the European missions. A few days after that a cable arrived: "Come home on the first boat." And I went home.
Brother Joseph F. Smith said to me: "Heber, I realize you have not accomplished anything in Japan. We sent you there for three years, and I want you to put in the other year in England, if you are willing."
I said, "I am perfectly willing."
Later I went in to bid him goodbye and said: "I will see you in a little over a year."
He said, "Oh no, I have decided to make it a year and a half."
I said, "All right, multiply it by two and do not say anything about it to me." And he did.
I want you young people to know that in all my labors I got nearer to the Lord, and accomplished more and had more joy while in the mission field than ever before or since. Man is that he may have joy, and the joy that I had in the mission field was superior to any I have ever experienced elsewhere. Get it into your hearts, young people, to prepare yourselves to go out into the world where you can get on your knees and draw nearer to the Lord than in any other labor--Era, 39:396.
Many years ago President Woodruff announced that the Lord would like the great business of manufacturing sugar established in our midst. A committee was appointed from the directorate of two of the largest Church institutions, two of the most substantial in all Israel, to look into the matter. They investigated the advisability of establishing the beet sugar industry in this state and unanimously reported adversely.
President Woodruff was not satisfied. Another committee was appointed. I was on the first committee and he appointed me on the second committee. I begged to be excused, because I had already formed my opinion, had already signed my name to a report, but he would not listen to my request to be excused. We went into the matter again, thoroughly and carefully, and the second committee reported adversely. President Woodruff said: "Never mind the report. The inspiration to me is to establish the sugar industry.
I was called upon a mission, and a letter was given to me in connection with other members of the Council of the apostles. We were sent out to ask men to subscribe for stock in the Utah Sugar Company.
I took individual letters to different men asking them to subscribe. I delivered a letter to the late David Eccles, than whom I never met a clearer-headed business man in my life, and I have met men who draw their hundred thousand dollars and more every year in salary. He had a comprehensive grasp of business affairs which to me was superior to that of any man I ever met. David smiled when the letter was presented to him, signed by President Woodruff and his counselors, asking him to invest five thousand dollars, or seven thousand five hundred dollars.
He said, "Well, I would like to get off at the lowest figure. You can put me down for five thousand dollars." Then he added: "I hope they will buy lumber from me, so I may make a profit on a part of the five thousand dollars; and after I get my stock, if you can find someone who would like to buy it for twenty-five hundred dollars, I will be much obliged to you if you will come and get the stock."
Years later, when he put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the sugar business, I don't know whether or not he felt to give credit to that humble man, Wilford Woodruff, for the inspiration of the Lord whereby this great industry was established.
But for the inspiration of the Lord to Wilford Woodruff I doubt if we would have any sugar business in this state or in Idaho, today, that would amount to very much. I am inclined to think that the Great Western or some other company would have established the business in Utah and Idaho, and that the people of these states would simply have been working for them instead of owning the majority of the stock in our great intermountain factories.
After we had let the contract for the building of the sugar factory at Lehi, the panic of 1891 came on. There was a provision in the contract that before the machinery was shipped by the Dyer Company, if we would pay a forfeit of fifty thousand dollars the contract could be cancelled. I had been sent to New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other places, by the Presidency, to try to raise the money necessary to build this factory, but it looked like an impossibility to get the money. It was the opinion of business men and others that we should pay the fifty thousand dollars forfeit and abandon the enterprise. But when the recommendation was presented, Wilford Woodruff's answer was this:
From the day I received a knowledge of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, from the day that I went out as a humble priest to proclaim that gospel, although it looked like death in front of me, if the path of duty that the gospel required me to tread called me to face death, I have never turned to the right nor turned to the left, And now the inspiration of the Lord to me is to build this factory. Every time I think of abandoning it there is darkness; and every time I think of building it, there is light. We will build the factory if it bursts the Church.
We did build it and it did not burst the Church [Laughter]. It and subsequent factories have made millions of dollars for our people.--CR June, 1919:8-9.
I have seen every building in Salt Lake City, with the exception of some dwellings, erected within my lifetime. I was born where the Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution now stands. That was my homestead where I first saw the light of day. I can remember the main street as cabbage patches, tomato patches, and fruit orchards. I have seen the entire growth of that city.--Era, 35:258.
I remember upon one occasion a friend of mine, not in the Church, saying:
"How can you afford to spend hundreds of dollars every year in giving books away to your friends?"
I said: "Oh, I get a great deal of pleasure out of it, and in addition I sometimes give pleasure to four or five hundred others. Sometimes I give away in a year a thousand or two thousand pamphlets that cost only ten cents each, and it is my cigar money. I am sure it does not cost me any more than you spend to gratify your own appetite in smoking cigars."
He said, "Well, you have knocked me out in the first round and with the first blow."--CS, June 25, 1932.
I have urged upon the people, and have been called a crank for so doing, the observance of the Word of Wisdom and I expect to continue to be a crank in that respect to the end of my life. I am converted beyond the shadow of a doubt that no man or woman in this Church who does not observe the Word of Wisdom can grow and increase in a knowledge and testimony of the gospel as he or she could otherwise do.--CS, June 25, 1932.
I believe as firmly as I believe that I am standing here before you today that, on three separate and distinct occasions in my life I would have lost my life had I not been an observer of the Word of Wisdom. But on account of the pure blood I had in my veins and the promise of God and the keeping of the commandments of God, my life has been spared.--CR October, 1937:15.
I am opposed to Sunday baseball, and have been so from my boyhood days. When a young man, I was passionately fond of the game. Today I am happy in contemplating the fact that, much as I loved to play it, I never played a game on Sunday. I am grateful to know that I also persuaded more than one young man from playing on Sundays.
Not only am I opposed to Sunday baseball, but I am decidedly and emphatically in favor of a Sunday law which will not only prevent the playing of baseball but will also provide for the closing of theatres and other places of amusement. In my opinion, our legislators, from the date of Utah's admission into the union, have neglected a very important duty to the public. I hope such a law on this subject may be placed on our statute books when the next legislature shall meet.
I never think of the quiet in the great city of London, on Sundays, and compare it with our own city, that I am not humiliated.--Era, 16:262-263.
I have met many young men who have said to me, "I do not know that the gospel is true. I believe it, but I do not know it." I have invariably replied to them that our Lord and Master has said that he who will do the will of the Father shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether He spoke of Himself, and if they would do the will of the Father, they should eventually have a knowledge of the gospel. Some of them have said: "Oh, if I could only see an angel; if I could only hear speaking in tongues; if I could only see some great manifestation, then I would believe." I wish to say to all within the sound of my voice that the seeing of angels and great manifestations do not make great men in the Church and kingdom of God.--CR April, 1900:22.
I may say that, with the exception of my associates in the Church of Christ and my own relatives, there is no man living upon the earth today that has as warm a place in my heart and that I love as dearly as the man who wrote this letter. I do not know that he would care to have me mention his name. Therefore I shall not do so. But I will state that at the time he wrote this letter he was the general manager for the United Kingdom of a corporation of over two hundred millions of dollars; so you may know that he was a man of considerable experience and importance in the business world. The letter was written to me from London:
My dear Heber:
Your very nice long letter of the 10th came duly to hand. Of course, you know, aside from the long and intimate personal friendship we have had together, how much I have always been impressed with the genuineness and sincerity of the religious feeling among the men and women who hold your faith. Many times and oft I have said, in conversation, that the only religious people I ever knew who lived up to their professions were the Mormons of Utah. And this is true.
I am indeed grateful that my friend has not access to the list of non-tithe payers, amounting to ten thousand, because I doubt very much if then he could say "that the only religious people I ever knew who lived up to their professions, were the Mormons of Utah."
I am grateful that the Mormons with whom this man became acquainted were not only Mormons in name, but that they were in very deed Latter-day Saints. He gained his opinion of all Mormons by those with whom he became acquainted; and I have often said in public that I regard it as the duty of every Latter-day Saint to so order his life that his conduct will inspire all people with respect for him, and thereby create respect for the entire people. It is in keeping with the teachings of our Savior to let our light so shine, that men, seeing our good works, will glorify God and be led to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This it is that inspires respect, even when there is a total absence of a belief in the doctrines. Your people carry their beliefs into daily life, and act as if they think there is something in them. If I had the belief to start with, I cannot see how as a sensible person I could do otherwise.
Now here is the sentence that I desire impressed upon your minds indelibly:
If there is anything [and my friend draws a big black line under "anything"] in a belief which involves an eternity of future existence, there is everything. [And my friend draws another black line under "everything."]
Do we as Latter-day Saints believe this? Do we appreciate the force of my friend's remark?
"If there is anything in a belief which involves an eternity of future existence, there is everything."
Are we convinced that there is everything in this belief which involves an eternity of future existence? And do we, as our friend says we do, carry our beliefs into daily life, and act as if we do think there is something in them? Are we like the salt that has lost its savor, that is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men? My friend continues:
Now, I have given you my own sincere thought. The fact that I have no such conviction is evidenced by the fact that I am agnostic on such questions, as shown by my own actions.
If we are to take that standard--what is shown by the actions--then there are thousands of Latter-day Saints who are agnostics. And that is the standard of Jesus Christ. It is the only standard by which we will stand or fall,
Still I never attempt to proselyte on behalf of non-belief; and the last thing I would do, is to disturb those who believe in a theory which I don't; and I won't argue in defense of my own lack of believing.
I think, Heber, I have expressed about these view, to your mother many years ago.
This man, as I have said, is a friend of mine, and he has shown his friendship by his actions--a friendship which I doubt very much I could have experienced from many of the Latter-day Saints if they had been put to the test.
In the panic of 1893, this man, learning of my financial distress, wrote me a letter and announced that it was impossible to borrow any money in San Francisco (where he was then located) upon ordinary securities, but that money was there to be lent upon real estate. He said that he had no real estate except his home, but if the money from a mortgage placed upon his home would save my financial life, he said, "Telegraph me upon receipt of this letter; do not wait to write, because delays are dangerous, and the money shall come to you by the first mail." I could not restrain my tears when I read that letter, to think that God had given me sufficient of His Spirit whereby I had been enabled to so live that a man who was an agnostic, and who had no hope beyond the grave, had been so impressed with the genuineness of my character and integrity that he was willing to risk his home to save my "financial life." What called forth his letter?
My friend [previously] wrote to me from London, inquiring about my mother, about her sister, and about a number of other people with whom he was acquainted when he was a boarder in my mother's home, and wanting to know how they were getting along. Among others, he inquired regarding my cousin, Anthony W. Ivins. And I wrote and told him of the sacrifices that he had made in selling his property and moving to a foreign country. With regard to those sacrifices, I remarked that he had gone because of a call he had received, without any earthly hope of reward, And I said: "You see that we Mormons go where we are sent, without regard to the profits that may come to us."
This called forth the letter referred to above.
That man, to my knowledge, many years ago, was the instrument in the hand of God, in connection with another friend of mine, of making for this people a friend of a man who was chosen to govern this territory, namely, Governor Axtell. He wrote to me that he came here imbued--"filled full," is the expression in the letter--with his ideas of the Mormons. He said: "He is my friend, and I know what kind of people you are, and he comes there believing as I believe,"--CR April, 1901:31-33.
[More than fifty years ago a friend of President Grant, residing in another city, wrote that he had no testimony of the truth of the gospel. This admission brought forth from the president, then only thirty years of age, a reply mingling cold reason and inspiration in a manner that gives answer not only to the president's friend but to all who feel themselves in like position. In going over the president's voluminous and carefully kept papers, his daughter, Rachel Grant Taylor, came upon this letter which we reprint here not only for the value of its message, but also as a thoughtful insight into the straight thinking and inspiration of a young man who fulfilled the promise of his youth.--Editor.]
My dear Friend:
You claim that you have no testimony of the truth of the gospel. I am inclined to the opinion that you felt almost as if you had written what was not so when you penned those words. I shall not enter into an argument on the subject, knowing that it will do no good, as no amount of argument would change your position. If the spirit within you did not feel condemned when you wrote that you had no testimony, then I am sure that you are walking on very dangerous ground, and my advice to you is that you start in and devote your time to fasting and praying until you obtain a testimony.
I can't give you a testimony any more than I can do your eating and thinking for you. The history of our people and the history our enemies are making and have made against us is as strong a testimony as I know anything of, so far as convincing my reason goes. The fact that crime cannot live in the Church and that the Church has stood and can stand because of the testimony in the hearts of the people, even if half or two-thirds of the leaders were to make shipwreck of their faith, is another item. The fact that men live God-like lives and testify to the truth of the gospel (Why? Because their lives entitle them to the Spirit of God, and they can therefore testify by its aid.) and then do evil and testify that the gospel is not true (Why? Because their lives have caused God's Spirit to depart from them.) is another item that would naturally appeal to one's reason.
It would frighten my reason if, when I found men increasing in wisdom and god acts, I found them drawing away from the gospel; but I have during my entire life to find a case of this kind. When men stop praying for God's Spirit, they place confidence in their own unaided reason and they gradually lose the Spirit of God, just as near and dear friends, by never writing to or visiting with each other, will become perfect strangers, so to speak. The minute a man stops supplicating God for His Spirit and direction, just so soon he begins to become a stranger to Him and His works.
I might go on and write a dozen pages in the same vein as I have started, and you would find nothing in them that would give you a testimony, or perhaps nothing that you had not thought of yourself. Earnest, honest, and sincere prayer to God is worth more to you than all I can say or write.
Everything is progressing favorably with me. The family and I are in the possession of good health. . . . With assurances of regard and esteem, and best wishes for you and yours, I remain,
Sincerely yours, Heber J. Grant.--Era, 41:199.
I know that many times I have poured out the gratitude of my heart to Hamilton G. Park, who was the teacher of my Sunday School class in my boyhood and young manhood days. I shall never get over thanking this man for the wonderful impression for good that he made upon me and for the remarkable testimonies he bore in our classes, telling his experiences as a missionary, and the blessings and power of God that attended him while proclaiming the gospel in two missions to his native country, Scotland.
I look forward with the keenest pleasure of meeting in the hereafter Hamilton G. Park, George Goddard, Bishop Nelson Empey, Bishop Edwin D. Woolley, Bishop Millen Atwood, and others who made an impression for good upon my mind and heart as a boy. I could mention scores of others to whom I am indebted. I shall be grateful throughout all the ages of eternity to those men for the impression that they made upon me.
We may think that the impressions we make may not be lasting, but I can assure you they are. I am sure that a testimony borne by a teacher to little children, under the inspiration of the living God, is a difficult thing for them to forget.
I shall be grateful always to Eliza R. Snow, second only to my mother, for the many wonderful things that she told me as a little boy when I used to run errands, or come up to the Lion House to deliver a message to "Aunt Eliza," as I always called her from my earliest recollection. She was sure to ask me to sit down a few minutes, and then she would talk to me. She told me scores and scores of faith-promoting incidents in her life in Nauvoo when she was there as a girl with my mother, and incidents in the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that have been of value to me. She inspired me with a determination to live a life that would be worthy of my mother and my father.
I remember vividly also the wonderful teachings to me of the late Erastus Snow. . . . Seldom if ever did he come to a conference in April or October, or come here on some special mission, that he did not visit my mother's home and inquire how we were getting along, inquire of me whether I was attending to my duties, what I was doing, and the kind of company I was keeping. I shall never, while I live, and when I go beyond the grave, get over being grateful for the wonderful testimonies and the wonderful fatherly advice of that man to me.
Each and every one of our teachers has the opportunity and the power under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, to make an impression upon the hearts and souls of little innocent children and young boys and girls who are starting out in the battle of life. I pray with all the fervor of my soul that God will help you in your labors; and I can promise you that He will help you. The important thing for you is to have a love of your work and to do your work under the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God. That is the whole difference between the Church of Jesus Christ and the people of the world. They have the letter of the gospel; they are teaching the Bible just as diligently and many of them believe in it as strongly and try to live up to its precepts just as well as we do; but the Spirit of the living God they do not have. Why? Because they haven't the power of the Priesthood, and because they have not accepted the gospel as we have.--Era, 42:135.
If we have a desire to do a thing, we can generally find the time to do it. I made up my mind several years ago that I would like to go to the temple once a week when I was in Salt Lake City, although I had so much work to do that quite frequently I got out of bed at 4:30 in the morning and talked to the dictaphone--I have dictated many times more letters before going to my office at 8:30 than any stenographer can write in one day. I had felt for years that I did not have the time to go to the temple, but finally I got the desire to go, and from that time on I had no difficulty in finding the time to go once a week. Occasionally I went twice a week, and it so happened that one week I went all four nights that the temple was open. . . .
I believe that if I could find the time to go to the temple and do temple work once a week, there is hardly a man in the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but who can find the same time if he wishes to plan his work accordingly. The trouble with so many people is they do not have the desire. (I am speaking of people who live where there is a temple.) If you get it into your heart and soul that this is one of the most important things you as Latter-day Saints can do, you will find a way to do it.--Era, 44:459.
I remember attending the funeral of a gentleman in Salt Lake, a very dear friend of mine not of our Church, whose wife was a life-long member of another church, and the anguish of that woman at that funeral, the almost frantic anguish that nearly drove her wild, and the mourning and the sorrow for months and months that that woman experienced, convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that her faith utterly failed in comforting her heart.
Some months after the death of her husband, I happened to be visiting at her home, and she invited me to sit down on the lounge. She wanted to tell me something. She told me that a short time before her husband had died he said to her that he did not want to break her heart, but "if it were not for the fact that you and your friends and your grandparents have been devoted members of another church I tell you what I would do: I would join these Mormons. We have lived among them for twenty-five years; they take care of their poor better than any other people in the world. They take care of their sick better; they visit the homes of their friends in the hour of sickness and sorrow and are like one great large family. They are in very deed brothers and sisters. There is nobody like them; and I would join them, only I know it would break your heart."
Months later I wrote her and asked permission to go into the temple and do the work for her husband; and she called at my house and granted this permission and handed me some money to donate to the temple. I made up my mind, after a few years had passed, that I would have a conversation with her, and refer to the fact that we believed in marriage for time and all eternity. But just before I had made up my mind to have that conversation with her--she was living at the time in California--she passed away.
I was very sorry that I did not have the opportunity to talk with her because I had lived in hope that she would see the necessity of being baptized herself. But shortly afterwards I learned that just before she died, when she was visiting in Utah, she called a president of a stake to her home there and said: "I cannot, I have not the moral courage to tell my children, having reared them in another church, that I have lost my faith and that I believe in the Mormon religion. I want you, when I am gone, to have your wife go to the temple and have the work done for me and my husband. Mr. Grant has done the work for my husband; I want you to have us married for eternity and sealed together."
Now, here was a woman whose life and that of her parents and her grandparents before her had been spent in another church, who, in the hour of her death, that supreme test that comes to the human heart, her faith in her religion, that knowledge that you and I possess, was lacking; and of that comfort that comes to my heart in the hour of death and to yours, she was entirely void; and the very death of her husband, I am convinced, caused her to reflect and to pray and to study and look into the truth to that extent that before she passed away she wanted to be counted as a member of the Church of Christ.
I regret that she did not have the moral courage to come out boldly and acknowledge her faith and go down into the waters of baptism during her life, but I am glad she was anxious to have the work done. I am pleased to say that it was done for her and her husband, and I am pleased to say I had the privilege of performing the sealing ordinance for that couple.--Era, 42:521.
Death seems a most terrible thing, as near as I can judge by attending the funerals of people where the surviving relatives do not know the truth, but to a Latter-day Saint, while death brings sorrow into our homes and our hearts, that sorrow is more or less of the same nature that we feel when we are temporarily called upon to part with our dear ones who are going out into the mission field or who are moving away for some time. That awful anguish that I have seen exhibited by those who know not the truth, I believe never comes into the heart of a true Latter-day Saint.
It has fallen to my lot to part with two wives, to part with a beloved mother, to bury both of my sons, one daughter, and most of my life-long friends, and yet I do not believe that I have suffered at all in comparison to what I have seen others suffer who know not the truth.--Era, 42:521.
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 sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee for ever and ever.--(D. and C. 121:45, 46.)
I have a very wonderful respect and regard for this quotation from page two hundred fifteen of the Doctrine and Covenants [Section 121]. Some years ago a prominent man was excommunicated from the Church. He, years later, pleaded for baptism. President John Taylor referred the question of his baptism to the apostles, stating that if they unanimously consented to his baptism, he could be baptized, but that if there was one dissenting vote, he should not be admitted into the Church. As I remember the vote, it was five for baptism and seven against.
A year or so later the question came up again and it was eight for baptism and four against. Finally all of the council of the apostles, with the exception of your humble servant, consented that this man be baptized, and I was then next to the junior member of the quorum. Later I was in the office of the president, and he said:
"Heber, I understand that eleven of the apostles have consented to the baptism of Brother So and So," naming the man, "and that you alone are standing out. How will you feel when you get on the other side and you find that this man has pleaded for baptism and you find that you have perhaps kept him from entering in with those who have repented of their sins and received some reward?"
I said, "President Taylor, I can look the Lord squarely in the eye, if He asks me that question, and tell Him that I did that which I thought was for the best good of the kingdom. . . . I can tell the Lord that he had disgraced this Church enough, and that I did not propose to let any such man come back into the Church."
"Well," said President Taylor, "my boy, that is all right. Stay with your convictions; stay right with them."
I said, "President Taylor, your letter said you wanted each one of the apostles to vote the convictions of his heart. If you desire me to surrender the convictions of my heart, I will gladly do it. I will gladly vote for this man to come back. But while I live I never expect to consent if it is left to my judgment. That man was accused before the apostles several years ago and he stood up and lied and claimed that he was innocent, and the Lord gave to me a testimony that he lied, but I could not condemn him because of that. I got down on my knees that night and prayed God to give me the strength not to expose that man, seeing that he had lied but that we had no evidence except only the testimony of the girl that he had seduced. And I prayed the Lord that some day additional testimony might come, and it did come, and we then excommunicated him. And when a man can lie to the apostles, and when he can be guilty while proclaiming repentance of sin, I think this Church has been disgraced enough without ever letting him come back into the Church."
"Well," repeated President Taylor, "my boy, don't you vote for him as long as you live, while you hold those ideas; stay right with them."
I left the president's office. I went home. My lunch was not ready. I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants through for the third or fourth time systematically, and I had my bookmark in it. But as I picked it up, instead of opening where the bookmark was, it opened to--
Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord. . . .
I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.--(D. and C. 64:9, 10.)
And I closed the book and said: "If the devil applies for baptism and claims that he has repented, I will baptize him."
After lunch I returned to the office of President Taylor and I said, "President Taylor, I have had a change of heart. One hour ago I said, never while I live, did I expect to ever consent that Brother So and So should be baptized, but I have come to tell you he can be baptized, so far as I am concerned."
President Taylor had a habit, when he was particularly pleased, of sitting up and laughing and shaking his whole body. He laughed and said, "My boy, the change is very sudden, very sudden. I want to ask you a question. How did you feel when you left here an hour ago? Did you feel like you wanted to hit that man right squarely between the eyes and knock him down?"
I said, "That is just the way I felt."
He said, "How do you feel now?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, President Taylor, I hope the Lord will forgive the sinner."
He said, "You feel very happy, don't you, in comparison. You had the spirit of anger, you had the spirit of bitterness in your heart toward that man; because of his sin and because of the disgrace he had brought upon the Church. And now you have the spirit of forgiveness and you really feel happy, don't you?"
And I said, "Yes, I do. I felt mean and hateful and now I feel happy."
And he said: "Do you know why I wrote that letter?"
I said: "No, sir."
"Well, I wrote it, just so you and some of the younger members of the apostles would learn the lesson that forgiveness is in advance of justice where there is repentance; and that to have in your heart the spirit of forgiveness and to eliminate from your hearts the spirit of hatred and bitterness, brings peace and joy; that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings joy, peace and happiness to every soul that lives it and follows its teachings."--CR October, 1920:5-7.
You will always be blessed and benefited in following the advice and counsel of those whom God has chosen to preside over the Church. By honoring the man God has chosen, God will honor and bless you. And as you individually do your duty, you will grow and increase in the light and inspiration of the Spirit of God. As we grow and increase individually, so will the Church grow and increase. I tell you, "Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." I am willing to be utterly ruined financially, if that resulted from fulfilling the counsel and wishes of those whom God has placed to preside over me. This is the work of God. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; we must remember that. We must "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," and then shall all other things be added.
Life eternal is what we are working for. Do not allow the wisdom, the riches or the education of the world, or anything else, to blind our eyes to the fact that this is God's work, and that the mouthpiece of God is on the earth. When he speaks, let us be ready and willing, with our time, our talents and all that has been given us to labor to fulfill what God desires. I tell you, God will vindicate His mouthpiece, as He vindicated Wilford Woodruff and his counselors in the establishment of the sugar industry.--CR October, 1903:9-10.
"It is admitted that statements of personal experiences, spoken or written, carry more force and make a more lasting impression upon the minds of hearers and readers than can be made in any other way. This must be my excuse for relating so many incidents in my own career." --HEBER J. GRANT Era, 3:82.
As a young man Richard W. Young graduated as a cadet at West Point, and before going to the school he was set apart by his grandfather, President Brigham Young, to serve as a missionary while in the school, and then, after graduation, to continue as a missionary in the army.
After his graduation there was a surplus, so he assured me, of graduates from West Point, and more second lieutenants than the army needed, and it was considered no disgrace whatever for the graduates to resign. On the contrary, the government was pleased to receive their resignations with the understanding that they would volunteer should our country ever be engaged in war.
Richard consulted his uncle, Colonel Willard Young, and other friends including myself, stating that he would like to resign, as he was the only living child of his widowed mother. He hated to be separated from her, and an army career would not permit him to be near her.
Some of us agreed to lend him money to secure a legal education, which would cost, he thought, from four to six thousand dollars. We had no doubt he would make a success as a lawyer and would repay the loan.
After he had partially arranged for the money to pay his expenses for his education as a lawyer, he said to me:
"Heber, inasmuch as grandfather blessed me and set me apart as an army missionary, do you think it is proper for me to resign that missionary labor without consulting his successor, President John Taylor?"
I told him it would not be right. He consulted President Taylor, and was told to remain in the army. It was a great disappointment to Richard.
When he secured his appointment in the army after his graduation, he was assigned to Governor's Island, a few minutes' ride from New York City. He entered Columbia Law School in New York, was graduated with honors, and during the time of securing his education he received a salary as second lieutenant and had quarters for himself and his family on Governor's Island, then counted by many as the finest army post in the entire United States. He not only escaped being in debt several thousand dollars for his legal education but in addition received a salary while securing his education.
After he had been graduated from Columbia Law School, General Winfield Scott Hancock, who was in command at Governor's Island, commended him on the industry he had exhibited in preparing himself for the battle of life. General Hancock remarked that many of the graduates of West point were good--I would not be positive of the exact language to marry millionaires' daughters; that the millionaires would throw their daughters, figuratively speaking, at the heads of the graduates, and the girls had no trouble at all falling in love with men wearing brass buttons. And as the youngsters who married millionaires' daughters had no need to think of their future financially, or to prepare themselves for the battle of life, the general said, they didn't make very much of a record.
General Hancock also said he wished he could promote Richard W. Young. But as that was out of the question he was pleased that he could do one thing for him, and that was to choose him as one of his own staff officers. He remarked: "Lieutenant Young, you are chosen on my staff with the rank of major."
I was in New York City at the funeral of ex-President U. S. Grant. As I recall it, the procession was over five miles long. I was watching the procession from one of the insurance offices on Broadway, and it filled my heart with pride and gratitude to see a grandson of Brigham Young riding with the commanding general on the first line of that great five mile funeral procession.
After graduating as a lawyer, Richard still kept in mind his wish to return to Salt Lake City, to be at home with his mother and to help take care of her but feared that with the limited salary he was getting after graduation from West Point he could do little or nothing for her.
Subsequently, when the permanent Judge Advocate-General had been given a special assignment at Washington, General Hancock appointed Richard temporary Judge Advocate-General of the eastern department of the army, and . . . was working to have him permanently appointed Judge Advocate-General of the Missouri department at the time General Hancock died.
Richard then fell back to the rank of lieutenant, as another "Pharaoh," figuratively speaking, had arisen who did not know "Joseph." Richard came home on a vacation, and in the meantime I had become one of the apostles. He then asked me, also his uncle, Brigham Young, Jr., to plead with President Taylor to permit him to resign, as he had secured his education as a lawyer and wanted to come home and get behind him the starvation period of a young legal graduate.
Brother Brigham Young, Jr., and I argued to the best of our ability at a meeting in the old Endowment House for Richard to be released from the army. Some others spoke in favor of his resignation, and when we had finished our talks, President Taylor said: "The time has not yet arrived for that young man to resign from the army."
This was a very great disappointment to Richard. He wanted to know what the reasons were. I told him there were no reasons given, only that President Taylor said he ought not to resign.
He said: "I would like to have some reasons."
I smiled and said: "Richard, he did not give any reasons when he told you to stay in the army, and you secured your education free of debt and were paid a salary by the government while you were doing so, and upon graduating you were honored by being chosen on the staff of General Hancock I think you can now well afford to take the advice of President Taylor."
He said: "Oh, I wouldn't think of doing anything else, but I wish there were some reasons."
I assured him that when Brother Taylor said, "Your young friend ought to stay in the army," I had an impression that that was exactly the right thing.
Richard was on his way to his new assignment--I have forgotten to what place he was assigned--when he met one of his fellow students who had graduated in the same class, and he was bewailing his fate because he had to come way out to Utah. He thought Richard--as I remember the expression--was a lucky dog, in having the appointment which had been assigned to him, having previously had the best place in the army, namely, Governor's Island, and then getting another fine appointment.
Richard suggested to his fellow graduate that they apply to the Secretary of War for an exchange of assignments. They did so. The exchange was made, and Richard was stationed at Fort Douglas for four years and was able to be in the law office of his relative, the late LeGrand Young, and get through what is known as the starvation period of four years as a young lawyer, drawing a good salary from the government and having a fine residence at Fort Douglas without expense.
The day that the announcement was made that Richard's assignment at Fort Douglas had expired I called at President John Taylor's office--I have forgotten for what purpose--and he said, "I see by the morning paper that your dear friend, Richard W. Young's term has expired at Fort Douglas and he is about to go East. You may tell him that the time has now arrived for his missionary labors in the army to end, and he is at liberty to resign."
Faith, we are told, is a gift of God, and Richard had the faith to accept the counsel and advice of President Taylor, and it is little less than wonderful that he should have secured the finest post, so considered, in the army, secured his education without running into debt, and received a salary from the government while securing it.
Certainly God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.
My experience is that men who have sufficient faith to trust in God come out of difficulties, financial and otherwise, in a most miraculous and wonderful way.--Era, 39:131-132.
I have related the wonderful blessing that my dear friend, Richard W. Young, received by obeying the advice and counsel of President John Taylor. But the remarkable record of good fortune that resulted from following the advice of President Taylor was no more wonderful than the result of Richard's obeying the counsel of President Wilford Woodruff, successor to President Taylor.
Richard W. Young, like me and many others, invested quite heavily in Utah-Idaho Sugar stock which, at the time, paid a very generous dividend. . . .
When the trouble broke out between the United States and Spain I was visiting Richard in his office. He remarked that as a graduate of West Point it was his duty to volunteer again to enter the army. He thought that he would probably have the rank and pay of a major, and stated that his compensation as a major would not pay one-half of the interest on his debts, but honor and duty demanded his return to the army.
I replied that it would take ten times as much courage to remain home and not enter the army, and I advised him to consult President Wilford Woodruff and take his advice, stating that if President Woodruff advised him to remain at home, I felt he ought to accept that advice notwithstanding the ridicule that might come to him by doing so. I said: "There may be some special labor that the Lord has for you to perform that is of more importance than for you to volunteer and go to the Philippines where perhaps you might lose your life."
He said that he would not think of such a thing as to speak to President Woodruff about returning to the army, and further remarked: "He is one of the most tender-hearted men in the world. He is as tender-hearted as a woman. I feel sure he would not advise me to volunteer."
I replied: "Do you accept me, Richard, as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, with authority to call people on missions?"
He answered: "I certainly do."
I said: "All right, as an apostle, I call you on a mission to go to President Wilford Woodruff, and ask for his advice as to your returning to the army, and your mission is to follow that advice and counsel, no matter how much you dislike to do so. I will stay right here in your office until you return and report."
He said: "Darn you, Heber Grant." He picked up his hat and went to see President Woodruff, looking anything but happy.
He returned smiling and said: "President Woodruff is as full of fight as an egg is full of meat. He remarked, `If you don't go back to the army, Brother Young, after graduating from West Point, you will disgrace the name you bear, and it will be a reflection upon your dear, dead grandfather, President Brigham Young.'"
Richard was very happy. He took President Woodruff's advice, joined the army, and went to the Philippines, notwithstanding the fact that he was heavily in debt and was very much concerned about leaving his unsettled obligations. But while he was still in the Philippines one of the corporations in which Richard had twelve thousand dollars' worth of stock at par value, and which was worth only nine thousand when he joined the army, paid a special cash dividend of one hundred percent and during Richard's absence paid dividends of from ten to twenty percent regularly. Soon after his return home it paid a special dividend of forty percent. These two special dividends, to say nothing of the large regular dividends that were paid, netted him enough to cancel all of his debts and leave him a home and some other valuable property in addition.
The increase in the value of Richard's securities while he was in the Philippine Islands was very remarkable. The war with Spain lasted but a short time. After the war he was appointed by the governor-general of the Philippine Islands, William H. Taft, (afterwards president of the United States) one of the Supreme Court Judges of the Islands, and he was also appointed to write the code for the islands. He made an excellent record while in the Philippines, and gained the love and confidence of that splendid man, William H. Taft, who ever afterwards was a friend not only of Richard W. Young, but of the Mormon people.
When Richard returned to Utah, he resumed his law practice and was one of the prosperous, successful lawyers of our state. Subsequently, as we all know, he was blessed of the Lord by being chosen to preside over the Ensign Stake of Zion, one of the important stakes of the Church, and he made a splendid stake president.
When the World War broke out, he again returned to the army, and was made a brigadier-general. Because of his experience and education at West Point, he was detailed to train soldiers, and was in charge of one of the large training camps, Fort Kearney. I had the pleasure of visiting with him and the late Brigham H. Roberts, the chaplain, while they were at Kearney.
Richard was only a short time in Europe when he wrote a fine article for The Improvement Era. The armistice having been signed almost immediately after Richard's arrival overseas, he did not actively participate in the World War, except in the training camp.
In my former article regarding Richard W. Young, I quoted from the hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way." Certainly God did move in a very wonderful and mysterious way in blessing my near and dear friend when he followed the advice of President Taylor, and also I feel to a much greater extent when he followed the advice of President Woodruff.
Faith is a gift of God, and when people have faith to live the gospel, and to listen to the counsel of those who preside in the wards and stakes and of the General Authorities of the Church, it his been my experience that they have been abundantly blessed of the Lord, and that many of them have come out of great financial and other difficulties in a most miraculous and wonderful way.
"Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."--Era, 39:331-332.
I was talking once with Captain John Codman, who owned a sailing vessel before the time of steam. He had sailed over many seas. He had had all kinds of adventures and experiences and was acquainted with all kinds of people. He also had become quite a noted magazine writer, furnishing articles to many of the leading magazines of the country. Finally he suffered from asthma, and he discovered he was better at Soda Springs, Idaho, than at any other place. And having abundance of money, he bought four or five horses, bought a little cottage there, and used to come to Soda Springs just as early as he could in the spring, and stay just as late as he could on account of the cold and snows.
He averaged spending about seven months a year at Soda Springs, and I became acquainted with him here in Salt Lake City; had some business dealings with him, and it so happened that the money that he placed in my hands as a young man of twenty-two or three, to invest for him, turned out very well. In one investment of about two thousand dollars, he made some twenty thousand out of it, and we became very familiar.
During the three years I was at Soda Springs every summer with a sick wife, I became quite intimate with him, and he said to me once, "Grant, the greatest education in the world comes from your missionary system." "Why," he said, "there is nothing like it; I am convinced that the average Mormon boy who goes out for three years to proclaim your gospel comes home improved better than he would have been if he had gone through the best university in all the world; there is nothing like it. I never was more astonished in my life than to discover the growth in your young men who go out as missionaries."
He gave me an example. He said, "There was my stable boy, currying my horses. Why, when I heard he was called on a mission to Germany, I laughed and said, `That boy will never even learn the German language; he is not bright enough to learn a difficult language, I am sure.' He had been away about a year and a half when I got a letter from him. He had run across some of my relatives over there who had gone to Germany to live for a few years to put their children in school to get certain education and to acquire the German language practically, by coming in contact with the actual Germans. When he heard they were relatives of mine, he thought he would get a letter of introduction from me to them, and I thought of what my cultured relatives would think of him, and I said, `I am not going to give the ignoramus a letter.' But afterwards I thought if he was fool enough to ask for it, I would give it to him. So I sent it.
Pretty soon I got a letter in answer from my folk, thanking me for introducing the young Mormon; that he was a very bright, intelligent young fellow, and they had thoroughly enjoyed his visit.
I decided when he returned home I would go and hear him preach. I thought it would be a joke. He came home in another year and a half, and I went to hear him speak. He gave as logical a sermon and made his points from the standpoint of your faith as well as any one could. Why, he was away ahead of fellows who go to theological seminaries for years, and I was astounded. Now I always go to hear the boys from Soda Springs when they come back from missions. I have never been disappointed. It is wonderful."
I said, "It is not so wonderful when you stop to think that they are taught by the inspiration of the Lord."
He said, "Rubbish, rubbish."
"Well," I said, "you say they progress more rapidly than in the finest universities in the world; where do they get the progress, if it is not from the spirit of the living God that attends them in their labors?"--YMJ, 30:357-358.
As is generally known, prior to the dedication and opening of the Salt Lake Temple for ordinance work, a party not of our faith was permitted to go through the building.
This circumstance tried my brother's feelings, and he was greatly astonished later to be greeted by an attorney, one of those who had had the privilege of going through the temple who said that he had never in his entire life had such an impression made upon him as that which he received while in the temple. He felt that he was in very deed "treading upon holy ground," and that he was near his Creator. He had never taken any interest whatever in religious matters; had been rather skeptical. But such a profound impression had been made upon him during his visit to the temple, that he would gladly travel around the world for the privilege of again entering its sacred precincts. As he was passing through the building, one of the persons with him stepped up to a table upon which were our Church works, and inquisitively opened one of the books. This act of irreverent curiosity so outraged his feelings that he felt almost as though he could strike the man. It aroused such a feeling of antagonism against the person who had carelessly handled the books in this sacred edifice that he never could have the same kindly feelings toward him thereafter.
When I heard the above incident related, I asked myself the question:
"Do the Latter-day Saints who have the privilege of entering our holy temples, appreciate the great blessing that is given to them, and do they, in very deed, realize, as did this man of the world inclined to skepticism, that they are treading upon `holy ground'?"
We receive so many blessings from the Lord, among the greatest of which is the privilege of officiating in the temples, that I sometimes think these blessings become commonplace, and are not fully appreciated. Our hearts do not go out, as they should, in gratitude to God for His blessings to us.--Era, 11:361-362.
My father-in-law, the late Oscar Winters, said to me one day while visiting at my home:
"Brother Grant, I do not believe that the young people today fully appreciate what a marvelous inspiration it was to the Saints in crossing the plains to sing, almost daily, the hymn `Come, Come, Ye Saints.' If the young people of the Church today understood all that it meant to the early Pioneers, while crossing the plains, to sing this hymn nearly every night around the campfires, I do not believe they would be guilty of singing only three verses. I have never yet heard a choir sing more than three verses, and yet to my mind the fourth verse is the climax to its splendid prayer."
He then related the following incident:
"One night, as we were making camp, we noticed one of our brethren had not arrived. A volunteer party was immediately organized to return and see if anything had happened to him. Just as we were about to start, we saw the missing brother coming in the distance. When he arrived, he said he had been quite sick. So some of us unyoked his oxen and attended to his part of the camp duties.
"After supper, he sat down before the campfire on a large rock, and sang in a very faint but plaintive and sweet voice, the hymn, `Come, Come, Ye Saints.'
"It was a rule of the camp that whenever anybody started this hymn all in the camp should join. But for some reason this evening nobody joined him. He sang the hymn alone. When he had finished, I doubt if there was a single dry eye in the camp.
"The next morning we noticed that he was not yoking up his cattle. We went to his wagon and found that he had died during the night. We dug a shallow grave, and after we had covered his body with the earth we rolled the large stone to the head of the grave to mark it, the stone on which he had been sitting the night before when he sang:
"`And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! all is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow too; With the just we shall dwell. But if our lives are spared again To see the Saints their rest obtain, O how we'll make this chorus swell--All is well! All is well!'"
I noticed tears in my father-in-law's eyes when he finished relating this incident. And I imagined the reason he did not relate to me another far more touching incident to him was the fear that he might break down.
I subsequently learned that after he had been located for some time in Pleasant Grove, he came to Salt Lake with his team with a cheerful heart to meet his mother. When the company arrived, he learned that she, too, had died before her journey's end and was sleeping in an unknown grave on the vast plains between here and the Missouri River.
Some years later when engineers of the Burlington Railroad were surveying the route in Nebraska, they ran across a piece of wagon tire sticking in the ground with the word "Winters" chiseled upon it. They immediately surmised, knowing that they were on the old Mormon Pioneer trail, that this piece of wagon tire must mark the grave of one of the Pioneers. So they very considerately went back several miles and changed the line of the road so as to miss the grave, and sent an account of what they had discovered to the Deseret News, asking if anyone knew about the grave. The railroad company have since built a neat little fence round the grave, and the Winters' family have erected a little monument of temple granite on which is chiseled the fourth verse of "Come, Come, Ye Saints."--Era, 17:781-784.
I rejoice in the statement made that if we had had justice given to us way back in 1893 (at the Chicago World's Fair) we would have won the first prize for the best chorus of two hundred fifty voices.
The manager of one of the greatest booking agencies in New York--Major Pond--said after the concert:
"My, I am glad I was not the judge; I would have had to give the prize to those awful Mormons."
The Scranton Choir engaged fifty voices from bales because they were afraid of our choir. The choir was permitted to give concerts to help pay their expenses before the contest, and the Pennsylvania people were so frightened that they hired the fifty best voices from bales to help them out. And the major said: "Those fifty voices upset the perfect harmony of the four parts, and it was not so good a choir with those voices as it was without them."
And that is the exact criticism that I received from one of my lifelong nearest and dearest and most closely associated friends, the late Horace G. Whitney, who managed the choir upon that occasion. I was in New York; the panic was on; and I was there laboring to obtain money with which to keep myself and others alive financially. Horace wrote to me and said:
"Heber, I would have been satisfied had they put the one thousand dollar and the five thousand dollar prizes together and divided the amount, but it was an outrage to give the first prize to the other choir. We were better than the other choir."
I wrote and said: "My dear Bud: You know they say, love is blind, and cannot smell nor hear. You came up as a child under Stephens' training. You learned to love him with all your heart; you love the choir; and I shall have to vote--seeing you would have been satisfied with half the amount if they had put the two prizes together--I shall have to vote with the committee that gave it to Scranton."
Two days later--being in New York at the time, and being the president of the Salt Lake Theater and familiar with musical people,--I learned of Major Pond's criticism. So I wrote to Bud: "You can hear, and you can smell, and you made a fair decision."--CR, October, 1939:127-128.
The winter before it was completed, a party was arranged in every ward in the city for the benefit of the St. George Temple. Every ward had a dance, and that is when we were allowed to have only three round dances in an evening. But Bishop Woolley of the Thirteenth Ward would not allow any round dances. They had held a dance there, and it did not pay.
In those days they had no smooth floors; there were just ordinary boards, and we used to whittle wax candles and wax the floor, but Bishop Woolley would not let us wax the Thirteenth Ward floor. He said, "I am not going to have people falling down and breaking their necks." In those days Olsen's band played the "Danube Waltz" and the other popular dance numbers to perfection, but the flute player got drunk once in the Thirteenth Ward and the bishop wouldn't have this band. He sent for me and said, "Now, I want you to get up a party; you have more friends among the young people than anyone; I want you to choose your own committee and arrange the whole thing and turn over the proceeds to us for the benefit of the St. George Temple. I want you to make a success of it. We generally lead every other ward in everything we try to do. I want you to be sure to beat them all."
I said: "I will do my best, but you must agree to pay the loss if there is one."
"Loss?" he said.
"Yes, you cannot have the party in the Thirteenth Ward and make any money; the young people won't come any more. In other places they allow them to have three round dances, and you won't have any. I would rather dance three round dances and throw all the rest away. You have got to have three waltzes."
"All right," said Bishop Woolley, "take the three waltzes."
Then I said: "You won't allow Olsen's Quadrille Band;
they are the only people who can play the `Blue Danube Waltz' well; that is one of the things that draws the crowd. When you say Olsen's full band, that means the finest cornetist in Salt Lake will be there to give some cornet solos during the evening."
The bishop said: "Take Olsen's Quadrille Band; take your three round dances; wax your floor."
Then I said: "There is another thing I would like; I won't insist on it--you won't allow a gentile to come; I would like the United States marshal and one or two high-principled gentlemen to come and let them see how Mormon boys and girls can behave themselves. There will be no rowdyism; there will be a crowd of the finest kind of young people."
He said: "Invite whom you please."
I said too: "I am going to charge $1.50 instead of a dollar."
"Oh, the people won't pay that."
"Yes, they will, with Olsen's full Quadrille Band."
We secured the finest tickets we could get. I chose Eddie Woolley as my assistant, and we got down on our knees and took the screws out of the desks in the east wing; he borrowed rugs and made it a fine drawing-room and had President Young's picture and others there, full-size.
I got one of the Young boys on the committee to get the Young family to come. I got Nelson Empey on the committee, and he agreed to get the boys in Z.C.M.I. I got Hyde Young who was down at the Utah Central Railroad to get the railroad boys. I went to Z.C.M.I. to Captain Hooper and said, "Captain Hooper, I would like very much to have you come to a party in the Thirteenth Ward."
He said, "I never go to parties."
But I said, "There are two important things about this party, and this is one of them--it is for the benefit of the St. George Temple; and this is the other--tickets are $1.50," and he laughed and handed me $1.50, and said, "Go sell it to Eldredge." I went to Brother Eldredge, and he said: "I do not go to parties any more." I told him the same story about this party, and he gave me $1.50. I have forgotten whom he sent me to, but I sold the ticket five or six times.
People had to show their tickets to get in, and there was a list of all the people who had tickets, and no one could go to the party who did not have a ticket and whose name was not on the list. I sat there with the alphabetical list, checking the tickets as they came in. I told Hon Young to sell his father ten, that we would like ten of his boys to come. His father said: "Let the boys pay for their own tickets."
President Young came, however, and said: "This is for the benefit of the St. George Temple, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Is that enough to pay for my ticket?" and he threw down ten dollars.
I said, "Plenty." I do not know whether or not he expected any change, but he did not get any. The next morning President Young sent to Bishop Woolley and wanted a list of the people who attended the party. The bishop went up with the eighty odd dollars and handed him the list and the money. No other ward got much more than half that amount. We scooped the town, and we had four round dances. The fourth round dance was a waltz quadrille. I said, "I am going to sit by the president and see what he says."
I said to the leader of the band: "Now when you get through with the waltz quadrille, stop playing."
President Young said: "They are waltzing."
I said, "No, they are not waltzing; when they waltz they waltz all around the room; this is a quadrille."
He turned to me and laughed and said: "Oh, you boys, you boys." Era, 44:654. As told to Rachel G. Taylor.
I happen to know of one instance of a boy who worked in a bank, today one of the leading banks of the city. The bank was owned almost exclusively by a non-member of the Church. The boy went into the bank with a cigar in his mouth, and the president of the bank said: "Young man, go and get your time, and go home."
"What is the matter? Haven't I done my work well?" the boy asked.
"Yes."
The boy said: "What is the matter, then, if I have done my work well?"
"You are smoking a cigar."
"You smoke--your boy smokes."
"Yes, and I drink, and my boys drink; but your parents have taught you to leave tobacco alone, that it is not good for you, that it will detract from your capacity and your ability to accomplish things in the battle of life, and that it will burn up, so to speak, part of your income. And I don't want any boy handling money in my bank who I believe is going contrary to the teachings of his father and his mother. I doubt very much if they know that you are smoking. I am inclined to think that you are smoking on the sly. Just get another job."--Era, 39:471.
I believe there is a great deal in the story that some of you may have read, in which a donation was requested, and a man decided to give a ham.
He had a smoke-house full of hams, and he had decided to give a ham to some poor person that needed a donation. When he went in there, he picked out a nice large ham, and the spirit came over him:
"Now that is a big ham; you don't need to give that person such a large ham; give him a little one."
He said, "Shut up, Mr. Devil, or I will give him two hams," so he had no more trouble--none whatever.--Era, 44:56.
I heard a story of a brother (I have forgotten his name now) who attended a meeting in the early days.
President Brigham Young made an appeal for donations to send to the Missouri River to help the Saints gather to Zion. He wanted everybody who could afford it to give an ox or a cow or any other donations.
One good brother jumped up and said, "I will give a cow." Another brother got up and said, "I will give a cow."
The first brother had two cows and a large family. The other brother had a half-dozen cows and a small family. And, so the spirit came over the first man, "Now, look here, you cannot get along with your large family; you cannot possibly get along with one cow. Now, that other man has got a small family and six cows; he could just as well give two or three and still get along all right." As he started home, he walked four or five blocks, all the time getting weaker and weaker. Finally he thought, "I guess I won't," and then he realized the difference in the spirit that was tempting him and the one that had prompted his promise to the president of the Church that he would give a cow.
Here was a spirit telling him to fail to fulfill his obligation, to fail to be honest, to fail to live up to his promise.
He stopped short and turned around and said:
"Mr. Devil, shut up or just as sure as I live, I will walk up to Brother Brigham's office and give him the other cow." He was not tempted any more.--Era, 44:56.
One Sunday I attended a fast meeting in the morning, and another in the afternoon. One of the speakers at the latter meeting was Sister Anna Snow, an aged wife of the late Apostle Erastus Snow.
She had come from Scandinavia and from her childhood had been addicted to the use of coffee, and thought she could hardly live without it. But finally, after reaching the age of eighty-two years, she was impressed that she had failed to do her duty in that regard and decided, on her eighty-third birthday, that she would keep the Word of Wisdom still more perfectly and stop drinking coffee. It nearly killed her, but she finally succeeded in overcoming the habit. And she stood up in humility before the people, confessing her failure at not having fully kept the Word of Wisdom and expressed her gratitude to the Lord for giving her the ability, even at this late date, to overcome her failing. And she testified to the benefit she had already received because of the improvement in her health by obeying this law of God.
I was profoundly impressed with her remarkable testimony. How I wish that every one of our good sisters, and our brethren as well, who, year after year, have gone on breaking this simple commandment of the Lord, could have been there and listened to her testimony.
I know a great many people have heard sermons on the Word of Wisdom for many years which have never made any impression upon them. I do not know how in the world we could make an impression upon some people. I know many individuals who have been labored with diligently in private, as well as by public teaching and admonition. But these labors have had no effect upon them. I feel in my heart that it is my duty to try to discover the weak points in my nature, and then pray to the Lord to help me overcome them. As I read the Word of Wisdom, I learn that it is adapted to the weakest of all the weak who are or can be called Saints. And I believe that it would be a wonderful aid in the advancement of the kingdom of God if all the Latter-day Saints would obey this simple commandment of the Lord. When I heard this aged sister testify that in her advanced years she had overcome, I wished that all Israel could have heard that testimony and been impressed by it.--CR, October, 1907:22.
I recall one incident showing how song has the power to soothe irritated feelings and bring harmony to the hearts of men who are filled with a contentious spirit. It occurred many years ago and involved a quarrel between two old and faithful brethren whose membership dated back to the days of Nauvoo. These men had been full of integrity and devotion to the work of the Lord. They had been through many of the hardships of Nauvoo, and had suffered the drivings and persecutions of the Saints, as well as the hardships of pioneering, incident to the early settlement of the west. These men had quarreled over some business affairs, and finally concluded that they would try to get President John Taylor to help them adjust their difficulties.
John Taylor was then the president of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. These brethren pledged their word of honor that they would faithfully abide by whatever decision Brother Taylor might render. Like many others, even in these days, they were not willing to accept the conclusions and counsels of their teachers, or bishops, or presidents of stakes, who would have been the authorized persons, in their order, to consult, and which would have been the proper course to pursue. But they must have some higher authority. Having been personally acquainted with President Brigham Young, in the days of Nauvoo, and feeling their importance in their own devotion to the work of the Lord, nothing short of an apostle's advice would seem to satisfy them.
Accordingly they called on President Taylor. They did not immediately tell him what their trouble was, but explained that they had seriously quarreled and asked him if he would listen to their story and render his decision. President Taylor willingly consented. But he said: "Brethren, before I hear your case, I would like very much to sing one of the songs of Zion for you."
Now President Taylor was a very capable singer, and interpreted sweetly and with spirit, our sacred hymns.
He sang one of our hymns to the two brethren.
Seeing its effect, he remarked that he never heard one of the songs of Zion but that he wanted to listen to one more, and so asked them to listen while he sang another. Of course, they consented. They both seemed to enjoy it; and, having sung the second song, he remarked that he had heard there is luck in odd numbers and so with their consent he would sing still another, which he did. Then in his jocular way, he remarked: "Now, brethren, I do not want to wear you out, but if you will forgive me, and listen to one more hymn, I promise to stop singing, and will hear your case."
The story goes that when President Taylor had finished the fourth song, the brethren were melted to tears, got up, shook hands, and asked President Taylor to excuse them for having called upon him, and for taking up his time. They then departed without his even knowing what their difficulties were.
President Taylor's singing had reconciled their feelings toward each other. The spirit of the Lord had entered their hearts, and the hills of difference that rose between them had been leveled and become as nothing. Love and brotherhood had developed in their souls. The trifles over which they had quarreled had become of no consequence in their sight. The songs of the heart had filled them with the spirit of reconciliation.--Era, 43:522.
I want to reprint a poem that nearly sixty years ago was repeated to me in Idaho, or, rather, it was not repeated as a poem; it was sung as a song by the late Francis M. Lyman.
It so happened that from Tooele I had to travel thirty-six miles to Salt Lake City and then on through Davis County, Weber County, and up to Brigham City, and then two and three-fourths days' journey west out to Oakley, to what was then a branch of the Grantsville Ward of the Tooele Stake of Zion over which I presided. (The first motion I made as an apostle was to present that whole country to the Box Elder Stake of Zion.) Now, when I was on that trip, Brother Lyman sang a song to me, and that very night I sat down and asked him to repeat it to me while I wrote it down, and the next day I learned it:
Let each man learn to know himself; To gain that knowledge let him labor To improve those failings in himself Which he condemns so in his neighbor. How lenient our own faults we view, And conscience' voice adeptly smother; Yet, oh, how harshly we review The selfsame failings in another!
And if you meet an erring one Whose deeds are blamable and thoughtless, Consider, ere you cast the stone, If you yourself are pure and faultless. Oh, list to that small voice within, Whose whisperings oft make men confounded, And trumpet not another's sin; You'd blush deep if your own were sounded.
And in self-judgment if you find Your deeds to others are superior, To you has Providence been kind, As you should be to those inferior. Example sheds a genial ray Of light which men are apt to borrow; So first improve yourself today And then improve your friends tomorrow.
I did some work for a man once, and he sent me a check for five hundred dollars with a letter apologizing for not sending me a thousand. Subsequently, I did for another individual some work which was ten times harder, involved ten times more labor and a great deal more time; and he sent me a check for one hundred fifty dollars, and told his friends he had rewarded me handsomely.
I wrote him a letter about as follows: "My dear friend: Enclosed find your check. Please take it and go to `H'," and then I drew a long line, but never added the `l's' and I never mailed the letter. Subsequently, I showed that check to a dear friend of mine, first explaining the work I had done and asking him how much it was worth He said: "Ten thousand, three hundred dollars."
I pulled the check out of the drawer and handed it to him. I said: "It is only ten thousand, one hundred fifty dollars short."
He said to me: "Mr. Grant, you are a young man. `Old men for counsel and young men for war'; I want you to give me your word of honor that you will take my advice."
I said: "I will make no such promise, but if I can take it without violating my conscience, I will try."
He said, "O your conscience will be all right. Deposit that check quickly."
Then he said: "Did that man intend to insult you?"
I said: "No. He told my friends he had rewarded me handsomely."
To this he replied, "A man's a fool who takes an insult that isn't intended. I have prolonged your life; I have rendered you a great service, because you could never look at that check but what you wanted to swear, and I believe it is worse to keep it in than to let it out. I have heard that anger creates a fluid in the body that poisons the blood and shortens the length of life. Now, you have promised to do what I say, if you can in good conscience. When you go home tonight get down on your knees and say: `O Lord, I am a man who can generally express myself so that everybody understands me; I am not usually at a loss for words; I have sufficient vocabulary so that I can generally talk my ideas into the other fellow. But, O Lord, tonight I am utterly and absolutely at a loss to find the words to express my gratitude to you that when you made me you gave me a bigger heart than you gave that fellow who sent me a check for one hundred fifty dollars.'"
I immediately opened the drawer where I kept scores of copies of this poem, which I have distributed from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands, from the midnight sun country down to Italy, and all over the United States--I immediately took this poem out and gave it to this man, and said: "I have not had sense enough to learn but one-half of the words; this part I have overlooked:
And in self-judgment if you find Your deeds to others are superior, To you has Providence been kind As you should be to those inferior."
Those four lines have been of more value to me since that man pointed out to me the force of them. Why, I had been preaching that poem and distributing it and had not learned to apply it to myself. I have since tried to remember this, and commend these lines to all my friends and brethren.--Era, 44:137.
When I was in England many years ago, I purchased a book entitled The Young Man and the World. The book was written by the late senator from Indiana, Albert J. Beveridge. It was written originally as a series of contributions to The Saturday Evening Post, after which it was compiled in book form.
In one chapter, "The Young Man and the Pulpit," the author said that a certain individual with a very splendid opportunity of securing answers to interrogations, during an entire summer vacation asked every minister with whom he came in contact three questions:
First: " Yes or no; do you believe in God the Father, God a person, God a definite and tangible intelligence--not a congeries of laws floating like a fog through the universe; but God, a person in whose image you were made? Don't argue; don't explain; but is your mind in a condition where you can answer yes or no?"
Not a minister answered, "Yes," but they all gave a lot of explanations to the effect that we could not be sure about such things.
What is the condition of the Latter-day Saints? Suppose a man were to stand up and say, "I do not believe that God ever visited the Prophet Joseph Smith." We would say, "Well, wait until you do believe it," before we would baptize him. Every true Latter-day Saint believes beyond the shadow of a doubt that God did appear to Joseph Smith.
The next question was: " Yes or no; do you believe that Christ was the Son of the living God, sent by Him to save the world? I am not asking whether you believe that He was inspired in the sense that the great moral teachers are inspired--nobody has atty difficulty about that. But do you believe that Christ was God's very Son, with a divinely appointed and definite mission, dying on the cross, and raised from the dead--yes or no?"
Again, not a single minister answered, "Yes." The sum total of their answers was that He was the greatest moral teacher that ever lived. I maintain that He could not possibly have been a moral teacher if He were not the Son of God, because that was the foundation of His teachings. He came as the Son of God to do the will of God, and He announced that those who had seen Him had virtually seen God, because He was in the image of God.
Again, no man would be baptized into this Church who did not believe that God Himself introduced His Son to the boy Joseph Smith as His well-beloved Son, and told the boy to listen to Him. Do you think we would baptize a man who would say, "I do not believe in the revelations that Joseph Smith received; I do not believe that Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple?"
We believe that He appeared to him there. We believe that not only did Jesus Christ appear there, as recorded in the one hundred tenth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, but that Moses, and Elias, and Elijah appeared, and that they gave Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery all the keys of the dispensations of the gospel that have existed upon the earth. We announced these things to the people of the world.
Senator Beveridge's third question was: " Do you believe that when you die you will live again as a conscious intelligence, knowing who you are and who other people are?"
Again, not a man answered, "Yes." They hoped so, rather believed so, but there were some rather serious objections, and they said we could not know such things.
Is there a Latter-day Saint living who has been in the temple and been married there for time and eternity who could not answer that question in the affirmative? It would be ridiculous and absurd to go through the temple and have such a ceremony performed if we did not have an unshakeable knowledge and conviction that we would exist as separate individualities beyond the grave.
Referring to these ministers, Senator Beveridge said that they were particularly eminent ministers. One of them had already won a distinguished reputation in New York and the New England States for his eloquence and piety. Every one of them had had unusual success with fashionable congregations.
I remember as I read this book while in England--it is my custom with many books to write comments on the margin of the pages--I wrote: "Albert Beveridge was the man who asked those questions."
When I got home I made inquiry and found that I was correct. They were altogether too much to the point to be hearsay. I learned that not only did he ask the questions of the ministers he met, but he wrote letters to ministers, the sum total being about three hundred, all of which brought indecisive answers.
When I think of the knowledge that we possess as individuals, then think of these men, professed teachers of Christianity, professed ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ lacking knowledge, I cannot help feeling thankful for the testimony that we have, and my gratitude for this knowledge is far beyond my power of expression.
Beveridge said that these men acknowledged that there was a decay of faith among the people; that the churches were becoming empty, so to speak, and he went on to say: "How could such priests of ice, warm the souls of men? How could such apostles of interrogation convert a world?"
There is no interrogation with us. We have the truth. We are spending our time preaching it. Every true Latter-day Saint can say: "I know that God lives; I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the Redeemer of the world; I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God."
How I do rejoice in the knowledge of the Latter-day Saints concerning these things. Knowledge is what counts in this world, and the Latter-day Saints have it. We declare what we know and what God has revealed to us. We declare to the world that the everlasting part of us has been converted to the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.--Era, 43:394, 438.
I have often related an experience of Doctor Karl G. Maeser. He told how a poor widow had come to him with her son. She announced to Brother Maeser that this was her only son; that she had gone out washing to save the necessary money to send him to Brigham Young University because she had heard that Brother Maeser was able to reform wayward boys. She told Brother Maeser that she could not handle the boy, and that the bishop and his counselors could do nothing with him and that they all looked upon him as a bad boy.
The boy started school and was soon in trouble. Brother Maeser told how he violated all the rules of the school. The teachers could do nothing with him, and his influence was bad in the school. Brother Maeser hesitated about expelling him because he thought of that poor widow who had gone out washing in order that her only son might come to school; so he put up with this careless, wayward boy until he could stand it no longer. Then he finally expelled him from school.
The next morning at eight o'clock, as soon as Brother Maeser had reached his office, there was a knock at the door. When he opened the door, there stood this boy. Brother Maeser said that when he looked at the boy and thought of all the trouble he had caused in the school, he felt "just like hitting him, right between the eyes." That was his first thought with reference to the boy who had been expelled the day before.
The boy said: "Brother Maeser, give me just one more chance."
Brother Maeser said: "I stood there paralyzed to think that boy would ask for another chance. He did not think I would give him another chance; and he said: `Brother Maeser, Brother Maeser--give me one more chance.'"
Brother Maeser's voice broke, as he rushed into the extended, pleading arms of the boy and embraced him and kissed him, and promised him a hundred chances.
"Now," said Brother Maeser, "what do you think--that boy is a bishop's counselor in the very town where once he was a spoiled egg!"
I remember also an incident I heard related by Brother George H. Brimhall. He said that on his way to one of our conference meetings he collected one of the finest dividends that he had ever received in life--not of money, but of something more valuable than money. A man had made the confession that Brother Brimhall had reformed him from a careless, wayward, and indifferent boy and made a man of him, and now that man was in attendance at a general conference of the Church as one of the presidency of the stake in which he resided.
These are the kinds of dividends that count--dividends of human values. The patient, untiring, prayerful labors we devote to our young people who need help, and to those generally who for some cause or another have withdrawn themselves from us, often return to reward us in unspeakable joy and satisfaction in the years to come.
May we labor long and unceasingly, with patience, and forgiveness, and prayerful determination among all such who need our help!--Era, 43:205.
There stand out in my life many incidents in my youth, of wonderful inspiration and power through men preaching the gospel in the spirit of testimony and prayer. I call to mind one such incident when I was a young man, probably seventeen or eighteen years of age. I heard the late Bishop Millen Atwood preach a sermon in the Thirteenth Ward. I was studying grammar at the time, and he made some grammatical errors in his talk.
I wrote down his first sentence, smiled to myself, and said: "I am going to get here tonight, during the thirty minutes that Brother Atwood speaks, enough material to last me for the entire winter in my night school grammar class." We had to take to the class for each lesson two sentences, or four sentences a week, that were not grammatically correct, together with our corrections.
I contemplated making my corrections and listening to Bishop Atwood's sermon at the same time. But I did not write anything more after that first sentence--not a word; and when Millen Atwood stopped preaching, tears were rolling down my cheeks, tears of gratitude and thanksgiving that welled up in my eyes because of the marvelous testimony which that man bore of the divine mission of Joseph Smith, the prophet of God, and of the wonderful inspiration that attended the prophet in all his labors.
Although it is now more than sixty-five years since I listened to that sermon, it is just as vivid today, and the sensations and feelings that I had are just as fixed with me as they were the day I heard it. Do you know, I would no more have thought of using those sentences in which he had made grammatical mistakes than I would think of standing up in a class and profaning the name of God. That testimony made the first profound impression that was ever made upon my heart and soul of the divine mission of the prophet. I had heard many testimonies that had pleased me and made their impression, but this was the first testimony that had melted me to tears under the inspiration of the Spirit of God to that man.
During all the years that have passed since then, I have never been shocked or annoyed by grammatical errors or mispronounced words on the part of those preaching the gospel. I have realized that it was like judging a man by the clothes he wore, to judge the spirit of a man by the clothing of his language. From that day to this the one thing above all others that has impressed me has been the Spirit, the inspiration of the living God that an individual had when proclaiming the gospel, and not the language; because after all is said and done there are a great many who have never had the opportunity to become educated so far as speaking correctly is concerned. Likewise there are many who have never had an opportunity in the financial battle of life to accumulate the means whereby they could be clothed in an attractive manner. I have endeavored, from that day to this, and have been successful in my endeavor, to judge men and women by the spirit they have; for I have learned absolutely, that it is the Spirit that giveth life and understanding, and not the letter. The letter killeth.--Era, 42:201.
I remember as a young man I had fifty dollars in my pocket on one occasion which I intended to deposit in the bank. When I went on Thursday morning to Fast meeting--the Fast meetings used to be held on Thursdays instead of Sundays--and the bishop made an appeal for a donation, I walked up and handed him the fifty dollars. He took five of it and put it in the drawer and gave the forty-five back to me and said that was my full share.
I said, "Bishop Woolley, by what right do you rob me of putting the Lord in my debt? Didn't you preach here today that the Lord rewards fourfold? My mother is a widow, and she needs two hundred dollars."
He said: "My boy, do you believe that if I take this other forty-five dollars you will get your two hundred dollars quicker?"
I said: "Certainly."
Well, he took it.
While walking from that Fast meeting to the place where I worked, an idea popped into my head. I sent a telegram to a man asking him how many bonds of a certain kind he would buy at a specified price within forty-eight hours and allow me to draw a draft on him through Wells-Fargo's bank. He was a man whom I did not know. I had never spoken to him in my life, but I had seen him a time or two on the streets of Salt Lake. He wired back that he wanted as many as I could get. My profit on that transaction was $218.50.
The next day I walked down to the bishop and said: "Bishop, I made $218.50 after paying that $50.00 donation the other day and so I owe $21.85 in tithing. I will have to dig up the difference between $21.85 and $18.50. The Lord did not quite give me the tithing in addition to a four to one increase."
Someone will say that it would have happened anyway.
I do not think it would have happened. I do not think I would have got the idea. I do not think I would have sent the telegram.
I feel in my heart that we grow financially, spiritually, and in every way, as Latter-day Saints, by doing our duty. When we are obedient to the commandments of the Lord and generous with our time and our means, we grow in the spirit and testimony of the gospel, and I do not believe that we are ever poorer financially. I am a firm believer that the Lord opens up the windows of heaven when we do our duty financially and pours out upon us blessings of a spiritual nature, which are of far greater value than temporal things. But I believe He also gives us blessings of a temporal nature.--Era, 42:457.
I was out in Tooele at a quarterly stake conference. The patriarch of the stake, Brother John Rowberry, had told me many years before of having had a dream (as I remember it, thirty years before), in which he was on a great vessel, and every once in a while somebody fell overboard, and he finally fell overboard himself. When he struggled through the water he came out into the most beautiful country that he had ever seen, and he met Brother Orson Pratt there. He asked Brother Pratt: "Where am I?" and Brother Pratt said: "You are in heaven, Brother Rowberry."
Brother Pratt happened to be out in Tooele at that particular time, visiting the various wards in that stake. Brother Rowberry told him of this dream, praying to the Lord that Brother Pratt would not ask him who the man was that he met in his dream. He did not want to tell him that he, Brother Pratt, had to die first. Brother Pratt said: "I will pray about it and if I get the interpretation I will give it to you."
Just before leaving (he was there several weeks) , Brother Pratt said:
"Well, I prayed about your dream, Brother Rowberry, and I got the interpretation. The people on that vessel represented the people of the world. You said that the majority of the people who fell overboard you did not know. If you will write down a list of those you did know in the order in which they fell overboard I promise you that they shall die in that exact order, and I promise you that when you shall go to heaven you shall meet the identical man that you met in your dream, and when you meet him tell him that the dream was from the Lord and the interpretation was also from the Lord through Brother Orson Pratt."
And Brother Rowberry said: "Brother Pratt, I will tell him."
While I was still in Tooele as president of the stake, I received a telegram to the effect that Brother Orson Pratt was in a very serious condition of health and requested that we hold a prayer meeting in both Grantsville and Tooele for his recovery. We did so, and as we were going into the prayer circle room in Tooele, Brother Rowberry said to me: "Heber, do you remember my dream?"
I told him, "Yes."
He said: "Well, it is Brother Pratt's turn next." And indeed, that proved to be Brother Pratt's last illness.
Some years later I was out in Tooele at a stake conference at which Brother Rowberry was one of the speakers. He was in very good health, although he was an aged man at the time. He spoke with a great deal of power and vigor and expressed his gratitude for the gospel. After the meeting he said: "Brother Grant, do you remember my dream?"
I said, "Yes."
He said: "The people have died in the exact order in which they fell off the vessel. They are all gone, and it is my turn next, and I am the happiest man in all Tooele County. I am anxious to meet Brother Pratt and to meet your father and other men and women I have loved with all my heart.
By the way, I will tell your father, Brother Grant, that you are doing very well as an apostle."
The next time I went to Tooele he had passed on.--Era, 41:712.
As a baby only six months old, my daughter, Lucy, was very, very ill out in Tooele, and I sent for Brother Rowberry to come and administer to her. After he had blessed her he turned to me and said: "Did you get the witness of the spirit that your baby should live?"
I said: "No, I did not."
He said: "I did, and I know she is going to live. Go to your desk and get a piece of paper and let me give her a patriarchal blessing."
He gave her a blessing, and he made many remarkable promises to her, many of which have been fulfilled to the very letter.
Some time later he met me, and said: "Brother Grant, I want you to come to my office." (He was the Probate Judge out there.) "I have a blessing in my heart for you of a Patriarchal nature."
He gave me a most wonderful and marvelous blessing, nearly all of which has been fulfilled to the very letter, and he made the remark:
"Brother Grant, I saw something that I dared not put in your blessing.
I then had the impression (I was just twenty-four years of age when he made that remark and had not been made an apostle) that I should live to preside over the Church. I have felt that is what he saw. I never spoke of it in my life until I became the president of the Church, and I tried to persuade myself at that time and through all the following years that it could not be--that I was mistaken.
Some of the things Brother Rowberry promised me in that patriarchal blessing I could hardly believe would come true, but they have done so.--Era, 41:712.
I was feeling as blue, financially speaking, as I ever did in my life when my cousin, Anthony W. Ivins, was called to go to Mexico. He had been marvelously successful in running ranches. He and I owned half of a fifty thousand dollar ranch that for years paid a twenty-five percent dividend regularly. The panic had come on, and some institutions in which I had money were not paying dividends. The twelve thousand five hundred dollars I owned in this ranch was paying the interest at six percent on fifty thousand dollars of my debts.
I was sitting in the temple, feeling heartbroken (although I was one of the committee that nominated Brother Ivins to go into Mexico because I felt impressed that he was needed there and that the Lord wanted him to go there), when it came to me as plainly as though a voice had declared it:
"You have no need of feeling sad because of your cousin's going to Mexico. He is going right where the Lord wants him to go, and you shall have the exquisite joy of welcoming him back into this room of the temple as an apostle of this last dispensation."
I immediately shed some tears of joy and gratitude. And this promise also was fulfilled.--Era, 41:712.
I call to mind a man, who, with his family, emigrated to this country through the assistance rendered by the Perpetual Emigration Fund. He did not have enough money to come here otherwise. After he had been here a short time, the ward teachers called on him for a donation, and he made an abject apology. He said: "My heart is with you; I wish to the Lord I could help you. I would gladly do it, but I simply cannot do it! I am a poor man.
Years rolled on, and he became wealthy. The same teachers again called on him for a donation, and he refused.
They called his attention to what he had said years before, and he replied: "Yes, then I had the desire; I wanted to help you; my spirit was with you, but I did not have the means. Today I have the means, but I have not the desire."
This man who would not give a donation although abundantly able to do so, finally apostatized from the Church. So also did nearly all of his family that he brought with him to Utah. He probably would have been a poor man in the old country but for the missionaries of the Church and the help of the Perpetual Emigration Fund. The gospel brought him here, and he grew to be a wealthy man financially. But he lost his faith. And most of his family lost their faith because they, too, set their hearts on the things of this world instead of the things of God.--Era, 41:585.
While in Europe, I remember reading an article telling of a man who embraced the gospel up in the midnight sun country of Scandinavia. He heard one of our missionaries preach on the first principles of the gospel and bear fervent testimony regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and living God. The man embraced the gospel and came to Utah. He had never heard of the law of tithing, until the bishop came to him and said:
"My dear brother, you are making money and you are not paying tithing. You should pay one-tenth of what you make to the Church."
He said: "One-tenth? Why, men do not save one-tenth of their wages. Nobody could do that."
The bishop said: "Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God?"
"Yes, I do."
"Do you believe in the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants?"
"Yes."
"Don't you know there is a revelation in that book to the effect that tithing is a law of God?"
And he converted him to that principle. After a while the bishop came around again and said:
"You are not paying any fast donations."
The man said: "Fast donations? Heavens on earth, Bishop! Isn't tithing enough?"
The bishop said: "No. It does not cost you anything to pay fast day donations. Consult your doctor, and he will tell you that it will improve your health if you abstain from two or three meals once a month. All that we ask is that you give us at least the equivalent of the two meals and do without them, and by so doing gain spiritual growth and physical benefit. It will not cost you anything to pay fast day donations.
And so the man concluded to pay fast day donations.
Later the bishop came around and said: "We are building a ward meetinghouse."
He said: "Why, the Church ought to build the meetinghouses."
"No, they only pay one-fourth of the cost." (That is all they gave in those days.) "The Saints have to do three-quarters of it."
He "hemmed and hawed," but he finally came through, as he wanted a good meetinghouse in which to worship the Lord.
Soon the bishop came around again, and said: "We are building a stake house."
And the brother complained again, but he finally made a donation.
In those days we had no high schools, and a stake academy was being built in the stake where this man resided. He was requested to make a donation towards the cost of its erection. He complained again, but he was anxious that his children should have greater opportunities than he had had, and so he contributed again.
The time came when we were completing a temple in Salt Lake City. This man thought that the Church ought at least to build the temple, but he happened to have a large list of his ancestors for whom he desired to have work done and concluded he would do his part to help build the temple.
Finally his boy graduated from the academy, and the bishop said: "My dear brother, that boy of yours has graduated from the academy, is well informed, is an intelligent, fine young man, a good Latter-day Saint. I am going to send his name in to the president of the Church as worthy to go on a mission, and you will have to pay about thirty or thirty-five dollars a month to support him.
He said: "That settles it, Bishop. That is the straw that breaks the camel's back. I expected that boy to earn seventy-five or a hundred dollars a month to help me out. I have given him an education, and I expected something in return. I want to say to you that he can go on a mission and I am willing to give up the seventy-five or a hundred dollars that he could earn, but I will not pay one single dollar to support him on a mission. The Church can have him for nothing, but they have got to send him and maintain him on a mission.
The bishop said: "Let's change the subject."
So they talked for an hour or more about different things. The bishop kept leading him on and on, and finally he got to telling of the cold, hard country from which he had come; how difficult it was to make a bare living in the midnight sun country of Scandinavia, and he told the bishop how grateful he was that the gospel of Jesus Christ had found him; that he now had a fine home here, and how prosperous he had become, and what a wonderful blessing financially the gospel had been to him.
The bishop said: "By the way, my dear friend, whom do you love more than anybody else in all the world except your own family and your own flesh and blood?"
"Why, Bishop, I love more than anyone else the man who came away up to the cold country of the midnight sun and brought to me the gospel of Jesus Christ, the plan of life and salvation, and under the inspiration of God bore witness of the divinity of the work and of the mission of the Prophet Joseph. I love him with all my heart and soul."
"By the way," said the bishop, "wouldn't you like somebody to love your boy just like that?"
He said: "Bishop, you have beaten me fairly and squarely. The boy can go and I will pay for his mission."--Era, 41: 455.
We sing and have done so constantly, "We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet to guide us in these latter days."
There are a great many who ought to put a postscript to that and say: "Provided he guides us to suit our own fancies and our own whims."
The prophets of God, from Joseph Smith to the present day, have guided us and they have guided us aright, when we have listened to that guidance. The mistakes which have been made have been because of our failure to listen to the prophet whose right it is to guide the people of God. I will give you one practical incident:
Brigham Young stood in front of the home of the late apostle, at that time bishop, Marriner W. Merrill, in Richmond. He pointed over to the sandy country where Lewiston now stands, and he said to Bishop Merrill: "Call some man to go over there and be a bishop, and organize a ward there. That will be the most valuable part of this valley, agriculturally, the greatest grain-producing part of this country."
Brother Merrill told me this, standing upon the spot where Brigham Young stood, and he said, "I called Brother Lewis to go over there, and he was subsequently ordained as a bishop, and set apart to preside at Lewiston. After he had been there one season and ploughed up the ground, a windstorm came and took all his fine soil and piled it up in a heap by the fence. He came back and said, `Bishop Merrill, I would not give my little twenty-acre farm here at Richmond for the whole country over there and I want to come back.'"
Brother Merrill said: "Well, you will not come back with my consent. If you come back you will have to run away from the call that has been placed upon you. I will not release you. The prophet of God has said that is to be the granary of Cache Valley and you go back there." And Brother Lewis went back disheartened and discouraged.
Brother Lewis, who afterwards became the president of the Benson Stake of Zion, no doubt thanked Brother Merrill that he did not let him run away, seeing that during the last few years of his life, he harvested over ten thousand bushels of wheat a year.
I know that the path of safety for the Latter-day Saints is not only to sing, "We thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet, to guide us in these latter days," but to be ready and willing and anxious to be guided.--CR, October, 1913:88.
I rejoice that many men of great intelligence have been converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ--men of great experience and knowledge.
I rejoiced exceedingly while I was in Europe in distributing, or at least in urging upon the elders to distribute a tract known as, "My Reasons for Leaving the Church of England and Joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." This document was written by Col. R. M. Bryce Thomas, a retired officer in the British army.
While traveling around the world and stopping here in Salt Lake City, in the old Templeton Hotel, his wife was taken sick. Sitting in the sick room looking across the street, he saw constantly in front of him, on the old adobe building that was torn down to make room for the Hotel Utah, the sign "Mormon Publications for Sale Here." He kept seeing it daily, and seeing it till it got on his nerves. He finally went and purchased some Mormon publications, read them, and he studied the people. He found that they were sober; he found that they were industrious. He learned from those not of us that we were particularly kind to the poor; that there was no class distinction. He found many commendable things; and among other things that he found, he said, was the most magnificent choir that he had ever listened to in his life. He went away from here impressed with the people, with their devotion, with their honesty, with their integrity. And he pursued his study of the gospel and became converted--absolutely converted.
It has been said that the tenderest part of a man's anatomy is his pocket; and this man has also been absolutely converted in his pocket, as the presidents from the time of his conversion until the present time who have presided over the London conference can testify--because on a certain day each month, a remittance of one-tenth of that man's income reaches the London conference, in addition to a donation for the benefit of the poor.
His pamphlet of thirty-odd pages gives his reasons for joining this Church. They are reasons that cannot be answered and that cannot be gainsaid and that stand out prominently and solidly for the divinity of the work in which you and I are engaged. They are substantial reasons for leaving the church with which he had been affiliated all the days of his life.--CR, April, 1912:29.
I had a very great disappointment in my life by not listening to an inspiration that came once to John Henry Smith, my senior by two years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I was appointed by President Lorenzo Snow to go to the City of Mexico and reopen the Mexican Mission, and it was a very great pleasure to me to have that appointment because my cousin, Anthony W. Ivins, was president of the Mexican colonists of the Juarez Stake of Zion. Also, I had never met Diaz. A great many people looked upon President Diaz as one of the greatest rulers in all the world, considering the conditions under which he had to rule, and I had always had a strong desire to meet him.
When this appointment came I was, therefore, very much delighted, and told President Snow that I was very pleased, but, I said, "Brother Snow, my mother, my wife and my daughters, most of them, are at Pacific Grove. I have been in the Council of the Twelve for nearly twenty years, and I have never taken a holiday, and I would very much appreciate it if I could have two or three weeks holiday and go down and celebrate my mother's eightieth birthday. I have arranged to be at Pacific Grove for this occasion and when I return, I will go to the City of Mexico."
President Snow replied, "That will be all right, Brother Grant; you are perfectly welcome to that holiday."
After the meeting in the temple, Brother John Henry said, "Heber, I have an impression that you should not go and celebrate your mother's eightieth birthday." He continued, "If you do go to California you will never have the privilege of seeing Diaz, and you will not have the privilege of opening that mission for the preaching of the gospel to that nation."
I asked, "Why not?" and he replied, "If you go to California, you will not have that privilege."
I said, "All now, Brother John, if you think you are going to frighten me from having a pleasant, delightful visit with my mother and the first holiday I have had in nineteen years, you are mistaken."
He said, "All right, you will never see Diaz, and I'll have to go and open the Mexican Mission. Of course, I've seen Diaz two or three times, but I'll be glad to see him again."
The day after I returned home from California I was called to go to Japan to open the mission there, and President Snow said to me, "Now, Brother Grant, you are engaged in many different businesses, and we will give you a whole year to arrange your affairs before you start on this mission, if you need it. If you can get ready in four, five, or six months, do so; but do not hurry; get out of your various business obligations as best you can, without too much sacrifice, and then go on your mission."
In response to these instructions, I said: "The first thing I want to do is to go down to the city of Mexico with my cousin and organize that mission."
President Snow replied, "There is no need of your doing that; there are plenty of men who can do that as well as you, and we will send somebody else."
"But," I said, "I want to do it." And then President Snow without hesitation replied, "Oh, that doesn't make any difference; we will appoint someone else--whom shall we appoint?" He looked around and said, "John Henry, you go and do that." And when John Henry returned from filling my appointment in Mexico, he told me that he had had a very wonderful visit with Diaz.
Ofttimes our brethren in positions of responsibility receive inspiration that a certain thing should be done, and it is a wise thing, I have discovered, to carry it out, and not urge contrary views to the calls and directions that come to us from those in authority.--Era, 44:585.
One thing I remember very distinctly was the great pleasure I had as a young man in conversing with the late William C. Staines. I have sat and talked with Brother Staines until one and two o'clock in the morning. I think he was the most gifted conversationalist and one of the most inspiring men to speak and listen to that it ever fell to my lot to know.
He was emigration agent for the Church, and in that capacity traveled in a single year between thirty and forty thousand miles, as I remember it. He made trip after trip across the ocean, down to New York, and back and forth several times. He was a man with whom everybody acquainted with him, loved to visit and talk, because of his great fund of knowledge and remarkable conversational powers.
I remember one experience he related to me. On one occasion a great geologist whom he had known in New York came out to Salt Lake and was having dinner with him. During the dinner this geologist remarked: "Staines, you are a wonderfully intelligent and well-bred man. I am astonished that a man so well informed as you are should believe in the Bible."
"Well," Brother Staines said, "I do not know why you should be."
"If you would just study geology you would have to cast the Bible to one side."
"Well," he said, "I am rather old; my parents believed in the Bible and I believe in it; and I would have to study a long while to become a geologist; so I guess I will just stay with my belief in the Bible. You say that you can prove the earth is so much older than the record given in the Bible and demonstrate that it is ridiculous to believe in it; but we will just stop discussing geology and I will go on believing in the Bible. Pass your plate and have some plum pudding."
And the man then passed his plate and got some pudding. Brother Staines said: "A man so wise that he can tell how old the earth is, when it was created, and all about it, certainly should be wise enough to tell me when that plum pudding was created."
"Oh," he said, "that is easy. I taste of it and it is hot. I see it steaming. Mrs. Staines just created it. It has just been made." This was in the winter.
Brother Staines took his fork and picked out a raisin and held it up, and said: "My friend, that raisin may have been raised last summer, and perhaps that raisin is five years old. It may be that that raisin is ten years old. If it is ten years old according to your geological scientific fact, that pudding is' ten years old." He continued, "The trouble with you, my friend, is that you started on the theory that God is a being without body, parts, or passions; that He sits on the top of a topless throne, beyond the bounds of time and space, and that He created the earth out of nothing. Whereas we know by the inspiration of God to a prophet that God created the earth out of the elements that existed, and that element is eternal and indestructible."
When Joseph Smith first taught that doctrine, they said he was a fool, because everybody professed to know that elements were not eternal, and that you could take some coal and burn it up and that was the end of it. Now they have found that the elements of that coal cannot be destroyed. You can take a silver cup, drop it into a certain acid, and it will dissolve and disappear. And yet it is there. You can take other ingredients and get that identical silver out again and mold it into another silver cup. Joseph Smith is now absolutely vindicated in saying that matter is eternal and indestructible.--GM, 17:95-97.
A distant relative of mine went all the way to Chicago to consult a doctor. Although he was born in the Church and baptized as a child, he made no pretence of believing in the gospel. When he died, he was not buried from any ward, but from one of the fraternal organizations to which he belonged. On the occasion to which I refer, as I remember it, he had to pay fifty dollars for a short interview with a specialist in stomach troubles, etc.
When the doctor learned that he was from Utah, he said: "All you need to do is to go back to Utah and live the Mormon Word of Wisdom." I could have saved him the fare to Chicago and back again, and that fifty dollars, but he did not even carry out the advice of the doctor.--CS, June 25, 1932.
In the days of the "underground" when more than a thousand of our men went to the penitentiary for living with their wives whom they had married in good faith, a man by the name of Joseph W. McMurrin was guarding the servants of the Lord.
The brethren were holding a meeting in the Social Hall. A deputy U. S. marshal came to the back door where Joseph W. McMurrin was standing, and Joseph put his arms around him to keep him from going through that door. The deputy finally got his hand loose and took his pistol and, pressing it against Brother McMurrin's body, fired two bullets clear through his vitals. Those bullets lodged just under the skin in his back. He was attended by Dr. Joseph Benedict who told Joseph W. McMurrin that no man could live after two bullets had passed through his vitals, and then added: "If you wish to make a dying statement you should do so immediately."
I went with John Henry Smith to Brother McMurrin's home and saw where the flesh was burned away around those terrible gaping wounds. I saw where the bullets had gone clear through him. I heard John Henry Smith say, "By the authority of the Priesthood of the living God which we hold, and in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, we say that you shall be made absolutely whole, and that there shall be no physical weakness left upon your body because of these terrible wounds that you have received while guarding the servants of the living God."
Joseph W. McMurrin is alive and well, and has never had any physical weakness because of those terrible wounds. Tell me that sickness is not cured by spiritual power, by the power of God, in the Church of Jesus Christ! I know that it is as well as I know that I live.--CS, November 21, 1931.
There is something in the use of tobacco that blunts the finer susceptibilities, the gentlemanly instincts of men. I say nothing about destroying the finer, admirable, wonderful qualities of ladies, that every true man almost worships.
I know of some fine, gentlemanly men in all other respects, who forget and actually light their pipes or their cigars in the presence of ladies. I am sure they would not do it if they stopped to reflect, because they must know that it is obnoxious to them. I have known of men who claimed to be gentlemen who became angry when it was suggested that they do not smoke in a banquet held in the Utah Hotel on ladies' night.
You know they have made their own homes smokehouses, and their wives have become accustomed to living in smokehouses. So, they think everybody's wives ought to like a smokehouse.
You know I like to sit in the rear car, the observation car, when I am traveling, but I cannot do it. I cannot take my wife out to enjoy the scenery. Why? Because the gentlemen who smoke go out there and smoke and have not enough regard for the ladies and gentlemen who do not smoke.
I wanted to write a telegram, the last time I was on the train. I went into the observation car to do it, but before I got through writing, just a telegram of fifty words, I picked up my telegram-blank and went back and wrote it on my knee because the observation car was like a smokehouse, chuck full of smoke.
The smokers talk about their privileges being taken away from them. Why, do you know there is a smoking compartment in each car? There were eight cars on that train and there was not anybody in those eight compartments, which were provided specially for smokers. But they occupied the car that ought to be for ladies and for gentlemen who do not smoke. If they want to smoke, they ought to have enough gentlemanly instinct to go into one of the other eight cars and do their smoking and then come back and join the ladies and those who do not smoke.
Thank fortune, there will be a few public places where they can't smoke in the future, because of our anti-tobacco law--some ministers to the contrary notwithstanding.
When I went to Japan [1901] there was not a first-class hotel in the United States of America that allowed smoking. When I returned home, I was astounded to find a few that allowed it. I went to England for three years, and when I came home they all permitted it.
I remember the first time I stopped in the Windsor, which was the best hotel in Denver, that they had a very magnificent smoking room. I remember that when one man visited there--Phil Robinson, who wrote the book entitled, Sinners and Saints--he said he was delighted to find one hotel in America that had some regard for smokers. I would be glad now to find one that had some regard for non-smokers. He said he afterwards learned that that particular hotel was built by English capitalists who must have their big, nice comfortable place for the smokers. When I arrived in England I often found, if I entered a non-smoking compartment in any car where there was a gentleman and his wife, he would take out his cigar and start to smoke. When I protested, she would say, "Oh, I don't object," and I would say, "Well, I do, and inasmuch as there are twice as many compartments in these cars where smokers can go, as there are places where non-smokers can go, I will be much obliged to your husband if he will please go where he belongs."
Why, I had more than one English woman, and on the continent likewise, who looked at me as if she would like to bite my head off because I had the audacity to go where there was "No smoking allowed" and to "call the fellow down" who was smoking.
I first asked the gentleman if he could read. He said:
"Yes."
"Did you read the sign on the door `No smoking'?"
"Yes."
"Well then, will you kindly put out your pipe" or "your cigar?"
The wife would speak up and say: "Oh, I don't object."
But I always objected. If they would put a sign in observation cars, "No smoking," I would object double-quick and suggest that as there is a smoking room or compartment on every sleeper, where a man can go and take his smoke, that he go where he belongs.--Era, 24:876-877.
I can prove that age is a quality of mind. I went up to Scotland, when I was presiding over the European Mission, and an old lady asked me my age. I told her that if I lived so many weeks I would be fifty. She said: "Oh, nae, nae, nae, nae! President Grant will never see sixty-five again."
Brother Charles W. Penrose arrived in Liverpool to take my place as the president of the European Mission, and he brought with him many elders, twenty-five or thirty, and we had about the same number of missionaries going back to their homes that very day. In those days we used to send one hundred and one hundred fifty emigrants to America in a company. They could come here and go up into Idaho and other places, preempt a piece of ground at a dollar and twenty-five cents an acre and have a fine farm that afterwards became worth one hundred dollars an acre or more. But that is all stopped now. We had a company going to America that very day, and we were very busy.
At night the shipping firm with whom we had done business for many years sent us four tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre. When Sir Henry Irving, and Ellen Terry, or some other great actor was there, they would send us tickets. They did this two or three times a year, and even oftener. I turned to my wife and said: "I wouldn't go to the finest theatre on the face of the earth. I am tired. I am going to bed to rest and sleep. You take a missionary to bring you home from the theatre, and a couple of the daughters, and use these tickets."
Brother Penrose spoke up and said, "Sister Grant, let the old man go to bed; I will take you to the theatre."
(I had just purchased, with the approval of President Joseph F. Smith, a very fine home, much better than anything we had had while I was there. He came over to England. I told him what I wanted to do, and took him to the place. The minute he went into it, he said: "Buy it quick, Heber, before they change their minds." I had written to him, pleading with him to let me come home, that I had something to tell him, and I felt I could not do it by mail. I was afraid that I would not be able to get what I wanted. And, lo and behold, he was on the ocean at the time I wrote that letter. He said I should not only buy the place, but I should get all the furniture I could at the same time.)
We were so busy that day, with one hundred or more emigrants and twenty-five or more new missionaries, and twenty-five or more elders going home, that I did not even have an opportunity to show Brother Penrose his new home, although all we had to do was to walk up a few steps and over a wall, and we were in the back yard of the new place. Immediately after breakfast the following day, I took him to the new home, and somebody asked the man who was moving the furniture out to guess our ages. He looked us over carefully, and said: "I should say that Mr. Grant is sixty-five, and that Mr. Penrose is sixty." [President Grant was then fifty and President Penrose seventy-five.]
I said: "I have heard that a man is no older than he feels, and a woman no older than she looks. I felt so old that I went to bed last night, because I was tired, and this old man here--twenty-five years older than I am (so you have only made a mistake of thirty years), took my wife and daughters to the theatre."
The next Sunday I thought I would get that corrected. I did not appreciate those three compliments. While at Birmingham I asked the president of the branch who he thought was older, Brother Penrose or myself expecting a correct answer--and he said: "The idea of asking such a ridiculous question! Anybody can see you are very much older than Brother Penrose."
I hit the table and said: "That settles it. No old man will ever take my wife to the theatre again." And he never has.--CR, April, 1937:17-18.
The first time I was in the east, in the city of Chicago in May, 1883, a gentleman who afterward became the general manager of one of the greatest insurance companies in the world, whose representative I was, took me to dinner at the Palmer House. After dinner there were about twenty ladies in the rotunda, and he said to me: "I have invited my lady friends here, Mr. Grant, to meet you."
I was a young man of twenty-six and it was my first trip east. I never had read a book on etiquette--and by the way, I never have read one since--and so I watched to see what people did so that I might not make a mistake. I noticed after eating that bowls were brought to us with a piece of orange in them. I thought it did not look very much like orangeade and wondered what it was. I saw my friend dip his fingers in the water and wipe them, and so I did the same.
When we came out to the rotunda, I noticed that he kept his hat on, notwithstanding there were ladies there. So I kept mine on. One of the ladies turned to me, after we had chatted a few moments, and said:
"Now--now, really, Mr. Grant, I don't wish to give offense, but would you mind removing your hat?"
I said: "Not at all, madam, I am only twenty-six years old, and the horns do not come out on the Mormons until they are thirty-two. You will have to wait six more years."
She blushed and said: "Oh, I have heard that Mormons have horns."
I said: "I suppose you had. But they do not come out, dear madam, until we are thirty-two years old. I am sorry that I shall have to disappoint you."--CR, April, 1930:185-186.
I recall that on my first trip east I stopped in Chicago to visit the general manager of one of the largest insurance companies in the world, of which I happened to be the Utah agent. He said to me:
"Young man"--I was just twenty-six at the time, forty-nine years ago now [1932]--"I am not going to invite you to have dinner with the managing men of the company. We have our lunch in the middle of the day, and feed our employees, but I am going to take you out and introduce you to the leading financial men in Chicago--Mr. Leiter, of Field, Leiter & Co. (now Marshall, Field & Co.), Mr. Warner, of Sprague, Warner & Co., the largest wholesale grocery house, etc."
After we had had our lunch at the club, he turned to me and said:
"Now these people, Mr. Grant, would like to hear something about your faith and your ideas."
I told them something regarding our faith, and that we had an absolute knowledge of these things; and when I got through, he said:
"Do you know, Grant, you remind me very much of that intelligent juryman who was on a jury with eleven pig-headed men who could not see straight. He was the only one who was capable of knowing what it was all about and disagreed with the other eleven. The only difference between you and that intelligent juryman, my friend, is that there are sixty million people in the United States, and I am sure there are not more than two hundred thousand Mormons."
I said, "No, that is a big estimate."
"Well," he said, "we will call it two hundred thousand. You have to multiply two hundred thousand by five to get a million, and then multiply that by sixty. So there are just three hundred of us on the jury with you, young man, and every Mormon; and there are two hundred and ninety-nine of us that are pig-headed and cannot see straight. You Mormons are the only ones who have the ability to comprehend and understand and you claim that you know that you have the truth."
I said, "Now, my friend, it does look as though I were related to the long-eared animal, the mule, standing out against two hundred and ninety-nine people, and you people here have had a laugh at the position you have put me in with your argument. But, my friend, I would like to ask you a few simple questions: Do you believe that every person that dies, if he has lived a good, clean, sweet life, will get a better place in the next world?"
"I certainly do."
"Then you have an abiding faith in the immortality of the soul and in existence beyond the grave?"
He said, "Yes."
"Well," I said, "do you believe it is a serious thing for a good man to die?"
"Not at all."
"Do you believe that when a person dies he will find a better place than he had here?"
"Certainly."
I said: "Do you think it is a serious thing to offend against light and knowledge which we may have received from our Heavenly Father?"
"Well, of course."
I said: "I will have to bear my testimony to you, but before doing so I am going to multiply that jury by three and a third, and I will have one thousand people on the jury with you, and we will say that a good man is being tried for murder. Nine hundred and ninety-nine of the jurymen decide that he is a murderer and should be shot or hanged, or disposed of in some way, but every drop of blood flowing in your veins, all the intelligence with which God has endowed you cries out that this man is not guilty, so far as you can understand from the evidence, and so far as you can arrive at a righteous conclusion. You are satisfied beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is a fine, splendid, upright man and should not be put to death on the charge of murder. Would you vote to make it unanimous and have him shot or hung?"
"Why, of course I would not."
"Why not? Why not surrender your opinion and your judgment to that of the nine hundred and ninety-nine others who feel that he is a murderer and that society should be rid of him, seeing that you are convinced he is a good man and you believe that we shall all live beyond the grave and that every good man is going to a better place? Permit me to say to this body of men that so far as I am concerned it does seem absurd for me to stand out against two hundred and ninety-nine men. But I want to bear my testimony to you that so far as I have the capacity to understand, all the intelligence with which God has endowed me and every drop of blood flowing in my veins testifies beyond the shadow of a doubt to the divinity of the work in which I am engaged. Bill you ask me, because people who know nothing about the gospel of Jesus Christ differ from me, to give up the knowledge I possess?"
He said, "Grant, that is the devil of it in arguing with you Mormons. You say you know. We cannot call you liars, and be gentlemanly, and we have to shut up.
He continued: "Youngster, I would like to give you a letter of introduction to the most intelligent, the best read man I am acquainted with, the most remarkable student. He is the general manager of this company in New York, and if you care to take a letter to him, while I have not succeeded in annihilating you, he will do it completely. He will simply annihilate you if you will take a letter to him."
I said: "My friend, David Crockett, said, `Be sure you're right, then go ahead.' I am sure I am right and will be glad to take your letter. Strange to say, the more the man knows the happier I will be to meet him. I have discovered that when I meet men who know more than I do I learn something, and when they do not know as much as I do I do not get much information."
I presented the letter in New York. The gentleman, after reading it, jumped out of his chair, reached out his hand and shook hands with me like a long lost brother. He said:
"Young man, I am delighted to meet a Mormon. I have been wanting to meet a Mormon for over twenty long years. I have studied the history of the Mormon people. I know all about your drivings and persecutions, the troubles you have had. I know all about your Perpetual Emigration Fund, the wonderful labor you have accomplished by advancing money to bring people from the cold, hard, northern countries--Scandinavia and other countries--who were barely living, and planting them upon the soil in the west; redeeming the same through irrigation, and making them an independent people who perhaps otherwise would have had but a bare existence. I want to say to you, young man, that I have become convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that more is being done in Utah to improve mankind morally, intellectually, and physically than in any other place on the globe."
I thought to myself, "Go ahead, old gentleman, with your annihilation. I am enjoying it immensely."
This man was better informed regarding our people than I was. He had more knowledge of our history than I had as a young man of twenty-six. I tried to leave in the course of about an hour, but he said:
"Do not go unless you have an engagement."
"No," I said, "I have no engagement. But I do not want to take up your time."
He said: "I want you to take up my time."
I talked with him for another hour and then it was lunch time. We went out to lunch, and he insisted on my coming back with him. And I did so. He exacted a promise from me that I would never come to New York without paying him a visit. It so happened that this was in 1883, and until 1893, when financial lightning struck me and wiped me off the earth, figuratively speaking, I went to New York once a year and never failed to call on this man. Before I left him, the idea occurred to me not only to apply the argument to him that had been applied to me by the Chicago man, but also to apply other arguments by which that man had put me in a hole because of my lack of information.
I said: "Do you know, my dear Mr. Pulsifer, I am astounded that you should arrive at the facts about our people and have an exalted opinion of them, in all of which I agree with you, and yet there are sixty million people in the United States today and there are not quite two hundred thousand Mormons. So, for every single Mormon there are two hundred and ninety-nine people in the United States opposed to them, to say nothing of the wide, wide world, (and I stretched my arms out) being opposed to us. How in the world you should get at the truth regarding our people and have such an exalted opinion of them I cannot understand."
He said: "Young man, have you ever been a student of history?"
I said: "No, I am sorry to say I have not. I started to work in an office as a youngster of fifteen, and I did some work as a child in a store before that and really I have never been a student. From the day I went into an office at fifteen years I have been a very busy man. I have worked early and late, but along financial lines, and I have not been a student."
"Well," he said, "if you had been a student of history, you would not take such an absurd, ridiculous position as that majorities are always right. Young man, there never has been any advancement in art, literature, science, and invention but what the majority was opposed to it. The majority of the religions of the world were opposed to the Savior of the world. They crucified Him. The very thing that caused me to investigate the Mormon religion is the fact that every other religion had something mean to say about it. The great majority is always wrong to start with. I defy you to find anything to the contrary in history. Have you done much traveling?"
I said: "No, sir. This is my first trip east."
"Well, if you had done much traveling and had run up against things you would not use such a ridiculous argument as that. You know when Galileo announced that the earth revolved they passed the sentence of death upon him. They thought it was too bad to kill the poor fool who thought the world revolved and was round, so they concluded to let him off if he would pledge himself not to teach this doctrine. But he could not keep the truth back and quietly taught it. So they arranged to make him lie down in front of the church where they were worshiping God on this stationary earth and let everybody step on him to show their contempt, and when they all had stepped on him, he got up and said, `Well, it goes around just the same.'"
I applied the other arguments to him, and, lo and behold, he annihilated all of my Chicago friend's arguments.
A year or two later my partner, Junius F. Wells, was going east, and I gave him a letter to the Chicago man and asked him to give him a letter to the New York man, which he did. After Junius had called on the New York man, he wrote to the Chicago man and said:
"Young Mormon number two, Mr. Wells, has been to see me, and if you have any more young Mormon friends like Heber J. Grant and Junius F. Wells, do not fail to give them a letter to me. I have never enjoyed two young men so much in all my life as these two young Mormons."
So the Chicago man wrote to me and said: "What on earth did you do to that man in New York? You seem to have captured him completely."
I did not have a typewriter in those days, neither did I have a shorthand clerk, but I wrote quite rapidly with my pen. I spent a great deal of time writing him a long letter telling him what I did, namely: "I had him annihilate every single proposition you advanced. I was very grateful indeed for the letter of introduction, because I learned that when a man like you picks up a majority and throws it at me to knock away truth I need only to accuse him of ignorance...."
This identical New York man, some years later, when our real and personal property was confiscated by the government, as you all know, laughed and said to me when I called upon him:
"Well, Grant, the minority are all right, and the people in Utah, instead of having their property confiscated should be given a premium by the United States government for redeeming the desert and making it possible to develop that great western country, and for keeping the miners from starving who went to California. The majority of them to commence with would have starved to death but for your being there and giving them provisions. You deserve a bounty instead of your property confiscated."
"But," he said, "there was a magnificent minority that stood out for right, and in the course of a year or two you will get your property back." And, as you know, we did.
The thing I wish to impress upon the minds of the people here is that if we can so order our lives and so impress upon the hearts of our young people the knowledge and testimony of the divinity of the work in which you and I are engaged, when they come up against things as I did they will not discourage them at all. It did not make a particle of difference to my faith when the Chicago man ridiculed me because of the whole world's, figuratively speaking, being opposed to us. It did not affect it at all because in the providences of the Lord I had received the witness of the Spirit, a testimony regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.--CS, September 26, 1931.
The Book of Mormon has a very warm place in my heart because of one of its chapters.
I had a wayward brother who took no interest whatever in the Church until he was between thirty-five and forty years of age. I received a letter from him, telling me that on account of the failure of our placer mines in Oregon, where he had invested large sums of money--all that we had and all that we could borrow--that he had been tempted, as he had financially ruined me, to kill himself.
He went out into the woods intending to kill himself; but he got to thinking what a cowardly, dastardly act it would be for him to leave his wife and children destitute. So, instead of killing himself, he knelt down and prayed: "O God, if there is a God."
He got up weeping for joy, and he wrote me that he had become convinced of two things: that there is a God, and that there is a devil, one leading to life and the other to death. He sealed his letter, and then the influence came over him: "You have now ruined your brother, and now you are trying to make amends by telling him you have commenced to pray."
He threw the letter into his trunk. He wrote me letters every day for about a week, all landing in his trunk, but finally he mailed one.
He struggled with the influence: "Your brother, when he gets that letter, will write and tell you to be baptized, and if you do so you will be a hypocrite.
After lying awake all one night, he went at five o'clock in the morning and got the letter. But he finally sent me another. When I got it, instead of writing him as the adversary impressed him that I would, I wrote him: "Some day you will know the gospel is true. Don't think I want you to be baptized, if you feel that you would be a hypocrite."
I went out and bought him a Book of Mormon, went into my office, shut the door, and told the Lord I wanted to open the book to the chapter that would do a wayward and careless brother of mine the most good; and this is the chapter to which I opened [the thirty-sixth chapter of Alma]. Anyone who knows the contents of the book will admit that he cannot find another chapter comparable with the thirty-sixth chapter of Alma, nor more appropriate for sending to a wayward boy.
[President Grant here read the first paragraph of the thirty-sixth chapter of Alma, then said:]
Let me say in passing that Alma knew, no better than I know, that those who put their trust in God shall be supported in all manner of afflictions and trials; because I have passed through trials and tribulations and have been supported by Him. I was able to sit by the deathbed of my last living son, for whom I had great expectations, and see him die without my shedding a tear; and there was a most peaceful feeling in my heart when he passed away. So I know, as Alma of old knew, that those who trust in God shall be supported in their tribulation. [The remainder of the chapter was read, the speaker emphasizing the last paragraph.]
I love that chapter. Why? Because, when that wayward brother of mine read it, he wrote: "Heber, I do not know the gospel is true, but I pledge the Lord, if He ever gives me, as He gave Alma of old, a knowledge of the divinity of the gospel, that I will labor as Alma of old labored, to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth." And, thank the Lord, he obtained the knowledge, and thank the Lord also, he has kept his pledge.
I know no man among all my acquaintances who has done a tithe of the reclamation work that he has done, who has become more devoted, and who is doing more to reclaim the wayward and bring them to the knowledge of the gospel and right living. In a single winter he induced over six hundred careless boys to join the Mutual Improvement Associations. He accomplished this by laboring, often until midnight; and not only until midnight, but occasionally until one or two o'clock in the morning.--RSM, 6:502-504.
I remember an occasion, many years ago, when the late Apostle John Henry Smith, and I were preaching in Arizona. A meeting was held at the request of members of the state legislature. They told us they would furnish a fine opera house and fill it with people if we would consent to preach. As a rule we rented our halls and paid for the privilege of preaching, and often did not get many to hear us, so we were perfectly willing to "consent" to do the preaching when they furnished an audience and paid for the opera house.
As I learned afterwards, a very great compliment was paid to me while I was speaking. I have heard it said, by some people, that to use the word "damn" is merely "emphasis." One of the ladies of our Church happened to be sitting near a gentleman who was rather interested while I was speaking in the opera house at Phoenix, Arizona. She heard this gentleman, in front of her, say, with "emphasis," "That fellow is an earnest preacher." In a few minutes, with "emphasis" again, he said that I was a good preacher; and finally, with emphasis," "That fellow believes every word he is saying."
That is exactly what people must acknowledge regarding the Latter-day Saints, because we are absolutely converted to the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, and when we testify regarding it, we believe every word that we teach. Surely no one who has studied the history of our people can question their sincerity.--Era, 43:457.
I leave my testimony with you that I believe as firmly as I believe anything in this world that I would not be standing here today talking to you if I had not obeyed the Word of Wisdom.
When my appendix was removed, it had broken and blood poisoning, so they said, in the third and last stage, had set in. There were nine doctors present and eight said I had to die. The chief surgeon in the Catholic hospital turned to President Joseph F. Smith, and said: "Mr. Smith, you need not think of such a possibility or probability as that this man shall live. Why, if he should live it would be a miracle, and this is not the day of miracles. He can't live because no man ever lived who was in the condition he is in following an operation for appendicitis."
That was the message delivered to me by Joseph F. Smith himself during his last sickness, and he said: "Our doctor friend who said it would be a miracle has passed away. I never saw you looking healthier in my life than you do today, Heber."
I said to the nurse who told me regarding these nine doctors that I did not want to meet any of them, except the one who said and believed that I would pull through. She said: "He is the house doctor. I will call him in."
I asked him why he disagreed with the others, and he smiled. (He was a southerner.) He said:
"Mistah Grant, ah just took a chance, suh. Ah have felt the pulse, suh, of thousands of patients, having been a house doctor in many hospitals. But ah never felt a pulse just like yours, suh. Why do you know, suh, in all of the tests that I made during an hour and three quarters that you were under the knife your heart nevah missed one single, solitary beat, and ah made up my mind that that heart would pull through."
What kind of heart did I have? I had a heart that had pure blood in it, that was not contaminated by tea, coffee, or liquor. That is why the poison in my system was overcome. The doctor who operated upon me had made an agreement with me that he was to tell me if I had to die--and he did--so that I could write a couple of letters. But I did not write them because in the kind providences of the Lord it had been revealed in a manifestation that I did not have to die.
Men say we cannot receive communications from the other world, but my wife whose body lies in the grave, visited my wife who is alive and told her that my mission was not yet ended. And I had received before that a blessing by the gift of tongues from that identical wife whose body was in the grave. And what was in that blessing? That I should live to lift up my voice in many lands and in many climes proclaiming the restoration to the earth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.--CR, April, 1933:10-11.
While I was in the city of London, a gentleman there, to whom a very dear friend of mine, Col. Alex G. Hawes, had given me a letter, kindly invited a number of newspaper men to his home to meet me. I am very sorry that the newspaper men declined the honor, but I had the privilege of meeting with this man and his family, and a few friends, and conversing with them.
One of his friends had been a member of the British legation at Constantinople, and had spent a considerable part of his life there. He had traveled all over the Holy Land, and was familiar with the people and their customs. Among other things, he said: "Mr. Grant, I was astonished beyond measure, when I visited Canada, to find there oriental patterns woven in beads by the American Indians. They were the same patterns that were woven in rugs, in the oriental countries. I have traveled extensively, and I had never seen those oriental patterns in any part of the world except in the Holy Land, until I found them among the North American Indians. Those patterns have been handed down for hundreds of years, from generation to generation; they are kept in families, and can be found nowhere else; and how under the heavens those Indians, who have no connection with the people of the Holy Land, should have the same patterns is a mystery to me."
"Well, my friend," I said, "if I were to inform you that the forefathers of these American Indians came from the city of Jerusalem, that would explain it, wouldn't it?" He replied, "Well, of course it would." I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon. He said, "No." "Well, it will be my pleasure to send you a copy, and from it you will learn that the forefathers of the American Indians came from Jerusalem." "Well," he said, "that explains the mystery; I am much obliged for the book."--CR, April, 1909:111-112.
p [In October, 1882, President Heber J. Grant was called by revelation through President John Taylor to become a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church. President Grant was then not quite twenty-six years of age, was very much involved in business, and had other ideas concerning his own life. This unexpected call had not been a part of his planning or thinking, and his reactions to it, and to other matters of the moment, were confided in a twenty-page letter to his cousin and confidant, Anthony W. Ivins, who was then in Mexico. In going over the President's voluminous and carefully kept papers, his daughter, Rachel Grant Taylor, came upon this letter, from which the following brief excerpts are taken. We reprint these words here as a thoughtful insight into the straight thinking and resignation to the purposes of God of a young man who became a great man. (Editor).]
Logan City, Oct. 22nd, 1882. Anthony W. Ivins, Esq., City of Mexico.
Dear Cousin Tony:
Your welcome and interesting letter of the 18th ult. came to hand the morning of the 17th inst. I had almost given up hope of hearing from you again. I can not have written fewer than six or seven letters to you since receiving your last one. . . .
You have my consent to maintain your position with reference to my financial prosperity. I certainly hope your predictions may come true and that I may eventually secure the wealth you have predicted for me provided our Heavenly Father will give me wisdom to make a proper and beneficial use of the same. I am free to confess that I have always had a very strong desire for the wealth of this world, but always with the above proviso. I, like you, would prefer to live and die poor rather than to possess unlimited wealth provided this would cause my mind to become darkened and the light of the gospel taken from me. . . .
It is a fact fully demonstrated that very few can retain their faith to any considerable extent after becoming possessed of this world's goods. I agree with you that there is no good reason why this should be the case, and to me it looks like the very opposite should be the rule. I agree with you most fully on the "homesick and courage questions" and my ideas as to the true man are the same as yours. . . .
Well, Tony, your prediction made last March as we were going to St. George, that I would be one of the apostles, has been fulfilled. You know the true sentiments of my heart on this subject (as well as many others), and that they were not in accord with your prediction. Not that I feel to shrink from my duty, but because I did not, nor do I now, feel that my knowledge, ability, or testimony are of such a character as to entitle me to the position of an apostle. The Lord knows what is for the best, and I have always trusted in Him for assistance in the past and shall continue to do so in the future. As advised in my last letter of the 16th, George Teasdale and myself were ordained as apostles, the First Presidency and Twelve officiating. Brothers Rich, Carrington, and Thatcher were absent, President Taylor was mouth in Brother Teasdale's ordination, President Cannon in mine.
I shall return to Salt Lake in the morning, when I expect to get a copy of the revelation calling Brother Teasdale and myself as apostles, Brother Seymour B. Young as president of the seventies, etc., also a copy of my ordination, and I will forward these documents with this letter.
I don't know how things will shape with me in the future from a financial standpoint. You will notice that President Cannon warned me particularly about setting my mind on the things of this world. While I have devoted most of my time to acquiring this world's goods in the past, I can truthfully say that never in my life have I seen the time that I was not willing to change my plan of action at the word of command from God's servants. I did not do as well in Tooele as I might have had I not been engaged in business. I knew this, and several times expressed my willingness to drop my business if thought best by the authorities. While I have worked hard for Cash, you know, as do all my friends that have a full knowledge of the innermost sentiments of my heart, that Cash has not been my god and that my heart has never been set on it, only to do good with what might come into my possession. I most earnestly desire that I may always feel this way.
Brother Erastus Snow comes the nearest to my idea of what an apostle should be of any member of the Twelve. When I recall his life and labors and stop to think how little time and attention he has for his family or his financial interests and how much time he has for the people and their interests and how freely and without a word of complaint he neglects his own comfort and worldly welfare for the benefit of others, I am fully convinced that I should follow his noble example. And I shall try to do so, and face the fact that my financial interests are, comparatively speaking, at an end.
My heart is full of thankfulness to my Heavenly Father for His goodness and mercy to me. I have not language to express the feelings of gratitude in my heart, but I have made up my mind that from this time forth my life shall be devoted to the work of God upon the earth.
If He gives me time to do my duties in His kingdom and also make money, all right; if not, all right. I feel in my heart to say, Father, Thy will, not mine, be done."
Dear Cousin, I feel with God's aid and the faith and prayers of my friends, especially those that know me as you do, that I shall be able to accomplish some good; without this assistance I shall fail in my calling as an apostle.
I can hardly realize that I am an apostle. I suppose the fact will become more real as I get down to work. I will now stop talking of myself for a few minutes. . . .
October 27th, 1882. Dear Cousin Tony:
I am ashamed of myself for letting this letter remain so long unfinished, and yet I hardly know when I could have found a time to finish it. My time has been very much occupied. November 1st Lucy and I will have been married five years. I can hardly believe it. We are going to have a family gathering.
You will find a copy of my ordination. I have to go to Tooele in the morning; have not time to write you more at present. With much love, I remain Your affectionate cousin, (signed) H. J. Grant. (copy enclosed)--Era, 41:650.
In 1901 I was permitted by President Lorenzo Snow to take a vacation to visit Pacific Grove, California, where my wife, my mother, several of my daughters, and my only living grandchild at that time (now Mrs. Lucy Taylor Andersen) were located for several months. I spent a couple of weeks with them, to be there to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of my mother's birth.
The next day after returning to Salt Lake and attending the regular weekly meeting of the presidency and apostles in the temple, President George Q. Cannon announced, "We have decided to open a mission in Japan." And the moment he said it, it came to me as plain as though a voice spoke, "You will be called to preside there."
At this time I was owing a little over one hundred thousand dollars. I had two wives, neither one having a home; my mother's home was mortgaged at that time for three thousand dollars. Everything I had would not pay my indebtedness within twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars.
I thought: "I cannot go to Japan, seeing that I will lose a little over five thousand dollars a year income." But I also remembered that at one time I had been over one hundred thousand dollars worse off than nothing, and it was miraculous the way the Lord had blessed me to be in a condition that I was now only twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars worse off than nothing. I thought to myself I would be ashamed not to go on a mission, if I were wanted, in view of the marvelous blessings in the reduction of my financial obligations. I thought to myself: "I will accept the mission, and under no circumstances will I make any excuse whatever. I owe it to the Lord to go where He wants me to go in consideration of the marvelous way He has helped me to cancel the great majority of my obligations."
President Cannon talked for twenty-five minutes. I thought: "Will he never announce that I am to be made president of the Japanese Mission?"
He then said: "We hear that Brother Grant has overcome all his great financial difficulties and has announced that he is going to take a trip around the world to celebrate his financial freedom, and we have decided to stop him half way around at Japan, to preside."
He sat down, and President Lorenzo Snow said: "Brother Grant, did you make that statement?"
I answered: "Yes, I did, but there was one additional word."
"What was it?"
"If."
He said: "Well, then, you are not now free financially?"
I answered: "No, I owe a few dollars."
He then asked: "What would you have to sacrifice to go to Japan for three years?"
"A little over five thousand dollars a year."
He then answered: "Can you afford to lose fifteen thousand dollars?"
I answered: "Yes, sir."
He continued to ask me questions for about ten minutes, trying to find out my condition, and I avoided him.
I had made the promise to myself that I would accept the mission and make no excuses, and as Brother Snow was talking the thought came to me: "It is not an excuse to tell your condition financially," and I remarked to myself, "Shut up, Mr. Devil, if I should tell my condition financially there isn't a man in this room that would let me go to Japan. That is the best excuse I could possibly make."
Finally Brother Snow remarked: "Well, Heber, we will give you a whole year to fix up your affairs the best you can, preparing to go on this mission, but we want you to start right away, devoting all your time to arranging your financial affairs and get ready to go as soon as you can."
After the meeting was dismissed and we were going to the elevator, John W. Taylor said to me: "Heber, don't go out with the brethren when we get downstairs, I want to say something to you."
After all the brethren were gone, and we were standing at the west door, he said: "Heber, you have made a financial sacrifice today that is the equal, financially speaking, of Abraham offering up Isaac. The Lord accepted the offering and provided the ram in the thicket to save Isaac. The Lord has accepted your offering. I know your condition financially, and I prophesy that you shall be blessed of the Lord and make enough money to go to Japan a free man financially."
I had just made a calculation a short time before that with the small income my wife was making by doing a little typewriting, of thirty dollars a month, in her very limited spare time; my daughter Rachel working for sixty-five dollars a month; my daughter Lucy for thirty dollars a month; and myself for a little over five thousand dollars a year, that in ten years I would be free with the world financially, and the thought of being free in one year was overwhelming.
I turned to Brother Taylor with tears in my eyes and said: "I know that you have prophesied what will come true, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I am to be free financially in a year."
He said: "I am inspired to tell you how to do it. You are not to plan to make any money, but you are to get down on your knees every morning and tell the Lord you want to make some money that day, and then go out and get it, and you will be astonished how easily you will make the money."
I went home for my lunch and went to my bedroom, and I prayed to the Lord, expressing unbounded gratitude for the prophecy, and thanked Him for giving me an assurance that it would be fulfilled. I told Him I did not want to wait until tomorrow to make some money; I wanted to make some that afternoon, and an impression came to me while I was praying, "Get the Utah Sugar Company to pay a stock dividend, and the value of your stock will increase, and you can sell it for more than the present price, to help you cancel your debts."
I hired a buggy and interviewed all of the directors of the Utah Sugar Company except Thomas R. Cutler, who lived at Lehi. I told them I was called to Japan, but I did not ask them to promise to vote at the meeting tomorrow, which was to be held at ten o'clock, for a stock dividend, but that I was going to try to get them to do so; that I did not believe in trying to pledge them to vote before we were in the meeting, as there might be something that would arise which would change their feelings and they would be voting against their own idea of what was right.
I called Brother Cutler on the telephone and said: "I want to see you before the meeting tomorrow at ten o'clock.
Shall I come to Lehi, or will you come to my office at nine-thirty in the morning?"
He answered: "I will be at your office at nine-thirty in the morning."
He had said to me that if the Utah Sugar Company paid another stock dividend he would resign as the manager. I heard he could get twenty-five thousand dollars a year by leaving us. He was getting fifteen thousand dollars from the Utah Sugar Company.
That night I prayed earnestly that the Lord would change Brother Cutler's feelings so that he would be willing for the Utah Sugar Company to declare a stock dividend.
He came into my office in the morning and said: "Well, how much of a stock dividend do you want, Heber? I see you are called on a mission to Japan. I am willing to make a motion for all you want. You raised for the Sugar Company two hundred thousand dollars in connection with the firm of Cannon-Grant & Company, and your loss on that loan was sixty-three thousand dollars, and individually you borrowed sixty thousands dollars, and loaned that to the Sugar Company, on which your loss was forty thousand dollars, making a total of one hundred three thousand dollars actual loss to you personally."
I then said to him: "Now you will have a thirty-eight percent reserve; I want a thirty-five percent stock dividend."
He said: "You are entitled to it, and I will do my best to get the dividend declared."
The vote for the dividend was carried unanimously, and in two days my interest, direct and indirect, in the Utah Sugar Company jumped sixteen thousand dollars. I prayed about selling the stock and was impressed to borrow all I possibly could to buy more and to have Heber J. Grant and Company to do the same. I immediately borrowed all I possibly could, and Grant and Company did the same.
To cut a long story short, Heber J. Grant and Company paid a cash dividend of one hundred percent, and I received thirty thousand dollars as a dividend on the stock I owned.
Without any solicitation on my part the State Bank of Utah, Heber J. Grant and Company, the Home Fire Insurance Company of Utah, and the Cooperative Wagon and Machine Company, when I was called to Japan, all volunteered to give me three years leave of absence with full pay. I declined to accept it from the State Bank of Utah. I told them that a man who would draw a salary from a bank and be in a foreign country, as there might be a panic during his absence, I would consider was not an honorable man. I told the bank to name whom they would like for president and that I would resign at the next meeting of the board, provided that I approved of the man they chose.
I had raised enough money myself individually to start the State Bank of Utah. I wrote at the head of a sheet of paper: "We subscribe for stock in the State Bank of Utah, Heber J. Grant to be president, and Heber M. Wells to be cashier." I naturally felt an interest in having the best man possible chosen to succeed me as president.
The committee recommended a fine man, but I told them I would serve my term out and let them elect the man at the end of the year, but if they would appoint Joseph F. Smith, who was then second counselor in the First Presidency, I would resign at the next meeting. I told them I was afraid George Q. Cannon, who had had a couple of paralytic strokes, might not live until I got back from Japan, and that President Snow was eighty-eight years old and had served the Church as president for three years in a most wonderful way, getting the Church nearly out of debt and into a much better condition financially, and I doubted that he would live another three years.
President Cannon passed away before I went to Japan, and I spoke at his funeral, and I was only in Japan about two months when I received word that President Snow had died.
I said to the committee: "Should President Cannon and President Snow be called home from their labors in the flesh, Joseph F. Smith would be president of Z.C.M.I., Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company, the Inland Crystal Salt Company, and last, but not least, president of the Church."
The committee congratulated me on making the suggestion, and at the next board meeting I resigned, and Joseph F. Smith was elected president.
To make a long story short, just before going to Japan I paid my tithing on my profits for the four months, and the amount was forty-six hundred dollars. I had earned over two hundred percent more in only four short months than I had previously earned in any four years, and went to Japan a free man, financially..
With the help of my wife and my daughters, I had expected to labor early and late for ten long years of my life to free myself of the burden of debt, (and sometimes we operated the typewriters until midnight). But, instead of being a ruined man, in four short months all of my financial troubles had disappeared. My overwhelming gratitude to my Father in heaven for thus freeing me from a terrible financial slavery is beyond my power of expression.
Now may the Lord help you and me, and every soul that has a knowledge of this gospel, to realize that the first and foremost thing of our lives is to serve God and keep His commandments, and that we do not propose to let anybody do it any better than we will. That is the ambition we should have.--Era, 44:713.
p When we secured statehood I received a telegram from the Democratic State Convention, asking, "Where can we find Anthony Ivins? We will give him his choice to be nominated for the first Congressman, now that we have statehood, or the first governor."
I answered: "He is on the Kaibab Mountain selling the cattle, horses, and property of his company; he has accepted a call of the Church to go to Mexico."
Nothing in the world would cause him to fail to fulfil that call.
I received another telegram telling me that they could not nominate me by acclamation, but that they had the majority pledged to me, and believed it would be by acclamation before the voting was through.
I showed the telegram to Heber M. Wells, who had been nominated by the Republicans. He said: "Well, my name is `Dennis.' The people don't know me. You are sure to be elected."
I said: "Well, I am not sure that I am going to run, I will let you know later."
I showed the telegram to President Woodruff. Those of you who knew Brother Woodruff know that he did not speak very slowly. He said to me: "Why do you bother me with your telegram? Haven't you enough sense as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ to answer your own telegram, without bothering the president of the Church?"
I said: "Thanks, thanks. If you wanted me to run for that position you would have said so. Good day."
I said: "I will send a telegram, as follows: `It will be a personal favor to me if my name is not brought before the convention.'" And it never was.
Do you think I would not like to have been the first governor of the state of Utah, where I was born? If you do, you are mistaken. I do not know of anything that I should have liked better than that at that particular time. Thank the Lord I did not get it, because I think that perhaps I should have made a failure of it. It was not in my line, it was just an ambition. My education, my knowledge of government, laws, and such things were just the kind that did not fit nor qualify me to be the governor of a state. I thank Brother Woodruff for the inspiration that kept me from making a serious mistake. I have never seen the day since I became the president of the Tooele Stake of Zion, at the time I was not yet twenty-four years of age, when I did not want to know what the president of the Church wanted, and what the leading officials of the Church wanted me to do, and that I did not want to do whatever they would have me do, no matter what my personal likes or dislikes might be.--CR, October, 1934:125-126; Era, 42:329.
In 1890-91, earnest efforts were being made to establish the beet sugar industry in our territory.
Because of the financial panic of 1891, many who had subscribed for stock were unable to pay their subscriptions, and I was sent east to secure the funds needed to establish the industry. Having failed in New York and Hartford to obtain all of the money required, I was subsequently sent to San Francisco where one hundred thousand dollars was secured from Mr. Henry Wadsworth, cashier of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s bank in that city. I am confident that my having been faithful when a boy in his employ, at the time he was agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in Salt Lake City, had some influence in causing him to lend to my associates such a large sum, at a time when there was a great demand for money.
One of the parties who signed bonds with me when I engaged in the insurance business was Brother Horace S. Eldredge. And as each bond required two signatures he suggested that I ask Captain William H. Hooper to sign with him. I explained that I knew the captain only slightly, and feared he would not care to become one of my sureties.
Brother Eldredge thought otherwise so I solicited the captain's signature, but he promptly declined.
I walked directly to my office and had been there but one or two minutes when a messenger from the Deseret National Bank, where I had just left the captain, called and said that Mr. Hooper desired to see me. My answer was that I had just seen the captain, and our conversation had been of such a character that I had no particular desire for another interview. The messenger insisted that he had seen the captain since I had, and I finally concluded, therefore, to call again.
On reaching the bank the captain said: "Young man, give me those bonds." He signed them, and then said, "When you were here a few moments ago, I did not know you. I have met you on the street now and then for a number of years and have spoken to you, but really did not know you. After you went out, I asked who you were. Learning that you were a son of Jedediah M. Grant, I at once sent for you. It gives me pleasure to sign your bonds. I would almost be willing to sign a bond for a son of Brother Jedediah if I knew I would have to pay it. In this case, however, I have no fear of having that to do."
He related a number of incidents about my father which showed the captain's love for, and confidence in him.
What the captain told me filled my heart with gratitude to God for having given to me such a father, and Captain Hooper's remarks have never been forgotten. They impressed me with a strong desire so to live and labor that my children would be benefited, even after I have passed away from this life, by the record which I shall have made.
The action of Captain Hooper profoundly impressed me with the benefits derived from having a good father. Although my father died when I was a babe nine days old, twenty years after his death I was reaping the benefits of his honesty and faithful labors. The incident referred to above happened twenty-three years ago. Many, many blessings have since come to me because of the honesty and integrity of my father.--Era, 3:190-191.
I thank the Lord for that mother of mine.
She was born in New Jersey of noble parents, Caleb Ivins and Edith Ridgeway Ivins--both devout Dutch Quakers, one of whom died when mother was six and the other when she was nine years old. She was reared under Quaker influences in the home of a cousin, in circumstances of comparative luxury and comfort; and although it was never required of her to engage in housework, she became skilled in the arts of homemaking, and even in the time of poverty that later filled part of the years of her life, she presided over her home with serene and warm hospitality.
At the age of sixteen mother joined the Baptist Church with the consent of her relatives. Sometime later, while she was visiting at the home of an uncle in Hornerstown, New Jersey, she went to a meeting at which the Mormon missionaries were preaching. Subsequently she met the minister of the Baptist Church in which she had a pew, and he said:
"Miss Ivins, you went to hear those awful Mormons. If you go to hear them again, your pew in my church will be vacant."
I have understood that there is no one on earth so stubborn as a Scotchman, except a Dutchman, and my father was Scotch and my mother Dutch. What the minister said to my mother got her "Dutch" up, and she said to him:
"My pew is vacant in your church. I shall go to hear these Mormons, and I shall pray. It may be that they have the truth."
She told me that when she attended the first Latter-day Saint meeting she only went out of curiosity and did not listen attentively or prayerfully but went merely to please her sister and one of her girl friends. That was on a Saturday, but the night after attending her first Mormon meeting on a Sunday she got down on her knees and prayed the Lord to forgive her for doing such a wicked thing as going to listen to false prophets on the Sabbath.
But she became converted to the restored gospel. The men who converted her were the Prophet Joseph Smith himself and Erastus Snow. And my mother's brothers who were well-to-do financially offered to settle an annuity upon her for life if she would renounce her religion. One of her brothers said to her: "Rachel, you have disgraced the name of Ivins. We never want to see you again if you stay with those awful Mormons,"--this was when she was leaving for Utah--"but," he continued, "come back in a year, come back in five years, come back in ten or twenty years, and no matter when you come back, the latchstring will be out, and affluence and ease will be your portion."
Later, when poverty became her lot, if she actually had not known that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the gospel was true, all she needed to do was to return east and let her brothers take care of her. But rather than return to her wealthy relatives in the east where she would have been amply provided for, with no struggle for herself or her child, she preferred to make her way among those to whom she was more strongly attached than her kindred who were not believers in her faith.--Era, 39:267.
I want to say that I have never heard and never expect to hear, to the day of my death, my favorite hymn, "Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear, But with joy wend your way," but I think of the death and the burial of my little baby sister and the wolves digging up her body on the plains. I think of the death of my father's first wife and the bringing of her body here for burial from Echo Canyon. I think of others that I know about, who laid down their lives. I think of that wonderful journey of Brigham Young and his band of Pioneers, those who followed him. And my heart goes out in gratitude beyond all the power with which God has given me to express it, that my father and my mother were among those who were true to God, and who made those sacrifices for the conviction of their hearts because of the knowledge that they had that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith is His Prophet.--CR, October, 1922:13.
Being an only child, my mother reared me very carefully. Indeed, I grew more or less on the principle of a hothouse house plant, the growth of which is "long and lanky" but not substantial. I learned to sweep, and to wash and wipe dishes, but did little stone throwing and little indulging in those sports which are interesting and attractive to boys, and which develop their physical frames. Therefore, when I joined a baseball club, the boys of my own age and a little older played in the first nine; those younger than I played in the second, and those still younger in the third, and I played with them.
One of the reasons for this was that I could not throw the ball from one base to the other. Another reason was that I lacked physical strength to run or bat well. When I picked up a ball, the boys would generally shout:
"Throw it here, sissy!"
So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play baseball in the nine that would win the championship of the Territory of Utah.
My mother was keeping boarders at the time for a living, and I shined their boots until I saved a dollar which I invested in a baseball. I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at Bishop Edwin D. Woolley's barn, which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practicing and finally succeeded in getting into the second nine of our club. Subsequently I joined a better club, and eventually played in the nine that won the championship of the territory and beat the nine that had won the championship for California, Colorado, and Wyoming. Having thus made good my promise to myself, I retired from the baseball arena.--Era, 3:196-197.
Referring to that wonderful mother of mine, I remember that one day we had at least a half dozen, if not more, buckets on the floor catching the rain that came through the roof. It was raining very heavily, and Bishop Edwin D. Woolley came into the house, and he said: "Why, Widow Grant, this will never do. I shall take some of the money from the fast offerings to put a new roof on this house."
"Oh, no, you won't," said mother. "No relief money will ever put a roof on my house. I have sewing here." (She supported herself and me with a needle and thread for many years; later with a Wheeler and Wilcox sewing machine. I had to be mighty careful not to take hold of a thread and pull it, or I might have my clothes fall off; they had not learned how to fasten the stitches of that machine. They later made sewing machines that overcame this difficulty.)
Mother said, "When I get through with this sewing that I am now doing, I will buy some shingles and patch the holes, and this house will take care of me until my son gets to be a man and builds a new one for me."
The bishop went away and said he was very sorry for Widow Grant, that if she waited for that boy to build a house she would never have one, for he was the laziest boy in the whole Thirteenth Ward. He went on to tell that I wasted my time throwing a ball across the fence behind the house hour after hour, day after day, and week after week, at his adobe barn.
Thank the Lord for a mother who was a general as well as a Latter-day Saint; who realized that it was a remarkable and splendid thing to encourage a boy to do something besides perhaps milking cows if he was on a farm, if he had ambitions along athletic lines.--RSM, 24:626-627.
The first school I ever attended was the Doremus School where the old adobe knitting works stood. I got whipped once for telling the truth--one of the bigger boys gave me a mauling because I told the truth about him. I was sent up twice to be whipped by Brother Doremus. Both times I ought not to have been. The second time I was to be whipped, instead of going upstairs I ran home. Brother Doremus taught upstairs and Sister Doremus had the little children downstairs. I was then living in the Main Street home. The first time I was whipped was the only time I was ever upstairs.
When any child had to be whipped, they had what seemed to me to be a great big willow, but I guess it was a little switch. I was told to go up there again, but did not do it. I ran home and was nearly exhausted for fear someone was after me. I told mother all about it and that I ought not to have been whipped because it was not my fault, and she fixed it so that I did not get whipped. I remember that they gave little prizes, and I was given a prize which was a piece of paper about three or four inches long and about an inch and a half wide with one word, "Truthful," in blue ink, well printed. I saved it until after I was married; I prized it very highly.
I remember coming home from that school one night after Mother had moved to Second East. Nobody was in our old house on Main Street, and you had to step down one step to the lot. I sat down on the ground and cried, and jumped up and shook my fist at the place, and said: "When I am a man I will buy you back." I often thought of that years later when I formed a syndicate and bought $350,000 worth of Z.C.M.I. stock, for part of the Z.C.M.I. store was built on the ground where that first home stood.
After the Doremus School I attended a school in a small dwelling on West Temple Street just below the center of the block where the Grant Brothers livery stable was built. Matthias F. Cowley's mother was the teacher. I afterwards went to the Brigham Young schoolhouse where Sister Granville was the teacher. Orson Whitney and others were pupils there. I was baptized in the font behind Brigham Young's schoolhouse. . . . I think the font was far enough south that when they made First Avenue they had to tear down the font.
The fall I became nine, Mother and I went to St. George for the winter, and I remember that I went to school there in a tent. We traveled to St. George in a wagon. It would be just after the October Conference. Aunt Anna and Cousin Tone had come up to conference and we went back with them. The first night we stopped at Brother Standring's--Rebecca Standring's, who was afterwards the president of the Relief Society--Edwin, I think was his name. The next night I think we stayed at Spanish Fork, and the next night at Salt Creek (Nephi); the next night Round Valley (Scipio), the next night Cedar Fort (Holden). I do not know where we stopped the following night; it was Meadow or Corn Creek. Then the next night it seems to me we camped in Wildcat Canyon. There was no Cove Fort then. We slept on the ground. The men had been telling Indian stories. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and I do not think I went to sleep until after midnight. I was sure that I saw Indians crawling around in the sagebrush. The next night we stayed at Beaver, then Red Creek (Parowan), the next night Cedar City, the next Kanarra, from there to Toquerville. We then went to St. George. We stayed there about six months, and my teacher, I believe, was a Sister Everett. A man by the name of McGregor, I think, also had a school. Tone [Anthony W. Ivins] went to him; he was four years older than I.
People went to St. George because it was pleasant. President Young built a house there, and he spent the bad months in St. George. They built a cotton factory there, a three-story log building; it is standing there now. I carried one end of the chain to survey the ditch to the cotton factory, and Tone the other.
I also went to Camilla Cobb to school before I went to the University. She had a private school, south of the Social Hall. After there I attended the University, and from there I went to Miss Cook's, and afterwards back to the University. I attended the University when the school was in a building that afterwards became the Deseret Museum, where Richards Street now is.
A man by the name of Hardy, who afterwards came in charge of the State Mental Hospital at Provo, and a girl by the name of Young who lived on First South, and Sarah Francis Young, were the teachers. It was upstairs, and a number of us went there, and we had no teacher; we had to go up to the Council House to give our lessons, so we had a monitor to keep the boys quiet. Oscar Young was the monitor. There was a boy there whom we called "Little Pill." His father was a homeopathic doctor. As I was going in for a lesson one day, I saw him with a slate pencil and sponge. They had a vessel that had moisture in it on top of the stove. He squeezed some hot water on my seat for me to sit in. I saw him doing it and jumped back, and then sat down and straddled the water. Then I took my sponge and soaked up the water that was on my seat and rushed over to his seat and put it there. As I did it, he called Oscar Young's attention to what I was doing. Oscar said to me: "Mop that water up; mop it up!"
"Hold on" I said; "he put it on my seat first, and I brought it back to him."
Oscar turned to him and said: "Did you put that water on his seat first:' You are a scrub to complain on him; you mop it up," and he picked him up, set him on the bench, and he rubbed it up.
After that four or five of us decided to send him home sick. We had read somewhere that if you tell a person long enough that he is sick it will make him sick. So, for four or five days, we said: "Why don't you go home? Look in the looking-glass, you are sick," and he did go home sick.
Finally, Dr. Park was called on a mission, but his health failed him, or he didn't feel that he could preach the gospel, so he came back and was installed again in the University. In the meantime the Cook sisters were made managers of the University; Miss Ida came over to the Council House and Miss Mary stayed at the Social Hall. They had an examination and those with certain marks were to be promoted to the University, and those who failed from the University were to go to the Social Hall, which was part of the University then, and Heber Grant went up to the University.
Miss Ida expelled me from school because I hit Heber Wells in the back before school started. She told me to go and take my seat. I said: "School is not opened yet, Miss Ida, and I will come in at nine o'clock."
She said: "You go and take that seat or go home."
I said: "I will go home."
Then she said: "I expel you from school." Miss Ida, of course, hadn't understood the situation. Heber was studying a piece in which there was a sentence: "A blow, a blow, a bloody blow," and he came up and hit me in the back, and made that expression. I waited until he sat down and I went up and hit him in the back and said: "His brother, his brother," and just as I hit him, Miss Cook saw me. Mother called and told her I was broken-hearted, and she sent for me to come back. Mother cried and felt so bad when I told her I was expelled that I promised her I never would be expelled again, that I would make an apology that was asked for, and I would go back and behave myself very well.
For three or four months I never whispered once, and then one day Miss Ida kept the whole school in for whispering and told us to study. I was so mad to be kept in when I hadn't whispered at all that I didn't study; I just sat there. She saw me sitting there. Finally some of the boys lifted their hands and asked to go out, and she let first one and then another go. Finally, I lifted my hand. She said: "You keep your seat."
I said: "If others can go out, so can I." I got up to go, and we met at the top of the stairs. She grabbed me by the collar, and I stepped two or three steps down, she still holding on to my collar. I lifted my feet; I knew she couldn't hold my weight. Then she moved to go around me and I made a bound and lit on the bottom of the first platform, and she lit on top of me, and she never let go of her grip. Just then Mary Cook came in and said: "Expel him from school."
I remembered Mother, and commenced crying and begged her pardon so they didn't expel me, and I went back upstairs.--Era, 44:665. As told to Rachel G. Taylor.
There have been experiences in my life . . . from the time I went to Tooele, illustrating the benefits that come through obedience, the benefits that come when we sacrifice our personal ambitions for that which we feel in our heart is our duty. Like Brother Melvin J. Ballard, I had an overwhelming ambition for a university education and a degree from a great school. I had very little hope of obtaining it, having no means and having a widowed mother to look after.
I met President George Q. Cannon, then our delegate to Congress, and he said: "Would you like to go to the naval academy, or to West Point?"
I told him I would.
He said: "Which one?"
I said: "The naval academy."
"All right. I will give you the appointment without competitive examination."
For the first time in my life I did not sleep well; I lay awake nearly all night long, rejoicing that the ambition of my life was to be fulfilled. I fell asleep just a little before daylight; my mother had to wake me.
I said: "Mother, what a marvelous thing it is that I am to have an education as fine as that of any young man in all Utah. I could hardly sleep; I was awake until almost daylight this morning."
I looked into her face; I saw that she had been weeping.
I have heard of people, who, when drowning, had their entire life pass before them in almost a few seconds. I saw myself an admiral in my mind's eye. I saw myself traveling all over the world in a ship, away from my widowed mother. I laughed and put my arms around her, and kissed her and said:
"Mother, I do not want a naval education. I am going to be a business man and shall enter an office right away and take care of you, and have you quit keeping boarders for a living."
She broke down and wept and said that she had not closed her eyes but had prayed all night that I would give up my life's ambition so that she would not be left alone.--CR, October, 1934:124-125.
It is the spirit that gives life and animation, and the main thing to seek in studying the Book of Mormon is the spirit of that very wonderful and remarkable book.
I can remember very distinctly when Uncle Anthony Ivins, brother of the father of Elder Anthony W. Ivins, said to me and to his son, Anthony C. Ivins:
"Heber, Anthony, have you read the Book of Mormon?"
We answered, "No."
He said, "I want you to read it. I want you to pledge to me that you will not skip a word, and to the one who reads it first, I will give a pair of ten dollar buckskin gloves with beaver tops."
Any boy of fourteen who had a pair of those gloves thought he was "it." I remember that my mother had urged me to read systematically the Book of Mormon, but I had not done it. I determined to read the book, say, twenty-five pages a day and get the benefit of its contents. I believed its contents were true because my mother and many others had told me so; and because of the testimony of the teacher of the class that Richard W. Young and I attended, I thought that to win the gloves I would have to read the book so rapidly that I would get no benefit; and therefore decided to let Anthony win the gloves.
I met my cousin, Anthony C., the next morning, and he asked, "How many pages have you read?"
I said: "I have read twenty-five pages."
He said: "I have read over one hundred and fifty. I sat up until after midnight."
I said: "Good-bye gloves."
I went on reading twenty-five pages a day and occasionally I got so interested that I read fifty or seventy-five pages, and, lo and behold, I got through first and got the gloves. He got such a good start he did not bother to read any more until after I got through with the book.--Private Journal and RSM, 6:500-501.
My mother tried to teach me when I was a small child to sing but failed because of my inability to carry a tune.
Upon joining a singing class taught by Professor Charles J. Thomas, he tried and tried in vain to teach me when ten years of age to run the scale or carry a simple tune and finally gave up in despair. He said that I could never, in this world, learn to sing. Perhaps he thought I might learn the divine art in another world. Ever since this attempt, I have frequently tried to sing when riding alone many miles from anyone who might hear me, but on such occasions could never succeed in carrying the tune of one of our familiar hymns for a single verse, and quite frequently not for a single line.
When I was about twenty-five years of age, Professor Sims informed me that I could sing, but added, "I would like to be at least forty miles away while you are doing it."
Nearly ten months ago, when listening to Brother Horace S. Ensign sing, I remarked that I would gladly give two or three months of my spare time if by so doing it would result in my being able to sing one or two hymns. He answered that any person who had a reasonably good voice, and who possessed perseverance, and was willing to do plenty of practicing, could learn to sing. My response was that I had an abundance of voice, and considerable perseverance. He was in my employ at the time, and I jokingly remarked that while he had not been hired as a music teacher, however, right now I would take my first music lesson of two hours upon the hymn, "O My Father." Much to my surprise, at the end of four or five days, I was able to sing this hymn with Brother Ensign without any mistakes. At the end of two weeks, I could sing it alone, with the exception of being a little flat on some of the high notes. My ear, not being cultivated musically, did not detect this, and the only way I knew of it was by having Brother Ensign and other friends tell me of the error.
One of the leading Church officials, upon hearing me sing, when I first started to practice, remarked that my singing reminded him very much of the late Apostle Orson Pratt's poetry. He said Brother Pratt wrote only one piece of poetry, and this looked as if it had been sawed out of boards, and sawed off straight.
Once, while practicing singing in Brother Ensign's office in the Templeton Building, (his rooms are next to a dentist's) some of the students of the Latter-day Saints' College who were in the hall, remarked that it sounded like somebody was having his teeth pulled.
One would think that the following item from a letter from one of my nearest and most intimate friends would be very discouraging, but, like the uncomplimentary remarks above referred to, it only increased my determination to learn to sing. Referring to my daughter, he says:
"I see Lutie is making quite a name as a singer. I don't think, though, that this fact need encourage you to try to become the George Goddard of the Church. I admit that your point is a good one, i. e., if you can learn to sing, nothing need discourage anybody. But the fact that success ultimately must be reached by traveling along the borderland of ridicule, makes the task a difficult and delicate one, particularly for an apostle, who, unlike the ordinary musical crank, cannot afford to cultivate his thorax at the expense of his reputation as a man of judgment."
One Sunday, at the close of a meeting in the Thirteenth Ward, upon telling Professor Charles J. Thomas that Brother Ensign informed me that I could sing, he said:
"Didn't you tell him I said no?"
I answered, "Yes."
He said, "Why, you can't even run the scale."
I said, "I am aware of that fact, having tried for half an hour this morning and failed."
My voice at ten years of age, must have made a very deep impression upon Brother Thomas, seeing that he had remembered it for thirty-three years. Noticing that he seemed quite skeptical, I asked him to walk over with me into the corner of the building, so as not to disturb the people who had not yet left the meetinghouse and I sang to him in a low voice, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way." At the close he said: "That's all right."
At the end of two or three months, I was able to sing not only, "O My Father," but "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "Come, Come, Ye Saints," and two or three other hymns. Shortly after this, while taking a trip south, I sang one or more hymns in each of the Arizona stakes, and in Juarez, Mexico. Upon my return to Salt Lake City, I attempted to sing "O My Father," in the big Tabernacle, hoping to give an object lesson to the young people, and to encourage them to learn to sing. I made a failure, getting off the key in nearly every verse, and instead of my effort encouraging the young people, I fear that it tended to discourage them.
When first starting to practice, if some person would join in and sing bass, tenor, or alto, I could not carry the tune. Neither could I sing, if anyone accompanied me on the piano or organ, as the variety of sounds confused me.
I am pleased to be able to say that I can now sing with piano or organ accompaniment, and can also sing the lead in "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," in a duet, a trio, or quartet. I have learned quite a number of songs, and have been assured by Brother Ensign, and several others well versed in music, to whom I have sung within the past few weeks, that I succeeded without making a mistake in a single note, which I fear would not be the case were the attempt to be made in public. However, I intend to continue trying to sing the hymn, "O My Father," in the assembly hall or big tabernacle until such time as I can sing it without an error.
How did I succeed so far? Brother Ensign adopted the plan of having me sing a line over and over again, trying to imitate his voice. He kept this up until the line was learned and could be "pronounced musically," on the same principle as learning the sound of a word. The child may be taught to pronounce correctly the word "incomprehensibility," notwithstanding the length, even if the child does not understand the phonetic sounds. I learned to sing upon the same principle, starting, figuratively speaking, in the eighth grade, with not even a knowledge of the contents of the primary. It required a vast amount of practice to learn, and my first hymn was sung many hundreds of times before I succeeded in getting it right.
Upon my recent trip to Arizona, I asked Elders Rudger Clawson and J. Golden Kimball if they had any objections to my singing one hundred hymns that day. They took it as a joke and assured me that they would be delighted. We were on the way from Holbrook to St. Johns, a distance of about sixty miles. After I had sung about forty tunes, they assured me that if I sang the remaining sixty they would be sure to have nervous prostration. I paid no attention whatever to their appeal, but held them to their bargain and sang the full one hundred. One hundred and fifteen songs in one day, and four hundred in four days, is the largest amount of practicing I ever did.
Today [1900] my musical deafness is disappearing, and by sitting down to a piano and playing the lead notes, I can learn a song in less than one-tenth the time required when I first commenced to practice.--Era, 3:886-890.
I propose to sing the "Holy City" in the big tabernacle before I get through with it, and I propose to sing it without a mistake. I do not say this boastingly, because I believe what Alma of old said, in the twenty-ninth chapter of his book, that God granteth unto men according to their desires, whether they be for good or evil, for joy or remorse of conscience. I desire to sing, and I expect to work at it and stay right with it until I learn. The most I ever worked was to sing four hundred songs in four days; that is the heaviest work I have ever done in the singing line. There are a great many people who can learn to sing very easily. When I started to learn to sing, it took me four months to learn a couple of simple hymns, and recently I learned one in three hours by the watch and then sang it without a mistake.
" That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased." I propose to keep at it until my power to do is increased to the extent that I can sing the songs of Zion. Nobody knows the joy I have taken in standing up in the tabernacle and other places and joining in the singing, because it used to be a perfect annoyance to me to try and to fail, besides annoying those around me, because I loved the words of the songs of Zion, and would sing.
I am very sorry now for having persecuted people as I used to. In our meetings in the temple, the brethren would say, "That is as impossible as it is for Brother Grant to carry a tune," and that settled it. Everybody acknowledged that was one of the impossibilities.
I believe what the Lord says: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." (D. & C. 25:12) I desire to serve the Lord, and pray unto Him in the songs of Zion; and I know that it produces a good influence.--CR. April, 1901:62-64.
When I was a boy, nineteen years of age, I had made up my mind, one New Year's eve, that the next Monday morning I would say to the boss: "I have decided to give you thirty days' notice and quit this job. I feel I am not earning the money that I am being paid."
During the day I had been writing on cards--"Happy New Year," "Happy New Year."
My employer came in and said: "What are you doing?"
I said: "Getting ready for a harvest tomorrow. I made twenty dollars on New Year's day last year writing cards. I wrote on forty dozen last year, and if I had only written on fifty dozen I would have made twenty-five dollars. I am going to have `Happy New Year' written on fifty dozen today and be ready for a harvest tomorrow at Jim Dwyer's Book Store. I may write on sixty dozen, and if I do I hope to make thirty dollars."
Well, I not only wrote on the sixty dozen, so that I made the thirty dollars, but I wrote "Happy New Year" on about a dozen more.
My boss said: "It never rains but what it pours. Here is one hundred dollars for a New Year's present. Nobody else in the office will get a dollar, because all the other employees watch the clock to see how quickly they can get out. But you come back here nights, frequently, and you have done a lot of work for me personally, which you volunteered to do."
I said to him: "I did it because I had nothing else to do, and I did not like to sit around idle."
After this incident occurred, I thought to myself: "I guess I won't resign day after tomorrow. I think I will stay right here, seeing that the boss feels that way toward me."
What was the sequel?
Just this: years rolled on and I became an apostle, and the last hundred thousand dollars that was necessary to build one of our sugar factories was lent to the Church by that identical man. I had been appointed by the president of the Church to try to borrow that money; and when I applied for the loan, this man said: "Heber, I believed in you as a boy when you worked for me, and I ought to believe in you now that you are one of the apostles of your Church."
One can never tell what will be the result of faithful service rendered, nor do we know when it will come back to us or to those with whom we are associated. The reward may not come at the time, but in dividends later. I believe we will never lose anything in life by giving service, by making sacrifices, and doing the right thing.--Era, 43:137.
Lord Bulwer-Lytton said, and I nearly always quote it when talking to young people:
Dream, O Youth, dream nobly and manfully, and your dreams shall be your prophets.
If you have ambitions, dream of what you wish to accomplish and then put your shoulder to the wheel and work. Day-dreams without work do not amount to anything; it is the actual work that counts. Faith without works is dead, so James tells us, as the body without the spirit is dead. There are any number of people who have faith, but they lack the works, and I believe in the people that have both the faith and the works and are determined to do things.
Unto those of you who have worthy determinations, the Lord will open the way before you whereby you can accomplish the labor. There is no passage in all the Book of Mormon that has made such a profound impression upon my very heart, soul, and being, as the statement of Nephi when he went up to Jerusalem with his brothers to secure the brass plates from Laban. When they made a failure, and the brothers of Nephi wanted to go back to their father's tent in the wilderness, Nephi told them he would not go back, that he would stay there until they had accomplished the thing which the Lord required of them. And he announced to them that he knew the Lord made no requirements of men but what he prepared the way whereby the thing that was required might be accomplished. I am not quoting the exact language but the exact idea. (I read the Book of Mormon as a young man, and fell in love with Nephi more than with any other character in profane or sacred history that I have ever read of, except the Savior of the world. No other individual has made such a strong impression upon me as did Nephi. He has been one of the guiding stars of my life.)
Among those things I had planned was that I should be married before I was twenty-one. That was one of my dreams. But I had the hardest work in the world to get married before I was twenty-one. I made up my mind that I would be a full-fledged man when I was twenty-one years old. I got there twenty-one days ahead of time. The young lady wanted to wait until spring, but insurance agents do not know what "No" means. So, being an insurance agent, I kept at it, and she finally surrendered, and I got there twenty-one days ahead of time.
I made up my mind as a boy that before I was twenty-one years of age I would be in business for myself. I got there six or seven months ahead of time. I was the assistant cashier of a bank, the janitor, the bookkeeper, the paying and receiving teller, and the collector of interest on notes after bank hours--I did all of this for Zion's Savings Bank for the enormous salary of seventy-five dollars a month. I would not have had the job as a gift had it not been that it gave me a chance to talk insurance to the depositors, and I was making in the insurance and brokerage business two or three times the salary I was getting from the bank.
From my youth, I had dreamed. When I worked as a child, I made up my mind to work some day in Wells-Fargo's bank, I got there. And while I was there working for the agent, I volunteered to help the cashier, the tellers, and the bookkeepers, and I learned that business from A to Z; and I learned it because I dreamed of some day getting a job where I could do the whole business. That job came my way.
As a boy of seventeen, I dreamed in my mind about my future life--what I was going to do until I became thirty-five years of age, planned it out and worked for it. The moment I was called to go to Tooele I said, "Good-bye, all of my plans." I had never thought of holding a Church position; I had other plans. I had planned everything I was going to do and where I was going to get, and from the time I was seventeen until I was twenty-four years old I accomplished every one of the things that I had planned to do and dreamed about in my mind and worked for. I never would have done so without planning--we do not accomplish things without having the idea. No man ever draws an architectural plan of a building who has not in his mind an idea of what he is going to draw.
"Dream, O Youth, dream nobly and manfully, and your dreams shall be your prophets."--Era, 44:524.
I shall always be grateful, to the day of my death, that I did not listen to some of my friends when, as a young man not quite twenty-one years of age, I took the trouble to travel all the way from Utah County to St. George to be married in the St. George Temple. That was before the railroad went south of Utah County, and we had to travel the rest of the way by team. It was a long and difficult trip in those times, over unimproved and uncertain roads, and the journey each way required several days.
Many advised me not to make the effort--not to go all the way down to St. George to be married. They reasoned that I could have the president of the stake or my bishop marry me, and then when the Salt Lake Temple was completed, I could go there with my wife and children and be sealed to her and have our children sealed to us for eternity.
Why did I not listen to them? Because I wanted to be married for time and eternity--because I wanted to start life right. Later I had cause to rejoice greatly because of my determination to be married in the temple at that time rather than to have waited until some later and seemingly more convenient time.
Some years ago the general board members of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association were traveling throughout the stakes of Zion speaking on the subject of marriage. They urged the young people to start their lives together in the right way by being married right, in the temples of the Lord.
I was out in one of the stakes attending a conference, and one of my daughters, who was the representative of the Young Women's general board at the conference, said: "I am very grateful to the Lord that I was properly born, born under the covenant, born of parents that had been properly married and sealed in the temple of the Lord."
Tears came into my eyes, because her mother died before the Salt Lake Temple was completed and I was grateful that I had not listened to the remarks of my friends who had tried to persuade me not to go to the St. George Temple to be married. I was very grateful for the inspiration and determination I had to start life right.
Why did it come to me? It came to me because my mother believed in the gospel, taught me the value of it, gave me a desire to get all of the benefits of starting life right and of doing things according to the teachings of the gospel.
I believe that no worthy young Latter-day Saint man or woman should spare any reasonable effort to come to the house of the Lord to begin life together. The marriage vows taken in these hallowed places and the sacred covenants entered into for time and all eternity are proof against many of the temptations of life that tend to break homes and destroy happiness.--Era, 39:198.
We have assurance through the revelations that have been given by the Lord our God that the body and the spirit shall be eternally united and that there will come a time, through the blessing and mercy of God, when we will no more have sorrow but when we shall have conquered all of these things that are of a trying and distressing character, and shall stand up in the presence of the living God, filled with joy and peace and satisfaction.
I was thoroughly convinced in my own mind and in my own heart, when my first wife left me by death, that it was the will of the Lord that she should be called away. I bowed in humility at her death. The Lord saw fit upon that occasion to give to one of my little children a testimony that the death of her mother was the will of the Lord.
About one hour before my wife died, I called my children into her room and told them that their mother was dying and for them to bid her good-bye. One of the little girls, about twelve years of age, said to me: "Papa, I do not want my mamma to die. I have been with you in the hospital in San Francisco for six months; time and time again when mamma was in distress you had administered to her and she has been relieved of her pain and quietly gone to sleep. I want you to lay hands upon my mamma and heal her."
I told my little girl that we all had to die sometime, and that I felt assured in my heart that her mother's time had arrived. She and the rest of the children left the room.
I then knelt down by the bed of my wife (who by this time had lost consciousness) and I told the Lord I acknowledged His hand in life, in death, in joy, in sorrow, in prosperity, or adversity. I thanked Him for the knowledge I had that my wife belonged to me for all eternity, that the gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored, that I knew that by the power and authority of the Priesthood here on the earth that I could and would have my wife forever if I were only faithful as she had been. But I told the Lord that I lacked the strength to have my wife die and to have it affect the faith of my little children in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and I supplicated the Lord with all the strength that I possessed, that He would give to that little girl of mine a knowledge that it was His mind and His will that her mamma should die.
Within an hour my wife passed away, and I called the children back into the room. My little boy about five and a half or six years of age was weeping bitterly, and the little girl twelve years of age took him in her arms and said: "Do not weep, do not cry, Heber; since we went out of this room the voice of the Lord from heaven has said to me, `In the death of your mamma the will of the Lord shall be done.'"
Tell me, my friends, that I do not know that God hears and answers prayers! Tell me that I do not know that in the hour of adversity the Latter-day Saints are comforted and blessed and consoled as no other people are!--Era, 43:350.
When my wife died, I took my three girls to visit New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Washington, and other cities of interest, that they might forget the sorrow of the death of their mother. While in Washington my oldest girl was taken down with diphtheria. In those days, thirty years ago, diphtheria was almost sure death.
I have known more than one family in which six, seven, or eight children have died of diphtheria. It was an alarming disease. Very soon thereafter my second daughter came down with it, and they were both sick nigh unto death. Finally I heard the doctor say to the nurse regarding my second daughter, "If you miss giving that child a stimulant every fifteen minutes--if you miss just once--she will die. She cannot live a half hour without this stimulant."
I stayed up all night to see that she did not miss giving the stimulant, and the next morning the child was no better. I went into my room and shed some bitter tears at the thought that, in all probability, I should have to take that little girl home in a coffin. Kneeling down, I pleaded with the Lord to spare her life, for the very joy I was giving to my girls added to and intensified my own sorrow; and I asked that I be not obliged to have an additional sorrow in taking that little girl, whom I had brought away from home to give her pleasure in order that she might forget the death of her mamma, back to her home in a coffin.
I begged that that might not come into my life. The testimony of the Spirit came to me: "The power of the Priesthood is here on the earth. Send for the elders and rebuke the power of the destroyer and that girl shall live."
Immediately I thanked the Lord for the whisperings of His Spirit and I shed tears of gratitude and thanksgiving, after shedding tears of bitter anguish. George Q. Cannon was in Washington at the time and also Bishop Hiram B. Clawson, the father of Elder Rudger Clawson of the Council of the Twelve. I sent at once for them to come and administer to my child.
Brother Clawson anointed her, and Brother Cannon confirmed the anointing. In that confirmation he said something that I have never heard, before or since, in my life. He said, "The adversary, the destroyer, has decreed your death and made public announcement of his decree, but by the authority of the Priesthood of God which we hold as His servants and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, we rebuke the decree of the destroyer and say, you shall live."
As I was leaving the boarding house where I had been with my children, after they had recovered sufficiently to travel, the husband of the woman who kept the boarding house (she was away that day) said he could not keep from telling me a joke on his wife.
"Mr. Grant," he said, "had she been here you would never have heard it, but she is not here today and I am going to tell it to you. She believes in spiritualistic mediums and in communication through the mediums, and when your little girls were taken down sick in the house, she went to a medium, who told her the following story:
"`I see in your home two little girls; I see that the older one of the two little girls is taken sick. I see that she is very sick. I now see that the next little girl is taken sick. I now see that she is very sick. I now see that both of them are sick nigh unto death. I now see the older of the two girls recover. I now see the second little girl die.'
"Then she described the journey of that body in a coffin from Washington to Salt Lake. She described it passing through big cities, one after another, and then stopping in a large city and changing cars." Everybody who had been in Chicago knows that all have to change cars in Chicago. She then described the body leaving Chicago going through another city of considerable size, then crossing a great river (the Mississippi) always going to the west.
He said she described going through some more cities, finally crossing another great river (the Missouri). She did not mention the Mississippi or the Missouri, however, but said two great rivers. It still traveled to the west hundreds and hundreds of miles. It is somewhat more than two thousand miles to Salt Lake from Washington. She finally saw it climbing mountains, mountains, mountains, first describing the plains, the level country of Nebraska, then climbing the Rocky Mountains; then saw it go south for a short distance (from Ogden to Salt Lake City). She then described the Salt Lake valley, almost completely surrounded with mountains, which is true. She then described a burial ground on the side hills, and that is just where it is. She then saw my little daughter lowered into the grave.
I knew then the meaning of the inspiration of the living God to George Q. Cannon when he said, "The adversary has decreed your death, and made public announcement of it, and we rebuke that decree." It was rebuked, and instead of the little girl being buried as the spiritualistic medium said she would be, because the devil himself had inspired her to do so; by the Priesthood of God rebuking the decree of death she is alive, healthy and strong. She is the mother of seven beautiful children, and, in the providences of God, George Q. Cannon is their great-grandfather.--CS, November 21, 1931.
I have been blessed with only two sons. One of them died at five years of age and the other at seven.
My last son died of a hip disease. I had built great hopes that he would live to spread the gospel at home and abroad and be an honor to me. About an hour before he died I had a dream that his mother, who was dead, came for him, and that she brought with her a messenger, and she told this messenger to take the boy while I was asleep. In the dream I thought I awoke and I seized my son and fought for him and finally succeeded in getting him away from the messenger who had come to take him, and in so doing I dreamed that I stumbled and fell upon him.
I dreamed that I fell upon his sore hip, and the terrible cries and anguish of the child drove me nearly wild. I could not stand it, and I jumped up and ran out of the house so as not to hear his distress. I dreamed that after running out of the house I met Brother Joseph E. Taylor and told him of these things.
He said: "Well, Heber, do you know what I would do if my wife came for one of her children--I would not struggle for that child; I would not oppose her taking that child away. If a mother who had been faithful had passed beyond the veil, she would know of the suffering and the anguish her child may have to suffer. She would know whether that child might go through life as a cripple and whether it would be better or wiser for that child to be relieved from the torture of life. And when you stop to think, Brother Grant, that the mother of that boy went down into the shadow of death to give him life, she is the one who ought to have the right to take him or leave him."
I said, "I believe you are right, Brother Taylor, and if she comes again, she shall have the boy without any protest on my part."
After coming to that conclusion, I was waked by my brother, B. F. Grant, who was staying that night with us.
He called me into the room and told me that my child was dying.
I went in the front room and sat down. There was a vacant chair between me and my wife who is now living, and I felt the presence of that boy's deceased mother, sitting in that chair. I did not tell anybody what I felt, but I turned to my living wife and said: "Do you feel anything strange?" She said: "Yes, I feel assured that Heber's mother is sitting between us, waiting to take him away."
Now, I am naturally, I believe, a sympathetic man. I was raised as an only child with all the affection that a mother could lavish upon a boy. I believe that I am naturally affectionate and sympathetic and that I shed tears for my friends--tears of joy for their success and tears of sorrow for their misfortunes. But I sat by the deathbed of my little boy and saw him die, without shedding a tear. My living wife, my brother, and I, upon that occasion experienced a sweet, peaceful, and heavenly influence in my home, as great as I have ever experienced in my life. And no person can tell me that every other Latter-day Saint that has a knowledge of the gospel in his heart and soul, can really mourn for his loved ones; only in the loss of their society here in this life.
I never think of my wives and my dear mother and my two boys, my daughter, and my departed friends, and beloved associates being in the graveyard. I thinly only of the joy and the happiness and the peace and satisfaction that my mother is having in meeting with the Prophet and the Patriarch and Brigham Young and my father and the beloved friends that she knew from the days of Nauvoo to the day that she died. I think only of the joy they have in meeting with father and mother and loved ones who have been true and faithful to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. My mind reaches out to the wonderful joy and satisfaction and happiness that they are having, and it robs the grave of its sting.--Era, 43:330, 383.
As I stand here today, I remember what to me was the greatest of all the great incidents in my life, in this tabernacle. I saw for the first time, in the audience, my brother who had been careless, indifferent, and wayward, who had evinced no interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As I saw him for the first time in this building, and as I realized that he was seeking God for light and knowledge regarding the divinity of this work, I bowed my head and I prayed God that if I were requested to address the audience, that the Lord would inspire me by the revelations of His Spirit, by that Holy Spirit in whom every true Latter-day Saint believes, that my brother would have to acknowledge to me that I had spoken beyond my natural ability, that I had been inspired of the Lord.
I realized that if he made that confession, then I should be able to point out to him that God had given him a testimony of the divinity of this work.
Brother Milton Bennion was sitting on the stand that day, and he had been asked to address the congregation. President Angus M. Cannon came to me and said, "Before you entered the building, Brother Grant, I had invited Brother
Milton Bennion to speak, but he can come some other day."
I said, "Let him speak." Brother Cannon said, "Well, I will ask him to speak briefly, and you will please follow him."
Brother Bennion told of his visit around the world; among other things, of visiting the sepulchre of Jesus.
I took out of my pocket a book that I always carried, called a Ready Reference, and I laid it down on the stand in front of me when I stood up to speak. It was opened at the passages that tell of the vicarious work for the dead, of the announcement that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. I intended to read about the baptism for the dead, and I intended to preach upon the fact that the Savior of the world had not only brought the gospel to every soul upon the earth, but also that it reached back to all those who had died without a knowledge of it, or in their sins, that they would have the privilege of hearing it; that, as I understood and had read in the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus came into the world to be crucified for the world and to die for the sins of the world and that he saved all except only those who denied the Son after the Father had revealed Him--those who had lived and those who had died.
I remember standing there feeling that this was perhaps the greatest of all the great themes that we as Latter-day Saints had to proclaim to the world. I laid the book down, opened at that page. I prayed for the inspiration of the Lord, and the faith of the Latter-day Saints, and I never thought of the book from that minute until I sat down at the end of a thirty-minute address. I closed my remarks at twelve minutes after three o'clock, expecting that President George Q. Cannon would follow me. Brother Angus came to the upper stand, and said, "George, please occupy the balance of the time."
He said, "No, I do not wish to speak." But Brother Angus refused to take "No" for an answer.
Brother Cannon said, finally: "All right, go take your seat, and I will say something." And he arose and said in substance: "There are times when the Lord Almighty inspires some speaker by the revelations of His Spirit, and he is so abundantly blessed by the inspiration of the living God that it is a mistake for anybody else to speak following him, and one of those occasions has been today, and I desire that this meeting be dismissed without further remarks." And he sat down.
I devoted the thirty minutes of my speech almost exclusively to a testimony of my knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and to the wonderful and marvelous labors of the Prophet Joseph Smith, bearing witness to the knowledge God had given me that Joseph was in very deed a prophet of the true and living God.
The next morning my brother came into my office and said, "Heber, I was at a meeting yesterday and heard you preach."
I said, "The first time you ever heard your brother preach, I guess?"
"Oh, no," he said, "I have heard you many times."
He said, "I generally come in late and go into the gallery. I often go out before the meeting is over. But you never spoke as you did yesterday. You spoke beyond your natural ability. You were inspired of the Lord." The identical words I had uttered the day before, in my prayer to the Lord!
When I heard George Q. Cannon after I sat down, and before his brother spoke to him, say to himself, "Thank God for the power of that testimony," the tears gushed from my eyes like rain, and I rested my elbows on my knees and put my hands over my face, so that the people by me would not see that I was weeping like a child. I knew when I heard those words of George Q. Cannon that God had heard and answered my prayer. I knew that my brother's heart was touched. The next day when he came and repeated my words, I said to him, "Are you still praying for a testimony of the gospel?"
He said, "Yes, and I am going nearly wild."
I asked, "What did I preach about yesterday?"
He replied, "You know what you preached about."
I said, "Well, you tell me."
"You preached upon the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith."
I answered, "And I was inspired beyond my natural ability; and I never spoke before--at any time you have heard me, as I spoke yesterday. Do you expect the Lord to get a club and knock you down? What more testimony do you want of the gospel of Jesus Christ than that a man speaks beyond his natural ability and under the inspiration of God, when he testifies of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith?"
The next Sabbath he applied to me for baptism.--CR, October, 1922:188-190.
[The following is a reprint of President Grant's address referred to in the preceding account entitled "My Brother's Conversion."--Editor.]
I have been interested in listening to the remarks of Brother Milton Bennion and the testimony which he has borne to us this afternoon, It affords deep interest, no doubt, to all the Latter-day Saints who are here, as well as to those who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to listen to a recital that has any bearing upon the life and labors of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a remarkable fact that we can never read of the labors which He performed, or listen to others speaking of the great work which He accomplished, without taking pleasure in it, while on the other hand, there is nothing so interesting in the life and history of any other individual but what by hearing or reading it time and time again we become tired of it. I can bear testimony, from my own personal experience, that the oftener I read of the life and labors of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the greater are the joy, the peace, the happiness, the satisfaction that fill my soul in contemplating what He did. It is a story that never becomes old to me. There is ever a new charm comes to me in contemplating the words of our Lord and Savior and the plan of life and salvation which He taught to men during His life upon the earth. It is also a source of unbounded joy to me and fills my heart beyond my power of expression to contemplate the fact that God our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ have visited the earth and again revealed the gospel to man; and it fills me with thanksgiving and gratitude, far beyond my power to tell, that He has blessed me with a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.
My constant and earnest prayer to Him is that my mind may never become darkened, that I may never depart from the path of rectitude and right, but that as I grow in years I may increase in understanding, that the light and inspiration of the Spirit of God may burn in my heart and enlighten my understanding and keep me firm and faithful in serving my Heavenly Father. I desire by the labors that I shall perform, by the good deeds that I shall accomplish, to show my appreciation unto my Heavenly Father for the manifestations of His goodness to me in blessing me with a testimony of the work in which we are engaged. And there is nothing in connection with the latter-day work that fills my heart with more joy and gratitude than the knowledge that the Latter-day Saints throughout these valleys of the mountains are blessed with that same testimony, and with that abiding faith that they are engaged in the work of God, that I am in possession of. The Lord in this regard has been no respecter of persons. The humble, the poor, the unlearned (so far as the education of this world is concerned) have been as abundantly blessed of God with this testimony as those that have had more abundantly of the things of this world. From Canada on the north to Mexico on the south, throughout this Rocky Mountain region, we find settlements of the Latter-day Saints; and in these settlements we find people that have been gathered from all the nations of the earth, in fulfillment of the prophecies that were uttered thousands of years ago, that the Saints should be brought to the tops of the mountains and that the Lord would establish His work here; and this people, dwelling in settlements stretching from north to south for over a thousand miles, are blessed with a testimony of the divinity of the work in which they are engaged.
It has seemed to me a marvel how men of intelligence and ability, understanding the things of the world and the affairs of men, can look upon the great miracle to be seen in the life and labors of the Latter-day Saints without realizing and appreciating the fact that God has gathered this people together. The Savior said that the doctrines which He taught would make those who accepted them, one. He told His followers that He desired they should be one with Him, even as He was one with the Father. It was predicted that when the gospel should again be restored to the earth in the last days the people of God should be gathered from all the nations of the earth, "one of a city and two of a family," and be brought unto Zion, where they should be led and guided by God. The Latter-day Saints are a living testimony of the fulfillment of that prediction. Men and women have gathered to Zion from the different nations of Europe and from the islands of the sea, and no matter where they came from they have been blessed with the self-same spirit; and in affection, in thought, in faith, in love and devotion for God they are one, even as Jesus is one with the Father. That love and that brotherly affection which was promised to those who would desert father or mother, even all that was near and dear to the natural heart of man, has been and is enjoyed by this people. Those who have gathered here and have left all their relatives and friends behind can stand up and testify that God has filled the vacant place, and that He has blessed them with brothers and sisters in the gospel. I say that no power upon the face of the earth, not the wisdom of all the wise men combined, could ever have united the hearts and the souls of the Latter-day Saints as God has united them; and they stand today as a living testimony to the world of the divinity of the work in which they are engaged. I maintain that without the Spirit of God, without that love and inspiration that comes from above, man could not unite together people of different nationalities and make them of one heart, one testimony and one desire, as the Latter-day Saints are.
While I was visiting in St. George and talking with the president of the St. George Stake of Zion, I was forcibly reminded of the faith that burns in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. He was speaking of his early experience, and he told me that one day President Young said to him, "Brother McArthur, within ten days I wish you to prepare to go on a mission to Europe, and I expect you to be absent for four and perhaps seven years." The very day that he was told to get ready he had a child born, and when he returned home the child was over four years of age. In going upon this mission he did not have the means to go, but he sold some property that was worth three or four times as much as he was able to get for it; in fact, some few months after it changed hands for about four times more than what he sold it for. He made this sacrifice, and without one dollar of reward he went to the nations of the earth and spent four years of his life proclaiming the gospel, declaring that the angel that was seen flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwelt on the earth had come, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who testified of this. Brother McArthur told me of many incidents of his mission that were truly remarkable. Among other things, he said the Prophet Joseph Smith visited him while he was on this mission. And I say to you today that you can travel from Canada to Mexico and thousands, yes, tens of thousands of men and women will stand up and testify, as Brother McArthur did to me, that God our Heavenly Father has blessed them, that He has given them manifestations of His approval of their labors which have been inspired by the Holy Ghost; and they will, in all solemnity and without any excitement, testify to you that they do know for themselves that they are engaged in the work of God.
The labors and accomplishments of the Latter-day Saints in this country give evidence of the inspiration of the Spirit of God that prompted those men who came here as Pioneers and established the people in these mountains. In addition to the evidences that are to be found on all hands of the inspiration and the uniting influences of the Spirit of God among the Latter-day Saints, the very gathering of this people to these mountains is a direct fulfillment of the promises made through the Prophet Joseph Smith. More than once I have heard President Wilford Woodruff say, in private and in public, that he has listened to the Prophet Joseph Smith stating to them the fact that the Latter-day Saints would yet come to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains and become a great and a prosperous people. We stand today as a living evidence to the world of the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Why? Because our very presence in these mountains is a fulfillment of the predictions of that inspired man. Joseph Smith has been ridiculed and characterized as "old Joe Smith." I stand before you today a mere boy, and yet Joseph Smith was martyred when he was a year younger than I am. This "old" man accomplished in a very few years a great and a marvelous labor. When we contemplate what he did, considering the opportunities of education that he had, it is indeed a marvel and a wonder. In speaking of this I am reminded of a little item that I read some twelve years ago from a book that Brother Brigham Young [Jr.] had with him on the train as we were going to Arizona. The book was written by Josiah Quincy, who was a statesman and a philanthropist. In it was the following statement:
"It is by no means improbable that some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet." [From Figures of the Past, by Josiah Quincy.]
We all know that no man ever lived upon the earth that exerted the same influence upon the destinies of the world as did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and yet He was born in obscurity, cradled in a manger. He chose for His apostles poor, ignorant fishermen. Nearly nineteen hundred years have passed and gone since His crucifixion, and yet all over the world there is burning in the hearts of millions of people a testimony of the divinity of the work that He accomplished. When I was a small boy I went to the Thirteenth Ward Sunday School, and Brother George Goddard was the superintendent, with Brother Maiben and Brother Hamilton Park associated. I remember getting a little book out of the library, written, I think, by Dr. Paley, on the evidences of Christianity. I read several books written by this same man, one of which, I think, was titled Natural Theology. I have never read them since that time; but I have read enough of the author to know that he was a very wise man and a great student. Among other things, he stated that one of the greatest evidences that it was possible to bring to mankind of the divinity of the mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the fact that He made no offer of rewards to those that followed Him--no promises of honors or of riches. On the contrary, He promised them that they should be persecuted, that their names should be cast out as evil, and that in some cases they would actually be put to death for the testimony of the truth. Dr. Paley said, the fact that after the death of Jesus men possessed such an abiding testimony of the divinity of His mission that they were ready and willing to go to their death for that testimony, proves more strongly than any other argument that could be made the divinity of the mission of Christ.
I remember that while I read that book I said to myself, if this is one of the strongest evidences that it is possible to adduce of the divinity of the mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the same evidence can be brought forth as to the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith made exactly the same promises, and according to the revelations contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus Christ promised Joseph Smith the same heritage--that his name should be cast out as evil, that he should be ridiculed and reviled, that he should be persecuted. Joseph Smith also gave up his life for a testimony of the divinity of the work that he proclaimed to mankind. Napoleon Bonaparte said on one occasion, in referring to the Savior, that He must have been a God or men would not be so wonderfully devoted to Him after His death. He said that men would follow him [Napoleon] to death because of their love of him; but when he was dead, men would not follow him, and he would have no influence over them. Yet men, he said, still followed Jesus to their death, and He therefore must have been a God. These same arguments can also be brought forth to prove the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Latter-day Saints have seen scores of the prophecies that he uttered fulfilled to the very letter. Everybody that came into his presence was impressed with the influence and spirit which he manifested. Many are the men whom I have met that have ridiculed the late Prophet Brigham Young, and I have persuaded such men to go with me to meet him, and they have invariably come away from meeting him inspired with a reverence for the man, because the Spirit of God surrounded him day by day. I tell you that it is by the inspiration of God, and not by the power of man, that Joseph Smith, that Brigham Young, that John Taylor, that Wilford Woodruff have been able to unite the hearts of the Latter-day Saints and to establish and build up the Church of Jesus Christ. Without the light and the guidance of the Spirit of God the work of God on the earth could not succeed; it would crumble and go to pieces. But there is in the hearts of the people that abiding knowledge which unites and cements them together. When they hear the voice of the true shepherd, they recognize it, and they are ready and willing to follow it. When we contemplate the life and labors of these men, it should inspire every one of us to be diligent and faithful in discharging the duties devolving upon us.
One of the boldest predictions, to my mind, that Joseph Smith ever made, was to proclaim the fact that in a land of liberty, in a land that had been rescued by the shedding of the blood of those that were filled with patriotism, in a land where the oppressed of all nations were invited to come, in a land where absolute religious liberty was guaranteed to all men--that in such a land the Latter-day Saints should be persecuted and driven from city to city, from county to county, and out of the confines of the United States, because of their religion.
He predicted that the day would come when not only a city, a county, and a state would be arrayed against the Latter-day Saints, but the day would come when the whole United States should be arrayed against them. When he made this prediction in this land of religious freedom and guaranteed liberty, men laughed at the absurdity of the idea that a handful of people would ever attract enough attention that the whole United States would be arrayed against them. Yet what has been the history of the people? We were driven from city to city, from county to county, from state to state, and finally out of the United States, and we came to these valleys, which then belonged to the Mexican republic, and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted here upon Ensign Peak. Then the day came when the United States of America sent a part of their troops against this handful of people. I was but a child at that time, living where the Z.C.M.I. store now stands; but I remember the excitement which prevailed and many things that happened at that time. Of course, I do not remember when the army started to come here, because I was a mere babe; but I remember when they marched through these streets and went to Camp Floyd. And if this is not sufficient to show the fulfillment of the words of the Prophet Joseph, I will go still further: I have picked up the newspapers more than once and read in large headlines, "The United States of America vs. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." We all are aware that the property of the Church, real and personal, was confiscated by the United States. The personal property has since been returned, and I have no doubt whatever but they will return the real estate, because the people of the United States, as a whole, are filled with the spirit of generosity and of justice, and when they find out that a wrong has been done, even to a handful of people that they once ridiculed, they are ready and willing to right it. Joseph Smith also predicted that we would yet have an important part in helping to uphold and sustain the constitution of our country. We now have become a part of the union; and we all remember with what joy and satisfaction we met here less than a month ago to celebrate our birth into the union; and I want to say to the Latter-day Saints that it behooves us, having received a testimony of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, to so order our lives from day to day that glory shall be brought to the work of God by the good deeds that we perform, so letting our light shine that men, seeing our good deeds shall glorify God. No people upon the face of the earth have ever been blessed as have been the Latter-day Saints; no people have ever had the many manifestations of the kindness and mercy and long-suffering of God that have been bestowed upon us, and I say we, above all men and women upon the earth should live Godlike and upright lives. That God may help us to do so is my prayer and desire, and I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.--DN, August 3, 1901.
"See also Chapter Six, "Church Administration" for charges to Church officers and teachers.
Cf. Gospel Doctrine (4th edition), p. 325.
This statistic is most significant when it is recalled that the cash income of farms is considerably lower, per capita, than the cash income of city workers, and it takes cash to send missionaries into the field.
From the book, Figures of the Past, by Josiah Quincy.
Read "A Page from the Life of a Busy Man," in February, 1937, issue of The Improvement Era, page 67.
President Joseph F. Smith, son of Hyrum Smith.
Reference is to the great Colorado River Compact involving Utah, California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming.
In a letter to his cousin (later his First Counselor), A. W. Ivins, President Grant wrote on October 22, 1882: "Brother Erastus Snow comes the nearest to my idea of what an apostle should be of any member of the Twelve."
The Cock Pit, Preston, England, was the scene of the first British Mission conference, in 1837.
Colonel Alexander G. Hawes, who has since died.
Later a member of the First Council of Seventy
And who, incidentally, was elected in the subsequent election. Heber M. Wells advised President Grant that, if he wished to accept the nomination, he, Heber M. Wells, would withdraw his own name from the Republican ticket, although it would ruin him with his party; this, however, Heber M. Wells was spared from doing by President Grant's decision not to run.
In telling this story before the Church school teachers' convention, Barratt Hall, December 20, 1919, President Grant added: "I realized what it would mean, as I was her only child, and I said: `Why mother, I would not go to Annapolis for all the education and all the glory of all the world. I am going to stay right here and take care of my mother.' Now, I have been rewarded for having that spirit in my heart as a boy, notwithstanding my burning ambition for education and for a place among the great names in the world. I sacrificed it all for what? For a love of my mother; and the love of my mother led me to live a life that has brought me to the position that I occupy. Love God; love and honor your parents; honor your father and your mother that your days may be long; honor your country; live the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God will bless you, and I bless you, as His servant, in the name of Jesus. Amen."
Italics by the editor.
The text of this talk appears in full as an addendum to this story. See pages 369-374.