While we are assembled, Father, we desire to call down your Holy Spirit to help us draw in the wanderings of our mind and to center our mind upon the things at hand that we will be benefited. as great a degree as possible at this time we realize the need of these opportunities and we feel to thank you for it pray that each and all of us may exert our faith in behalf of all those who take part in these proceedings that your holy spirit will have complete control give each one of us the thing that we need at this time for our progress in your work. We pray for the establishment of the holy priesthood in the earth and pray for the well-being of your servants, the priesthood council, and all those that strive to back them with their faith and with their works. We dedicate this time unto you and we do it

In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, amen. I presume that most of us here realize, at least in some measure, the time and circumstance, the day and hour in the world's history in which we are living is a very particular and interesting one. The opportunities that are afforded us today are such that have not been very frequent in the world's history.

I'm particularly impressed of late with an offer that was made to the Latter-day Saints when they assembled themselves here in the mountains after the churnings and siftings and experiences through which they had passed for a number of years from the time of the opening of the Dispensation. Probably 30 years had gone by since an institution was effected among men whereby the...

Doctrines and ordinances of salvation had been introduced with the divine authority. The people had not in sufficient degree availed themselves of the opportunities that had been extended. And after the drivings and the turmoil and the strife and the adversity that they had endured, the sifting had gone on to considerable extent until they found themselves out here in the West, beyond the confines of...

the United States of America, when their prophet leader declared to them that inasmuch as they were willing to follow after the council in the direction of those who were placed in authority over them, they would never need to come under any other government than that of the kingdom of God upon the earth. It should be shocking to us here today, I think, to come to a realization of the fact that a hundred years have gone by since that opportunity was extended and the people as such have not availed themselves of the privilege of being governed by the principles of the kingdom of god upon the earth in their economic and their political and their social lives and have been subjected to the same isms and schisms that the other people of the world have been to such a degree

It is difficult to observe and to tell when you see individuals as to whether or not they are affiliated with the kingdom of God or whether they are type and parcel of the rest of the world. It seems that in this little group of people today is the nearest approach that has been from that time to this, according to any information that I have found. And yet, how far are we from?

being governed in our lives, our associations, our activities, our relations by the principles that actuate the kingdom of God upon the earth. I believe today there is probably a larger number of Bears of the Holy Priesthood more completely united than there have been during that hundred years. And yet it is necessary for us to be schooled and trained and taught, tutored, induced, heard, persuaded, or whatever adjectives you may want to apply, and get us into complete order, that the Almighty, through his servants, might extend to us more of the blessings of that blessed kingdom established on earth, never again to be discarded or given to another people.

So I hope this afternoon, my dear brethren and sisters, that by the efforts of your faith and prayers, the inspiration of God to those who may be called upon, that we can gather into ourselves, into our lives, into our feelings and aspirations and our daily living, some of those things that will contribute to the establishment of that blessed condition. Brother Alfred Olszewski, will you come and speak to us?

I was just contemplating, that'd be wonderful, when the day comes that I'll quit being surprised when I'm called. Just then it hit. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here, still following the servants of God, and to be numbered among you. I was contemplating that we all have acquaintances over the city, at work, the things that we experience with these acquaintances.

On Friday, while I was at the office, someone called me in. We had a three-way conversation because some young man in the church couldn't reach an agreement with his teacher in a quorum meeting concerning items of priesthood. Some of my acquaintances seem to think that I'm still a good member in the church, for I don't recall that I've done ever anything to discourage anyone member of the church. And yesterday while at the office a young man came in and after a while started talking about church and gospel and then revealed to me the influence that Annalise Cairn had in his life. So these things happen and you hear from all places and all people and most of them will uphold the church at the same time that they are far away from them.

And I don't know what we do the same thing. Something or other seems to tie us to that church, and it's been on my mind for some time. It's been made clear to us for a long time that the church is the mother, our mother to be sure. But never in the life of the gospel has a woman been permitted to hold a priesthood.

You might reason why and what for for yourselves. The fact remains that she has not been blessed with holding the priesthood by herself. And yet we keep on being tied to her apron strings. We grant her authority which she does not possess. We go crying on her shoulders when we feel down and out. And we long for the day that we can return to her fold. You feel that I'm stating the case too harshly?

As I said, I have always encouraged the children who want to go to Mother to stay with Mother. But I'm here for but one purpose. And I feel that there are only two things that are expected of me while I'm standing before you. And that is to have the spirit of our Father upon me, to speak the truth, and to bear testimony that we are governed by the priesthood of Almighty God.

As Brother Rich has just got through saying, I don't know of anything else that is expected of me at this time. And I desire to get the Spirit of God. For if there is one thing that I know that is hard to obtain, it is that Spirit. And I have said and I'll repeat that sometimes I have to smile at all the things that we blame on the Spirit of God.

all the little things that we do, but have nothing whatsoever to do with the gospel, and yet we blame it on the Spirit of God, say that we were prompted. If we were but prompted in all our doings by the Spirit of God, we would be the people that the servants of God expect us to be. I speak this way because I can say that I have enjoyed the Spirit of God.

I remember 19, 20 years ago, we were holding a testimony meeting at the home of Brother Barlow on Fourth East. It was in the early months of the year, and we had considerable sickness among our people. It wasn't too long after I had come from the East, and I was but a youngster in the work. Brother Joseph was conducting the meeting.

And in the middle of that meeting, he arose and asked the people to unite their faith that the sick might be healed. And he called on me to be mouth and prayer. And on behalf of the people, I pled with the Lord in a spirit that I will never forget. I don't know what I have been capable of receiving this spirit in such a measure since. But I know the workings of the spirit.

And I have learned not to blame everything on that spirit. But take the blame myself for the things that I do that are not acceptable to the Father or His servants. I have heard men preach before you, before me, quoting the Bible and asking for a double portion of the Spirit. I remember that some years ago down in Phoenix, I attended a fireside meeting.

And Apostle Callas was the speaker. And he spoke on the double portion of the Spirit. And after the meeting was drawing to a close, he permitted questions. And I asked him to further explain this double portion of the Spirit. And he looked at me and he says, everyone who's been in the mission field knows what the double portion of the Spirit is. Well, just having been a stake missionary in the church, I haven't found out what the double portion is.

But I know this much, that it is hard enough to get the single portion or any portion of the Spirit of God without desiring a double portion. And if it should be a point of doctrine, I want to say that if any man is entitled to double portion of the Spirit of God, it's the man who hold the apostleship. For the only record that you find of any man having had the double portion of the Spirit was Elisha, and it was given to him for the purpose that the rest of the priesthood and elders who were assembled in the city might know that he had been chosen to succeed Elijah. And I think that we ought to be content to strive with all our might to get the Spirit in the abundance and capacity we are able to carry it. And in our prayers, pray.

that the chosen servants of our Father might enjoy that double portion to teach us, to lead us, to govern us according to the mind and will of God. As Brother Ridge indicated, maybe we are the people that come closest to accepting the government of God. And it is up to us to accept it. The government of God has been here.

It gathered me and my family out of the East. It gathered others out of California. It causes people to come from the North and the South. I have never heard that since the days of the Prophet Joseph, that the saints and people of God had ever been without a government. But they did not wholly accept it. And with all our pretensions, I'm not certain that we are accepting.

the government of God as we should. I would admonish you as I admonish myself that if I claim or desire to be faithful in all things, that it is paramount that I be faithful to the government of God as it is constituted, as it is in our midst, as it is in fact sitting in front of you at this very moment. I would admonish you.

As much as it hurts to forget your mother, let father take care of her. I don't know that he has appointed me or anyone else to help her or to counsel her. In fact, you cannot counsel anyone unless they seek counsel. Every parent should know that. Then I would suggest that we pray daily that our testimonies be strengthened, that we become more diligent.

and listening to and adhering to the counsels and the commands, and place ourselves holy, and I mean holy, under the government of God, as it is constituted in his priesthood council, the men that hold the apostleship, which in itself is the government of God. Yet it's just that simple. Sure, the Savior commanded us to pray, Thy kingdom come.

And considering what that kingdom is, it will be beautiful, but it might not come in our lifetime, despite all the signs and the closeness, because we might be called tomorrow or today yet. And so we may not experience the beauty of the kingdom of God on this side, but that kingdom is not that important if we are willing to place ourselves under the government of God. And as I've said, It's never left us since the days of Joseph. I bear you my testimony, short as 20 years can be, that I've been grateful for all of these years that I have learned and found that the principles of the gospel are still in operation. The principle of gathering brought me from the east and the principle of government of God has kept me on the straight and narrow to this hour.

and I praise the name of the Father for it. Let's gather our strength and courage for what is ahead of us. Pray, as I suggested, that our testimony may be strengthened day by day. Try sincerely to live by the principles of the gospel and place yourself under the government of God as it is constituted at this hour, and you will enjoy the blessings of our Father.

in fullness and in richness and in beauty. May this be our lot, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. President Holm will now speak to us. I don't know what your reflections have been, brothers and sisters, as you have listened to these wonderful words from the Lord through these brethren, but I'm quite sure that they have been the same as mine.

I am more grateful today than ever before in my life for the blessings and the opportunities, the goodness and mercy of God. I pray that while I stand before you, I may have an interest in your faith and prayers, that we may go on being grateful, growing in the things that God wants us to be. I feel that the principle of gratitude is something that God has attained to, to perfection.

appreciating what was offered to him and appreciating what is now his and i believe that if we have the spirit of god with us to the fullest extent we'll be more grateful each passing day for what he's extending our way i couldn't help but think of some of these things as we were listening i read the other day from the teachings of the prophet joseph smith all the blessings that God has extended to us the plan of life and salvation, the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, are worth more than the wealth of the whole earth. We have surely stopped to analyze the blessings extended to us. We know that that is true when we hear it, but how many of us are grateful for it? And show our gratitude to the fullest extent.

by trying to return all that we can possess of the world's materials to God for those blessings. We have come to a knowledge of the mission, the teachings of the priesthood to some extent. We have come to appreciate inspiration and revelation in these meetings and in our direction from the Lord. We recognize, don't we, brothers and sisters?

that God has a hand in this work, that he's building into each of our lives a round of experiences and truths that will take us back into his presence. So I'm sure today if we reflect seriously on our blessings, on the principle of gratitude, we'll be better and finer people. The priesthood of God at our head. The revelations of God continuing to us. Inspiration and revelation.

all that we're worthy of each day coming our way. Sustaining hand of God, his confidence in many respects. The brethren whom he has called to lead us have confidence in us to a great and marked degree. Are we grateful for these things? Do we show our gratitude? You're honest, and I'm trying to be honest. We're not grateful enough.

the blessed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the blessed Kingdom of God offered to us, every principle and every ordinance that we can possibly partake of to improve our lives and progress toward Godhood is extended. What weak mortal to be sidetracked so much of the time each day from what God wants us to do, what he wants us to be. And yet, How grateful we should be that another day comes along and he tries again to reach us and does many wonderful things for us. We ought to be grateful for God's consistency and try to be consistent ourselves a little more than we've been. He loves us. He wants to see us back in his presence. And he doesn't forget us each day. He has his servants feed us, direct us.

and help us along. Now, these are a few of the things that I'm sure that we can improve upon and show God that we don't want to treat lightly the things that he offers us, that we mean to be real serious with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. Be grateful and appreciate what he gives us. Thank God for the rebukes that come. Thank God that the servants of God can see our lives and point out to us where we're making mistakes. Thank God that they're honest enough and servants of God enough to stand fearlessly and tell us. I'm so grateful for these things. I'm grateful for you, brothers and sisters. Each one of you brings into my life an experience as I get to know you that helps me along the way. As you try to apply the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

And as you endeavor to follow the priesthood of God, your experience has helped me and helped my family. I'm grateful to be in your society, to have you with us under the direction of God and his servants. Now to enumerate all the blessings, all the things to be grateful for, that's up to you. Let's go our way and rejoice, brothers and sisters, as we leave this meeting.

Let's have the courage to face ingratitude of those about us, the offerings of the evil one. He's certainly after us, as we can attest to the experiences that have happened recently. He possibly can't take our lives till the Lord is ready, but he can deal us a lot of misery, and he can try and break us and keep us from keeping our appointments and our covenants in priesthood capacity and in family capacity.

How grateful we should be today, 1960, for what has been and what now is and what's offered to us by God himself through his own channel. May we appreciate and partake, participate and show our gratitude more fully and more completely, lest we be those that have to be cast out for treating lightly the things of God.

I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. President Hammond will be our next speaker. Certainly delightful, brothers and sisters, to meet with you today. The last time we were together, we had quite a cool experience. I certainly desire the Spirit of God with me today. If I'm able to say anything, it will certainly be by its dictates. The spirit of laziness has come over me, or what?

I haven't much desire to speak to the saints. Maybe because I've got something in the back of my head that I wish I didn't have to do. Maybe I better get it over with. Maybe I'll feel better. I suppose that many of you have wondered whether we're having school or not. We are. We're in rather primitive conditions. Talk about that old red schoolhouse. It's got nothing on us. As you know, we're operating upon the contributions of the saints, and we've got to have some more materials.

I didn't know where in the world to go but here. If you ever need anything, you always go back to your friends. We need some typewriters. We need about 15. I've got, Brother Lou Barlow gave me one, and I've got two of my own. Now, before we think maybe that we've got something to lend or give, I can't very well use portables. They're just not adequate to teach typing students on.

If any of you people could spare some typewriters, either temporary or permanently, we certainly would be grateful. It costs about $20 to renovate one. You take them in and they just really won't touch them for much less unless it's just a matter of adjustments or replacing some parts. And most of our typewriters, if they sit around a while, they're dusty and they get lint in them. You take them into the shops and before you know what you've done, they've sold you a bill of goods and it costs $20 to.

get them fixed, but I'd be glad to stand that. If you've got some typewriters that you think you could loan me. We've got a tremendous job to do in this school. I tell you we have. We've got students that have been well taught. They've had parents who've followed them up in their schoolwork and they've gotten their lessons and they're well enough on their way toward their education. Some have been robbed by their teachers and others have been neglected by their parents.

reflected by the schools that we have a what i consider in some respects a frightening responsibility i don't need to talk to you but i'll tell you this much let's not kid ourselves as parents that our children doesn't do not need an education if they can get it by the dictates the spirit of god or that what the lord said of one man five minutes spent gazing into eternity to the prophet joseph it was worth all the schooling in the world let's not assume for any moment This is going to take place of our education because many of us may not get to gaze five minutes into eternity. Get our feet braced and begin to take our education more seriously. We're living in a day and time when it's a technical age and it's going to get more technical. And while the Lord might simplify the lives of the saints, we're certainly going to move up in the circumstances that it will be to our advantage to have some scholastic attainment.

And I feel tremendously encouraged with our prospects and ability to deliver to the students. We've got good teachers. And I never gazed into the eyes of a more wholesome bunch of young people in my life. Talk about your rare experiences. I've had some of them. Beautiful women and fine young men. And there's a desire on their parts to step forward in this work at a rapidity and a pace that will warm our hearts. For I know.

That we, we group, my age group, will only go so far. You people will only pay so much of a price for the things that's being offered to you, and you won't pay any more. We've had bargain counters so long in our lives that we expect a lot of things. A bargain price, and you're just like I am. When I go down to the store and I can't drive a deal, I walk away without anything. Demand a bargain. I'm afraid we're demanding bargains here.

I was talking to Louis Bartle the other day, and he had been reading and talking to some, and finally came across an article where some of these quiz people had sent out to some of our leading citizens questionnaires regarding their viewpoints and so forth. And a professor expressed his views that he was afraid that the youth of this nation had gotten to such a lackadaisical condition that they were not willing to work.

for what they got and i'm afraid of the same thing i'm afraid generally speaking that our that our contemporaries in the world and many of our own young people because of their association with them and the good times that they've all seen they're not going to be willing to work and pay for what they have to get it is a frightening thing many suppose that this nation is going to be thrown into a chaotic condition one of these days which i don't entirely agree with But if it should be, it would be a frightening experience. While our people here, I'm sure, with a little counsel, would be willing to knuckle down, and they've proven from time to time, because of the almost continuous hardship that we've been under, through persecution and one thing or another, that they would settle down to their duties. But there's many of the young men that are living along with us, and young women, and they would never revert back to the hardships of the Depression, rise up in rebellion against the government, and so forth.

My feelings are that the United States government are aware of the same things. The leaders of the nation, controllers of the purse, are going to spend and spend and spend trying to hold this nation up. They'll spend themselves into bankruptcy. That's when I look for the great crash. I don't believe that they can do it any other way. People are going to demand it. The old folks are going to demand it. The voting public is going to demand it. The politicians are going to demand it.

They'll be sold such fabulous bills of goods at the polls from now on that people will sell their birthright as a pottage. As people, considering the things that are happening in our midst and so forth, have great reasons to rejoice. But I don't know whether they are or not. Oh, I see a little rejoicing among the people, but not as much as I think there ought to be. When Alfred was thinking of the gratitude that...

He felt, and so forth, it led me back to some of my experiences. Brother William Cook handed me some notes that his wife Myrtle took in Idaho when Brother Joseph was visiting us. It refreshed my memories on a few occasions that I don't believe I'll say anymore that I'm getting more grateful every day for the gospel, because I don't believe I've seen any days since then that I was as grateful. I guess I wept over this work for ten years.

priesthood. When they arose to speak to the saints and unfold the principles of the gospel, that I wasn't led to such humility and gratitude that my head became a fountain of tears. I have never experienced my Idaho days a pain in my bosom for a day or two because of my sense of gratitude. I've had my heart swell until I thought it would break, and I've actually suffered pain because of the swelling of my heart of gratitude.

And I haven't had any experiences like that for a long time. Of course, I've learned to live with it, I grant. Become a part of me. And I finally learned that shedding tears has nothing to do with the Spirit of God. Nothing whatsoever. But I'll tell you, coming out of a chaotic condition that I came out of in the church, darkened condition that we were living in up in Yellowstone State, I'll tell you, led me to bow my head in gratitude many, many times.

for the fountain of light that came to me through the Council of the Priesthood. I saw it among our Sheskey friends when they came from New York. They really had a sense of gratitude that they'd finally found something that they could rally around and that they could rejoice over. And their hearts were filled with gratitude. And I've seen some others. Yet I've seen others gather into this body of the saints.

had the very antithesis of gratitude. They regretted it. They'd regretted that they'd been taken out of such favorable circumstances and had to come here to these valleys of the mountains and begin this ordeal of being educated and tutored in the priesthood work. But many of us are getting over our indifference, and we are in what I consider one of the most favorable circumstances that I've ever heard about. I concur with Brother Richard.

But I think that we've got more priesthood men gathered today in the spirit of unity that they've had since the days of Joseph. I'm not casting any aspersions on the brethren. Brother Young had a great colonial people here. He had a colonization problem on his hands. He had many, many faithful men around him. When we look at the diaries that's been handed down and the various conditions that existed throughout these settlements, there weren't very many men.

that were acquainted with each other and had been brought together in one body under the tutorship of the leaders of the church, that were as prepared to be united as our people are today. I haven't heard anything today that I haven't recognized as being the truth. I still am apprehensive in spite of our prospects for unity and our circumstances where we can learn to be united. I'm still not impressed.

about the number that want to be, I'm still not convinced that this body of priesthood entirely is a priesthood body. How many men are here because their wives are urging them? I don't know how many men are here because they want to multiply families and so forth, and yet their aspirations aren't just as exactly as they ought to be.

I wouldn't want to have to touch out and reach out my hand and touch anybody and make any accusations. But there is a necessity, brethren, a clear-cut necessity that the men who follow this work be convicted in their hearts that they're following the priesthood of God and make their support and aims and life's ambition dedicated in that direction. It's an absolute necessity to get through this work. There's no other way.

This church is going to go down and down and down, and we're not going to be like someone just spoke about going and wanting to lay our head on our mother's shoulder and weep and mourn over our hardships, because it will not be so. Many of you mothers are not going to see your children come to you and weep and mourn over their hardships and lay their heads on your shoulders, because they're going to lay their head upon the shoulders of the priesthood.

And that's where they're going to weep and mourn if they do weep and mourn. And so we're in for some drastic changes. For God is going to have a tried people and he's going to redeem his work. I'm thankful. I'm thankful for the observations that come before my eyes to teach me and broaden my understanding relative to the rights and privileges of the people of God. I've spoken some sharp words to some of my friends over...

over the feelings that they had for their sons and over their daughters, over the things that they seemed to possess. I've got some seeming possessions of my own. Of course, I don't feel to boast, but I've got a pretty keen sense in my being as to whom they belong. I'm very much aware from whence they came. All I have to do is stand beside the sickbed of some of my children for just a few minutes.

to be very sharply and quickly reminded the source of my blessings and how powerless and helpless I am without the help and spirit and benedictions of the Lord. In the presidency I have over the people that are around me, one little infant here could pass away, never wake from his sleep. Some of these sick spells are not a struggle. They're from God.

And for me to rise up in my majesty and assume that I own my sons and daughters, to me, is the height of folly. My sons have their rights and privileges in the kingdom of God the same as I do. They might come for a little domestic counsel, and I might preside over them in some capacities. But they're here upon this work to work out their probation. And I may have sons that will rise far above me in the priesthood.

I'd be thankful if I did. And if I don't, I've still got to go through the temple and have rites and ordinances pronounced over me yet that gives me any presence, any permanent presidency over my boys. And so I think that we ought to extend and expand our minds and our feelings in the preparation of these young people for the work that's ahead of us, instead of being so possessive that we prepare our children for the work of the priesthood, every one of them.

boys and girls alike. If we'll do that, we'll not lose them. But I'll tell you, if you do anything short of it, you're going to go through a squeeze with them, and some of you are going through it already. For these children cannot be held. They cannot be held under any other circumstances than the principles of righteousness. They might linger around because they might be homebodies, some of them, and you may not have any trouble. But that doesn't mean anything. The only way that they've...

and that eventually that these children and young people will be held close to us is through the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the only way. We think that we can hold them and we think that we can do this, but the only way that the daughters of this group can be held in this work is to be sealed to the men in this group. That's the only way. It would be a wise thing for you women to ponder upon this subject and consider it and try to understand it.

Instead of preparing your daughters in the ways of the world, they ought to be prepared in the ways of the priesthood. That's where they ought to be prepared. We've heard so much here, and I know that it has its place. I'm not trying to belittle it, and yet we've certainly got to reckon with it. We realize that we have to get along with these neighbors on the left and these neighbors on the right, and our house is in the middle, and we have to try to live in peace. But I don't think living...

with them by compromise is the way through. If I have to compromise my daughters and compromise my sons and say, well, I guess you'll have to do this so that the neighbors won't find us out, and I guess you'll have to do the other so that we won't be found out and so that we won't be raided and so that we can live in this house, we bought it, now we don't want to lose it, and a lot of other excuses, I fear and tremble.

I don't know just exactly what beats in your bosom, but I can't conceive that it's any different than mine. And I tell you, I know how I ache. I know how I fear. Fear takes possession of me. When I think of my daughters or my sons wandering away from this work, you might say, well, what are your other fears? Well, I certainly am a little bit afraid, like all the rest.

When I hear the old rumblings up the head of State Street and the rumblings around through the neighborhood, it puts a little panic in my bosom, and I wonder what I'm in for again. But I'll tell you, it's nothing compared to the panic that goes through me when I think that maybe the things that I've labored for and striven for, that my heart and affections are tied to most, are going to wander away from this work. If I was a little dubious about his truthfulness, that may be a little different, but I'm not.

I'm not dubious about the truthfulness of the work in which I'm engaged. Maybe these years haven't filled me with the sense of gratitude that I had at one time, and maybe I've become more capable of expressing gratitude, and it doesn't wear on my body so hard. But one thing I have certainly gained through the years is a testimony of this work. I believed it when I first heard it. Thank God, I tell you, it warms me. It warms me.

If your lives warm you, some things in my life warm me. And I'm thankful in my heart that I did not ever resist my brethren. When I first shook hands with Joseph Musser and set him down in my house in his wet clothes, which I wasn't aware of, and stayed there nearly all night with him, and we arose and we embraced each other, I thank God that I never remember the day of going through a period of resistance.

to this priesthood. I thank God that I never had to wander among the fringe of this work to find out whether it was true or not, like many of my contemporaries have done. Said, well, Brother Hammond, I'm going to go up to such and such a veil, or I'm going to go up to such and such and talk to so-and-so. They've heard some things about this work and so on, and I guess they're still looking, aren't they? I haven't seen them since. And I don't care whether they ever come back or not. I don't care. I don't care.

That's one thing I really don't care about. To ever look and gaze upon the face of the people that have gone around and tried to find all the dastardly things they could about Lauren Woolley and John Barlow and Joseph Musser. I happened to run into some of Joseph's neighbors one day and they started in on me and I turned sick. And I couldn't get out of their filthy presence soon enough. A man that goes through this church and...

performed the work that he had to do, and rear a family like he had to do, had to do a lot of things. And I suppose that a lot of things appeared to people like they weren't, if you understand my language. It might have appeared to some that he was a dusting soul, but by the dictates of the Spirit of God to me, he was nothing but a man of God. And I can't conceive of him ever being anything else. That day he was born, until we laid him in his grave. Now those are the feelings that I have.

But I'm exercised. I'm exercised, my dear brethren and sisters, about our feelings and our longing for peace. Remind me a story of a man who lived with his mother with peace at any price. Lived with his mother-in-law with peace at any price. And I'll not live with this church in peace at any price. I will not. I did everything that a human being could possibly do.

sat before a high council for six solid hours, trying to make peace with them, but not at any price. And I don't care to make peace at any price, not with this church, nor with this state, nor with this nation, nor with my neighbors. I would a whole lot rather go through the hardships all over again that we've been through, rather than sacrifice the lives of these people. We wonder why the saints come out here.

They might have come out here for some of their own personal welfare, but one of the foremost ideas that they had in their minds was that they could rear their families according to the dictates of the Spirit of God, according to the principles of the Holy Gospel. That's why these valleys have been colonized and founded and conquered. That's one of the reasons. That's one of the reasons why we stay down there in the South and let that sand blow on our faces and over us and under us and through us. We eat it.

It's for the express purpose that we'll be able to find a place where we can take some of our people that need a little succor and relief from the pressure of this world and bringing them up according to the principles of the gospel. And I thank God that he's beginning to recognize a few of our labors. I'm thankful for Richard. You've often heard me say how I've seen him sacrifice and labor and toil for this work. It does my heart good to see some of the things that's happening.

It happened in his lifetime that he might reap some reward for his labors. He worked and toiled when no one else was able to work and toil. He kept right on going, right on going, with a hope in his heart that someone would step up beside him and work too. It's paid off. It's paid off. Well, brethren and sisters, I don't feel to prolong my remarks, but I'd like to see you encouraged. I'd like to see something spring up in your bosom that...

would give us the assurance that you'd pay the price, that you really wanted this. I'd like to see beaming in the eyes of the brethren the desire for a plural wife on the basis that they could build up the kingdom of God with her, that they would raise a posterity and teach a posterity according to the principles of a new and everlasting covenant, that they'd take these wives on a basis that they were going to love and cherish.

I guess it was Guy, when he was down south last, got to speaking about the people that went north in the 1880s and 1886 up into Idaho and how they were the ones, they undoubtedly were, that were anxious to get away from the prosecutions of the day here in Utah. Many of them abandoned their wives and left those widows to rear their own children. I never knew until my sister Pauline.

tied up with us for a while here and revealed some of the things she knew, but I had two aunts who were married under those circumstances, and their husbands deserted them, and they reared big families all by themselves, and they never married again. If you ever want to run into them, why, they're some of the Manning family that live up near Burley in Rupert, Idaho. I forget that little town up there, Arco, where she took her sons. Some of the Prescott's that are around in this country are the descendants of those people.

Brethren, don't you ever do that. Don't you ever abandon your families for any kind of pressure. I think there's a way through this thing, and that's the way to do right. If we keep our families and lose our priesthood and our favor with God, we've lost anyway. But I know that these principles can be lived. I know that these confidences can be established. And I think that probably the most important thing And the whole process is just the will to do it. Just cultivate that desire and that appetite. How many of you men are working at things today that you actually feel in your hearts that your talents are not adapted to, that your heart's not in? Oh, I presume half of you. You feel like that you're a stranger at your work. Some man's compelled to work for the railroad in an atmosphere that's contrary to his nature. Some man's out selling.

Some other man's doing this. All contrary to the nature and feelings of his heart. And yet you do it. And why? Because of necessity. And you force your talents and your character to adapt themselves to that regime because you feel like you must. But would you take and turn the tables and force your character and your heart and your talents and your mind to adapt themselves to the principles of everlasting life?

You supplicate God on your knees and ask him for your spirit and to fill your heart with a love for the work of God? I don't know whether that is possible or not. Well, it is possible. God Almighty says that these Gentiles can be adapted into the house of Abraham by being immersed in water and having the Holy Ghost conferred upon them. Now, what do you expect them to do? Why, they've got to come in by adoption.

And their characters have got to be changed by the dictates of the Spirit of God upon them. And we expect them to do it. Now, is there any difference between them doing it and us doing it? Those of us who have an aptitude and a love for this work natively in our hearts. Now, let's not take these things lightly. Let's not let these young people take these things lightly. You young men and young women that are here.

This is absolutely the only source of happiness. Absolutely the only source of true happiness. You might enjoy your life for a day in the midst of the world while your youth is upon you. And you may even enjoy it so long as you sojourn upon this earth that you will not enjoy your life in eternity unless you have the blessings of the holy priesthood to sustain you and uphold you.

and carry you forward. You'll lose your companions, you'll lose your blessings, and the day will come when you'll cease to exist. You think, oh, I want this, I want romance. There's no true romance in the midst of society except that romance is sustained by the priesthood of God. None, or they all lead to the grave. There's no true order of friendship except that order of friendship that's sustained.

to the new and everlasting covenant that Joseph Smith gave his life for. There's no principles on the face of this earth that will hold men and women together, not only through time but eternity, but the blessings of the holy priesthood. And there's no principles on the face of this earth that will teach you how to live with each other, except the revelations that come to the servants of God. There are none.

There's nothing on the face of this earth that will stop this wave of immorality that's going through this nation and through this people except that strength that's born of the servants of God to the priesthood that they hold. Now, these things are true, brothers and sisters, and even though they may appear not to be true because of the circumstances in which you live, yet I testify to you they are true, and if you'll seek them, you'll find.

and you'll get the strength that you need to get. If the Lord is putting us in good circumstances, let's try to yield to it. Let's see the day when this people now can be governed, governed to the letter by the priesthood of God. Some men had inquired of me the other day of what we ought to do about certain things. We had certain frictions with the law, apparently. I said, there is no friction between us and the law.

except the laws of God, wherein we're required to sustain the plurality of the marriage relations and possibly united order. There's the only friction we have with the law. The rest of the laws, for the most part, are born of necessity, especially this civil law that's around us to govern our traffic and our taxes and us and our soul. This is our land, and we ought to yield to it. If we want to quit making ourselves oddities, Let's quit fighting the things we ought not to fight. Let's start sustaining the things we ought to sustain. Let's sustain the law of the land, just as the Doctrine and Covenants tell us to do, that law which is constitutional, for they have a right to govern us. They shield us and protect us, and they'll do just about as much for clothing us and feeding us as any people in the world if we need it. If we'll get these spirits and these feelings in our heart, then the Lord will be able to bless us.

But if we're filled with rebellion, we're not going to enjoy the Spirit of God. I made a remark the other day, and I think that I'd like to remake it again to you people, and then I'll close my remark. But I just want to draw to your attention some of the things that goes along in the character of people. I presume that there are men and women in this congregation whose families are participating in the Church. And I hope the Spirit of God will guide me in such a way that I can...

make my points clear and leave sound counsel for you. But I met an old acquaintance of mine the other day on the street. We hadn't met for a long time, and he stopped and shook hands with me, and we started to visit back and forth, and he wanted to know how things were with the people, one thing and another, and we visited on. He wanted to know how Brother Johnson was and Brother Musser was, and that he had tried to see them, but he hadn't been able to contact them.

so on. And after we got our preliminaries over with, why, he began to tell me how that one of his close friends had prophesied and began to get revelations to the effect that David O. McKay was going to be stricken in this October conference. That old, old story. The devil has prompted dozens of people to tell such and it seemed like they were just gullible enough to keep on falling for it. And then he went on to intimate how he thought that this was certainly the time for the church to be set in order and that he secretly hoped that something like this might happen. Well, while I visited with him, I tried to reassure him that I didn't think such a thing was going to take place. It is my observation that considering the signs of the times and the way that people were, David O. McKay was doing a first-rate job.

presiding over a people that needed to be presided over and giving them all that they were able to appreciate and enjoy. And we went on, and after I got away from him, I began to think of the condition of that man. Paying his tithing, taking his children and his wife to church, teaching in the high priest quorum, taking his grandchildren, he enumerated how many grandchildren he had, which was quite a number, taking them to church.

encouraging him to cling tight to this mother who was divested of all the authority that she ever did have, and trying to build that institution up in their lives, and he was secretly hoping that their president would fall dead. As I walked back to my car in the parking lot, I thought, Marion, how would you like to live? What kind of a character would that make of you, that you was paying your tithing at one hand and praying to God at the other?

The president dropped dead. I wonder where our religion is, brethren. If you brethren are using the church for your families, teach them the truth. Teach them the truth. Let them sustain the authorities with intelligence. Try to show them these things the way they actually are. This church is still in the hands of God. And that is very unlikely the way that he's going to set this work in order.

The first thing that he's got to do to set this church in order is get a people that can be set in order. I would like to know how you could take. That church is as inanimate as one of those automobiles. You've got to go in there and turn on that key and put a man in there to operate it before it becomes of any use. And I don't know what difference the church is. It's just an organization. The brethren got together, according to the history, six of them, and formed a corporation known as the Church of Jesus Christ in the state of New York with six members.

certain rights and privileges before the law. It was just as devoid of life and animation as it can be until Joseph Smith set his hand to animate it. Now please tell me what difference this church is. And so when we talk about setting that church in order, well, you could set that automobile in order. You could give it a coat of paint. You could put new tires on it, and you could put a new battery.

and fix the spark plugs and all the things pertaining to the mechanism of that car and make it in perfect order. But until the brethren come to animate it, it's about as useless as it can be. And so it is with that church. And God's not going to go set an organization in order until he's got people to man it and take care of it. That church organization was created for the people. The people were not created for it. And so the labor of this dispensation is prepare people to meet God.

and to get them in such a condition that they can be taught correct principles and that they can respond and render some performances that will stimulate confidence in the bosom of our Heavenly Father. And if the Church can't be used for that, then you just as well keep your children home. Just as well keep them home as to send them there and have them hate the President, pay their tithing, and wish they could keep it, and carry on in all the affairs of the world.

You're building up nothing but an element of hypocrisy. It will turn around and rend you one of these days in the form of your own children. Now, you can use that church. You can use it. If you'll educate your children that are going there and teach them the truth, but let's not indulge in such, I was going to say, antiquated hypocrisy, and it is getting antiquated, to anticipate that God is going to strike.

The brethren dead. President Heber J. Grant died up there in the LDS hospital. He never did die in that pulpit. He did it. He was stricken. It took him a long time to die. David O. McKay is not going to fall before 10,000 people and give them a shock of their lives and break up the institutions of the church until there's a people prepared to man it and take care of it. For God said it would never be thrown down.

and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. Now let's be rational in our religion, and let's try to cherish the things of everlasting life. Let's try to cherish the brethren. I realize that we have our difficulties with our personalities, and that we're stricken pretty hard sometimes because of these personality problems. But I've finally come to the place in my life, while it isn't any issue of the present, that I've come to recognize the office that presides over me. I recognize it in Brother Zitting. I recognize it in Brother Joseph. Brother Joseph's illness, he took us through some tight places, and yet I don't know when I ever, ever had a feeling that I would to God that he'd be striking, stricken dead. What hypocrisy. What hypocrisy. I wonder where men, where men thinks our intelligence are when they come to us and tell us such...

and expect us to hope it's true. They don't get comfort in me. I'd regret very much to see such a thing transposed. I pray the Spirit of God to continue us in this meeting, that we'll be actuated by good, sound principles, that we'll listen to the counsel that we'll hear, that we'll seek the Spirit of God and try our level best to live so that the Lord can place it upon us. And I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We'll hear from President Musser. Before the meeting, we were trying to determine where the trees could be planted to make shade for everyone so we'd be more comfortable. I remarked to Brother Johnson that Brigham Young and the Saints met under the Bowery for a long time, and as soon as the tabernacle was finished and several of the wardhouses, They face the problem of giving them up or signing a manifesto. And Brother Woodruff said, instead of giving up all these wonderful things that we've struggled so hard to build, we'll sign the manifesto. That's what he said. And I take it that's why I'm not so interested in building a chapel, because I know that we'll either have to sign a manifesto or abandon it. And I see no reason to...

give our laborers money and time to abandon something. I think that we can show our faithfulness without nailing some boards together and build a chapel. Now I'd like to approach a subject for a few minutes for our enlightenment. And in doing so, I don't want you to feel that I'm discounting the value of people going to prison.

or that it has a place in, that it doesn't have a place in the work of the Lord. The scriptures tell us that persecution is the heritage of the faithful. But there's hardly anyone who understands this principle. And when you mention the word persecution, your mind immediately goes to the physical martyrdom that has taken place by Christian people.

I suppose there's as many martyrs in the world today on behalf of religion as there has ever been. We hear very little of it. In Spain, the church is prohibited from holding public meetings. There are many Catholic priests in prison for life. All throughout the civilized world, men are being punished today for their religious beliefs.

and for preaching. Even in the United States, there are religious martyrs outside of this particular group. And yet, outside of this particular group, can anyone point to any good that is coming from such persecution or has sanctified the Catholic priest or the Christian missionary to die for his beliefs?

No. So when the Lord said that persecution is a heritage of the faithful, he meant something else. And that's what I'd like to dwell upon for a few minutes. In the first place, we were born of goodly parents in the spirit world. And they're tutored and trained and brought up to a fine degree.

of intelligence relating to the plan of our Father in Heaven. We were taught that we would be able to become like Him and have power to perpetuate ourselves and continue our seeds. And upon that principle was the reason that we rejoiced and was willing to turn against each other in the spirit world.

and do battle. Now after having accomplished the purpose of the purposes of our labors there, we have been sent into this lone and dreary world that we might prove ourselves herewith, that we will do all things whatsoever Father tells us to do, as we did there. We find ourselves in this favorable position here because we did that very thing. Now, what condition do I find myself in here upon this earth? I find a fine, tender, intelligent, God-like spirit clothed in an imperfect body filled with the customs, and traditions, and sins, and failures of 6,000 years, I find that this fine spirit has had prepared for it this type of a physical body. And then the Lord says, Now my son, I want you to take this body and dwell in hell and perfect it.

and bring it up to a celestial condition where, as a living soul, you can dwell in my presence. Now this is a problem that faces me. This is a telestial world. My fine, sensitive, godlike, native spirit has been encased with this faulty body. And I have been asked to walk. as a stranger in hell. And I have found that there has been no condition, there has been no provision in any sense of the word made for my comfort here in hell. This is its electoral world or its hell. On the other hand, I find that where they could, They have legislated against me in every possible way. So there's no provision made for my comfort. They have made no provision for my sensitive feelings in regard to a marriage relationship. They have made no provision to help me provide for a family.

if I were to have a large family. They have made no provisions to assist me in administrating to the needs of those about me under the order of the Lord. You can't think of anything that has been provided for the benefit of a celestial being here in hell. Everything that has been made and developed is for the benefit of telestial characters. And yet I am to bring my celestial spirit, place it in a telestial body, and take the two in a perfect condition back into the presence of the Lord. And there's the problem. And that is why...

Persecution is a heritage of the faithful. For the moment, that moment that your spirit first expresses itself in this little earthly infant body, you begin to go through the process of persecution if you are a saint and if you have a saintly spirit. And as you grow, and begin to manipulate this body after the order of godliness by the use of the priesthood, the greater the persecution blows against you, and the less provision is made for your personal welfare. If I should go over here tomorrow morning to my work with the railroad, there has been no provision there made.

Among those men, so do they say. Now when Brother Musser comes to work this morning, he has a very sensitive spirit. He actually believes that men and women can live in a pure relationship sexually. Now because of his belief, and because he thinks that this is possible, he has this right and we should respect his feelings.

So we don't want to swear or to bring up sex or to speak disrespectfully of sex around him. We want to protect him and help his feelings. It's quite laughable, isn't it? So there's no provision at all made for my sensitive feelings. So I go to work, and the moment that I strike my employment, I begin to be mentally persecuted. I have to listen to obscene jokes. I have to listen to men talking about their filthy relationship with their women and their children. I have to listen to all of that without upraising. And so it's persecution. It's mental.

persecution. And here's a man with four or five women and 30 or 40 children, and they give him a job for $500 a month at this fine institution over here. And think that they're doing him a favor. Why, they're not doing anything for him. They're doing him a favor if he only had one wife. Yes, that's plenty of money.

mean, but they're not doing anything for his order of financial life or for his economic needs. They haven't said, well, now Mr. So-and-so has more than one family, and because of that, we must provide a greater income for him so that he can keep these children and these women. in the same respectability that we keep ours. So, because of that, we're going to have to pay him $2,000 a month to look after his affair. That'll happen under the direction of the perfect economical conditions of the celestial law. But it doesn't happen now. So here is this man. Goes out.

And they pay him the prevailing wage for his labor and expect him to keep 50 people on it. And if he were to raise one accent of displeasure or protest, they'd want to drive him out of the country. So there has been no provision at all made for him to live that portion. of the law of God. And so we could go down the human scale of activity and there is no provision. Brother Hammond has spoken of the school situation. Is there any provision in the school situation that would protect the tender and sensitive feelings of a celestial spirit? Of course not.

The things that go on in the schoolroom causes the devil to shudder. But he's the father of it all. And be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, the same shall he reap. So he can't do anything but shudder. He's reaping what he's sown. But it even frightens him, what goes on. Now this is where...

the persecution comes. So that any man or woman who desires to be a saint inherits persecution. Do you see it? Inherits persecution. Sometimes it comes to the physical body in the way of imprisonment or other things. But this other persecution is more general. and certain than that. And so anyone who is making a saint out of themselves, you can be sure is suffering persecution in every manner there is to suffer it. They have to suffer persecution from their own people, from their own family, from their own brethren.

from their own associates. There's no place along the line where they don't have to suffer persecution. They may as well make up their minds that they have to endure it if they're going to live and become a saint. There's no way for you to get out from under it until Satan is bound.

And this is the persecution that tries men's soul. Imprisonment? Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to belittle it. My mother, both grandfathers, my father and myself have suffered imprisonment for the sake of this work. But as my father said, and as he said both of my grandfathers said, I have found out one thing.

Guy, it doesn't necessarily make a saint out of a man. And we have sure seen that illustrated from our earliest dawn of history. But this other persecution, if suffered, and if we rise above it, will make the saint out of us. These are the things that brings the crisis as to whether to compromise.

or not. These mental and moral persecutions that they've been talking about today. What are you going to do when your associates at your employment begin to persecute you mentally? Are you going to compromise and fall in with them? Or are you going to resist them mentally? If you do, you've got a battle on your hands of Constant resistance, constant resistance in trying to get and keep the Spirit of the Lord. Now you all find yourselves in the same position I find myself. I have come as a sensitive celestial spirit and have had given to me a faulty physical body which...

The council has told me I must take through this condition of hell, overcome hell, the grave, and the devil, and prepare it to go through the veil back into the presence of my Father. That's what I've been told to do. And you have been told to do the same thing. And so that's why, in the moment, that I first cried in this life, I begin to inherit persecution. And it has never ceased. And the greater that my character draws and becomes assimilated into the character of my Father in Heaven, the greater will be my persecution, even though no one will see it.

might not realize it, might realize it, but the greater will be the persecution heaped upon me. And as President Kimball said, so great will it be that the more faithful among us will pray day and night until we are delivered. Delivered from what? This condition of hell. and taken and placed in a condition of celestial life from whence we have come and where we want to return, where our native feelings are protected, the place we love and understand and are understood. And so persecution is your heritage, my dear brothers and sisters.

You're living in hell. You are faithful and true, and some of you were ordained and consecrated and set apart and dedicated by the laying on of hands to come here to perform a certain work at this time. But this is a condition you find yourselves in, that you have been asked to take this faulty body and take it through this condition of hell and finally overcome this condition of hell, the grave, and the devil. So you cannot expect any rest or any peace. Peace is not a word with a saint. There's no such a thing as peace. Our Lord and Savior does not have it.

Father Adam is still watching his children behind the veil, fighting and contending and falling. We find that we can have a condition of peace, and that is our relationship with our Father in Heaven and with our associates. That's where our peace comes. But any person who comes to this earth prepared and willing to take sainthood upon themselves, must realize that they are out of their element, and the higher they rise out of their element, the greater will be their moral and mental persecution, until sometimes they will cry day and night that they might be relieved of this terrible condition.

that exists around them. So, brethren and sisters, with this explanation of these things, let us go to and realize that we are engaged in a great warfare. And this warfare will continue. It is said of Jesus Christ that he will not have accomplished his work until he goes before the Father and says, I have trodden.

The wine press alone, Father. Here's the work that you gave me to do, fully completed. Now, aren't we in the same condition? We have to return and say, I have trodden the wine press alone. I have accomplished the work you sent me into hell to do, brethren. And now I have returned to receive my blessings. That's what we have to do.

There's much said about men having to have experience in order to learn. If that's the only way we can learn is through suffering, it's certainly better than nothing. But in the spirit world, we were taught the doctrine of learning by faith, not by suffering. And it's possible for a man to go through this world by faith.

and not have to undergo the suffering that we speak of in regard to learning obedience. Does it mean that he's going to have lifted this heritage of persecution? No, he has that. It means that he doesn't have to steal, he doesn't have to go to jail to learn obedience to the law of not stealing.

or not committing murder, or not doing other things. It means that he'll live by faith and that he'll do what Father tells him to do through faith, not have to get burned to do it all the time, and learn through his suffering the principle of obedience. There shouldn't be a man here sitting today who shouldn't be able to turn to his son and say, Son, I can take you through this life so that they don't have to learn obedience by suffering, degradation, and punishment. If you will do everything I tell you to do, I have walked this path, I have been through this world, and I know exactly how to guide you. Does it mean that he's not going to be persecuted? Why, of course not. I can't lift that. My father can't lift that. The moment that I take that little tender spirit in my arms, I know that I can't lift it. That the more celestial it becomes, the greater the persecution will be against him or her. I know that.

but I can keep him or her from going below all things. I can keep her or him from being punished, from becoming degraded by losing their usefulness, trying to learn obedience by the things they suffer. That's an outmoded way of learning. That's why men say, I don't want my son or daughter to go through what I have. I want them to live by faith so that they can finally say, Father, I have done all things whatsoever you have commanded me to do. And by doing that, they will inherit persecution. But they will become useful at a...

youthful age and will live out their lives servants of the Lord. And they won't have to spend this first four years trying to pull up some wild oats. They won't have to be penalized this next four years by the priesthood because of their disobedience. This woman won't have to live with this devilish, telestial man for ten years.

before the Lord will give her relief and have her divorced and seal her to a good man. Those are the things, the experiences, that we don't need to have. And the only reason we have them is because of our disobedience. They're not inherited. We receive them because we have failed to do what our Father has asked us to do.

And we come under the law of condemnation and fail to repent. But this matter of persecution cannot be lifted as long as you are in a celestial world and try to become celestial in your nature. But all these other things we can do away with. Our Father in Heaven told us in the councils when all these things were explained to us.

I have been on an earth like this, and I have worked out my salvation, and I know just what is necessary for you to be happy and how to lead you and how to govern you after the order of heaven. That's what he told us, and that's what we can tell one another. But it's disobedience that causes us to suffer.

to learn how to be obedient. And we can overcome that and do away with it entirely. How wonderful it would be if a man had a family of children who were willing to live entirely and learn entirely by faith. Or the priesthood had a group of people that would learn and live entirely by faith.

and would accept everything the Father asked them to do, even though they may not understand why, until long after the events transpire. And you look back into your lives and see if when you suffered penalty and learned obedience through your suffering, It wasn't because you were disobedient and you came under condemnation. With this principle of persecution, you will carry on your shoulders, regardless of how godlike you are, as long as you walk through this telestial or hellish world. When Jesus Christ was here, although he was a god, he had to inherit this load of persecution. And there was no good said of him. And so it was with the other member of the Godhead, Joseph Smith. No matter what office he held or how perfect he might have been, he walked and talked with the ancients all the time. He had to carry this load of persecution, mental and moral.

persecution. He had to carry it and bear it. And those are the things that bore him down. And those are the things that he had to choose between good and evil in. And that's the thing that we have to choose. There's no choice. There's hardly any choice with any of you as to whether you would go to jail or not if you were called upon to. Why, it isn't It isn't sensible to even think that there's anybody here that if they were faced with the problem and couldn't get out of it, they wouldn't do it. But there is a question in everybody's mind as to what they will do to relieve this mental and moral weight of persecution in dealing with the sons and daughters of men here in hell. And that's where the crisis comes.

What are you doing? Are you relieving your persecution? Or are you adding to it through becoming more godlike? Now may the Lord bless and strengthen us and look after us and help to prepare us for this great battle that is raging over our heads. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. I think there are none of us here probably who would begrudge A little more time. Let's extend to President Johnson what time he wishes to occupy. I don't want to incur the displeasure of too many people. Here I set sun back in the shade a while ago, and now the sun's shining in their face, and I don't know what they'll cut in their heart about me right now. But nevertheless, I pray that the Spirit of God will rest upon me and that I might say something that will...

benefit someone, and that we might be partakers of the good spirit while we further wait. I've been very much interested in the remarks that have been made this afternoon, and I know that the Spirit of God has rested upon the speakers. The subject that President Musser has just presented to you is one of the most important of all subjects that I know of. For this reason that we'll be of no use to the progress of the kingdom of our Father Adam without a body. And to deprive us of the privilege of having a body in the hereafter is only to reject the testimony of Christ. That's all we have to do.

So if there are anyone among us who thinks they can get away from it all by leaving this work, they only need to go to Mexico, out among these Indian tribes that we have, look over their suffering condition, and see what suffering that we'd have to go through in order to shed these bodies.

Go down on the street corner in the city and see men and women begging for an existence. And why is it? Simply because they have broken a law. They have some time along the line, they've had a chance or their forefathers have had a chance to accept or reject the gospel of Christ. And they're on the road to road out.

Some have met with misfortune one way or another. Maybe they haven't had the chance to receive the gospel, but the chance will be given them sometime later. But it only goes to show the condition that we would be in if we had the chance to accept or reject the gospel and then rejected it. It shows to us the suffering.

that men and women would have to go through in order to pay the penalty that Uncle Guy has just been telling us about. His body was given to us for a definite purpose of becoming like God is. For as man is, God once was. And as God is, man may become. And the only way he can become as God is to live.

and apply to their lives the principles that will assimilate us into his character. And that's what Brother Guy has been trying to put over here. It's a very serious matter, my brothers and sisters, to reject the counsel of the priesthood. The priesthood is God's power here upon the earth. Men who are called to reside in it.

or acting under the inspiration of our Father in Heaven and under his direction. The only way that that priesthood can be purely given to a people is through the faith of the people. It's true that men can buy their testimonies, but before you can know and understand the full purpose of that priesthood, You'll have to create a desire to know from our Father in heaven his will concerning you. And there's only one way you can draw it. And that's through the channel that the Lord has instituted for the edification and the education of his subjects. The prophet Joseph was so instructed.

under the tutorship of Christ himself. That's where he received his first instruction. And then, under the direction of Christ, angels appeared to him. These angels didn't come until after Joseph had had a conversation with Christ himself. And from that time on, Joseph was instructed by men who held The priesthood and the right and the authority that was needed to institute the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the restoration of the priesthood in the latter days. And that priesthood teaches us the principles of our existence.

The necessity of coming here and receiving these bodies and purifying them and then taking them back in a purified condition. And anyone who feels that they can defile these bodies or go against the counsel of the priesthood in preserving them and get back into the presence of Father, which they'll have to go without paying a penalty for it, they'll have to be...

They need to be instructed and receive the instructions of how to do it. Because you cannot escape the penalty of disobedience. No man or woman, no matter whether they're living or dead, can escape the punishment of disobedience. And when you have lived and had the testimony of Jesus born to you, and then you want...

before your Father in heaven and ask him for a testimony and have received it, great is the responsibility that is upon you when you bear testimony to the world or to your friends that you know that the gospel is true. Much greater than you have stopped to realize or think upon is that responsibility. For there is a great work to do.

The Lord says where much is given, much is expected. And when a man goes before the Lord and asks for a testimony of the truth and it's given to him, it's his duty to do all that he can to perfect that testimony and apply it to his life that he might not come under condemnation. The wages of sin are terrible. So let's...

Pay attention to what has been told us this afternoon, my brothers and sisters, and go from this meeting with a firm determination to serve the Lord and keep his commandments and to do that which we have been told to do. May God bless you, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. We're using a Spanish book down there in the teaching of our...

A course that we have several copies of, but we're short about five copies to go around to our class, and it's entitled El Camino Real. The Spanish book probably edited in about 1953. If you people have got some at your home, we sure would be obliged if you'd permit us to have them so we wouldn't have to buy a complete new course. It'll save us about $75 if you could just dig us up about five books.

El Camino Real. I'm sure we are all grateful for the outpouring of the Spirit that's been manifest to us, these wonderful directions that have been extended to us. Brother Barrett has some candy he wishes to sell to make a contribution to the school development down there, if any of you are interested. Ask Brother William Shapley to dismiss us. Our Father in Heaven, we...

come before you at the close of this meeting. We're grateful for the words of instruction which we have received. We're grateful for living in this gospel dispensation and for the responsibilities that are placed upon us for being here. We pray that you will bless us with the strength to accept them and carry out our responsibilities. We pray for thy spirit to ever be with us, to direct us in our daily walks and talks.

and conversations. We pray that you will go with us now to our different places and bless us with safety. In this we pray for in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.