I believe to start with tonight, we'll hear from Sister Gwen Blackmore. My dear brothers and sisters, this is an honor I didn't expect, but I feel it a privilege to stand before you and to express my gratitude for the many blessings that have come to me in this life. It's a long way from Canada to here, but it's very much worth the traveling. We have a sweet little girl up in Canada, several of them.

But this little special one came running to me one day. She said, I love everybody, and everybody loves me. And I put my arm around her, and I said, that's a wonderful feeling, Brenda. It's when we all should cultivate to love everybody. And if we would, everybody would love us. It's very, very hard for a person to hate someone who loves them. I don't think it's possible for them to hold out very long.

We seem to radiate happiness or love and friendship, or else we radiate annoyance and disgust and drive people from us. Since I'm not very well acquainted with some of you, I will just review a little where I've been. I was raised in southern Idaho. I'm Jerry Williams' sister. Some of you know him.

Our mother died when we were small and we were living in Rexburg, Idaho. After that, father took us back to the farm and we were raised on the sand dunes of Mud Lake, Idaho. And we grew to maturity there. We helped in the hay field. We cooked our own meal. We rode horses to school. Did the janitor work when we got there.

The things we learned out of school were far more valuable to our lives than what we learned in school. We went on through school and I babysat, worked in many, many homes. In fact, I had a blessing once that said, your influence shall be felt in the homes of many. And I've thought about it a great deal because even yet, I go in the homes of many in some calling or another. When I was in Rigby, Idaho, I was very confused in my young days to know where I should marry or to whom I should marry. And the more I worried about it, the more confusing it became. And my sister and brother Jerry said, why don't you go on a mission? And I said, they don't go on missions without pressure strips anymore. And they said, well, we'll spend a little money and...

Dad maybe can spare a little. So I believe we could finance it. I talked to Bishop Jensen one day and explained this to him, and he said, we appreciate your attitude, and he said, where do you think you'd like to go? I said, I'd like to go, I don't really care where I go, but I believe if I went to the southern states, I might be able to find some of my mother's people.

Yet when the call came, which was about three weeks from then, they sent me, it said, to Canada, eastern Canada. And that is where I labored for about 22 months. It was at the end of that term that I met Harold Blackmore. And my life has worked out for me. And my life since then has been secure and happy, and to say the least, busy.

I have been very busy. We have a good family of children for which I'm very thankful. I've been married to Harold about five years when one day his father came to our home and brought a little pamphlet called Ballard Jensen Correspondence. Grandpa said, son, I believe you better read this to yourself and think it over. He said, it may stir up the feelings of Gwynny.

Harold said, what I read, I read with winning. So we settled down differently and began to read this. Now, I'll agree that I was just a little bit apologetical for rural marriage in the mission field. When people would say that, talk to me about it, I acted awfully dumb, and I was. It was no act. And I had not been taught much about this principle.

I felt a little bit concerned when Harold was getting into this thing, and I could see that it was taking hold with him. And I said, I think it's hell for a woman to find a good man like you and just begin to learn to love him and understand him, and then have a bombshell like this thrown at her. And my feelings were stirred up, and I was a little bit worried.

One day he could see I was a little scary, so he said, I can't, he says, do you imagine that I would love you less because you gave me another woman, another mate? You know, I got thinking about that a little bit, and I thought, well now, the Prophet Joseph Smith lived that, and Brigham Young lived it. If the Lord couldn't use people like me, who had never been rich, never owned much, and had been almost the scum of the earth as far as my possessions were concerned. He couldn't use humble people like me, who could he use? And I began to wonder, could he use my friends, certain ones I could think of there in school? And I thought, no, they'd rather die than be accepted. And I felt quite concerned over this thing, and I did a lot of praying about it.

One day I said, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just get flowing? And the good Lord must have known how I felt, because things have worked out beautifully for us. And He's blessed me, so I'm quite a fighter for this principle. And I understand it a lot better than I did. I also know some of the things that cause trouble in this principle.

I know if we're jealous, it's no good. I know if we're envious, it's no good. I know if we're lazy, it won't work. But if we will just live the golden rule, simple as all of that, I can't see why nearly anyone couldn't be happy and sensible. I don't like to see sisters that think they love one another live miles apart. Lots of times one of them is sick and they need a little help.

The many times I've leaned on my darling sister during the years of having these babies and tending them night and day in sickness and in health, I can't express to you people, but she has taught me the value and the beauty and the joy of having a glorious sister to lean on and to come home tired at night and to know that things are in order and the children are tended.

And to know that things are all okay. And that I don't know how any woman could not appreciate that kind of a blessing. I'm very thankful for my health and strength. And I'm thankful for the privilege of seeing you people. Some of you I want to know a lot better than I do. For your lives will help me a lot. I desire to know more about the gospel. That I might lead my children.

And I desire to magnify myself in this work that I might be an honor to my husband, for he's been kind and good and patient with me. I desire to be a better neighbor, but I find that when I'm home, if I do even half the things I should do, I'm the busiest woman, a very busy woman. I'll put it that way. I'm told we should have a place for everything and everything in its place.

I've never seen one day like that. So I don't know that I can arrive to these things. If I were an old spinster living off all alone, I believe I could. But I can't under the circumstances pull it just yet. But I'm working on it. And the things I have to have, like my tearing knife and the scissors and my needle and a few things that I have to have, I hide.

because if I don't, when I reach for it quickly, one of these children have been using it, and then my time is wasted. Now, I'm sure you women have arrived to a higher understanding of how to manage than that, but I find my life worth living, and I'm not discouraged. I'm thankful for this good sister that comes up and helps to teach us.

Heaven knows she's been a blessing to us every time she's come. And we welcome any of the rest of you and come and see as long as you like because we need you. May the Lord bless you in this wonderful work and may he strengthen us all that we might be honors to the priesthood. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.