My brethren and sisters: The Latter-day Saints are a chosen people. Their mission is to teach the restored gospel to the world. They feel that responsibility keenly. Their missionary endeavor is evidence of their sincerity and determination to make known truth.

Relationship to God

They realize that the souls of men are precious in the sight of God. They know their relationship to God, and they are rightfully called the children of God. He is their Father and is vitally concerned about their welfare. He will hear and answer their prayers. He will come to their rescue in times of need and he will sustain them when they put their trust in him.

Belief in the prophets

The Latter-day Saints believe in the prophets, each one of whom has left a vital message to the world. Joseph Smith, called the founder of Mormonism, is the prophet of the last dispensation. Like Moses, the lawgiver of Israel, he spoke with God face to face  Ex. 33:11 and received from him revelations concerning man's destiny and his possibilities. He taught that God is a person, and that he rules in the affairs of men and nations, and that he is the Father of his children who live and have lived upon the earth.

Religious foundations

Our country was founded in a religious atmosphere. The original colonists who came to America laid their foundations in that background. They came with deep religious convictions. They built churches and schools and worshiped God in their own way. Their quest was religious freedom, and although unknown to them, they prepared the way for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which, according to James, is the perfect law of liberty  James 1:25

I have found in most people a deep religious sentiment. Many of them go to church to satisfy their religious longings. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is building churches and chapels at a rapid rate. Most of them are crowded with worshipers on Sunday, where the gospel is being taught and righteous living encouraged.

Prophetic calling of Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was the man selected to open a new dispensation of the gospel. He announced to the world a restoration of divine truth. There are many incidents in his life supported by eyewitnesses who testify of his prophetic calling. These eye-witnesses responded to his greatness and his leadership in a way to prove their loyalty. Strong men like Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff followed him with a devotion seldom seen in human affairs. They were men who were not easily deceived or led astray.

Men of renown saw in the Prophet a force to be reckoned with on the pages of history.

A knowledge of Mormonism is necessary to understand this prophet of the latter days. He cannot be ignored by the conscientious investigator; neither can he be disposed of by the old-fashioned methods of ridicule and abuse. His name is secure in the history books already written. Speaking of himself, he said: "You don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history" (Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 317).

Who, for instance, knows Jesus Christ? No one except those who understand his gospel of salvation. Joseph Smith came to prepare the world for the reign of Christ. The Church teaches the second coming of the Savior, at which time he will appear in glory and splendor.

Early history preserved

The Prophet did not write his autobiography, but the history of the early days of the Church is well preserved. The Prophet, wise and farseeing, kept records. "For the last three years," he said on one occasion, "I have a record of all my acts and proceedings, for I have kept several good, faithful, and efficient clerks in constant employ; they have accompanied me everywhere, and carefully kept my history, and they have written down what I have done, where I have been, and what I have said . . . and my enemies cannot prove anything against me" (DHC, Vol. 6, p. 409). The Prophet believed he was a man of destiny, that this work was an important event in history, and that it should be preserved for future generations. He had been told by an angel that his "name should be had for good and evil among all nations"  JS—H 1:33 That prophecy has been fulfilled.

Reliable history kept

We are grateful today for the fragmentary history of the early Christian church, for the records from which the four gospels were assembled, and for the teachings and testimonies of its early leaders. They have been a source of inspiration and guidance to the generations that followed. Without those precious records, darkness would have prevailed. The Church has kept and is keeping a faithful record and a reliable history of its growth, its development, and its expansion since it was organized on the sixth day of April 1830; and it will move forward in the future as it has in the past. I so testify sincerely, in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.