President Smith, President Clark, President McKay, my dear brothers and sisters, friends of the radio and television audience, I sincerely ask you for an interest in your faith and prayers, because I need that sustaining power.

I confess to you, and I confess to all of the young people of the Church that I have humbly prayed and fasted for the blessings of the Lord while I should speak to you. I want to bear testimony to you, humbly and sincerely, that I couldn't say anything worth while, I am sure, without the blessings of the Lord.

I know that God hears and answers prayers. I know that he sustains us in righteousness and in humility. Without him we cannot succeed, and with him we cannot fail.

PURPOSE OF CONFERENCE

We have met here as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to worship God, our Eternal Father, and to bear testimony as to the truth of this work. We have assembled to receive counsel and advice, given under the inspiration of the Lord. We come here to this great Tabernacle conference after conference because we know that God lives, and we are anxious and happy to bear that testimony to the world.

Many who cannot attend this conference listen to the radio, others see on television, and thousands of others will read the proceedings of the conference. We come here not for any selfish reason: we come here in humility; we come here and assemble in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Lord has said to us, as President Smith reported this morning, and quoted,

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them  Matt. 18:20

and his Spirit is here with us, and it has been with us today in rich abundance.

There isn't anyone who attends these conferences or any conferences of the Church in the stakes of Zion but who can partake of the Spirit of the Lord if he will come to those conferences humbly. We come here together in prayer, extending thanksgiving to God, our Father. We come here to thank him for the blessings that we enjoy as a Church, and I am referring to the entire membership of the Church. We should try to be truly grateful and loyal to the Church, first and always.

We come here to unite our faith. We come here to pray to God our Father for the blessings of the world at large. We pray for the sick and the needy and the poor, for those who are discouraged. We pray for the inactive. We love all men, and we love God our Eternal Father.

TESTIMONIES

I have enjoyed so much visiting the stakes of the Church, listening to the testimonies given at these stake conferences, and my testimony has been strengthened. My faith has been made strong because I have listened to men bear testimony in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I am grateful for the privilege of coming among you in the stakes, for your kindnesses and your tolerance and your courtesies extended to us. As Nephi said,

. . . I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things that he has commanded them  1 Ne. 3:7

Yesterday we had the privilege of going to the temple and listening to the reports of the mission presidents, and oh, how I wish the world could listen to those testimonies. How I wish all of the membership of the Church could have heard their testimonies, and seen their great faith, their love for the Church, and their love for the service, and their great affection for your boys and girls, their missionaries. Truly they are servants of God, and he has blessed them and magnified them. They live very close to the Lord. You can't listen to them but what you know that they are partaking of his Spirit very richly each day of their lives. The spirit and the power they possess could come only to those serving God and their Eternal Father with all their heart, might, mind, and strength.

MIRACLES TODAY

Miracles are performed today. The power of healing is in the priesthood and in the Church. Some wonder whether or not miracles are performed today. If they could hear the testimonies of these missionaries in the stakes and these mission presidents, they would have no reason ever to wonder about miracles. But sometimes our faith is not strong enough. Sometimes we are too weak to accept the blessings of the Lord as miracles. Sometimes we are inclined to call them just a coincidence. Sometimes we say, "Oh it's just one of those things." That's because our faith is not strong enough to recognize the hand of the Lord in these miracles and the healing power of the priesthood that is in the world today.

MAGNIFIED IN SERVICE

I want to bear testimony that when men are called to work in the ministry of the Lord, if they will accept these calls in humility they will have no need to worry. I am very deeply impressed when I see professional men and businessmen giving of their time and talent in the service of the Lord, and I have watched them magnified, and I have seen the Lord bless them. I feel sorry for the man who takes upon himself the feeling that he hasn't the time to work in the service when he is called.

There are many men who may be inclined not to accept a call when it comes to them. There are men who feel that perhaps they are not qualified, but I want to bear testimony to you that if you will accept those calls in humility and pray to God your Father for help and guidance and comfort, he will not forsake you, but he will make you capable for the responsibilities that are assigned to you.

Testimony inspires testimony, and faith promotes faith, and most of us gain our testimonies through prayer and through work and study, and I think that is as it should be, but we can increase that testimony if we will try to draw close to God our Eternal Father, and have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Faith is so essential to the souls of men. Sometimes we are inclined to be discouraged. Sometimes we are inclined to feel as though it is no use, and oh, if we could just then call upon the Lord for his help.

INACTIVE MEMBERS

I would like to say a word to the inactive members of the Church and the adult members of the Aaronic Priesthood. It is never too late to start over again. When men are discouraged, when men have made mistakes, that's the time they should go to God their Eternal Father and pray to him with all their hearts, but sometimes in our weak moments, we may feel that it's no use, and then we just draw a little farther away from the Lord, and then perhaps we fail to feel his influence.

It is not always easy to be humble. We are living in a very busy world, in a world where there are so many things that may tend to take our minds and our attention away from the things that are really worth while. If we can draw close to the Lord and not let those things come first, I am sure that when we are discouraged and our hearts are heavy, we will have the strength to feel that that's the time we should go to the Lord and ask for his blessings.

Now there are men who feel that they have perhaps drawn so far away from the Lord that they can't pray. Sometimes we are careless in our praying, and yet we have been designated as being a praying people, and we want always to stay a praying people. I would like to encourage those men who are not as prayerful as they might be, that we should not consider prayer as a duty. We can consider prayer as a privilege. We can consider prayer as a blessing. We can consider prayer as a comfort.

You mean to tell me that it is a duty to commune with God, your Eternal Father? If that isn't a comfort and if that isn't a blessing and a power to the souls of men, then I don't know where they will ever receive that comfort and power.

Yes, "God so loved the world"  John 3:16 and that love is so sweet and so powerful, so comforting, that if we can partake of it, we will receive the happiness and joy we never receive in any other activity. I would say to men who perhaps have not become as active as they might be, that it is not too late to start over again. You can overcome the things that are keeping you inactive if you will supply your soul with that spirit that comes from God your Eternal Father, and he will give you the power and the desire and the strength to put those things aside that perhaps have taken you from activity in the Church, when perhaps you are not quite so close to the Lord as you should be.

A WAY OF LIFE

Accepting the gospel, and accepting the Church, and living the gospel is a daily way of life. It affords man that something that he can't get anywhere else. It is not alone a plan of eternal salvation. It is the comfort and the happiness that every man loves and craves.

Let us live so that the Lord will not leave us alone. Let us stay so close to him that we can go to him with all our problems. I think it isn't wrong to take our problems to the Lord, because President McKay just told us there isn't any thought or any act that He is not well acquainted with. And so let's humble ourselves. Let us put away that false pride, and let us try to live so that we can have the Spirit of the Lord with us each day of our lives, and when our day is over, if we've made mistakes, and probably most of us will make mistakes every day, we can go to the Lord and acknowledge those mistakes, and he will forgive us, and he will help us to overcome them.

There is a statement that has given me some happiness, and I'd like to repeat it to you:

O may we empty our soul to God our Eternal Father so he will fill it again.

TESTIMONY

I want to bear you my testimony that I know God lives. He has blessed me so abundantly, I can never repay him for the comfort and the strength that I have received from him. I hope that I can stay humble and become even more humble, that he will not leave me, but that he will stay with me each day in all the efforts in righteousness that I undertake to do.

God bless each of you, that the things that are here and the things that you will read and every talk that you will hear may lodge in your hearts so deeply that they will stay with you the rest of your lives. God bless each of us that we may comfort one another, that we may stay close to God our Eternal Father, that he will magnify us in our callings, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.