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Show IOGDEN TABERNACLE TOO SMALL TO , HOLD CROWDS GATHERED TO HEAR 1 ADDRESSES OF CHURCH OFFICIALS H "If Joseph Smith was not what he H claimed to be the world is hopelessly Hl lost," declared Aposilc Joseph Field- H ing Smith, at the .session of the Weber Hj stake conference yesterday afternoon H before a largo congregation that lis- H tcnod with Intense interest to the speaker who asserted that the "Mor-mon" "Mor-mon" prophet was the restorer who was to prepare the way for the sec-ond sec-ond coming of Christ. H "When I saw Joseph Smith the H first lime I thought he was the great - est and grandest man on earth," was H the statement of President Seymour H B. Young. "And President Ilebcr J. H Grant is the greatest mail on earth at H this time: ho has greater power than Hj any potentate," the speaker said. H "The greatest joy that can come to H any man or woman Is to know that H Jesus Christ ia the Redeemer and that H I Joseph Smith is a prophet," was the H I testimony of President L. W. Shurt- H There were present at the confer- H ence four men who had seen the H prophet, Joseph Smith. These were Hf in addition to Presidents Young ana IShurtllff, Patriarchs George S. Peart and A. W. Itawson. Patriarch Peart said he did not know If he could justly just-ly claim to have seen the prophet, but ho Avas told by his parents that when he was an Infant Joseph Smith had taken him In his arms. Patriarch Rawson said he remembered seeing Joseph Smith when he was four years of age and very thankful for It. Tabernacle Too Small. That the Ogden tabernacle has outgrown out-grown its usefulness for conferenco session was demonstrated by the large numbers who were unable to gain admission ad-mission to the auditorium. Although additional chairs were brought Into use, a large number were standing in thv- aisles and doorways during the entire sessions of tho conference. In f order to procure seats it was observed 1 that several hundred people were at f the afternoon session thirty minutes before the time for commencing the service. At both sessions of the conference con-ference nearly twelve hundred people were crowded Into the building that h"as a seating capacity for about one tEousand. ..President L. W. Shurtllff presided at tho conference and President A. L. SCovlllc couducted the services. The general church and stake authorities were presented by Stake Clerk Everet Neuteboom and were unamlnously sustained by those present. Under the direction of Prof. Joseph Ballantyne, with Prof. Sam. F. Whlt-. Whlt-. taker at the groat organ, tho taber nacle choir delighted and Inspired the laTge congregation by tho rendition olTa number of choruses. The work of the choir was given high praise by the lsltlng church officials. Tho program Included "Babylon," Bornice Taylor and choir; "Blessed Redeem-,er," Redeem-,er," Nophi J. Brown and Gerard JKlomp; "Lead Kindly Light," choir; "Earth and Heaven," choir; "Infam-matus,'" "Infam-matus,'" Miss Myrtle Hlglcy and choir; "There Wore Ninety and Nine," Mildred Ware, Myrtle Hlglcy and choir; "Praise of Lord," choir; "Give Us Peace," Myrtle Illgloy, Mildred Mil-dred Ware and choir. Apostle Smith, at the afternoon session, ses-sion, said there wer;e not many men ; now living who had seen the Prophet j Joseph Smith and he liked to hear their testimony. He said there was Ian abundance of evidence that Joseph I Smith was a prophet and any one who refused to accept this evidence would be under condemnation. "The Lord Himself has said that the message mes-sage has gone forth to all tho world and they who refuse to acept the truth will have their Iniquities published pub-lished upop the housetops." "If Joseph Smith was not a prophet then we must look for somebody who Is. The world has no one to offer. If the dispensation of the fulness of times has not been ushered in it will be ushered In and there is to be a forerunner for Christ at Ills second j coming. Where Is the man If it is not Joseph Smith? Ho has fulfilled all the requirements of the one that was to come. "If the restorer has not come, where is he?" tho speaker asked. "Is . he in the Catholic church; My soul, I no. That church Is corrupt. Ho Is not ! In the Protestant churches; they are also corrupt, being offsprings of the Catholic church. "The scriptures plainly tell that the gospel was to be restored, but the i people of the world say there is no (need for a restoration. The Catholic church says they have always had the gospel but the Protestant churches church-es say the Catholic church went wrong and they broke away. But that didn't restore the truth. "If the Catholic church was wrong this fact must be made known by revelation re-velation and Joseph Smith received a revelation to this effect. All churches church-es had become corrupt in their teachings teach-ings because of wickedness and apos-tacy apos-tacy and a restoration was necessary. (If Joseph Smith was not what he claimed to be the world Is 'hopelessly lost.'' President Young In his discourse told how Joseph Smith was a studious boy and a peacemaker in his family and that ho always sought tho Lord In prayer when desiring to secure information in-formation upon spiritual things. His prayers had brought the Father and I Son and other heavenly visitants from i the eternal world and the gospel in I its fulness had been restored to tho earth. The speaker said he had seen the Prophet Joseph Smith on two occa-1 occa-1 slons. He was but a boy at the time j but well remembered that his first j Impression was that the prophnt was tho greatest and the grandest man on . earth. Tho second and last time ho saw Joseph Smith was on the fateful day when he was going to his death. Pie remembered the anguish and sorrow sor-row that filled the hearts of the Saints at that time but they continued steadfast in their testimony and continued con-tinued to carry on the work although their leader was taken from them. The. prophet was faithful In tho discharge dis-charge of his duties and when he found it was necessary that one should lay down his life that the people peo-ple might be free he gave hlinself up to his murderers and in so doing said he was 'going as a lamb to the slaughter and with a conscience void of offense toward God and man'." President Shurtllff, in a brief address, ad-dress, said that "the greatest joy that come to any : an or woman Is to know that Jesus Christ Is the Redeemer Re-deemer and Joseph Smith a prophet. This fact will fill anyone with a love for humanity more than anything else. He was a boy with President Young and they had been companions through life. The last general conference con-ference of tho church will go down in history as the greatest conference for testimony bearing that had ever been held. Ho hoped to sec the time when the whole world will see that the Latter Lat-ter Day Saints have the gospel In its purity. 1 Morning Session. Apostle Smith, at the morning session, ses-sion, commended upon the large attendance at-tendance and said It was gratifying to him to sec so many workers in the stake gathered together. He was grateful for all tho blessing that had como to the pcoplo ns Latter Day Saints through restoration of the gospel. gos-pel. Nowhere else In tho world, he said, is the work so distributed as in the church of the Latter Day Saints so that every member can work and help carry the load. He did not be- j Hove in a one man ministry because he knew that the Lord in his mercy had so arranged that all should have an opportunity to work and receive a blessing. ' The speaker said he wanted to pall attention to the words of a certain hymn which ho said carried a false impression. Those words were, ' Gladly I lay all my cares upon Thee." Those words, ho said, express tho Idea prevalent in the world today among religious people that they can lay all their cares and Responsibilities Responsibili-ties upon the Lord and can be saved. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. That Is contrary to the order of heaven and yel that idea is prevalent in the world. Many people, the speaker said, believe be-lieve that salvation will como to them from a mere confession that Jesus Is the Christ. Millions of people arc deluded with this false doctrine that Is founded upon isolated texts from the Bible such as this one from Romans, Ro-mans, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt be-llevo be-llevo In thine heart that God hath raised him .from the dead, thou shalt be saved." But there Is no. salvation In such doctrine. Paul did not wish to convoy such a thought. The samo writer has declared that men shall be Judged by their works. Pre-cxlstcne. The belief of the Latter Day Saints regarding prc-existence was referred to by the speaker, who said that before be-fore we came to earth wo shouted for Joy at the prospects of coming here, not only because of the happiness, happi-ness, but also for the hard knocks tha awaited us and that were so necessary' ne-cessary' for our perfection and development. devel-opment. Jesus came to the world to redeem the world", to do for us that which we were unoble to do for ourselves. our-selves. The debt incurred in the fall of Adam had to be paid and the price could not be paid either by Adam or all the inhabitants of the earth. Christ only could pay the debt and U noirl It TJ.i 1. t.. rnn .1 . --J J'u.va ik. JJUl. lilV.1. IlUt make our eternal salvation and exaltation exal-tation sure. Everyone who desires salvation sal-vation and exaltation in the kingdom of God must share the burdens and responsibilities of the worn of God and then we may be saved and our ems washed away by the blood of Christ. As an Illustration Apostlo Smith said. "If a man wanted to learn to swim, how ridicllous it would bo for him to say to his Instructor, 'I lay all the burden and responsibility upon up-on you.' Thai man would deservo to sink. He certainly could not swim. Many people are reasonable in tho view that they tako or things of this life but In matters pertaining to eternal eter-nal salvation they are most unreasonable." unreason-able." "The Lord has said' men shall be Judged and known by their fruits' and not everyone that says 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into His kingdom, but they who do the will of the Father. The Lord has placed burdens upon the backs of each one of us ana we must bear them. This means that wo arc to work and keep His commandments.. command-ments.. There is no exaltation without with-out responsibility. Many pooplo will come short of the glory of God and dwell in an inferior kingdom becauso they have no desire to assume responsibility." respon-sibility." Concluding, the speaker said he believed be-lieved with all his heart that Joseph Smith was called of God to carry this message to tho world that they might be saved There was no doubt In his mind upon that subject. Quarterly Report. President A. L. Scovllle in presenting present-ing the quarterly roport which rc-voaled rc-voaled much activity upon tho part of tho stake workers commented upon up-on the large attendance at the conference confer-ence and said that while In the world it Is difficult to 'get large numbers of men to attend religious services no such difficulty was experienced In the stake of Zlon. He congratulated all the members of the priesthood of the. stake for the devotion to their duties and callings. President John Watson said the labors la-bors of all the members of tho stake was greatly appreciated. The work is progressing and It was our duty to do thoso things that were required of us and much work is being ac compllshed by united effort and cooperation. co-operation. He waB thankful to bo a mombcr of the church and that he had a testimony of the divinity of the work of the Prophot Joseph Smith. Joseph C. McFarlane, chairman of the high council, also commented upon up-on the large numbers of the priesthood priest-hood In the atako that were active In service and also said it was his pleas- urc to report all members and various committees of the high council laboring la-boring diligently for tho progress of tho great work in which they wero engaged. Mrs. Agnes Stevens, president of the stake rellof society, reported good work being accomplished by the members of the organization. The spirituality of tho meetings was increasing in-creasing and the conditions of the poor of tho stake was Improving. Commenting upon the great Interest taken In temple work. Mrs, Stevens made an urgent appeal for all members mem-bers of the stake to Interest themselves them-selves in this Important work. nn |
