What has been said, brethren and sisters, is verily true. The kingdom
of God has been built up by his distinguished blessings and the
exertion and energy of those whom God has called to bear it off. When
men refuse to fulfil their callings and magnify them in the
proclamation of the fulness of the Gospel to the nations of the earth,
they certainly lay the foundation for their own ruin. When men, on the
other hand, become so puffed up in their own estimation as to think
that the kingdom of God could not roll forth without their mighty
exertions, they fall into transgression; they are fools in Israel, and
their greatness will vanish like smoke.
The fact is, God has planned for us the best sieve that could be
imagined. He is determined to sift the nations with the sieve of
vanity, and he has placed us here on the edge of the mountains, where
a little shaking of the winds will cause everything without weight
easily to slide off to the diggings; and in this way the work of
sifting is going on daily, and hourly, and yearly, from time to time,
according to the nature of the materials that happen to be thrown upon
the sieve.
No doubt many of us may be called upon, if not today, at some other
time, to bear the message of the Gospel of salvation to the nations of
the earth; for this was one of the commandments of the Prophet. He
enjoined upon us that we preach the Gospel to all nations—that we
should send forth the word to all people. This responsibility has been
laid upon the Priesthood of the Church, and they are required to
fulfil his commandment. There is not an Elder, a Priest, a Teacher, or
a member of this Church but what bears a share of this responsibility.
The missions we will call for during this Conference are generally not
to be very long ones: probably from three to seven years will be as
long as any man will be absent from his family. If any of the Elders
refuse to go, they may expect that their wives will not live with
them; for there is not a "Mormon" sister who would live with a man a
day who would refuse to go on a mission. There is no other way for a
man to save his family; and in order to save himself, he must fulfill
his calling and magnify his Priesthood in proclaiming the fulness of
the Gospel to the nations of the earth; and this certainly ought to be
greatest joy to the family of any man who feels the importance of
building up the kingdom—that he is actually considered worthy, in
these last days, to be one of the number to go forth, as one of the
horns of Joseph, to push the nations together, to gather out the
honest in heart, to run for the prize which we all labor for.
I feel deeply interested in these matters, and I hope and pray
that every man who is called upon to go forth on missions to preach
the Gospel may have the faith of the Church upon his head, and that
they all may lift up their voices in faith before the people, that the
light of truth may be a lamp in their path; and that, by their
exertions and the blessings of God, it may be lighted up in distant
nations.
I recollect a little incident in history, that is told of William the
Conqueror. After he had been king in England twenty years, he became
very corpulent. In consequence of a little joke upon his corpulency by
the French king, he declared war, and the declaration was made in
these words—"Tell my fair uncle I will pay him a visit, and I will
bring along tapers enough to set all France on fire." You may suppose
we are sending out but a few Elders—probably not more than one hundred
or one hundred and fifty; but we intend to continue the work, and send
out Elders enough to set the world on fire, spiritually.
- George A. Smith