John Henry Smith

Second Counselor in the First Presidency (April 7, 1911 – October 13, 1911)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 27, 1880 – October 13, 1911)

General Conference Addresses

  • October 1910 General Conference
    • Various Topics
      • “The approval of a man’s own conscience is his richest earthly reward, and he is blest in the fulfilhnent of the obligation of scattering the seeds of the gospel of the Redeemer among the children of men.”
  • April 1910 General Conference
    • Farming and Patriotism
      • “When the people of any nation shall stay by its farms, maintain and develop them along proper lines, you will find in that nation the most patriotic, devoted, and earnest men that can be found anywhere in the world. There is a saying, that any man will defend his homestead with his gun, that would not stand by a boarding house to protect it with his life.”
  • October 1909 General Conference
    • Idleness Discountenanced, Industry Encouraged
      • “No man that is idle can be honest and virtuous and of use in the community. No woman that is an idler can be clean and sweet. No boy or girl left without employment can, by any manner of means, make a mark in life or accomplish good for himself or herself.”
  • April 1909 General Conference
    • Disciplining the Young
      • “My brothers and my sisters, I ask you to think upon this problem of the proper care of our children. Let us instill into the minds of our young people, who are entering upon the duties of life a proper understanding and regard for the sacredness of those obligations, that they may duly recognize the principles of virtue, honesty, integrity, honor, devotion to the right, industry, perseverance and unyielding courage, with resolutions fixed upon the uplifting and upbuilding of the race, the betterment of the whole world.”
  • October 1908 General Conference
    • Moral Elevation
      • “The work we have accepted came from God, and it comprehends within it all things that are noble and good, all things that are pure and right.”
  • April 1908 General Conference
    • Strict Compliance with Correct Principles
      • “Why need any Mormon boy or girl in the world hang the head when men brand with infamy, and lack of liberality, or lack of worth, or power or goodness, a system that makes men pure and clean, by the gift of God, redeems them by His blood and crowns them with everlasting life? Why should we bow our heads, or be ashamed of a cause which aims at the establishment of righteousness, and teaches that, under the laws of God, we shall all be judged according to our individual works?”
  • October 1907 General Conference
    • Purpose of the Lord’s Work
      • “Every man and every woman, every believer in the doctrines of the Redeemer of the World, should be found engaged in the accomplishment of God’s purposes, blessing all men and wronging none, calling the thoughtless and vicious to repentance, opening the door to the understanding of the wise and prudent, proclaiming that the voice of the Eternal One has been again heard in the world, declaring liberty to the human race, calling them to repentance and obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God.”
  • April 1907 General Conference
    • Be Not Lovers of Pleasure More Than Lovers of God
      • “Not that I would deny any boy or girl those proper pleasures which relieve them from the toil and struggle that some may have to undergo in life; but when they break out in open rebellion against every principle of good government, when they propose to mingle with the vile and the impure, when they find companionship pleasurable with those whose lives are to be censured by every thoughtful father and mother, we shall be under condemnation if we permit them without effort on our part to drift in the line of that destruction, and our regrets will be great at no distant day, for it may be your boys and my boys, your girls and my girls, that will by their misdeeds bring to us sorrow and heartache.”
  • October 1906 General Conference
    • Teaching the Young
      • “No son of a Latter-day Saint should fail to have impressed upon his soul the feeling that women should be sacred to him. They are in the likeness of their mothers, and motherhood should be esteemed and honored by every man. No girl is likely to be cast down in sin and crime, and have wrong written upon her brow, by a man whose mother had fully done her duty.”
      • “Be not afraid of the enemies of Zion, bow not in fear and trembling before any hand that may be raised.”
  • April 1906 General Conference
    • The Sabbath Day
      • “I believe that if there is any condemnation that applies most specifically to the Latter-day Saints for the neglect of duty, it is that some have turned this sacred day too much into a day of visiting and pleasure. We are not as thoughtful as we should be of its observance, and of the legitimate duties connected with this great day of rest instituted by our Father in heaven. In His covenant with His children in former days, and renewed unto us in the wonderful trust that each one that has come to trust that each one that has came to attend this great conference will be impressed with the importance of oui Father’s purpose in thus setting the Sabbath day apart again In our day, through the revelations of His will, and that, so far as we have influence and power with those placed under our watchcare, we shall impress upon their minds also that the day should be observed more sacredly and thoughtfully than it has been in the past.”
      • “It is improper and unrighteous for any to seek the companionship of the lewd and vicious, or mingle with the wicked in places of pleasure upon the Sabbath day.”
  • October 1905 General Conference
    • Rights of All Mankind
      • “The gospel we have embraced is the truth. It came from the Master. It has been sent to renovate the world, to re-establish among mankind the living faith which had so largely departed from the breasts of the human family, and to bring them to a comprehension of the responsibilities they owe to the Divine Master.”
  • April 1905 General Conference
    • Trip to Mexico
      • “Our Father has never abandoned this work from the moment that He and His Son spoke to the Prophet. It has been one continued onward march.”
      • “I trust that in future, at no time or place, shall my voice ever be raised in condemnation of His work or of its continuance among the children of men. While I thus speak of the work of the Lord itself, I speak also of my country and its glorious constitution.”
  • October 1904 General Conference
    • The Truth of the Gospel
      • “The requirement laid at our door is that he who is warned, let him warn his neighbor. It is upon us to fulfill that duty, to discharge that obligation, and to acquit ourselves fully of its responsibilities.”
      • “Those who plot and scheme for the overthrow and destruction of your liberty and mine are not alone the enemies of the Latter-day Saints, but they are the enemies of liberty, the enemies of God the Father, the enemies of justice and mercy, and in the due time of the Lord, it will come their turn to pay the penalty of outraged mercy and justice.”
  • October 1903 General Conference
    • Duties and Responsibilities
      • “I say to you that the principles of the Gospel are true; every one that God has revealed is true. He has laid the foundation for the development of His great work upon legitimate lines. He knows the condition of His children in all the world.”
      • “My brothers and my sisters, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus is indeed the power of God unto salvation. Every one of us should obey its requirements. The souls of our fellowmen should be most sacred to us; and, so far as lies within our power, we should put them in the way of the accomplishment of a life work that shall be creditable to themselves and prove a blessing to us.”
  • April 1903 General Conference
    • Unanimity
      • “It is necessary that we unite ourselves together in the accomplishment of every spiritual and temporal work that the Lord may set us to do.”
      • “I trust that you seek in your ministry to so labor that the results of your lives will demonstrate, in the character and ministry of your children and your neighbors, your absolute knowledge of the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
      • “If you will walk In the pathway of the Gospel, and fulfill the requirements thereof, no man can complain of your morality; no man can find fault with your temperance; no man can censure the spirit of justice, charity and mercy that shall guide you in your lives.”
  • October 1902 General Conference
    • Favorable Time to Preach
      • “The promise to us in the introduction of this work was not that it should ever become a popular system in the minds of mankind. The promise made was that it should gather one of a city and two of a family.”
      • “Our Father expects you to utilize the talents that you possess in the creation of industries, in the providing of work, in aiding every child that shall receive of that faith which the Almighty has given unto you, that he may secure for himself a home, that he may be indoctrinated in the principles of eternal truth, and that all our talents may be utilized for the spiritual and temporal blessing of every one of our Father’s children to the uttermost limit of our capacity.”
  • April 1902 General Conference
    • Missionary Efforts
      • “It is the purpose of the Master that the world shall be warned in regard to this matter, that the truth shall be preached among the children of men, and that the spirit of this work shall be felt in every land, in every tongue, and in every nation.”
      • “Let every boy and every girl be impressed with the sacredness of this mission that has been given to them—the sowing ot the seeds of truth, the calling to repentance of the children of men, the pointing of the way of life to all who will listen.”
  • October 1901 General Conference
    • The Extension of Zion
      • “To this end, my brothers of the Presidencies of the Stakes, of the High Councils, of the Bishoprics; you High Priests, Seventies, and Elders, upon whose heads have been bestowed the Holy Priesthood, see to it that in the struggle for accomplishment of the purposes of Almighty God your hands shall not slacken, but with a determined purpose, with your face to the accomplishment of the divine will, you will crowd forward our Father’s work and aid in the establishment of His kingdom, that the Redeemer of the world shall come and reign In righteousness over a people equipped for the accomplishment of the destiny our Father has marked out for them.”
    • The Church Organizations
      • “The union of the people should lie near to our hearts. The development of our beings in harmony with divine rule should be our wish and ambition.”
  • April 1901 General Conference
    • The Way of Deliverance
      • “While we may fall down under the temptation of the moment, passion may govern us briefly, and we may make this error, yet when the years come and go and Elders of the Church, holding the Priesthood of the Son of God, are not enrolled upon His records—upon the record of the Lamb’s book of life, if you please—it is an evidence, not of a weakness, but of revolt against an absolute requirement of heaven.”
      • “Every word that can be spoken, every deed that shall turn the hearts of our fellows to our Maker, should be performed by us.”
  • October 1900 General Conference
    • Responsibilities
      • “No greater mercy can be extended to the human race than to carry to them the eternal truths which our Father has revealed, which shall point to them the way of life and open up to them an understanding of the ministry they should perform to make themselves acceptable to our Father in heaven.”
  • April 1900 General Conference
    • Character and Condemnation
      • “We are tempted, we are tried, we imagine many vain things, but so far as concerns this work and its development and success in this world in the accomplishment of the regeneration of the human race, it will not fail.”
  • October 1899 General Conference
    • Softening of Hearts
      • “It is our duty to be just, to be generous, to be upright and consistent in all our ways.”
  • April 1899 General Conference
    • The Success of the Saints
      • “The Lord has planted within our bodies a spirit that is in touch with His Spirit, and He purposes to bring out every power of mind and body, and to implant in the soul the highest possible understanding of the requirements and obligations that can attach to a mortal.”
  • October 1898 General Conference
    • Family Influence
      • “There is but little doubt that there are many people who, standing in our organization as members of the Church of Christ, are not fully converted to our principles; there are quite a number, as all of us know who are conversant with the actual conditions that exist among the people everywhere, who are in that frame of mind that they have accepted of the faith, because their parents accepted it.”
  • April 1898 General Conference
    • Mutual Improvement
      • “I trust, my brethren and sisters, that the same spirit that has actuated these young men who have gone forth to prove Zion, to test the faith of parents, to scatter the seeds of life, to point out the way of the Gospel of the Son of God, will have touched your hearts in such form that in no home where the truth of the Gospel has come shall the father or mother, the son or daughter fail in any degree, having received the sweet influence, heard the still small voice of the spirit, to nurture and care for and develop its force and its power within their breasts.”
  • October 1897 General Conference
    • Strict Obedience
      • “To my mind, the spirit and feeling and sentiment engendered in legitimate and proper amusements produces a most pleasing and satisfactory effect and result upon the mind that is thus permitted to throw off its weightier thoughts and enter upon legitimate and proper amusements, freeing it and enabling it to carry its weightier burdens more easily and more fully and more thoroughly.”
      • “They who remember the Sabbath day, who shall take the rest proposed in the change of thought, who shall do it in attendance upon the sacred service, where the worship of God is present, will live longer lives, will be made more acceptable in every respect to our Heavenly Father.”
  • April 1885 General Conference
    • Love of Home
      • “Deity is our friend, our guide, our protector. All we need do as a people is to keep our eye upon the mark of divine truth; move forward without fear, and ask no favors so far as mankind is concerned; only seek to do right by our fellow creatures.”
      • “I dare not hate any man upon the face of the earth. No matter how vile, how wicked, how corrupt he may be, if I find him in want of a friend I would extend to him the hand of friendship; I would give him bread if he was hungry; water if he was thirsty; clothing if he was naked; for I would recognize in him the fact that he was a creation of my Father, and I would not dare to hate him, no matter how vile he might be.”
  • October 1881 General Conference
    • The Proper Training of the Young
      • “The noblest work that a son can be engaged in is the work of carrying the Gospel to the nations of the earth, and to do this successfully they must have a testimony of the truth within their own hearts. Every father and mother, as their sons become of age, should see that they are prepared for the responsibility and honor of a position of this kind, and thus be an honor to their parents, who have stood firm to the principles of the Gospel.”
      • “It is the duty of every young man who has received the Priesthood to become acquainted with the principles of the Gospel, so that he may be able to aid in the accomplishment of this great labor.”
      • “We should attend to the sacred duty of instructing our sons and daughters, so that when they are called to fill various positions, they will feel it an honor to respond. This sentiment and feeling should actuate us at all times. It is not necessary that our children should be taught to make particularly long prayers.”
      • “It is not for the number of words that we use in approaching our Father, but it is that we approach Him in earnestness, realizing that He can bless us; and if we draw near unto Him as we should, we shall receive a blessing at His hands.””

Other Talks

  • Value of Liberty, Remarks in Salt Lake City, July 27, 1885
    • “And although the dark cloud may hang over us, and the storm of opposition beat against us, I am as confident as I am that I stand before you that God will vindicate the righteousness of His Saints and bring them off conquerors in the end.”
    • “But while we may expect to be persecuted and hated of all men, we have consolation in the promise of the Lord that He would from time to time soften the hearts of our enemies, and that nothing should intervene to destroy this work, or to frustrate the purposes that it is designed to accomplish.”
    • “The principle of faith has been the great motive power by which all reformers have been actuated; it was faith that impelled us to gather to this land, and it is faith, in connection with the knowledge we now possess, that inspires us to steadfastly and firmly move on in our work of redeeming the land and building up towns and cities, and bringing order out of chaos. Thus, so far as the principle of faith is concerned, we do not differ from Christians generally, except in being more practical, believing, as we do, that faith without works is dead. There are no doubt many people who are as practical in their views as the Latter-day Saints, and cling to their views as tenaciously as we, and perhaps, so far as that goes are similarly treated, but their faith is centered in other matters than religion or spiritual things, as was the case with Morse.”
    • “It is a matter of utter impossibility for man through his own wisdom to either find out God, or to act in the things of God, without first having been taught and authorized so to do.”
    • “I hate the misdeeds of men, especially when they are aimed at the liberty of their fellows; but I hate none of the sons and daughters of God.”

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