Reed Smoot – Gospel Study

Reed Smoot

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (April 8, 1900 – February 9, 1941)

General Conference Addresses

October 1940 General Conference
- Prayer
  - “Let us pray for our leaders at all times instead of criticizing them; pray that they may be given courage to continue with unflagging zeal from year to year; pray for the power of God to be upon them.”
  - “One who prays to his Father in heaven will not go far wrong. God will be mindful of him.”
April 1940 General Conference
- Charity
  - “Lack of charity might be blamed for much that is wrong in the world today, for if all the people were tolerant of the faults and weaknesses of others, and would approach them with charity and love in their hearts, it would be much easier to solve the problems confronting this old world of ours today, and which are threatening our civilization.”
October 1939 General Conference
- God Has Blessed His People
  - “May the Church as a whole realize the position that they now hold, where no evil power is driving and mobbing them, as was the case in the beginning. I think the devil thought then that if he could destroy the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Church would fail; that if he destroyed the homes and brought about the driving of the people into an unknown part of this country, they would soon fade away and people would abandon the Church. How mistaken he was. God has blessed his people.”
April 1939 General Conference
- Serving God and Our Fellow Men
  - “Among the great things that every member of the Church should be not only interested in, but thankful for, is the privilege to serve God. I am thankful that I have been privileged to serve my God. I am grateful for the health and the strength and the vigor that enable me to be of service to my family, and with all my heart I am thankful for my service to my Church.”
October 1938 General Conference
- Avoiding Error
  - “One splendid way to avoid falling into error is to labor. Don’t become a loafer. There is always something to do for a boy and girl, a father and mother, around the home, in the home.”
April 1938 General Conference
- Tobacco
  - “May God give us strength to live our religion, not only talk about it, but live it, and live it every day. If we do we shall never have any regrets. And another thing, we shall win the respect of people not of our faith when they see we live what we preach.”
October 1937 General Conference
- Reflections on Bro. Maeser
  - “My brethren and sisters, I believe in service to God. I believe in service to country. I believe in service to our families, and I believe in service to the Church. God grant that I may ever be able to fulfil every call, no matter what it may be.”
April 1937 General Conference
- Recollections
  - “God never requires anything of this people—never has and never will—that he is not prepared to help them fulfil, and will overrule all things and defeat all enemies that stand in the way of the fulfilment of his purposes.”
October 1936 General Conference
- Keep out of Debt
  - “I pray you to keep out of debt if it is possible for you to do so. I may say that the members of the home must be united in order to carry out this desirable condition.”
April 1936 General Conference
- Loyalty to Country and Church
  - “I do hope and pray that we shall always be loyal and true to our country, devoted and sincere to our Church and to our God. I testify to you, my brethren and sisters this day that I know that this is God’s work.”
October 1935 General Conference
- Life of Service
  - “I love my country. I have watched her growth, I have seen her mistakes, as I judge them, but I have absolute confidence that there shall no harm come to our nation as a nation. We will revere the Constitution, live by its principles, even though at times it may seem that we are violating them.”
April 1935 General Conference
- Serve God
  - “The surest way to please our Heavenly Father is to put into action the commandments of the Father, and make them a part of our daily life, no matter where we are or with whom we are associated.”
  - “Perfection in this life or world is impossible for mortal man, but we must employ every power we possess to reach it as near as possible.”
  - “How often do we hear people rail at what they call fate. It is my opinion that we receive just what we make the proper use of.”
October 1934 General Conference
- A Testimony and a Prayer
  - “I wanted every Senator and every person in all the world, if it were possible, to understand that the charge that was made against me upon that occasion I agreed was correct as far as my belief in receiving revelations from God, or that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. I never want to live long enough that that testimony shall not be burning in my soul.”
April 1934 General Conference
- Free Agency
  - “Men have their free agency. Under the full and proper exercise thereof, they are free to think, free to act within reasonable restrictions. This freedom of agency places upon them the responsibility of both thought and action as individuals. Their opportunity is to choose to follow either the good or the evil in life.”
  - “In the present hectic discussions of religious and social questions especially, it is well to be careful in personal criticisms, that we may not be unjust. There may be faults, but who is without them? These can be corrected without either growing angry or scolding each other. The scold may make an enemy, but never a convert.”
October 1933 General Conference
- Faith and Salvation
  - “All men will be saved except the sons of perdition, who have had every opportunity not only for salvation but for exaltation to the highest glory; and then have denied, trampled upon and thrown it all away. These are the only ones who cannot be saved in some degree of glory; and the reason why they are lost is because they have sinned away the power of repentance, upon which all salvation is predicated.”
April 1933 General Conference
- Opposition to Communism
  - “I know that it is easier to point out evils than the particular way of destroying them. I know it will take the united effort of honest, patriotic, liberty loving citizens, to meet the situation. The churches must play an important part. The Church of Jesus Christ has never ceased its opposition to organizations such as I have mentioned and never will.”
October 1932 General Conference
- A Christian Nation
  - “America is a Christian nation and the great countries of the world are called Christian nations. Are we so living and are they showing by their acts and by their lives that they believe in the teachings of the Master?”
October 1931 General Conference
- Teach Righteousness
  - “My mother taught me that the way to receive a testimony of this work, and the way to maintain it, is to never cease praying; and she promised me as my mother that if I would follow that course I should always have a knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that this work is his work.”
  - “Shall we teach our young men and young women more of godliness through actual, intimate knowledge of the scriptures, and less of the godlessness that comes through men’s self-glorification in a presumed knowledge which really is not actual knowledge, but which holds the domain of speculation and skepticism? Shall we cling more closely than ever to God-given facts, whether in doctrine, in prophecy or in history? On our reply in practical service depends our own salvation and the salvation of many to whom our precept and example shall come.”
  - “Where God lives in the souls and minds of men there is peace and righteousness; but otherwise not.”
April 1931 General Conference
- Prohibition
  - “What more trouble and sorrow could come to ;a mother or a father, a sister or a brother, than to have one of their loved ones addicted to the alcoholic curse? What right thinking person can believe it should be sanctioned by law? No, God grant that it shall never come to our fair America again.”
October 1930 General Conference
- Obeying the Commandments
  - “Every requirement made by our God has been made for a purpose, and it is our duty to live to the requirements made by this Church; and I am positive that the God of heaven will bless those who fulfil these requirements.”
October 1928 General Conference
- The Need for Work
  - “The growth of the Church has not been accomplished by the idler, the fault-finder, the whiner, the mentally or physically unclean, but by the industrious, the faithful, the unselfish, the defenders of its principles, be they poor, well-to-do or wealthy. The gospel of Jesus Christ enters into the every-day life of every one of its adherents.”
  - “What is needed by the saints today is more of that particular brand of perseverance which makes one unable to rest while important things are half accomplished, and urges him to keep up the pace until the course is run. We must be more than average workers. We must do something more than average work.”
October 1927 General Conference
- Answering a Critic
  - “I haven’t any more doubt in my mind than that I live that God did reveal himself to Joseph Smith, that this Church is founded upon the great principle of revelation from God. He is the author, the one that we worship, the one into whose presence we hope in time to return and give a report of the stewardship that he granted to us, such that the Father would say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.””
October 1926 General Conference
- The Testimony of the People
  - “1 know that no stranger, no man, could have been in this building today and heard the song that was sung and the power that was manifested by every one who took part in the singing and not have been touched to the heart. He never could have said there is not faith among the people known as the “Mormons.” He never could have claimed that there was not a wealth of spirituality and faith emanating from those who have taken part in the singing and speaking, both would have impressed him with the earnestness and with the truthfulness of the words that were sung and the testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed.”
April 1925 General Conference
- Hearing the Servants of the Lord
  - “The greatest joy I have in my life is that I know that the servants of God, speaking under the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, utter those things that God wants his people to know, and also give notice to the world that they will surely happen.”
  - “It is not altogether the number of years that you live that counts, but the result of your labors that you will be judged by, not only among the children of men, but in the hereafter as well.”
October 1924 General Conference
- Blessed to Live in This Country
  - “The great plan of the Father, the plan of life and death is all wonderful; and it seems to me that a man must have lost all devotion, all respect for power on earth or in heaven when he takes the position that there is no God, that we come to this earth by chance, that the earth was created by chance, and then that we are here the same as any other life, be it plant or animal. I cannot understand any man whose thoughts run in that channel.”
October 1923 General Conference
- Not Ashamed of the Gospel
  - “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; I am not ashamed of the testimony of the mother that gave me birth. I care not where I go upon the face of the earth, whether it be with kings, potentates, or any class of people in the world, I want them all to know that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I pray God that I may have strength to do those things that he wants me to do, to say those things that he wants me to say, to live in a way that he wants me to live, and bear a testimony of his truth and of his work, that will be worthy of a man who comes from a mother such as I had.”
  - “The only thing, it seems to me, that will save the world today is to acknowledge God and use good common sense.”
October 1922 General Conference
- Prayer
  - “No person, whether he be baptized into the Church or not, can retain a testimony that God lives, without he asks of Father in heaven, in humility and prayer, to give him, and help him maintain that testimony and the love of the work.”
October 1920 General Conference
- Home Life
  - “I hope and trust that the homes of the “Mormon” people will be homes in which prayer is always practiced, for there is power in prayer and as long as the father and the mother and the children of a home believe in prayer, and believe that God will answer the prayers, and offer those prayers with an honest and pure heart, there is not very much outside danger that will come to such homes.”
  - “I am one who believes that where the inmates of a home pray for strength, pray with faith, pray with their children and for their children, that there is not going to be an estrangement between the father and the mother, or the children and the parents.”
- Visit to Hawaii
  - “My brethren and sisters, the world will yet understand the work in our temples in carrying out the revelations and teaching of the Master; and sometime in the near future it will be a potent power to bring the people not only to an investigation of the gospel, but it will bring them to a realization that it is of God.”
October 1916 General Conference
- Temporal Welfare
  - “God intended that every man and woman who enters wedlock should bring children into this world. Children are precious in the sight of God, and to the father and the mother.”
  - “I pray my heavenly Father that he will instill in the hearts of the mothers and fathers of Israel a desire to look more carefully after their children. We must understand that it will not be many years until they will be the men and the women bearing the responsibilities of this great work, and if they are unspotted from the sins of the world, they will do so, with honor.”
  - “There never was a man who lost his virtue, there never was a woman who lost hers, but what it was detrimental to them, no matter how humbly they repented of it.”
October 1915 General Conference
- Pray for the Country
  - “The thrift that I desire to impress upon you today does not mean stinginess; it does not mean miserliness, nor does it mean upon the other hand a wild extravagance; rather would I say that it means a walk of life between the two that I believe our heavenly Father intended His children to follow.”
April 1915 General Conference
- Essentiality of Revelation
  - “I frankly admit that T believe that God can speak to His children in this day and dispensation. Had I better put it stronger, and say that I know that He can? And so do you know it.”
  - “If a man places himself in a position to receive revelation or inspiration from God, seeks it diligently and honestly, it is often granted him, particularly if his heart and soul are in attune with God’s purposes.”
  - “No one, old or young, ever committed a wrong, at least the first wrong, but that his conscience told him it was a wrong, and conscience acts as an inspiration to man as long as he does not blunt it by repeated violations of its promptings.”
October 1913 General Conference
- Waste Decried
  - “Waste of time, waste of food, waste of substance, of any kind, is displeasing in the sight of God.”
October 1912 General Conference
- Great Influence of Music
  - “There is one thing known to the people of all countries, whether they approve of our religion or not, that is the remarkable musical ability of the “Mormon” people. People, in general, appreciate the songs our missionaries sing, and the spirit with which they are sung.”
October 1911 General Conference
- The Great Modern Sin of Immorality
  - “Our greatest danger is within, and not without. Have we a testimony that God lives, and are we living so as to maintain it? Are we consistent and loyal supporters of the laws of God – if so we need fear no opposition.”
  - “We might say, as one of old, that “I am not my brother’s keeper,” but I say to every Latter-day Saint that I believe it is your duty, if you see a young boy or girl going wrong, to call the attention of the parent or guardian to it.”
October 1910 General Conference
- Testimonies
  - “I care not for all the powers of darkness, of evil, of misrepresentation, of falsehood, of slander—I tell you that they will never retard the growth of God’s work upon this earth. The only thing- that can do it is our own disregard of the teachings of Christ.”
  - “The strength of a nation is the home; the basis of the Church is the home; anything that interferes with the desire and love of home affects the nation and the Church.”
October 1909 General Conference
- Happy Homes
  - “Every home in Zion should be a home of order, a home of contentment, a home of hospitality, and a home of godliness.”
  - “The fear that I have of Christianity today, in my beloved country, is that the spirit of prayer, of godliness, if you please, is fast vanishing from the homes of the people.”
  - “When I say “home,” I mean a place where the father, the mother and every child loves one another and fears God.”
  - “Let the father pray; let the mother pray; let every child pray; let them take their turns, and let the hearthstone be the place where the desires of your hearts are poured out to your Heavenly Father.”
  - “No successful home can be made by the father alone; no successful home can be made by the mother, alone; it takes a united family to make a perfect Latter-day Saint home.”
October 1908 General Conference
- Prayer
  - “Prayer is the proper way of communication between God’s children and Himself; when that communication ceases, then spiritual decay begins.”
  - “I know, as the hymn says, that “prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,” and that it will either be to God or to Mammon—one or the other.”
  - “If an honest person offers a prayer, if it is in his heart to ask of God those things that will be best for him, and that will tend toward the uplifting of mankind in this world, the betterment of God’s children here, then that petition is a prayer that will ascend to the throne of the Father; but if it comes from the heart of a wicked person, and it is a mere selfish request, not intended for any righteous purpose, it is a prayer to mammon.”
  - “A man must repent of his sins; he must have faith that God is the Giver of all good; he must believe that God actually exists before he can feel that his prayer will be answered.”
  - “May we realize the importance of prayer and what it means. It is a weapon that God has placed in the hands of His people, a weapon He has given us with which to fight sin; and remember this, that when we use it, we have God on our side to uphold our hands in any battle against sin.”
October 1907 General Conference
- Appreciate of Parents, Wives and Husbands
  - “Many millions claim to be Christians, but they do “mighty little at it.” They will wake up some time and find it is too late, that procrastination has cost them dearly in this life, and I have no doubt will seriously affect them in the life to come. There is nothing that steals man’s time, his talents, his vigor, his energy, even his prospects of salvation, in greater degree than the crime of procrastination.”
  - “Procrastination means making an appointment with opportunity and then asking her to come around some future time.”
  - “A little praise in this life is a very good thing. I would rather have a single flower given to me in life by a friend than I would have my coffin banked with roses.”
April 1907 General Conference
- An Everyday Religion
  - “My brethren and sisters, I believe I can recognize the hand of God in directing the thought of the best people of this country favorably toward the beliefs and lives of the Mormon people. God grant that future investigations may be honest and enlightened. If they are we will come out of them far advanced, and be recognized as an industrious, honest, and God-fearing people. Instead of holding the theory that we want no one to know what our lives, our aims, our ambitions, and our doctrines are, we desire the very opposite, and want all people, from one end of the world to the other, to understand that we desire them to know us.”
  - “A religion that is worth considering at all must be a religion that governs each individual seven days in every week, and not merely a part of one day weekly.”
October 1906 General Conference
- The Good and the Bad
  - “I assure you that if you do not teach your children properly yourselves, others will teach them, and more than likely it will be by an influence that will bring sorrow to them and disgrace to you.”
  - “There are men whose hearts are filled with hatred, who try to influence our children, and embitter them against the leaders of the Church. If they are successful in getting even a doubt implanted in their minds, if you fathers and mothers do not bring an influence to bear that will overcome it, it will bring sorrow to you and a spiritual death and sorrow to them.”
October 1905 General Conference
- Trials Necessary
  - “My brethren and sisters, I hope you will never be discouraged, and never feel that God is going to abandon this people, for He never will as long as we are prayerful and feel in our souls to do His will, according to the wisdom and light He has given us.”
  - “We are to be a tried people. We are to be thrice tried, as the Saints of old. I believe that all trials are given to us for experience, just as the Lord permitted them to be given to Joseph in the early days of the church.”
October 1904 General Conference
- A Good Word to the Young
  - “Do not get discouraged, and do not leave your homes, but make use of the advantages around you. I have seen lately many who have sold their homes to go to different localities, and they have spent most of the money in trying to get located, and now they are coming back to where they went from, not as well off as when they went, and without any home, and most of the means gone.”
October 1903 General Conference
- A Plea for Righteousness
  - “The honest people of the world, those who read and think, those who are watching the events of life as they pass, will learn ere long who were the first teachers of these great truths; and ascertain what Church first taught the law of tithing in this dispensation, and that it was the Lord’s revealed plan for raising means to carry on His work. The world will have to acknowledge sooner or later that it was no other than the Latter-day Saints; that it was the Prophet Joseph Smith who received that revelation in this dispensation. The truths revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, that we are presenting to the world, will demonstrate that he was a Prophet of God, and not a man with false ideas or vicious doctrines, as our enemies declare. I feel that every step forward, every advance we have made is towards the goal of success, and the firm etablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ, representing the little stone cut out of the mountain that will roll forth and fill the whole earth.”
  - “If there is a home in all Zion; if there is a father or mother in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who do not teach their children to pray they will live to see the day when they will repent of that neglect. I believe with all my heart that God revealed those words to the prophet Joseph Smith, and that parent should follow them strictly.”
  - “Everything we do in this life that leads people to understand that we love Jesus, that we love His Gospel, and that we are trying to serve him and keep his commandments, is preaching, by action at least, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
  - “One good act will never save a person, but one bad act may be the means of his downfall and damnation.”
April 1903 General Conference
- Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
  - “I wish that every family in Zion understood the value of cleanliness in the home. I have often said that a clean home does not, of necessity, mean a mansion; no matter how small the home may be, the father and mother, and particularly the mother, should be interested in keeping that home free from all filth.”
  - “One of the greatest evils of our day is that there are so many wilfully motherless wives. Closely connected with this is another, the wilful laziness of men who do not properly provide for their wives.”
  - “Every child born into this world has a right to a tender and loving welcome. It has a right, by laws of nature, to claim this of the father and mother; but in the world today—and I fear it is creeping into our midst—mothers and fathers do not want many children. They “do not want to be bothered with them,” as it is so often said.”
  - “The danger of our becoming lukewarm is not from without—the danger is within.”
October 1902 General Conference
- Debt
  - “Failures are not made in times of depression. In hard times men’s creditors try to make them pay up and crowd them pretty closely, and while a failure may occur in hard times the cause of it began in prosperous times, when credit was easy.”
- How to Get out of Debt
  - “I consider it is a sin in the sight of God to waste anything that He has created, either in its original state or changed by the labor of man.”
  - “I have always insisted that under all circumstances and conditions economy is necessary. You will find that it is necessary in every condition of life, whether the man be a millionaire or the humblest and poorest soul that walks the face of the earth; economy, not in dollars and cents only, but it also relates to the use of time, one of God’s gifts that He will hold us all responsible for. Watch every expenditure, and see that nothing is wasted.”
April 1902 General Conference
- The Bread of Life and Truth
  - “I tell you God will not allow this Church to be overthrown or given to another people. If it was possible for Satan to destroy this work, he would have accomplished it in its infancy.”
  - “I want to testify to you today that this people, who have been chosen of God, will yet teach the world the way of life, and the only way to get back into the presence of God. The world may not believe it, and they may hold out against it as long as it is possible; but the word has been spoken that this people, governed by the revelations of the Almighty, shall yet be a light unto the world and teach them the way back unto eternal life.”
  - “What if we did control four western states? What if we controlled all the western states? I testify that if it were so there would be no man or woman living within the borders of those states but would have absolute liberty. No authority in this Church would ever take one whit from them of their rights.”
  - “I hope to God that every mother and father in Israel will watch carefully their sons and daughters. Be a little suspicious of them, if you can do it in a way that they will not realize it. Examine what they read; learn where they go, and who their associates are. There are so many fathers and mothers who think that it Is some associate of their children who is the bad one, while perhaps it may be their child that is the bad associate of others.”
  - “I ask the fathers and mothers of Israel to not only watch, but pray with your children. Make them your confidants; salute them with a kiss; keep them within your love; make them feel that no soul that lives has such an interest In them as you have; make the home just as happy and comfortable as possible for them, and keep them around home and under home influence as much as you can. There is no greater comfort to you in this life than a worthy son or a pure daughter.”
October 1901 General Conference
- The Future of Zion
  - “The offer of Jesus to act as mediator and redeemer, according to the plan decided upon in the council of the Gods, was accepted, and the plans and services; of Lucifer were rejected. In his anger Lucifer rebelled against God and Jesus, using the very agency of which he had just attempted to rob all of God’s children.”
  - “In passing I want to leave my testimony that God has given us the law of tithing, and He blesses the person that lives strictly in accordance with it. The blessings of the Lord are upon those who pay their tithing, no matter what the amount may be. I testify to you that people who live to this law have more comfort and peace in their homes, are more contented in their souls, have more faith that the Lord will answer their prayers, have more pleasure in fulfilling the requirements of the Church, and more confidence in the promises of God, than those who do not live this law.”
  - “I believe that the “Mormon” people, as a whole, look after their poor better than any other people upon the earth; and yet we are far from living to the requirements that are made of us as a people.”
April 1901 General Conference
- The Imitation of the Gospel, and Bringing it Forth
  - “I want to call your attention to the fact that in the healing- of the sick in this Church the power comes from the Lord, and not from man. It is by the prayer of faith that the sick are healed; and, as I look at it, there is no need of having this simple ordinance of administering to the sick enshrouded in mystery, or any addition whatever to the simple form given by the Apostle James or revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
  - “I believe, my brethren and sisters, that the time will come when every ordinance of the Gospel will be imitated in some form or another by the world, and this should be a testimony to every soul that Mormonism is from God.”
October 1900 General Conference
- Work and Union
  - “I do not believe that the love, union and determination of the Presidency and Twelve were ever greater since the Church was organized than at the present time. Our desire is to do nothing but that will advance the interests of the Church and Kingdom of God. We want the people to be prepared for the coming of the Son of God —which I say to you, my brethren and sisters, is nearer than many of us anticipate.”
  - “I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that the law of tithing is not a question of dollars and cents alone. I believe that the man who pays his honest tithing to God will not only be blessed by God himself, but that the nine-tenths will reach farther than would the ten-tenths if he did not obey that law; for the man who believes in the law of tithes and offerings, believes also in the other requirements made by God of him, and he does not spend money in breaking the Sabbath day, nor in going to places where his very soul is in danger of partaking of things that are not good for a Latter-day Saint to receive.”
  - “The old saying that to travel by the road of bye and bye will reach the home of never, is just as true today as it ever was. Let us live our religion today. Let us do the duty of today.”
April 1900 General Conference
- A New Call
  - “My life in the past has been in a business direction more than in any other way, and now that this change has come and this call from God has been placed upon me, I hope and trust that I will do nothing—aye, I would rather lose my right arm than to betray the confidence you have placed in me this day by voting for me in this position.”

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