there is to be 2 more stakes organized soon making 5 stakes. I think it is fine for every young person to become acquainted with the doctrines, so to be able to teach it to others & especially to live it ones self, nothing equals it if put into every day life.
When we consider that we have all the same attributes that God has & that it is made possible for us to become perfect as he is & become a joint heir with Jesus Christ it's enough to make us fear lest we slip & fall short thru or because of the weakness of mortality, we all need the help & mercy of the Lord in our behalf, we need to cooperate with him on our own behalf. All blessings are predicated on obedience to law & we all have our agency & a consciousness of right & wrong. We should have a purpose in life & a desire to attain to it either or both in this life & the life to come. Personally I would like to become all my dear ones can hope for me to become & would rather give my life than to disappoint or be disappointed, & yet I'm weak if unaided. Yes I've had my faults, my chidden need to have a charity for me so to overlook my faults & love me & pray for me daily, will you? It also applies to the mothers of my children that is, my appeal does.
My sympathy goes out to the distressed those in want & in sorrow, tho many bring it on themselves.
Well I must close. I would like you to write me. Tell me your hopes, fears & desires so I will understand. Sympathetic understanding is one of the foundation stones of enduring love. Affectionately, Father.
Feb. 13, 1932
I address my family - on my 76th birthday while yet in a healthy condition of body & mind - that is, I think. I want my children to be assured that I appreciate each & all of them & their Mothers for their respect for me & the love they have for me & the love I feel for each of them, so much so that I have joy in their joys and sorrow in their sorrows.
I appreciate that they all have good bodies & minds & good characters & therefore a good standing among men & in the church to which they belong. I repeat that I appreciate these things in my large family.
The advancement in education & science of better advantages & information in regards to ideal home training & conditions makes it necessary for tolerance to be extended by both the parent & the children to each other in order to be reconciled to each other & to appreciate & love each other, especially is it true in case of elderly parents of the "old school" so to speak that have struggled with poverty & rude conditions in the development of new countries & raising a large family at the same time.
As for myself I feel conscious of trying to keep pace with the advancement of the times that I lived in, in improved homes & home conditions & conveniences & education of my family, & have especially emphasized the importance of religion not only a knowledge of its principles & doctrines but a personal testimony of its divinity by the exercise of faith & humility & earnest prayer before the Lord.
I admit of having an ambition of possessing property & have put forth a strenuous persistent effort to do so, & have been reasonably successful in doing so at the same time
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