Another fallacy is to believe that the choice to accept or not accept the counsel of prophets is no more than deciding whether to accept good advice and gain its benefits or to stay where we are. But the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand. That ground becomes more dangerous. The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future. The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit. And so each time his request would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came. And then it was too late.

Every time in my life when I have chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm’s way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety. Along the path, I have found that the way had been prepared for me and the rough places made smooth. God led me to safety along a path that was prepared with loving care, sometimes prepared long before.

From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.

Always keep in view that the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms - the earth and its fulness - will all, except the children of men, abide their creation--the law by which they were made, and will receive their exaltation.

The prophet himself through the Lord, by revelation, gave certain great principles that would save the world if the world would but listen. We do not lack a prophet; what we lack is a listening ear by the people and a determination to live as God has commanded.

Obviously, it does not take a prophet to comment on what should have been done after the opportunity for preparation has passed. Therefore, would not wisdom dictate that the warning to prepare should come at a time and season conducive to preparation? Yet, because there would seem, at that moment, no discernible need to make preparation, a natural response would be to put the matter off.

A true test of one's testimony of a prophet is whether or not he will follow his counsel, even if there seems at that moment no logical reason to do so. The only way is to live obediently, every day of our lives, so that we stay ready to meet our Lord and Savior.

...I further testify, that unless the Latter-day Saints will live their religion, keep their covenants with God and their brethren, honor the Priesthood which they bear, and try faithfully to bring themselves into subjection to the laws of God, they will be the first to fall beneath the judgments of the Almighty, for his judgment will begin at his own house.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR WORLD-WIDE DEPRESSION.
One of the brethren yesterday stated that practically every speaker up to that time had said something about the depression. I suppose I will not be out of place if I too say something about it. I would like to place the blame for it where it belongs. It is so easy for mankind to blame somebody else for their own mistakes, and so easy for us, because of our human nature, to take credit when the thing that is accomplished is something that pleases and benefits. But we never want to shoulder a responsibility for our mistakes that do not please, and so we endeavor to place that kind of responsibility somewhere else and on others.

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they were led by Moses as he was directed of the Lord. Constantly they murmured against him, when they found themselves confronting difficulties, and wanted to go back to Egypt to their tasks and to their tribulation.

Now, brethren and sisters, let us shoulder our own responsibilities and not endeavor to place them somewhere else. The responsibility for this depression is partly mine; it is partly yours. It is the fault of the farmer, of the merchant, of the educator, the business man, the professional man -- in fact, men in all walks of life. That is where the responsibility belongs. And why? Because of a failure to heed the commandments of God.

I say it is partly mine. It is mine insofar as I may have failed to heed the commandments. It is mine wherein I may have failed to follow the counsels that have been given from this pulpit for many years. It is your fault because you too, perhaps, have failed to heed those counsels. It is the fault of the whole world, because they have refused to hear the word of God, to heed the warnings that have come from him, not only through ancient prophets and apostles but in the words that have been declared from time to time by modern prophets.

ECONOMIC DEPRESSION: A SIGN OF THE TIMES.
The world today is full of selfishness, greed, the desire to possess. For many years we have been living extravagantly. Our wants have been supplied -- not our needs alone, but our wants -- and we have wanted much. Most of us have been able to obtain them, and now a time comes when we find ourselves somewhat curtailed, hedged around about, not having so many privileges, and our desires are not so fully granted, and so we begin to complain. But we should get rid of our selfishness and greed, our desire to possess that which is beyond the needs and blessings which are really ours.

It is time for men to humble themselves, to repent and seek the Lord. I think the general theme of this conference has been that of repentance. I think it is most timely. I have been crying repentance up and down through the stakes of Zion for years. I think it is needed.

Depression has come because we have forsaken God. Now, I am not speaking of the Latter-day Saints when I say that. I make this saying have general application. The people of this nation, and the people of other nations, have forsaken the Lord. We have violated his laws. We have failed to hearken to his promises. We have not considered that we were under obligation to keep his commandments, and the laws of the land as well as the laws of God are not respected. The Sabbath day has become a day of pleasure, a day of boisterous conduct, a day in which the worship of God has departed, and the worship of pleasure has taken its place. I am sorry to say that many of the Latter-day Saints are guilty of this. We should repent.

Our whole society really rests on the capacity of its citizens to give 'obedience to the unenforceable.'

The spirit of the gospel is optimistic. It trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience.