Whether long-time members or newest of converts, Church members are all the beneficiaries of faithful forebears, said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Sunday afternoon.

"In this beautiful new building and in this historic conference convened in it, I have sensed how much I owe to those who had so much less than I but who seem in virtually every case to have done more with it to build the kingdom than I have done."

Elder Holland said so much has happened since the first Church gatherings of 1830 for which Church members today need to be grateful. "And, of course, this is not the end. We have much work to do, in both the quality and quantity of our faithfulness and service."

Quoting George A. Smith, Elder Holland added, " 'We may build temples, erect stately domes, magnificent spires, grand towers, in honor of our religion, but if we fail to live the principles of that religion, and to acknowledge God in all our thoughts, we shall fall short of the blessings which its practical exercise would ensure.'

"We must be humble and conscientious. The honor and glory of all that is good goes to God, and there is much still ahead of us that will be refining, even difficult, as He leads us from strength to strength."

Elder Holland said in the midst of great Church growth, his mind has turned to those early saints "who are too often lost to history," those who quietly and faithfully bore the kingdom forward through far more difficult days. "So many of them seem almost nameless to us now," he said. "Most went unheralded to their graves — often early graves. . . . These folks, our collective ancestors, slipped into eternity as quietly and anonymously as they lived their religion."

Elder Holland then told of a handful of women, older men and children who labored to build the Kirtland Temple, when virtually every man well enough to do so had undertaken a relief march of 1,000 miles to aid the Saints in Missouri. "It was recorded that one leader of the day, looking upon the suffering and poverty of the Church, frequently went upon the walls of the building by day and by night, weeping and crying aloud to the Almighty to send means whereby they might finish that building."

It was not any easier, continued Elder Holland, when the saints moved West.

He then told the story of Peter Neilson who donated his life's savings, $600, to buy windows for the St. George Tabernacle. As a result of the decision, Brother Neilson, a Danish immigrant, lived in a modest two-room adobe home for the rest of his life.

Another early saint, John R. Moyle, lived in Alpine, Utah, about 22 miles from the Salt Lake Temple, where he walked each week to serve as chief superintendent of masonry during its construction. After an accident, Brother's Moyle's leg was amputated just a few inches below the knee. Still, he strapped on an artificial leg and walked the 22 miles to the temple, climbed up the scaffolding and with a chisel hammered out the declaration "Holiness to the Lord," said Elder Holland.

Church members today, concluded Elder Holland, are still being blessed by the faithfulness of their spiritual and literal progenitors. "May we do as much with the blessings we have been given as they did out of the deprivations so many of them faced," he said.