Larry Jewell

Moreover, even in that darkest hour, while feeling forsaken, Jesus submitted himself to the Father. No wonder the Savior tells us that the combined anguish in Gethsemane and on Calvary was so awful that he would have shrunk. Nevertheless, he finished his preparations that nevertheless reflected deep divine determination. Furthermore, even after treading the winepress alone, which ended in his stunning personal triumph and in the greatest victory ever, majestic Jesus meekly declared, glory be to the Father. This should not surprise us. In the premortal world, Jesus meekly volunteered to be our Savior, saying, father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. Jesus was true to his word. Now, in closing, I humbly declare, glory be to the Father. First, for rearing such an incomparable Son. Second, glory be to the Father for allowing his special Son to suffer and to be sacrificed for all of us on Judgment Day. Brothers and sisters, will any of us want to rush forward to tell our Father how we as parents suffered when we watched our children suffer? Glory be to the Father, in the name of him who can succor us amid all our ironies and adversities, even Jesus Christ. Amen. A Scout Meeting Tonight. Although some wonderful things have been said about scouting, it is a priesthood meeting. For the purposes of this meeting, I should like to suggest another pledge for every man and boy assembled in this great gathering. Wherever you may be, on my honor I will do my best to magnify the priesthood of God which has been conferred upon me. That word magnify is interesting. As I interpret it, it means to enlarge, to make more clear, to bring closer and to strengthen. I have here a pair of binoculars. I treasure them for their practical value, but also for sentimental reasons. They are useful in enlarging objects at which I might look. They are also a reminder of a good and great man who magnified his priesthood. They were given to me in 1962 at the conclusion of a wonderful series of meetings with all of our missionaries then in Europe and the British Isles, by President Henry D. Moyle, who was a counselor in the First Presidency. Whenever I use them, I think of the gift as well as the giver. All of you, of course, are familiar with binoculars. When you put the lenses to your eyes and focus them, you magnify and in effect, bring closer all within your field of vision. But. But if you turn them around and look through the other end, you diminish and make more distant that which you see. So it is with our actions as holders of the priesthood when we live up to our high and holy calling. When we show love for God through service to fellowmen, when we use our strength and talents to build faith and spread truth, we magnify our priesthood. When, on the other hand, we live lives of selfishness, when we indulge in sin, when we set our sights only on the things of the world rather than the things of God, we diminish our priesthood. Jacob, the brother of Nephi, in speaking of the call which he and his brother Joseph had received, said, and we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility answering the sins of the people upon our own heads, if we did not teach the word of God with all diligence to every officer, to every teacher in this church who acts in a priesthood office, there comes the sacred responsibility of magnifying that priesthood calling. Each of us is responsible for the welfare and the growth and development of others. We do not live only unto ourselves. If we are to magnify our callings, we cannot live only unto ourselves. As we serve with diligence, as we teach with faith and testimony, as we lift and strengthen and build convictions of righteousness in those whose lives we touch, we magnify our priesthood to live only unto ourselves. On the other hand, to serve grudgingly, to give less than our best effort to our duty, diminishes our priesthood, just as looking through the wrong lenses of binoculars reduces the image and makes more distant the subject. Jacob says, now, my beloved brethren, according to the responsibility which I am under to God to magnify mine office with soberness, I declare unto you the word of God. Every missionary has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the plan of God. Every teacher has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the word of God. Every officer has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the order of God, said the Lord. In this dispensation to Joseph Smith and to Oliver Cowdery, magnify thine office further attend to thy calling, and thou shalt have wherewith to magnify thine office. In that same revelation the Lord said concerning Oliver Cowdery, some interesting and remarkable in me he shall have glory, and not of himself, whether in weakness or in strength, whether in bonds or free and at all times and in all places he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night, and I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men. Oliver, as you know, with Joseph Smith, received the Aaronic priesthood under the hands of John the Baptist and subsequently a Melchizedek priesthood under the hands of Peter, James and John. He magnified that priesthood as witness to the Book of Mormon, as counselor to the Prophet, as one to select the twelve apostles and to instruct them as missionary in moving the Church across the frontiers of the western territory, and as a teacher and speaker whose voice rang with great and persuasive power. But he turned and began to look from the wrong end of the lens. He found fault. He complained. His calling shrank. He diminished his priesthood. He distanced himself from those in authority in the Church. Gone was the voice of persuasion. Gone was the power of the priesthood of God, which he once held and magnified. For 11 years he walked almost alone, without friends. He walked in poverty and in sickness. Then, in the fall of 1848, he and his family made their way to Council Bluffs and found themselves again among many of the saints who at that time were moving to the West. At a conference held in Kanesville on the 24th of October, 1848, he stood and friends and brethren, my name is Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery. In the history of the Church. I stood in her councils. Not because I was better than other men was I called to fill the purposes of God. He called me to a high and holy calling. I wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon, save a few pages, as it fell from the lips of the prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the power and gift of God, by means of the Urim and Thummim, or as it is called by that book, Holy Interpreter, I beheld with my eyes and handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated. That book is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spalding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the prophet. I was present with Joseph when an holy angel from heaven came down and conferred upon us the Aaronic priesthood and said to us at the same time that it should remain on the earth while the earth stands. I was also present with Joseph when the higher or Melchizedek priesthood was conferred by the holy angels from on high. Brethren, for a number of years I have been separated from you. I now desire to come back. I wish to come humble and be one in your midst. I seek no station. I only wish to be identified with you. I am out of the church, but I wish to become a member. I wish to come in at the door. I know the door. I have not come here to seek precedence. I come humbly and throw myself upon the decision of the body, knowing, as I do, that its decisions are right. He sat down. He was accepted. He was baptized again. He longed to gather with the saints in the valleys of the mountains. But he died March 3, 1850, without ever realizing that dream. His is one of the most touching, pathetic stories in the history of this great work. So long as he magnified his calling, he was magnified. When he diminished that calling, he shrank to oblivion and poverty. He came back, but he never regained his previous stature. He never regained the incomparable promise given him by the Lord that conditioned upon his faithfulness, he should have glory and be given strength such as is not known among men. Magnificent and moving is the promise to every man and boy who magnifies his calling as a holder of the priesthood. Said the Lord concerning you. They are to be sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham and the church and kingdom and the elect of God. Further, all that the Father hath shall be given unto them. There is no greater promise than this. I have seen and known such men. I met some such the other day when I was at the St. George Temple. I have known and watched these brethren for many years. Their hair is now white, and they do not walk with that vitality which was once their characteristic. Those of whom I speak have never had much of wealth, but they have had much of wisdom, and they have had much of faith. They are men who since the days of their youth have held the priesthood of God, have walked in its light and magnified their callings. They have left home at personal sacrifice to serve as missionaries and as mission presidents. They have served as bishops and presidents of states. Wherever they have gone, whether in their vocational or ecclesiastical ecclesiastical callings. They have touched a candle with the flame of their own faith and brought light where before there was darkness in season and out of season, in sunshine and in storm, in defeat as well as in victory. They have kept their eyes at the right end of the lens, magnifying their callings and bringing closer, as it were, the sacred and eternal things of God. How do we do this? How do we enlarge the power of the priesthood with which we have been endowed? We do it when we teach true and sound doctrine. The Lord has said, and I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. We diminish that calling. We shrink that mission when we spend our time speculating about or advocating that which is not set forth. In the Scripture, or that which is not espoused by the prophet of the Lord. Rather, ours is the responsibility, as set forth in revelation, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come, that their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked both in this world and in the world to come. We magnify our priesthood and enlarge our calling when we serve with diligence and enthusiasm in those responsibilities to which we are called by proper authority. I emphasize the words diligence and enthusiasm. This work has not reached its present stature through indifference on the part of those who have labored in its behalf. The Lord needs men, both young and old, who will carry the banners of his kingdom will with positive strength and determined purpose. Who is on the Lord's side, who now is the time to show? We ask it fearlessly. Who is on the Lord's side, who we magnify our calling. We enlarge the potential of our priesthood when we reach out to those in distress and give strength to those who falter. To you and to me who have been clothed with the authority of the holy priesthood, the Lord has said, wherefore be faithful, stand in the office which I have appointed unto you. Succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. There is so much of distress in this world. There are those so many of them who cry out in loneliness and fear with a desperate need for listening ears and understanding hearts. There are single parents struggling to rear families. There are houses that need painting, yards that need cleaning, and whose owners have neither the strength nor the means to get it done. There are strong young men among us. There are thousands of you in these congregations tonight, young men of the Aaronic priesthood who can bless others and be blessed while giving such service. We magnify our calling when we walk with honesty and integrity. We shrink it when we stoop to devious acts and selfishness, disregarding the interests and well being of others, as we spend all of our time to accumulate that which we cannot take with us from this life to the next. We honor our priesthood and magnify its influence when we walk in virtue and fidelity, immorality and infidelity are totally inconsistent with the priesthood of God. The boy who has the strength to say no to drugs, the youth who has the strength to say no to beer and other forms of alcohol. The young man who has the strength to say no to immorality magnifies his calling as a deacon or teacher or priest. The older man who can do likewise, the husband who is absolutely true, undeviatingly so, to the companion to whom he is married. The father who never abuses a child sexually or in any other way. These are men who magnify the priesthood to which they have been ordained with power from on high. Those who do otherwise shrink that power. They may have been ordained, but as the Lord has declared, when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves. The spirit of the Lord is grieved. And when it is withdrawn, Amen. To the priesthood or the authority of that man, behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. Strong words, those. But as true as the sunlight in the morning. I have seen such men. I have seen them fall and shrivel until today. They wallow in a slough of misery and evil with hate filled hearts. To each of us the Lord has said, magnify your calling. It is not always easy, but it is always rewarding. It blesses him who holds this divine authority. On the other hand, looking through the wrong lens shrinks and shrivels our power and diminishes our contribution. In working from the opposite perspective, the true and the natural and the godly perspective, we enlarge and lift. We grow in strength and gladness. We bless the lives of others now and forever. My brethren, I bear witness and testimony of these things. I bear testimony of this divine power which you and I hold. It comes from God, our Eternal Father, and is exercised in the name of his beloved Son. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom and fail not to continue faithful in all things shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb or joint. And a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry neither. Athirst. For the past two years, our family has served a mission in Texas. It has been glorious and fulfilling beyond all expectations. When we first arrived, Sister Featherstone went to the Lord and said, we don't have much time. Please let me learn quickly so that the work will go forth. She said, the Lord has answered my prayers. He taught me several great lessons. One of those lessons was after the first three or four weeks in the mission field. I was unable to find a few minutes each day to repair. When I was home, I would take about 45 minutes in the afternoon and go out and carry down my Arabian horse. I would retreat into a world of my own for those few minutes. She could not find time even a few minutes for herself in the mission field. She went to the Lord and knelt in prayer and said, please Heavenly Father, help me to find some time for myself while I am here. And she said, just as clear as anything in this world, the words came into her mind saying, my daughter, this is not your time, this is my time. We have attempted to work with all our energy while we are on his time and that work standard is compared to our work standard and not someone else's. Let me share with you some of the faith experiences of the messengers with whom we have served. Elder and Sister Wydell wrote in their weekly Please, may we take a few moments to tell you of a spiritual experience this week. Friday, Elder Curtis, who was splitting with Elder Alloy, came to work with us us and we took them home. Elder Alloy invited us in to see what a real Elder's apartment might look like. So he went through the back door to open the front door. In a moment he came out beaming. Elder, come and see what has been brought to us. There on the table was a large supply of groceries. After a while, Elder Curtis told us that Elder Alloy and his companion had found a family that didn't have anything to eat, so they took all of their food out to them. My heart just about broke, wrote Sister. We take care of his own. One of the sweet and widowed sisters, Lorna Kahl Alder, said in her weekly letter to me, the experiences of my mission have strengthened my testimony greatly. I cannot remember when I gained a testimony, but I do remember many experiences that have enriched and built upon the foundation I have of the many humbling experiences I have had. These past eight months have brought me closer to the Lord than at any other period. I have lived through three revolutions in Mexico which really built my testimony. Writing lessons for the church brings one very close to the Lord and He did bless me with more than I can tell you. This mission has given me more 24 hour spirituality than I have ever had. Other very spiritual uplifts in my life were times my sons were on their missions and they asked me to read the Book of Mormon while they were gone. My husband died while my oldest son was in Chile on his mission and really I was humbled during that trying period. I am thankful for this experience of hard work and great blessings. With humility and thanksgiving, Sister Alder. Some months back we had a lovely couple assigned to our mission. I received a letter from their daughter in part. She said, dear President Featherstone, you are getting two of the most wonderful folks in the world in a few weeks to serve your mission for 18 months. They are just tickled pink to be serving under you. They told me they planned to do whatever you tell them to do. You enjoy mom and dad and will miss them, so please take good care of them while they are there. Most of our missionaries come into the field because they love the Lord Jesus Christ and they desire to serve him and bring souls unto Him. There are a few who rationalize themselves out of a call or justify poor performance in the mission field, like the man who received his pay envelope and noticed that he had been shorted $5. He went to the paymaster and said, you shorted me $5 my pay envelope this week. The paymaster responded, well, I've been expecting you. I noticed you didn't come in last week when I overpaid you $5. The fellow said, well, I can tolerate one mistake, but not two in a row. Thousands of mature couples and widowed missionaries could be called if they would simply make themselves available. Few of us can understand the blessings that can come when children and grandchildren kneel down at night and say, dear Heavenly Father, please bless Grandma and Grandpa who are out in Texas on a mission. Sister Olson mothered 12 children and she supported all of her sons on missions. Now they are supporting her. I have felt the love between missionaries and their families every day of my mission. Another fine young elder who was called on a mission. At the time, he drove cars across the country for a foreign car company. When his boss, who was not lds, heard he was going to be gone for two years to serve a mission, he said, if you will stay at home and work for me, I will give you a $28,000 Ferrari. Elder Granas completed his mission a month ago as a presiding zone leader. Another elder entered the mission just after I arrived in San Antonio. He came from a large family. The father found that he needed to pick up a part time job to support his son. This was not quite enough, so the sweet mother went to work in the school lunch program so that she could be home when her children were home. Even with this additional money, the Eller fell a little further behind. Each month a choice friend occasionally gives me several hundred dollar bills to share where they are needed. When I interviewed this elder, I Asked him how he was doing financially. His eyes clouded up and he said he was really trying, but his folks weren't sending him quite enough. He said, president, I haven't been wasting. I haven't eaten anything for three days trying to cut back. Then he said, even my little sister is helping. She received a dollar for her birthday and she put it in an envelope and sent it to me because she thought I needed it more than she did. Then he wept openly. I reached into my shirt pocket and extracted two crisp $100 bills and said, a choice friend of mine asked me to give these to you. He put his head down in his hands and was overcome. Elder Daniel Gifford was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would serve closely with a general authority while he was on his mission. He wondered how this would be when he received his mission call to Texas where the mission president had only served two or three months while he was in the LTM listening to October General Conference Sunday afternoon. In the final session, he heard President Tanner announce, our next speaker will be Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, a member of the first quorum of 70 and newly called president of the Texas San Antonio Mission. After Elder Gifford was called to be an assistant to the president, he shared his patriarchal blessing promise with us. Do you think he has any question about whose work this is? One elder who was transferred from another mission wanted to go home. He knew his parents and bishop wanted him to stay and complete his mission. In one of the many interviews we had, he said that five previous elders in his ward had abandoned their missions and had returned home early. I thought what a great disservice the first elder did to the other young men who followed his poor example. I made a solemn vow that this seller would not go home until his mission was completed successfully. Every week for 13 to 15 weeks, he would write in his letter to the president all the reasons he should be released from his mission. Each week I wrote a letter of response. After all these weeks I received a letter which appeared the same as the others until I got to the ps. He said, president, you are winning and you know it. I sat in my office and tears filled my eyes. Vince Lombardi said, the harder you fight for something, the harder it is to surrender. This elder completed his mission as a great presiding zone leader. He has a great warmth, a great talent to teach. He loves and cares for people and he is extremely spiritual. He returned home with an honorable release and a very successful mission. Married a beautiful girl in the temple and now they live near the temple where they visit regularly. This elder set a great example for all prospective missionaries from his ward. Elder Sheffield has been under the knife 11 times in major surgery. The greatest desire of his life was that the surgery would make him acceptable for a mission. A year before he entered the mission field, he had his final operation. Since he has been on his mission, he has averaged 70, 80 hours a week in proselyting. He is greatly loved by all. He has been a great blessing to missionaries who thought they had problems and want problems. In one interview, his companion told me that Elder Sheffield's shoulder separates and falls out of place quite often. When this happens, he is in severe pain. It happens most often during the night. When I interviewed Elder Sheffield, I suggested that we put him in a local hospital and have the doctors do what needed to be done to correct this problem. He looked me in the eye and with a sternness seldom seen. He said, president, I have spent most of my life in hospitals, and when I complete my mission, I am returning to several, several more major surgical operations. I promised the Lord, if he would let me serve a mission, I would not spend one day in the hospital during the two years, no matter how sick I was or how much I suffered. What are the blessings of mission? Can ye tell? Maybe Brother William Keith and Ellen Clark can. Dear President Featherstone, they we were happy to receive your letter. I am sure we love you already. Bless them. They don't even know me and they love me. They continue, we are not young anymore. William Keith Clark is 81 years old, has been a bishop's counselor, a bishop and a patriarch for 31 years. I, Ellen Clark, am 76 years of age. I have been a music director, a teacher in all the organizations of the church, ward and stake. We have had an abundant life and love to teach the gospel. We have 10 children, all married in the temple and working in the church. We had our reunion recently. 56 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren. This is four missions for my husband and three for me. Our happiest moments are teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every missionary is a story of love and sacrifice. I love them so much. Their great devotion to the cause, their love for the Lord, and their willingness to serve him whose work this is will bless their lives and their posterity forever. You see, my beloved brothers and sisters, every song soul should have the privilege of hearing about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who respond to the call to be a missionary shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb nor joint, and a hair of their head shall not Fall to the ground unnoticed, and they shall not go hungry neither athirst. We must seek out every soul and do it with the pure love of Christ. We must not judge the people. We do not know who God has prepared. But we do know, as the prophet Joseph Smith stated, the standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, the work is done. God bless that all. All who may be able to serve will make themselves available for a missionary call. The blessings are sure. I know. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. We're all thrilled as we go through the church to find the wonderful attitude the saints have toward President Kimball, and particularly in the emphasis that he's giving on missionary work. And you'll know that he has indicated that every boy should be a missionary. I think of when I was a young man, before I was even ordained a deacon. I went to one of our ward meetings in the little country town where I was raised, and two missionaries reported their mission down in the southern states. In those days, they traveled without purse or script, and they had to sleep out many nights when they couldn't get entertainment. I don't know whether they said anything unusual that night or not, but if they didn't, the Lord did something unusual for me. Because when I left that meeting, I felt like I could have walked in any mission field in the world if I just had a call. And I went home, went in my little bedroom and got down on my knees and asked the Lord to help me to live worthy so when I was old enough I could go on a mission. And when the train finally left the station here in Salt Lake and I was headed for the little land of Holland, the last thing I said to my loved ones, this is the happiest day of my life. Before I left on that mission, President Anthony Slund, who was then a counselor in the first presidency of the church, talked to U.S. missionaries. And he said, among other things, he said, the people will love you now. He said, don't get lifted up in the pride of your hearts and think that they love you because you are better than other people. They will love you because of what you bring to them. I didn't understand that then, but before I left the little land of Holland where I spent nearly three years. I knew what Brother Lunn meant. I went around telling the saints goodbye and my converts that I had brought into the church. And I shed a thousand tears as compared with what I did when I told my loved ones goodbye. For instance, over in Amsterdam, I went in a home where I had been the first missionary there. And the little mother looking up into my face and the tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, brother Richards, it was hard to see my daughter leave for Zion a few months ago. But it's much harder to see you go. I had been the first missionary in that home then I thought I could understand what Brother Lun meant when he said, they will love you. I went to tell a man goodbye who stood erect in the uniform of his country with. With a little Dutch beard. He got down on his knees and took my hand in his and hugged it and kissed it and bathed it with his tears. And then I thought I could understand what Brother Lund meant when he said, they will love you. I like a little story that President Grant used to tell about the love that converts have for their missionaries. He told about a couple at King came here from one of the Scandinavian countries. They hadn't been taught much about the gospel. All they knew was that it was true. So the bishop went to this couple and taught them the law of tithing, and he paid his tithing. Then later the bishop went to him and taught him about the fast offering. He paid his fast offering and then the bishop went through him again to get a donation to help build a ward meetinghouse. He thought that ought to come out of the tithing. But before the bishop got through with him, he paid his donation on the meeting house. Then the bishop went to him to get his son to go on a mission. I can hear President Grant standing here saying, that is the straw that breaks the camel's back. The man said, he's our only child. His mother can't miss him. We can't let him go. Then the bishop countered. Brother, so and so, who do you love in this world more than anyone else outside of your own relatives? And he thought for a few minutes. He said, I guess I love that young man who came up to the land of the midnight sun and taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then the bishop came. Brother so and so, how would you like someone to love your boy? Just like that. The man said, bishop, you win again. Take him, he said, I'll pay for his missing. Now you Fathers, how would you like someone to love your Boys just like that man loved that boy who came up to the land of the midnight sun. I heard a missionary up in Oregon get giving his report. He himself was a convert to the church. And he came down with his fist on the puppet and he said, I wouldn't take a check tonight for a million dollars for the experience of my mission. I sat back up him and I said to myself, would you take a million dollars for your first mission in the little land of Holland? And I began carrying the fellow families that I'd been instrumental in bringing into the church. What kind of a man would I be if I were to sell them out of the church for a million dollars? Not for all the money in this world. The other night I sat in my little study in my apartment and began reminiscing. And I counted 10 families that I'd been instrumental and bringing in the church. And I've lived long enough to see their sons go on mission. I checked with just one of those families here just a few years back when I had to give a talk down at the Brigham Young University at a banquet for the Indians. At that time there were 153 direct descendants out of that one family alone. 35 of them had filled full term missions and four of them had done student missionary work. 35 filled full term missions and we gave them two years apiece. That would be 70 years of missionary service out of that one family without counting all the converts that their converts had made then. One family kept two Indian children in their home. One a boy they kept for eight years. And he was then in the mission field and they were paying for his mission. When my companion and I brought that family into the church, we couldn't look ahead 70 years and see what would become of them. I checked with another family, they couldn't give me details, but they said when grandfather died, there were 150 direct descendants in the church. At that time, five of them were serving as bishops. I went over these 10 families in my mind the other day and I could recount to you here the job they fill, thinking of the words of Jesus when he said, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust doth corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also. What do you suppose I could have done during those few years of my young manhood that would laid away treasures in heaven like the years I spent over There, among those Dutch people, I have some of them that I love, almost like my own family, that are already passed on, that I look forward to being able to meet when my time comes to join that innumerable camel group. Now I've labored so much with the missionaries. I've been on four missions and presided over two and toured many missions. And you hear those young men bear their testimony. For instance, another young man up in Oregon, in our testimony meeting, he said that there wasn't a company in this world that could pay him enough salary to get him to leave his missionary work. And there he'd been in the armed forces and away from home for several years and then back into the mission field. I had a letter here just last week. Week from a missionary from up in Idaho. And I copied a little paragraph from it. I'd like to read it to you. There is no greater work than that of missionary work. My mission has been the most rewarding undertaking in my entire 27 years of life. My life is dedicated to serving, serving the Lord. My heart is overflowing, as are the tears of joy that are now coming from my eyes. There is nothing so wonderful, nothing as tasting the joy and success of missionary labors. I had a young missionary come in through a visit with me as he returned from the Argentine. I knew his people back in Washington, and he had been kept over to help train some of the other missionaries until he'd been away from home for three years. And I said, craig, do you feel like it was a waste of time to be in the mission field, that you ought to have been home getting your education, getting ready to serve? He said, now, listen, Bishop, if the brethren want to make me happy, just let them load me on the plane in the morning and send me back to the Argentine. You can't buy that kind of feeling in the hearts of young people with money. The Lord who creates the feelings of the human breast is the only one who can put that kind of faith into the hearts of his people. Is this red? Now is my turn to quit. I think they got the red button on here, and I mustn't indulge on the other man's time. Brethren, after all the missionary service I've had, I wouldn't want to raise a boy and not have him go on a mission for his good. And because I think we owe so much to the world to share with them the truths of the gospel. One way to make sure that your boys will go on missions. Start a missionary fund for them and let them keep Adding to it, and they'll be on their missions from the time that they're young boys. Prince and Son and California. I went to a ward and the bishop has a program of giving to each boy when he's ordained a deacon, $15 out of the missionary fund. Then they ask the father to match it. And then they check with him every time he's interviewed. They check on his missionary fund and when he's ordained a teacher. And I figured on a percentage basis, if. If every ward in the church had as many missionaries in the field as that ward, we'd have 55,500 missionaries. So I provided in my family that every male child who hasn't been on a mission has a missionary fund so he'll know that he's on his mission from the time he's a boy. God bless you all, and may we not disappoint our great leader in sending all of our boys on missions. I pray and leave you my blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. President McCabe Kimball. I could wish with him that President McKay were here. Beloved brethren and sisters, this has been a glorious conference. We are grateful to all who have taken part in any way. My heart has rejoiced and my thoughts have been inspired to turn to many things as what has been said and sung has deeply touched me. Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me, indeed, impression weighs upon me that the church is at a point in its growth, growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. Some decisions have been made and others pending which will clear the way organizationally. But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward as a people must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals. We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume to journey forward, forward and upward. Let us quietly put an end to our reluctance to reach out to others, whether in our own families, wards or neighborhoods. We have been diverted at times from fundamentals on which we must now focus in order to move forward as a person or as a people. Seemingly small efforts in the life of each member could do so much to move the Church forward as never before. Think, brothers and sisters, as to what would happen if each active family were to bring another family or individual into the church. Before next April Conference, we would be joined by several hundred thousand new members of the Church. Imagine if only one additional mature couple were to be Called on a full time mission from each ward, our missionary force would go from 27,500 to over 40,000 thousand. Contemplate the results if each family were to assist between now and next April, conference an inactive family or individual into full activity. How we would revel in the association of those tens of thousands. Think of the blessings here and and on the other side of the veil. If each holder of a temple recommend were to just bring one more endowment this next year. How would our non member neighbors and friends feel if we were each to do just one more quiet act of Christian service through for them before the October conference regardless of whether or not they are interested in the church? Imagine how much more rich our family life would be if our spouses and children were to receive a few more minutes of individual attention each month. Are we ready, brothers and sisters, to do these seemingly small things out of which great blessings will proceed? I think we are. I believe the Lord's church is on the verge of an upsurge in spirituality. Our individual spiritual growth is the key to the major numerical growth in the Kingdom. The Church is ready to accomplish these things now which you could not have done just a few years ago. So also we are ready as members. If we will accept my counsel, you will come to feel that there is readiness in our people which must be put to work. Let us not shrink from the next steps in our spiritual growth, brothers and sisters, by holding back or sidestepping our fresh up. Opportunities for service to our families and our fellowmen. Let us trust the Lord and take the next steps in our individual lives. He has promised us that he will be our tender tutor, measuring what we are ready for. And ye cannot bear all things now. Nevertheless be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. He will not ask us to bear more than we can bear, nor thrust upon us for which we are not yet ready. But likewise we must not tarry too long when we are ready to move on. It seems to me that basically there are two major causes for the holding back which we see in the church. First, sin, which results in disinterest or immobilization and guilt. Second, the reluctance of good members of the church to stretch just a little bit more in the service. Instead of being too slow to see the power of their example or too shy about letting their light shine, it is the time for us all to take those seemingly small steps forward which will, when, when compounded, mean major progress for the church. The monumental challenge we face is to provide trained leadership for our fast growing membership and to help that membership to keep clean from the world in which we must live. The encroachment of the world into our lives is threatening. How hard it seems to many people to live in the world, but not of the world. Our constant prayer and our major efforts are to see that the members are sanctified through their righteousness. We urge our people to stand in hope. Holy Places There may be some who have a general feeling of uneasiness because of world conditions and the lengthening shadows of evil. But the Lord said, if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. The Gospel gives purpose to our lives. It is the way to happiness. Our success in individually as a church will largely be determined by how faithfully we focus living the gospel in the home. Only as we see clearly the responsibilities of each individual and the role of families and the home can we properly understand that the priesthood quorums, the auxiliary organization, organizations, even wards and stakes exist primarily to help members live the gospel in the home. However, church programs should always support and never detract from gospel centered family activities. Members should achieve personal and family preparedness, assisting in strengthening their own family members and others temporally and spiritually in the Lord's way. All should work together to make home a place where we love to be, a place of listening and learning, a place where each member can find love, mutual love, support, appreciation and encouragement. Let us be of good cheer, for the Lord will, as he has promised, lead us along to show us the way. And he will help us as we decide from day to day on the allocation of our time and talent. We will move forward faster. If we hurry less, we will make more real progress. If we focus on the fundamentals. We will even come to know more as we serve more. For as we learn to bear more, we are made ready to hear more. The Lord has helped to make us ready for major progress. Let us now go to and make the world ready for his coming. I'd like to direct my remarks to the Aaronic priesthood particularly. What I have to say I think will be applicable to all of us. However, I'd like to start with Alma's testimony to his son. He testified that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials and their troubles and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. And I plead with you young Aaronic priesthood bearers and all of us to determine now in your youth to put your trust in the Lord and by obeying his commandments earn the right to receive the specific blessings he has promised for specific types of living, those given in the word of Wisdom. For example, when he said that all saints who remember to keep and do these things walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow in their bones, and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures, and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I the Lord give unto them a promise that the destroying angel shall pass by them as the children of Israel, and not slay them. This reference to the destroying angel passing by the children of Israel refers to the occasion when to persuade the Egyptians to let Israel go, the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on the throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn born of cattle. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. But in his death dealing mission, the destroying angel passed by the homes of those Israelites who had marked their door lintels and sidepoles with the blood of a lamb as directed by the Lord. It appears from the Word of Wisdom and other scriptures that there are destroying angels who have a work to do among the people of the earth in this last dispensation. The Lord told the prophet Joseph Smith in 1831 that because all flesh was corrupted before him, and because the powers of darkness prevailed upon the earth, these angels were waiting the great command to reap down the earth to gather the tares that they might be burned. In 1894, President Woodruff said, God has sent the angels of destruction for many years. God has held the angels of destruction for many years, lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you now these angels have left the portals of heaven, and they stand over this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth, waiting to pour out the judgments, and from this very day they shall be poured out. Calamities and troubles are increasing in the earth, and there is a meaning to these things. Now, my beloved brethren, in view of this revealed knowledge and understanding which the Lord has given concerning what is transpiring about us, is it not a glorious thing to have the assurance that if we will clothe ourselves with bodies qualified through observance of the word of wisdom, these destroying angels will pass by as they did the children of Israel, and and not slay us? This is one of the blessings to follow observance of the word of wisdom. The Promised blessings for obedience to the law of tithing are just as specific as are those for obedience to the word of wisdom. One of them has to do with the productivity of the soil. I remember being impressed with this thought many years ago as I listened to the remarks of Elder James E. Talmage, who was one of our great apostles when I was young. Do you know, said he, that the soil can be sanctified by the tithing of its products? The land can be sanctified. There is a relationship relationship between the elements and forces of nature and the actions of men. This statement is in harmony with the sentiments of President Brigham Young. Talk about these rich valleys, said President Young. Why, there is not another people on earth that could have come here and lived. We prayed over the land and dedicated it and the water and the air and everything pertaining to them and to the Lord. And the smiles of heaven rested on the land, and it became productive. Another reward for paying tithing. Sounds almost like crop insurance. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house. And prove me now. Herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of hosts. President Grant's boundless faith that the Lord would prosper those who were liberal with their means in building the kingdom has had a distinct effect upon me in my life personally. Many years ago I heard him tell about attending a fast meeting at which the bishop made an appeal for donations. President Grant, though a very young man, had $50 in his pocket, which he intended to deposit in the bank. But he was so impressed by the bishop's appeal that he tendered the whole $50. The bishop took $5 and handed him back the 45, stating that $5 was his full share. President Grant, replied Bishop Woolley, by what right do you rob me of putting the Lord in my debt? Didn't you preach here today that the Lord rewards fourfold? My mother is a widow and she needs $200, my boy, queried the bishop. Do you believe that if I take this other $45, you will get your $200 quicker? Certainly, replied President Grant. Here was a demonstration of faith which the bishop himself couldn't withstand. He took the remaining 45. President Grant testified that on his way home that day past meeting back to work, an idea popped into his head acting upon which he made $218.50. Speaking about this incident years later, he said, someone will say that it would have happened anyway. I do not think it would have happened. I do not think it would would have got the idea. I am a firm believer that the Lord opens up the windows of heaven when we do our duty financially and pours out upon us blessings of a spiritual nature which are of far greater value than temporal blessings. But I believe he also gives us blessings of a temporal nature. A further reward for paying tithing is a guarantee against being consumed in the burning which is to accompany the second coming of the savior. In the 85th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord explains that his purpose in tithing his people is to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning. And in the 64th section he Behold, now it is called Today until the coming of the Son of Man. And verily it is a day of sacrifice and a day for the tithing of my people. For he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming. Personally, I have always considered tithing to be the law of inheritance in the land of Zion. For the Lord said when he gave the law, that all those who gathered to Zion should observe it, or they should not be worthy to abide among the inhabitants of the land. Now, the third specific commandment to which I direct your attention Thou shalt not commit adultery. You will recall, of course, Alma's teaching his son Corianton, that unchastity is the most serious offense there is in the sight of God, save murder. You will remember, too, these words from Paul's Epistle to the where know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. Some years ago, the First Presidency said to the youth of the church, better dead clean than alive unclean. I remember how my father impressed the seriousness of unchastity upon my mind. He and I were standing in the railroad station in Rexburg, Idaho, in the early morning of November 12, 1900. We heard the train whistle and knew that in three minutes I would be on my way to Australia to fill a mission. In that short interval, my father said to me, among other things, my son, you are going a long way from home, but your mother and I, your brother and sister, will be with you constantly in our thoughts and prayers. We shall rejoice with you in your successes and we shall sorrow with you in your disappointments. When you are released and return, we shall be glad to greet you and welcome you back into the family circle. But remember this my we would rather come to the this station and take your body off the train in a casket than to have you come home unclean having lost your virtue. I pondered this statement at the time. I did not then have the full understanding of it that my father had, but I have never forgotten it. I can think of no blessings to be more fervently desired than those promised to the pure and the virtuous. Jesus spoke of specific rewards for different virtues, but reserve the greatest. So it seems to me, for the pure in heart. For they said, he shall see God, and not only shall they see the Lord, but they shall feel at home in his presence. Here is his promise, the Savior's Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. The rewards for virtue and the consequences of unchastity are dramatically portrayed in the lives of Joseph and David. Joseph, though a slave in Egypt, stood true under pressures of the greatest temptation. As a reward he received the choicest blessings of all the sons of Jacob. He became the progenitor of the two favored tribes of Israel. Most of us take pride in being numbered among his posterity. David, on the other hand, though highly favored of the Lord, was in fact referred to as a man after God's own heart yielded to temptation, his unchastity led to murder, and as a consequence he lost his families and his exaltation. Now, my brethren, I shall not say more except to renew my plea that we all believe in and live for the promises worthy of the promises of the Lord. Let us not be like some people were in the days of Malachi. They argued that it was unprofitable and vain to serve God, because as they saw it, the proud were made happy, the wicked set up, and they that tempted God were delivered. Let us have the good sense to realize and remember that today as well as in in the days of Malachi, a book of remembrance is written before the Lord for those that fear him and think upon his name, and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return. Turn and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven. And all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch, but saith the Lord, in a glorious promise to the righteous. Unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. O my beloved brethren, believe in and live for the promises of the Lord by keeping his commandments. If you will do this, even though you do not now have full confidence in these promises, I assure you that that confidence will come. Never be weary of good works, but be meek and lowly in heart, for such shall find rest to their souls. O remember and learn wisdom in your youth, said Alma. Yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God, yea, and cry unto God for all thy support. Yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest, let it be in the Lord. Yea, let thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord. Yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good. And yea, when thou liest down at night, lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep, and when thou risest in the morning, let thy heart be full of thanks unto God. And if you do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day that it may be so with all of you and all of us. I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. We shall now be pleased to hear from Robert D. Hales, a member of the First Corps of the Seventy and President of the England London Mission. We shall then be pleased to hear from Elder Boyd K. Packer, member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. I bring greetings to you from the saints and missionaries in the British Isles, especially those in the England London Mission, where my dear companion Mary and I are currently serving. What a joy it is to speak as a missionary and a special witness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in my calling as a 70 in this great restored church. Every missionary and every member of the church has the right, yes, even the obligation, to bear testimony of Jesus Christ to their family, friends, neighbors, in mildness and in meekness. Every, every person in the world at some point in their eternal progression is one day going to have to come to that moment of truth when they must answer the question, what think ye of Christ? Think of that. At one point in your eternal progression, each one of us is going to have to answer the question, who is Jesus Christ? We are told that every eye shall see, every ear shall hear, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Lord. When all men shall stand to be judged of him, they shall confess that he is God. What think ye of Christ? Whom say ye that I am? While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he? They answered him, the Son of David. Jesus answered them, if David, then call him Lord, how is he His Son? And no man was able to answer Him a word. Neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. On another occasion, the people answered as Jesus was talking. And he asked the question, who is the Son of Man? But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him. Still. Yet another time Jesus asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the Son of man am? Or stated another way, whom do men say that I, the Son of God, am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremias or one of the prophets. And he said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter, the senior member of the twelve apostles, answered and said unto him, thou art Christ, Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus conversed on another occasion with a woman in Samaria. The woman saith unto him, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. The woman saith unto him, further, I know the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ, and when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. What think ye of Christ? Whom say ye that he is? Many Christians profess to follow Jesus Christ, but do not know him. And this is life eternal. That they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Many profess to be Christians, yet do not believe that Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God, indeed the eldest Son of God the Father. Oh, men are willing to follow some of his teachings, but they don't recognize the divine, eternal purpose and significance of his life to all mankind. What think ye of Christ? Whom say ye that I am? These were questions asked by Jesus to make men think think so that he might teach them who he was. That they might use their own free agency to come to their own conclusions and commitments to follow him and gain a testimony that he is the Son of God our Redeemer. Using the sacred Scriptures, we can know Jesus Christ. He is more than a great teacher. He is the Messiah. He was willing to lay down his life for us. He is the only one who could. Who is he from the Scriptures? Let's learn more about Him First. The light of Christ is in all men. It leads men to accept the Gospel and gain a testimony of Him. It is because of the light of Christ that all men know good from evil. The guidance of a conscience. Jesus Christ is a God. He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Savior of the New Testament. Jesus Christ dwelt in the heavens with His Father. We dwelt with him as spirit children of God the Father. Jesus Christ presented His Father's eternal plan, that plan which we are all a part of. We come to this earth undergoing the testing of a probationary period to have opposition in all things. And through the eternal principle of free agency, we are free to choose liberty and eternal life and return to their presence if we live righteous lives or to choose captivity and spiritual death. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things on earth. Under the direction of His Father. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ came to this earth born of Mary, a mortal mother. His Father was Almighty God. Jesus Christ was baptized by immersion of John the Baptist and the Holy Ghost was manifest in the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And His Father spoke, thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Jesus Christ organized His church and selected twelve apostles, prophets, seventies evangelists. Jesus Christ's message is unique. He stands between us and His Father. He is the mediator. Through Me shall all mankind be saved, and by Me shall all mankind be saved. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, our Savior. Only he with a mortal mother and an immortal father could fulfill the atonement and die to save all mankind. He did so of his own free will and choice. Jesus Christ was resurrected and appeared to many after his resurrection. He taught us the physical characteristics, characteristics of a resurrected being and told us that we could follow his example, that we would be able to progress and be like Him. Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven before the eyes of his disciples was accompanied by the promise that in like manner he would come again. The second coming of Jesus Christ is nigh at hand as the signs of the second Coming are being fulfilled. This very day, Jesus Christ appeared with His Father and restored the same organization he established during his ministry through Joseph Smith, the prophet. In these latter days, in addition to the Bible, the Book of Mormon was revealed to the world as yet another witness of Him, Jesus Christ, the witness of his testimony, his divine calling and his ministry. Jesus Christ through revelation, leads and guides his church today under the direction of a prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, his counselors in the First Presidency and the twelve Apostles, the same organization that he established when he was here on earth. Jesus Christ's admonition to come follow me, follow thou me is the challenge that he gave to each of us. He lived in the pre existence in the spirit world. He dwelt with His Father, God the Father. He is the Son, Jesus Christ. We took a mortal body upon us will have opposition. We'll taste death, be resurrected because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He he will be granted a degree of glory. We can have that same degree of glory the celestial kingdom. If we are worthy, we can dwell once again with God the Father and His Son throughout all the eternities. There are many who will hear this message for the first time today. Ponder it carefully. Contact the message member or a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you've heard this message before and the Spirit bears witness of its truthfulness and it has touched your heart, come back to activity and fellowship as you've heard the testimonies of this conference. If you are a young man or young woman, if you're a retired couple and the Spirit bears witness to you, the you would likewise like to go forward on a mission to declare this message to the make your commitment today during this Easter season. This is my personal witness and testimony. Oh, if I had the voice and trump of an angel that I could say to all mankind that he is risen, that he lives, that he is the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, the Promised Messiah, our Redeemer and Savior. That he came into this world to teach the Gospel by example. His divine mission is directed at you and me that he will lead us into life Eternal salvation is by and through his name. And this I say in the holy name of our Savior and Redeemer. Amen. It is an honor and a privilege to greet you this day in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His work of creation affects every one of us and his work of redemption reaches everyone who has ever lived or will live on this earth. He is the only man whose life on this earth was totally successful. Though he was tempted in all things like unto us, yet he lived without sin. And thus he made possible our victory over sin and death as well. Since we each of us are invited to follow the Christ victory. It seems we should become vitally aware of how he fulfilled his mission and seek to emulate his example. Surely we will never be able to do precisely what he did, partly because his mission and purpose is different than ours. He is the Savior, we are the Saved. He is the Mediator between God and man. We are those for whom he mediates. He is the Redeemer, we are the Redeemed. The list of differences is long and possibly endless. The Master's statement to Moses is a summation of his mission here upon this earth my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The immortality portion of his mission he has already accomplished. The resurrection is a reality and all will partake. However, we are permitted, encouraged, even commanded, to assist in bringing to pass the eternal life of man, which of course is a continuing part of his great mission. His promise to us of things which I do ye can do, and greater things than I do ye can do rings loudly in the ear, stimulating the amazement of everyone who reads the Holy Scriptures. As the Scriptures are searched, the life of Christ seems to resolve into a great success formula. I'm sure I have not caught the significance of all that he did or taught, but may I share with you five basic fundamental principles which have become discernible in my study? 1. Believe you can do it. This is the first important, important principle. All things are possible to them that believe. Surely we must believe in a thing before we can desire it and God does grant it a man according to their desires. If the desire is strong enough, performance is assured. The principle also includes believing in yourself. Self esteem is vitally important to successful performance. Self esteem is different than conceit. Conceit is the weirdest disease in all the world. Makes everyone sick except the one who has Is immensely important that you feel good about yourself. I am sure that you can only feel good about yourself if you're on the way to reaching your potential. I am positive also that no one can be emotionally and physically healthy unless he is keeping the commandments and rendering to God the things that are God's. I did not say that obedience would also make you satisfied with your ever performance. I seldom am. I'm sure I can improve my performance in the job when I'm on the Lord's side keeping the basic commandments. I feel good about me. I esteem myself as a worthy child of God and I find that I become very, very positive when I am how to perform positively? It's easy. Just eliminate all negative words and phrases from your vocabulary. Refuse to think negatively. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, said the psalmist. Refuse also to speak negatively. Now you become an optimist rather than a pessimist. There's a big difference between an optimist and a pessimist. One is positive, a believer. The other is negative, a doubter. The optimist, as you probably know, is a person who, when he wears out his shoes, just figures he's back on his feet. The pessimist says, I'll believe it when I see it. The optimist says, I'll see it when I believe it. In a crisis, the optimist takes action. The pessimist takes a seat. The Lord has given sufficient evidence to convince me that if you don't get it, you didn't really want it. Pray always and be believing, saith the Lord. Faith the first principle of the gospel begins with belief. What a man can continue conceived, he can achieve. Believe you can do it. 2. Look to the Lord for your blessing. There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated. When we obtain a blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. We quote that scripture, but I wonder all too often if we really believe it. We seem to look to every other source, from to the national government, to the state, to our family, to our friends. In missionary work, we look to the members to provide the necessary contacts to teach. I had a missionary complain to me recently. They didn't give me any contact, so I didn't have anybody to teach. My response was, oh, is that so? Well, don't tell me you're going to let the Lord's work fail because they failed. Forget and forgive when they fail, but don't you fail. Work track. Put in the hours. The Lord is the paymaster. We should look to the Lord for our blessings because, among other reasons, he owns everything. The world and everything and everybody in it. If you have no contacts to teach, go tracting or contacting in a shopping mall, on the street, wherever. Be where you should be, when you should be there, when you are where you should be when you should be there. Such conduct begets confidence. The members would like to have such confident missionaries to teach their friends. I've had missionaries report to me, President. We put in the contacting hours. We didn't get the contacts from tracting, but they came to us from completely unexpected sources. It's almost as though they Fell on us out of the sky or out of the trees. Surely they came from the Lord. Look to the Lord for your blessing. He alone is the giver of every good and perfect gift. 3. Make the sacrifice. There's no such thing as something for nothing. Nothing with the Lord. Blessings come because of obedience to the law upon which they're predicated. The Lord requires sacrifice, meaning something above and beyond the minimum. The Master spoke of the second mile and told us to go there. Why? Because he wants to bless us. But he put all the blessings in the second mile. But we have to go where they are before we get them. The next. The first mile we owe. That's what we're getting paid for. I mentioned that to an elder who was hardly meeting the minimums fairly recently. He said, paid? I'm not getting paid. I said, oh, you can breathe, can't you? Yeah, you think you got that coming to you or something? King Benjamin says, the Lord is preserving you from day to day by granting you breath, even supporting you from moment to moment. Do we ever thank the Lord for the fact that we can breathe? No, not usually. Until we get to where we can't breathe. Then we call upon him in a panic. Another definition of Satan sacrifice is that instead of endlessly doing what we want to do, we must do what the Lord wants us to do, knowing that it is sacrifice that brings forth the blessings of heaven. Then we should cheerfully do all things that lie in our power to bring to pass the Lord's work, even to wasting and wearing out our lives. If that be necessary. Then we may stand still with the utmost assurance to see the salvation of God and for his arm to be revealed, surely in the work of the Lord. Lord, it's what we do after we think we've done enough that really counts with Him. For that's when the blessings flow. Lest you think this is my idea, may I quote to you what I consider the most important scripture in all of Holy Writ concerning service in the kingdom. The Master said, give, and it shall be given unto you good measure. Pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. When the Master said, give and it shall be given unto you, this meant, if you want to receive, you must first give. That's different than paying tithing. That's where you receive and give back 10%. Here the master says, give first and then you shall receive. Well, how much am I going to get? That's Always a question, isn't it? The Lord tells us how much his work good, measured, pressed down, shaken together and running over. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? He continues, shall men give unto your bosom? Men? I thought you said it was the Lord. Yes, it is the Lord, but he always uses men. If you pray for a revelation from the Lord, he'll probably send your bishop with the answer. You really don't need a visit from an angel as long as you have a bishop. The Lord continues, for with the same measure that ye meet withal, it shall be measured to you again. If you would have a blessing from the Lord. Put something on the altar. Make the sacrifice. 4. Expect a miracle. All too often we really don't expect a miracle. We're not looking for it, and so we don't recognize it when it comes. The Lord has commanded that we take the gospel to every nation, kindred tongue and people. And so we pray for the Lord to cause a miracle which will break down those barriers that prohibit us from entering the nations where we're presently excluded. But are we in fact accelerating the preparation of young men who should be ready to enter when that barrier falls? At the same time, we must not overlook the need for our help, the help we must have from the Lord to hurdle the hedge to our next door neighbor. The Lord has promised thousands of conversions. I fear we have no concept of what that means. At the very minimum, it means that some stakes would have to baptize 50 or 100. It can be done, I know from experience, but it can never be done. Limiting the use of baptismal fonts to one day a week. It can never be done. If the membership wait for the missionaries to find, teach and fellowship all the new converts, every member must be involved. Hear the words of the Lord through his prophet fathers, you are to take the lead with your family. Prayerfully select one or two families to friendship. Decide who of all your families friends you will introduce to the church. Perhaps you could plan a family home evening with them on a night other than Monday, or participate together in any other number of ways. Then when these families show interest, arrange through your ward or branch mission leader to invite them and the missionaries into your home to share the message of the restoration. If you'll do it. And that's President Kimball, isn't it? Do it and I promise that the miracle conversion will take place in your home. In the words of President Kimball, thousands of conversions can never become a reality so long as we wait for the natural slow growth which comes with natural and easy proselyting, natural and easy meeting. We wait for someone to come and ask us about the church. Further, he said, brethren, the spirit of our work must be urgency, and we must imbue our missionaries and saints with the spirit of now. When the Lord said, lay your stride and quicken your pace, heighten your reach, widen your vision, stretch your capacity, he was in reality saying, expect a miracle, for these are the stuff on which miracles are made. The prophet says, do it, and he indicates, the time is now and expect the miracle. 5 receive the miracle with great humility, knowing that you didn't do it. It was was done with the Lord and the glory be thine forever. Oh, humility is so very, very important. Only if we have it can the Lord lead us. Be thou humble, and the Lord thy God will lead thee by the hand and give thee answers to thy prayers. Success this month is not a justification to stop and glory in our record, but we should merely serve as an impetus to greater and more noble accomplishment next month in the Lord's name. On the words of Ne Nephi we know that it is by grace that we are saved. After all we can do then in my estimation, the Master's great success formula for bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man is first, believe you can do it. The Master said, for this cause came I into the world to give my life as a ransom for many. Second, look to the Lord for your blessing. Again the Master said, and now, O Father, glorify me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was third. The Lord said, make the sacrifice. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Fourth, expect a miracle. The Lord said, verily, verily, I say in you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice, the Son of God, and they that hear his voice shall live. And fifth, receive the miracle with great humility. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do. And Jesus answered and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. I bear witness that this formula is effective in the Lord's work, and I am persuaded it works everywhere else too. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Sa.