A Word to the Missionaries

I am pleased, my brethren and sisters, to be with you on this occasion, and to have the opportunity of lifting up my voice in your presence in testimony of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it has been revealed in this age of the world—And I sincerely trust that while I occupy this position I may be blessed of the Lord and have the inspiration of His Spirit resting upon me; for without that Spirit I know that my words would be as a sounding brass or as a tinkling cymbal in the midst of this great body of people—But on the other hand I also know that when men speak by the promptings of the Spirit of the Lord their words are of great worth to the children of men, not only to those who may hear the words that are spoken, who are in the congregation, but to the person that does the speaking as well—For all men are instructed by the Spirit of the Lord—I feel that the people who have attended our Conference and who have listened to the testimonies and instructions that have been imparted by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, know in their hearts that the brethren have been inspired and that they have not been giving them anything that has been cunningly devised, but that they have been delivering the word of the Lord, and the power of God has been made manifest in the utterances of His servants—There should be with us as a people a disposition to receive the counsels that have been imparted, and an anxiety that we may be in harmony with the servants of the Lord who have been chosen to direct the affairs of His Church in these times—It is a glorious thing to have the feeling in our hearts that we are in accord with the authority of the Lord and to feel, inasmuch as we have put our hands to the plow and ¶

have entered into covenant with the Lord to serve Him and to keep His commandments,that the keeping of His commandments is the greatest desire that we have, and that we have no other God before the Lord, our God; that we have not set our affections upon any other thing, but that we have an eye—single to the keeping of the commandments of the Lord and a determination to sustain and uphold His Priesthood—I take it that this is a very grave responsibility, and that men and women who have entered into covenant with the Lord should examine themselves and seek to put themselves in such a condition that they would have the Spirit of the Lord, that when we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd we will be able to understand it, and have a disposition to be in line with the authority that God has upon the earth — The rights, independence and liberty of no man can be infringed upon in the keeping of the commandments of God—We hear when we are away from home as missionaries among the nations many things concerning the bondage of the people, that we are priest-ridden, and that we are not allowed to do the things that we desire to do; but we know by our own experiences that this is not the case—I know as an individual, having been born and reared in the midst of this people, that no man, no authority, no priest, or apostle, or president has ever attempted in the slightest degree to interfere with the liberty that God has given me—I have had as great liberty in the midst of the Latter-day Saints as any man could possibly enjoy upon the face of the earth—When I bear this testimony I realize and understand that in this great congregation of people every man and every woman who has received the Gospel and who is acquainted with the spirit and doings of the wonderful work in which we are engaged know that what I say is true—You all know it, because you have all had the same experience, every member of the Church knows that we are a free people ¶

I have thought in listening to the remarks that have been made by some of the brethren, that there might be something said to the missionaries—A good many things have been said regarding the teaching of the Gospel and the sending of men abroad to lift up their testimonies in defense of the truth; and it falls to my lot occasionally, in fact quite often, to travel among the people and to associate with missionaries and to be in the company of men who have received authority to preach the Gospel, and whose special calling it is to administer words of salvation to the nations, as they are directed by the Twelve Apostles—I often listen to the testimonies of returned missionaries—I have met a number during this conference, and their faces have been aglow with joy and happiness and with testimony concerning the work of the Lord, and they feel that they have spent a good and a profitable time while they have been away from home acting as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ—And they have spent a profitable time, have been filled with the power of God, and have been instruments in the hands of the Lord of accomplishing a great deal of good—They have removed prejudice from the minds of the people, through the blessings of the Lord—Others have been converted to the truth, and have been made to know, by the Spirit of God, that messengers of salvation, holding divine authority, have ministered in their midst—It is a good thing to fill a mission—It is a good thing to have it to our credit that we have gone abroad in the world and that we have returned in honor without bringing disgrace upon our name, upon the name of our parents, or upon the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ¶

But the performance of a mission to the nations is a small thing in the winning of the race upon which we are now set out for eternal life—Many a man returns from a mission who has valiantly maintained his position, who has stood up in the presence of opposing multitudes and with the power of God resting upon him has borne testimony to the truth of the glorious Gospel, and his words have pierced the hearts and intellects of the people, and they have been made to feel that they were listening to the truth—Many a man has filled a mission of this character and has done honor to the cause that he represented, but has returned home feeling, in a little while, that he ought to rest from the ministry that someone else should take up the labors here at home—I desire to lift my warning voice to returned missionaries—I desire to plead with them in the name of the Lord, as I feel it to be my duty to do, and that it pertains to the responsibilities that rest upon me to lift up my voice and cry aloud to the missionaries, the Seventies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that they shall not seek for rest, that they shall not feel that they have accomplished their salvation, or that they are secure, merely because they have filled a mission in the preaching of the Gospel—I feel when I greet a young Elder returning from abroad that the gravest period of his life stands before him when he returns, when there is fear that he may become a little careless, that he may have a disposition to seek after the rest that many have sought after, and in seeking after that rest they have found not only rest but rust—They are becoming rusty in the service of the Lord, and they are not willing to labor at home as they did abroad—What a glorious feeling we have had, when we have gone away from our homes, impelled by the spirit of truth, to preach the Gospel among the children of men—I suppose that every missionary that responds to an appointment, goes away from his family and friends with a determination in his heart that he will do honor to his calling—I have met hundreds of missionaries in the old country, sometimes boys who have been indifferent to the responsibilities of the Priesthood at home; but I do not now recall having ever met one in all the hundreds with whom I have been brought in contact who reached the missionary field with a feeling of indifference, with a disposition to oppose authority, with a feeling in his heart that he would question the counsels of the men who presided over him—You who have filled missions know that you go into the world with these thoughts uppermost from the very moment that you respond, that you will be obedient, that you will hearken to ¶

counsel, that you will be zealous in carrying out counsel, and that you will keep yourself clean and pure, and tweet before the world—What is the result? Men return who have never had experience before, and they are filled with the power of God, filled with the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is this testimony and this vigor, and this life that I feel anxious that the brethren should preserve within them after having returned home—It can be preserved, it can be maintained through their entire lives, if they will only return with a determination to hearken to counsel and be obedient to those who preside in the Church and be diligent in the discharge of the duties that rest upon them—In traveling and visiting among the people, when talking to the Bishops about returned missionaries with whom I have been acquainted, asking how they were doing in their callings at home, the answer has often been given, "they are not doing anything " Brother So and So "will not act as a Teacher, he will not act in the Sunday school, he will not act in the Improvement associations—He returned and bore us a good testimony, but we have seen but little of him since that time " ¶

I plead, in the name of the Lord, with young men—Great and glorious opportunities are before them—This is an age of opportunities for young men—The Priesthood, the Apostles, the Presidency of the Church, are conferring honors upon the young men of Israel, paths are opening on every hand in which we can labor, opportunities are being made everywhere wherein we can work for the advancement of the work of the Lord and for the salvation of the souls of men and women here at home—When we are abroad we sometimes travel ten miles to attend a meeting, and would a hundred miles, if need be, that we may meet with some one that would be willing to listen to the testimony we have concerning the Gospel, that we might explain the principles of the Gospel—And how our hearts are aglow, and we are filled with the Are of the Holy Ghost when men listen, when we see that they are convinced of the truth—What a dreadful thing it is after being abroad and being filled with this happiness, that we should return home to smoulder away and die, become indifferent and cold to the duties that rest upon us! I plead with Bishops, and I plead with the presidents of Quorums and with the presidents of Stakes, to throw their arms around returning missionaries, young men; to point out the troubles that are in their paths, the temptations that will beset them, the fearfulness of turning away from the path of duty and of becoming careless and neglectful concerning the things of God—We ought not to return and feel that we have given to the Lord two years or more of our time, and that now we will be justified in seeking after the things of the world to the exclusion of the things pertaining to our duties—But we should be more anxious, if anything, when we return to set a goodly example before the people, that when the young men and young women, who have known us when we have not been so careful and so diligent, look upon us in a year after our return — in ten years after our return — they will say, "Surely the power of God came to that man—The testimony of the Lord Jesus was given him, and when he returned and bore record that he knew this work to be true, it was a solemn truth, and God had given him that assurance, for his whole life and his conduct before us, ever since he has returned, has testified all the time that he had a knowledge of the truth of the Gospel " And we should not have to bear the responsibility of testifying to the truth before the people and then turning away from the path of duty ¶

God bless the missionaries at home find abroad wherever they may be; bless those who have returned and who are returning, that they may be filled with the missionary spirit at home, for there is need of the missionary spirit in all the wards and stakes of Zion—There is need at home for men who are devoted to the work of the Lord, and who feel that it is of the utmost importance all the time—It is a glorious thought that we are given to the Lord, that we are given to the accomplishment of His work, and that we have the courage and determination to hearken to ¶

the counsel of the Lord, and honor the Lord by the observance of His laws upon the earth and by sustaining the authority of His holy Priesthood—We cannot sustain the Priesthood by the mere lifting of our hands—The man who sustains the Priesthood is the man who responds to the appointments that are given him, the man who says "yes" to the Bishop, and to the president of the Stake, the man who responds in his quorum—The man who is always working willingly and dutifully, is the man who sustains the authority of God—There is no other way to sustain that authority ¶

May the Lord help us to seek after His spirit and to be filled with His power, that we may magnify our callings and accomplish much righteousness, is my prayer through Jesus Christ—Amen ¶