Report on the Granite Stake

My dear brethren and sisters, I esteem it quite an honor to represent the Stake over which I preside. I am also happy in the thought that when they selected me to preside over a Stake of Zion they did not send me down to Arizona to raise big potatoes or up to Canada to raise large fields of wheat, but they let me stay right at home in Salt Lake county, almost on the borders of Salt Lake City. I am delighted to say that the people in our stake are a good people. We have able men who are endeavoring to live their religion, and all organizations of the stake are, I believe, practically up-to-date in their work. The presidency of the stake has been loyally sustained by the people. ¶

I was very much interested and impressed last night with the talk that Bishop Preston gave to us in regard to the training of our youth in the Lesser Priesthood. It appears to me that as the Priesthood and presiding officers in the Church we ought to pay a little more attention to the proper training of our boys and girls, particularly the boys in the lesser Priesthood. I believe the future strength and growth of this great people and the work of the Lord depends largely upon the proper training of our young people. I believe that it is the duty of presiding officers in the Church to see that there are no Deacons neglected in the Church. We ought to be sure, as Bishops of wards, that we have the organizations of the Deacons' properly perfected. If we take hold of them at the right age and see that they attend their meetings and are trained properly in the duties assigned to them, I believe we will have less trouble to organize our Teachers' and our Priests' quorums. I think we ought to begin young with the boys, nurse them along kindly, and try to implant within them a testimony of the faith that we have espoused. We ought to put them to work; teach them to act as doorkeepers in our meeting houses, to open the door when people come in and to act as ushers in taking the people to their seats, and showing them to the front, so that the late-comers will not have to pass a crowded place at the back to get to empty seats in the front. I tried this when I was a boy. I remember that of all the duties I had to perform in this Church, there is none that has given me greater pleasure than to act as a Deacon. The Bishop of the ward where I grew up used to honor the Deacons in their place. We had to look after the door and to seat the people in their places. He honored us in our positions to the extent that he expected people to conform to the rules of the house and to take the seats we assigned them. We had a trial of that down in our stake the other day. We had a conference of the Lesser Priesthood, and I believe it was one of the most profitable meetings we have ever held in our stake. In that meeting we gave the boys a practical illustration of their duties. We had Deacons that had been previously trained stationed at the door, and no boy was allowed to open the door. The door was opened for him very courteously and nicely, and as he stepped in the vestry a Deacon tapped him on the shoulder and led him to a seat in the proper place. We instructed them that they were to take the seat assigned them. We had places for our Bishops and High Councilors, and the Deacons knew just where to take them. During the meeting one of our Bishops came in late. He had been accustomed, I presume, to take any kind of seat he wanted; but I had instructed the Deacons that it would make no difference whether it was a Bishop or myself, they were expected to assign the seats. The Deacon and the Bishop walked up the aisle, and the Deacon had got clear to the stand before he noticed that the Bishop had taken a seat of his own choosing. Then I had to get up and remind the Bishop that we expected him to honor these boys in their place. I believe we ought to honor our Deacons, and encourage them in the start, so that they may grow up to understand the duties pertaining to the Priesthood, and not have to wait until they are twenty years of age and then have to be humiliated, when they want to get married or something of the kind, because they have to go through the order necessary for them. I thank the Lord we had a Bishop that took hold of me when I was a little fellow and trained me in the duties pertaining to the Lesser Priesthood, because if there is any strength in me it is due to the training that I received when a little boy. I think this is the time we ought to start in matters of this kind. ¶

There is another thing that is lacking: at least, it is with us. It seems to me that there ought to be in every ward, where possible, a quorum of Priests, a quorum of Teachers, and they ought to be active in the performance of the duties pertaining thereto. If we get these quorums thoroughly organized and attending to their duties, we will not have much trouble with acting Teachers. The great trouble is, the Bishops cannot get the Teachers to do their work; but if we get the boys started early and train them aright, we will have little trouble in regard to this. ¶

There is another matter that appeals to me very strongly, and that is the welfare of the youth of Israel. I love the youth of Israel, and I feel that as Latter-day Saints we are not giving them the close attention that we ought to in the way of missionary work, and nurturing them, and getting them to forsake the little evil practices they indulge in by holding out a better life and light unto them. We are so busily engaged in the duties of life that we do not stop to think that there are some who need an arm thrown around them. They need someone to love them, someone to nurture them, and give them a chance to reform. I heard of a case recently that will illustrate this, of a boy who had lived in a settlement all his life. Nobody had paid any attention to him; they had taken it for granted that there was no good in him. But a stranger moved into the settlement, and he liked the appearance of the boy. He put his arm around him and in kind words asked him if he had not better repent; that there was a better chance for him in the fold of the Church of Jesus Christ than on the outside. The boy turned to him and with tears in his eyes thanked him for the interest he had shown in him by putting his arm around him and speaking kindly to him. He said, "You are the first man that ever did that to me in my life. I have lived in this settlement all my life and it has been the rule almost to point the finger of scorn at me; but never has it occurred to any of them to come up and say a kind word as you have done." That boy turned round and is now a faithful, honorable young man in the Church. The trouble is, we are so busy that we take it for granted that our boys who sometimes make mistakes have no good in them, and we do not go out of our way to put our arms around them in love and teach them the principles of the Gospel. We ought to preach the Gospel of Christ at our firesides, and in the homes of our neighbors. There is plenty of opportunity in these valleys of the mountains to preach the Gospel, and to bring the wayward back again into the fold of Christ. Here is opportunity for all of us: Blessed is the father and blessed is the mother whose family is all around them and living their religion, and making no mistakes! That father ought to rejoice that he has such a family, and he ought to feel warm towards the less fortunate father who has a family that he has no control over. He ought to put his arm around his neighbor's children, and with the talent he has exercised in controlling his own family try to use an influence with them. Do not let the boys go to the four winds, simply for the lack of doing our duty in this regard. I have said it before and I will repeat it here, that lots of us will go out into the world to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ without asking any questions. "We will have door after door slammed in our face; and if opportunity will present so that we can pour into the ears of the people the good things of the Gospel we are delighted. After awhile, if we can lead them down into the waters of baptism, we rejoice exceedingly that we have converted someone. We do not specially ask them about their past or what they have been doing. All we ask of them is to repent of their sins, go down into the waters of baptism, and have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. Yet ofttimes we will come back home and we would not cross the road to preach the Gospel to some of our young boys right here. I believe I will be safe in saying that if we would expend one-tenth of the energy and time and means, one-tenth of the patience and love, that we give to the children of the world, in the interest of our own wayward boys at home, we would save many more souls. We could love our boys more than we do; we could have more patience with our girls than we do have. We could spend more time around our own firesides, teaching the children the principles of the everlasting Gospel, instead of going after the things of the world and letting the boys go to the winds. As fathers and mothers, we ought to be more careful in regard to the rearing of our youth. We should make home the most pleasant place that the boy or girl can find in this whole world. It ought to be the center of attraction to every child. We should make it so attractive by our kindness, our love, and all necessary conveniences, that they will love it better than any other place. I believe it would do good sometimes to sell a calf or a horse in order to place good books in the home for our boys and girls to read. Subscribe for the works of the Church, so that they can read the principles of the Gospel and have them implanted in their hearts. Then let us take some time to sit down by the fireside with them and explain unto them the Gospel. ¶

Brethren and sisters, I love the youth of Israel. I know that there is good in them. If the coal looks dead, it needs someone to blow the bellows to bring it back to life again. I have found boys who have been looked upon as no good and practically dead, but with nursing and effort that coal has been brought back to life. And what happiness comes into the home when a wayward son turns over a new leaf and becomes a good, upright Latter-day Saint! I rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I bear my testimony to its truth. I know that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that the prophet that we have presiding over us today is a man of God, and sets an example in his family that is worthy of all Israel. God bless you. Amen. ¶