Mexican Mission Report

I trust, my brethren and sisters, that I may be able to make myself heard, and that I may enjoy the Spirit of the Lord and be able to say something this morning that will encourage us in living our religion. ¶

It is truly an inspiring sight to see this vast congregation gathered together here, and to know that our great Tabernacle is filled to overflowing, and also the Assembly Hall, and that these people have gathered together for the purpose of worshiping the Lord and of hearing his word. To me it is an evidence that there is burning within the hearts of this people a testimony of the divinity of this great latterday work. To me it is an evidence that they are desirous of growth and development in the Lord's work, that they desire to become a better people, that they desire to learn more of his will and of his purposes; and I take it, my brethren and sisters, that it is with a desire that they might also extend this great knowledge to our Father's children, wherever they may be -- because upon us devolves the responsibility of carrying the gospel to the nations of the earth and to people everywhere. ¶

As President Iverson was speaking this morning of the great missionary work being done, I was reminded of the words of the Savior, his commission given unto his disciples, when he appeared unto them after his resurrection: ¶

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." ¶

It seems to me, my brethren and sisters, that inasmuch as this is the same gospel, established by our Savior, and that the same authority held by those unto whom he gave this commission is held by the Church today, through its membership, that the call is to us today; and I say unto you, my brethren and sisters, that we have resting upon us the responsibility to go into all the world and to preach the gospel unto every creature, for it is indeed the power of God unto salvation unto all who will believe. And how can a man believe a thing that he has not heard? and how can he hear, save someone be sent to teach it unto him? ¶

The preachers have preached ever since the Reformation, but religious thought throughout the world has not been particularly improved. Divisions have continued to occur. We hear today the thoughts expressed of a uniting of the religious world; but, my brethren and sisters, men cannot unite in the true Church of God if they have it not. We have been told here this morning that we are perhaps a distinct people, a people better than other people; I want to tell you the reason of it is that we have the truth, we have the gospel, and we have restored to earth again the power of God to speak in his name, and I say, Woe would be unto us, if we were not different; woe unto us, if we were not distinct, and if our righteousness-- as the Savior said to his disciples -- were not better and greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, or the righteousness of the world, we could not in any way inherit the Kingdom of our Father in heaven. ¶

Brethren and sisters, represented here among the speakers this day are missionaries extending their labors and their activities from the provinces of Canada to the boundary line of southern Mexico, down to Guatemala. Under their direction are laboring hundreds of young men who have responded to this call. I am thankful to the Lord that I have been counted worthy to be associated with them and to labor with them; and, as one who knows, because your sons have been under my care, I want to report to you that your sons are acquitting themselves admirably and nobly in the mission field. They are men on the day after they arrive there, although they come into the mission field many of them boys of 18, 19 and 20 years of age. They are told, when they come into the mission field, to be men, and they respond, and they seek for the Spirit of the Lord, to assist them in their labors, and they are able (though not at first from the standpoint of the wisdom of the world, not being educated in seminaries of learning particularly along the lines of religious thought), by the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord which they enjoy, and by the power of the holy Priesthood which they have, to confound the wisdom of the wise. ¶

I recall just now how our boys, in a foreign tongue, on the streets of the great city of San Antonio, many times have been able to congregate as many people in the streets as stand before us here today, telling their message of salvation unto the people. And they are not left alone, but they are heckled and they are contested by the preachers of the day -- they are boys just come from the farms and from the workshops and from the vocations in life from which our boys go into the mission field, but by the power of the Lord, and his help and assistance that come to them, they have been able always to come off victorious in any contest that they have had in that city. And the same is true, I am sure, wherever our boys go. You have reason, my brethren and sisters, to be proud of them. ¶

We know the very great sacrifices that the fathers and mothers ¶

are making in these times to support their boys in the mission field, but I will say to you, my brethren and sisters, you could not invest your means to a better advantage than by supporting them there, and I wish to bespeak for them your support by way of encouragement -- not sympathy, for the boys are well off, they are well taken care of, the Lord is their helper and he raises up friends to them, and if they betimes fast a day or two, it is only for their good; they are all in good health, they are in good condition, and they do not need your sympathy along that line. What they need is your support, what they need are letters from home encouraging them to do their part, to give their all to the service of the Lord; to remember this, that they must love him with all their hearts, with all their minds, with all their might, and with all their strength, and that next to that they must love their neighbors as themselves. ¶

And who are our neighbors in the world? I say to you, we are all neighbors, we are all brethren, we are all children of the same great heavenly Father, and we should manifest our love for our brethren in the world by taking to them that greatest of all gifts, which is the gospel, the power of God, by which they may be saved. Our mission is not particularly to any one people, or to any one race, but, as I have read to you now, and as I could read many other passages, which show you that the gospel is to be preached to all nations as a witness, and to every creature, everywhere. The saving powers of the gospel are manifest among one people just as much as they are manifest among another people, if those people strive to live in harmony with the gospel teachings. ¶

It has been my great privilege, my brethren and sisters, after the tempestuous times that Mexico has passed through for the past ten years, and after we have had to withdraw our missionaries, and our brethren, natives of that land, have been left for many years almost isolated from the Church, it has been my privilege, and I thank the Lord for it, to have returned last month, with twelve of your boys, and to have picked up again the broken threads of the work in that land; and if I could express to you as I felt it, and your boys felt it, the happiness that came to those people upon our return, I am sure, my brethren and sisters, those of you who have sons among that people would be grateful to the Lord that they are the instruments in carrying such joy and such happiness back to that people. ¶

And I would speak a word in praise of our brethren and sisters in that far-off land; for, nothwithstanding the fact that they have been alone for ten years, we found their branches perfectly manned, the Priesthood had been left with them. That is the thought I should like to leave. Although the missionaries from Zion had been withdrawn, the Priesthood of the Lord had been committed to those people, and their own people had been ordained elders and set apart as branch presidents, and not for one single day had they forgotten their obligations to the Lord. They are living their religion, they ¶

are teaching it to their neighbors, and many are being brought into the Church through the efficient labors of our native brethren in that far-off land, and they are living as near as may be in harmony with the principles of the gospel. ¶

I am thankful to the Lord for the integrity of those people. I would just like to quote to you what one of our native brethren said in a fast meeting, not long ago, in El Paso. He was a young man who served as a missionary there some ten years ago, a very efficient missionary, too, and someone was saying how bad it was that we had all been called away from the mission down there, and that perhaps things would go badly because the elders from Zion were not there. He said, "I thank the Lord that the Priesthood has been given to my people, and that that Priesthood will never again be taken away from them; and with that Priesthood, men will be raised up among them to carry on the work." And I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that we have seen a demonstration of the truthfulness of the testimony of that young man concerning the Priesthood, as it is operating among the people of Mexico. ¶

I am thankful to the Lord for the integrity of those people. I went into the mission field as a very young man, and I have been in the missionary, field ever since. I am not very old, but I remember that I am getting a little older all the time, and that many years have passed over my head during the time that I have been associated with the missionary work in that land. I do not begrudge a single hour, nor one single penny nor labor, nor regret one single affliction that has come to me; but I deem it a privilege and a great blessing that the Lord has bestowed upon me in permitting me to go out and lift my voice in defense of the truth among the children of men. ¶

I feel weighing upon me greater today than I ever have in all my life, the responsibility of going into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. I tell you, my brethren and sisters, this must be done. We have witnessed signs that bespeak the coming of the Redeemer of the world, through wars and rumors of wars and through pestilences: but I recall also his prophetic words which he said, "This gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, as a witness to all men, and then shall the end come." That responsibility still weighs heavily upon us, my brethren and sisters. O, what a' responsibility to know that we have within our hands that power that can save men, and what a responsible position we will be in if we do not do all that is within our power to take this and give it unto those who have it not, who are in the world! ¶

I pray that the blessings of the Lord may rest upon you. I pray that you may be prospered. O, how I pray for the parents of those boys who are struggling in poverty to fulfil their missions! I hope that means will come to you, and that you will be able to maintain your boys. Do it, if you possibly can. I know that no greater blessing can come to you than the privilege, of sacrificing in that way. ¶

And the blessings of heaven, remember, after all, come through sacrifice, and we must be tested, and we must be tried. Support your boys, encourage them to stay. We encourage them to be frugal, we encourage them not to spend your means unnecessarily, and we wish your support in every way, my brethren and sisters. And I believe we have it. I know that you have trying times at home. Many times have I talked with missionaries in our particular mission who are cramped for means, and my heart goes out to their mothers and fathers, or to those who are supporting them. I know what they are passing through; and if reward comes to those who proclaim the gospel, so also will reward come to those who support them while they are there. May the Lord bless you, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶