My brethren and sisters: I feel thankful

My brethren and sisters: I feel thankful to our heavenly Father, and to the brethren who preside over the Church, that I have had the wonderful opportunity and experience of a short-term mission in the Southern states. I am on my way home from that mission, where I have been laboring as a missionary since last October. That mission is a wonderful field of labor. The leading thought in my mind, almost continuously, in laboring with the young men sent out to preach and teach the gospel in that land, was, What a blessing it would be to the elders and to the people of that mission and other missions, if men of experience could be constantly associated with them. I am thoroughly convinced that it was through the inspiration of our heavenly Father that short-term missionaries were called into the field. The men needed to carry forward short-term missions, especially in the Southern states where I have labored, would be the busy, the active men, men who are doing things, who have their fingers on the financial pulse of the country, as well as affairs spiritual. The mission needs the professional men — the doctors, the lawyers, the educators, the financiers, men who measure up with the general practical conditions as we find them. ¶

There are some wonderful cities in the South, which have been making rapid progress during the last few years. There are men in the South with keen minds, up-to-date, who are doing things, men of intelligence, approachable, willing to listen. If we send missionaries who are qualified to take up the principles of life and salvation with this class of men, it would be a great strength to that mission. It would also be a source of great strength to the young elders. They need encouragement, sympathy, someone to help them to get started in this great work in which we are engaged. ¶

I have in mind one small city of 42,000 people. I was told, by a member of the Chamber of Commerce, that the payroll of that city was three hundred thousand dollars a day. I was also in Birmingham, Alabama, where a member of the Chamber of Commerce said that the payroll of that wonderful city was four million two hundred thousand dollars a week. The south is filling up with wonderful industries from the north. They have all of the latest modern improvements in these great cities. They have spent millions of dollars for water systems, and for other improvements. Many of those wonderful cities are modern, up-to-date in every respect, and forging ahead with marvelous rapidity. ¶

We have an excellent membership in the South. Many choice men and women who have received the testimony of the elders. They have a testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They are devoted to the work, are giving their time and their talents to the cause, willing to serve, and assume responsibility. It is a great work. The training that our boys and girls are getting in the mission field is admirable. We can scarcely conceive of the worthy training they are receiving, but they need the help of more of our men of ability, who have had greater experiences in the gospel. I am hoping and praying continuously that men of this class may be separated for a short time from their business cares, and see their way to give a few months of their time to assist these young men in carrying forward the testimony that we have received of this wondrous latter-day work. I am sure that it will profit them, their families, and their associates. They will get more out of it themselves than they will be able to give to others. That has been the experience of our missionaries ; and we feel indebted to our heavenly Father for the blessings that have come to us. ¶

I have often heard people say : "We have made a sacrifice to go on a mission. I have made a sacrifice to send my son, or my daughter on a mission." It never appealed to me as a sacrifice at all. It has always appealed to me as a glorious privilege and opportunity to be called by the servants of the Lord to preach and teach the gospel, and to administer in its ordinances. I have proved it a great privilege and a blessing. I have received more personal joy in preaching and teaching the gospel and mingling and associating with our young men in the mission field, than I have ever received in any other way. ¶

I pray that the Lord will move upon the hearts of our busy men throughout the Church, to be anxious to fill a short-term mission, and assist in carrying on this work and labor. You have no idea of the wonderful good that you can accomplish, and the encouragement that you will be able to give the younger missionaries. And they need encouragement. When our boys and girls are started out properly and rightly in the mission field, they become strong men and women, and are able to accomplish a great amount of good. They develop, grow, and increase in power and ability to a remarkable extent. That is my ¶

testimony of the wonderful improvement and advancement that our sons and daughters have made in the mission field. For this reason and others, I do pray that the mission presidents throughout the United States will be blessed in the future more than in the past with the presence of men of ability, and experience, who can do, greater service in carrying forward this latter-day work. ¶

I have received many testimonies in regard to the truth of this latter-day work. I know that it is true. I know that the testimony which the young men and women who are called into the mission field have received through their parents is supplemented and developed as soon as the responsibility comes to them. It will grow, and they will make good, if they have the proper care and training, in starting out in the mission field. I pray God to bless us all, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶