A Position of High Honor

Brethren and sisters, since I have been occupying the position of Commissioner of Education in the Church, and at these conferences, sitting on the back row of these front seats, I have learned that there are many anxious seats up this way. Particularly did I observe this last April when not until the last session were most of the mission presidents called up, Sunday afternoon. They sat through the preceding sessions, not knowing when they would be called. This morning one member of the Council of Twelve said : "Brother Merrill, you need ¶

not be worried. You will not be called until Sunday afternoon, after your name has been presented for the sustaining vote of the conference." ¶

A Position of High Honor

May I say, brethren and sisters, that a very high honor has come to me in the nomination I have received at the hands of the Presidency and the Council of the Twelve., to be a member of the Council of the Twelve. I regard this as the highest honor that can come to any man. Members of this ,Council are called by divine inspiration to a position in the Church that requires them to be special witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ, the highest calling that any of us can receive. But, of course, before I can be ordained I must receive your sustaining vote. I say in all humility this is a wonderful honor. I am overwhelmed with it. I cannot fulfil the expectations of the position without hard work, without fervent prayer, the sustaining confidence and vote of the membership of the Church, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit. ¶

A Key to Success

My experience has taught me from my boyhood, that service in this Church cannot be acceptably rendered except with the help of the Spirit of the Lord, and that this Spirit is given only to the worthy. All my life I have been taught that the Lord helps him who helps himself. Inasmuch as he has given us intelligence he expects us, when any duty is assigned us, to do the very best we can to discharge that duty, seeking his help in the meantime. I believe that my experience teaches me also that that help may not be received, no matter how fervent the prayer, unless the prayer is worthily made. That is to say, I must work if I am going to succeed. I must pray, if I am going to succeed. All my life I have been taught, and I have experienced the fact, that the Lord does answer the prayer of the worthy. Whenever I have prayed worthily I have never been disappointed. So I believe in prayer. I know that prayer is a source of strength and of help. I have proved this many, many times. ¶

Men of Devotion

May I say that this honor that has come to me is very great, because the nomination that I have received expresses a confidence in me of what I have come to regard as the finest body of men that live. My work the last three or four years has brought me more or less into intimate contact with the General Authorities of the Church. I have learned that they are not only capable men, but they are very much devoted to their work; that they are very anxious that this work shall go forward as the Lord has intended it should go forward. So their lives and their energies are wholly devoted to it. They are also men of deep sympathies and great love for their fellowmen. ¶

I have often remarked that in the position I have been occupying since coming to the Church Office Building, nearly four years ago, that I have experienced the greatest joys of my life, because I have been ¶

contacting with and laboring with people who look at the work from one point of view only, the point o£ view of what is best for the whole, what is best for the Church. I have not seen a single instance where selfishness or selfish interest could be observed at all. These brethren, the General Authorities of the Church, are wholly devoted to your interests, to the saving of the souls of men. I love them. I have come to regard them as God's men. So I feel wholly incapable, my brethren and sisters, of being one of their number, because of my unworthiness and because of my inability. But I have been honored with the nomination. If I am sustained in the position I shall try, as hard as I know how to try, to fulfil its obligations. I have no other interests. All my time will be devoted to the cause of this Church, forwarding its interests and those of the people as best I can. ¶

Honored of God

I spoke of being nominated by the First Presidency and the Council of Twelve. I would not have you think for a moment, my brethren and sisters, that this is all there is to it. If this were an honor given by men only I would not feel so much overwhelmed by it. But it is an honor that comes from God. These brethren are only his agents, his instruments in the call that has come to me. This is a fact that no member of the Church will question who has received a testimony of the divinity of this work. These men are God's servants. They are his prophets and they enjoy the spirit of their calling. I have had so many evidences and so many testimonies of it that I know it to be a fact. And in humility and all sincerity I testify to you that it is a truth. ¶

The Young People

For several years there has been growing in me a feeling that we ought to be more and more diligent in our work, particularly with our young people. I have been laboring for many years with young people, many of whom have been more or less critical, many of whom have grown indifferent to the Church ; some of whom have left the Church. I have felt that if there is anything possible that I can do, that we can do for them, to save them, it ought to be done, because in their veins flows the blood of Israel. But if they are to be saved they must save themselves, through our help and through the guidance that we can give them. No one can save another. He must save himself. ¶

Testimony Through Service

Now then, we have been taught, as Brother Wells has said, that this is the work of the Lord, and the strength of the Church lies in the fact that hundreds and thousands upon thousands of members of the Church know that it is the work of the Lord. How do they know it ? Not perhaps by some wonderful manifestation, some great miracle. They know it because the Spirit of the Lord has come into their souls, as a result of their worthiness and their service. If we do the will of ¶

God we shall know of the doctrine. I testify, my brethren and sisters, that I know that this statement is true, and you know it is true, and you have gotten that knowledge because of the service that you have rendered. I care not in -what position in the Church service may be rendered. Service in any position, no matter how humble, if faithfully rendered, brings us a testimony, the witness of the Spirit that this great work is divine. ¶

I was in a meeting last Sunday morning with a group that was called to do block teaching in the ward where I live, and I recalled that among my earliest experiences in the Church was that of a block teacher. When a boy of seventeen, I recall that when I went out with my older brother (not a brother by blood, but a brother in the Church) and tried to do my duty, I returned home feeling an uplift that was truly remarkable in the joy and satisfaction that it brought to me. I don't know, my brethren and sisters, that I have ever rendered any service in the Church that I enjoyed more, in which I experienced more joy and satisfaction, than I did in trying to do my duty as a block teacher in the Church. ¶

So it is all the way along the line. It makes no difference, my brethren and sisters, whether we are called to this stand, or whether we are serving in the humblest position in the Church. If we do our duty, if we serve the Lord and keep his commandments, as we have the privilege and the opportunity of doing, we shall for ourselves know that we are engaged in the work of the Lord. It is that satisfaction that gives strength to the Church and that makes us a body of men and women that does not have to rely for direction only upon the General Authorities, because if we enjoy the companionship of the Spirit we are directed in our own duties, labors and responsibilities. ¶

Keep Young People in School

Now, my brethren -and sisters, may I say that we are living in more or less distressing times. There is a lot of unemployment. I have been engaged primarily in the work with the young people. We are very much concerned with this condition of idleness, particularly with the young, and so we feel that if we can keep these young people employed in school during these times of unemployment, we shall be rendering a splendid service to them. So I feel to encourage you parents, who are straining every nerve and calling upon every resource that you can command to keep your boys and girls in school, to continue doing it, for their good. Perhaps enough on that particular point. ¶

By Keeping Physically Fit

It was said this morning that we are trying to keep the Word of Wisdom. We have a wonderful course of study this year in the adult department of the Mutual Improvement Association, because it is the study of the Word of Wisdom, a study of one of the requirements of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

To render service we must keep ourselves physically fit. It is incumbent, therefore, upon every member of the Church who would serve, to try to keep physically as well as mentally, morally and spiritually fit, and that can be done only by right living. God has endowed us with intelligence. Let us use it, that we may know better how to live, that we may know better how to serve. ¶

Securely Anchored

Now, brethren and sisters, I have talked long enough. May I say that I do hope that, I can function at least in some degree to your satisfaction, but may I repeat that if I do, I know it will be because I make myself worthy of the sustaining power and help of God. I want to testify to you in all sincerity that I know that this is the work of God. Elder McKay spoke this morning of being anchored in the faith, in the Church. I have felt securely anchored since I was a boy of nineteen years. There came to me at that time, as a result of fervent prayer, of many prayers uttered through a number of long years, a wonderful manifestation that I have believed has been a savior to me. I didn't know it at the time, but within three months I was to leave home to go to school, and during the succeeding ten years of my life I was engaged in college and university work. I felt that the manifestation I received at that time was to me an absolute anchor. I cared nothing what the teachings of men were, if opposed to the doctrines of the Church, for I knew, and have known from that time to this, that the Lord God lives ; that he does answer prayer ; that he will sustain those who are worthy of being sustained. And this sustenance comes, of course, as a result of right living and of sincere service in his cause. ¶

May the Lord help us to be true to our covenants. May the Lord help us to keep our eyes upon these leaders — men of God, I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, whose whole hearts are given to the fulfilment completely of the obligations that the Lord God has placed upon their shoulders in the call that he has made of them. May the Lord help us to honor our callings and our positions, whatever they may be in the Church, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶