The Australian Mission

"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. ¶

"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." ¶

These few lines, the beginning of the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, have been running through my mind from the very opening of the Conference sessions up until the present time, more especially so during the address of Elder Ballard. It seems to be the general theme of this Conference to me, and I have been wondering if we are taking these things which are indeed a luxury, which we have started to class as necessities of life — taking them to heart to such an extent that we are crying depression when we are really enjoying marvelous blessings from God. We are living in a truly marvelous age. ¶

Having been handicapped somewhat in this Conference in the earlier sessions — as I recently had my tonsils removed, in fact a little over a week ago — I was unable to participate with the audience in singing the hymns. I love to take part in singing the Latter-day Saint sacred hymns. They surely contain Gospel sermons and I love the beautiful harmony in them. As I stood listening to those hymns my faith and my testimony were increased and I felt well repaid for having attended these services. ¶

I rejoice in having this opportunity of meeting here with you people in a General Conference. It has been some time since this has been my privilege. ¶

Going back to the point I want to stress. In thus being a listener and not a participator in the rendering of the hymns I could not help noticing the confusion caused by people leaving during the closing hymn and benediction, not mentioning those who leave before the last speaker has finished. I cannot help but feel that this is not only improper but shows disrespect to God himself. If we have a true testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ how can we leave a spiritual feast before it is finished. One would never think of leaving a banquet before the serving of the last two or three courses. Of course there are exceptions, there are cases and times when necessity makes this necessary. But seeing the members do this, not only at these sessions of Conference but in our ward meetings, it has been a mystery to me, because as I stated before I do love to hear our sacred hymns sung and the final benediction pronounced at our Church services. I am sure that if we have embarked in the service of God, and if we are trying to live up to our religion with all our heart, might, mind and strength, we will never leave a meeting before it is completely finished and the amen has been said. ¶

Some reference has been made during the Conference to anti-"Mormon" literature that is being spread abroad. Australia has been no exception in this regard. During the past four years there has been a man by the name of Julian Barclay, masquerading as or professing to be the ¶

re-incarnation of Christ, and he has received wide publicity as such, throughout Australia. During the course of the past year this same man has been led to see the light through the diligence of some of our missionaries and through his own prayerful and earnest desire to find the truth. He accepted the Gospel and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I believe humbly and sincerely, because of the true change of heart which I have witnessed in him. The newspapers, took advantage of this, and have circulated false propaganda in regard to statements that they claim he made which in reality he did not. Along with this they have written a number of articles of an anti-"Mormon" nature, some of them three to four columns in length. In some instances they have printed them on the front page, using one to two-inch block type letters in their headlines. Two papers in particular did this, and they had statements similar to the following as their headlines : "Mormon Agents are Seeking Girl Recruits in Australia — Well Spoken Americans Frequent Cafes and Offer Jobs to Pretty Waitresses — All Expenses For Journey and 8 pounds ($40.00) Per Week !" Some of these articles have carried with them beautiful pictures and descriptions of Salt Lake City and the Church Office building, along with fine write-ups about scenic Utah and its wealth in natural resources. The truth mixed with such brazen falsehood made the articles so ridiculous that instead of doing harm to our people they have been of inestimable value to our missionaries, because people who are educated and think for themselves realize that these statements are impossible, and when they came in contact with our missionaries the first thing they wanted to know was just how our Church organization does operate, why it is we send missionaries into the world, just what constitutes our beliefs, etc. These things gave us a wonderful opportunity to spread the Gospel among that people, giving us audiences that we could not otherwise have had. Therefore the Elders are taking advantage of this and are laboring with all their heart, might, mind, and strength among that people. ¶

I believe firmly that the Australian mission at the present time is in the healthiest condition it has ever enjoyed. The missionaries, though few in number, are doing a marvelous work. I have left them in the best of health. The Saints generally throughout Australia are also enjoying very good health and are not being hurt by this depression nearly so much as are the other people of the commonwealth. During the past few months there has been a remarkable growth in the Australian mission. There have been more converts baptized and more Books of Mormon distributed than in any other similar period in the entire history of the mission. This speaks volumes for the work the missionaries are doing there. ¶

I do not want you to think I am in any way placing all the honor or glory upon the Elders who are laboring there now. They are reaping what the other missionaries have sown in years past. These things run in cycles, and Australia at the present time is enjoying a cycle of reaping. Of course I realize fully that all blessings are contingent upon God and to him belong all praise, honor, and glory. ¶

In closing I want to bear my testimony. I only hope and pray that I may ever remain steadfast in the Church of Jesus Christ, that I may • remain firm in the faith. As President Grant expressed in his opening address, I have never seen a time yet when I wavered the least bit or had any cause for doing so, nor have I come in contact with any doctrines of other churches that would cause me to waver in the least so far as my faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned. I only hope and pray that if I live to see the age that President Grant has attained, I too may look back on my years and be able to continue to say that very thing. In fact, after looking over the doctrines of the world as they are being taught in the various denominations, I feel just as Peter did in the time of the Savior. You will recall some of the Redeemer's disciples had fallen away and left him, and he turned to the Twelve and said, "Will ye also go away?" Then Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." That is what I say in regard to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we haven't the Gospel in our Church today I do not know of any church that has, and I would say, to whom shall we go, because the words of eternal life are inculcated in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it has everything within its fold that is conducive to health, happiness, and success, and the richest of all blessings, that of eternal life and increase. ¶

May God bless us all that we may worship and obey him throughout our lives, with all our heart, might, mind and strength, is my humble prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶