Conference Address

If this were not such a difficult task I would be indeed happy to report to you the Canadian mission. I can say truthfully that after being out of these valleys of the mountains for some time I am happy to be back in them. Their friendliness appeals to me, as does the spirit of this great Conference. ¶

I am happy to bring you greetings from the Saints and missionaries of the Canadian mission, and to tell you that they are all well and happy. I know how those Saints would enjoy what you are enjoying today. As our broadcast went to them Sunday it would be the first time that many of them had heard our president and his counselors, and they were prepared to receive those messages. ¶

For some of you who may not know, may I say that the Canadian mission covers the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, in Canada, and Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in ¶

the United States. It is a beautiful country. There are no more beautiful cities, I think, any place, than the city of Toronto, our headquarters. The fertile valleys of Ontario are beautiful. I think there are no more fruitful areas on the American continent than we find there. We go from there, however, out to frontier sections in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and northern Maine, where we find people still using ox teams in the lumber camps and on the farms. ¶

I have been especially impressed with the culture and refinement of the Canadian people. The boys and girls who come to the Canadian mission are likewise impressed with the refinement of those people who have seemed to bring with them the culture and refinement of the Old World. They are more like the people of Europe, I believe, than they are like our own people. They are in the center of great educational institutions, and their schools are wonderfully fine. I have been especially impressed with two outstanding things among those people : one is that in ten months in Canada I have never heard swearing. I thought it was possibly because I had not been where people swear, but I have children in school, both in high school and in the grades, and they, too, tell me they do not hear young people swear. The other outstanding thing is the strict observance of the Sabbath day. In the city of Toronto, with eight hundred and fifty thousand people, there are no amusements open on Sunday, no athletic games, and the people seem not to feel that they are deprived of any of their rights, but they are happy in the observance of the Sabbath day. ¶

Yet, among this fine people, with this culture and refinement, we find one difficulty in our missionary work, and that is the difficulty of an audience. We really should present our calling card or have a formal introduction before we can be invited into their homes. Many of the people through that area belong to churches that deny their people the right to read and converse on religious subjects. Many others belong to that group of "saved" people who have entrusted their salvation to their minister and feel that they can go happily along without responsibility. ¶

It reminds me of the prediction the Apostle Paul made in his epistle to Timothy when he said, "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts shall they heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears ; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." And it seems that that has become the truth in many places. We know that it is a truth that a closed shutter lets in no light. It makes no difference whether that shutter is closed because the light is too strong to bear or whether there is no light there to bear. If we get the truth before people, their mental shutters must be opened wide. It is one of the problems of the missionaries throughout that district to get people to listen to them. They are trying, through their own personalities and in other ways to get the mental shutters open — to get an audience. ¶

The missionaries feel their responsibility, and although we have had a long, -cold winter, they have found many means of presenting the ¶

Gospel to the people, so that we have found an increase in missionary activity in practically every department, and we have also found an increase in happiness because of the work done. I think our missionaries fully sense that when the Master said, "Ye are the salt of the world" and "Ye are the light of the world," he meant that for them also, and that they are to spread the savor of Christianity and so live that their lives will bring people to a knowledge of God. ¶

I think it is Fosdick who said of those verses that Jesus was saying to his disciples, "You are more than mere individuals ; you are representing Me in the world ; you stand for My honor and My success in the world." ¶

It is an interesting thing to note that every man has a power to stand for something more than himself. It is an interesting thing that Latter-day Saints, wherever they go in the world, seem to stand for something, more than themselves. It is interesting, I think, for us as Latter-day Saints to occasionally check on ourselves, ask ourselves, what do we stand for in the community where we live. Among the people that we associate with, what human interests or what turn of character do we represent? It is a beautiful thing to have the satisfaction of feeling that we do represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We feel happy to have people know that our actions are determined by the principles of the Gospel. ¶

In 2nd Nephi, the twenty-eighth chapter and thirtieth verse, we read: ¶

For behold, thus saith the Lord God : I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear to my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom. For unto him that receiveth I will give more, and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken even that which they have. ¶

Truly it is in the power of every Latter-day Saint to accomplish what the Lord has said, and if we will accept what he has given us he will add unto us ; but if we say we have enough, then there will be taken from us even that which we have. ¶

Many people marvel at the happiness of the missionary and many question his truthfulness when he says, "It is the happiest time of my life." But they seem not to understand that some one who has analyzed the Master's life, truly said, "The source of the Master's joy was beyond the power of men and circumstances." Nothing that men or circumstances could do could rob him of his joy. We remember also that he said to his disciples, "My joy I give unto you, and your joy no man taketh from you." ¶

It is the missionary, then, who has this joy that is not at the mercy of men or circumstances, who can be happy though he labor all the day long and receive no welcome from those he approaches, because no man has power to take his joy from him. May God grant unto all missionaries this joy. ¶

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Now in conclusion may I say to the parents that we are happy to have your sons and daughters there with us. Sister Rich and I are doing our best to guard their health and keep them happy. We appreciate them, and we appreciate the missionary work that you are doing in the fine letters of encouragement and happiness that you write to them. ¶

May the Lord bless you and them and us, to carry to a successful conclusion this work we have begun, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶