Texas Mission Report

I am very grateful, my brethren and sisters, for the new opportunity which has come to me to go into the mission field once more. I am happy to report our work in the Texas Mission I bring to you the greetings of our saints in Texas and Louisiana, as well as from the missionaries laboring there. ¶

To the parents of the missionaries I am happy to report that they are well. During the past year we have enjoyed splendid health, and the blessings of the Lord have been with us. We have an exceptionally fine group of missionaries. The parents of these fine young people can well be proud of them. I am sure that they will bring honor to you and to the Church, and to the community when they return to their homes. ¶

Much of the old prejudice and antagonism has disappeared, but there are still many things to dishearten and discourage the missionaries. They need your support. When you write to them write only encouraging things, and avoid anything that may tend to discourage them in their work. ¶

This year Texas is celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of her freedom. At Dallas a fine exposition has been built. Millions of dollars have been spent in the erecting of buildings and places of amusement. We are fortunate in having a booth in the Exposition, manned by our Elders who labor there. Thousands of people stop to see the pictures of our various temples and to hear the discourses of these fine young men. The Gospel message, my brethren and sisters, is finding its way into the homes of both the great and the small. The advancement and growth of the Church, and the publicity which has recently come to it through our relief program and the addresses of President Grant abroad, as well as other favorable publicity, have opened many a door to our missionaries. ¶

Due credit must be given to our Tabernacle Choir and the Organ for the splendid broadcasts coming from this famous old building. ¶

I think I am safe in saying that our most direct contacts come from these broadcasts and the favorable expressions which we hear with reference to them. ¶

We are happy in bearing testimony of the revealed Gospel, knowing that as we are instrumental in bringing people to a knowledge of the truth we are more firmly establishing ourselves in the kingdom of God. ¶

Some years ago there came to our house quite frequently a dear little old lady. She often stayed with us four or five days at a time. At the dinner table we would discuss the topics of the day, the disasters, the storms, the drouth, the difficulties of the business world, and invariably when we had finished she would place her hand on my arm and say: "Never mind. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you." ¶

It is strange — possibly it is not strange — how our experiences affect our view-point. For instance, I was looking casually through a magazine and came upon a couple of verses which told of early pleasant experiences and the failure that followed an attempt to find the old pleasures in the doing of those same things. It was beautifully written and touched me. I read it to my wife and she shared my appreciation of it. Then at the dinner table with a group of young people I proffered to read it. I put into it all the pathos of which I was capable. When I finished some of them laughed, and others, more respectful, smiled and wondered why my eyes were filled with tears. So it was when this dear little old lady continued to repeat those beautiful words : "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you." I only smiled and thought of it as another Bible quotation. ¶

With the passing of the years there has come possibly some slight degree of wisdom, and with it the experiences that enable one to see more clearly. But not until I had seen the world turned upside down, so to speak ; not until I had seen gigantic financial institutions topple as a house of cards; not until I had seen the fruits of a lifetime of labor and sacrifice and hardship swept away as with a puff of wind ; not until I had seen men go down to work in the morning hopeful and full of enthusiasm, and then saw them standing at night, heartbroken and penniless, did I come to realize, in a degree, the meaning of those precious words. ¶

My brethren and sisters, are we seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Are we giving ourselves freely and willingly to his service? A missionary told me this story of his sister who had written him from home for advice. A young man had come to pay his attentions. He was tall and handsome as young lovers go; she was young, vivacious and liked him. Came the end of the week, and he proposed a trip into the mountains for the Sabbath. She hesitated and then quickly remembered that she was a Sunday School teacher, and that her class of little ones would be waiting for her on the morrow. So he went with others into the mountains and left her with her Sunday School. Came the end of another week, and the renewal of the proposal ¶

that they spend Sunday in the mountains. Now she had had time to think it over and was ready with an answer. She told him that the Sabbath was a very sacred day to her ; that she had been taught from childhood to remember to keep it holy, and that she could not be induced to break it however tempting the invitation. The next morning as she was leaving her home for Sunday School a large automobile drove up to the house and in it were the aforesaid young man and a group of young people. With all the enthusiasm of which young people are capable they urged her to accompany them and all but lifted her into the car. I do not know the workings of her mind ; I do not know the vision that held her to the right. I am inclined to the belief that she knew nothing of these sacred words of the Master, but somewhere in her mind was the essence of that commandment: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you." ¶

True to the teachings of a fine Latter-day Saint home she has found the way to the kingdom of God. And so may we and all who seek him and strive to keep his commandments. But let us not suppose that we may find it by a mediocre or haphazard living of the Gospel ; but rather let us dedicate ourselves, brethren and sisters, to the service of the Master, and in remembrance of his suffering and sacrifice for us devote ourselves to the keeping of the commandments which he has given us, that we may come to know the beauties of his kingdom and the joy of his eternal progress, I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. ¶