California Mission Report

I am grateful, my brothers and sisters, for this opportunity of bringing to you and to this conference a report of the California Mission. I bring to you the greetings of your sons and daughters who are serving as missionaries in that great mission. They are well ; after some sickness which has prevailed with us during the past few months, I am happy to report that all the missionaries are enjoying the best of health, and are prosecuting their work with diligence and energy in carrying forward the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I want to endorse the remarks that have been made here by President Bryant S. Hinckley and President Thomas D. Rees, as to the value, to these young men and women, of this opportunity that has come to them to serve in the mission field. This splendid group who form this choir that has rendered so beautifully for us today, I hope that in each of their lives, it shall be their plan and program to serve in the mission field. There is no experience that can come to a young man or woman that shall be of such value and interest to them throughout their lives as the experiences gained in the mission field. ¶

We came to this earth for experience, and that is all we will take out of it. So I hope it shall be the ambition of every young man and woman in the Church to go on a mission. I hope you mothers and fathers, you presidents of stakes and bishops of wards, will see to it that those under your care, (you who are stewards over them) shall have this privilege. See that they are not cheated out of this golden opportunity. ¶

I am glad to report that the work in the California Mission is progressing and growing. Nine thousand four hundred Saints in that mission, which embodies three states, send greetings to this conference. ¶

We are grateful to the presidency of the Relief Society for the opportunity that was given our mission to bring our Singing Mothers to the Relief Society conference. Out of the scattered branches of that mission there have come to this conference more than two hundred of these Singing Mothers who have been trained by Sister MacDonald. We are grateful also to Sister Evangeline Beesley, for her capable leadership and direction in the singing of these women. ¶

I have not time to give to you the remarkable experiences and sacrifices made by these splendid Latter-day Saint women who came at great sacrifices and for long distances. They are thrilled with this opportunity of attending a General Conference of the Church, and of participating in the blessings that belong to Latter-day Saints. ¶

The baptisms in the California Mission have increased sixty per cent over last year, which is evidence of the energetic work of your boys and girls in the mission. More than twelve thousand copies of the sacred record, the Book of Mormon, have been distributed this year. I am happy to bring you the indication that the people of the world are seeking after the very things that make the Mormon Church different. One of the interesting things that are attracting attention and unlocking the doors to the missionaries is the Church Welfare program. The fundamentals, the temporal things, about which our Church is concerned, plus the fine standards set by our people, are attracting intelligent men and women. ¶

I believe that we should be more concerned, and be prepared so we shall be ready to receive the good men and women when they come to accept the Gospel. There is such an indication of interest among the people who are now seeking after the finer things that the Gospel embodies, I tremble sometimes lest we shall not be qualified to uphold our standards. I would like to exhort Latter-day Saints to a re-reading of the forty-second Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, in which, at one of the first conferences of this Church, when the missionaries had been called in, and with the Elders assembled together, the Prophet Joseph stood before them, and in the majesty and power that was given him, spoke this great message. The Lord spoke to the Elders of the Church and outlined their duties, and then he said : "Now I speak unto the Church." Orson Pratt, that great missionary Apostle, tells us that he sat there in that great audience and wrote that great revelation as it fell from the lips of the Prophet. ¶

The Lord there tells the Saints what is necessary for them to do ; to be true ; to be honest, as has been outlined here by Apostle Albert E. Bowen today. They shall not steal and they shall not lie, they shall not commit adultery, they shall love their wives and cleave unto them and none else. The Lord here outlines the fundamental virtues that are necessary in the process of making Latter-day Saints out of converts to this Church. ¶

So I submit, brothers and sisters, the re-reading again of the Lord's admonition to Latter-day Saints. ¶

I bring you the announcement that the Book of Mormon has now been translated into the Armenian language, and that under the direction of Apostle John A. Widtsoe, Brother N. K, Sheranian, one of . our missionaries, has completed the first printing and publishing of the book into this language. The Nephite record is now to be given to the scattered Armenian people. ¶

I am happy to say that in all the organizations of the Church in the California Mission the work is being carried on in our small branches as nearly as possible as it is outlined by the General Authorities of the Church. I bear testimony that this is the work of the Lord, that Joseph Smith was in reality a prophet of God. I sustain wholeheartedly, and I bear record, that our leaders today are inspired men. They have the inspiration of the Lord to direct this work. I pray that the Lord will bless us as a people, that we may stand firmly together and uphold the principles that have been given us ; that by our lives, and the works we do, we shall preach the Gospel to the children of men ; and that the honorable men of the earth seeing our good example may be led to investigate and be brought to a knowledge of the truth. ¶

May the Lord add his blessings to us, I pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶