Report on the New England Mission

My beloved brethren and sisters: First, I wish to take the opportunity of expressing to my brethren my appreciation for the opportunities that came to me while presiding over the New England Mission for two years. That call to service has turned out to be one of the finest experiences in my life -- and I consider that I have had many and varied experiences in this great Church. ¶

Sister Eyring and I wish to express special appreciation for the service rendered the Mission, first by Elder Widtsoe and Sister Widtsoe, then by President and Sister Clawson, and finally by Elder Ballard and Sister Ballard. We shall always cherish as one of our finest remembrances those last two weeks which we had the privilege of spending with Brother Ballard. He brought to our Mission a great message. Our missionaries will not forget the powerful addresses which he gave us, especially at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph. The memory of him is still with us; his power in the Church we still feel. We praise God that his great Church can produce men such as Elder Ballard. ¶

As I have traveled over New England, I have come to realize why it was possible for the leaders of the Church and their followers to establish communities in this western land. One has but to realize that the soil is very shallow in New England, that there are many forests to be cleared, and that for two hundred years the New Englanders were pioneering their "hard" country, to realize that their sons and daughters, out of this background, would be able to pioneer in this western "waste" country and do a fine job of it. In the great Connecticut River Valley, four of the presidents of our Church were born. One hundred years ago the people of New England were either leaving their farms for the West or going to mill towns. Many that set their faces toward the West joined the Church and came to the valleys of the mountains. And here in the West we have created another New England -- at least we were cherishing here much that was created and built in New England. ¶

I am grateful that I have the privilege now of returning home to my position at the Brigham Young University. From boyhood I have grown up in the school system of the Church. I should like to bear testimony that that system has done much for the youth and the leaders of this Church. I am grateful that I am considered worthy to be a part of the Brigham Young University. I hope and pray that the Lord will give me the needed inspiration so that I may teach my students that the Gospel has truly been restored; that there is no ideology on the earth that can save men except the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I truly believe in the first principles of the Gospel. One must have more than just abstract faith. One must have faith in something. Many people have faith in the principle that might makes right. But we claim to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We claim that through continuous repentance our poor ways of living may be turned into an improved newness of life. Through redemption the Lord and Master made it possible for all of us to reach heaven. This is not our special message to the world -- our message, as Elder Ballard so forcibly instructed us, is the declaration of the requirements needed to reach the celestial kingdom of our Father. We, who have started on the journey by accepting these requirements, must not say to ourselves as the people did in the days of Jesus, "Are we not the children of Abraham?" We must realize that it takes more than the "original" faith in Jesus and the "original" repentance and the "original" baptism and the "original" laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. To live up to our possibilities, we must have an enduring faith in Jesus and his way of life; an abiding faith that he brought to the world the ideology that will bring peace; a steadfast confidence that we can create a newness of life after his pattern through daily repentance; a dynamic courage and faith which, when we have gone into the waters of baptism and have thus shown to our fellowmen that we propose to become ideal members of this Church, will compel us to live, day after day, so that we might expect the companionship of the Holy Ghost -- the privilege of those who are truly candidates for the celestial kingdom of our Father. ¶

Bless this people, our Father, and guide the young people so that they may be true to the faith is my prayer. Amen. ¶