Conference Address

Sometimes it is better to go "over the top" without notice, than to sit in awful expectation of the zero hour. Humbly I pray for guidance and help. ¶

I bring to you, my brothers and sisters, greetings from the Saints of the British Mission. They are attempting to carry on under very trying circumstances. Men and women have assumed responsibilities of leadership, and in all the branches and districts an effort is being made to maintain the organizations of the Church and to carry on under the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

The spirit of the British Saints is admirable indeed. The attitude of the British people commands respect and admiration. They are taking a stand in defense of democracy, are fighting a war which was not of their choosing but which I am sure they will prosecute until the aggressor nations change their policy and decide to live at peace with their neighbors and respect the rights of individuals, of groups, of races and nationalities. ¶

We who remained a few months after the war was declared have some little appreciation of the seriousness of the situation as it affects our people there. While we are assembled here in a great Conference of the Church, in a peaceful land, surrounded with comparative plenty, ¶

enjoying the comforts and in many instances luxuries of life, let us not be unmindful of the conditions that obtain in those European countries which are at war. May we remember them, not only in our prayers to our Heavenly Father, but I suggest that those of us who are acquainted, as many of us are through our sons and daughters who have labored there, with members of the Church in those countries, that we write them occasionally, encouraging them to carry on. ¶

Your sons and daughters who have been laboring there have given a good account of themselves. We who were laboring with them found real joy and satisfaction in attempting to help them to get a vision of the great missionary work of the Church. The spirit of the Missions of the Church is the spirit of selfless service. I am sure that the reason so many of your sons and daughters, upon returning home, declare that the time spent in the mission field was the most enjoyable of their lives, is that ■ they have found, while there, that there is more joy in giving than in getting. ¶

Sometimes, when they first arrive, they wonder just what they are going to get out of their mission, and as long as they are thus disturbed they are not very effective. Very soon after arriving, however, most of them begin to look around them for ways whereby they may serve their fellow men, and when they are impressed by this spirit they begin to unfold and to develop, under the light of the spirit of the Gospel of Christ, and they become effective. ¶

It is regrettable that in some instances, upon returning home, they find difficulty in making the adjustment that is necessary where they find it incumbent upon them to spend part, at least, of their time in establishing themselves economically. I trust that as time goes on we may find ways and means of meeting this situation. ¶

I trust that the Lord will help us to serve Him and keep His commandments, and show our love for Him by our willingness to serve our fellow men at home, when so much of our time is necessarily given to so-called worldly matters. I hope the time may come when the spirit of the Mission may dominate the Wards and the Stakes at home, even more than it does today. I trust that we may catch the vision of the work which was undertaken and so effectively completed by the Master Himself ; that we may come to see in others the good that is there to be found : that we may emulate His example, and put out of our hearts envy and contention and jealousy and strife ; that we may become sympathetic, one with another ; that we may realize that real religion is service ; that we must convert conviction into action. ¶

I trust that we, as members of the Church of Christ, may be able so to live the Gospel that others, seeing our works, may be attracted to it and receive of the blessings which are in store for those who will observe it. ¶

I read this morning, before leaving home, a work which I should like to read to you, indicative of the thinking of some of the leaders in other lands today. ¶

Religion, in the past, has always spent a large proportion of its force on doings that were apart from the real business of life, on sacrificing, on endless prayers, on traveling to Mecca, Jerusalem or Rome, on kissing sacred stones, bathing in sacred rivers, climbing sacred stairs, and a thousand things that had at best only an indirect bearing on the practical social relations between men and their fellows. ¶

I thought of this paragraph as President Clark was giving us his masterful address, and as I listened to the reports that were read here. I think there is no group in the world which is giving so unselfishly for the uplift of the human family as is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. There is less show and pomp and ceremony, but it seems to me that we are attempting to harness the great spiritual power of the Church to the problems of human suffering and human need. For these things humbly I thank God. ¶

I should like to bear witness to you, my brethren and sisters, upon returning again from the mission field, that God has blessed me with a testimony of the truth. I thank Him humbly for that, as it is the prized possession of my life. I bear witness that the Prophet Joseph Smith had a vision, that he saw and talked with God. I know this from the very core of my heart, and I thank Him for that knowledge. ¶

I bear witness that they who have succeeded him were likewise so inspired and led; that President Heber J. Grant is a prophet of God. It was my privilege to travel with him some two years ago in Europe. I wish you could have been present in Heidelburg when, as we were passing through the station, where we could not stop, a group of faithful German Latter-day Saints, standing on the platform, as he put his head out of the car window, sang in a language we could not understand, but with a spirit that I have seldom witnessed, "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet." Today I echo that sentiment, and say to you that throughout the world faithful Latter-day Saints esteem him and his associates as such. ¶

I bear witness to the truth, and bring to you from those nations this message : Carry on, regardless of the difficulties that may confront you. God made of one blood all nations of men, and there is no room in the heart of a Latter-day Saint for hate. ¶

Let us then, remember them today in those countries, and let us plead with God our Father to bring speedily the end to war. May we, as we enjoy the peaceful surroundings of our great land, be not unmindful of the fact that they are our brothers and sisters, and that He is interested in them. Let us love one another. Let us emulate His example, for He exposed each individual to the X-ray of His penetrating vision, and revealed to him his hidden possibilities, not his defects. Let us keep that in mind as we think of these warring nations, and expel from our hearts anything of hate, and in love serve our fellow men. I pray God that He will help us so to do, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶