Conference Address

Brothers and sisters, I sense keenly the responsibility resting upon me at this time. I confess I am a little frightened because of that responsibility. I pray humbly that I may be directed by the Spirit of God in what I say. I remember just before my farewell party, when I was leaving for my first mission, I was very much worried as to what I should say, and I thought — "how thankful and happy I will be after this mission is over, so that I will not be so frightened and worry so much when I am called upon to speak.'1' That was forty years ago, I am now returning from my third mission, and I confess I am just as frightened, and I have worried as much, or more, I believe, than I did then. ¶

I remember also a few lines of poetry that were written on the fly-leaf of a little book that was given to me at that time, a book of views of beautiful Ogden Canyon ; I appreciated them so much that I memorized them. I appreciate them even more today, after spending about nine years in the mission field in Europe, than I did then. They are as follows : ¶

There is a land of every land the pride, beloved of Heaven ¶

o'er all the earth beside. There is a spot of earth supremely blest, ¶

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest. ¶

Where is that land, that spot of earth to find? ¶

Art thou a man, a patriot? Look around And O thou shalt find, where'er thy footsteps roam, ¶

That land, thy country, and that spot thy home. ¶

I am more grateful today than ever before for my country and for my home. I appreciate and love them more. I love and appreciate my wife and children, my parentage, my brothers and sisters and friends, more than ever before. We are glad to be home again. Of course, we have enjoyed our mission. We have enjoyed our association with your sons, the finest missionaries in the world. We wish to thank you parents for sending such sons into the mission field. It has been a great inspiration to us to associate with such choice young men. Some of them are sons of missionaries with whom we labored when presiding over the Swiss-German Mission before. ¶

And by the way, tomorrow, Saturday, the 6th of April, will be just twenty-eight years since I reported my return from presiding over the Swiss and German Mission ; at that time, as I recall, President Joseph F. Smith presided. The music was furnished by the Brigham Young University choir, conducted by Professor Lund. Apostle Hyrum Smith was the first speaker. Many changes have taken place since that time. A number of changes have taken place since we left a little over thirty months ago. We miss some very dear faces here on the stand. ¶

It has been a wonderful experience, brothers and sisters, to be in the mission field for the third time. The Lord said, through «the Savior : ¶

If ye do the work ye shall know. My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. ¶

I have seen the fulfilment of that promise. People that I met on my first mission, forty years ago, have sons now in the mission field, or they have been. Babies that I blessed on that first mission are now leaders, one of them presiding over the West German Mission. Many of the parents, who were Sunday School children at that time, have had sons in the mission field. All of the missionaries in the Swiss Mission, except two, have been born since that mission twenty-eight years ago. The large majority of these missionaries are sons of either parents or grandparents born in Switzerland, and I want to tell you parents that they are a credit to you and a credit to the Church, and their strong testimonies, as well as those of their parents, are a practical demonstration of the promise, "if ye will do the work, ye shall know." ¶

The Swiss and German Mission twenty-eight years ago comprised all of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and France. Today there are five Missions in these countries. They are doing well. Of course, they are handicapped because of the evacuation of all our missionaries and Mission presidents, but I am pleased to report that the local people are carrying on. Quite a number of those people who are now in charge of the work have been born in the Church; they understand the Gospel and are well qualified to carry on ; they have faith ; they are not discouraged because, as they say, they have the Gospel. ¶

Some of our Branches have had to be closed, but in the main they are all functioning. Two Branches which we have had to close — very fine Branches too, one of which I think had the best record in tithe-paying in the Church — were located in Strassbourg and Muehlhausen, France. These cities were evacuated when war was declared. The people, our members among them, had to leave over night, with only a bundle of clothing to take with them. For weeks we didn't know just where they were. Finally we were able to get some letters through, and they were located. As soon as arrangements could be made with the French and Swiss authorities for permission to cross the border, one of our brethren was sent to visit them, taking a considerable sum of money with him to help make them as comfortable as possible. ¶

We had learned, just for an example, that thirty-five thousand people were being taken care of in a city of thirty thousand population. You can imagine what that would mean, with the limited accommodations. Some members, we learned, - were sleeping in bath-rooms ; others sleeping in the halls. So we sent considerable money with this good brother, a local brother, to buy bed springs, ¶

bedding, curtains, and other things. By sending some telegrams, and telephoning, he succeeded in getting most of them together. They held a testimony meeting. ¶

When this brother came back he said : "President McKay, you sent me there to give them spiritual uplift and to encourage them, but I received much more help spiritually from them than I was able to give them." Those people, although they didn't know whether they would ever see an Elder again, an authority of the Church, had put away their tithing as usual. They had received work — some of them — and they had been blessed. This local brother brought back nearly as much money as we had sent to help them. They said : "You express our thankfulness to President McKay for the help that he has sent us, and tell him that we are all right, and are not discouraged, because we have the Gospel." That is the faith of those people over there, brothers and sisters. They are keeping the commandments of the Lord and are doing the will of the Father. ¶

It is difficult to keep all the Branches organized. We get them organized, then our brethren are taken into the army. About six hundred of our brethren are in the army in Germany. Seven of them have lost their lives — not in battle, however. They are praying that they will not have to fight. They are peace-loving, those members. They have no hate in their hearts, but a love for all mankind, the love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have committees appointed, so that as soon as a vacancy occurs, another man is called to take his place. We have called sisters on missions, to take charge of the office work, and they are getting along very nicely. They are keeping busy and are trying to do the will of the Father. ¶

They know, as I know, that God lives; that He is our Father; that we are all His children; that He loves us, and because He loves us He has given us the Gospel. Every commandment He has given is for our progress and happiness in this life, as well as our life hereafter. Our members know this as I know it, and they are keeping the commandments. They keep the Word of Wisdom, are paying their tithing, their Fast offerings, and they are being blessed for it. ¶

I was delighted to hear this morning in the report — I don't know whether you noticed it or not, but I did — that the Swiss Mission is leading in Fast offerings, per capita ; that is, outside of the smaller Missions. ¶

They know, too, as I know, that Jesus is the Christ, that He is our head, that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. They know, too, as I know, that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, and that his successors are prophets of the Lord, including our beloved President Heber J. Grant. Oh, how we do love and appreciate President Grant. It is remarkable ; it is a miracle what he has accomplished in establishing just this one point I will mention — better public relations between the Church and the rest of the world. ¶

We have had occasion to visi* our Consuls and Consul Generals, representing the United States, qviite often we made it a point to call ¶

on them and get acquainted as soon as we entered a city. I remember calling on the Consul General in Zurich : I gave him my card, the Temple card. He looked at it and said : "It is a beautiful card.'" I said : "You may keep it, if you wish to." He said : "Thank you, but I have something I prize a great deal more than this Temple card." He reached in his desk and brought out a book presented to him by President Grant, autographed by President Grant. That was one of his prizes, and he took a great deal of pride in showing it to me. ¶

God bless President Grant. The people there love him. We all love him. He is our leader, chosen of the Lord. God bless these brethren on the stand. President Clark also is known by many of these representatives of our Government. They have been in very deed friends to us during our rather exciting and worrying experiences because of war conditions. They have arranged for us to telephone, when it was impossible for private people to telephone. We appreciate them. I wish to express our appreciation here publicly for what they have done. ¶

Brethren and sisters, I am grateful, more grateful than I can express, for the testimony I have that this is the Church of God. May He help us always to do His will, and thereby retain this testimony that we have, I humbly pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶