Mission Presidents and Their Responsibilities

President Grant and brethren: It is a great privilege to be engaged in a work that can bring together so many hundreds of fine men -- all officers in the Church, having a definite responsibility. I am thankful for my membership in such a Church -- a Church where everybody has an opportunity to work. ¶

Mission Presidents and Their Responsibilities

I am happy that the mission presidents are with us again. I think the calling of mission presidents one of the most responsible in the Church-- it is a real job under normal conditions, but at present when all the young elders are released and in the service of our country, the responsibility is much greater than ever. I congratulate you mission presidents upon the splendid way in which you continue to carry on. ¶

Since returning last week from a most delightful and instructive tour of the Canadian Mission, and after listening to the very interesting reports and testimonies of our mission presidents in their meeting with the general authorities, in the temple last Wednesday, I feel like paying tribute to the mission presidents' wives and the young lady missionaries, and the Relief Societies of the missions. To repeat what President Reeder stated in his very excellent report: The sisters are following the injunction of the Prophet Joseph, viz., "to provoke the brethren to good works." ¶

A Suggestion for the Seventies

But while listening to the mission presidents tell of the fine work of their wives with the Relief Societies and Primaries, and especially while listening to the fine group of young lady missionaries in the Canadian Mission give their reports and testimonies, my mind kept reverting to a splendid group of over five hundred seventies with whom I was very closely associated while president of the Ogden Stake. We had nine quorums, and since the division of the stake recently there are now eleven in the two stakes. I thought if President Ursenbach, his talented wife, two charming daughters, and thirteen-year-old son, Gerry, a natural missionary, who are doing such splendid work in the Canadian Mission, had only three or four pairs of missionaries specially picked from those eleven quorums, what a relief it would be, and what a help to the ¶

local branch presidents, the local missionaries, and especially to the unorganized branches and the scattered members and friends; just one missionary from each of the eleven quorums would furnish five pairs, and if we had at least one missionary from each of the nearly three hundred quorums, it would furnish seventeen missionaries or eight and a half pairs for each of the thirty-five missions of the Church; this is just a postwar suggestion. I am sure that with proper leadership in the quorums, such a plan could be carried out without hardship to the members of the quorums and without interfering with the splendid stake missionary work that is now being carried on. Quorum welfare and other projects to maintain the missionary funds I am sure could be instituted. Quite a number of the quorums have already in the past maintained one or more missionaries in the field and are ready as soon as the war is over to again carry on, and all the other quorums could also do it. I believe it is practical, and then, too, it is a fine thing to have a definite aim or goal always in view. ¶

Please do not misunderstand me. I do not wish, in the least, to depreciate the value of our younger elders in the mission field. I am suggesting these pairs of seventy second mission men, in addition to the two thousand or more young elders. I have long had a feeling that some day Russia would be a most fruitful field for missionary work, and I think that day is near at hand; also China and perhaps India -- thousands and thousands of fine people in these great countries know nothing of Christianity. ¶

But in the organized branches and districts at present under local supervision we will need more experienced men, not to supplant the local workers but to help them. ¶

In the twelve missions comprising the European group in those war-torn countries where so many will have lost not only all their earthly possessions, but many of their loved ones, and some of them perhaps also their faith in a Supreme Being -- the local brethren and sisters who have carried on so loyally and efficiently will need experienced help -- second mission men if possible. ¶

Conditions in European Missions

Now just a brief statement about conditions in the European missions. Letters and reports are being received more regularly all the time -- a few of them get by without being censored. We have even heard indirectly from the East and the West German missions; also from the French, the Belgian, and the Netherlands missions. We also continue to receive letters and quite complete reports from the three Scandinavian, the Palestine-Syrian, South African, Swiss and the British missions. ¶

Brother Hugh B. Brown, president of the British Mission, is carrying a tremendous responsibility, and is doing it as usual efficiently and without complaint. In a letter recently received he said: ¶

My work continues to be intensely interesting, and I hope somewhat profitable. I wrote you some time ago of our move to Birmingham and hope to write you soon telling you we have returned to London. I was there over the week end, and while the building at "Ravenslea" is at present unfit for human habitation, I believe it can be repaired soon, as there are very promising indications that the war will be over in Europe and with it the menace of flying bombs removed. ¶

I can report the British Mission as being in rather a satisfactory condition, satisfactory when you view it in the light of what has happened in these last four years. The taking away of practically all the men who hold the Priesthood, the breaking up of families, the withdrawal of the missionaries, and the leaving of affairs in the hands of local_ men, have all had effects, but in spite of it all there is a valiant band of Latter-day Saints carrying on as best they can in good old Britain. ¶

In the course of my travels to the branches and districts of the mission, and to the military camps and air bases, I have an unusual opportunity to see a cross section of the Church in action, and what I see makes me proud. ¶

I get daily letters from the service men from various theatres of war and from the training camps, and in all of them there is a spirit of humility, faith in God and trust in his guiding hand -- this is evidence of the helpful effects of early training. ¶

We have also received reports from the district and branch conferences held in Norway and Denmark, also the annual conference of the Swedish Mission, held June 23 to 26 -- four days -- and the attendance of Saints and visiting friends is reported as record-breaking. ¶

' The conference in Bergen District, of the Norwegian Mission, was scheduled to be held April 22 and 23, but because of a terrific explosion in Bergen on the twentieth, where forty-three people met their deaths and many were injured, and much property destroyed, the scheduled meetings had to be changed. The explosion ruined some of the homes of our members, but the members themselves escaped without injury with the exception of a few who received some scratches. The concert that was to have been given Saturday night was given Monday, and the proceeds given to these sufferers; in the mission, more than four thousand kroner were raised for the unfortunate ones. ¶

In Denmark, in addition to holding their regular meetings, the mission has had made and placed in the entrance of the chapel in Copenhagen, a memorial marble plaque of the Prophet Joseph Smith, to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet. The following paragraph is quoted from the Danish Star: ¶

The memorial is not to be brought about by the money of the Church or that of a few individuals; that would be contrary to the very idea of it. No, every Danish Latter-day Saint who acknowledges his faith in Joseph Smith as a prophet, seer, and revelator must share in it. The memorial is to be a symbol of our unity and to show appreciation for what the Prophet Joseph Smith has done for every member. Thus we appeal to all Saints. ¶

None go free, children or adults, all are to take part. To reciprocate the amount is not large, only twenty-five ore from each. Signed, The Committee. ¶

In a letter from Sweden we received the following: ¶

I am in hopes that President McKay received my telegram with salutations from the East German mission president. He is at present in German military service in the neighborhood of Esbjerg, Denmark, and has occasionally been addressing the meetings held there. ¶

Also via the Swedish Mission comes this letter from our new acting mission president in the West German Mission: ¶

I and my family are all well, and also of my brothers and sisters I have good reports. Even though the war has demanded sacrifices from among them, still the Lord has greatly blessed us. The gatherings are kept up, although under some limitations. From the statistics on the reverse side you can gain a survey. This is for 1943: ¶

Children blessed 62, 34 boys and 28 girls. ¶

Baptisms and confirmations, 62. ¶

Ordinations, 75. ¶

Deaths, 70 members, of which 18 were killed in the war. ¶

A brief reference to the French Mission, then I will close. The first is quoted from a monthly bulletin now being issued by the French-Swiss District. ¶

A special program was given at La Chaux de Fonds on May 14, honoring mothers, with children contributing the major part of the program. ¶

Brother Leon Fargier of Valence, France, has made an extensive tour of the country, visiting among others the branches of Paris and Besancon. Sacrament meetings were held in each place, to the joy of the Saints, almost exclusively women. Other branches visited: Nimes, Valence, Grenoble, and St. Etienne. The Saints, although few in numbers, remain faithful and meet together regularly. ¶

A Soldier's Visit in France

The following is a paragraph from a letter of one of our soldier boys, Brother James P. Condie -- a former French missionary now with the Seventh Army in France, and formerly with the Fifth Army in Italy, to his parents, Brother and Sister Parley M. Condie, of Preston, Idaho: ¶

I had the long-dreamed-of privilege of" holding a meeting with nine Saints of one of our active branches before the war. Some others were prisoners or in the F.F.I. (Resistance). Several were ill, and we have visited and blessed them. ¶

A protestant minister offered his chapel and his congregation, but I felt with so little time I had best hold a meeting with the Saints, and then visit as many sick and friends as possible. It was a glorious occasion. It was for them the dream come true. I concluded that missionaries should be sent as soon as possible. There is a lot of good will here right now. Several expressed the desire to join the Church. The Saints have suffered much, but their testimonies are an inspiration. ¶

May our Father in heaven continue to bless Brother Condie, and the 80,000 others of our young men who are now serving their ¶

country. They, too, are missionaries; we are missionaries. This is a great missionary Church. May we so live that the inspiration of the Lord may always be with us, so that it can never be said of any one of us, "He was called and found wanting"; but rather may we each be able to say truthfully when our earthly mission is finished, as Paul said: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," I pray in the name of our Savior. Amen. ¶