The Work of the Mission President

Did you ever have a moment in your life when you felt like you had been shot at and just missed? I could not have been more startled when President McKay stepped down to speak to me a moment ago, than if I had been shot at. I was surprised indeed. ¶

I am happy to be here, my brethren. These conferences are glorious. We derive great strength and encouragement from what we hear from our leaders. I feel that in this conference we have received some plain, timely, straight-forward, and important instructions that ought to be a challenge to every one of us, a charge imposing responsibility to do better in the future than we have done in the past. ¶

I am happy to be serving as President of the New England Mission. We are making some progress. The Church has been good to us. Within the time of my service we have acquired five beautiful properties, which our people are using as chapels, and in addition to that, we have a magnificent home for the mission. ¶

We are in the New England states to stay. What we are doing is giving evidences of the stability of our mission organization. The Lord has been good to us because he has blessed us abundantly. The people are more faithful than ever before. They are anxious to serve the Lord, and are sincere, devout members of the Church. Above all they are not afraid now to let people know that they are members of the Church. ¶

The president of the Cambridge Branch recently made a deposit in a bank, and he came to me to get an authority, so the bank ¶

would know he had a right to receive and draw checks, and so forth. I said: "How did you make the deposit?" ¶

He said, "Mormon Church, Cambridge Branch." ¶

That is the way the people in the New England Mission feel. ¶

For some unknown reason I was impressed when I left the hotel room this morning to pick up a sheet of paper on which is a motto for the New England Mission. We found it in the 1st book of Corinthians, 16th chapter and 13th verse, and I am going to read this motto and the few words that have been said about it. ¶

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong" -- this was addressed by Paul to the Corinthian Church, but it rings a clarion message to us, the Latter-day Saints. ¶

It contains four distinct statements, each important and all necessary for faithfulness. ¶

1. "Watch ye." We must keep our eyes and ears open, be alert to learn of him and of his ways; give heed not only to his word as contained in the scriptures, but to instructions and counsel of his servants. Words and actions must be guarded so as not to injure others; thoughts and habits be controlled and regulated so as to impress others by example that there is substance to his way of life. ¶

2. "Stand fast in the Faith." Faith in Jesus Christ, his life and mission is essential to salvation, and devout Christians vehemently assert that it is essential to lasting peace. It is the better way, not only to eternal life but to good neighborly living. Steadfastness in our faith will impel us to broadcast its truths, and even to die for it; stability therein is bound to influence others. ¶

3. "Quit you like men." To acquit ourselves like real men is a solemn duty of all of us in all the affairs of life. Honorable men are without guile, do not injure others, lead exemplary lives, and seek to promote truth and righteousness. Cowards slink from responsibility and accomplish nothing worthwhile. To manfully acquit ourselves, we must lead lives that are constructive and consistent with the standards and practices of his Church. ¶

4. "Be strong." This is a summary of all virtues. Strong men and women are needed everywhere, in the Nation, the Church, the neighborhood. To them we look for guidance, for leadership. Sturdy, powerful witnesses of the Savior, of his word and work, are required to lead men in his path of truth and righteousness. Therefore, be strong in the faith and valiant for the truth. ¶

On the train coming over from Chicago I visited with a colonel in the army and with a member of the stake over which I used to preside. During the conversation I heard this member tell the officer that he would just as leave fail to pay his taxes as to fail to pay his tithing. The colonel was startled. The member said: "If I failed to pay my taxes, I would lose my property, and if I fail to pay my tithing, I'll lose the blessings of the Lord, and I need them." ¶

Then he said: "I believe in a personal God, who has a countenance, and when I kneel down to say my prayers, I want to be able to look my God, my Father in heaven squarely in the face, and ask him to bless me. If I did not pay my tithing, I would feel I had not done my share, and I could not look him squarely in the face." That is the kind of valiance, my brethren, that makes good Latter-day Saints. ¶

I pray that we may be true Latter-day Saints, earnest and anxious to accept the instructions that are given to us by our leaders. Their counsels are wise, and we will be blessed and more fortunate if we accept them than if we do not. I pray the Lord to preserve their lives in health and happiness, so that for many years to come they may continue to give us the straightforward and forceful instructions that we have received in this conference, and that we may be good missionaries, unafraid to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have not come in contact with it, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶