Conference Address

I suppose that this is an honor that every missionary, every elder, should aspire to, and again I suppose that any of you who have been called up as I have been will understand the prayer that has been running through my heart for the past few moments when I was asked to "be on deck." I realize that unless I enjoy in that prayer the spirit which Brother Romney talked about, that you will not be able to hear or remember the things which I might say. ¶

In all humility, I do want to bear my testimony, my brethren and sisters, that God lives and that we have the truth. The Lord does hear and answer our prayers and gives us strength when we are called upon to do something by those in authority over us. ¶

I was greatly thrilled last night at our missionary reunion when President Joel Richards told of the splendid missionary efforts that are being put forth and the number of baptisms per missionary that are being accomplished in the Northwestern States Mission. The thought came to me as I listened to Brother Merrill this morning, and it comes to me very often, that when these many people that are listening to the gospel today have been baptized into our church and been born again, we as members have a great responsibility. The Prophet Mosiah told us that when we went into the waters of baptism that we did have that responsibility towards those members who had accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we were to bear with them in their sorrows and in their troubles, and we were commanded to teach them. ¶

Most of my life I have spent away from the Church, out in the world, and I have seen these people who are being baptized into the Church, and many of those who have drifted out into the world or out into the mission fields, get lost and drift away and become inactive and finally lost entirely. I do not believe the Lord is pleased with waste. We have a great responsibility to conserve our membership. We listen to and know about national conservation but still when these, our brethren and sisters, accept the gospel it is just the same as the top soil, which very often is taken from the top of the earth and washed away to the sea. They become lost and much of the responsibility is ours, because we do owe them our helping hand. As Mosiah said, we must bear their burdens with them, and only in bearing their burdens and knowing that we have the truth can we discharge that covenant which we have made. Most of us who are here listening to these services today made a covenant that we would do anything for the Gospel, even to the giving up our lives, if we were called upon to do so, and we do need to carry this truth, which I bear witness and testimony of today. We have the responsibility to carry that truth to the hearts of the membership of our Church. ¶

So many of our people come ino the world and they drift away; they come away from the stakes of Zion, get a good job, become part of the world and forget that the greatest honor they can have is membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

I bear witness to you that the greatest inheritance that I have and the biggest blessing that I have is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and my membership in the Church. ¶

The Lord bless us, my brethren and sisters, all of us, that we may do our part to conserve the membership of our Church, to keep our sons and our daughters from drifting away, and these people who are coming into the Church each day, on whom our missionaries spend so much time and effort, with such great success, to bring into the Church. May we do our part to keep them faithful in the Church and to teach them the Gospel. This I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶