My Dear Brethren And Sisters Brother Clifford...

My dear brethren and sisters, Brother Clifford Young said that it is a challenge to any man to stand before this audience. I bear my humble testimony that to a Child it's more than that. ¶

Sister Child and I are very appreciative and thankful for the call we received to preside over one of the great missions of the Church. We arrived in Denver in December of '45 to take charge of the Western States Mission. You remember that that was following the war and we had, to begin with, just nineteen missionaries. They were pretty well scattered over that vast area, but we felt that the Lord would bless us if we would apply ourselves to the work. We asked the Lord to bless our labors, but we can't expect him to bless our labors unless we labor. We appreciated this call very much, first because it brought us under closer supervision and in close contact with the Presidency of the Church whom we love very dearly and, with them the Quorum of the Twelve and the other General Authorities of the Church. They have been so considerate and so kind personally and have given so much attention to the mission where we labored, that we feel very grateful to them. ¶

We have a very happy memory of our tours of the mission, first with Milton R. Hunter, and then with Elder Harold B. Lee, with President Antoine R. Ivins and Sister Ivins, and with Thomas E. ¶

McKay, as Assistant to the twelve, and Sister McKay. These were all very wonderful experiences. To travel day after day and to hold conference every night with these men and women who are inspired of the Lord to do the work is an unusual experience and one you can't forget. ¶

We had some wonderful missionaries come to us. We received the first missionaries from the war service. They came out of the Army, off the battleships, and out of the airplanes, and yet they were marvelous missionaries. They had received an experience that matured them and gave them qualities of leadership, and it was wonderful to know that they had been in those situations without losing the testimony which they had carried from their homes and from their wards. We received in the four years we were there 367 missionaries. Most of them were elders and considering the fact, as I said, that most of them had had service in the Army or the Navy, it was remarkable to know that not in one instance did we have occasion to criticize any missionary, any elder, for violation of the Word of Wisdom or for disregarding the standards of the Church. That speaks very highly for the training that they had received previous to their missionary experience. ¶

I would like to thank the friends out in the mission field, I hope some of them are listening in, for the friendly assistance given to our missionaries. They were so kind and so considerate and so helpful. I am sure the Lord will recognize their work as a contribution to the great missionary service of the Church, and were Christ speaking, I'm sure he would say that in being kind to these my brethren and sisters, you were kind to me because they are my servants. ¶

As I said before, we had only nineteen missionaries in the field when we went out, and then they began coming ten at a time, twelve at a time, fifteen at a time. We would hold a little conference with them, have a testimony meeting, and then assign them out. I assigned two elders together in a new city who had never had any experience in missionary work with senior companions to show them the way. That was a test period in the mission, but it's remarkable how the Lord sustained them. ¶

One of our problems was to find accommodations in the homes of people where they could stay while they did their labors, but the Lord opened the way. Let me give you one example: We desired to send two sisters to Lajunta, Colorado where we were opening up the work. Two elders were sent there first and they tried to find some place in which the sisters could stay before they moved there. They couldn't find any place, but we told the sisters to go there and we were sure the Lord would provide a place for them; not to be discouraged, but to go there and put an advertisement in the paper. ¶

They did that and on reaching Lajunta they put a small ad in the paper which read "Room desired in a home with cooking privileges, for two young women who do not smoke and do not drink and do not entertain." The paper came out at 5:00 o'clock and at 8:00 o'clock they had three or four offers. The ad ran three days and at the end of three days, they had seventeen places to choose from. One good old couple said, "Yes, we have a place in our home for young women like that. The last ones we had stay at our home burned us out. ¶

Yes, if there are any young people that do not smoke, if there are any young women that do not drink and do not entertain, we would like to have them in our home." And so by using that advertisement, holding up our standards, places were provided in every city to which missionaries were assigned without any difficulty. ¶

I wish to thank the parents of those wonderful young men and young women who came to us. They were remarkable — some had their weaknesses that they had to overcome, but they were great missionaries. ¶

It is a remarkable experience to be a mission president. I think no greater blessing can come to any man in the Church, and no greater blessing can come to a sister than to be along with her husband in that presiding position. We watched them come, new, inexperienced, bashful, and backward, timid, and just as tense as they could be. They were uncertain of their testimonies, but they were • willing. They accepted their assignment, sometimes in a difficult part of the mission. And they applied themselves and as they applied themselves, they prayed to our Heavenly Father and he blessed them. ¶

We watched them grow and then we watched them when they were released. They had gained spiritual stature. They had become strong in their testimony. They were self-reliant. They could stand on their feet and declare their faith and uphold the standards of the Church. ¶

I know those young men and young women would all, if they had the opportunity, stand up and say, honestly, that the two years or so spent in the mission field were the most wonderful two years of their lives. And I think they will continue to say that as long as they live. ¶

A gentleman attended one of our conferences who had been the president of a university, and after he had listened to the testimonies of the missionaries, especially the elders, he said it reminded him of when he was a young man and performed a mission, He said: "Since that time I have completed my schooling, I have held various positions as an educator, and finally was appointed and selected as a president of a university, and I want to tell you now that the experience that I received when I was a young man in the mission field did more for me in making me what I am than all the schooling I received that prepared me for my educational career." ¶

You mothers and fathers, I would admonish you to prepare your children to accept a mission. I say prepare because I think it should start early in life. So often our missionaries in their first testimony express this thought: "I have prayed all my life that I would have this opportunity and now I sincerely pray to my Heavenly Father that I'll be a successful missionary." Start them out with the missionary spirit early. You couldn't do anything better for them. ¶

If you would give them the greatest heritage, the richest heritage, that could come to them, send them on a mission. If you would qualify them to meet the problems of life, send them on a mission. ¶

I am sure that what they receive there will be a blessing to them and will qualify them in their after years and throughout their lives. ¶

May the Lord bless us all and keep us faithful through applying ourselves to the work which has been given to us for it's our work, given to us for a definite responsibility, and we accept that responsibility when we accept membership in the Church. May he help us to magnify ourselves in that service, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶