I Realize More Than Anyone Else, Excepting...

I realize more than anyone else, excepting my Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ, my utter weakness in and of myself to occupy this position this morning. I am sure with an interest in your faith and prayers ascending to our Heavenly Father that I may be blessed with his Spirit and we may be recipients of his blessings. ¶

I haven't words to express adequately my appreciation and gratitude for the rich blessings which have been mine during the past six months in visiting the stakes and the wards throughout the Church. It has been an inspiration and makes me humble as I endeavor to teach the restored work of God. I would like publicly to mention here this morning that I am grateful for the words of kindness and felicitations that have been extended to me in receiving this call six months ago, by members of the Church and by many who are not members of this Church. ¶

I am sure we have been deeply impressed, I know I have, with the dignity with which these meetings have been presided over and conducted by President McKay and those in authority. ¶

I am sure we have felt of their power and strength, as we have listened to the words of salvation. Jesus Christ, as he faced a group of Pharisees on one occasion, questioned them when he said, "What think ye of Christ?" That is a question that might be asked of us today. We can answer it in our own minds. We do not have to answer it orally or in writing. "What think ye of Christ?" ¶

These men, our leaders, have exemplified to me their love of God and their love for their fellow men, their neighbors, and I shall always be appreciative of the rich experience which was mine in having one assignment with Elder Joseph F. Merrill the first week following the last general conference, and partaking of his spirit. I could not help realizing that here was a man scholastically trained, educated in the sciences and in the engineering field, and yet, young people, he was not swerved from the path of truth and righteousness. ¶

He was not ashamed to bear witness that Jesus was the Christ and that the Prophet Joseph Smith was and is in very deed a prophet of God. You young people can take heed of this fine example from such noble leaders, as all these men are who are guiding and directing the work of the Church and kingdom here in the earth. ¶

I should like to have you review with me for a moment or two an incident which took place just eight years ago. ¶

A young man of this Church who had put on the uniform of his country to defend freedom and liberty and the rights of the individual found himself from his home town in Boise, Idaho, on a beachhead in Normandy, about a month before D Day.- As if he had a premonition of what was going to happen, he sat there and wrote a message to a friend of his in Boise. And he said, concluding that letter, "I should like to give you the formula, or the requisite for peace, if you please. It is nothing new, but I ask you that we rediscover the things which we already have, and that were given to us by the Master some two thousand years ago in a single sentence, when he said. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' " (Matt. 22:37-39.) ¶

This boy made the supreme sacrifice a few days after writing this letter. ¶

These are truths that we might well reflect upon this morning, my brethren and sisters, as we also review an incident in the New Testament. The Savior had been teaching his doctrine, the saving principles of salvation and exaltation. ¶

He was queried by a lawyer who said to him, "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" ¶

He was endeavoring no doubt to trap him, because the Master counter-questioned him and said, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" ¶

The lawyer answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." ¶

And the Savior said, "If you will do these things, thou shalt live." ¶

Then trying to justify himself, the lawyer said, "And who is my neighbour?" ¶

The Master then gave that glorious example of the Good Samaritan, where a certain man going from Jerusalem to Jericho had been set upon by thieves and stripped of his clothing and his material things. (And we, my brethren and sisters, can be stripped of those things which are material. They are insignificant.) And so he was left half-dead in the roadway. A priest came along, and seeing this man, even though he professed Christianity, crossed to the other side, and left him. Then a certain Levite came down the street and likewise saw this man, and he also crossed to the other side. But there was the Samaritan who beheld the condition of the man and administered to him by anointing his wounds with oil, putting him upon his own beast, and taking him to an inn, where he might receive assistance. He left funds that he might be taken care of, and advised the innkeeper that he would be back, and if it took additional funds, he would gladly see that those expenses were defrayed. Then the Master said, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" ¶

And the answer was, "He that sheweth mercy on him." And there followed the great command of the Savior, which is significant to me, "Go, and do thou likewise." (See Luke 10:25-37.) ¶

Yes, my brethren and sisters, if we truly exemplify this teaching of the Master to love our Heavenly Father sincerely and deeply, then we will love by natural consequence our neighbor. ¶

Thus many of the conditions in the world today which are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ will be overcome. ¶

There would not only be peace in the world, but also we would have peace in our hearts and in our souls. And I humbly pray as I bear witness to you, my brothers and sisters, that this is true, that Jesus Christ gave us this commandment for a purpose. May we have the energy and the desire within our own hearts, and the fortitude within our souls from this moment on to put it into practice more fully in our daily lives, that we may reap the rich blessings which are predicated upon these truths. I bear witness to you that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and those who have succeeded him as President of this Church down through the years to our present President David O. McKay have been men divinely inspired and called of our Heavenly Father. May we uphold and sustain them, and the revealed truths of the Lord, which are given to us by them from time to time, that we may be doers of the words, and not only listeners, I humbly pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶