Blessed Are They Which Do Hunger And...

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matt. 5:6.) In the opening remarks of our dear President McKay at the beginning of this conference he stated that he hoped our souls might be uplifted and inspired. I am sure you can bear witness with me that our heavenly Father has literally blessed us, and our souls have been uplifted because we have been inspired by the word of the Lord. ¶

I have noted without exception that each who has occupied this position regardless of his calling in the Church, regardless of his standing in the community or the nation, before taking these responsible Church positions, has invoked the blessings of our heavenly Father upon him that he might be able to speak under the inspiration of the Spirit. I realize as I stand before you this afternoon that I must depend upon the inspiration of my heavenly Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, for, to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ can be done not by the wisdom of men, but only by the power of God. ¶

Much has been said here today and yesterday in these conference sessions regarding the missionary program of the Church. I would feel most ungrateful if I did not take just a moment to pay tribute to a great missionary who is absent from us today, but who was with us here six months ago occupying a seat on the row that I am privileged to occupy— Elder Stayner Richards. ¶

He in very deed typified the true missionary spirit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I feel sure that he has touched the hearts of thousands in the British Isles or wherever he has labored to spread truth and righteousness, exercising his energy and talent in building up the kingdom of God. ¶

So, I pay tribute to his memory today. It was my privilege to labor with him for about fourteen years in the Highland Stake, the stake in which I now reside. ¶

Going back a few years, a prophet of God, Brigham Young, declared: ¶

. . . there is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life. (Discourses of Brigham Young, 1943 ed., p. 322.) That is the true missionary spirit. ¶

That was the word of a prophet of God many years ago. The same teaching goes forth from this pulpit today: ¶

that each individual who has membership in this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is on a mission, and that mission is to teach first, by example, and second, by precept, the truths of this gospel, which is the gospel of salvation and exaltation into the presence of our heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. ¶

I thrill as I have the privilege of touring missions and visiting in the stakes and mingling with the stake missionary groups to catch the spirit of those who are specifically called to do missionary work. ¶

As I toured the Western Canadian Mission just a few months ago, I heard many heartwarming missionary stories. ¶

One thrilling story I should like to share with you. I would like to take you with me for a moment or two to a concentration camp in France, in which are incarcerated two German prisoners, young men who never had become acquainted with each other until they were in this camp. ¶

One of them was utilizing his time to study the word of the Lord that he might hold fast to the testimony which he had. This attracted the attention of the other German prisoner, who asked what he was so interested in. ¶

The reply came that he was reading The Voice of Warning. I am sure that rings a familiar note to many missionaries assembled today and who might be listening on television and the radio. ¶

So, a gospel conversation ensued. ¶

Then this young man became interested, and many conversations thereafter followed. The war was over. They were released. The one returned to his locality in Germany, where he further investigated this thing he had heard in a French concentration camp. Then he applied for baptism. He was baptized, and after a few months was called by President Wunderlich to go on a mission for the Church. The young convert said, "I have only twelve marks," ¶

but President Wunderlich, because he had the priesthood of God, because he could speak with that power and authority which comes to those who are truly called to serve the Lord, made a promise to that young man if he would accept the call and respond to it that the Lord would provide a way. ¶

So the young man, in blind faith, believing, as we have heard from this pulpit today, accepted the call and filled his mission. It was my privilege to interview him while he was doing stake missionary work in the city of Edmonton, Canada. He had migrated from Germany and is now living in Canada. ¶

We all have a zone of influence, my brothers and sisters. I should like to ask the question here today, "When did you last have a gospel conversation with someone who does not claim membership in the Church?" ¶

Well, you do not have to answer it, only in your own minds. I humbly pray that the Spirit of the Lord will take hold of us, that we will exercise our rightful influence to teach the principles of salvation and exaltation to our heavenly Father's children. ¶

I thrill as I see someone here in the audience today who is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. After having filled a mission in the Southern States for this great Church before the turn of the century, he decided he wanted to follow further his education in electrical engineering, so he selected that great University of Cornell. One Sunday each student was to have the opportunity and privilege of filing past the rostrum and shaking hands with the first president of Cornell, Andrew White, introducing himself and making known where he was from. When it came this young man's turn, he said, "Thomas E. Yates from Scipio, Utah." ¶

Immediately Andrew White said, "Are you a Mormon?" ¶

Brother Yates did not flinch because he was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said, "Yes, sir, I am." ¶

Then Andrew White asked for an interview the following Sunday. ¶

Brother Yates said that week seemed mighty long because he realized the persecution that had been sustained by the missionaries, even while he was in the Southern States. ¶

But the time passed, and he was ushered into the study of Andrew White. ¶

There it was revealed to him just why he had been invited for this interview. ¶

Andrew White told him, on one occasion while he was a special representative to the Russian government he had become very friendly with Count Leo Tolstoi, the great Russian philanthropist and writer. On one occasion as he called at the home of Tolstoi he was told by the servant that Tolstoi was out in the fields plowing, and if he wanted to see him he would have to go there, which he did. ¶

As he met Tolstoi there was the usual friendly salutation, and then Tolstoi said, "If you want to converse with me, you will have to come along while I finish my plowing." ¶

This he did, and they conversed about many things. After a discussion on religion Tolstoi said to Andrew White, "But what about your American religion?" ¶

Andrew White said, "We do not have a state church in America. People are allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience." ¶

Tolstoi said, "I know all that. I know that the Catholic Church originated in Rome. I know that the Lutheran Church originated in Germany, that the Episcopal Church originated in England, but I want to know something about your American religion, commonly called the Mormon Church." ¶

Andrew White said, "I'll have to admit that I know very little about the Mormon people, other than that they are a superstitious people and that they are peculiar." ¶

Then Tolstoi decided he would give Andrew White, great as he was, a rebuke, and so as not to lose the significance of this rebuke, I should like to read it to you. ¶

"Then Count Leo Tolstoi, in his honest and stern but lovable manner, rebuked the ambassador: 'Dr. White, I am greatly surprised and disappointed that a man of your great learning and position should be so ignorant on this important subject. The Mormon people teach the American religion: their principles teach the people not only of heaven and its attendant glories, but how to live so that their social and economic relations with each other are placed on a sound basis. If the people follow the teachings of this Church — nothing can stop their progress — it will be limitless. ¶

" 'There have been great movements started in the past, but they have died or been modified before they reached maturity. If Mormonism is able to endure, unmodified, until it reaches the third and fourth generations, it is destined to become the greatest power the world has ever known.' " ¶

I believe that, as I stand before you today and testify that this thing called Mormonism has continued down through the stream of time for 123 years, unchanged, unmodified, and that it is the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

Yes, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and brothers and sisters, I believe that men are thirsting and hungering for righteousness in the world today. ¶

It is our great responsibility, as has been outlined here, to be the humble servants in the hands of the Lord in carrying this glorious message to those individuals. ¶

May God bless us with this vision, and the spirit of missionary work, as I bear witness that these things are true, in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. ¶

Amen. ¶