Early Yesterday Morning I Received Two Very...

Early yesterday morning I received two very important telephone calls. One was from President McKay, and the other was from a young man who was a priest in my class when I was a bishop. ¶

The time that passed from President McKay's call until I reached his office seemed almost like an eternity, but in actuality it was only about thirty minutes. I can assure you, my brethren and sisters, that it is a moment of great pressure as well as inspiration to sit closely facing the President of our Church, a prophet of God in this dispensation, and be called to serve in such a capacity as this. ¶

As you look into the face of this wonderful man, your life suddenly becomes bare, and then there is a surge of gratitude that comes over you, a gratitude not because you have personally been called to serve but because you have inherent in your heart a desire to serve, and I am so grateful for that feeling. It is not because of any abilities that I may have that I have accepted the call, but because it is in my heart to serve the Lord. ¶

I think it was Nathaniel Baldwin, the great philanthropist, a very generous giver, who made the statement that he was grateful not so much for the ability to give as for the desire he had to give. ¶

I recall so vividly the Lord, in speaking to the tired, worn, and weary Saints in the early days in Missouri, when he said unto them, in substance: "Be not weary in well doing, for you are laying the foundation of a great work, and the Lord requires the willing heart," (see D & C 64:33-34) and then he proceeded to say that if you do not have a willing heart to serve you are not of the blood of Ephraim. So, I am grateful in my heart for the desire to serve the Lord in whatever capacity I may be called to serve. ¶

This young man who called me almost five minutes after President McKay called yesterday said, "Bishop, I am one of the rascals who used to be in your priests class. I have been made a bishop, and I need some help. Will you spend some time with me today?" ¶

And I had the great joy of spending some time with him yesterday. But I feel the same way that he felt. I need some help, and I know, my brethren and sisters, from the many opportunities that have come to me to serve the Lord, that if I will do my part, the Lord will bless me, will lift me up, and give me the strength and the understanding to accomplish the work that is before me. ¶

I think one of the great sermons that has been delivered in this Church was delivered at Far West, Missouri, when Heber C. Kimball delivered what is known in our writings as the "clay sermon," and in it he said that we should be as clay to be molded as the Lord would mold us, and to do the will of the Lord. His sermon was acclaimed by the Prophet Joseph Smith as one of the great contributions to the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times in the reflection of the attitude that we should have in serving the Lord. ¶

It seems natural, my brethren and sisters, at a time like this, to reflect with gratitude on the many influences that come into your life. I think of my grandparents and have since yesterday morning, of their great devotion in accepting the gospel and coming across the waters many years ago. The other day I had a letter from my brother who is now serving a mission in England, and he said that he had visited an old church in Coventry, England, and there on a stone plaque are engraved the words: "The Church of the Dyer Guild." ¶

I am grateful, as I re-read this letter, in the knowledge that we have had the great privilege of doing the temple work for more than three thousand of this guild. ¶

I am grateful to my grandparents who eventually made this possible, and to my mother and father, who are not here upon the earth, but whose influence I feel today, for their faith and their great love of the gospel. I am so eternally grateful for my missionary companion wife, who stood by my side, not only in the mission field, but also when I served as bishop, and in other positions in the Church, always encouraging me to perform my responsibilities, and always seemingly making it easy for me to do so. I am grateful to her for her great faith and devotion. ¶

I got so used to having her by my side that recently as I have traveled to a number of MIA conventions I have found myself nudging Sister Bennett or Sister Longden, thinking that my wife was still by my side. ¶

I am grateful to my fine stalwart son, whom I have never heard utter a word of profanity; for his clean life, and for his great zeal to seek for an education; now at Brigham Young University, and who has a desire to go on a mission. I am grateful for my wonderful daughter. These are our two children, but they are wonderful, and I am grateful for them and for their love of the gospel and for their support of our work. ¶

I am grateful to Nephi L. Morris, who was once my stake president, and Bishop Edwin F. Parry, and George Lund, my scoutmaster; grateful for my brother Gus who has always lived by a high spiritual concept. These are men that I think of now as I gird for the responsibility that will be mine in this calling. ¶

President McKay has always been a great ideal of mine. I have always looked up to him, tried to assimilate some of the great characteristics which he has. You cannot be in his presence and hold his hand, and have him pierce your countenance with his wonderful eyes without feeling truly that here is a prophet of God. I am grateful for President McKay; for President Richards, with whom I became so closely associated in missionary work, and for his great devotion and faith and determination to serve the Lord even against adversity; and for President Clark who has expressed so many kindnesses to me and my family. ¶

I am grateful to these men, my brethren and sisters, and to the others of the General Authorities, all of whom I know, and many of them intimately. ¶

I am grateful for them. I sustain them with all my heart, and will endeavor to do their bidding and to follow their wishes and desires as I go forward in this work. ¶

I am grateful for my associates in the MIA. I do not, as yet, have my bags unpacked from the mission field, but I am grateful for the time that I have had with these wonderful men and women who are so devoted to the cause of youth, for I feel very strongly the great obligation we have to preserve the integrity of our young people, and know of the great responsibilities that devolve upon this organization to carry that work forward. ¶

I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it is true. ¶

I know with every fiber of my being that Jesus Christ is a reality; that he is the Son of God; that he is divine; that he is not an ethereal substance; that he is a glorified resurrected Being, as he is proclaimed to be by the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

I bear record that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God; that in reality he did see God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and that he has given to us through divine bestowals all of the needed things to bring exaltation, joy, and happiness to mankind. ¶

And I know that this is his Church, and that if we will be faithful and true in it, and serve him as we ought to, adjusting our lives to the things that are needful, we will find the joy that he has promised; and I leave this testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶