My Dear Brothers And Sisters Since The...

My dear brothers and sisters, since the assignment that came to me last week, has brought to a close fourteen years of intimate association with the LDS Department of Education (which has jurisdiction over the seminaries and the institutes of religion of this Church), I would like to share with you some of my reflections and experiences concerning this program. [Note: President Tuttle has been assigned to work in the missionary department of the Church.] In retrospect, I see a young boy — a common variety of Latter-day Saint — sitting in a seminary class. The teacher wonders whether he is learning what is being taught. He need not have wondered, however, for two years later, and two thousand miles from home, he is being induced by his army companions to follow their actions in a decision that would have been detrimental to his moral virtue. I see this young man return home on furlough and go directly to the home of his seminary teacher to tell him how he had withstood the temptation and conclude with these words: "Pete, I couldn't let you down." ¶

I see a young man in a seminary class who is having trouble at home with his father, trouble with his high school grades, and trouble in seminary. I see at the end of class a wise teacher chat with this young man, and in the process of the conversation actually to ask forgiveness of this boy. I see him graduate from high school and college, go on a mission, marry in the temple, and then take his bride up to this small Idaho town, where he picks up the seminary teacher and drives down in front of the seminary. He then introduces his teacher to his bride in these words: ¶

"This is the place and this is the man who changed my life and gave you to me." ¶

On another occasion I see a young couple away at a large university; their marriage falling apart, not because of any involvement on the part of either person, but because of the lack of funds, the urgency of studies, the children's needs, and a multitude of daily living problems that could not be met. As they cross the campus one evening, they stop in at the Institute of Religion, almost accidentally. I see the teacher, who normally is very meticulous about following his outline, depart from it, for some unknown reason and get on another subject, which somehow touched the hearts of this couple who were contemplating divorce. I see them happy now, their marriage mended and successful. ¶

I hear a stake president stand in a large gathering and say: "All that I am, and the position that I have come to, I owe to an inspiring seminary teacher and eight months in seminary." ¶

There are many others. I bear testimony to the value of this inspired program in the lives of young people. Not only is it valuable, but it also fills a daily need for spiritual food for the youth of this Church. In the ever-expanding program which now includes over 56,000 seminary students (1800 of whom are Indian members, recently included in the religious education program of the Church) receiving daily instruction, under more than 1000 teachers. ¶

I see 8200 college students, who, at colleges other than Brigham Young University and Ricks College, are attending Institutes of Religion on some sixty-one campuses. I see, in addition to that, 1500 young people on thirty-six more campuses who are under the inspiration of the Deseret Club program. ¶

Add to this number of young Latter-day Saints approximately 1,000 at the Ricks College, over 10,000 at Brigham Young University, and hundreds more in the other units of the Church school program. There is in this Church a veritable army of Israel, who are receiving weekday religious education. ¶

I call this vast program to your attention for this reason: Valuable as it is, the problem remains that we are not reaching all of our young people, either on the high school level or on the college level. Fine as the percentage of enrolment is in our seminary program, we still lack far too many young people. ¶

The early morning seminary classes are extending far and wide now. Six months ago in Orlando, Florida, I visited an early morning seminary class at six o'clock. About five hours later, on the same day and incidentally at the same hour, Brother Boyd Packer was attending a similar early morning seminary class in the Hawaiian Islands. The seminaries extend from Edmonton, Canada, to Juarez, Mexico. I would urge extending them even further into the stakes and into the missions so that all of the young people of this Church can have the opportunity of daily religious instruction. ¶

Parents, we need your help. You are the ones who are to see that your children attend seminary classes. Ward education committees have been organized to help recruit students. They should make visits particularly at this time of the year when pre-registration is going forward for next fall. I plead with you to help them make the wise choice at this time of their lives. This impressionable age of life is the most appropriate time to impress them with the truths of the gospel. They need the daily association with the message of the scriptures, especially under the pressures of the world that would turn them otherwise, and they need the learning experiences in the subjects of the gospel, where they take Old Testament, New Testament, Church history, and Book of Mormon courses; where they keep journals, take tests, answer questions, give talks, see educational films, handle the scriptures, gain testimonies, and prepare for missions. ¶

In the southern part of this state, there is a stake president who recently said: ¶

"We have seven missionaries to interview this conference. The reason for this is that we have kept them going from seminary to institute. We have found that if we can get them in the Institute of Religion we get significant help in preparing boys to be missionaries." I commend his testimony to all of the stake presidents in this Church. ¶

There is no finer program to teach the gospel in this Church. The youth are under teachers who are loyal to these brethren. They know they are prophets of God. These teachers are skilled. They are proud of the noble title of teacher. These men are men of conviction and testimony. They know, as I know, that God lives. They know that Jesus is the Christ, our Redeemer, that he wrought out the atonement for us. They know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God; that the Book of Mormon is true; and that these men who direct this Church are inspired of our Heavenly Father. ¶

Parents, I plead with you to see that your children take advantage of the opportunities for spiritual education that this Church affords. I bear you my witness that this is a divinely inspired program, and it operates under divinely inspired men today, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶