My Brethren And Sisters There Were Power...

My brethren and sisters, there were power and inspiration in the song which we have just sung. I appreciate the good singing by the various choirs who have appeared during this conference. I am especially grateful for the singing of the choir this morning, coming as it did from the Logan Institute and from the Utah State University. I am very happy that the program of this great Church provides for the development of choirs and choral groups. ¶

For a few minutes I would like to say something about our missionary effort in the world. This is a missionary Church, and when one becomes a member of it, he is also a missionary. As an introduction I want to read from the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is also a preface, or an introduction, to the revelations which follow. ¶

Said the Lord: "For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated. ¶

"And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days. ¶

"And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them." (D&C 1:2, 4-5.) The Savior's great commission to his chosen apostles prior to his ascension is similar in all respects to what I have read. Said he: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. ¶

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15-16.) Under those solemn injunctions God's work has gone forward in the earth. ¶

Neither persecution, ridicule, nor bigotry have been able to stop it from progressing. ¶

When I visited the Canadian Mission a few months ago, I was told that Elder Orson Hyde opened the mission in 1833. ¶

The Church was then three years old, after having been organized by six humble men. In the same year Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon strengthened the mission by their personal ministry. Their first meeting was held in a store building in the province of Ontario. The location was pointed out to us as we visited the place. It is a historical landmark. ¶

The result of that effort was fourteen baptisms. Three years later in 1836 Apostle Parley P. Pratt went to Toronto. ¶

He had with him a letter of introduction to John Taylor from a man named Moses Nickerson. Taylor was a minister in the Methodist Church. Such letters are now called referrals and are very effective in reaching the people. John Taylor and a group of businessmen were holding weekly meetings to study and search for the truth, using the Bible as a guide. ¶

Parley P. Pratt explained the gospel to those men, and all but one was converted and baptized. In the same year John E. Page and Orson Hyde returned and converted and baptized six hundred. ¶

Thus the work was begun in the great country of Canada. ¶

I need not tell you what has happened since those early days. Similar results were obtained in Great Britain, in Scandinavia, in the United States, and elsewhere. In the year 1837, seven years after the Church was organized, Heber C. Kimball, a member of the Twelve, was set apart by the First Presidency of the Church to preside over a mission to be established in England. Six others, similarly called and set apart, accompanied him. ¶

They were poor, these men, in the things of the world. They had attended no theological seminary in preparation for their ministry, and they were not prominent in the affairs of men. The following words from President Heber C. Kimball illustrate the spirit under which they did their work. ¶

Humbly President Kimball said: "The idea of such a mission was almost more than I could bear up under. I was almost ready to sink under the burden which was placed upon me. However, all these considerations did not deter me from the path of duty. The moment I understood the will of my Heavenly Father I felt a determination to go at all hazards, believing that he would support me by his almighty power, and endow me with every qualification that I needed, and although my family was dear to me, and I should have to leave them almost destitute, I felt that the cause of truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, outweighed every other consideraion." (See Heber C. Kimball's Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 10-11.) There, my brethren and sisters, is an example of magnificent faith. President Kimball was a strong man, full of faith and testimony. He was not easily dismayed. Many of you people who are now listening to me have visited the city of Preston in Lancashire, England. ¶

Some of you have seen the River Ribble, which flows through the city. It was in that river that nine baptisms were performed, the first in Europe in this dispensation. The baptismal ceremony was witnessed by a crowd of between seven and nine thousand people. Great Britain was being proselyted by great and good men who were humble and God-fearing, but very effective. ¶

In 1840 eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve were in England laying the foundation of the work to be done in that prolific field. Among them were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and others. Their success was phenomenal. Nothing like it had occurred since Peter, the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, delivered his marvelous sermon on the day of Pentecost. Congregations of religious worshipers joined the Church and accepted the restored gospel. Many of them immigrated to America, to return as missionaries to their native lands and to make contact with their former neighbors and friends. ¶

Out of their numbers came great leaders like John Taylor, George Q. ¶

Cannon, Charles W. Penrose, Charles W. Nibley, and many others. From Scotland came the McKay family, whose faith and devotion have touched the hearts of thousands in Zion and on foreign shores. The missionary system of the Church has not failed, nor will it fail. There is no commercial or professional aspect connected with it. It is a plan of proselyting adopted by the Savior when he sent his disciples out into the world to teach the nations. ¶

Jesus chose humble men to represent him before the world. The same caliber of men has been chosen in this dispensation. Humility is a godly virtue. The missionary realizes that he is engaged in God's work. It is not man's work. ¶

His best qualifications are his worthiness and a firm and unshakable testimony. ¶

Someone has said, "A testimony supported by two or more witnesses is worth a thousand arguments." I know that is true. Converts are a source of strength to the Church. On June 6, 1840 the first company of English converts left their native country for Nauvoo, Illinois. ¶

Other companies followed in rapid succession. They arrived in Nauvoo at a crucial moment when the forces of evil were asserting themselves with persistent and relentless fury. God is blessing the missionary endeavors of 15,000 missionaries laboring at home and abroad. ¶

He will continue to do so. ¶

God's work will triumph in the earth, and the warning is going forth to the nations. May the Lord inspire us to support the missionary program of this great Church, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶