I Am Grateful This Morning My Brothers...

• I am grateful this morning, my brothers and sisters, both seen and unseen, for the message of our great President, for his challenge to us to return to the fundamentals. I thought, if only the world would heed his words and get down to the things that matter most. ¶

Experiences In Vermont

It reminded me of a little experience I had recently in Vermont. I was attempting to find a shortcut to the little town of Rutland, and I took one of those exciting back-road routes and soon became hopelessly lost. I came to a fork in the road. I noticed a farmer standing in the field, so I wound down the window and I asked, "Say, fella, does it matter which road I take to Rutland?" He said, "It doesn't matter to me at all." I think sometimes the world has that problem. ¶

In the upper part of New England we sometimes get snowbound, and once after a rather heavy storm I followed a snowplow into Saint Johnsbury. The town had been isolated some eight days. Again, I was lost. In seeking help I went into a little country store, and sitting there on the typical cracker barrel was another Vermonter. ¶

I asked, "Tell me, sir, what do you do all winter when you get snowbound?" ¶

He said, "We just sit and think, mostly sit." ¶

I think that might be a major problem in the world: we are sitting rather than thinking and acting. ¶

I am grateful for the opportunity to greet you once again and to bring special greetings from America's birthplace, New England. It is wonderful to see the mountains of the West and the beauty of fall as it unfolds before us. I love this great country. ¶

Vince Lombardi

Fall also brings the crisp days and chilly nights that signal the start of the football season. Those of you who take an active interest in sports, and know of football's importance in turning boys into men, were saddened recently as I was in learning of the passing of that great football coach and builder of men, Vince Lombardi. Here was a man who came to a last-place team comprised of men who had forgotten what winning was — a team with no spirit, no confidence, and no respect — and in three short years he turned them into a team of world champions. ¶

But being a champion once didn't satisfy Vince Lombardi. He and his team went on to win again and again, game after game, title after title. The Green Bay Packers soon became the winningest team in professional football. Here was a man who could be as mean as a lion, yet gentle as a lamb. ¶

A man who said God and family should come first. A man who taught that not only physical toughness is important, but spiritual and mental toughness are also essential to success, and a man who said to all those who have problems and sometimes get discouraged, that "winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." ¶

I submit to you that we as a people, member and nonmember alike, can learn some meaningful and timely lessons from the life of that great man. ¶

New England Missionaries

One of the great attributes of the Church is that we too are building men. I have under my direction in New England some 175 of the finest young men and women anywhere in the world. I have great faith and confidence in them and the things they do. We appreciate you fine parents who sacrifice so that your sons and daughters can fulfill missions. You are doing them a great service, and you in turn are being blessed. In private interview and in testimony meetings, they often express love for you and for their families. You may rest assured they are very happy. ¶

I might just say here parenthetically that one of the challenges of a mission president is to keep a physical balance in missionaries as well as the spiritual and mental. I saw two of my assistants on my return home, and I noticed they had taken off about thirty pounds which was needed. The Saints are good to them in the field. These same two assistants, in trying to help a little 97-pound weakling put on a little weight, on one occasion approached him and said, "Elder, it looks like you've been through a famine." And this sharp little elder came right back and said, "And you two look like you caused it." ¶

Since the days of Joseph Smith, over seven hundred million dollars have been spent by parents to send their children on missions. One mother recently said to me, "I agree with you, Brother Dunn, that the accent is on the youth, but the stress is still on the parents." ¶

Visit With Harvard Professor

Sister Dunn and I recently visited with a Harvard professor and his wife who had had some contact with the Church and the missionaries. This learned man, holder of many degrees, and his charming wife had noted something special in these two young men who had borne their testimonies of the reality of God, the divinity of Christ, and of the restoration of the Church in these latter days. As we spoke, this professor said, "Mr. Dunn, what is it that gives these young men such a strong conviction? What is this missionary work really doing for people? ¶

What motivates them to give up two years of their lives? Why do you go to those who are already Christian? ¶

Wouldn't two years of college be of more value?" ¶

To answer these questions, we turn, as do all missionaries, to the scriptures, both ancient and modern. We read, for example, in Isaiah and Ephesians of the restoration of all things. We turned to Mark and read the words of Jesus, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men" ¶

(Mark 1:17), and "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). ¶

Purpose Of Missionary Work

As the evening progressed, Sister Dunn and I were able to explain to this couple the very purpose and the fruits of missionary work. We told them that a mission helps a young man to find out who he really is. It helps him to set patterns, attitudes, and habits that will carry into his adult life. I just personally believe it is easier to build a boy than to mend a man. We told them that for our young people a mission is life in miniature; it's a journey, not a camp. ¶

We answered their inquiry when we explained to them the visitation of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph in 1820. Although we realize the great good that other churches are doing in the world, the Lord said, and I remind you: ". . . they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Joseph Smith 2:19.) A mission most of all provides the chance for people to accept the gospel and to take upon them the name of Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. ¶

The reason we go to those who are already of a Christian faith is because we believe that the was in Christianity still is. We believe that Paul on the road to Damascus is no different from Joseph Smith in the grove — now called sacred. God speaks today! ¶

Philosophy Of Education

About knowledge: We read from Moses that "the glory of God is intelligence." This great educator was much impressed with the Mormon philosophy of education that includes the whole man. College and money are important, and I don't want to minimize them, but in making a living don't forget to make a life. The words of the Savior, filled with truth and wisdom, sounded again as we read, ". . . what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36.) A mission teaches that spirituality is important. ¶

I related to this educator and his fine wife how acceptance of the gospel way of life can provide the opportunity for people to change attitudes, and thus their lives. ¶

Message Of Salvation

During the past year I have watched one of society's outcasts, an ex-convict, rise from the depths of a prison cell to become a responsible citizen, a worthy Latter-day Saint. This man's life was changed because two of our missionaries brought him a message of hope and of salvation. He had thought because of his past all was lost and his chance had passed. But these two young elders brought him the gospel and a new way of life. ¶

Unfortunately there are some in this world who continue to ignore or invalidate the principle of true repentance and say, "Once a thief, always a thief," or "Leopards don't change their spots." Need I remind you who say such things that we don't work with leopards; we work with men, and men change every day. ¶

Our missionaries knock on each door knowing and believing that a basic premise of this church is that when men and women are motivated by the proper spirit, they can and do change their lives. ¶

Purpose Of Gospel

Only a few short years ago President McKay stood at this very pulpit and said that the purpose of the gospel was to make bad men good and good men better. This same young man whose life was once tattered and scarred with sin sat in our living room just a few days ago and said, "Brother Dunn, I thank God every day for the elders who brought me the gospel and had the patience to teach me. I know the gospel is true for I have lived it; and although I'm not what I ought to be, and I'm not what I'm going to be, I am not what I was." ¶

Such are the fruits of missionary work. Again the words of the Savior ring through the ages to the convert, to the missionaries, to the college professor, to you, and to me. It was Jesus who said that when we lose ourselves in the service of others, then, and only then, can we find ourselves and possess true joy and happiness. Gratitude is the memory of the heart, and if a missionary did no more than to help one convert like this catch the vision of the gospel, his two years would be well spent. ¶

Rewards Of Missionary Work

The Lord told us that if we labor all our days and bring save it be one soul to him, great shall be our joy with him in the kingdom of our Father. ¶

As the evening passed, Sister Dunn and I gave this couple from Cambridge a brief history of the missionary system of the Church. We told them of the day when Parley P. Pratt stood in a river for six hours, baptizing people one after the other. We told them how Wilford Woodruff converted 1800 people in eight months. We reviewed the proselyting program of the Church from Samuel Smith in 1831 up to 1970, and we noted that close to one thousand of their New England neighbors would join the Church this year. ¶

The visit ended. We closed with our personal testimony and extended an invitation to this couple to come join with us. What a spiritual thrill to see distinguished, capable, academic giants humble themselves before the Master and accept his simple gospel teachings. ¶

Yes, missionary work is a calling in which one may find many rewards, for true joy comes in giving and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

Truth To Go Forth

The first prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith, who lived and died a missionary, gave us his summary of the importance of this work when he penned the following to John Wentworth: "Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." (Documentary History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 540.) To this I testify as I bear my solemn witness to the work, in the name of Jesus Christ. ¶

Amen. ¶