OUR WORK. THE LATE GENERAL CONFERENCE. THE LATE GENERAL CONFERENCE. The general conference of Mutual Improvement Associations held in Salt Lake City on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of July of the present year ushered in a period of great activity in Improvement work that is resulting in great good to the cause. The work since then has taken on new life throughout the church; and, what is best of all, the new life shows no sign of being a Jonah's gourd that sprang up in a night only to perish in a night. It is our hope that the new life will give steady growth to the associations and that there will be no lapse of interest on the part of either officers or members. We want no nickering flame of enthusiasm that suddenly flares up, emits unsteady light, then subsides and finally dies out like the varying flame of a farthing candle. On the contrary the General Superintendency want an enthusiasm awakened in every association that shall resemble in its constancy the steadiness of the sun's brightness, that from year to year holds on undimmed by time. That our present revival is but the inauguration of a long period of steady growth in the associations we have every reason to believe. It is not a sudden burst of interest. The forces which brought it to pass have been operating for some time. The General Superintendency and Board of Aids have been holding frequent meetings for more than a year past; and for several months preceding the conference their meetings, as now, were held weekly. In those meetings the General Superintendency and their aids discussed the affairs that concern Mutual Im

provement, with the result that they had a number of well thought out plans to present to the conference that could not fail to affect the cause of Improvement to its advantage. *

• Among these plans was, first, the course of twenty-two lessons on the life of Jesus, outlined and presented in the M. I. A. Manual for 1897-8, as the course of study for the associations during the present season's work. Second, a plan of general missionary work to be undertaken throughout the associations, by which it is hoped that young men now only nominally members of the associations may be made active, earnest members; and the large number of young men in Zion not yet identified with Mutual Improvement, nor converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, may be brought into the associations and converted to the truth of God's great latter-day work. Third, the publication of an organ for the associations which would be a means of communication between the general officers and the societies, and at the same time place in the hands of the young men literature that from its nature would contribute to the accomplishment of those ends which Mutual Improvement has in view, namely, the moral and spiritual uplifting of our youth. The adoption of these three things, together with the reaffirmation of the necessity and adoption of a plan for the collection of the Improvement Fund; the arrangement for uniformity of organization in both stakes and wards; urging the necessity of frequent council meetings by both stake and ward officers; the conclusions reached as to the tenure of office by stake superintendents and association presidents—all these things that were considered and acted upon by the conference, at once establish both its importance and the fact that it was a working conference.

The general conference was held on the 17th, 18th and 19th of July; heretofore it has been held early in June and always so arranged as to include as one of its days the first day of June, the anniversary of the late President Brigham Young's birthday. The question has been asked if it is intended hereafter to abandon the first day of June as the date of the general M. I. A. Conference. We answer no. The reason for the change this year is that it was thought more of our young men from distant stakes of Zion would be able to attend the conference if held about the time of the celebration of the Pioneer Jubilee, and as that jubilee marked an important event in the career of the great prophet who was the founder of Mutual Improvement Associations, it was thought not inappropriate this year to make the postponement of the conference from June to July. But it is the intention of the General Superintendency that the general annual conference shall be held on the first of June, as they desire to hold in honorable and grateful remembrance the founder of these institutions by meeting on the anniversary of his birth; and also for the reason that the first of June is as convenient a month in which to hold the general conference as any other of the twelve.