Father's Business

"Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" This remarkable saying of the Savior, was made when he was only twelve years of age, and should be a valuable lesson to all the sons of Latter-day Saints, since they are supposed to be interested in, and sooner or later should be engaged in, the same work that Christ performed, in preparing themselves to be teachers of right- eousness, in their day. The plan of salvation established by Jesus, is to be preached to all the nations of the earth, and this labor and responsibility rests largely upon the young men of Zion, and they, like the youth- ful Christ, should feel the necessity of commencing to prepare themselves, while young, for their life-labor, in order that when old enough to assume those sacred and important labors they will be well qualified to do efficiently their part in the great work of re- demption and salvation of the children of men. Young men, this is your calling and mission; will you take a course, like Jesus, to prepare yourselves for the work? Remem- ber, "Many are called, but few are chosen." If you qualify your- selves, you will surely be numbered among the few who will be chosen', because you have been faithful. As regards what the youth of Zion should be doing, to pre- pare and qualify themselves for this important work, I will call their attention to the circumstances that called forth the remark- able saying of Christ as quoted above. He had accompanied His parents and friends to the temple in Jerusalem, to attend the feast of the Passover, and while there the boy had met the elders and

218 IMPROVEMENT ERA. wise men of Isarel, and heard them explaining and discussing the laws of Isarel, in which he seemed to take a great interest- While on the return of the party, they discovered that the boy was missing; and after three days' search, found him still in the temple listening to, and asking questions of, those learned rabbis who were astonished at the wisdom of his questions: and when gently re- proved by his mother for causing them so much anxiety, he said, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He was learning wisdom and gaining experience by listening to and con- versing with those wise men, and thus preparing himself to do the work his father had sent him to do. So all young men, taking the example of Christ, should dili- gently seek to prepare themselves for the great work before them. Numerous opportunities are afforded them in the Sunday Schools, either as students or teachers; in religion classes; in the Improve- ment Association work; and when called by their bishop as ward teachers. There is some complaint about young men, especially in the larger cities, being led into pernicious habits and practices; club life, and associations with secret societies, lead them away from the more important organizations and associations established for their good and improvement in the better ways of life. Those evil practices and idle habits, so often acquired in club life, must pos- itively detract from their future happiness, and entirely disqualify them for that greater, nobler "work of their Father." I advise the young men not to identify themselves with clubs and secret societies. Means and time there spent, can be much more profitably employed. When you reflect, you will readily per- ceive that intellectually, fraternally and socially, there is no neces- sity for joining those organizations, as all those advantages are amply provided for in our quorums and improvement organizations; in fact, the Lord, in his perfect system of church organization, has provided for all the wants of man. Then why should young Lat- ter-day Saints go outside of that more perfect organization? A small portion of the means, and the time, spent by young men who are in clubs, would supply them with the necessary books, and afford ample time to obtain a fair start in acquiring some one of the foreign languages which the late President George Q.

"FATHER'S BUSINESS." 219 Cannon so frequently advised "our young men to study prepara- tory to carrying the gospel to those countries whose people have never heard it." What a glorious opportunity for you, young men! Think of the privilege of being messengers of life and salvation — bearing the message of Jesus Christ to nations who for ages have lived in heathen superstition, ignorant of the redemption wrought out for them by the Savior nineteen hundred years ago! Already we see this policy is being carried into effect by the calling of Apostle Heber J. Grant to go to Japan and open the Gospel door to the inhabitants of that great empire. As soon as that people are ready to receive the gospel, there will be a field for hundreds of our young elders who will have qualified themselves for that work, and it is only a question of a short time, when missions will be opened in other countries where the gospel has never been preached, and thousands of our young men will be needed for that work. All the gratification and pleasure, young men, you would have in ten years in your club life and associations, would not be equal to the joy and satisfaction you would experience in one year in preaching the gospel to such a people, after having acquired a knowledge of their language. My advice to you, therefore, is that you give heed to the wise and timely counsel of the servants of God. Do not neglect nor delay your efforts in these important things; but, like the youthful Savior, be about the work of your Father, and he will abundantly bless you.