The Discipline of Missionary Life

THE DISCIPLINE OF MISSIONARY LIFE. BY ELDER HENRY W. NAISBITT.

It is a recognized fact that "Mormonism" is silently but surely creating a type of manhood differing in its characteristics from the

average, or from the product of other institutions; but probably the reasons are not always segregated, analyzed, nor comprehended. Missionaries in the Church may be numbered by the tens of thousands, but many of these are insensible to the silent forces which by friction have made them what they are. Travel, obser- vation, contact with men, and interchange of ideas, rub off angu- larities, tone down local influences, liberalize the judgment, and

clear away debris which is the result of isolation, and probably

position, in life. This discipline, as it appears to the writer, consists of three grades, varying somewhat in intensity and ardor, perchance, but unitedly operating for that developement which character, useful- ness, and manhood glorify. These subjects are culled from widely separated localities and professions, not necessarily from recognized talent of premature activity; but, as the lapidary looking upon the rough crude stone, knows that there is a gem enshrined within, so the Master, or the Priesthood, sees in the inner soul the possibili- ties of culture, that destined glow and brilliancy which proves the humblest willing student to be a child of God with hidden divinity only awaiting discipline to develope all that is implied in this. Moral discipline, mental discipline, and spiritual discipline, con- of forces which, adapted to man and fostered stitute the trinity by combination of providential intention, work out the problem of exaltation to eternal life. The missionary in the world is compelled to study himself.

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His weak points assume a prominence unknown before, prior in at- tention to the requisites of his profession, are felt with an inten- sity which compels personal humiliation and untold regrets. The need of self restraint, curbing and redirecting thought and aspira- tions, forces itself upon him. Mental dogmatism becomes mellowed; subjugation of the animal nature is found to be a wonderful factor in life, not as example alone, but as a means to an end. Things once loved are now hated things once deemed of little consequence ;

are now seen to possess importance; purity of thought, directness of speech, an examplary life are found to be inseparable character- istics from a teacher's life. He becomes self-judged; weak spots are doubly guarded; conversation is as "yea and nay," so realizing that he (personally) is "the observed of all observers;" moral re- straint sees that in men generally there are elements of good, of thought, yet evil and ignorance may appear to be rampant to his

growing and closer observation; so, he is not a drunkard, norlicen- cious; he cannot equivocate, he must be honest; not boisterous, not contentious, but, as a toiler in the field of human life, he sows "the good seed of the Kingdom." He believes in brotherhood, and ex- emplifies that in deed of sacrifice, consideration, and "becomes all things to all men if haply he may save some." Mental discipline compels reading, study, reflection; his aim is to command the truth systematically, intelligently, and success- fully.The opinions of other men are in a sense sacred, he is modest in corrections and assertions; he aims to "prove his point" without offense; all honest opinion is honored even when pointing out a more acceptable way; he is comprehending the force of edu- cation, the power of tradition, the influence of creeds. Systematic truth alone is seen to be effective; authority for and in its reveal- ment is more and more a fundamental; he is not susceptible to mental because of his words or work. He says, with ac- inflation

cepted authority, "my doctrine is not mine;" and yet, to its propa- gation all the powers of his soul are consecrated. Reason, judgment, logic, scripture, rhetoric, eloquence as he is given utterance, are but the vehicles of his burning thought, his words of warning, and his call of men to God and truth. "The right word, at the right time, and in the right place," is his word of wisdom; not casting pearls before swine, he adapts himself to his hearers or audiences;

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his message wells up in tones of entreaty, of thunder, or as the murmuring of a mountain rill, as the influence of the moment may determine. He is passive to that, and not the vendor of other men's wares, or even of his own, but he speaks as an oracle, as the mouthpiece of God, and not as the scribes. He (the missionary) is under control; he is not his own; too precious for wanton waste are his fires— too important his message to be bandied around like the shuttlecock or battledoor of a child at play. Religious light, doctrine, truth are not made common: they are asserted with dignity, explained with modesty, delivered .without compromise, commanding respect as the oracles of God. Clear; ringing, decisive, earnest, no man disputes his sincerity, or fails, if listening long, to discern order, unity, and power, in his testimony: it pierces to the marrow, it converts the soul; and, when men fail to receive it, (because of its inherent divinity and worth) it carries with it a measure of conviction which will bear fruit in this probation or in the world to come. Spiritual discipline is a necessary concomitant of missionary life. As a herald to the nations, a messenger of God, and a ser- vant of Jesus Christ, the missionary learns the wonderful secret of spiritual strength. He has food to eat that the world knows not of; he has access to the garden of the Gods, to the larder whence all nutrition comes. There is manna from heaven, a transmission of spiritual life, health and vigor; hence, the missionary is a man of faith, of prayer, of spiritual communion. Light comes to him, truth comes to him, inspiration comes to him. Through the influ- ence of the Holy Ghost, he has become sanctified "bearing this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of man." Ah, brethren, you and I have, in long experience, felt and blest these triune forces of a loving Father's hand. As we have been passive or resistant to them, so has been our progress, such our growth. They have worked in and with us; they have made us what we are; whatever we may have had revealed to us, of man or the purpose and ultimatum of his creation, of God and godliness, of the gospel and its power, of the Priesthood, its prerogatives and work, it has come to us through the spirit of revelation which has shown to us ourselves, has educated our powers, and has established our confi-

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dence in the divine order of the inherent discipline of missionary- life. It came to us with the grasp of a giant, but with the gentle-

ness of a child —with the breath of spring which penetrates all the

upper interstices of mother earth, warming the roots, quickening the life into bud and bloom and fruit (a trinity of effect). So, you men of experience in the Church know that "the foundation of God standeth sure." He has worked in you to will and to do his good pleasure. Your sons have felt the power of this discipline in the missionary field,alike with you. I have been with them, worked with them,

watched over them, seen them become sensitive to the genial influ- — ences which come from above seen them blossom, and fruit, and ripen in the attributes of ennobled life. Your generations after you will feel the same fruition, endure the same discipline, enjoy the same blessings, and work for the same ends. See to it, do, through preparation, that they are equipped with the qualities now needed in this enlarging field. There is room for all their energy, whether at home or abroad; room for men who shall be invincible qualified to cope with infidelity, sectarian error, with shams secular and religious, with antiquated creeds, new vagaries of human ignor- ance, and the ravings of untruthful credulity. The Church is a compact, divinely appointed, missionary lever; it alone will guarantee, through its messengers and the gospel, the regeneration of our race. Good as semi-inspirational effort and organization may be in their best and highest moods, they can only 'pale their ineffectual fires" when the servants of the Lord, in a mission-propaganda, present the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Round up your shoulders, brethren, whether at home or abroad, subject yourselves to these silent activities of moral, mental, and spiritual forces, so shall you hasten the fall of superstition and error, as Dagon fell before the ark of God.