Our Work: Co-operation of Parents in Home Preparation

OUR WORK. CO-OPERATION OF PARENTS IN HOME PREPARATION. Many of the readers of the Improvement Era are parents, and this appeal of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A.; through Brother Bryant S. Hinckley, is well worthy their careful study and attention. It was delivered in the Tabernacle at our June annual conference. Are you, as a father or a mother, assisting your son and daughter this winter in the preparation of their lessons? Are you doing anything to interest them in this work? Do you read to them from our magazines or books? Have you sought to interest them in our meetings by attending, now and then, or regularly, yourselves? We need your help; the young people need your help, not only in the home preparation, but in all that goes to train them to walk in the best road to noble character. We think a reading of this little talk by Elder Hinckley, who is one among the leading educators of the Church, will be of value, and we ask you to give it some thought: My Brethren and Sisters: I come to this task with a full appreciation of the importance of the theme assigned me. And in standing before this congregation, in the presence of the convictions that the iopic that I am to discuss is worthy of consideration at better hands than mine, I feel deeply the necessity of soliciting your aid. I recognize that no word of mine can reach your hearts and enlist your sympathy in the cause that I am sent here to advocate. I feel intensely the broad field indicated by the subject. I take the opportunity of expressing to the parents the gratitude of the officers of this organization for the splendid support they have given it in the past, and we cherish the hope that as we ripen in experience, we may be able to provide conditions which will entitle us to a greater portion of your aid and support. I purpose, with the blessings of the Lord, to lay down two or three simple propositions, and, if possible, talk to them.

308 IMPROVEMENT ERA. I know that it is not within the limits of my possibilities to answer the question that comes home to the heart of every honest parent, and all that I might hope to do would be, perhaps, to center your interests upon the question, that you in turn might give it your thought. As Latterday Saints, we naturally believe that the young people of Zion possess the elements of native strength, and we think that this supposition is based upon fair ground. We believe honest and unbiased, men who are familiar with our condition share this opinion. In a recent report made by the president of the Latter-day Saints University, he took occasion to say, that upon one occasion a judge of the supreme court of Utah had said to him, that so far as he was able to observe, there was growing up in this community a body of young men and women possessed of unusual gifts; that the prospects are most encouraging, if those who had in their keeping the direction of the energies of these young people were equal to the emergency. He said that a people gathered, as the Latter-day Saints had been gathered, representing in their body every nationality, almost, in the world, must produce a generation of young men and women who would rise above the average in intelligence and strength and in capacity. Then add to this the natural advantages of our surroundings, the clear, braeing atmosphere in which we are raised; the strong, constant sunshine with which we are blessed; the great hills that surround us; the vast mountain ranges under whose shadows we dwell; the well-marked seasons; all of these contribute to the development of those virtues which have ever distinguished the great races of the earth. Then add to this, the religion which we cherish as divine—a religion which imposes upon us selfdenial, which engenders in our hearts a love for rugged honesty, a religion which promulgates the wholesome doctrine that man is that he might have joy; and, above all, a religion which stands for the divine truth that there slumbers in man the germs of immortality, and a religion which publicly declares that it is the high mission of man to develop that germ into the perfect type. But notwithstanding all of these advantages, natural and divine, if the training is neglected, all these rich inheritances, these priceless endowments may fail to accomplish the development of honorable manhood and noble womanhood—the highest and best works of God. To add to and supplement all of the other factors that have been introduced for the training and development of these youth, the Mutual Improvement organizations were brought into being; and the great founder, Brigham Young, said that the primary purpose of these associations was to develop in the hearts of the young men a testimony of the truth and r^

OUR WORK. 309 magnitude of the great latter-day work; that it wa3 their mission to ■establish these young people in the faith of their fathers, to turn their faces towards the Lord of heaven, to store their minds and put their lives in motion, to plant firmly their feet in the path of progress. This, in a measure, is the mission of Mutual Improvement. Now, to come to my question: the backbone of all this work is the carefully prepared course of study which has been divided into lessons and subdivided into topics. These topics are assigned to the respective members. These members are to prepare these lessons or topics, and present them at the following meeting. No boy will go to a flat or unprofitable meeting. Two elements are essential to a successful meeting,at least two; first, a careful home preparation; second, a proper presentation of that preparation. The second without the first is impossible, for no man can honestly give that which he does not possess. Then it follows, that if these meetings are successful, the boy must not be permitted to neglect the simple home duty. As shown by our annual report, about five out of every twenty-five boys prepare the lesson. In other words, one out of five. Now I am bold to assert, that in the least analysis, Mutual Improvement must prove a failure if it does not stimulate the individual effort of the lay member. The home preparation is the beginning of genuine growth on the part of the boy. We have a splendid organization, carefully elaborated courses, a great army of trained and skilled workers, but still we cannot hope to accomplish this work. The thought must be brought home to the boy, that he is the architect of his own fortune. He must know that every man in this world must develop the elements that constitute a man, absolutely himself. In the providence of our Father, it is not possible for money to purchase, for servants to provide, or for position to give,one iota of internal individual growth. The boy must know that "Seek and ye shall find" has its negative in "Seek not, and ye shall find not." No honest man expects to get something for nothing. The man who goes into the market place to buy with nothing, must return empty handed; and he who expects to succeed without paying fairly the market price of success will receive naught but failure. But what has all this to do directly with the theme? I desire for a minute or two to discuss two phases of the question: First, the value of home preparation, and second, some means of encour. aging the boy to prepare this preparation. In the careful analysis made a few months ago by Brother George Brimhall, he laid down these three fundamental aims: The first aim to be held in mind in this task is, to go over the facts

310 IMPROVEMENT ERA. contained in the lesson, to assimilate them and make them his own; in other words, master the lesson. The second point is, to generate the power to get thought. The boy may forget all the facts that he learns today, but the power which he developed in getting these facts remains his eternal heritage. The old law that self-effort educates, works in two ways. It not only informs the mind but it forms the mind. The third and last aim, and the one to which I desire to pay particular attention, is, that this has a tendency to develop the habit of study. It is evident that, as a community, perhaps, there are as few cases of awkwardness and carelessness among us as may be found in any community of our size; but nevertheless, it does follow that we are forced to the conclusion that here and there we see samples of these. This fact we do know, that if the home preparation accomplishes the purpose that is entertained bv those who advocate it, it will serve as an antidote for town tramping, for street walking, and for that train of evils which very necessarily follow these unfortunate habits. The boy who goes upon the street corner for the first time, takes the first step toward the pitfalls and precipices that destroy the life of man. We know that there is no place where these vices which sap and destroy life are fostered so readily as under the shade of darkness, in the presence of evil companions; It is the thought of the Mutual Improvement workers that the home preparation will, in a measure, overcome these evils, by providing the boy with a task to his liking at the fireside; and for thisreason we make this appeal to f he parents that they may aid us in this matter, and thus overcome, in a large, degree, that chief source of evil to the young men. It is true that a man must be the victim of his environments. If he goes upon the street corner, his ideals are wrong, or he is led to develop ideals that are injurious; and I believe that I am justified in making the general statement, that the boy who today receives his training upon the street corner becomes the ruffian and the desperado of tomorrow. It follows as a natural consequence. If the cause exists, the result must follow. I am safe in the assertion, that there is no influence that bleeds and destroys so many lives as the influences which are attendant upon boys who carelessly waste the best days of their lives upon the street corner. No man, be he ever so gifted and good—he may possess all of the possibilites requisite to the accomplishment of a great man in the earth—can accomplish that mission if he squanders, with criminal negligence, the best hours of his life. We know that mothers-

OUR WORK. 311 spend sleepless hours over the vexing and distfessing question, "Where is my wandering boy tonight?" Her heart may wither under the grief of this relentless circumstance, but this will not save the case. He whosows to the wind must reap the whirlwind. So, sometime, somewhere,, the unfortunate boy must meet the reality of his mistake. Then, in a spirit of kindness, of filial and fraternal love. Mutual Improvement seeks after the boy, takes him from the darkness of night,, and brings him into the presence of light and truth, in the hope that hi energies, his aspirations, and all of those qualities and ambitions whichi make him successful in life, may be given proper direction. We recognize that the righteousness of our cause entitles us to a hearing in the presence of the parents. We know that if they understand fairly the genius of Mutual Improvement, that every aid and every encouragement that lies within the presence and powers of the parent will be given to this association. And, finally, after all that is done, we only can expect to make return indirectly to the parent. Certainly, we do not solicit this aid that the officers may roll up flattering statistical reports and grow proud over temporary success. There is no selfish motive in it. Finally, all of the aid that the parents give is returned to them, increased and added upon, by all of the influence, the genius, the skill and the faith that the honest men and women possess who are engaged in this great work. Our failure is your loss; our success is your gain. We feel that in common with all good men and women who are engaged in a work that will not only redound to the good of the state, to the good of the people, but to theadvancement and 'progress of the great cause which God, in his mercy,, has committed to our keeping. We feel that we are entitled to the support of the parents, that we are entitled to the companionship and encouragement of that Spirit of truth which emanates from the holy presence of our Father, and we recognize that these forces bind us. There are great possibilities before us. We are confident that theseelements, that these causes, will triumph; that there shall grow up in these mountain fastnesses an army of men and women which shall be the pride of the world, men and women who live according to their convictions, who are battling for the right, as God has given them to see it. Let me say, in conclusion, my brethren and sisters, that to come directly to the question, the idea, and I had almost lost sight of it—no man, perhaps, can tell us exactly what to do with the wayward boy. If such an individual could be found, his services would be priceless. But we simply know that in a general way the boy will be what his father is and not what his father tells him to become. We recognize that the.

312 IMPROVEMENT ERA. influence of the home is pretty generally expressed in the lives of those who emanate from the home. Only the other day, a gentleman came to the college, and, in the course of a conversation, when asked, "To what do you attribute your success in life?" he said, "I attribute it to the simple fact that my honest,hard-handed father hedged me about with influences which gave the proper direction to my life. Once my father told the simple story of Joseph sold into Egypt; it awakened my interest; 1 went and read that story, and was so impressed with it that I read it over and over again, and then read the Bible, and re-read it, until it became as it were the real element in my life for righteousness and progress." I recognize that the child possesses an intuitive something by which he can detect weak spots in the strongest of men; but if the parent exercises the elements of love and forbearance, and is honest to the core, the boy can but engender, in a measure, these elements and exemplify them in his life. May the Lord bless us, that we may feel after the safety and sanctity of the home, that those who grow up under its hallowed influence may become able expounders of the great truths which are committed by our heavenly Father to our keeping.