Our Work: Y. M. M. I. A. Annual Conventions, 1907

: OUR WORK. Y. M. M. I. A. ANNUAL CONVENTIONS, 1907. To Stake and Ward Officers Y. M. M. I. A.: Dear Brethren: —The annual conventions of the Y. M. M. I. A. will be held in August, September, and October, 1907, as follows: Alberta — August 11. Taylor— August 18. Panguitch— August 25. — Kanab, Big Horn September 1. Beaver, Bannock, Emery, Juab, Malad, San Luis, Hyrum, St. George, Pocatello, — September 8. Cassia, Granite, Teton, Ensign, Jordan, Nebo, Weber, North Davis, San Juan, Parowan, Sevier — September 15. Liberty, Star Valley, South Sanpete, Wasatch, Utah, Cache, Oneida, Wayne, Uintah, South Davis— September 22. Fremont, Blackfoot, Bear Lake, Box Elder, North Sanpete, Summit, Millard, Pioneer, Salt Lake, Alpine —September 29. Woodruff, Union, Tooele, Benson, Bingham, Morgan —October 13. Snowflake, St. Joseph, St. Johns, Maricopa, Juarez, will be held in connec- tion with the stake conferences in November. Stake superintendents will please give special and immediate attention to the following items

1. Confer with the stake presidency — secure their co-operation and arrange for the conventions.
2. See that your ward and stake organizations are all complete and your class teachers selected before the convention.
3. See that all officers and class teachers are notified, by letter or by per- sonal visit if necessary to secure their attendance.
4. Secure suitable hall or halls for the convention, where both the Young Men's and Young Ladies' officers may be accommodated, without interfering with the Sunday schools or the ward meetings. Consult with the Young Ladies' officers in regard to this. Confer with the officers of the Young Ladies and arrange for entertaining officers who come from a distance; and, if practicable, provide for oint luncheon between sessions.

OUR WORK. 921 5. Have all Sunday school teachers who are Mutual Improvement officers or class teachers excused from Sunday school classes to attend the morning ses- sion of the convention. This has been provided for by arrangement between the two Boards. 6. Do not neglect to extend a cordial, special invitation to the stake presi- dency, high councilors, and bishops and their counselors, and all the stake officers of the auxilliary organizations, to attend the convention meetings. 7. See to it that competent persons are selected to treat the subjects at the convention and assign the topics to them in advance, and call attention to the necessity of preparing the subject according to the outlines. 8. Send copies of this circular to every ward president without delay. 9. Hold at least one preliminary meeting of the stake superintendency, aids, and convention speakers, and discuss the convention subjects thoroughly and perfect all arrangements for the convention, in ample time before the date. Se- cure suitable and well-lighted hall. 10. Confer with the bishop of the ward where convention is to be held and secure the use of the ward meetinghouse for a public evening meeting, which should be well advertised. Have special music by the choir, and arrange for one musical number by the young women and one by the young men. The visiting Board members may occupy the time. In making these arrangements, care should be taken not to interfere with the sessions of the Sunday schools or regular ward afternoon meetings. Some settlement should be selected where the meetings can be held in a building other than that in which the Sunday school and ward afternoon meetings are held. Thoroughly advertise your convention throughout your stake; give frequent notice in all ward meetings, Sunday schools and other gatherings, and have a notice published in your local newspaper, in addition to individual notice, personal or by letter, to every Y. M. M. I. A. officer, including the class teacher. For the work of the Young Men's Associations, two meetings will be held, one at 10 a. m. and one at 2 p. m. In the evening, at the most convenient hour, a joint meeting will be held to which the public should be invited . A program need not be prepared for the evening meeting. In case no visitors from the Board are present, the stake officers should be prepared to occupy the time in presenting to the public the advantages and outlines of M. I. A. work for the season, and other- wise proceed with the convention work. The meetings will be conducted by the Stake Y. M. M. I. A. officers, under the direction of the representative of the General Board, and the program will consist of the following: 1 —Membership, (See Circular of Suggestions, -p. 6). 2— Planned Work. a. Value and necessity of regular officers' meetings, and persistent mission- ary work. b. Sketch outlines for preliminary programs, and regular Manual work. c. Adopt systematic methods for obtaining and distributing Manuals. d. Give a synopsis of contents of senior and junior Manuals. (Send for a copy of junior Manual to General Secretary, and see Era for August for

— . 922 IMPROVEMENT ERA. outlines for senior Manuals). The aim of this season's senior Manual work is to develop spiritual growth by encouraging the young people in the practice of true religion e. Select proficient class leaders, and urge them to develop interest in the classes. f. Create enthusiasm among the officers, and inspire them with the spirit of the work. 3. Leadership. —Leadership in this discussion shall mean the ability and author- ity to lead. a. Elements of Success. —First, faith. — Faith in one's self. A man who hesitates and seeks excuses, will fail as a leader. Second, faith in others. A leader should repose confidence in his subordinates. Third, and first in importance, faith in God. Any person in this Church who presumes to do any portion of the Lord's work without relying upon Him is sure to suffer defeat. b. Choose men for their fitness and direct their abilities. Frequent consul- tation among officers is essential to success. The do-it-all man discour- ages his followers; the know-it-all man disgusts them. c. Encouragement is a source of success. Appreciation is the best form of encouragement. Encouragement of the initiative is a source of suc- cess. Originality in a leader is a most admirable quality, but the mag- nanimity of character that will inspire a leader to accept a suggestion and adopt a good plan presented by a subordinate is one of the qualities that makes failure impossible in a leader. d. Knowledge of men and their aptness for work is a means to suc- cess. Every man is good for something, and his talent should be utilized. It is the business of M. I. A. leaders to secure the influence of those who preside over them. Co-operation of workers is a source of success. e. Appreciation is an element of true leadership. Magnify men's virtues, and kindly correct their mistakes. f. Leadership means a greater love for those we lead than for the honor accruing from leading. 4. Our Financial Dues. a. Necessity for the fund. b. Loyalty to and support of the fund. c. Benefits derived by members. d. Collecting and forwarding. (See Circular of Suggestions, p. 7.) e. Sacredness of trust funds. 5. Our Magazine Improvement Era. a. Hereafter the Improvement Era will be illustrated. b. There will be special articles of interest to boys. c. The Era will maintain its literary standard; and continue to be the medium for distributing the best writings obtainable. d Subscriptions: All are invited to assist us to obtain 15,000 sub-

OUR WORK. 923 scribers for this volume. By a strong, determined effort every stake can obtain five per cent of the Church population as subscribers, and receive a rebate of twenty-five cents for each subscription. (See Circular of Suggestions, p. 4.) e. Value of the Era as a missionarv; a means of developing literary talent; a literary product; the organ of the Y. M. M. I. A. 6. Wholesome Reading. See Era for August, pp. 820-830; also Julv, p. 762. At the morning meeting the first three subjects will be considered, and the second three at the afternoon meeting. The stake superintendents will select a competent person to present each of the six subjects, to be followed by questions and general discussion. We trust that you will make every necessary sacrifice to accomplish the work, and that no excuse will be offered on the day of the convention, but that every re- quirement will be met. These M. I. A. conventions, of all our gatherings for officers, are the most important, and should be made the big events of the year. Any neglect will work an injury to the cause. This year's convention ought to be the best ever held, because we are growing. make this convention a grand It will require work to success, but the good which will result will amply repay you for the effort, and we pray that the Lord will bless you accordingly. OFFICERS. Joseph F. Smith, General Supt. Heber J. Grant, Assistant. B. H. Roberts, Assistant. Evan Stephens, Music Director. Horace S. Ensign Asst. Music Director. , Aids. Francis M. Lyman, Briant S. Hinckley, John Henry Smith, Moses W. Taylor, J. Golden Kimball, B. F. Grant, Junius F. Wells, Henry S. Tanner, Rodney C. Badger, Hyrum M. Smith, George H. Brimhall, Joseph F. Smith, Jr., Edward H. Anderson, 0. C. Beebe, Douglas M. Todd, Lewis T. Cannon, Thomas Hull, Benj. Goddard, Nephi L. Morris, George A. Smith, Willard Done, Thomas A. Clawson, Le Roi C. Snow, Louis A. Kelsch, Frank Y. Taylor, Lyman R. Martineau, Rudger Clawson, Charles H. Hart, Rulon S. Wells, John A. Widtsoe, Joseph W. McMurrin, James H. Anderson, Reed Smoot, Alpha J. Higgs. General Secretary and Treasurer.

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