--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 13 number: 7 published: 1910-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Mutual Work: Annual M. I. A. Conference," *Improvement Era* 13, no. 7 (May 1910): 665–667.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1307unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1307unse start_page: 665 end_page: 667 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1910-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1307unse publication_year: 1910 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1910, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Mutual Work: Annual M. I. A. Conference Mutual Work. Annual M. I. A. Conference. The Fifteenth General Annual Conference of the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be held in Salt Lake City, on Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th, 1910. All officers and members of the associations are requested to be present at all of the meetings of the conference, and a cordial invitation is hereby extended to the Saints generally to attend the meetings to be held in the Tabernacle on Sunday, June 5th, at 2 and 7 p. m. Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, B. H. Roberts, General Superintendency Y. M. M. I. A. Martha H. Tingey, Ruth M. Fox, Mae T. Nystrom, Presidency Y. L. M. I. A. The officers of the Young Men's Associations will meet on Saturday morning at 10 o'clock and in the afternoon at 2 o'clock. Special instructions to stake superintendents and ward presidents will be presented. The General Board desires the attendance of every stake superintendent in the Church and of every ward president. If for any reason these can not attend, an authorized officer should be selected to represent them. A conjoint officers' meeting of the Young Ladies' and Young Men's Associations will be held on Sunday morning at 10 o'clock, at which important discussions on conjoint work will be given. A special meeting of stake superintendents of the Y. M. M. I. A. is being arranged for, at which suggestions will be called for from these officers relating to the betterment of our work. Come prepared. General meetings will be held at 2 and 7 p. m On Friday evening a conjoint social entertainment will be held: the time, place and program to be announced later. Efforts are being made to present a field program, after the close of the Saturday afternoon meeting. 666 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Summer Work. Several of the stakes have announced their M. I. A. summer courses, and very commendable programs are presented. The editors of the Era will be glad to receive all the outlines, which will be filed where members of the General Board may inspect them. Annual Conferences. In the general annual conferences of the Y. M. M. I. A , the superintendent of each of the associations should give a statement of the condition of the organization in his stake, placing particular stress upon the various divisions of our work, especially as to the organization of the committees and what work has been accomplished by them. Then, there should be appropriate exercises by young men and young women, reflecting the work of the organizations as presented in the manuals, also appropriate music, and, if possible, essays, songs and testimonies. It is well to have a contest of some kind in connection with the conference, on the Friday or Saturday evenings. This, for the young men, may be oratorical, athletic, a debating or story-telling contest. The General Board Committee has not arranged a uniform program for these occasions, but it is left to the initiative of the stake officers, who should use their own ingenuity in providing interesting and appropriate exercises. As to the dates of these annual conferences, that is left to be named by the stake officers of each stake. They should consult with the stake presidency, and set their own dates, and then notify the General Board, both of the Young Men and the Young Ladies, of the time. The boards will then, in all likelihood, appoint some one to attend the conference, where that can be done. An Extra Monthly Conjoint Meeting. It is announced that the General Board of the Y. L. M. I. A. has made provision in their program for the next season's work for one conjoint meeting with the Y. M. M. I. A. each month, in addition to the regular Sunday night conjoint meeting, usually held on Fast days, the object being to give opportunity for the young ladies to join with the young men in literary work, debates, contests, and lectures and other exercises aside from the regular manual exercises. In view of this arrangement the General Board of the Y. M. M. I. A. at a meeting held Wednesday, April 13, 1910, passed the following reso- MUTUAL WORK. 667 lution which the officers of the various stakes and wards are advised to carry into effect: "Be it resolved by the General Board of Y. M. M. I. A. that we concur in the action of the General Board of Y. L. M. I. A., and advise all the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations to join with the young ladies in providing suitable programs for these conjoint meetings to consist of debates, contests, lectures and other suitable exercises." In arranging for these meetings the program committees of the two associations should meet conjointly to prepare the program and to arrange for their proper presentation. Summer Half Holiday. At the annual conference of the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations of the three stakes of Weber county held on Sunday, April 10, the following resolution was presented and unanimously adopted by the officers in conference 'assembled. All the sessions of the conference were permeated with the spirit of having something done for the betterment of the young people. Action was the slogan. In the general evening meeting the resolution was read to the great congregation in the Tabernacle and commented upon, and the people present were asked to join in aid of the movement. A committee of six was named in the officers' meeting to consult with the merchants with a view to getting a uniform half holiday during the week: Believing, as we do, that the strength of a community lies in the moral, upright living of the people, and that such a condition can best be secured by a wholesome observance of the Sabbath day, the laws of virtue, temperance and sobriety, and that each individual can and ought to contribute to the betterment of existing conditions, it is Resolved, by the officers and teachers of the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations of Weber, Ogden and North Weber stakes, in conference assembled: That we will use our utmost endeavors to secure the setting apart and observance each week, during the summer season, of a half holiday, on a day other than Sunday, and the use of the same for ball games, races, excursions, and other out-of-door sports and amusements that are now frequently appointed for Sunday; That we will refrain from visiting theaters, picture shows, ball games, races, pleasure resorts, or other places of amusement on the Sabbath day, and urge our friends and associates to do likewise; That we will not visit restaurants or cafes where intoxicating beverages are served or can be procured on order; That while in any restaurants or cafes we will avoid sitting in booths or compartments secluded from the view of others, by curtains or partitions.