Tribute of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A. to President Winder

Tribute of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A. to President Winder. At the general board meeting of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, held on Wednesday, March 30, Elders Heber J. Grant and B. H. Roberts were appointed by President Joseph F. Smith a committee to prepare a suitable expression of appreciation of the life and character of President Winder, to be recorded in the minutes of the General Board; and to report at the next meeting of the board which, on account of the general conference of the Church, convened Wednesday, April 13, at which time the following report and appreciation were read and unanimously adopted by the members of the board: To the Super intendency and General Board of Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations: Brethren: — Your committee, to whom was referred the matter of drafting for our board minutes suitable notice of the demise of the late President John R. Winder, a member of the General Board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, present the following: IN MEMORIAM. In the life and character of the late President John R. Winder the young men of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may see at once the triumphs of the gospel when applied to human life, and the value of human life when consecrated to the service of God and fellowmen. His was pre-eminently a useful life, full of activity applied to practical things, rather than to the development of ideas. He was one who emphasized the importance of common things — the things with which men have most to do, about which they are most concerned, and the doing of which moulds the character of individuals and nations. This does not mean that his life was exclusively, or even chiefly, given over

PRESIDENT JOHN R. WINDER. 629 to what are generally recognized as secular or material affairs; his life's activities embraced the spiritual as well as the temporal, only in the spiritual, as in the temporal, he was practical. The great underlying principles of the gospel — the fundamentals on which religion rests — he seemed to grasp by an act of faith, and ever after hold in consciousness; after which, for John R. Winder, there remained nothing to do but to go steadily forward, day after day and year after year, in doing that which God had appointed unto man to do, having sublime faith that if this were done the results promised of God, that cannot lie, would not fail. In this spirit he wrought his life's work— characterized by ceaseless activity, constant and systematic application to whatever was undertaken, a rare grasp of details and intuitive knowledge of their importance; to every trust he was faithful, to every promise — to spoken word as to written bond — he was true: and, withal, as unselfish in his service to man, to the state, to the Church, and to God, as we may hope to see a man in this our mortal life. In his character, as in his life, he was every way admirable. Simplicity, directness, honesty, constituted a group of qualities strongly marked in him. Justice, which demands fairness for all, and charity, whence springs mercy and patience and brotherly kindness, were not acquired virtues, but native to his soul. If, after the purity of his mind, which arose from the harmonious blending of all his mental and spiritual qualities, one were to seek for the predominant characteristics of his spirit — the master note of the splendid symphony of his life — it would be found in his absolute faith and trust in God. The twenty-third Psalm voices the constant song of his spirit, and reveals the keynote of his life: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

630 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Long may the life's labor and character of President John R. Winder remain a memory in Israel to console the aged faithful, and to be an inspiration and a beacon light to the youth. Let it be ordered that these expressions of our appreciation of the life and character of President John Rex Winder be spread upon the minutes of this General Board meeting; that they be published in the Imprrovement Era, the organ of the Priesthood Quorums and the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations; also that a copy of the same be neatly pen-engrossed, suitably bound and presented to his family. Respectfully submitted, Heber J. Grant, B. H. Roberts. Worth Your While. Remember, young man, that a backbone is infinitely more important than a wishbone. Young people who are deferring marriage until they can afford to live stylishly, are making a great mistake. The material rubbish with which we may surround ourselves does not create happiness. That comes from the song in the heart. "I would urge upon every young man, as the beginning of his due and wise provision for his household, to obtain, as soon as he can, by the severest economy, a restricted, serviceable, and steadily — however slowly — increasing series of books for use through life, making his little library, of all the furniture in his room, the most studied and decorative piece, every volume having its assigned place, like a little statue in its niche." — Sesame and Lilies, John Ruskin.