--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Grant, Heber J. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 15 number: 10 published: 1912-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Heber J. Grant, "The Place of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations in the Church," *Improvement Era* 15, no. 10 (August 1912): 871–879.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera15010unse 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: improvementera15010unse start_page: 871 end_page: 879 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1912-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera15010unse publication_year: 1912 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 1912, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Place of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations in the Church The Place of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations in the Church'' BY ELDER HERER T. GRANT The place of the Young" Men's Mutual Improvement Associations in the Church is the subject allotted to me. It has been said that "the man without the woman is not perfect in the Lord, neither the woman without the man," and the place of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations is to try and keep up with the young ladies. That is the principal duty at present. There are some of our bishops who think that there is no place for the. Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations. They doubtless have no children. If they have daughters, as I have — all my boys being girls — they can have no desire for them to get good husbands, or it would never enter their heads that there is no place in the Church for the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations. The remarks that have been made here tonight by Sister Connelly I endorse with all my heart. I thank her for. making them. Our associations were organized by inspiration to President Brigham Young. There were a great many who did not believe in the Religion Classes. Brother Maeser labored with zeal and with the spirit of inspiration, and finally converted nearly all the people to the Religion Class work. I have heard many a stake president and bishop say : "I don't believe in the Religion Class exercises. We already have more organizations than we need." On more than one occasion, I have sat listening as *Delivered at the Annual M. I. A- Conference, Sunday, June 9, in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle. 872 IMPROVEMENT ERA the words <>f inspiration, under the influence of the Spirit of God, flowed from the lips of Karl G. Maeser, and shed tears of gratitude when I have heard him training little children in the Religion Class exercises. I remember on one occasion attending meeting with Brother Charles W. Nibley, out in Baker City, Oregon, and as we came out Brother Nibley said: "A man has a good deal of the Spirit of the Lord who can make me cry." I said, the same is true of me. We had both been crying under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord that came to Brother Maeser. It is the Spirit that giveth life and utterance, but the dead letter kills. "We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet" to guide us in these latter-days. I will stop just long enough to have these lovely children (Ensign Primary) sing the hymn for our benefit. (The children sang.) They have only given us the first verse, but you all know the rest, and I will not take time to read it. "We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet." When any bishop sings that song, or announces it in his ward, I want him to remember that the Prophet of God, Brigham Young, under the inspiration of God, organized the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations. His successor, John Taylor, appointed the superintendency with the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at its head. The successor to John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, when we suggested that he was nearly ninety years of age, and that we did not care to burden him with the labors of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, replied, "I would like to be the superintendent as long as I live. I want to be one with the boys, and partake of the spirit of the young men." It is that disposition, a willingness to mingle with the youth, and to take part in their activities which helped to keep men like Wilford Woodruff and John R. Winder active in body and in spirit. We partake to a certain extent of the spirits of those with whom we mingle. When I was in Liverpool, too tired to go to the theater. Brother Penrose would say, "Come on, Sister Grant, we will go and let the old man rest." The Y. M. M. I. A. gives the young men an organization which they can call their own, which young people much desire. I feel young enough to desire it. No greater calamity could befall the young men of this Church than for them to have no or- PLACE OF Y. M. M- I. A. IN THE CHURCH 873 ganization of their own. Our associations teach the young men to preside and conduct public assemblies, and to express themselves in public gatherings. I have met men with salaries ranging from twenty-five to one hundred thousand a year who were not as capable as some of our boys of twenty when it came to making an impromptu speech. "What makes a good musician ? Practice. What makes a good artist? Practice. What makes a man a good mechanic? Practice. What makes a man a good man? Practice." This is true. We want the boys to get practice, in speaking and in conducting themselves properly. Kill our associations and the needed practice is done away with. They give opportunity for study along religious, social, scientific, intellectual and physical lines. They prevent the general organization of clubs, social and select educational societies, and meet the desires and wants of young people in such activities under Church influence and direction. If we fail to provide our young men with the opportunity of doing this, they will go outside of Church influences to indulge in these things. Speaking of social societies before our associations were organized, I look back with a great deal of pleasure to the Wasatch Literary Association, consisting of young boys and girls who during my 'teens met together for social and literary improvement. I am pleased to know that three of that association are today members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. One is a member of the First Council of Seventies. The first governor of the state of Utah and the president of the Ensign stake of Zion, the man who commanded the Utah batteries in the Philippine Islands in the defense of his country, came from that association. One of the sweetest souls that it ever fell to my lot to know, the late Feramorz Young, was a member. The very successful manager of the Church organ, the Dcscrct News, was also a member. Last, but not least, the sister who presides over the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations in all the world, was a member. The Wasatch has had members of the General Board of the Relief Society, one of the leading artists of the state, and (I don't know that we need boast of it from a religious standpoint) the head of all the Christian Science organizations in Utah, were members. I rather think that if this had 874 IMI K< >VEMENT ERA been a joint Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improve ment Association, we would have had today the head of the Christian Scientists, instead, as the president of a Relief Society or Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. If we did not have the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, we would have large numbers of our young men joining the various secret societies for cheap insurance and sociability. If we do not furnish them with some activity, they will furnish it themselves. Let me give you a pointer on insurance. That is my business. Always look out for the person who offers something for nothing, and when you are offered cheap insurance in assessment companies, take my word for it, it is the clearest insurance on earth, unless you die quick. To illustrate, ten men agree to assess themselves $100 apiece in the case of the death of one. The first man dies, his family gets $900. They get in another man, and so on until several die and the men become too old to get in others. And then when the next man dies his family gets only $800, and the next man's family $700, and so on down until the last man puts up his own $100 and then dies. Absolutely, that is all there is to it. The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association is a center where the religious thought and activity of the young may find expression. As you have heard from Sister Connelly, the original keynote of Mutual Improvement was "to establish in the hearts of the young an individual testimony of the truth" and divinity, magnitude, necessity and value of the Church and its institutions. And this keynote is the same today. President Joseph F. Smith was made one of the superintendency in the days of Wilford Woodruff, and served as an assistant to Lorenzo Snow, and then he was chosen the superintendent, and we sing, "We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet to guide us in these latterdays." That applies not only to Brigham Young, but it applies to the present Prophet of God who gave us today the expression from his heart, that no man could have attended our meeting on Friday and partaken of the Spirit and not felt the need of the Improvement Associations. Thank the Lord, the Presidency of the Church, the Apostles, the seven Presidents of Seventies, the Presiding Patriarch, the Presiding Bishopric, who constitute the general authorities of the Church, all believe in the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations. PLACE OF Y. M. M. I. A. IN THE CtfURCH 875 Let me give you a little sound advice : Anybody within the sound of my voice who doesn't believe in the Young Men's Association, would better repent and get in on the right side at once. The Prophet Joseph Smith gave it as an invariable rule that the leaders of the Church, as a whole, would never go astray, and when they start an institution under the inspiration of God, which they believe in unanimously, it is a very serious thing for any man occupying a prominent position in the Church to oppose it. President Brigham Young said that more testimonies came to people while upon their feet than upon their knees. I agree with him. Our association is a rallying place in which the youth may learn from study and experience to develop all noble gifts within them. This implies class work in conduct, application of religious doctrines, literature, science, history, biography, art, government, tic. It is a forum where those who have special talents may be encouraged to cultivate them by public expression, where the young men take part in debates, orations, music, story-telling, lectures, writing essays, reading and speaking. The orations on Friday on President Brigham Young and "The Three Pioneer Women" bear witness to the benefit derived from this class of work in our associations. I feel grateful to the young man who delivered the oration and I never expect to see the day that we will not have the opportunity of listening to addresses of this class from young men. Our young men would petition the bishops for organizations, if the latter were to resolve that we should not have them. I forgot to mention that nearly all the boys in the Wasatch Literary association in addition to learning about literature, etc., captured good wives from that association. Do away with our associations and you reduce the young ladies' opportunities to capture good husbands. As a social center in which public and private amusements may be carried on, and proper conduct inculcated and made popular, our organizations are useful and beneficial. Here the young may engage in musical, dramatic, and other like entertainments and festivities. Scouting, field sports, athletic tournaments, excursions, dances and other social gatherings are here encouraged, giving the young people an opening under proper tutelage and supervision for the pent-up energy that might otherwise display 876 IM PR< >VEMENT KRA itself in wrong actions. This field is for the Mutual Improvement Associations because it is the only organization in the Church which undertakes to provide these necessary activities for the young people. Further, because the field, if not occupied by this Church organization, will be occupied by private companies and associations, not always desirable and clean, but Formed for money-making. How many crimes are committed For money! We want these amusements, not for the dollars, but for the uplifting and the betterment of the youth of Israel. Ours is the most appropriate organization in the Church for these activities, because (a) its membership is composed of many young men and women whom it is difficult at that age to interest in theological study only, and (b) being broader in scope than any other, it may give full latitude to every legitimate mental, social or physical excellence and enjoyment which the Church desires to foster and promote among the young men and women, and to provide every legitimate ambition and impulse to excel in any of these broader fields, without having to seek opportunity in outside organizations. The Priesthood should support the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations because, first, it is a feeder to the priesthood quorums; second, it is a vital force for good in the community, and a help to the priesthood. You cannot convert a bishop who has an active, wide-awake Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, but what it is one of the finest organizations that could possibly exist in his ward. He knows the benefit, he knows the support, the same as the bishop knows the benefit to his ward of a young man who comes home from a mission filled with the Spirit of God, and who can feed the people the bread of life. There is no labor that pleases the Lord more than for young men to prepare themselves for missions. From my own experience, I know that the active M. I. A. member is better prepared for missionary work than one who has not attended the Mutuals. In this field the young men may have the opportunity for preparation to do good, effective missionary work. There is no place better for men and women of experience to do good than can be found working in our Mutual Improvement Associations. The best missionaries, the best worxers, should be called if necessary to do missionary work among the young peo- PLACE OF Y. M- M. I. A. IN THE CHURCH 877 pic in their association activities. Often more practical, good, and more genuine religion can be impressed by a word in the right place, in the games, parties, entertainments, classes and festivals of the young than in much preaching and exhortation. As a practical illustration: When I was a young man of twenty-four, presiding over the Tooele Stake of Zion, passing a base-ball game one day, I heard the boys profane. I did not correct them, but I called to one of the players and said: "Next time you have a baseball game, boys, count me in. I used to play in the nine that won the championship in our territory." The boys did count me in, and I often played with them. The fact that the president of the stake came and played with them was the reason, I think, that no oaths were used in all the games that I played. I never saw finer deportment in my life than those boys exhibited upon the ball field. We therefore ask the co-operation of the priesthood, and particularly the presiding authorities in this work. Give, we pray you, the boys and girls, men and women of ability, suitable, lovable and especially fitted to associate with them, to teach and direct them in their studies, plays, intellectual and physical activities. Call them on missions to do so, if necessary. Neither the priesthood quorums nor the Sunday schools, nor any of the. other organizations of the Church are taking care of a certain great lot of our young people. There are at least forty per cent of them who are not attending any of our organizations, between the ages of say fourteen and seventeen. You will notice that we have three strong and splendid organizations, the Sunday School, the Primary and the Religion Class, with three strong boards, working to get the children in line ; but the children leave as soon as they get to the dangerous or adolescent age, and we have only one board and one organization working for the boys between those ages. The little children naturally run to their organizations; our boys are inclined to run away from our organization. We need the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, and we need also to inspire all their officers with more effort and greater zeal and enthusiasm, to hold our young people at this age. Our association is specially fitted and adapted to do this work effectively, and to interest young men and young women in the great cause of the Lord. The Church is spending fully $350,000 a year to educate the b/8 IM PR( IVEMENT EB \ young people in Church schools, and I believe I do n<>i over estimate when I say that only about ten per cent of the time <»i the students is devoted to theological studies exclusively; the other ninety per cent is to scientific, literary, and other secular studies, and the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations are working along the same lines, and not costing the Church a dollar. Now, one of the great reasons why the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations should exist is that wc can keep up our reading course. There is a great improvement as a rule in our reading and in the number of books read. "Truth is the rock foundation of every great character. It is loyalty to the right as we see it ; it is courageous living of our lives in harmony with our ideals; it is always — power." 'Truth means that which one troweth or believes. It is living simply and squarely by our belief; it is the externalizing of a faith in a series of actions. Truth is ever strong, virile, though kindly, gentle, calm, and restful." I know the truth so far as these Improvement Associations are concerned, and the truth is that God, by the inspiration of his Spirit, established the Young Men's and the Young Ladies', and the Primaries, the Sunday schools, the Religion classes and the Church schools, and by and with the help of the Lord, I am going to be one to stay by that truth that has come to us. If there were no other excuse for the Young Men's Associations to live, I hold a perfect excuse in my hand, the Improvement Era. We started the Improvement Era, as Brother B. H. Roberts very splendidly presented before us in our meeting yesterday, without any capital except the loyalty of the young men, and how well they have furnished the capital ! We are indeed grateful. They have certainly done their duty. We have paid our expenses every year, furnished the magazine free (with voluntary donations the first years) to all the missionaries. I am not overstating when I say $26,000 in actual expense foi mailing and for printing has been given by the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations in sending out free the Improvement Era to the missionaries. I want to go through one number of the Improvement Era. [The speaker then examined each title or article in the May num- PLACE OF Y. M. M. I. A. IN THE CHURCH 879 ber, reading excerpts and making comments as to the value of same, etc., being in the main at too great length for insertion here.] Referring to President Smith's statement in the May number on the faithfulness of the third and fourth generation of young Latter-day Saints : while I was in New York two or three weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a conference of all the conference presidents of the Eastern States mission, and during one of our meetings, President Ben E. Rich said : "I do not know how these boys stand, but having read a statement that the third and fourth generations of the Latter-day Saints are drifting away from the faith of their fathers, I would like each of you conference presidents to tell us to which generation you belong." Every conference president in the Eastern States mission was of the third or fourth generation. This was a confirmation of the statement made by our Prophet, which I have just been reading from the Era, that the Latter-day Saints are attacked upon false premises. As I have remarked in going over these articles, there are quite a number so valuable and soul-inspiring that any one of them is worth the cost of subscription to the magazine ; and besides, we are aiding in a substantial way in the spread of truth by sending free of cost, magazines to each missionary in the field. Every article published is well worth careful perusal, and the whole is a monument to the young men ; and, as [ have said, the Improvement Era is an ample reason for the continuance of our organization. May God help us to be loyal, to love his work in all its activities, and labor for it to the best of our ability, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. President Joseph F. Smith, in closing the meeting, said: "1 pray that the Lord will bless and sanctify the efforts that have been put forth in this conference for the benefit and upbuilding and maintenance of the Mutual Improvement Associations, both Young Men's and Young Women's, and also the Primary Associations, and, for that matter, all the other auxiliary organizations of the Church."