Mutual Work: Annual M. I. A. and Primary Conference

Mutual Work Annual M. I. A. and Primary Conference The Eighteenth General Annual Conference of the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, and the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Primary Associations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be held in Salt Lake City, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 6th, 7th and 8th, 1913. All members are invited and all officers are particularly requested to be present at all of the meetings of the conference, and a cordial invitation is extended to the Saints generally to attend the meetings to be held in the Tabernacle at 2 and 7 p. m. on Sunday, June 8th. Joseph F. Smith, Martha H. Tingey, Heber J. Grant, Ruth M. Fox, B. H. Roberts, Mae T. Nystrom, General Superintendency Y. M.M.I. A. Presidency Y. L. M. I. A. Louie B. Felt, May Anderson, Clara W. Beebe, Presidency Primary Associations. Annual M. I. A. Conference The M. I. A. Annual Conference will be held in Salt Lake City, June 6, 7, and 8. The first meeting, June 6, 10 o'clock, will be conjoint. The first topic will be, "The M. I. A. Day," by three speakers; the second, "Suggestions for Summer Work," by three speakers. There will be special music. On Friday, 2 p.m., separate officers' meetings. In the Young Men's department the Reading Course, Class Study, the annual report and other Mutual business will be treated. Friday evening there will be an entertainment held in the Deseret Gymnasium consisting of a reception and social, one hour will be devoted to games suitable for adoption in any of the organizations. There will also be a twenty-minutes' dramatic demonstration, followed by dancing, light refreshments, etc. On Saturday morning at 9 o'clock a special superintendents' meeting will be held in which will be treated "System in Stake Work," "Systematic Checking up in Stake and Ward Work," with discussion and questions. At this one-hour special meeting, it is hoped every superintendent of Y. M. M. I. A. in the Church will be present. At 10 o'clock Saturday morning the young men will hold an

MUTUAL WORK 741 officers' meeting, at which a demonstration in organizing Scouts will be given; "Vocations and Industries," "Debating," and the "Character of leaders of physical activities," will be discussed by competent speakers. It is expected that a noon luncheon of the superintendents and General Board will be held at which the subject of "Membership Work" will be taken up. B. S. Hinckley, master of ceremonies. Saturday afternoon will be devoted to M. I. A. Scout demonstrations, and contest-work in boy scout activities. Saturday evening will be devoted to story-telling, orations, and quartet contests, as per instructions sent to superintendents. On Sunday morning at the conjoint meeting in the Tabernacle four topics will be discussed under the general heading, "How to Make Mutual Improvement Associations Popular and Effective." Good singing will be provided. On Sunday afternoon President Joseph F. Smith, President Martha H. Tingey, of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, and President Louie B. Felt, of the Primary Associations, will address the congregation. Music will be furnished by the Tabernacle choir. At the evening session there will be a demonstration of a suggestive Sunday evening conjoint program, under the title, "Lessons from the Life of David." Three speakers, a number of singers, and boy chanters will take part. The details of the exercises are now being arranged, and the superintendents will be provided with programs when ready. The general slogan for the conference will be, "We stand for a holy Sabbath and a weekly half holiday." Usual rates will be given on the railroads, and the superintendents throughout the Church are instructed to see that their stakes and wards are properly represented. There will be something to do, to hear, and to see during every minute of the time. June M. I. A. Day Devoted to Scout Work Stake superintendents and ward presidents will please notice that the General Board has decided to give the Saturday afternoon of the June Conference, usually heretofore devoted to athletic interests, to demonstrations and contest work in Boy Scout activities. After careful consideration it was thought advisable not to have field and track events this year. The scout program will consist of life-saving, carrying and bandaging, signal work and tent raising, most of which will be in the nature of contests. The stakes are invited to send one or more patrols to contest in any part of the work. Some of the stakes have expressed a desire to "hike" their boys into Salt Lake. In case this is done, it is suggested that careful arrangements should be made for the care and protection of the boys while on the road and during

742 IMPROVEMENT ERA their stay in the city. Camping grounds and perhaps other accommodations will be arranged for by the Athletic Committee. Any stake that expects to enter the contests should communicate with Dr. John H. Taylor, Deseret Gymnasium, who will mail them a detailed program of the events and render them any other assistance possible. Washington's Birthday "Hike" On February 22, 150 Liberty Stake M. I. A. Scouts broke the trail to Ensign Peak, in charge of Scout Leader Robert Richardson, Dr. John H. Taylor, General Scout Director, and Stake Superintendent Oscar A. Kirkham. The portrait gives a view of the boys around the ^Jn'~ _» - ■'■■mm-- "mr :\rw1ik%JSJffi^h r ... ,. Ai'A »il**-. AT 1 i nlBiiir ll'f WTfllWrHTl^TWHiiii -Hi flagstaff on the summit. On returning the whole company were given a bath in the Deseret Gymnasium. Supt. Kirkham was chosen by the Geenral Board, on Wednesday, April 16, to act as General Field Secretary, and will take charge of the intellectual activities of M. I. A. work on June 1. Contests in Story-Telling, Orations and Quartet Singing At the June Conference of the M. I. A. there will be contests in the above activities, and all the stakes of Zion are invited and encouraged to participate. The preliminaries will be held on Friday afternoon, in Salt Lake City, when all who take part must be present for the preliminary try-outs. Finals will be held Saturday night in the Assembly Hall before the public. The preliminary exercises will be heard by competent judges selected by the General Boards, and the two best in story-telling and orations will be selected for the finals to be held on Saturday, at which also the two quartets winning in the

MUTUAL WORK 743 preliminary contest will participate. Only those may participate in this contest who have won first place in any stake contest in the Church. Expenses of transportation must be borne by the stakes, the organization, or the individuals themselves who participate. The time for each event must not exceed fifteen minutes, and the names of the contestants must be sent to the General Secretary of the Y. M. M. I. A., Salt Lake City, not later than June 1. Resolutions on the Death of Sister Adelia G. Hart, wife of Elder Charles H. Hart Adopted at the Meeting of the General Board of Y M M I A March 19, 1913. Resolved, that the General Board of Mutual Improvement Associations hereby expresses its deep and heartfelt sympathy with their fellow-member, Elder Charles H. Hart, in the loss of his beloved wife, and with his family, in their being deprived of the presence and guidance of their loving and devoted mother, Sister Adelia G. Hart, whose death occurred on March 18, 1913. We realize the great bereavement that has come to them in this sad event, and pray our Father in Heaven to comfort their sorrowing hearts, and to provide for them that tender care and solicitude which are necessary to their future wellbeing, and of which they are now naturally deprived by the passing away from mortality of a watchful, noble, affectionate wife and mother. We recognize the integrity and faithfulness of Sister Adelia through all the responsibilities that came to her as a devoted Latter-day Saint and wife and mother in Israel, and which have earned for her an everlasting reward with the just, the pure and the true in our Father's kingdom and a reunion with her husband and family under the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Chirst. In this we know that Brother Hart has a consolation which human thoughts and words cannot give, but which comes from the testimony of the Holy Spirit that abides in his soul; and we pray that that consolation and testimony will increase in and remain with him and his family to their perfect comfort and an encouragement for faithfulness in the cause of our God that will reunite in a relationship of glory and permanence in our Father's kingdom the ties now so painfully broken in mortality. And be it also Resolved, that we request the General Superintendency of the Y. M. M. I. A., acting on behalf of this Board, to express personally to Brother Hart our loving sympathy and friendship in this time of sorrow; and further, that the editors of the Improvement Era also be requested to publish in the Era the sentiments herein sincerely and affectionately expressed by this meeting of the General Board of Y. M. M. I. A.