Mutual Work

/'/MUTUAL WORK Annual M. I. A. Conference To be held in Salt Lake City, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 7, 8, and 9, will be noted for several new features: 1. On Thursday evening, the 6th, Mr. S. A. Moffat, Field Director of the National Organization of the Boy Scouts of America, will speak at a scout master's and M. I. A. workers' meeting on, "Boy Leadership and the Scoutmaster." The Young Ladies on Thursday will have a course of lectures on "Child Welfare" and "Nutrition," by Dr. Raphael S. Olson, of the University of Utah, and Miss Blanche Cooper, of the Utah Agricultural College. This is particularly for bee-keepers of the Bee-Hive Girls. 2. At the Friday morning meeting the slogan of the M. I. A. for the year will be named, "We Stand for Service to God and Country." "Leadership in Summer Work" will be discussed, and Dr. Geo. H. Brimhall will give an address on "Training for Leadership," taking for his text the definition of a good soldier recently given in Salt Lake City by Brigadier-General Richard W. Young, as follows: "A good soldier must be sober, morally and physically strong, minutely attentive to details, energetic, self-reliant, decisive, helpful, absolutely obedient, superbly brave, loyal to the death." Arrangements are made for music by the Richmond Boys' Band. A unique feature is the distribution of efficiency cards on "Qualifications of an M. I. A. Leader," to be marked privately, without signatures, by each officer present. The joint meeting Saturday morning will be notable for a demon- 3. among other exercises, of a patriotic rally or special gathering, the stration, program outlined for June 25 being rendered in the Assembly Hall. In the evening final tryouts, patriotic addresses and music by the Military Band, Fort Douglas. 4. On Sunday, three general meetings will be held in the great Tabernacle. The meeting in the morning being distinguished by addresses from Levi Edgar Young, Emma Goddard, May Booth Talmage, and Richard R. Lyman, on four divisions of the Slogan of the M. I. A: "We Stand for Service to God and Country," as follows: "Love of God," "Love of Neighbor," "Service to Country 'Over There,'" "Service to Country 'Over Here.' The afternoon service will be a general devotional. The evening gathering, among the exercises, will be distinguished by a speech by Chaplain B. H. Roberts of the 145th F. A. (1st Utah), who, it is anticipated, will be prec r nt on the occasion to address the young people. 5. Several marked features in music will be introduced. The large Tabernacle Choir, Prof. A. C. Lund, director, will furnish attractive music and singing for Sunday afternoon, and at the evening meeting Professor Evan Stephens' combined choruses of the Granite stake will provide conspicuous musical numbers. 6. Important separate meetings, at which Mutual Improvement activities and exercises will be thoroughly discussed will be held at several gatherings. Scout work, by Field Director Moffat and others, will receive prominent attention. On Friday evening there will be a grand social given by the General Boards for the officers, and on Saturday noon a luncheon given by the General Board of the Y. M. M. I. A. for Stake superintendents throughout the Church.

746 IMPROVEMENT ERA 7. The fare on all railroads has been increased by one-third, so that one fare and one-third will be required of all who come to conference this year. This is a government regulation. The whole season of meetings and exercises will be unusually attractive, worth while, and stimulating to officers in every department of the work before them.

M. I. A. Boys' Industrial Contest

The M. I. A. Boys' Industrial Contest for the year 1917 resulted in the selection of the following seven best records. The basis of judging the merits of these various records was the character of the employment, the amount of money received for the work, the judgment shown in spending the amount earned, the net results of the season's work, the development of the character and health, and the purpose or motive in taking up the employment. The first three were so nearly alike on these points, competing for the first prize of $25, that it was decided to give a prize of $20 to each of the three named, making a total of $60. The list of winners, therefore, stands as follows: Mercer Anderson, 16 years of age, 5th ward, Provo, who did general farm work in West Jordan, $20. Allen Anderson, 14, of the 5th ward, Provo, who worked on a hay ranch west of West Jordan, with his brother Mercer, $20. Verl Dastrup, 15, of Sigurd, Sevier stake, who worked for different fanners thinning beets and helping his father in the store and in wet-ding gardens, $20. The fourth prize went to Melvin Cowley, 15, of Sigurd, Sevier stake, who worked for the Jumbo Plaster and Cement Co., and a part of the time on a farm with a harrow and plow, $10. Edward Tidwell, 12, of Wellington, Carbon stake, took the fifth prize, $5. His work consisted of thinning beets and milking cows, besides tending seventeen pigs during the summer. He also assisted in running the mowing machine on 80 acres of hay land, and besides he cultivated one-eighth of an acre of beans in the Boys' Club Contest. Reuben Snow, 14, of Sigurd, Sevier county, and Cecil Rogers, 14, of Blanding, San Juan county, received the sixth and seventh prizes of $2.50 each. Both of these boys earned their money on the farm, their activities being very commendable, the first cultivating a half acre of beets, and the other, an eigth of an acre of beans. We congratulate the boys upon having received these rewards, and particularly upon their industry and activity during the summer months and during vacation, and also for the commendable purposes for which they labored and which are named in their little essays.

Southern States Y. M. M. I. A.

A report of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations of the Southern States Mission, for the year 1917, shows that there are four associations in South Carolina, one in Tennessee, one in Florida, one in Kentucky and one in Georgia, making eight associations altogether, with a total membership of two hundred, and an average attendance of one hundred fifty. Out of this number there are ten members who are in the service of the country. Two hundred regular meetings and forty joint meetings have been held, making a total of two hundred and ninety. There are ten unregistered scouts.

MUTUAL WORK 747

Plan for Summer Work Suggestive Programs for Sunday Evening Joint Sessions and for Special M. I. A. Gatherings or Rallies. Send to the Committee on Public Information, Washington, D. C, for copies of "War Information Series." These are sent free on application, except "Battle Line of Democracy," which costs 15 cents per copy.

TEN Sunday Evening Joint Session, July 7 General Subject: "Religious Forces that Have Influenced Nations." Great Contributions in Literature

1. Opening hymn, "Come, O Thou King of Kings."
2. Prayer.
3. Hymn, "An Angel from on High."
4. Religious Literature. a. The Bible. b. The Book of Mormon. c. The Koran.
5. Closing hymn, "Arise, Glorious Zion." ELEVEN Patriotic Rally or Special Gathering, Tuesday Evening, July 9 General Subject: "Our Allies." Russia
6. Opening hymn, "Rock of Ages."
7. Prayer.
8. Russia's National Hymn.
9. Our Ally, Russia. a. A land of possibilities. b. Her struggle for liberty. c. Her part in the war. — Note. Pay some attention to later developments in Russia.
10. Reading, "Hymn of Free Russia" (See "Battle Line of Democracy," p. 130).
11. Closing song, "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel."

TWELVE Patriotic Rally or Special Gathering, Tuesday Evening, July 23

General Subject: "National Efficiency." Loyalty of the Church to the Nation

1. Opening hymn, "Hark, Listen to the Trumpeters."
2. Prayer.
3. Songs of Zion. a. "Come, Come Ye Saints." b. "Beautiful Zion for Me" (Hymn book, p. 349; music, "Heart Songs," p. 224). c. "For the Strength of the Hills."
4. "Loyalty of the Church to the Nation." a. America the Promised Land. b. The Constitution Inspired. c. Our attitude on Government (Doc. and Cov. 134). d. Our part in the present war.
5. Closing hymn, "The Morning Breaks, the shadows Flee."