Growth: How a Living Testimony Endures

Improvement Era Vol. XXVIII AUGUST, 1925 No. 10 GROWTH— HOW A LIVING TESTIMONY ENDURES* By President Heber J. Grant Brother Anthony W. Ivins is unable to attend this meeting, owing to duties in connection with the commencement exercises of the Utah Agricultural College, of which board he is president, and the visit of Secretary of Agriculture, J. W. Jardine at Logan. Having been a worker in the Mutual Improvement cause from the time he was a member in the Saint George stake, subsequently the General Superinten- dent of all the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, and now one of the presidency of the Church, I am sure it would be a source of the keenest pleasure and delight to him to be present on this occasion and to express his joy at the progress that has attended our Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations. M. I. A. Reminiscences It seems scarcely possible to me that next Wednesday will mark 50 years of time since, as a young man, I participated in the organ- ization of the first Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, and was chosen as second counselor to the president. During that period of 50 years I have labored, to the full extent of my ability, in connection with these organizations, as an officer or a member, for the advancement of the youth of Zion. I recall an occasion when there was a vacancy in the general superintendency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associa- tions, and for the first time in my life I supplicated the Lord for an office in the Church — I desired to be called as one of that superin- tendency. We had had a magazine, the Contributor, published by Elder Junius F. Wells for many years — a credit to him and a credit ♦Address at the M. I. A. Jubilee Conference, Sunday afternoon, June 7, 1925. Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2, 1918, $2 per annum. Address Room 40 6, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

928 IMPROVEMENT ERA to the associations, and yet through lack of support on the part of the people it had not been able to continue; so we were without a magazine. We did not have a general board meeting regularly, once a week, to discuss matters for the benefit of the Young Men's Mutual Improve- ment Associations. They were without a magazine, without meetings of a general board, and I supplicated the Lord that I might be chosen as one of the superintendency; that we might again establish an organ; that we might have members of a general board; that there might be weekly meetings, and that the organizations might be given proper attention. The Blessing of Increased Growth We find recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants the statement that there is a law irrevocably decreed, before the foundations of the world, upon which all blessings are predicated, and when we receive any blessing from the Lord it is by obedience to the law upon which it is predicated. I felt that the law of progress, the law of growth and advancement, in the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations was not being fulfilled, and that to have a few men called together about once in six months to discuss what would be for the benefit of the youth of Zion was utterly neglecting to fulfil the law, whereby there might be progress and growth in this great and wonderful work established by President Brigham Young, that the youth of Zion might come to a knowledge of the divinity of this work, for which their fathers had given their lives and the best that was in them. The next day I happened to be in the president's office, upon some business, and while I was there a discussion arose as to who should fill the vacancy in the superintendency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. President Joseph F. Smith turned to President Woodruff and said: "I believe that inasmuch as I am a member of the presidency of the Church, we need not only one but we need two assistants in addition to myself in the Superintendency, I suggest, President Woodruff, that Brother Heber, here, be made one of the superintendency." And then Brother Roberts was also added. I know that President Woodruff, with the assistance of Joseph F. Smith, Brigham H. Roberts and myself, almost immediately there- after adopted plans and fulfilled the law, so to speak, whereby we could receive the blessing of increased growth. A meeting was called immediately to discuss the proposition of having an improvement organ. That meeting led to the publication of the Improvement Era, with Joseph F. Smith as the editor, Brigham H. Roberts as the assistant or acting editor (the man really responsible for editing the magazine), with myself as the manager, in name, and Brother Thomas Hull as the assistant manager, in charge of that magazine. Loyal Support of the Era From the very day we started to publish the Era our people have

GROWTH— HOW TESTIMONY ENDURES 92? supported it loyally; and up to 1901 when I was called to go to Japan, there had been sent to our missionaries over $30,000 worth of Eras at the actual cost of the magazine, without any charge to them. During the first three years of sending this magazine free to mission- aries the cost was borne by individuals. The credit for contributing $500 to the free missionary fund for the first year is due the late George Woodward of St. George. Credit for contributing an addi- tional $500 for the same purpose, is due Alfred W. McCune. I wrote him a letter, while he was in Europe, asking him for $50 or $100, telling him that we needed $1,600 as we had 1,600 mission- aries. He wrote back stating that he had met a large number of our missionaries, while traveling in Europe, and that he had found them "the finest lot of youngsters" he had ever met. Then he said: "This letter authorizes Joseph S. Wells to give you $500; and if you don't get your $1,600 by that time, take it back and get another $500.', I had told President Joseph F. Smith that I could raise all the money if he would only let me write the letters and he sign them with me, to which he consented. We not only got our $1,600, but a thousand dollars more, and we put it out at interest. The next year, without solicitation, some of the men who had subscribed the first year desired to help again, like Jesse N. Smith, who stated, when sending his check, "I want to do this year after year, as long as the magazine is calling for assistance and until it becomes self-sustaining." Brother Will Adams of Eureka wrote the same kind of a letter. So no solicita- tion was necessary the second year, and the third year we solicited just a few hundred dollars, the magazine being able to meet the balance It has been published for more than a quarter of a century; always full of uplifting, faith-promoting splendid articles. I rejoice in its growth and the good it has accomplished. I am grateful for the wonderful growth of the Mutual Improvement Associations, and rejoice that God saw fit to hear and answer my prayer, giving me the opportunity to devote a part of my time, and the strength and ability I might possess, for the advancement of our Mutual Improvement cause. Prayer Answered Twice only, in my life, have I supplicated God for any office; first, as I have told you, to be one of the superintendency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association; and the other was while I was in the far-off land of Japan. Realizing that I was ac- complishing little or nothing in spreading the gospel in that nation, I went out into the woods, knelt down and told God that I knew of no man who was more energetic as a missionary, who would organize and plan and put a mission in better shape than Francis M. Lyman; that he would fill up all the mud-holes, so to speak; that he would go along quietly and orderly, laboring for the salvation of the people; that he would build a strong, splendid road on which a man could

930 IMPROVEMENT ERA travel rapidly, if he so desired. I told him I loved to go fast; that I remembered being stopped once, by a relative of mine, when I was running a race with a horse. He shouted to stop me, then I came back, and he said: "Heber, all of your mother's relatives had fast horses and drove fast. Blood will tell. Go on rapidly." I asked the Lord for the privilege of going on that fine macadamized road, so to speak, that I knew Francis M. Lyman would build. I asked the Lord to call me to succeed him. Immediately thereafter a cablegram came from President Smith: "Take the first steamer home." I came home. He told me that he felt I had not had the opportunity to accomplish any special good in Japan and that he wanted me to have at least one year of the joy, the peace and the happiness that come into the heart of a Latter-day Saint when proclaiming the gospel and seeing the fruits of his labors. Therefore he had called for me, instead of allow- ing me to spend the three years that Brother Snow had said I was to stay in Japan, to come home at the end of two, that I might have one year of the joy that comes with real genuine missionary experience. When I went in to bid him good-bye, I said: "I will see you in a year from now." "Well," he said, "I have thought that over, and I have decided to add another six months to it." I replied: "When the six months expire, it will be satisfactory to me if you multiply it by two, without stopping to ask if it will please me, because I assure you that it will. He did so; and three of the most inspiring and blessed years of my life I spent proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in Europe, pronouncing a blessing, from time to time, upon the mis- sionaries, for their wonderful faithfulness and inspiration, for their humility in getting down on their knees and begging God to inspire them in their labors, and thanking God that he heard and answered their prayers. Missionary Accomplishment I rejoiced in the accomplishments of those missionaries, under my administration, and in the wonderful sowing of seeds of truth by distributing millions upon millions of pages of the writings of Charles W. Penrose, during the last year of my administration there. Had I known that he was coming to succeed me it would have been an impossibility for me to have advertised him with the help of my missionaries, more perfectly than I did. I requested every one of them to discontinue distributing all tracts except the writings of Charles W. Penrose. This request came on the first of May. I placed an order immediately for two tons of his writings, "The Rays of Living Light," at a printing office down town, and we published as many more; so that by the first of October I am sure we had dis- tributed between three and four tons of his writings. When Brother Penrose come to succeed me, he drew audiences of 200, 300 and 400 where I had only three or four. Brother Lyman prepared the soil; I

GROWTH — HOW TESTIMONY ENDURES 931 planted the seed, with the help of the 250 loyal missionaries; and Brother Penrose reaped the harvest. I rejoice in the wonderful inspiration I felt and that the mis- sionaries feel, as well as every honest soul, all over the world. When laboring for the spread of the gospel, at home and abroad. The Living Testimony Incomparable There is nothing in all the wide world that compares with the living testimony of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the knowl- edge that God gives to men from the country of the midnight sun, Scandinavia, clear down to South Africa, the knowledge that he gives them from Canada to South America, and in the islands of the sea, in Australia, in New Zealand, in the Holy Land, in India, all over the world — the knowledge that he lives; that Jesus is the Christ; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and the living God; that the gospel, called "Mormonism," is in very deed the plan of life and salvation, which is and ought to be esteemed as in very deed the Pearl of Great Price, which is of more value than life itself. When God gives us that knowledge, oh, how I do pray that we may fulfil the law whereby we shall obtain that great blessing of life eternal. And what is that law, to members of the Church? The observance of the Word of Wisdom, the payment of your tithes, the getting down on your knees, every morning and every evening to supplicate God for the guidance of his spirit. How Testimony Endures Men and women who neglect to keep a radio communication with God are destroying, to a certain extent, their opportunities to grow in the knowledge and testimony of the divinity of this work. The Lord has said that it is our duty to supplicate him, and if we fail to do it we shall fail to grow as we otherwise would. Another duty devolving upon us is to attend our sacrament meetings and to par- take of the sacrament in remembrance of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. I say to you that of all my ac- quaintences I have never known of one who, having fulfilled the law, kept the commandments of God and supplicated him for his guidance, has ever lost the faith or the testimony of the divinity of this work in which we are engaged. May God bless all who are concerned with the Young Men's and the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations and the Primary Association, as officers or members, all over the wide world. May every boy and girl and child in these associations realize that to a certain extent their lives preach the gospel, and may they so live that they will preach the gospel by example as well as by precept. And may God's blessing attend all within the sound of my voice, and all Israel, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.