Priesthood Quorums

(Priesthood Quorums Individual Attention to Members of the Aaronic Priesthood The boys between the ages of twelve and twenty years particularly need the individual attention, advice and direction of more experienced men. Pri- marily it is the father's responsibility to counsel with his sons frequently, at this critical period in their lives, regarding their desires and aspirations as well as their temptations. He it is who should forewarn and thus forearm them against the dangers ahead and encourage them in the development of a purpose in their lives. He should impress them with love for the Lord and his truths. In addition to a father's responsibility toward his sons, the bishopric of each ward are entrusted with the watchcare of all young men and boys resident in the ward, and more especially those who bear the Aaronic Priest- hood; which, by the way, should include practically every boy. These boys desire individual as well as group consideration in order that confidence, per- sonality, diligence and faith may develop and that they may be equipped to win the battle of life and stand for righteousness. Let us consider for a moment the attention that should be given the members of the various quorums of the Aaronic Priesthood by the mem- bers of the bishopric and the ward supervisors. In the first place, every effort should be made to continue the ward Priesthood meetings weekly throughout the year, even though the length of the meetings be shortened, or the time of meeting changed during the Summer to suit the convenience of the members, in order that the bishopric and the supervisors may maintain contact with the young men. At each quorum or class meeting, following the roll call, discussion should be held between the member of the bishopric and the class supervisor with the presidency and members of the quorum, as to the lack of attend- ance of any members, reasons for their absence, and ways and means of getting them into active service. The nature of the roll -and record itself is designed to keep, so far as possible, an individual record of each boy and of his ac- tivities. Then, following the brief opening exercises of the class, the member of the bishopric in charge should properly give some timely instructions or discuss with the class some particular duty or some principle of the gospel or existing evils to be avoided. Again, during the entire class exercises, the efforts of the member of the bishopric and of the class supervisor should be directed toward getting each one to take some part, in order to stimulate his thoughts and expression and to develop the personality of the boy. Further, in promoting the fraternal and social activities of the quorums, the supervisors can give individual con- sideration and encouragement to all the boys. Whether present or absent, whether active or delinquent, the record of all members of the various quorums should be considered by the super- visors at their committee meeting each week and ways and means provided for winning the confidence of all of the boys and of promoting greater ac- tivity and faith on .their part. In other words, the supervisors will be considering and working for the growth and stability of every member of the Priesthood. Besides, they will be encouraging younger boys in the ward to

994 IMPROVEMENT ERA prepare themselves to live up to the responsibilities of the Priesthood, and those already ordained to be worthy to step up from grade to grade. It has been well said that "the success of great leaders has been due not only to their personality, but as well also to their mastery of method." With such systematic training and exercise in the duties and labors of the Priesthood and development in the important habits and ideals of life, what a wonderful influence this can all become in the lives of the boys throughout the Church! — The Presiding Bishopric. Notes from the Field The Aaronic Priesthood report of the Granite stake for the first six months of this year shows that this stake has an active committee in charge, consisting of three high councilors and three other members. During the past six months 24 visits have been made to the various wards. All. of the nine wards are organized with supervising committees, who, in addition to their other duties, are furnishng monthly activity reports of the various quorums to the stake committee. All but 17% of the priests, 21% of the teachers and 25% of the deacons of that stake have performed some assign- ment of duties during the six months; 42% of the priests, 53% of the teachers and 54% of the deacons are supplied with the lesson outlines. The Franklin stake report indicates that the stake committee consisting of three high councilors is actively functioning. Eleven visits have been made to the various wards. Five out of the eleven wards have organized with super- visiting committees. All but 20% of the priests, 19% of the teachers and 1 4% of the deacons have fulfilled some assignment of duties. Systematic organization in promoting the attendance at stake priest- hood meetings has been effected in the South Davis stake, which has a stake priesthood committee of 14 members, including four members of the high council. In addition thereto bishops have appointed throughout all the wards a captain for every five members of the priesthood, for the purpose of seeing to it that each member of the priesthood is encouraged to attend stake priest- hood meetings. The result is indicated by the fact that at the stake priest- hood meeting heltf Sunday, July 11, at 2:30 p. m., at Bountiful, 731 members of the priesthood, or 42% of the total priesthood of the stake, were in attendance. One of the wards had an attendance of 67% of their priest- hood membership. New Mission Presidents Jay A. Cahoon succeeded Mark Coombs as president of the Tongan mission as reported by the Presiding Bishop's Office, June, 1926. William M. Waddoups succeeded Eugene J. Neff as president of the Hawaiian mission as per report of the Presiding Bishopric, June, 1926. The Lethbridge Herald of June 26, 1926, is an anniversary number, consisting of 70 pages, with a circulation of 11,570- The weight of the paper in the edition was six tons, and it is stated that the length of the paper roll was 74 miles. It shows marvelous progress in farming about Lethbridge, especially in the matter of irrigation. Many thousands of acres are now under irrigation projects, and the growth of the country when these irrigation districts become fully operative will simply be marvelous. In 1670 a com- pany of adventurers trading into the Hudson Bay conducted a department store at Lethbridge, and other towns. The history of Lethbridge, and articles political, educational and religious, are given in the paper. Among the enlightening articles is a history of the "Mormon" settlement in Alberta, founded at Cardston in 1887, written by Charles F. Steele, a frequent con- tributor to the Improvement Era. The first newspaper published in Lethbridge bears date of Friday, November 27, 1885, 41 years ago.