One Hundred Years of Missionary Work

One Hundred Years of Missionary Work SHORTLY after the organiza- tion of the Church, one hun- dred years ago, the Lord placed upon it the responsibility of carrying the glad news to the na- tions of the earth; that He had spoken, that this word of warning and instruction should be carried to all flesh, even as foretold by John, who on the Isle of Patmos saw the opening of this Gospel Dispensa- tion by the coming to the earth of an angel bearing a message that was for every nation, kindred, tongue and people. So the fulfillment of that pre- diction necessarily meant that the message was to be carried to all people. It was then and is now a tremendous task to place upon a comparatively small number of people — to deliver this message to every nation. "DUT the early elders of the Church, undaunted, went forth with courage and zeal to proclaim the word. There has followed some sixty thousand missionaries in this period of time. We are counting those who have served as local missionaries as well as those who have been regularly set apart; and when we estimate the probable cost of sending these missionaries to their fields of labor, maintaining them while engaged in their labors, and returning them to their homes, and a reasonable allowance for the value of their time, the probabili- ties are that in time and means the Church and its membership have expended over $200,000,000.00. But this is not the whole cost. Many of these missionaries have given their lives, precious lives up- on which no human valuation can be placed. Others have shortened their lives through exposure, hard- ship and disease. In addition there is the loving service of the wives and mothers of these missionaries. In many in- stances they have taken upon them- By MELVIN J. BALLARD Of the Council of the Twelve selves the added responsibility of doing the work of the absent mis- sionary. Some of these have broken under the strain and have given their lives to the cause. Then there were the long, lonely years of separation; and putting it all together it is a loving service, the like of which no other people of similar numbers have offered in the history of this world. /^\NE might ask why the Lord V' makes such a requirement of the Church. Indeed a prominent non- "Mormon" asked me on my return from opening the latest mis- sion of the Church — the South American — why we wanted to It meant we open another mission additional missionaries and a larger and increased financial drain upon the people. Said he, "Have you not already gathered up a fine lot of people? If you would only take care of them would you not be satisfied and accomplish all that you hope to?" Quite likely that is true, but we have a responsibility which the Lord has placed upon us and in obedience to him we re- spond to carry his message to all flesh. The Author There are two great objectives. This Gospel message was to search out first of all the honest in heart, or the blood of Israel, and in ful- fillment of the ancient prediction that though Israel would be sifted among the nations, still they would be gathered again and come one of the city and two of a fam- ily. Wherever this choice blood is found by the Gospel message among the nations, we find a hearty response, and they are being gathered out, coming as the pro- phets of old foresaw, to the moun- tain of the Lord's House estab- lished in the tops of the moun- tains. T^HE other responsibility is to *■ warn all men that the day of judgment approaches and the means of escape is provided in the restoration of the everlasting Gos- pel. And the invitation is ex- tended to all men, whether they are of the House of Israel or not; and those who are not of Israel who come in become adopted sons and are heirs to all the blessings and promises which the Gospel of- fers. And so, whether we bring many people into the Church or not, our task is to give all an opportunity and thereby discharge the obliga- tion the Lord has placed upon us and free ourselves of the condem- nation that will come if we fail to extend the warning and the in- vitation of the Lord for the pres- ervation and salvation of men and women in time and in eternity. We are surely demonstrating by this contribution that we are en- gaged in serious business. Men would not undertake to give their time and means so freely unless thoroughly convinced they had something of the greatest impor- tance to deliver to the children of men. It is a testimony and a wit- ness, therefore, that we are con- scious of the fact that whether the

486 The Improvement Era for May, 1930 world accepts us or not we have a sacred message of vital worth to all men everywhere. RESPONSE to this Gospel mes- ^ sage by the multitudes, who are fulfilling the ancient prediction that men of all nations will flow unto the mountain of the Lord's House in the last days where the Lord will teach them of his ways and they will walk in his paths and become an ensign to the whole world, has also brought to them emancipation from their former condition. Economically they have made greater progress in one generation than their ancestors who preceded them made in ten. They have been brought to the land of liberty and politically have found freedom and justice. They have solved their social problems by finding opportunity for their children to marry in the Church thus preserving for posterity their ideals and conserving all the ad- vantages of one generation into the succeeding one. For the Church the effort has been worth-while, because it has brought into it men and women of integrity and stability who have helped not only to lay a founda- tion for their own independence but through their contributions, according to the Lord's plan, have made for the success financially of the Church and its enterprises. Zangwill called America the melt- ing pot, to whose shores the men of all nations were drawn, and marrying and intermingling with each other, were merged into a new race of men and women. But there has come to the melting pot of the Church by that process many who are not the most de- sirable. To it also has been gath- ered a choice lot of men and women — God picked — who are respond- ing to the call of the missionaries. Out of Babylon has come the very choicest blood of the nations responding to the highest ideals and here, under wise leadership, going through a refining process that shall produce the finest gener- ation of men and women that has ever lived upon the earth. This becomes a blessing not only to the Church but to the world itself, for here is being worked out ideals that shall attract the attention of the world and they will come ulti- mately from the East and West as the prophets have said, to learn of the ways of this people, to walk in their paths, for here are being solved in a practical way the problems of mankind. The fact is that these returning thousands of missionaries bring with them also the finest spirit in the world — the missionary spirit. The constant return from the mission field of those who are charged with spirit- uality, affects the spirituality of the whole Church favorably. They also bring the latest thought of all nations; the best the world has is being gathered up by our repre- sentatives, so that the Latter-day Saint communities are cosmopoli- tan in every sense. Since we are looking forward to a reign of uni- versal peace, when universal broth- erhood shall obtain, this Church is one hundred years at least near- er that goal than any other com- munity on earth. For here the spirit of brotherhood prompts these thousands of missionaries to continue to make the sacrifice of going to the ends of the world, not to meet friends, but stran- gers— and yet our brothers — and to perform this missionary service out of love for their fellow-men. Here is the highest type of broth- erhood that is known in the world, manifest by these self-sacrificing, devoted men; and thousands of women are also joining the ranks. No other church in all the world has been able to secure such will- ing, voluntary service of mission- aries without earthly reward, for the Church has never con- tributed to these missionaries save the return fare from their fields of labor. No missionary who has performed his or her duty feels to regret the sacrifices that have been made. Joy such as is not known in any other work comes to them, and there comes too a personal development that will be of benefit to them no matter what their future occupations may be. CUCH a drain upon any other - community might have proven disastrous in the supply of men and means for a service of this character. But to this Church, God has fulfilled his promise. He has provided, and while the sacrifices have been great the blessings have been ample to keep the people from financial ruin and they are still willing, cheerfully to make these sacrifices and send their sons and daughters to complete the work which has been so well begun. There is much yet to do, but I have a confidence that God will provide the means for the distri- bution of the Gospel message and willing men and women to render the service until the task is fully accomplished and we have ac- quitted ourselves with credit be- fore the Lord and discharged our full duty to our fellow-men. After fourteen years of actual missionary work in the field, in addition to that done at home, I can speak from knowledge, — that there is no joy equal to that which comes to the man or woman who is per- forming missionary labor. I would not exchange the joy that has come to me out of those fourteen years for millions of dollars. God bless the men and women of Zion that they may continue to give them- selves and their means freely to this cause and participate in the su- preme joy that comes from bring- ing souls unto Christ, and lay a foundation for eternal dividends of joy and happiness in associa- tion throughout eternities that are to come with those to whom we have been the instruments in bringing the light of knowledge and truth. The Centennial Conference (Continued from page 466) authority. It is a significant fact that had they expressed disapproval of any one individual, their ob- jection would have been given the same attention as if it had come from a body of high priests. This experience will doubtless make a lasting impression upon their plastic minds. The crowning feature of the meeting was the blessing pro- nounced by President Grant, upon the officers of the Priesthood, those who direct the affairs of the auxiliary organizations, temple workers, missionaries, and the gen- eral Church membership. In fervent words also, he blessed the nations and all who are seeking to promote righteousness.