President McKay—President Tanner—My Brothers in the Priesthood: I have always felt humbled standing in the presence of Latter-day Saints, but never to the extent of this moment. I earnestly pray for the blessings of the Holy Ghost that from my feeble lips may come words worthy of this sacred hour.

Ours is the deep responsibility and privilege of the missionary in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Prophet, Seer, and Revelator has highlighted and rehighlighted this fact.

The everlasting gospel has been restored to the earth, for the last time, to be preached "unto every nation and kindred and tongue and people." The Prophet Joseph has told us "That the truth of God will go forth boldly, till it has penetrated every continent, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished."

"The sound must go forth"

In the 58th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord reminds us: "For verily, the sound must go forth from this place unto all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth—the Gospel must be preached unto every creature."

What an awesome challenge we have—with earths rapidly multiplying billions, as pointed out by Brother Brockbank. Experts estimate of course as you have heard, that 1 billion lived at the time of the restoration; 3 1/2 billion now and some 7 billion by the year 2000.

President McKay, in his inspiring message opening this Conference, referred to scientific discoveries which "stagger the imagination"—"discoveries latent with such potent power, either for the blessing or the destruction of human beings as to make men's responsibility in controlling them the most gigantic ever placed in human hands . . . this age," he went on to tell us, "is fraught with limitless perils as well as untold possibilities."

Now, it is with some of these blessings made accessible through scientific knowledge that I have been assigned to speak with you for a few moments tonight.

The great Alma cried to the Lord that his voice might be multiplied to shake the earth with the plan of salvation.

King Benjamin, in his efforts to communicate the Gospel more effectively, caused a tower to be built that he might speak to the great multitudes.

Broadcasting facilities available

What mighty towers has our Heavenly Father permitted us to have in this dispensation through the use of Radio and Television. Surely, they are powerful instruments beyond imagination, to help the Gospel message "sound in every ear" on this planet.

Under the direction of our Prophet, the use of Radio and Television is expanding. The Church now owns totally, or has ownership in, 20 broadcasting facilities:

Five Television stations; 4 Radio stations, two of these stations are 50,000 watt—the most powerful authorized; we have 6 FM and 5 shortwave, in areas ranging from New York City to Seattle, Washington.

May I briefly review our activities in five areas: Standard AM Radio; International Radio; Telephone line and cable related to broadcasting; Film related to broadcasting; and, finally, Television.

Standard AM Radio

The potentials of standard AM radio have surpassed all boundaries of our imaginations, with the development of the transistor—a miracle in itself, which some claim will be recorded by future historians as an event greater than the invention of the printing press. This has been brought into sharp focus by the fact that illiteracy and ignorance reign so supremely upon this earth today that many overseas, and even on our own continents here in the Western Hemisphere, are not able to read and to write.

I listened numbly as one of our great behavioral scientists recently in New York made the statement that in the world as we have it today, over half of all the children between the ages of 5 and 19 will never see a school room; and that the degree of illiteracy of this world increases every time the clock ticks because we are totally unable to build educational facilities and train teachers to keep literacy, the ability to read and to write, ahead of the population explosion.

The only way we can reach millions of people will be through the spoken voice. The transistor radio, inexpensively manufactured today, has opened the doors of intelligence to literally millions. The best place you can possibly see this is to go to South America and see people with hardly enough to eat, and hardly any clothes on their backs, with an expensive transistor radio in their possession.

In the United States there are over 250 million operating radio—more sets, by far, than people. We have, in addition, over 350,000,000 sets outside of the U. S. and the number increases rapidly. For instance, some 31 million new sets were sold in the U. S. last year.

FM Radio

There are over 4,000 AM broadcasting stations and over 1,400 FM stations in the U. S. with some 7,000 of these stations in addition, overseas. The channels are wide open for our use.

Now the use of AM radio by the Church, of course, is highlighted by the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir and Brother Evan's Spoken Word program, now the oldest continuous network radio broadcast in history—and a missionary tool of immeasurable value.

Tribute to Earl J. Glade, Broadcast Pioneer

It is fitting, I believe, to pay tribute here tonight to the memory of Earl J. Glade, the Chief Executive for many years, and the guiding light of KSL, who left us three weeks ago at the age of 80; and who, through his great vision in industry, in the early days of radio, sold the Network on the idea of a weekly Choir broadcast. Its effect cannot be measured.

Tabernacle Choir Weekly Broadcast

Today, this Choir program is heard weekly over 194 CBS stations; over 100 additional stations in the U. S. and Canada by tape; and a growing area that we are very proud of, 94 Latin American stations, with the narration corrected and translated into Portuguese and Spanish. It is also heard over the Voice of America and on the Armed Forces Radio and Television service.

In addition, hundreds of radio stations also provide large audiences for the Choir's music via recordings. In fact, in one of the leading stations, I discovered recently in the East, the management requires the playing of four Choir numbers per day as station policy.

Elder Sill's addresses

Brother Sterling Sill's outstanding weekly program is now released on over 400 stations via tape recordings.

Through AM Radio alone, General Conference is heard on over 25 stations, with tapes also now being sent for the first time to Latin-American stations.

Early Morning Broadcasts

At night we have had an interesting experiment for the past several years—we re-broadcast General Conference for four hours, from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM over KSL and KIRO, two powerful 50,000 watt stations. The results have been most gratifying with expected letters from people in hospitals, service stations, all-night auto drivers and people who have to work in the daytime, expressing their gratitude that we are broadcasting the Conference when they can hear it. These letters come from all over Western America, Canada, Mexico, and far beyond.

Responses from listeners

In fact, mail from a single session encouraged by an offer of a few Choir albums to those writing from the greatest distances, brought responses from Kingston, Jamaica to Suva in the Fiji Islands; 27 countries; 42 states; 3 ships at sea. Letters from such as one from a wonderful Relief Society President in the Island of Samoa (and I must have a trip there to verify this)—she said that hundreds listen clearly in Samoa to this program—hearing Conference for the first time when we started to re-broadcast it.

A letter from a dear sister in Canada who awakened at a very early hour, being unable to sleep, turned on her radio, heard an organ, she told us in her letter, and was quite surprised; in fact said she was alarmed as she looked at her clock three or four times to find out she was listening to the Mormon Conference from Salt Lake City. She was so excited that she awakened all of her family and made them stay up all night to listen to Conference. The post-script to her letter said, "It may not be important to you to hear Conference, but it is very important to us; it is a wonderful event in our lives because, you see, we just joined the Church a few weeks ago."

Standard AM Radio is also used from 12 midnight to 6:00 AM each Sunday on KSL and KIRO, to broadcast a program we call "Prelude to the Sabbath," a six-hour workshop program in which our own people here are seeking to learn the means and the ways to make so-called religious programming more interesting and palatable, to people. We have invited to participate with us in this, many faiths, and we are receiving and broadcasting their programming as they attempt to explain the Gospel as they understand it. It is an understatement to tell you that we have learned much from those of other churches in the excellent utilization they, too, are making of radio and television, and we have made many friends of people of other faiths through this workshop program.

International Radio

The second area of international broadcasting is little known. Today, there are over 3,000 stations around the world in over one hundred nations broadcasting to the world. Most of these are government-owned and operated, and are used in an ideological war of freedom vs. collectivism which most Americans should have the privilege of hearing. It is raging through the air with venom enough to turn the color of the air. These great principles of freedom and collectivism are being debated through these radio channels.

Now the Church owns five out of a total of seven international radio licenses given by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. In this project, we have entered a great arena, and as one of the nonmembers of the Church said recently to me, "Your Church now speaks with the voice of nations."

United States Stations feature American culture

The proper operations of these stations challenges the best skills and abilities of the most professional of our nation's broadcasters, and certainly requires a great deal of dedication and funds. It is an opportunity presented to us to help explain to the world (incidentally, as a matter of the conditions upon which the license is granted that we must reflect the culture and the principles of this Nation) the divine principles of the Constitution of the United States attacked overseas viciously misunderstood by too many of us at home.

It is our opportunity to explain to the people as best we can, the blessings which can come to all men and women worldwide as they apply these principles to their lives. This is a project in embryo which can open doors to worldwide communications unlimited.

General Conference Broadcast to four continents in four languages

The sessions of this General Conference are broadcast over WNYW, as the five stations are known, to over 100 countries in four continents, in four languages. In addition, every week regularly, we broadcast 30 special L. D. S. programs in English and Spanish over these international facilities.

In one Conference session broadcast over WNYW, we offered a few Choir albums to those writing from the greatest distances, to encourage mail response; and it came from 61 foreign countries; 37 of the 50 states; 8 ships at seas. Letters came from young men buried in the snow on the dew line far to the North; a letter came from a young man in a small village in Mexico, some 200 miles south of Monterey, who said, in his broken English, "I contacted the missionaries, or they found me in Monterey; my Mother became ill and I had to come back to my village. Last Sunday afternoon I was listening to the shortwave radio and I heard the mighty organ from the Salt Lake Temple, and I heard the sermons in Spanish. My Mother came and sat beside me for a few moments and she stood up angrily and said to me, 'Get away from that thing—it will turn your mind.'" He said, "Oh, how I need the Gospel. Will you please tell the missionaries to come and find me."

A letter from a student in Bogota, Colombia, who said, "I have never heard of your church before. Are there any people in the country of Colombia that could help me understand more of your religion?"

A family in Europe brought into the Church through listening to this instrument; and letters from Saints and others in Africa. I wish I had time to relate some of the stories behind these letters—they brought tears to our eyes; perhaps they would to yours.

Broadcasting by telephone and cable

The third area relates to telephone lines and cables in broadcasting. Now this session of Priesthood Conference is being heard in over 400 chapels in Canada and in the United States, and is being seen in some areas by cable television.

For some sessions of our General Conference, over 50 chapels in Europe are connected to the Tabernacle by telephone line and by cable, of course, under the water, and report perfect clarity of reception in these chapels.

Broadcasting by film

Another area relating to film is broadcasting. We have now a remarkable device called a kinescope which has been greatly perfected in the last year or two, which permits us to transmit effectively television video tape programs to film—regular 16 mm movies—sound-on-film. With this machine we are now adapting the weekly Choir program to 16 mm film with a Spanish and a Portuguese sound-track—the narration, of course, for use on a dozen or more Latin American stations. That list will grow appreciably as we learn how to do this more effectively.

Use of sound-on-film

In addition, this device has permitted us to do something else that has caught a great deal of our attention. A session of General Conference is transferred to sound-on-film with the words of the speakers translated and then lip-synced with the motion picture so that the General Authorities appear to be speaking in French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Mandarin Chinese. We have had a wonderful response; these films are in wide use—continuing use—in chapels throughout the world where we are told there is seldom a night where there isn't General Conference in some chapel, in some mission, in some distant spot. It, of course, opens a complete new area for us.

Television

The fifth area, very quickly, in Television, of course represents the near ultimate in that "mighty tower" to help bring the Gospel to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, for Television represents the nearly perfect device for mass communication. And certainly there are no more precious truths that the world needs, or should have, than the principles of the Gospel; and the great challenge is to be able to transmit those in a way that we will be able to have them penetrate this quarter-inch of skull that seems so impenetrable by so many other methods.

In this country, the average television set operates six hours and 27 minutes per day. The audiences to this type of communication are simply fantastic. We think the people would even watch the test signal if we had a couple of cowboys shooting in back of it.

Choir seen in six cities each week

The Choir is now seen in six cities every week via television—Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City and three other communities—it is just beginning. In telecasting the General Conference, we stand doubly humble because we have, indeed, been greatly blessed.

It is not too difficult to occasionally obtain gratis, a quarter-hour, or even a half-hour, from a TV station, but to obtain two hours in one unit—is almost unheard of except for things like football games.

Conference by radio coverage

The extent of our blessings in telecasting Conference is mirrored in these statistics: In the Conference of October, 1962, 21 stations in the U. S. carried our Conference broadcast. Eighteen months later, April, 1964, 194 United States and Canadian stations released Conference—practically all of them for a full two hours

Why this remarkable Conference TV coverage? One reason is this great blessing we have in our Choir. This unparalleled talent is respected in all the world of radio and television.

Respect gains cooperation

Number two reason, and of great importance—almost equal importance in many areas—is the respect of television station ownership and management for the L. D. S. members of their communities.

In the southwest, a television station executive vice president and general manager told me, in essence: "Do you know the local L. D. S. representative you sent to me to ask for air time for your Church?" When I confessed I did not know him, he said "You certainly should. He is one of the most loved men in our entire area; he could have anything he wants from this station."

In another instance, the station owner recounted how his music librarian, a young lady, had come and asked for two hours on Sunday for her church. "Of course, we agreed," he told me, "she is one of the finest persons I have ever met or employed."

In the midwest, another television executive called me on the phone to tell me the good news he had cleared time for Conference. "I just couldn't help clearing time," he said. "I have a sister-in-law who is one of the most wonderful people and wonderful member of a family that a person could ever have—and she's a 'fire-ball' Mormon. When she called me and said, 'Lou, are you going to give me any conference—or not?' All I could say, and gladly, was—Yes."

Another of many fine examples—five stations covering an entire state cleared because of their respect for an LDS leader living among them. And in one of our largest cities, the same experience was repeated. We have had many more similar occurrences.

Service of Paul Evans and staff

May I express appreciation to Brother Paul Evans and his associates who work diligently for many months to build this Conference TV network each session. But in doing so, may I underline this fact that the help of many members of the Church has made this blessing possible. And Mission Presidents tell us it has now become an important tool to them in helping investigators to learn more about the Church, and to help to keep up the interest and morale of the members who are still isolated from us.

Success of "Every Member a Missionary" assignment

Everyone a missionary. How wonderful it is to see President McKay's counsel in action as relates to our business. How important it is, too, for many reasons to be living testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for we never know when our attitudes and actions will be, and can be, used for good.

Briefly we have reviewed Church mass communications in five areas: Standard AM Radio; international radio; telephone line and cable related to broadcasting; film related to broadcasting; and television. May we tell you quickly we have taken only first steps—they will be multiplied many times. We have taken only a few steps—just far enough to see the unlimited horizons in the technical ability to communicate to every nation and kindred and tongue and people that are now within our grasp.

Satellite, a facility

The great future hangs above the earth some 22,000 miles above the East Coast of Brazil in an 87 pound speck, motionless in position to the ground. Through this tiny object, the early bird satellite, hundreds of telephone calls, a television signal and other material, Can effectively reach "unto" one-third of the earth's surface.

Already we have sent a special broadcast of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir to Europe through this instrument; and another broadcast through an earlier satellite.

Another Satellite

Another early bird is scheduled to be hung high above the Pacific within the next thirty days, thus bringing two-thirds of the earth's surface under two early birds.

Marvelous as these satellites seem to all of us at this time, it has been called the "crystal set" of the future of worldwide broadcasting.

Scriptural Mandate fulfilled.

Just three of these instruments make it possible for us to fulfill the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 58, Verse 64:

"For verily, the sound must go forth from this place unto all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth—the Gospel must be preached unto every creature"  D&C 58:64

I leave with you my testimony that I know this work is divine; that we are led by a mighty Prophet, Seer, and Revelator; that great prophets surround him; that God in His wisdom has given us television and radio to assist Him in His great purposes.

May we be blessed and ever diligent in the use of all communications media to hasten the day of His Kingdom, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.