Brethren in the priesthood: Isn't it marvelous to hear the great vision of a great Prophet? My, how he sees the great scope of the work to be done on this earth by the priesthood holders! Brethren, I hope you sense deeply in your hearts the power and the responsibility that you have.

As President McKay opened the conference yesterday, he made this statement: "A proper conception [of the sacredness of the individual] would change the attitude of the world to the benefit and happiness of all human beings." "A proper conception of the sacredness of the individual"—in the image and likeness of Deity.

The Apostle Paul tells us of the holiness and sacredness of the individual when he said, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are"  1 Cor. 3:16-17

Paul also said to the Corinthian Saints, ". . . know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"  1 Cor. 6:19

We were created by God in his likeness and image  Gen. 1:26 and we should not stand alone, but we should stay close with even the loyalty and love of a child to our Creator and Heavenly Father. The creator is not without obligation to that which he created, and we who hold the priesthood of God have a great, important responsibility to our Lord and to his children. Only through priesthood holders, such as you, can God's children receive baptism by water and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Both are essential, according to Jesus Christ, for entrance back into the kingdom of heaven. And, of course, we know that many other great blessings are attached to the priesthood.

We are called to help build the Church and kingdom of God on this earth. We who hold the priesthood literally need to be our brother's keeper  Gen. 4:9 The day in which we live is the dispensation of the fullness of times. "The dispensations of the fulness of times is made up of all the dispensations that ever have been given since the world began, until this time." (Letter by David W. Patten, Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 220.)

Magnitude of the charge

In 1830, near the opening of this dispensation, there were approximately a billion people on the earth; 137 years later, today, over three and a half billion; by 1970, four billion; and it is predicted, by men who know what they are talking about, that by the turn of the century, 2000 A.D., there will be seven billion of God's children upon this earth.

It is a great and glorious period of time for the righteous and an era when the unrighteous will also prosper.

The President also declared in his opening message at this conference that this "is a glorious age in which to live, but no thinking man will doubt that this age is fraught with limitless perils, as well as with untold possibilities."

To "teach all nations"

After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, prior to his departure from this earth and his return to the kingdom of heaven, he gave important instructions to all those who would represent him and participate in building his Church and kingdom on this earth. And this was repeated twice by the Prophet in the message just delivered by his son Robert. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the closing words of the Savior just prior to his ascension to his Father were: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . .

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"  Matt. 28:19-20 That includes us; it includes the priesthood holders here assembled. We are to teach the gospel and commandments of Jesus Christ.

Similar statements were made by the Savior according to the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke.

The Apostle John in giving the closing words of the Savior showed a rather interesting and beautiful scene of the Savior and Peter, the man he was to leave in charge of his Church. He asked Peter, "Lovest thou me?" three times. And the great answer from the great Teacher the Lord and Savior, was: "Feed my lambs; feed my sheep" (see  John 21:15-17

Men who hold the priesthood are the teachers

Priesthood holders, do you love the Lord? Do you have any hungry lambs and sheep in your area—friends and neighbors hungry for God's righteousness and the gospel plan of salvation—good, honest people waiting for the voice of a righteous teacher who speaks as one having authority  Matt. 7:29 one with the priesthood and authority from God?

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice"  John 10:27 The voice to mortal man must come from an authorized teacher and servant of the Lord.

Our assignment, brethren, with all the Latter-day Saints, is to teach the doctrines, ordinances, and commandments of Jesus Christ.

I repeat what Jesus said, "Teaching . . . whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"  Matt. 28:20

We are to teach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The Lord said to the Prophet Joseph Smith, when there were only one billion of his children on this earth, that the field was white and ready to harvest  D&C 4:4

Today, with over three and a half billion people on this earth, the task and responsibility of harvesting is great and challenging. The field today is still white and ready to harvest. Millions of honest in heart are waiting to be taught.

Brethren, have we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to two percent of God's children living on this earth today? Two percent would be more than seventy million people. When and how are we going to teach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people?

"Every member a missionary"

The answer has been given by a Prophet of God. Every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be a missionary. Each member should bring one or more of his neighbors and friends into the Church each year. Each member must increase his faith and turn up his divine luster and candle power and let his light so shine before men that they may see his good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven  Matt. 5:16

Unity of all missionaries

We will need greater unity between full-time missionaries, stake missionaries, and the Saints in order to reach and teach additional millions. We need to supply the helps necessary so that over a million Saints can help the missionary work.

The Lord said, ". . . by their fruits ye shall know them"  Matt. 7:20 The fruits of the Church, of the gospel, and of the lives of the Saints need to be seen by the world.

The New York World's Fair

We have learned a great many things from the success of the Mormon Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. We have learned that with finely created religious art, oil paintings, and sculptured pieces, movies and backlighted transparencies, we can arrest the interest and excite the imagination of nonmembers of the Church.

The power of personal testimony

But we have also learned something even more important: that the most valuable tool we have in delivering the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the testimony of the priesthood and the missionary. We have discovered that when one of our missionaries stands in front of a religious painting and bears his testimony to the validity of its spiritual message, that same oil painting suddenly becomes a powerful visual evidence for truth that is deeply etched on the minds of the investigators. They go away remembering both what they heard and what they saw, and the honest in heart have had a spiritual experience.

Blending of testimony and message

So it is that we now stand at this point of bright discovery. We must blend the testimony of the missionary with vital and powerful visual messages; we must accelerate our effectiveness in giving outsiders something they can both see and hear.

Today we must find ways to reach and teach millions and even billions by having them come to centers where the teachings and fruits of the gospel of salvation and God's plan of life are on exhibit and where the teacher filled with faith, love, and the Holy Ghost can touch their hearts. Millions of the Saints can participate.

Under the direction of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve, we are creating and setting up visitors' centers with visual aids and missionaries to teach and reach millions.

Center at Temple Square

The new visitors' center right here on Temple Square, just to the north of this building, will be completed some time early next year. It will hold some of the great messages of the latter-day restoration. These will be in the form of specially created artifacts. The great Thorvaldsen statue that was also shown in the Mormon Pavilion at the New York World's Fair now stands on the second floor and has as a background a 12,000 square-foot mural of the firmament with the celestial bodies painted. There is also a 150-foot painted mural showing outstanding scenes on the life and teachings and examples of Christ. There are other great paintings of Christ ordaining the Twelve Apostles and Joseph Smith receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John.

There will also be a First Vision diorama, a replica of the Sacred Grove. The trees will be duplicated facsimiles made from plaster molds taken right in the grove. Also displayed is a figure of the 14-year-old Joseph Smith as he kneels in this grove and looks into a light overhead which is "above the brightness of the sun"  JS—H 1:16 depicting his first great vision and the first ray of light to this world after a period of darkness, showing that God lived and that man was literally in his image and likeness.

We'll have a series of paintings, now being created, illustrating the great dispensations of the Bible, showing Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others. Some of these scenes will depict the great prophecies of the Old Testament, prophecies concerning the birth of Christ; concerning the apostasy and the restoration of the gospel; concerning the temple of the Lord being established in the "tops of the mountains"  Isa. 2:2

We'll have a series of rooms that will deal in fine detail with such significant subjects as "the plan of salvation," the scriptures, the contributions of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the pioneers, the apostasy and reformation, and, certainly, the restoration and all its great fulfillment of prophecy throughout the ages of man.

And the vision of the Church has swept beyond these works on Temple Square. We have now completed a great display at the Prophet's birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. Another has just been installed in Liberty, Missouri.

Centers at other places

We are now working on the possibility of a visitors' center at each of the temples throughout the Church.

We are working to establish these visitors' centers with visual aids similar to those used at the New York World's Fair and on Temple Square in Salt Lake City but with the exhibits fitting in with the particular area.

We've had over 75 requests from various church groups for help in preparing displays this fall. Hundreds of fairs, both county and state, have asked for visual aids so that the local members of the Church can deliver the gospel message and bring people to an understanding of the beautiful doctrines of the Church.

Aids to missionary efforts

In conjunction with the missionary committee, the church information committee is now printing a series of large-sized posters that will tell in sequence the message of the teachings and doctrines of Christ, the falling away, and the restoration of the gospel. The posters will be available soon. They will be a great help in many areas.

New paintings are being painted by talented artists, depicting a wealth of scenes portraying with spirituality and inspiration the story of the gospel and attempting to relate to individuals their needs to repent of their sins and come unto Christ.

The Book of Mormon is "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations"  BM Title Page and displays of the Book of Mormon are being set up to bring this book and record closer to the people. It would be wise for every priesthood holder to have several copies of the Book of Mormon for missionary use with his friends and neighbors.

When the visitors' centers and posters are ready, the members with the missionaries can bring their friends and neighbors to see the exhibits. Other exhibits will be set up in homes and churches and in many areas for the use of the members. New motion pictures will be made. Millions have seen the motion picture, Man's Search for Happiness, and it has touched the hearts of many that had little or no concept of preexistence and life after death.

The members are anxious, we discover throughout the world, to follow the Prophet's counsel to do missionary work among their friends and neighbors, but they need the help of the great Christian teaching exhibits.

This, brethren, is the greatest of all dispensations in which to do missionary work. Many millions are looking for the gospel of Jesus Christ as given in the God-inspired scriptures and by the Savior. Millions today would like to know, hear, and follow a prophet of God, and to know that there are twelve living, ordained apostles of the Lord on this earth.

May we do the will of the Lord and his prophets, under their inspiration and revelation, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.