Early in June, while sitting with his Brethren of the Council of the Twelve in the regular weekly meeting, Elder A. E. Bowen was suddenly stricken. For several weeks he and his loved ones and his Brethren thought that he was very close to the brink. He has sufficiently recovered to be able to move about in his room, but as previously announced, he is unable to be present with us this morning.

He is a great soul, a stalwart leader, a man who possesses a brilliant mind and true nobility of soul. We extend to Brother Bowen this morning the love and confidence of the Church. If he is listening in, we wish him to know that we love him, admire him; he has our united faith and prayers for a complete recovery. We need him.

We are sorry that Elder John A. Widtsoe is unable to be with us this morning. We hope that the Lord will bless him sufficiently to join us later in the sessions of this conference.

We noted in the prayer offered an appeal for the love of mankind, that we might love one another, and through that love contribute to the establishment of peace. That was the great message heralded by the heavenly hosts at the birth of the Savior, when they declared, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"  Luke 2:14

To proclaim that message to an indifferent world is the divine responsibility of the Church. What greater message could there be? What more commendable effort to supply the greatest need could be put forth?

Somewhere I have read that in one of the important institutions of medicine and healing in this country, there hangs this significant sign: "Never say a discouraging word while in this sanitarium."

If encouragement is good for the sick and ailing, it is also helpful to those who are normally healthy. As encouragement affects individuals, so it is helpful to organizations, and this morning as I stand before you I have nothing but a wish, a prayer, that we might say something encouraging to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

I am grateful this morning, as I bid you welcome to this, the one hundred and twenty-third semi-annual conference, that I can give you an encouraging report of conditions in the Church as a whole, and that it is to the best of its ability and resources trying to discharge its obligations in preaching the Restored Gospel.

You will be pleased to hear a few items, even though I must mention them but briefly, which justify my saying that the Church is moving steadily forward on its destined course.

There are now 195 organized stakes in the Church, an increase of over one hundred percent in the last twenty-five years. There are forty-three missions in the Church, including the new Central American Mission. Since we last met in general conference, there have been approximately thirty-eight new wards and seventeen new branches organized, making a total number of wards and independent branches of 1736.

During 1952, up to September 30, there were eighty-four new chapels, dedicated. Before the end of the year there will be fifty-three more ready for dedication, making a total of 137 chapels dedicated or ready for dedication. Besides this, there are 389 chapels in process of construction, fifty of which are in missions.

At present, you will be pleased to know that there are, in European missions, Church-owned chapels as follows: British, thirty-nine (you former missionaries to Britain will be pleased to know that); Danish, five; East German six; Finland, ten (after only five years of organization); French, three; Netherlands, eight; Norwegian, three; Swedish, fourteen; Swiss-Austrian, three; West German, eight; making a total of ninety-nine places owned by the Church in the European missions.

The Liahona College in Tonga is now completed. The Church sent most of the materials for its erection. Local people did much of the work and did not charge a shilling for their labor. The Church sent a supervisor, a plumbing supervisor, and an electrician.

The Pesega School in Samoa is nearing completion. The Mesepa School on the island of Tutuila in Samoa will soon be under construction. The money for it is already appropriated. We contemplate building fifteen chapels in American and British Samoa in the near future.

Plans are now being drawn for the New Zealand College of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which will replace the Maori College, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1932.

Money has been appropriated for construction of five chapels in New Zealand. One is now being completed in Auckland, one in Glenn Huon, Tasmania, where the members are cutting their own timber and doing a good deal of the work themselves.

The Church owns two acres in Rarotonga, and money is already appropriated for a new chapel on those islands. It was only recently that the mission was opened in Rarotonga, under New Zealand, however.

A building is also under construction at Ipswich, Australia.

All these buildings, with the Los Angeles Temple now under construction, the Relief Society building, announced yesterday, mission expenses, ward and stake expenses, require the expenditure of vast sums of money furnished by the tithes of the Church.

To your credit and blessing, be it said that the tithes of the people this year are 21.7 percent higher than last year, and last year exceeded the year before.

Fast offerings also show an even greater percent of increase.

Missionaries—September 30, 1952, there were in the foreign missionary fields, 3854 missionaries.

There were 5525 in the stakes of Zion, making a total of 9379 missionaries.

That number speaks volumes in praise of the young men and young women, and particularly of the fathers and mothers, in their interest in the great mission of the Church to proclaim the message of peace and good will to all peoples of the world.

In addition to this, there were in the state of Utah, September 25, 1952, with a Church population of 488,863—9379 Latter-day Saint boys in the military service, or 1.9 percent of the total Church population of the state, as compared with 1.3 percent of the total nonmember population of the state, or .6 of 1 percent more Latter-day Saint boys, as based upon our total population, than for non-members. These figures should assuage the rabidness of some-prejudiced agitators who have falsely accused our young men of not discharging their share of the responsibilities of the military activity of our government.

In one agricultural town I know, with a population of fewer than 700, ten young men are in the mission field, and forty-five in the Armed Forces of our country.

To you loyal members whose unselfish labors have contributed to this favorable progress of the Church, we can say, as in Hebrews, that God will not ". . . forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister"  Heb. 6:10

In keeping with this theme of encouragement, brief reference to some incidents connected with our recent tour of the European missions may not be amiss.

On May 29, 1952, accompanied by Sister McKay, our son David L. as secretary, and Mildred, his wife, I left for an important mission to Europe. The details of that special mission pertaining to temples, I shall probably have to postpone until the general annual conference in April. Further than what has already been announced, I think we cannot further comment this morning.

It is marvelous how much closer in time modern transportation has brought the nations of the earth; for example, Sunday, June 1, at 6:30 in the evening, we left New York. Owing to unfavorable weather conditions the plane landed at Sydney, Newfoundland, instead of at Gander, and did not leave for Glasgow until Monday, 1:30 a. m. After fifteen hours of actual flying time we were at Prestwich Airport, in Ayrshire, Scotland, and later that same evening, Monday, we participated in the dedication of the first chapel owned by the Church in Scotland.

Wednesday, the evening following, we dedicated another in Edinburgh, and there is a suitable place in Aberdeen now ready for dedication. For these and other chapels in Great Britain much credit is due to Elder Stayner Richards, who, with his associates, has manifested wisdom and economy.

If I followed my inclinations, I would pause here long enough to tell you of my feelings upon returning to Scotland after twenty-nine years, my latest visit, and after fifty-four years since I labored there as a young, unmarried missionary. What a flood of memories filled my soul as a Mrs. O'Hara, living in the apartment, graciously showed Sister McKay, two elders, and me the old 52 Holmhead St., headquarters of the Scottish Conference fifty-four years ago!

I should also like to tell you how humbly grateful, and with what a mellow heart later I stood with Ray by my side in the little bedroom in Wales in which Jeannette Evans, my sainted mother, was born over a hundred years ago! But these are personal experiences, of little or no interest to you members.

Beginning at the meetings in Scotland, we carried your love and greetings to the approximately 40,000 members of the Church in the ten missions in the nine European countries. June 2 to July 4, they met us in Europe to receive your greetings. July 26, you met us here to receive their thanks. And, now, this morning, I express again to you in Zion the loving greetings of the Saints in Europe.

One impression I received right at first and it became more and more pronounced as we came in contact with people in all walks of life, was a more tolerant attitude than I experienced a half century ago. It was a joy to mingle with intelligent people radiating a spirit of good will.

One beneficial result of the tour was a keener realization on the part of members of the Church that they are not detached entities but are in reality part of the Church as a whole. Nearness in time contributed to this feeling; but more especially their meeting one of the Sunday School general superintendency and a member of the general board of the Primary, hearing incidents, items of instructions that happened or were given, as it were, but a week before, awakened a sense of belonging that was satisfying and encouraging.

It was truly a joy and inspiration to see the loyalty, feel the responsiveness of members of the Church in every mission. There was no exception. To greet those eagerly expectant, graciously warm-hearted people gave a joy almost inexpressible. We sensed to a small degree, at least, the truth of the saying: "To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness of existence." This was especially true so far as our love for those faithful people is concerned.

At the opening of my remarks I said that at the Savior's birth, there were heralded the fundamental virtues that constitute the world's greatest need: first, believing in and glorifying our Father in heaven, and second, peace good will, instead of contention and strife.

Here let me emphasize that good will includes benevolence, a virtue that may be experienced by persons in all stations of life. It is "confined to no rank, no degree of education or power; the poor may be benevolent as well as the rich; the unlearned as well as the learned; the weak as well as the strong." Everyone may not be beneficent but all may be benevolent. Good will includes kindness, a virtue everyone can show and one which everyone is pleased to receive.

"So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind,
Is all the sad world needs."

        (Ella Wheeler Wilcox.)

I should be remiss, indeed downright unappreciative, if I did not take this occasion to refer appreciatively to the instances of good will manifested on this recent presidential tour of the European missions.

Our Church knows full well what it means to be misjudged, scoffed at, and persecuted. It can appreciate, too, in full value, tolerance, a sense of justice and fair play.

The mission presidencies, missionaries, members of the Church and their friends were most gracious in their greetings and manifestations of deference to the office of President. Everywhere their welcome was most generous. To all these we shall ever be grateful for the distances they traveled, for the sacrifices they made, their wholehearted, radiant gladness—all of which contributed so much to the success of a very important mission.

I wish to refer especially to the good will shown by prominent businessmen, representatives of the press, hotel managers, government officials, and others whose interest and courtesy were shown without reserve.

It is unwise to attempt to mention a few because of possibly showing partiality, and failing to mention deserving persons, but I will name the Honorable Charles U. Bay, American Ambassador to Norway, who not only by proffered words, "If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know," but by direct action with the assistance of his undersecretary, Leon Cowles, rendered invaluable service in securing rightful privileges for our missionaries in Norway. He said that was his first official act as ambassador. Other ambassadors and ministers, including Hon. John M. Cabot to Finland and Hon. James C. Dunn to Paris, were equally considerate in proffering help and co-operation. Their courtesy was unbounded.

Others who did not hesitate to inconvenience themselves to render favors were Colonel Tooler and General Wood of the American Army, through whose graciousness, at the intercession of presidents Stayner Richards and A. Hamer Reiser, special favors were granted to us visitors in attendance at the Queen's Garden Festival at Buckingham Palace.

I express appreciatively, also, the service rendered by the Consul General J. D. van Karnebeek, here in the United States, whom we happened to meet before we left, who arranged for a most cordial visit to Her Majesty, Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands.

I wish to mention President Juho K. Paasikivi of Finland, a dignified, princely gentleman, conference with whom, accompanied by President Henry A. Matis, I shall remember with satisfaction and pleasure. For exceptional courtesies shown by Mr. Sholz, the manager of the Palace Hotel near The Hague, Holland; to passport officials at Berlin, who, finding us without visas, gave special consideration and, out of courtesy, obtained the necessary papers without delay, we mention with appreciation.

We are mindful also of the outstanding consideration shown by eleven policemen who were at the Mercedes Palast, at North Berlin, where an audience of 2600 persons crowded to overcapacity that large theater. How their favorable attitude stood out in contrast with the action of police when some members of the Twelve and others who sit here in this audience this morning were hunted and arrested a half century ago!

I wish to name appreciatively, also, Elder William Zimmer, and two real estate men, Mr. Hans Jordi and Mr. Hermann Schulters, who assisted President Samuel E. Bringhurst in choosing prospective temple sites in Switzerland.

For his having built suitable houses in Berlin, I wish to commend President Walter Stover, whose devotion to the German Saints, whose generosity and wisdom will ever be cherished by the thousands whom he blessed. Included in this expression of appreciation are officials who aided President James L. Barker and President Golden L. Woolf in their securing official recognition of the Church in France.

An outstanding feature of our visit in Germany was the attendance of American servicemen. In the West German Mission they gathered as groups that compared favorably with our groups of missionaries. And how proud we were of these choice young men and women, a credit to their parents, to the Church, and to our nation! Whether they participated in concerts or attended to the details of conference, greeted strangers or looked after the welfare of Saints and investigators, their ability was manifest, their dignity commendable, their sincerity in their work most outstanding.

Well, fellow workers, all these and a hundred other instances that I might name are evidences of friendship and good will that will contribute to the peaceful relationships that should exist between this country and the free countries of Europe.

I am sorry that I must now sound a note of discouragement, for I cannot refrain from referring to the attitude of selfishness, distrust, and hatred manifest by the leaders of communism. How they hate America, and everything American!

They are not only anti-American—they are anti-Christian! By every means possible—newspapers, billboards, documents, radio—they try to inculcate hatred in the hearts of the youth.

By the Iron Curtain they scheme to keep Western influence out of Russia and prevent Russians from becoming acquainted with the West. A distinguished sociologist once wrote, note: "Give us the young, and we will create a new mind and a new earth in a single generation." That is one aim and purpose of the Russian dictators.

Largely because of their nefarious schemes and false ideologies, civilization is facing a crisis. We are in a period of uncertainty, of international tension. Not infrequently we see manifest among people a feeling of impending crisis in which is fear that the atom bomb might bring to a tragic end present-day civilization. Articles in the daily press and in magazines give unmistakable evidence of this condition. You can pick up any magazine or any daily paper and read such headings as: "Our Democracy in Danger." "Communism—a New Kind of Threat." "Foundations of our Republic Threatened." "The World Cannot Exist Half Slave and Half Free."

These are some I have taken at random.

"Look at the map of the world," says one. "The Iron Curtain of Soviet communist control has descended over vast areas and over hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe and in Asia since the close of World War II. It is unspeakably tragic that this should be the case, when it need not have been." Another: "We Face a Spiritual War." Then, last: "Red China's War Against God."

Well, brethren and sisters, let us not despair. A man's comfort in time of ease and peace, as well as in time of stress and danger, will be found in the depths of the sincerity of his belief in an Eternal Being, his faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Commenting upon the need of sincerity, of faith, one writer once asked this vital question, and I give it to you:

"Is Jesus to you only a legendary figure in history; a saint to be painted in the stained glass of church windows; a sort of sacred fairy not to be approached and hardly to be mentioned by name, or is he still what he was when he was in the flesh—a reality, a man of like passions with ourselves, an elder brother, a guide, a counselor, a comforter, a great voice calling to us out of the past to live nobly, to die bravely, and keep up our courage to the last?"

Notwithstanding the threatening conditions that exist in the world today, members of the Church of Jesus Christ need not fear nor be perturbed, if they will but anchor their souls in unchanging truths revealed by our Father in heaven.

If communists attempt to poison the minds of youth, as they are doing, against God the Father and his Beloved Son, if they pervert the principles of the gospel of peace and good will, if they continue to sow the seeds of mistrust and hatred, we must more guardedly protect our youth, more militantly instruct them in the principles of the Restored Gospel, implant in their hearts the truth that ". . . there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"  Acts 4:12 Let them realize that without Christ the world is lost.

James L. Gordon is right when he declares: "A cathedral without windows, a face without eyes, a field without flowers, an alphabet without vowels, a continent without rivers, a night without stars, and a sky without a sun—these would not be so sad as a world without a Bible or a soul without Christ."

He is the Son of "God in the Highest" as proclaimed by the heavenly hosts  Luke 2:14 the Prince of Peace, our Elder Brother, our Redeemer, our Savior.

"His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand.

"From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail.

"For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth unto the end.

"Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory"  D&C 76:3-6

God bless the Church. It is worldwide. Its influence should be felt by all nations. May his spirit influence men everywhere and incline their hearts toward good will and peace. May divine guidance be given the priesthood, who hold the responsibility of declaring to an indifferent world the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.