My dear brethren and sisters, it is a very great privilege and pleasure to be back home again, to be with loved ones and friends and to partake of such a wonderful influence as we have at this conference today.

I have not made an accurate count, but from appearances the number present here today is a little larger than we have in our district conferences in the mission field, but the spirit is just the same.

A year ago I had the opportunity of reporting missionary labors of Sister Richards and myself in the British Mission. Consequently I will not duplicate this morning but only mention a few subsequent happenings. Since that time King George VI has passed on; his charming and lovely daughter Elizabeth, designated "the Second," now reigns over that wonderful country and in that great empire. She is greatly loved by all the people because of her Christian virtues and her charming way. The Socialist Party was defeated at the polls, and the Conservative Party under the leadership of that great statesman Winston Churchill was elected into office.

The affairs of the British Mission are going forward in a fine way under the very able direction of President and Sister A. Hamer Reiser. Our missionary experiences there constituted one of the richest times in the lives of Sister Richards and myself. We did so appreciate the association of the fine missionaries, and we rejoice in the great development that came to them. We shall ever be grateful to them for their support, their cooperation, and their hard labors, and we rejoice in the way the Lord blessed them.

We were thrilled, also, my brethren and sisters, in witnessing what the gospel of Jesus Christ does to those people who accept it, how it changes their lives from confusion, uncertainty into lives of knowledge of our Father in heaven, his purposes for his children here upon the earth, and especially for the feeling of security that it gives them and the hope of salvation and eternal life.

Oh, it was wonderful to see how happy it made these converts that accepted the truth, and in their homes the conditions changed, there was more love between husband and wife and between parents and children.

Of course, the crowning event in our missionary labors was the visit of President David O. McKay and his lovely wife, his son Lawrence and his wife, Mildred. I trust that President McKay will let me fill in just a few items in connection with that trip pertaining primarily to himself, as he would be too modest to mention them himself, and I shall mention them not just as a matter of interest, but in order that we might all be benefitted by the virtues, the exemplary life of this man, our leader.

Between the time of the two dedications in Scotland that he has mentioned, the President with the members of his party and about twenty-six missionaries, took a bus tour up through the highlands of Scotland, around the Cossacks, around Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond, the Brig o' the Kirk, and those places made famous by the immortal words of Sir Walter Scott and other great poets. During that tour the President delighted all of us by reciting from memory stanza after stanza from The Lady of the Lake and other great poems. He made us all feel that as visitors in foreign lands, we should study the history of those countries; we should learn of their poets and their artists and secure all of the cultural value that we could from such visits.

But there was something else, that may not be new to you who know President McKay well, but I observed that throughout that tour, as we got on and off the bus, as we walked to one place of interest and back to the bus, there was in President McKay the perfect gentleman; always as he approached a lady he removed his hat, not to show that beautiful stand of white hair that he has, but through the natural tendency on his part always to be courteous.

And then I observed how kind and considerate he was of his lovely companion, how he was always there to assist her on the bus, to help her off the bus, to make sure that she had a proper vantage place in looking over the different sights, and then I observed that he always seemed happiest and most contented when he was sitting next to her.

They have been married for over a half a century, but time and the passing of years has not dimmed that great love that he has for his wife, not only love, but the tendency also to show every consideration and every attention as he did during his courting years.

Oh, my brethren, what a lesson there is for us, and may I say just a word to you here, (I hope the wives will not listen,) I want to ask of you, how long since you told your wife you loved her? How long since you brought a few flowers home to her, and her alone? How long since you brought some candy? How long since, after a fine meal, you have told her what a fine meal that was, and after the meal and you were going out, have you stated, "I am going out block-teaching but when I get back, I want to take you down to the corner for an ice cream soda."

Oh, these are just little things, but how they would add to the joy and the happiness around home. I remember hearing of one of our brethren, when his neighbor spoke to him after the wife had served them a fine meal and said, "My, you have a fine wife." He said, "Yes, I almost told her so, once, and I think before I die, I will tell her."

Now, brethren, in this connection, may I say if you are going to reform along this line, make it gradual. Anything else might be a shock and might be misunderstood by the womenfolk.

I cannot refrain from telling about another party that called on his neighbor and friend, who happened to be the judge in the town, and said, "Judge, Liz and I are going to break up; I have come to see you about a divorce." He said, "Jim, I wonder if you have always been kind to your wife?" And then he gave him certain instructions, and he said, "Now, you come back tomorrow and tell me how you get along." Jim returned the next day, and the judge said, "Well, how did you do?" "Terrible;" he said, "I did just as you told me. I took a fine box of candy, a lovely bunch of flowers home to my wife; and just as soon as I presented them, I gave her a big kiss, and she broke out crying, and she said, 'This has been a terrible day. This morning the cat got run over; at noon the grocer failed to send the groceries; and now here, tonight you come home dead drunk.'"

I would like to mention another observation that was certainly pleasing to me, as I am sure it was to the other members that witnessed it. At the close of the dedicatory services in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the President took time to greet all of those people. There were three hundred in one place and two hundred in another. As they came up to him, especially the little children, extended presents to him, one of them giving a present of an automobile robe with the McKay colors on it, and others gave flowers to the ladies. The President's extending appreciation and blessing those little tots was beautiful.

And then, as some of the older ones who knew him fifty-four years ago when he was on his first mission came up and took his hand and placed their heads on his breast and sobbed with joy, you could see and feel the fullness and devotion of his friendship and his love for those people. Oh, indeed, he was a great friend to them.

I am wondering if all of us who have friends would not like to take a lesson from that and manifest a deeper degree of friendship, let their joys be our joys, and let their sorrows be our sorrows.

We left Edinburgh 10:20 at night to take the sleeper train for London. As we left that station, there were those faithful Saints, headed by one of the missionaries with such a fine voice, who sang in Scotch, rendering songs of farewell to the party. When we went into our compartment, there were boxes of delicious lunch, the finest that could be prepared, which were extended by the Relief Society sisters of that Edinburgh Branch.

On arriving at London, early in the morning, we were met by the missionaries and a number of the Saints of the London District. Flowers were showered upon the womenfolk; greetings were extended in the most cordial way to the President. The next few days, of course, were very busy days for him in London.

On Sunday, it happened to be the London district conference, and though we pleaded with the President to spend the forenoon in visiting some of the great churches, such as St. Paul, Westminster, and so forth, in order to spare him from speaking so many times, he chose to attend the priesthood meeting, the afternoon and the evening meetings. There were approximately eleven hundred people present at the meetings.

Wonderful sermons were given by him, and after those meetings he consented to shake hands with all of those people. Have you ever tried greeting individually so many people? When you realize also that the shake of President McKay's hand is not just a limpid affair, but it is a firm grasp with a greeting from that big heart, you can realize the fatiguing, and the exhausting effect of that ordeal.

May I make another observation? President McKay enjoys that Christian virtue that was taught so many times by the Master himself, of losing one's self for others  Matt. 10:39 in forgetting self and thinking of others, that he gave no thought to what that exhausting experience was doing to him. He only realized that it was giving joy and happiness to these people, many of whom had come into the Church because this Church has apostles and prophets. And now they were to greet the prophet of the Lord, the President of the Church. You can imagine the thrill that came to them as they did so.

And as the little children came, the little tots, they received an equal greeting. Like the Master of old, who said "Suffer little children, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven"  Matt. 19:14 so this great man gave these little kiddies a handshake and a blessing, and they went on their way.

President McKay performed this act in the nine other European missions.

He will never know the amount of good that came to these people and the thrill that they received. They will tell it to their children, and their children's children.

In one place it was reported that the people were shaking hands with the other Saints with the left hands, and when they asked why, they said, "Why, this hand shook hands with a prophet of the Lord, and we are holding that hand closed." One good sister, who was sick and could not be there, sent her two little daughters and said, "You go shake hands with the President, then come back and shake hands with me, and then I will be all right again."

I know, brothers and sisters, that you agree with me, that this was the greatest event that ever happened to the European missions.

And speaking of the President, I think, myself, that his going from here across the ocean to those countries, constituted also a visit of one of the greatest Americans. President McKay went over there with a message of peace, based on righteousness, and according to the principles of the gospel, thereby, creating the only peace that would be lasting.

And now, what about those that accompanied him? Sister McKay and the others were urged to speak at practically all of the meetings, and she spoke in such a lovely way, such a motherly and tender way, especially to the sisters, to the Relief Society workers. The son, Lawrence, who is one of the general superintendency of the Deseret Sunday School Union of the Church, spoke especially to the children, giving them a message from the Sunday School and then his lovely wife, Mildred, a member of the general board of the Primary, gave her message to the Primary workers and the Primary children. Therefore, the causes of these three organizations were greatly enhanced.

Another thing should be noted; President McKay and his party traveled as a unit and for those people to see a Mormon family journeying together, manifesting such love, and consideration for each other, exemplifying such a perfect family life, did much to create better homes and better family lives through all those countries.

So I want to pay my humble tribute to President McKay, and to tell you, as I know that you realize, that he exemplifies the Christian principles as taught by the Master, the virtues that he taught his disciples in a finer way and more completely than any man that I know of. And as he loved all the people, all the people loved him.

He is such a kind man. May I mention just one more personal thing? Just before he departed at 11:40 at night from Prestwich to come home, imagine his being so kind as to call up Sister Richards and myself, just common people, down in London, over the long distance telephone, and realizing that we were to sail the next day, to wish us bon voyage. We will never forget that kindly act on his part.

And now, in closing, my brethren and sisters, if we love this man, I think there is only one way to show it, and that is for us to take a lesson from his example and live the gospel of Jesus Christ in every detail, day by day, and that will please him more than anything we can do.

God bless you all, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.