This morning as President McKay and Bishop Wirthlin spoke, I thought to myself that it is our job to implement the work of the Church, the divinity and purpose of which President McKay bore witness, and the inspired organization to which Bishop Wirthlin testified. Somehow we must, ourselves, through the inspiration of the Lord, and through his guidance, make the destined goal a reality.

There were in the Church, in the stakes of Zion, on December 31, 1952, 1870 quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood that totaled, in round numbers 138,400 men. All of these hold the right and the privilege to preach the gospel, when called, to any portion of the earth or within their own stakes. Twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred fifty of these men, for various reasons, are not available to the wards or to the stakes in which they live. Some are on missions; 15,000 are engaged in Church activity other than quorum work, five thousand are away from home; and more than five thousand are in the armed services. That leaves a total of 109,000 men, however, who are available. It depends upon the strength of their testimony and upon what they intend to do with this great gospel, as to whether or not we are to succeed in what President McKay has so earnestly pleaded for this morning.

I estimate that there are in each quorum of the Melchizedek Priesthood, an average of forty-eight men who will not, normally, have direction from any ecclesiastical heads as to what they shall do except by their quorum presidents.

They will not be used by bishops in the wards; they will not be used by the stake officers; and if they have any assigned tasks, it will be because the presidents of their quorums assign them. Therein, in my opinion, lies the acid test of quorum leadership.

When I was a good deal younger, I read a verse of scripture. The first reading thrilled me. I was filled with wonder, and awed at its implications. This is the scripture:

Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born  Abr. 3:22-23

I confess that when I read these words for the first time, there sprang into my heart an intense hope, if a person can have a hope in reverse order, that I might, personally, have been one of those in whose midst the Savior stood when choosing those to be born as leaders on earth. I believe every young man who has any feeling for this Church gets that thought. I think I am not alone in it, at all.

The Lord revealed to Abraham that he was one so chosen. Now Abraham was called by the Lord out of the Chaldees to go and settle in Canaan. The Lord was testing him. I believe that the Lord tests his leaders, even his greatest leaders, by entrusting them with small positions where they will lead but few people. If they prove worthy, and unwaveringly lead these people toward their exaltation, he then adds more and more responsibility until there is no limit to capacity, development, and glory of that leader.

I remember with a good deal of feeling the words with which Abraham described his action. He left the Chaldees with such souls "as we had won in Haran"  Abr. 2:15 I think those souls were few. In my humble opinion Abraham led out of that land a group of people corresponding in size to a quorum of elders. Probably when he first started out, he had perhaps fifty or sixty, and the Lord tested him to see if he would lead them as directed, and he did.

Now, brethren, statistically you have about fifty men in your quorums available for assignment. You young elders' presidencies, you young men who have enthusiasm but not yet much practice in the business of doing Church work, if you are to lead fifty men and can lead them into righteousness, if you do it successfully, the Lord will enlarge you and will bring upon you greater leadership, until finally you will find place among those to whom he referred when he spoke to Abraham as being among those who would become his leaders.

You do not have to preside over the Church, or over a stake, or over a ward to qualify for such a great thing. However, I do think that if you preside over a quorum of the priesthood, if it is your responsibility to bring into activity any man, then unless you bring that man into activity, you are not measuring up to what the Lord had in mind when he inspired the president of the stake to call you to that exalted position.

And what I say about an elder applies equally well to a seventy or to a high priest. It matters not. All are offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood, and it is this priesthood which will enlarge this Church and fill the earth.

Let us not, therefore, brethren, fall down in that responsibility. Let us not worry, brethren of the quorums about the men whom the bishops call. Those men are taken care of, they have something to do. But let us not rest until the men who do not have exact responsibility are given such responsibility through quorum activity. Then we shall grow and then we shall flourish upon the mountain. Great will be our joy, for we shall sing praises and hosannas to the most high God, as we see his great work coming to fruition.

I add my testimony to that of Bishop Wirthlin, that there stands at the head of this Church a prophet, a seer, and a revelator, and that those who preside with him, and who, under his direction, direct the affairs of this Church are likewise prophets and seers and revelators, and I uphold and sustain them with all my heart. I pray that I can do it with all my strength, for unless a person does it with all his strength, as well as with his heart, not much is accomplished.

This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.