President McKay, President Richards, President Clark, my beloved brothers and sisters, and friends: I humbly pray that the Lord will help me as I speak to you today. I shall be grateful because I know that that will give me more strength than anything I could do.

I wonder if you have ever asked yourself how you would feel if you were occupying this position. If you will answer that, then I am sure that is the way you will feel for me.

I am thankful that we can attend these great conferences of the Church. We are all spiritually strengthened and built up in our faith. I do not know what we would do without our general conferences. I hope and pray that each person in the radio and television audience may be able to partake of the spirit of the conference with us.

You who may have problems—there may be someone in the radio or television audience who has a problem—I hope you can get great comfort from these conferences. I have come to the conclusion that no matter what our problems may be, we can find an answer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. To those who may be discouraged or to those who may be worried, I would plead with you that we try to understand the gospel and adopt its principles in our lives, and I believe we will solve our problems and be able to put discouragement aside.

Some weeks ago it was my privilege to receive an invitation from the United States Administration of Foreign Operations to fulfil an assignment in far-off Iran. I am grateful for that experience. On my way I stopped at Paris and Rome. I will not say anything about those European countries except to say that I was rather disturbed and concerned over their attitude toward, and their criticism of, this great government and this great country. I was worried! I wondered if it were possible for us to purchase friends with money.

After I left Rome, I flew into the city of Damascus, and as I entered that ancient city, I could not help thinking of Paul the Apostle—how he had persecuted the Saints, how he had been stricken blind, and of his repentance. Then I thought of how he was blessed and healed and became a great Apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

From Damascus I flew into the city of Tehran, the capital of Iran. My heart went out to that little nation, only 150 miles from Russia, living in constant fear of that great Soviet power. There I met a people who love freedom and who would not sacrifice that freedom even if it meant the loss of their own lives. My sympathy and interest, and my heart went out to that people. If we believe anything in the brotherhood of men, then I do not see how we can deny helping that people, not with money—they do not seek money or grants or a dole—but they like some assistance in learning how they can better take care of themselves.

While I was in Iran, I heard great tributes paid to one of our own brethren, one of our own fine men in the Church. I have never heard finer tributes paid to a man than I heard paid to Dr. Franklin S. Harris who went there, when he was president of the Utah State Agricultural College, to render that country assistance. From the Prime Minister to the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Education and government officials, how they praised the work and the inspiration and the guidance of that great teacher and that great scientist. He brought great credit to this nation, to this state and to this Church. He is a great and fine man.

After I finished my assignment in Iran, I flew to the country of Lebanon. Then I arranged for a trip down into a country where I have always wanted to go, down into the country of Jerusalem. Before I left here, President McKay said to me, "You will get out of Jerusalem about what you look for and about what you take in." As we flew over that beautiful blue Sea of Galilee, I could not help thinking of the miracles that had been performed there—the feeding of the five thousand, the healing of the sick, the blessing of the blind that they could see and the crippled that they could walk. I could not help thinking of that beautiful song we sing, "O Galilee! sweet Galilee! Where Jesus loved so much to be."

I think I was never so impressed as I was when viewing that country from the sky, realizing that those rugged mountains were the wilderness we have read and heard so much about. Jesus loved his life in Galilee, and the people loved him. Yes, he went about doing good in Galilee. Then we followed the River Jordan on its way to the Dead Sea. We landed in the Arab section of Jerusalem. Now there are two sections of that city, the Jewish section and the Arab section. There is great hatred there. I feel sorry for the city of Jerusalem. You cannot cross over from one side to the other, so we landed on the side where we desired to go.

Soon after our arrival we were assigned a very high type Arab Christian guide; he spoke English well. The first place he took us was the approximate location—I do not know whether he was entirely accurate or not—but the approximate place, said he, where Christ was arrested and his mockery trial was held. He was never convicted. Then the guide described the judge, Pontius Pilate, the trial, the charges, the attitude of Pontius Pilate and the mob. Jesus the Savior was never condemned. He was never guilty, but Pontius Pilate did not have the courage to release him, because in the face of that trial, mobs were calling, "Crucify Jesus"  Luke 23:21

As he led us over those narrow cobblestone streets, up toward the Hill of Calvary, I thought of the song that Sister Jessie Evans Smith sings so beautifully, "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked." As we came near the Hill of Calvary, the guide said, "About here was where the cross was so heavy that Jesus could not carry it any longer. He fell to the ground because of his great suffering, his abuse, and his torture when he was stripped to the waist, whipped with a heavy whip until his flesh lay open. Here he fell, and he was forced to arise and continue." As Jesus was suffering such agony, his mother Mary, seeing him, broke through the crowd to embrace him, but she was not permitted to do so.

As the daughters of Jerusalem were weeping, Jesus told them, ". . . weep not for me, but weep for ourselves, and for your children"  Luke 23:28 That remark was not a rebuke, but was a warning which was prompted by his great love for mankind. He knew of the later destruction of Jerusalem. A terrible disaster awaited a city steeped in iniquity.

Then as we reached the Hill of Calvary and the guide described the crucifixion, I was severely touched to think that that suffering which we have heard here expressed by President Clark and others today was for us that we might live again. He had told his disciples that he would be crucified in Jerusalem, but they did not realize the intenseness of the suffering he was willing and anxious—and would have to—endure to accomplish his mission. But what a lesson he had taught us prior to that when he went into the Garden of Gethsemane, and as we walked into the Garden of Gethsemane, I bowed my head in thankfulness to the Savior.

Before his crucifixion, he, too, sought strength from his Father that he could meet that test, and how he met it! Others who had been tortured would scream and condemn and curse, but he had taught the spirit of love all his life, and now he was faced with that test, and how he measured up to it in the face of all that suffering we probably cannot understand. Then from his lips burst forth those great words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"  Luke 23:34 and I thought then and there if Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world, could say and feel that way after all the torture, agony, and suffering which he had received, surely he taught us the great lesson of love and forgiveness, and I pledged that I would never hold hatred or bitterness or jealousy or anything like that in my heart toward anyone again. What a lesson Jesus had taught the world!

Before his crucifixion, as President Clark just stated, he told his disciples that he would come forth on the third day  Matt. 16:21 and that word soon spread among the people, and a strong guard was then placed over the tomb to see that his not stolen by his friends. No, his body was not stolen. An angel from heaven came down and rolled the stone away  Matt. 28:2 and Jesus came forth from the tomb on the third day as he had said he would, and even then, those close to him could not believe. You remember the story of Thomas. He had to see and feel before he could understand that the Savior had risen  John 20:25 Here was the mission of Jesus, death and resurrection.

Then as the guide took us back into the Garden of Gethsemane—that is the place where Jesus loved to go and pray—the guide said of all places which brought comfort to the Savior, it was the Garden of Gethsemane. Here he sought strength and wanted God's help in facing such an ordeal. Yes, he enjoyed having his disciples go with him. Some of them could not understand and did not quite recognize his purposes, but he did not go there to ask the Lord to save his life or to spare his life. He was not afraid to die. That was part of his mission, and he so regarded it. No, he prayed to his Father to give him sustaining patience and power of decision to meet that test as he would be called upon to meet it.

No wonder he was calm; no wonder he was lovable and kind. Even in the face of that torture and suffering. God had prepared him to meet this crisis.

Then the guide took us upon the Mount of Olives; some would say that the Sermon on the Mount was given there, but others would not agree; regardless, that great preachment, probably the greatest preachment of all time, the Sermon on the Mount, should be our guide today, in business, in education, in religion, in all of our phases of life. Oh, it will do us good to read the Sermon on the Mount, and it will make us better people if we will practice its teachings.

Then, as the guide said, "From this spot Jesus ascended to heaven, and that is the last that we have any record of the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of mankind," I felt more grateful than ever in my life that I could carry that story a little farther. I said to the guide, "No, this was not the end of Jesus the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind," and I know the guide was sincere when he said, "No, we have no other record of anything on Jesus since he ascended from this place to be with his Father."

Then I told him as best I could in the little time I had that he did reappear again with God the Father to the boy Prophet, Joseph Smith, in another wooded area. He was interested, but I am sure he could not accept this on that first interview, but I only hope and pray that this intelligent guide will read and study so that he can carry that story on to the time when the gospel was restored again. When I went back to my room, I locked my door and knelt down and thanked God more humbly, I think, than I have ever done before in my life for the teachings, the mission, the resurrection, of the Lord Jesus and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some would say he was a great teacher. Some of the world like to leave it at that. Oh, no, he was more than just a great teacher. He was the Son of God. He was the Redeemer of the world, and he did appear just as surely to the Prophet Joseph in the Sacred Grove as he appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem.

May God bless us that we may appreciate these blessings that have come to us, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.