At the closing of this great conference, I know you would have me express appreciation to persons and agencies that have helped in taking care of all who have been in attendance. I know in naming individuals and groups that I may omit some, but to you all we express appreciation and gratitude for your services:

To the public press, to you reporters, for your care and accuracy in reporting the proceedings, to the audiences for their responsiveness and attentiveness throughout the sessions of the conference; to the city officials; the traffic officers in handling increased traffic. As we have driven up and down South Temple we have noticed how attentive, how careful to duty, how considerate of the pedestrians you have been. Thank you! We mention the fire department also. They went to the trouble of seeing to it by actual tests that the fire wagons could in an emergency come through the gates. To the Red Cross, who have been on hand to render any assistance to those who might need their tender care. For the semi-tropical flowers from Hawaii, we have already expressed appreciation. To the ushers, we say thank you. We have noted your attention to your assigned duties as given by your superiors under the Presiding Bishopric.

Gratefully we mention again the assistance rendered by the various radio and television stations here in our own city and state and in other states named in the various sessions of this conference. What a means of permitting hundreds of thousands of people to hear the proceedings of this conference of the Church! We thank you congregations assembled in the stakes in California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado for the messages of appreciation you have sent in. Everyone has said that the proceedings have gone over the wire perfectly and then added: "Thank you and God bless you for the opportunity we have had this day of joining and worshiping with you."

We must mention again gratitude, not only appreciation, but gratitude for the groups of Singers who have contributed so much to the inspiration of this conference, beginning with the Relief Society Mothers, and followed next day by those lovely little girls—the Bee Hive chorus. Just their presence and their sweet voices, aside from their singing, brought tears to many a mother's eye. Then the combined Scandinavian choirs, and the Men's Chorus of the Tabernacle Choir last evening in the priesthood meeting, and finally, our own Tabernacle Choir. Do you know they have been here since seven o'clock this morning?

I am happy to re-announce to you that in appreciation of the eat service that this body of devoted singers is rendering under the able directorship of Brother J. Spencer Cornwall and the organists, Elders Alexander Schreiner, Frank Asper, and Roy Darley, they will be given a trip to Europe. They will go as ambassadors of good will—representing in honor and artistry the state, as well as the Church. With all our hearts, here today we say, thank you and God bless you in the preparation of that great trip!

All that has been said and done and sung, all the testimonies borne have directly or indirectly led to this divine admonition: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you"  Matt. 6:33

Let us then make God the center of our lives. That was one of the first admonitions given when the gospel was first preached to man. To have communion with God, through his Holy Spirit, is one of the noblest aspirations in life. It is when the peace and love of God have entered the soul, when serving him becomes the motive factor in one's life and existence that we can touch other lives, quickening and inspiring them, even though no word be spoken. There is operative in the world a spiritual force as active and as real as the waves that have carried the message today to those tens of thousands by radio and television.

"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?" cried the Psalmist. That means, who can come into that realm, that spiritual realm . . . "who shall dwell in thy holy hill?"

"He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart"  Ps. 15:1-2

Who will fail in getting into that divine presence? "He that backbiteth, he that doeth evil to his neighbor, he that taketh up a reproach against his neighbor" (see  Ps. 15:3

Let us, as we seek first the kingdom of God, avoid backbiting and evil speaking. Gossip bespeaks either a vacant mind or one that entertains jealousy or envy. Let us avoid self-righteousness. There is a proverb that says, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts"  Prov. 21:2 "Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain"  Prov. 25:14

Finally, brethren and sisters, "be perfected, be comforted, be of one mind, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you" (see  2 Cor. 13:11 Keep in mind the Savior's prayer: "Make them one, Father, as thou and I are one"  John 17:11,21

I wish that all within the sound of my voice at this moment, all who have any prejudice in their hearts, might have glimpsed the General Authorities in the House of the Lord last Thursday morning, when they met in fasting and prayer to prepare themselves spiritually for the responsibilities awaiting them in this great conference. You would have glimpsed the unity of the First Presidency and through this transmission of heart to heart, soul to soul, you would have known the love I bear for these two counselors, for their clear vision and sound judgment and their patience with their leader when necessary. You would have glimpsed the unity and love of these twelve men, of their Assistants and of the First Council of the Seventy, the Patriarch, and the Presiding Bishopric. We pray that the love and unity in that meeting may extend to every stake presidency, mission presidency, every bishopric, every priesthood quorum and auxiliary throughout the Church. With such unity and love there is no power on earth which can stop the progress of this, the work of God.

May his blessings attend you, now, as you go to your homes. We bless you that the spirit of unity and the spirit of testimony of the divinity of this work may abide in your hearts always, that peace and love may be in your homes as never before, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.