The humble and moving prayer of our President at the opening of his address, and his request that we pray for him, were gloriously answered as he gave us that inspiring opening talk. When I hear him, and the other great men on this stand, express feelings of weakness and inadequacy and prayers for strength as they address us, I wonder how some of us even dare approach the pulpit. My soul is subdued, my heart is humble, as I listen and worship with you.

There are two activities of the Church which are not only of paramount importance to the members of the church, but are also of great and increasing interest and concern to all who hear of them. They have the same objective and the same purpose. They are a part of the everlasting and unchangeable plan of redemption. I shall speak for a moment on the great missionary work of the Church—the preaching of the gospel—and of the building and operation of temples—to make available to both living and dead the blessings that come through the performance of the ordinances of the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ makes knowledge of and obedience to law prerequisite to the enjoyment of its blessings. The plan of redemption provides that all the sons of God must hear the gospel and be given an opportunity to embrace it, directly or vicariously.

The injunction of the Savior, given in Jerusalem and repeated in this day, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"  Mark 16:15 is imperative. That it must be done before his work can be consummated is evidenced by his further statement,

. . . this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come  Matt. 24:14

This gospel of which we speak is a message of good will, of glad tidings. It is the way of salvation in this life, and a method of exaltation in the life to come. Furthermore, it is a message of peace on earth, for which all the world is praying. The Apostle Paul defined it as ". . . the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth"  Rom. 1:16

Now if this gospel, this power of God, is to be effective unto the salvation of men, they must believe it, but quoting Paul again,

. . . how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent?  Rom. 10:14-15

That the preaching of the gospel is of transcendent importance is evidenced by the fact that it was enjoined in every dispensation from the beginning. Jehovah himself taught it to Adam, who received it and called upon his sons to repent  Moses 6:1 Enoch and his associates taught it and lived it so effectively that their city was translated  Moses 7:69 and Enoch walked with God  Gen. 5:24

And thus the Gospel began to be preached, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost  Moses 5:58

For one hundred and twenty years Noah warned the unheeding people of judgments to come  Moses 8:17 The gospel was known to Abraham, to Moses, and to the prophets.

Jesus of Nazareth, in the Meridian of Time, went about the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God (see  Matt. 4:23 Peter taught it, and on the day of Pentecost epitomized its saving principles in the memorable words,

Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call  Acts 2:38-39

He predicted the latter day appearance of the Savior saying,

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began  Acts 3:19-21

We have the same message, and it is taught by the same authority as that which led the apostles to dedicate their lives to it. To carry this message to Jew and Gentile, Paul went from Jerusalem to Antioch, thence west to Cyprus and Asia Minor, even into Europe, and finally took his long and adventurous journey to Rome where he knew prison awaited him and where some of his greatest epistles were written. It was in Rome that he gave his life for the cause which he advocated with such consummate skill. He ended his life with a benediction,

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith  2 Tim. 4:7

The early missionaries of this Church, like their predecessors, endured persecution, made many sacrifices, and were willing to die if need be in proclaiming and defending the gospel of Christ. The prophet founder of the Church, the organizer of the missionary system in this dispensation, was, like Paul of old, tried before many magistrates and judges, appealed to the highest authority, was imprisoned many times, and finally sealed his testimony with his blood.

Believing as we do that this is the same gospel which Jesus taught, that in fact, as Paul said, there is no other gospel  Gal. 1:6-7 and that it must be preached to all the world as a witness, all Latter-day Saints are or should be missionaries, either at home or abroad. Let him that is warned warn his neighbor.

Since 1830 more than 71,000 men and women have served in foreign mission fields. They are literally carrying the injunction, "Go ye into all the world"  Mark 16:15 Missions have been established in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America, and in the islands of the sea. We are constantly pushing back the frontiers of the mission field. Since the British Mission was established in 1837, modern apostles have dedicated many lands and countries for the preaching of the gospel. The last to be so blessed were Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Guam. They were dedicated for this work by President Joseph Fielding Smith in August last.

The weekly broadcasts of the Tabernacle Choir have carried the gospel of good will and harmony unto millions during the past twenty-six years. In their recent tour of Europe, 379 members of the choir sang their way into the hearts of all who heard them. Many were led to say with Isaiah and with Paul, "How beautiful are the feet of them who publish the gospel of peace" (see  Isa. 52:7

Other millions of strangers within the gates of Temple Square have learned of the heretofore unpublished chapters of the life of Christ—chapters telling of his visit to his other sheep on the American continent after his crucifixion in Jerusalem—also of his glorious opening of the last dispensation as he appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1820.

That the General Authorities of the Church are devoted to this work with self-sacrificing zeal is evidenced by the fact that they traveled since last October conference a total of more than 756,000 miles.

Let us refer to only a few of the brethren and only part of their travels. President Joseph Fielding Smith traveled over 30,000 miles in his recent tour of the South Pacific Mission. Elder Lee made a similar journey last year. Elder Kimball has just returned from Europe where he visited fourteen countries and traveled more than 50,000 miles. Elder Mark E. Petersen in his tour of South American missions covered 20,000 miles, and Elder Romney traveled 33,000 miles in visiting Australia, New Zealand, and other South Pacific countries.

The members of the Council of the Twelve spent their whole time visiting stakes and missions. The members of the First Presidency have been even more active. We all wonder at and pray for a continuation of their vitality, endurance, and inspiration.

From January 1954 to October 1955, President David O. McKay, now in his 83rd year, visited twenty-five countries on six continents in land, sea, and air journeys of approximately 100,000 miles.

Our Heavenly Father, in order, as he said, to cut his work short in righteousness  Rom. 9:28  D&C 52:11 has made available to us such improved facilities of travel and communication as would have been nothing short of miraculous in the days of Peter and Paul or even to our pioneer fathers. Steamships and airplanes enable us to go farther in hours than they could have gone in months. Radio and television have amplified the voice and made it possible to take the gospel into the homes of the people of almost all nations.

The day may not be far distant when there will be a worldwide re-enacting of the day of Pentecost on such a colossal scale that people in every land may hear the message of the gospel, each in his own tongue and at his own fireside. Surely out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem  Isa. 2:3 He has said,

. . . he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem, and his voice shall be heard among all people;

And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh  D&C 133:21,25

But is salvation to come only to those now living who accept the gospel or to the few—always a minority—who listened to the prophets in other dispensations. No, the thought is repugnant to reason, and inconsistent with the character and attributes of God. That the preaching of the gospel is not to be limited to mortal beings is attested by the scripture, for Christ

". . . went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing"  1 Pet. 3:19-20

And further,

For . . . this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit  1 Pet. 4:6

While the message of the gospel is being carried to them that are dead, the living have for the past 125 years been doing for them what they could not do for themselves. Jesus said a man must be born of the water and of the spirit before he can see the kingdom of God  John 3:3-5 This is a universal law applying to all, both living and dead. Water is a mundane element, and baptism is an earthly ordinance. How then shall the dead comply with the law respecting baptism?

The need and efficacy of the law of agency, of proxy or vicarious service was recognized before the world was created. The doctrine of the atonement could not have become operative unless it were possible for one person to do for another that which the latter could not do for himself. It was under the law of vicarious service that Christ redeemed us from the fall of Adam,

. . . as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive  1 Cor. 15:22

Since the Church was organized more than fifteen million saving ordinances have been performed by the living for the dead. New temples are being built in many lands to facilitate and consummate this stupendous work. The tremendous cost of preaching the gospel to both the living and the dead and making its blessings available is met largely from the voluntary contributions of the people. The missionary and temple work of the Church is an unequaled mass demonstration of self-sacrificing service.

Yes, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all them that believe  Rom. 1:16 There is a power available to man which, when properly utilized, will result in his salvation. This power is equal to the task because it is in fact the power of God as Paul declared it to be  Rom. 1:16 Before men can use this power, they must hear, believe, and obey. There will be no arbitrary use of this power; no force will ever be applied. The keys to its use are faith and intelligent cooperation. Our mission is to declare to the world first that there is such a power; second, to explain the eternal and immutable laws which govern its use; third, to perform authoritatively the ordinances which by divine decree have been made prerequisite to seeing or entering the kingdom of God  John 3:3-5 and fourth, to warn the nations of the calamities which shall be visited upon the ungodly before the second advent of the Savior.

We preach the same gospel that was taught anciently. We teach it by the same authority. That gospel, and the authority to teach it and administer in its ordinances, was restored to this earth at the dawn of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. We hail that dawn as we sing the great hymn of Parley P. Pratt:

The morning breaks; the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled!
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world.

Jehovah speaks! let earth give ear,
And Gentile nations turn and live.
His mighty arm is making bare,
His covenant people to receive.

Heavenly Father, wilt thou bless all of us that we, too, may fight a good fight, may finish the course, may keep the faith  2 Tim. 4:7 we humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.