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The heading to Alma chapter 4 states, “Alma baptizes thousands of converts.”  The chapter heading for Helaman chapter 3 states, “Tens of thousands are converted and baptized.”  Alma 4:5 says, “And it came to pass in the seventh year of the reign of the judges, there were about 3,500 souls that united themselves to the Church of God and were baptized.”  Helaman 3:24-26 states: “There was exceedingly great prosperity in the Church,… and it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting unto the Church of God many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.”

With reference to the matter of prosperity and wealth, Alma chapter 1 talks first about the nonmembers and those that did not belong to the Church: “Yea, they (meaning those who did not belong to the Church) did persecute them and afflict them (the members) with all manner of words.”  Then it tells how and why: “And this because of their (the members) humility, because they were not proud in their own eyes, and because they did impart the word of God, one to another, without money and without price.”  Another verse (verse 29) states, “Now because of the steadiness of the Church, they (the members) began to be exceedingly rich, having an abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need.”  Verse 31 says, “And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to the Church.  For those who did not belong to their Church did indulge themselves in sorceries and idolatries and idleness”.   A whole list of transgressions follows.  In Helaman 4:13, speaking of the nonmembers, “And because of their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left unto their own strength, therefore they did not prosper.”  Then it talks about Moronihah preaching to the Saints of the Church: “And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they began to prosper.”  (Helaman 4:15)

Alma again said: “And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judge, that the people of the Church began to wax proud because of their exceeding riches.”  (Alma 4:6)  And then this interesting phrase, “Which they had obtained by their industry.” In other words, they had earned these riches.  They hadn’t obtained them by any mischief.  Then this very interesting thing, “And this was the cause of such affliction to Alma, yea, and to many who Alma had consecrated to be teachers, and priests, and elders over the Church (Alma 4:7)  They began to worry.  “For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the Church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and set their eyes upon riches and upon the vain things of the world.”  (Alma 4:8)

Helaman notes history repeating itself a generation later: “In the first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the Church.”  And then this providential correction, “Not into the Church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the Church of God”.  (Helaman 3:33)  They were lifted up in pride.  Remember this verse because I am coming back to it later to try to emphasize and explain some feeling I have, “And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren.  Now this was a great evil which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer greater persecutions, and to wade through much afflictions.”  And then it went on, there was “exceedingly great pride…and this because of their exceedingly great riches and prosperity.”  (Helaman 3:34-36)

These things challenged the Church in that day – there was rapid growth and there was wealth, popularity, acceptance by the world, and there were dissenters in the Church.  Nehor was Alma’s plague; in Helaman’s day it was Gadianton!  Nehor preached what he termed to be the word of God, “bearing down against the Church, declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular.”  (Alma 1:3)  Alma took action against Nehor, but a little later said, “Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor.”  (Alma 1:16)

Over to Helaman; Helaman’s estimate, “But, behold, it was to get gain, to be praised of men”, that they had done these things. (Helaman 4:21).  That word priestcraft appears through those chapters..  The definition of course is in the 26th chapter of 2 Nephi, “For behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and the praise of the world.”  Then came this warning: “But the laborers in Zion shall labor for Zion, for if they labor for money they shall perish.”  (2 Nephi 26:29-31).  Now as to the dissenters — just skipping through the chapters.  One very interesting verse in Helaman points out that all of these things that happened in the Church, happened in “the more settled parts of the land..”  (Helaman 3:23).  Then it talks about dissenters in this verse, and dissenters in that verse, and the wickedness and the dissensions among those who “profess to belong to the Church”, and that they were “denying the spirit of prophecy and revelation.”   In consequence of that, Alma records, “And thus ended the eight year of the reign of the judges, and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling block to those who did not belong to the church” and then this sobering phrase: “and thus the church began to fail in its progress.”  (Alma 4:10)  Over to Helaman, “And because of their iniquity, the church had begun to dwindle and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.”  (Helaman 4:23)  Back to Alma:  “It came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the Church began to lead those who were unbelievers on form one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people”.  (Alma 4:11)

One other thread that comes mostly through Helaman is that these things happened quickly.  Just skipping from verse to verse, “…and thus they had become a fallen people, yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.”  (Helaman 4:26)  Another verse: “And it came to pass that all these iniquities did come unto them in the space of not many years.”  (Helaman 6:32)  Another verse in yet another chapter, “Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of not many years”.  (Helaman 7:6)  In that instance, it was the space of six years when they had gone from where they were in a state of righteousness to a state of wickedness.  Remember, this was in the Church!

Then, the last one “in the space of not many years they had become exceedingly…”  And then it goes on.  So, the warning is that it doesn’t take long.  Now, in some spirit of optimism, there is another message in the Book of Mormon, equally sobering.  The fourth book of Nephi records that there was a period of 168 years when they were at peace and were righteous because of following the enduring principles of the gospel.  Well now, what did they do about it when the Church got off course?  How did they solve the problem?  What did Alma, the prophet, do?  “And in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.”  (Alma 4:20)

In Helaman, the brothers Nephi and Lehi were then leading the Church.  As to Nephi, (notice an emotion to which you might be sensitive) “…it came to pass that Nephi had become weary, because of their iniquity, and he yielded up the judgment seat, and took upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his day, and his brother Lehi also all the reminder of his day.”  (Helaman 5:3)   Back to Alma, “And this he did that he himself might go forth among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto then, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.”  (Alma 4:19)

Back to Helaman, “And it came to pass that they did preach with great power.  And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them.”  (Helaman 5:17-18)  Now, there is the cycle through the Book of Mormon.  The cycle, yes, the cycle.  That which inevitably happens to people in the Church.  The answer to the drifting was to concentrate on the preaching of the word.  You remember the statement where Nephi characterized the preaching of the word to be stronger than the sword.  The cycle is captured here in just these few verses in Helaman, the 12th chapter, “And thus we see how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.  Yes, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks, and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art: sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies, softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God and do trample under feet the Holy One — yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.”  And then follows this moralizing verse which is ominous in it portend:  “And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he does visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.  (Helaman 12:1-3)

Well, that is the pattern in the Book of Mormon as it relates to the Church.  Now what can we learn for our day of peace and prosperity and fast growth and popularity?  The year 1947 brought that first million members.  94% of that first million were in the United States, and 6% were international.  Canada was listed as international in the figures.  More than half of the members, 55%, lived in Utah.  So, in 1947, it was a Utah Church.

In 1960, when correlation was reintroduced, there were only seven stakes outside of the United States.  That included those in Canada and one stake in Mexico.  Now there are 532 stakes outside of the United States.  As I mentioned earlier, in 95 countries.  We have more members now, and more stakes now, in South America than there were in the entire church in 1952.  So there is a trend that we need to have in our minds.  The percent of Church members living in developing countries where they are hard-pressed financially is growing, and growing rapidly.  Over half of the adult members of the Church in the United States can claim college educations.  The average income of the average Latter-day Saint household in the Untied States is double that of Great Britain, and it is ten times that of the average Church household in Mexico.  The converts coming into the Church, now by and large, have little education and less money.  Take England, which should be an example of progress in the Church because there is no language barrier.  They can get and read everything we can print and send over there.  For every person holding a temple recommend in England, there are 10 who do not.  The leaders in England right now were not born in the Church; they are convert leaders in the Church.  They are not of the middle class.  They are blue collar.  We have studies that warn us how poorly we will do among blue collars workers unless we are very careful.  With this trend now, about 38% of the Church are out in developing countries where, for the most part, people are really struggling.  Where we have difficulty, for instance, holding a Saturday afternoon meeting because the men have to work or their families don’t eat.  They cannot afford all we can produce to sell to them.

Are we looking ahead?  We are looking ahead to Africa with its five hundred and seventy million people.  Brother Ashton arrived yesterday morning from dedicating three countries in Africa.  We are looking to India with seven hundred and eighty-eight million people.  We have 600 members there now.  When you see them, you see the urgency of our doing some of the things we are going to recommend.  In China, over one billion people!  They claim one billion two hundred and fifty million.  Who is to doubt that little extra number?  In the rest of Asia, about another billion, two hundred thousand.  We are moving out among these people now.  That includes the Philippines,  for instance.  If there is time I would like to read two sentences from a letter I received today at noon from a member in the Philippines.

Now, we are moving into those countries, but we can’t move there with all the baggage we produce and carry here!  We can’t move with a 1947 Utah church!  Could it be that we are not prepared to take the gospel because we are not prepared to take (and they are not prepared to receive) all of the things we have wrapped up with it in extra baggage?  I am thinking of the poor!  I make it a point, wherever I can, to stay with the stake presidents when I am overseas.  Sometimes I can’t for they will not invite me.  Once I sat with a stake presidency where the accumulated library of those three members of the stake presidency consisted of the standard works and one other book.  The stake president would not invite me to his home, not even to visit him.  Later I got the mission president to take me by his home and I know why.  He was ashamed that his home would not be good enough for me, an apostle.  What are we doing to them in trying to do things for them?  What are we doing to ourselves, to the Church?  We must be careful as we begin to develop things, print things, program things, and package things, to know for whom are we packaging them.  I can say with certainty that they are not begging for all of these things that we are producing and printing and sending out to them.  They are pleading with us to somehow rescue them from the blizzard of paper that is coming out, things they cannot use and could not afford if they could use them.  I repeat the verse from the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, “And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution [however unknowingly] of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer.”  (Helaman 3:34).

Now, we basically are the American middle class and maybe the upper middle class.  But the Church is not!  Not any more!  The converts are coming more and more from among the humble of the earth.  The 1947 Church will never return!  We can’t go back!  The 1987 Church will not come back!  As we move out into the future and the converts keep  coming in great numbers in countries where the people are so modest , we must look ahead and have vision.  For, the prophets have said, “For where there is no vision, the people perish.”  (Proverbs 29:18)  Let me say again, “For where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Now, what to do.  The answer is simple.  Return (meaning that we have strayed), return to those principles of priesthood correlation which took twenty years of wrestling and exertion to put in place, and which were inspired by revelation from the Almighty to His servants, the prophets and apostles.  Simply, they are:
.  • THE HOME — The home is the basic unit of the Church.  When we succeed, and the home is presided over by the priesthood, it is established for time and all eternity.  Parents have preeminent responsibility to lead their families.  Church organizations are to sustain, not replace them.  Church organizations are not to usurp the responsibility from the parents because some do not and some cannot fulfill their responsibilities.
.  • PRIESTHOOD — Priesthood is to be the authority in the home as well as in the Church.  All other authorities and appendages are auxiliary to the priesthood.  (See Doctrine and Covenants 107)  The priesthood line is the channel for the correlation of and delivery to and supervision of all organizations in the government of the Church.
.  • SCRIPTURES — The scriptures are the basis for the curriculum of the Church.  Such guides, lessons, manuals, handbooks, and bulletins must be correlated to and be consistent with the revelations.  The courses of study are to be cyclical.  They need not, indeed they should not, be subject to revision or replacement each time they reoccur in the cycle.
.  • PROGRAMS — Programs are to be simple to comprehend, convenient to administer, and evidence (on our part) a recognition of the home as having basic responsibility, the priesthood as being preeminent in Church government, and the revelations as constituting the basic course of the kingdom of God on Erath.  Programs, and listen please, programs should, just reflect an understanding and sympathy for the demand upon the time and means of the humble members of the Church.

The Correlation Executive Committee is now meeting weekly instead of monthly to meet the present challenges.  We are governed by the recent letter from the First Presidency which was quoted and which is a reaffirmation of the previous principles of correlation.  Now hear this, we are the Correlation Executive committee.  What is the Correlation Committee? Right here! You are the Correlation Committee.  If you had in your hearts and your minds these fundamental principles, and you rehearsed them and went over them and over them again, and understood something of what is going on out in the Church, then you would begin to correlate yourselves and restrain yourselves.  The measure, strangely enough, is not whether it is good and useful or even needed.  It is whether or not, in the correlated process, it would be productive.

Now, the proliferation of materials and programs just somehow must be brought back to that point where there was the management of it that existed just a few years. ago!  One of our anxieties, for instance, is this.  At April conference we had a magnificent experience, at least it was for us of the Twelve.  We all gave essentially the same talk on the same subject, that is, the mission of the Church.  You were there and were caught up in the spirit.  We had one agonizing worry.  It was talked about in meetings, and that was that success would be self-defeating.  We feared that the minute the feeling of that message was comprehended, there would be a rush to redo the whole curriculum of the Church to reemphasize the three point mission of the Church.  Our fears were realized — already we have had manuals come forth rewritten to accommodate the mission of the Church.   Well now, the mission of the Church was there before the first manual was ever written a hundred and fifty years ago!  It is there!  It is in our manuals now; it is in the revelations.  It is not necessary to redo the whole curriculum of the Church.  The proliferation of programs and materials is somehow counter-productive.  Could you see those humble people out there in the Church, you would know that.

Another point — Every increase in intensity of wickedness in the world must not sponsor a revision of programs to confront it.  I repeat again.  Local leaders are not pleading for new programs or more materials.  If the failure of a program requires the redoing of the program, you must as well say the gospel should be rewritten.  It, too, has failed because of the iniquity that is out there in the world.

One other thought and I will conclude.  We sent out eight pages this year to give the same direction to priesthood leaders that had been 56 pages last year.  We were hoping to simplify.  The telephones have rattled off the walls.  Stake presidents out there are wringing their hands, wondering what they can do.  Last year they had 56 pages of directions and this year they have eight.  We are making them so desperately dependent.  Remember the warnings that were raised earlier by President Clarke and others: “Be careful you don’t quench the spirit.”  Don’t quench the spirit!  Now, in conclusion, I would like to quote from a talk I gave here to this group 13 years ago.  I begin by quoting Thomas S. Monson, who spoke just before I spoke.  Speaking of what had gone on in correlation and what we were to do , he said, and I quote: “We will come into the house (meaning the house that correlation built) and live in it.  We have moved the walls enough, we have shifted the doors enough and rearranged the windows enough.”  And then I said, and I say again, “I say this with deep conviction that no change now, no improvement now, is anywhere near so vital as a respite from change, that no weakness in our programs can be quite so damaging or so dangerous as a continual restructuring to avoid or ease that weakness.”

So, I would think it is time now to put the major construction tools in the back of the shop.  They will be there if we need them.  Bring out the tune-up equipment and the tools for maintenance and begin to move ahead without the thought of necessity that we are going to remodel everything again.  Well now, what does it all mean — programs and procedures, and restructuring, remodeling and renovating?  We need to live in the house, as Brother Monson says, for a while.  We might not be quite so quick to change that door, remove that window, or put in that partition after we have lived in it a bit.  I would like to cite from another parable.  This, from the 5th chapter of Jacob.  I wish there were time to read this whole parable, but there isn’t so I’ll just be brief.  I think that the Lord is saying something to us in our day.  “And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master, ‘How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree?  For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of the vineyard.  And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore , I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.”  (Jacob 5:21-22)  And then they came back, and, “Behold, the wild branches have grown and have overrun the roots thereof, and because that the wild branches have overcome the roots thereof it hath brought forth much evil fruit.”  (Jacob 5:37)  And then the master of the vineyard, “…wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?  (Jacob 5:41)  And then, “Now behold, notwithstanding all the care which we have taken of my vineyard, the trees thereof have become corrupted, that they bring forth no good fruit; and these I had hoped to preserve, to have laid up fruit thereof against the season, unto mine own self.  But, behold, they have become like unto the wild olive tree, and they are of no worth but to be hewn down and cast into the fire; and it grieveth me that I should lose them” (Jacob 5:46).

“But what could I have done more in my vineyard?  Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh.  And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned.  Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?”  (Jacob 5:47)   Now listen carefully:  “And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master, ‘Is it not the loftiness of the vineyard — have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good?  And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves.  Behold, I  say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?”  (Jacob 5:48).  Now I want to read that passage again, lest anyone missed the meaning.  (The above passage was read again.)  Now the last verse: “And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant:  Let us go to and hew down the trees of the vineyard and cast them into the fire, that they shall not cumber the ground of my vineyard, for I have done all.  What could I have done more for my vineyard?  But, behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the vineyard:  Spare it a little longer.  And the Lord said: Yea, I will spare it a little longer for it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard.”  (Jacob 5:49-51)  And then skipping over to this verse: “For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard, wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that he root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.”  (Jacob 5:66)

There is one more scripture that comes to mind: “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order, for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  ‘And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize, therefore, all things must be done in order.”  (Mosiah 4:27).  Now, we go out among the poor, and feel something that will not let go of us day or night.  I see in the New Testament two verses that have an unusual pattern of assembling apparently unrelated subjects in the same verse.  I will read one of them.  “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised [all miracles] and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. (Mark 11:5)  ( I suppose that constitutes a miracle as well.)  The  Doctrine and Covenants states: “And the poor and the meek shall have the gospel preached unto them and they shall be looking forth to the day of my coming, for it is nigh at hand.”  (Doctrine and Covenants 35:15)  If you see the Church growing and see it moving out, if you see the patterns of membership changing, then you will see that the day has come and past and come again and past when we must accommodate the gospel as compared to all of the things we manufacture that we think will convey the gospel.  Those ‘helps’, in many ways, make many members feel unsettled and unequal.  The humble part of the people may well be caused to suffer.

God grant that we who are here, who have within our hands the power, will understand that which was emphasized in 1960, and repeated along the way, and it repeated here today.  God grant that we take hold of ourselves and restrain ourselves so that once again we may move forward to the perfecting g of the Saints, to the preaching of the gospel to the world, and to the redemption of the dead.  May His power and Spirit and insight an inspiration be with us all, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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