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Report of Mission to General Conference

General Conference Address of Elder Ezra Taft Benson Sunday April 6 1947

Through seven inspirational sessions I have not lost faith that my time would come.

To one who has spent the major part of the last year amidst the rubble and destruction of war-torn Europe, this conference has been doubly inspirational and appreciated. As I have looked into the faces of this well-fed (almost too well-fed, in many cases) audience, well-clothed, surrounded with all the comforts and blessings of life, I have found that my thoughts have many times drifted across the Atlantic to those of our brethren and sisters with whom I have been closely associated during recent months. I love them, my brethren and sisters, as I am sure you do, many of you having descended through progenitors from those nations.

We have heard much in this conference regarding Europe and the Latter-day Saints in those countries. You heard testimonies from two of the former mission presidents of those missions who told of the suffering of the Saints and who bore fervent testimony to the faithfulness and devotion of Latter-day Saints in Europe. You heard from Brother Frederick W. Babbel, my companion and faithful associate, regarding his observations in Europe. If the Lord will bless me during the next few moments, I should like, in keeping with the suggestion of President Smith, to refer briefly to some of the phases in connection with observations and travels in Europe, covering a period of some ten months and more than sixty thousand miles.

I hasten to suggest, my brethren and sisters, that even though many fine comments were made regarding our mission over there, I assure you I know the source of the success which attended our labors. Never at any time have I felt it would be possible for me or my associates to accomplish the mission to which we were assigned without the directing power of the Almighty.

I shall never forget my feelings when I read in the press the announcement by the First Presidency regarding our call. The magnitude of it seemed ovewhelming. They gave us a four-point charge: first, to attend to the spiritual affairs of the Church in Europe; second, to work to make available food, clothing, and bedding to our suffering Saints in all parts of Europe; third, to direct the reorganization of the various missions of Europe; and, fourth, to prepare for the return of missionaries to those countries.

Our great desire was to live so that the Lord would bless us in carrying out those directions, and I testify to you this afternoon, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has in very deed blessed us on every turn. He has gone before us. Barriers have melted away. Problems that seemed impossible to solve have been solved, and the work in large measure has been accomplished through the blessings of the Lord.

I remember well our first inquiry as to the time we could set sail, either by plane or boat. We were told it would take three months-that all bookings were filled for that period. Yet within twenty-one days from the time our appointment was announced, we landed at Hurn Airport sixty miles south of London. And in spite of a most acute housing shortage in London, two days thereafter suitable headquarters had been established; how, I do not know, except through the blessings of the Almighty; and had we been free to select a spot for our headquarters, as it developed later, we could not have done better for our purpose. And so today I am grateful beyond my power of expression for the blessings that have accompanied us on our mission in Europe.