Vol. 3 No. 11 - November 1956

"The Qualities & Virtues of a True Ambassador"

In our thirteenth Articles of Faith it states that, "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men...If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." Joseph Smith
Of all members in the Church today, the missionaries should be living examples of the above quoted lines from this Article of Faith. These are the virtues that all good latter-day saints should seek after and develop as they are the very same virtues which the Savior possessed. To lack any of these qualities knowingly should be sufficient cause for us to make that our goal -- to develop that virtue.
When President David O. Mckay visited the mission in 1954, he emphasized to the missionaries to become ladies and gentlemen in their calling. He said that it is the little things that life is made of. He asked the missionaries if THEY WERE WHAT THEY CLAIMED TO BE. He pointed out that we are here to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we do it by word and action. He left us this little poem:

I have to live with myself and so
I want to be fit for myself to know
I want to be able, as the days go by
Always to look myself straight in the eye
I don't want to stand at the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I've done
I don’t want to keep on the closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself
And to fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man that I really am
I don’t want to dress myself in a sham
I want to go out with head erect
I want to deserve a man’s respect
But here in the struggle for pain and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don’t want to look at myself and know
That I am a bluster and an empty show
I can never hide myself from me
I see what others may never see
I know what others may never know
I can never fool myself, and so
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free

What you get in your youth remains with you throughout your life. The fine qualities and virtues you acquire now become a part of your personality and will aid in forming a beautiful character that will radiate the above mentioned Christ-like virtues. Ours is a practical religion, a pure and simple faith. Let us so order our lives that they might always radiate these beautiful virtues that our members and investigators might feel a more intense spirituality about us.
Asael T. Sorensen