Speaking to a convention of young farmers and ranchers Feb. 24, President Thomas S. Monson gave six "marks of leadership:" determination, faith, service, love, humility and prayer.

President Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, addressed the Utah Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers convention at the University Park Hotel in Salt Lake City.President Monson brought to the Young Farmers and Ranchers the greetings of President Ezra Taft Benson, who in his youth was indeed a young farmer who rose to the position of Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinet of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

He emphasized that each young farmer and rancher can indeed be a pioneer and leader in his own right when he meets the definition: "One who goes before showing others the way to follow."

President Monson quoted the words of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to illustrate the mark of determination: "Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less."

Quoting Harry Emerson Fosdick, President Monson said: "Men will work hard for money, they will work harder for other men, but they will work hardest when dedicated to a cause. Until willingness overflows obligation, men fight as conscripts rather than following the flag as patriots. Duty is never worthily performed until it is done by one who would gladly do more if he could."

Regarding the mark of faith, President Monson said those who work with the soil must have faith in God as well as faith in themselves. He said President Harold B. Lee told the story of an engineer who compared overcoming life's challenges with proceeding to the edge of the beam emitted by the headlight of a train locomotive.

"Take life one day at a time," he counseled. "Almost any one of us can get through the activities of one day or one night. But many of us have difficulty if we let ourselves think about all we have to do this week, next week, next month, next year."

He recalled that in the dark days of World War II, King George of England, in a speech to his subjects, paraphrased the words of M. Louise Haskins: "I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, `Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, `Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.' "

Pertaining to the mark of service, President Monson said: "I maintain that if we have the mark of service, if we see there's something we can do, if someone's down and out, if we can give a lending hand, we'll find that we have the true spirit of leadership and we'll feel better than we've ever felt before."

Referring to the mark of love, President Monson quoted Matt. 6:19-21, about laying up treasures in heaven.

"None of us knows when his day or her day to meet his or her Maker will come," he said. "Let us remember the principle of love and we will avoid the negative of selfishness."

Speaking of the mark of humility, he told of a basketball player who became angry at a referee because of a foul charged. His repeated protests resulted in his ejection from the game.

"He forgot one thing. The referee had a little whistle. And he blew the whistle . . . and the player left the game."

Applying the incident to life, President Monson said: "Let us remember that the health we have, the joy we experience, the love we have in our family - we work hard to achieve them. But they're God-given. And someone beyond us has the capacity to blow the whistle. Let's make sure we have the mark of humility."

To illustrate the efficacy of prayer, which he called "our passport to spirituality," President Monson referred to recent dramatic events in several Eastern European nations.

"The events which are taking place in the world today surely demonstrate the power which is latent within people to achieve freedom, and the power of a God in heaven to accomplish His own purposes in His own time," he declared.

"These are miracles in our time, demonstrating the power of prayer."