The decade of the 1980s was a monumental era in the history of the Church, and the 1990s most likely "will be another unbelievably fast-moving decade," according to Elder John K. Carmack of the First Quorum of the Seventy and executive director of the Church Historical Department.

"The 1980s started out driven by the vision of a prophet of God, President Spencer W. Kimball, urging us to accelerate our pace, to be prayerful and diligent, and intense in taking the gospel to the world," said Elder Carmack in an interview with the Church News."It was primarily a missionary era, and the missionary work took off. Forces during the decade tried to impede the progress of the Church. We had to do a little consolidating and a little fighting off negative forces. But the power of the gospel continued on, building strength, and a greater missionary force accepted the call to serve.

"A new voice, that of President Ezra Taft Benson, took us in the direction of personal purity and worthiness, and back to fundamentals and the scriptures.

"As these forces started to get in gear and in tune, the decade ended as greater opportunities and challenges than we ever dreamed of presented themselves to us. The challenges to the Church, as we enter the 1990s, loom so large that this new decade can be regarded as the beginning of a major new era."

Elder Carmack spoke of the role of recent world events in "opening a tiny window of opportunity" for the Church in many nations.

"The end of the '80s and the beginning of the '90s find us looking at a whole new vista," said Elder Carmack. "We see evidences of the Spirit of the Lord brooding over the nations of the world, especially over those nations that have heretofore been denied the gospel in the way that we know it.

"Of course, the Lord always has His word being taught everywhere through good people. Alma 29:8 is one of my favorite scriptures: ` . . . the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.' "

Giving a historical assessment of the decade of the '80s and the moving of the Church into the '90s, Elder Carmack said the Church "seems to be turning another corner."

"We have had pivotal times throughout the history of the Church," he explained. "We had the era in New York, followed by the era in Kirtland, then the era in Missouri, and the era in Nauvoo. Then it all changed. The Church absolutely turned a corner, and it probably was a necessary corner for our survival: the saints came West to the Salt Lake Valley. I think we are turning a corner now just as significant as the corner we turned in leaving Nauvoo.

"We had a period of isolation in the West, then we had a period of tremendous persecution. And we turned another corner about the turn of the century.

"During his tenure, President Heber J. Grant moved us into the modern era. We were no longer in isolation. We became a part of the world, the business community, the intellectual community. That was a major corner that we turned.

"Later, President David O. McKay helped us turn an international corner. He was a man with broad vision, teaching us that every member should be a missionary. The gospel was taken to the world and stakes were organized where only missions had existed. During President Harold B. Lee's administration, correlation was emphasized in the Church.

"President Kimball tried to get us prepared so that when the right moment came we would be ready to move forward, to take the gospel to all the world. That train is now moving. Ready or not, we must continue to move forward. Isn't it interesting that a prophet a decade ahead started talking about these things, thus preparing us ahead of time."

Elder Carmack's reference was to statements made by President Kimball in 1974 and again in 1979, in which he spoke of how the Lord would bless efforts to teach the gospel in all nations. In a 1974 address to regional representatives, for example, President Kimball said:

"If we do all we can . . . I am sure the Lord will bring more discoveries to our use. He will bring a change of heart into kings and magistrates and emperors, or he will divert rivers or open seas or find ways to touch hearts. He will open the gates and make possible the proselyting. Of that, I have great faith. . . .

"I am under no delusion to think that this will be an easy matter without strain or that it can be done overnight, but I do have this faith that we can move forward and expand much faster than we now are. . . .

"When we have increased the missionaries from the organized areas of the Church to a number close to their potential, that is, every able and worthy boy in the Church on a mission; when every stake and mission abroad is furnishing enough missionaries for that country; when we have used our qualified men to help the apostles to open these new fields of labor; when we have used the satellite and related discoveries to their greatest potential and all of the media - the papers, magazines, television, radio - all in their greatest power; when we have organized numerous other stakes which will be springboards; when we have recovered from inactivity the numerous young men who are now unordained and unmissioned and unmarried; then, and not until then, shall we approach the insistence of our Lord and Master to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. . . . "

Elder Carmack said the passage of time has validated President Kimball's words. "He was a prophet of God, saying the things God was inspiring him to say. That's the calling and responsibility of a prophet. In my opinion, it is not coincidental that we passed 40,000 missionaries in the decade of the '80s."

The passage of time, he observed, will give evidence also that President Benson is a prophet of God. "President Benson is giving us proper counsel. From his earliest talks as a prophet, he has preached of `cleansing the inner vessel' to make us more fit to serve the Lord. That is what is needed. He has tried to get us back to the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon."

As the decade began, Elder Carmack observed, President Spencer W. Kimball outlined the mission of the Church: to proclaim the gospel, to perfect the saints, to redeem the dead. In 1987 the First Presidency re-emphasized the role of the Church to the leadership, counseling leaders everywhere to invite all to "come unto Christ" as they fulfill the mission of the Church.

Elder Carmack said the ideas, impetus and inspiration of President Kimball "got us thinking and ready to accept the challenge and opportunity the Lord was giving us. Then President Benson got us ready spiritually to enter the doors that were swinging open. At some time in the future, we are going to look back and see more fully what it was that President Benson contributed to meeting the challenges of the '90s."

Elder Carmack also spoke of some changes in administrative structure that occurred in the 1980s. "In 1984, area presidencies were organized," said Elder Carmack. "For the first time, the world was divided into areas headed by an area presidency. The creation of the areas, the calling of General Authorities to serve for a specified length of time, the creating of the Second Quorum of the Seventy - each of these is just a small piece of the puzzle. Viewed separately, none of them seem to be very significant, but when you fit them all together, you see the whole picture. The puzzle is not complete, but the pieces are basically in place."

Elder Carmack expects the 1990s to be another unbelievably fast-moving decade "taxing our resources and our abilities to the limit, in which all of our leadership skills will be needed, in which we will grow at an unprecedented rate - even more than in the past - and in which opportunities will be presented to us faster than we can possibly meet them."

Without doubt, he said, some challenges and problems will arise, but the Church and individuals will thrive if they turn problems into opportunities to grow. "We will need to be careful of our resources, simplify our procedures, have more independence, and do things of our own free will and choice," he said. "We will need to have what I call Section 58-kind-of-leaders. This will mean that `men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.' (D&C 58:27.)

"We are going to need those kinds of leaders because events will move so fast in the '90s that they will pass us by and we will not have taken advantage of the opportunities unless we are intensely involved and flexible in our approach. In the '90s we are going to be stretched to the limit, and we are going to have much to learn. It is probably going to be one of the greatest educational decades that we have experienced."