Welfare Square sits in a humble part of Salt Lake City, near where President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, served as a 22-year-old bishop of the ward with the greatest welfare load in the Church.

President Monson, chairman of the General Welfare Services Executive Committee of the Church, recalled those early days of welfare service in a recent Church News interview."The ward was large, with over 1,050 members, 87 of whom were widows," recalled President Monson. "Many of the widows and those in financial need were hidden away in basement apartments, upstairs back rooms, or dilapidated houses situated at the rear of little known streets. I became the shepherd. This was my flock.

"My leaders and teachers were heaven-sent: our former stake president, Harold B. Lee; President Marion G. Romney; and President J. Reuben Clark. President Lee attended our stake conference the year I was appointed as a bishop. He cautioned us to seek after the poor, to care for them, and to do so in a spirit of love, kindness and confidentiality.

"I shall ever remember President Romney outlining for us our production budget and how it should be produced. His knowledge of the program was all-encompassing. Beyond this, however, I can still see him standing at the pulpit with the Holy Bible opened to First Kings, reading the promise of the Lord to the prophet Elijah that ravens would bring him food and God would provide him water if he would but trust in the promises of the Lord, keep His commandments, and follow His instructions. We made the comparison to our time, our duties, our lives, and with the same results.

"President Clark, too, was a master teacher. Knowing that I was a new bishop presiding over a difficult ward, he emphasized the need for me to know my people, to understand their circumstances and, in the spirit of tenderness, to minister to their needs. One day he recounted the example of the Savior . . . showing compassion upon a widow. When President Clark closed the Bible, I noticed that he was weeping. In a quiet voice he said, `Tom, be kind to the widows and look after the poor.'

"Our bishops today need the same instruction and counsel. Theirs is a sacred trust. Frequently that which counts most is recorded least. The visit to the elderly, the blessing to the sick, the comfort to the weary, the food to the hungry may not be recorded here, but I am convinced they are known above, and that we are guided in such ministrations.

"Bishops have the sacred duty to seek out and care for the poor and the needy. There will always be means to help the truly needy, whether those needs be spiritual, social, emotional or financial. Bishops should use every means provided to know and minister to those in their charge: home teachers, visiting teachers and their own personal visits to ward members.

"I am grateful my welfare roots go deep into the soil of the Pioneer Stake and the Pioneer Welfare Region, where giants of our time . . . taught, testified and inspired."