If missionary work is to reach its full potential in the Church, efforts of the missionaries must be united with those of the members, said President Thomas S. Monson.

President Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, addressed the new mission presidents seminar June 19 at the Missionary Training Center here.President Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve spoke at a weekly missionary devotional in the evening of June 18. Also addressing the seminar later in the week were Elders Boyd K. Packer, Marvin J. Ashton, Neal A. Maxwell, M. Russell Ballard and Richard G. Scott of the Council of the Twelve, and Elder Marion D. Hanks of the Presidency of the Seventy. Quotations from their addresses are on this page.

(Remarks of President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, to the new mission presidents were covered in the June 22 Church News. Also included in that issue were comments by Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Council of the Twelve, and Elder Robert L. Backman of the Presidency of the Seventy.)

While the seminar began June 18 with 81 presidents and their wives, it ended with 82 couples on June 23. The newest and youngest mission president, Pres. Fernando Jose Duarte De Araujo, 35, and his wife, Maria, arrived from their home in Fortaleza, Brazil on Tuesday evening, June 18. They had been called the previous Friday to replace Pres. R. Douglas Holt of the Portugal Lisbon South Mission, whose wife, Diana, has become ill. (Biography of the De Arujos is on page 13.) The sudden call, they said, was "quite a surprise," but they are ready to serve.

The new mission leaders, including the De Araujos, will assume their posts about July 1.

In his address, President Monson encouraged new mission presidents to work in close harmony with local priesthood leaders.

"No mission will attain its highest degree of proficiency until the mission president has been able to bring about that cooperative spirit with the members," he said. "Don't overlook that divine privilege; it will bless your lives and bless your mission."

President Monson shared experiences from his service as mission president wherein members had accompanied missionaries to help teach investigators.

"Members offer a great second testimony to that of the missionaries," he related. In addition, fellowshipping by members is "one of our chief principles. We can't afford to have people see the light of the gospel, become members of the Church, and then drift away."

He told an example of fellowshipping as directed by Leopoldo Larcher, one of the first modern-day members in Italy, who was a district president some years ago when President Monson attended a district conference.

"I noticed a number of people wearing white carnations. I asked Brother Larcher about the white carnations. He said, `We always put a white carnation on the dress or lapel of any convert who has become a member since our last conference. Then every member will know that here is a new convert, and make her welcome or make him welcome.'

President Monson continued, "I watched the glow that came to those who wore the white carnations when the members just hovered around them and welcomed them to the Church of Jesus Christ."

He urged mission presidents to become acquainted with local leaders and members. "Keep the people aware of what is going on in your mission," he admonished. "When you ignore, you injure; when you inform, you inspire."

He also reminded the new mission presidents of the worth of the missionaries over which they will preside.

"They are the fruitage of all that is dear and all that is best in the families of the Latter-day Saints," he said.

"They have been waiting to be called on a mission for a long time. Parents are teaching their children from the cradle to be missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . and each of them has been called by a procedure where prophets, seers and revelators determine their call.

"Recognize that these calls have come from God."

New missionaries will arrive in the mission field "a bit weary; they are a little apprehensive. Their courage is worn down with each hundred miles the plane has flown," he said.

President Monson encouraged a warm welcome for the missionaries and admonished the presidents to help the missionaries build mission spirit.

"Take the missionary where you find him, and lift him or her to a higher plane," suggested President Monson.

Spiritually prepared missionaries will then take a divine message to a world yearning to know of its spiritual roots and possibilities.

"Times have not changed," he said. "Nothing will kindle the interest as will the plan of salvation. Every person on this planet wants to know where he came from."

Other points he enumerated that answer spiritual yearnings are the true nature of the Godhead, the fact the world has a living prophet, and the teachings within the Book of Mormon.

"Those four points represent the message that will bring conversion to the hearts of men," he said.

The new mission presidents and their wives were promised that as they serve, they will have some of the greatest experiences of their lives. "You've left your vocations, you've left your homes, and above all, sisters, you're leaving your grandchildren. . .," he said.

"I believe you personify the words of the Savior when He said, `Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' " (Matt. 6:19,21.)