A Sunday evening meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of Salt Lake's Pioneer Stake turned into a stroll down memory lane for President Thomas S. Monson and his wife, Frances Johnson Monson.

Photo by Gerry Avant

President Thomas S. Monson, accompanied by his wife, Frances, greets members of Pioneer stake prior to fireside. President Monson served as bishop and in stake presidency in the stake and spoke at 100-year fireside commemoration. GREET

During a fireside in the Salt Lake Pioneer Stake center March 21, President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, reminisced about the life he and Sister Monson enjoyed within the stake's boundaries during the early years of their marriage.

He spoke of many of his experiences as a boy growing up in the 6th-7th Ward, which was then in the Pioneer Stake.

He said that when he was a deacon, he was assigned to talk at a priesthood meeting in the old Pioneer Stake hall on 5th South. "I prepared a talk; I was scared stiff. I read the talk, and then sat down next to William F. Perschon, who was then in the stake presidency. He said, 'My, that was a fine talk you gave, Tommy. But next time, don't read it. You have a gift for speaking; use it.' I was 12 years old, and that great leader took time to tell me that."

He described a ward officers meeting in which he was called upon to come forward and give an accounting of his stewardship as secretary of the deacon's quorum. "I walked up and gave that little report on my duty. I remember that like it was yesterday."

At age 22 1/2 he was called in 1950 to serve as bishop of the ward, which had 1,080 members, 87 of whom were widows. On top of it all, the ward also had what was perhaps the largest welfare load in the Church. After President Monson had been called to the Quorum of the Twelve — at age 36 — President Harold B. Lee, who had been a Pioneer Stake president, said that a year serving as bishop of the 6th-7th Ward was equivalent to five years in a typical ward, thereby making President Monson's five years of service as bishop equivalent to 25 years.

President Monson delighted the congregation when he spoke of his call to serve as a counselor in the stake presidency when he was 27 years old. He described the general session of stake conference, which was held in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. He said that he was seated with a choir of Aaronic Priesthood young men and leaders when he had the shock of hearing President Joseph Fielding Smith announce that Thomas S. Monson was being called as second counselor to Percy K. Fetzer.

President Smith told the congregation, "Bishop Monson knows nothing of this appointment, but if he will accept it, we will be pleased to hear from him now."

President Monson related to the anniversary congregation that as he made his way to the pulpit, he remembered the words of a hymn the choir had just sung. "I've never heard that hymn since then," President Monson said. "It pertained to the Word of Wisdom. It's words were: 'Have courage, my boy, to say no. Have courage, my boy, to say no. Have courage, my boy, have courage, my boy, have courage, my boy, to say no.' "

President Monson said that he used as his theme in that conference, "Have courage, my boy, to say yes" to what he had been asked to do, and that this has been his theme ever since.

"Any young man who grew to maturity in Pioneer Stake can hold his own in Church government," President Monson said. "We were trained in it by example, by precept, by wonderful leaders who felt responsible for us. We listened and we learned, and then came our call to serve."

President Monson shared three points of counsel given by President Lee, the 11th president of the Church:

"1. Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.

"2. When you're on the Lord's errand you're entitled to the Lord's help.

"3. The Lord shapes the back to bear the burden placed upon it.

"So he lives on, as I pass that instruction," President Monson said of President Lee. "Everywhere I go, I carry with me the Pioneer Stake. . . . A whole lot of the Pioneer Stake goes with me into every meeting, rides with me in every decision. I'm grateful for our heritage, for this wonderful stake. . . .

"Remember your heritage. Remember the giants in the land who filled the positions you now occupy. Remember that this stake has had people who have been very close to our Heavenly Father. The key word is 'spirituality.' Let that be your goal in all that you do — spirituality. And I promise you that you shall be the beneficiary of that blessing of Section 84 in the Doctrine and Covenants, when the Lord said, 'I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up' (v. 88).

"I bless you with that blessing, that you may have sufficient for your needs, that your cupboards never be empty, that your hearts will never be void in extending love to another and helping the downtrodden. I bless you with joy and happiness. I'm your brother, I'm your friend, I'm your fellow member of the Pioneer Stake."

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