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50 years ago
President David O. McKay paid tribute to mothers at a special Mother's Day service conducted by the Sunday School of the Stratford Ward, Highland (Salt Lake) Stake, on May 9, 1954, according to the May 15, 1954, Church News.
During the address, he said, "Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. The prettiest and holiest picture in all the world to me is the mother with her first babe on her arm, and I have that picture in mind as I read the following lines.
" 'It is mother's caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world.' "
He added, "Let me say to young womanhood throughout the Church and throughout the world that ideal motherhood begins in your teens, particularly in your latter teens, when young men are choosing their companions, and when some of these young men seek to debase the purity of your character upon which ideal motherhood depends. Too many today fail to realize that the happiest home depends upon the strength of character of the young woman in courtship days."
President McKay concluded, "God bless our mothers. They make us and mold us."
