Page:The House of the Lord.djvu/184

168 Board of the Deseret Sunday School Union with the wisdom necessary for the proper fulfilment of their duties, and for the accomplishment of the purposes for which this Board was created.

"We also uphold before thee the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, with all their officers, general and local, and the members. May they be prospered of thee, their membership be enlarged, and the good that they accomplish increase with every succeeding year.  For the Primaries and Religion Classes we also seek thy constant blessing and guiding care; may the spirit of instruction be poured out upon the presidents and associate officers and teachers.  May they keep pace with the rest of the educational establishments in thy Church; so that from their earliest years our children may be diligently brought up in the ways of the Lord, and thy name be magnified in their growth in virtue and intelligence.

"Nor would we forget, O Lord, the normal training classes among the people, whether these classes be connected with the Church Schools, the Improvement Associations, or the Sunday Schools. Grant that these classes may be the means of spreading true education throughout all the borders of the Saints by the creation of a body of teachers who will not only be possessed of rare intelligence but be filled also with the spirit of the Gospel, and be powerful in the testimony of thy truth and in implanting a love for thee and for thy works in the hearts of all whom they instruct.

"We would hold up before thee, O Lord, the Relief Societies, with all their members; and all those who preside in their midst according to their callings and appointments, general or local. Bless the Teachers in their labors of mercy and charity, who, as ministering angels, visit the homes of the sick and the needy, bearing succor, consolation and comfort to the unfortunate and sorrowful.  And bless, we beseech thee, most merciful Father, the poor of thy people, that the cry of want and suffering may not ascend unto thee from the midst of thy Saints whom thou hast blessed so abundantly with the comforts of this world.  Open up new avenues by which the needy can obtain a livelihood by honest industry, and also incline the hearts of those blessed more abundantly, to give generously of their substance to their, in this respect, less favored brethren and sisters, that thou mayest not have reason to chide us for the neglect of even the least among thy covenant children.

"O God of Israel, turn thy face, we pray thee, in loving kindness toward thy stricken people of the house of Judah. Oh, deliver them from those that oppress them.  Heal up their wounds, comfort their hearts, strengthen their feet, and give them ministers after thine own heart who shall lead them as of old, in thy way.  May the days of their tribulation soon cease, and they be planted by thee in the valleys and plains of their