President Monson Addresses Scouts and Eastern Canadian Saints

President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency, spoke to more than 3,000 Latter-day Saint Scouts gathered for a special sacrament meeting at the National Boy Scout Jamboree on Sunday, 3 August, in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. “I have been to many jamborees and to many Scout meetings throughout the world,” President Monson said, “and I never tire of the assignment. I want you to know that the leadership of the Church favors completely your being here today.”

President Monson shared stories of several young heroes and emphasized two important areas of living the gospel. “Every young man a missionary; every Latter-day Saint married in the house of the Lord,” he said. “Those are two prime goals, and I’m a goal-oriented person as is each of you. Strive for these goals; qualify for them. And then serve with all your heart and soul.”

Also present at the sacrament meeting were Elder Jack H Goaslind of the Presidency of the Seventy, who serves as Young Men general president; Elder Robert K. Dellenbach of the Seventy, a counselor in the Young Men general presidency; and Sister Patricia P. Pinegar, Primary general president.

Eastern Canada

During a busy 8–12 August trip to Ontario, Canada, President Monson visited Olive W. Davies, the widow of eastern Canada’s first stake president, William M. Davies; dedicated a plaque in Bath, Ontario, honoring the first missionaries to preach the gospel in the area, one of which was an ancestor of President Gordon B. Hinckley’s; attended a youth conference testimony meeting held in the Kingston Branch meetinghouse; attended a meeting in Kingston honoring Gustav Wacker, an early pioneering Church member; encouraged missionaries serving in the Toronto East mission; and spoke to members at the Trenton Ontario District conference.

Speaking at the plaque dedication in Bath, which had been preceded by a two-mile Latter-day Saint pioneer parade, President Monson recited the Scout motto and said: “I would like to leave that as a challenge to each one of us here today—to do our best in all our endeavors. In the true meaning of the word pioneer, which according to the dictionary is ‘one who goes before, showing others the way to follow,’ every one of us can be a pioneer.” Referring to his service as mission president in the area beginning in 1959, President Monson said of his family, “Our roots have gone down deeply in the soil here.”

President Thomas S. Monson greets Scouts at a national jamboree held in Virginia. (Photo by Mike Cannon.)