Elder Mathoniah Thomas followed in a very earnest address. He said that it had been asserted that the young men in the Church were becoming indifferent about their faith, but the speaker thought that the interest the young men took in the Church is more far-reaching and sincere than ever before. This, he thought, was largely attributable to such auxiliary organizations as the M. I. A. He testified that there was nothing mystic about the Church of Christ, that the Saints were dealing with plain and simple truths. In referring to the lessons the young men studied last year the speaker averred that there was one lesson alone that if it had been the only one studied the time of the young men would not have wasted. That lesson was the account of the discovery of the Book of Abraham which was one of the very strongest evidences of the divinity of the calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The speaker then related how the French scientist Antonio Sabolo [Lebolo] discovered a mummy in Egypt and when he died left it to a nephew by the name of Chandler, living in Philadelphia. It eventually fell into the hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith who discovered the parchment written by the Patriarch Abraham in which he testifies of seeing God and of having the planetary system revealed to him by the Lord. In the record also Abraham gives a true account of the creation of the world. Although Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham he took no honor to himself, but it proved him to be far above the men that surrounded him. It showed that he was actuated by a spirit that was higher than the spirit that actuated other men.

The speaker concluded with an eloquent appeal to the parents to instill into the hearts of their children the pure and exalted truths of the Gospel.