Stayner Richards

Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 6, 1951 – May 28, 1953)

General Conference Addresses

• April 1953 General Conference
  • The Building Program of the Church
    • “On one occasion a small boy returned from Sunday School where apparently they had been talking about the Darwinian theory, and as he entered the home, he said, “Mother, am I descended from a monkey?” She said, “I don’t know, Jimmy, I didn’t know your father’s folks very well.””
    • “Possibly it may not be considered inappropriate to say a word about the building department of the Church under the direction of Elder Howard J. McKean and his associates. They have caused these monuments to spirituality and faith to be erected with good designs, excellent materials, and fine workmanship. Because they are practical builders, they have been able to effect substantial savings to the Church and to the wards and stakes. Great faith has been manifested by the bishops, stake presidents, and local building committees in undertaking the construction of these lovely buildings. A faith-promoting volume could be written about the rich experiences that have come to them. The blessings of the Lord have known no bounds.”
• October 1952 General Conference
  • Tribute to Pres. McKay
    • “The affairs of the British Mission are going forward in a fine way under the very able direction of President and Sister A. Hamer Reiser. Our missionary experiences there constituted one of the richest times in the lives of Sister Richards and myself. We did so appreciate the association of the fine missionaries, and we rejoice in the great development that came to them. We shall ever be grateful to them for their support, their cooperation, and their hard labors, and we rejoice in the way the Lord blessed them.”
    • “Now, brethren, in this connection, may I say if you are going to reform along this line, make it gradual. Anything else might be a shock and might be misunderstood by the womenfolk.”
    • “So I want to pay my humble tribute to President McKay, and to tell you, as I know that you realize, that he exemplifies the Christian principles as taught by the Master, the virtues that he taught his disciples in a finer way and more completely than any man that I know of. And as he loved all the people, all the people loved him.”
• October 1951 General Conference
  • Report from England
    • “They are courteous. They are honest. They have a sense of justice, and I regard England as one of the cradles of real democracy. No one can come into that land as a refugee from any country where he has been persecuted, but what he finds asylum. I have a high regard for the English people.”

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