GIFT OF INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES BESTOWED
April 23, 1921
One
of the most important events on my world tour of the missions of the Church was
the gift of interpretation of the English tongue to the Saints of New Zealand,
at a session of their conference, held on the 23rd day of April, 1921, at Pule
Tapu Branch, Waikato District, Huntly, New Zealand.
The
service was held in a large tent, beneath the shade of which hundreds of
earnest men and women gathered in anxious anticipation of seeing the hearing an
Apostle of the Church, the first one to visit that land.
When
I looked over the vast assemblage and contemplated the great expectations that
filled the hearts of all who had met together, I realized how inadequately I
might satisfy the ardent desires of their souls, and I yearned, most earnestly,
for the gift of tongues that I might be able to speak to them in their native
language.
Until
that moment I had not given much serious thought to the gift of tongues, but on
that occasion, I wished with all my heart, that I might be worthy of that
divine power.
In
other missions I had spoken through an interpreter, but, able as all interpreters
are, I nevertheless felt hampered, in fact, somewhat inhibited, in presenting
my message.
Now,
I faced an audience that had assembled with unusual expectations, and I then realized,
as never before, the great responsibility of my office. From the depth of my
soul, I prayed for divine assistance.
When
I arose to give my address, I said to Brother Stuart Meha, our interpreter,
that I would speak without his translating, sentence by sentence, what I said,
and then to the audience I continued:
“I
wish, oh, how I wish I had the power to speak to you in your own tongue, that I
might tell you what is in my heart; but since I have not the gift, I pray, and
I ask you to pray, that you might have the spirit of interpretation, of
discernment, that you may understand at least the spirit while I am speaking,
and then you will get the words and the thought when Brother Meha interprets.”
My
sermon lasted forty minutes, and I have never addressed a more attentive, a
more respectful audience. My listeners were in perfect rapport—this I knew when
I saw tears in their eyes. Some of them at least, perhaps most of them, who did
not understand English, had the gift of interpretation.
Brother
Sidney Christy, a native New Zealander, who had been a student at Brigham Young
University, at the close of my address, whispered to me, “Brother McKay, they
got your message!”
“Yes,”
I replied, “I think so, but for the benefit of some who may not have understood,
we shall have Brother Meha give a synopsis of it in Maori.”
During
the translation, some of the Maoris corrected him on some points, showing that
they had a clear conception of what had been said in English.
Two
subsequent experiences, one of which occurred on that memorable world tour,
enabled me to realize more clearly how the spirit of interpretation may come.
On
one occasion when I was addressing an audience at Aintab, Syria, I realized
that Elder J. Wilford Booth, who was translating into the Turkish language, had
interpreted incorrectly a thought I had expressed and, although I did not then—and
do not now—understand a word of Turkish, I stopped Brother Booth in his translation
and said, “that was the wrong interpretation, Brother Booth.” I then repeated
my sentence.
“How
did you know, Brother McKay?” he asked. “I gave the opposite meaning.”
Later,
when I was called to preside over the European Mission, I was one day addressing
an audience at Rotterdam. Brother Cornelius Zappey was interpreting, and, on
that occasion, I had an experience identical to that which occurred with
Brother Booth. When I called Brother Zappey’s attention to that I felt was not
the correct interpretation, he laughingly said to the audience, before making
the correction, “There is no need of my interpreting, Brother McKay understands
Dutch.”
I
cite these two incidents merely to emphasize the fact that, although I did not
realize when I was in New Zealand how the spirit of interpretation operated on
others, yet I accepted it as a fact, as a truth, that later was demonstrated to
me by the Spirit of the Lord. (Cherished Experiences from the Writings of David
O. McKay, comp. Clare Middlemiss [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company,
1970], 80-82)