The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-03
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
Mormon Scraps,
A'C" 81 apps
+ Of the Indianapolis Journal.

To the Editor of the Indianapolis Journal:
The following is from the Juvenile In
structor of March l, 1888, and edited by
George Q. Cannon: "In England many of
the saints work in the coal mines. On one
occasion, some years ago a brother was in
one of these mines when cave occurred, in
which he was crushed to the ground As he
was uncovered it seemed as though every
bone in his body was broken. The doctors
said he could not live longer than a few min
utes But one of the elders of this church,
who had great faith in God, came along, and,
after amounting the injured brother with oil,
administered to him. As he did so the bro
ken bones came together with cracking
noise, and he was made sound and well.
Thus was the power of the Lord shown when
the skill of man had failed"
The following do not remember to have
seen in print though its accuracy seems
to be well authenticated here: Dur
ing the reign OF Brigham Young a
good saint living in England conceived the
idea that Brother Brigham had power to re-
store to him his limb, which he had lost
number of years before. Having heard won
derful accounts OF the power of the prophet
he determined to make the journey TO Utah
and submit ms case to this mighty man. in
due time he arrived in the Kingdom of Brig
ham, and presented himself before the au-
gust presence He stated the case candidly
and Brigham at once took in the situation.
His reply was characteristic. He said: Yes
| can restore your leg, but if | were in your
place would not have it done You are
now an old man, and in the course Of nature
cannot live many years at most You have
become accustomed to the loss of
your leg, so that for the rest OF your
life it will be only trihng incon-
venience. Now, ii l give you another
leg you will have the other leg restored in
heaven and you will have to hobble around
with three legs through all eternity. Now,
can you afford to be subjected to all that an
noyance in heaven for the sake of avoiding a
little discomfort for just few years? Think
it over carefully, the sage continued, and If
you still wish me to restore your leg, | will
do it, The brother concluded to have his
leg restored, and the prophet (?) saved his
reputation.
They are the most irreverent set / ever
saw, to make any pretense of being religious
For instance, in funeral DISCOURSE one of
the elders, in order to emphasize mans free
moral agency, asserted, with much emotion,
that "a man can do just as he damned
please"
A few days ago it was my pleasure to
witness the ordinance of baptism as
administered by them. They always baptize
by immersion. Though there are numerous
places near Ogden where this ordinance
could be administered with the utmost con-
venience and in good taste, they had selected
a little stream scarcely two feet deep The
officiating elder said some good things but
in such an irreverent, careless manner that
they must have been almost, if not quite, de-
void of any good effect. He came near forget
ting to have prayer offered at all. Then came
the baptism itself. The administrator sue
ceeded very well with four or five children
who came first. Then came a very tail young
man, and the difficulty with the shallow
stream began. In baptizing him he said to
him in an undertone, You kind-o' sit
down" The result was that his knees
stuck out entirely. As he came
to the shore those on the bank objected,
and insisted that he try it again. After a
brief conversation the administrator took
the candidate back into the stream and re-
peated the ceremony. Succeeding better
that time, he brought him to the shore with
the remark: There l can swear that l bap-
fused him." After the baptism each one was
seated and two of the elders of the church
placed their hands on his head and pro-
nounced upon him the gift of the Holy
Ghost, The candidates were OF all ages,
from eight years to seventy. 1t was the
strangest mingling of scriptural and sacred
with ridiculous things / ever saw. As
turned away | could not help thinking it is
not strange there are so many infidels in
Utah. W.
OGDEN CITY, Utah. June 26.