St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-07-03
nORnoN nIsSION WORK.
How il is Carried ON by the Young Men
of she Latter Day saints.

of the Latter Day Saints.
A genuine invasion of the Philistines
could not have caused more excitepent
in Harlem and The Bronx than did the
recent conversion of two Christian En-
deavor Society officers from Congrega-
tionalism to Mormonism. The officers
were women, and they had had trouble
with their pastor. The Mormon elders
had been working with them for some
time and with little effort persuaded
them to become Latter Day Saints. The
women were Mrs. Thomas H. Blair and
Miss Elizabeth Dickinson, and at least
one of them will be baptized into her new
church by immersion on July 4.
These conversions, together with many
others supposed to have been made,
have set all of upper New York talking
about Mormonism, which is entirely to
the liking of the quiet young men who
have chosen this field for the mission"
which nearly every young Mormon i'll
good standing takes up for few years
at least in his life. There are 100 of
these missionaries now at work in the
eastern states, and ten of them are in
and around New York. One OF the work
ers is woman. The Mormons say they
have made between thirty and forty con-
verts in this vicinity, and have many
more adherents who are not prepared to
accept the full faith and become regular
members.
The first serious question of life which
a Mormon faces is, "Shall take mis-
sion ?" Their religious training has been
III ~-,o4oLaI fso.., ..,Eo ~
Mormon mothers are usually anxious to
have their sons made elders of the church
and sent on missions" There is no
compulsion about it, however, and if the
young man decides to go into business
or profession without doing his share
of work for the church his standing in
the congregation is not affected.
If, on the other hand, he decides to
take a mission" he receives careful
instruction in Latter Day Saints doc
trines and in due time is made an elder.
Then there is round of social festivities
at which he is the guest Of honor. He
goes out into the world entirely on his
own responsibility as far as finances are
concerned. 1t is his mission, and he must
engineer the whole proposition. Some
times sons of rich families-and there are
more rich families among the Mormons
than is generally apprenticeship
comfortable allowance, just as other
sons do when they go to college. Poor
missionaries make their own way. A
mission lasts for two or three years, if
the field selected is in the United States,
and from three to four years if abroad.
At the end of the mission the missionary
returns to his home and settles down to
work at his profession or business. He
still remains an elder in the church, and
that is the only reward for his services
to his faith.
This mission work is not as much fun
as some people would have you suppose"
said Elder Samuel Neff, who has been
working in Harlem and The Bronx for
the last six months. "We go wherever
we think we are called, and make our
way as we 60 or pay it out of personal
savings. The church gives nothing to
our support, for we do not believe in
salaried ministers or workers. We even
have to buy the tracts which we distri-
| butte, and pay our own railroad fare to
the field of the mission and home again.
We make these missionary trips because
of our love for the church and for the
good which we believe we can do"
The elders at work in this city look
like men Just out of college. They wear
frock coats and black ties. Their linen is
as clean as though every call which they
make is a society duty. Their manners
are polished, and, they enter into the
social life of the friends they make. Most
of them have had no special training, al
though the Mormon college at Salt Lake
City has recently provided a special
course for prospective missionaries.
| Their favorite and most successful man
ner of working is going from house to
house with bundle of tracts. The mis-
sionaries usually travel in pairs, aud
make many friends among the women.
1--WE always tell people who we are,
said Elder George A. Golf, who is also
working in The Bronx. eve do not try
to deceive women when we find them at
home while their husbands are at work.
If they seem interested we ask permission
to come back and talk to the husbands.
We would not receive marrird woman
into the church without her husbands
consent"
The tracts which the Mormon workers
are distributing about the city are of
two kinds. One is entitled "A Friendly
Discussion Upon Religious Subjects" 1t
is in story form and tells in an interest
ing manner how missionary converted
a lawyer, doctor and a clergyman to
the Mormon faith. The other tract out
lines the doctrines OF the church and in
cludes the thirteen articles of faith of the
Mormon church.
The foreign work of the Mormons is
now being carried on extensively in Great
Britain, Germany, Switzerland and
Sweden. Converts who desire to emf
CRATE to the United States are provided
with transportation and furnished with
homes in Utah. They land at Boston
and are sent west by Elder John c. Nc
Quarrie, president of the mission of the
Eastern states. Japan is the next coun-
try which will receive attention from the
Mormons. Apostle Heber ]. Grant, OF
Salt Lake City, will start in July for
Toxic, at the head of number OF elders.
1t is the intention of the Mormon
church to carry on work among the
Japanese on large scale New York
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