Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-12-21

% missions, laboring for the sal.
walton Of mankind The ma
V ture Of the service expected OF
such men, and In most cases faithfully
performed by them. Is the best expla.
nation Of the almost universal verdict
rendered by our returned missionaries,
that their experiences in the mission
field, despite the hardships and perse-
cutions they encounter, are among the
happiest, If not the very happiest of
their lives 1t Is easily deduclble from
the teachings Of the Savior that the
secret Of true happiness is found in un-
selilshness, IN deyotlng ones mind.
heart and soul to the WORK of gl0rify-
ing God by beneflting and saving man
kind, and these teachings are amply
confirmed by the experiences of the
Elders OF Israel in modern times.
| have chosen as the subject Of the
Christmas communication you have
requested, those periods OF my life when
/ have been absent from home, preach
Ing the Gospel or otherwise subscribing
the sacred cause with which we are
identified.
My first call to the mission field came
when | was a youth Of fifteen, and had
been for about Ave and a half years a
resident Of Salt Lake valley. My father
and mother were both dead, and much
of the care of the family they left de-
Volved upon me, then farm boy upon u
piece of land about midway between
Mill Creek and Parleys canyon creek,
land taken up by my widowed mother
soon after her arrival In the moun-
tains | had worked hard during my
boyhood, and consequently had little
schooling but | felt In my heart that
God lived and that had been called
20 engage In his work, and / cheerfully
responded to the summons to serve him
IN a foreign land My mission was 10
the Sandwich Islands, and | was gone
nearly four years, leaving home in May,
1854 and returning In February, 1865
To say that | enjoyed my mission
would be superfluous, after what have
stated IN the beginning, ! shall never
cease to be grateful for that experience,
hard though 1t was at times, and shall
ever remember the Kindness manifested
towards me by many OF the good ma
tive people OF Hawaii,
When | reached home all Utah was
aflame with the war spirit Johnstons
army was In winter quarters, east of
the Wasatch mountains. and the local
militia, called out by Governor Brig
ham Young, who had placed the terri
tory under martial law, were prepar-
ing to resist the impending invasion Of
Salt Lake Valley; the success Of which
,,t D.. he .nh To of shtu
full n-mlsrepresented to the gen
eral government, which had sent the
troops to quell an imaginary Mormon
uprising-a repetition of the bloody
scenes through which our people had
passed In Missouri and Illinois. 1t was
determined that the progress OF that
army should be checked until a full and
fair investigation could be had, and a
peaceful adjustment Of the difficulty
secured. The militia We're under ex-
press orders TO shed no blood" save
In individual self-defense, but TO har-
rass the troops by running off their
stock, capturing their supply trains,
and IN every way impeding their ad-
vance.
/ reported for duty TO Governor
Young the next morning after arriving
home from the Islands, and was as
signed to Colonel Callister's cavalry
command In Echo canyon. | sat up all
night moding rifle bullets from a pig
of lead i had brought with me from a
Mormon" smelter at Los We
gas, the ore for which had
been carried by teams from the
about twenty miles distant
] then proceeded to the front. ! was
with Colonel Callister's and Colonel II.
p, Kimbal's commands up 20 the time
of Governor Cummings entry into salt
Lake Valley, and was one OF dozen
cavalrymen who followed the governor
as detail guard TO his destination
subsequently | went with Porter Rock
we'll and squad Of ten or twelve rang
ers appointed TO watch further move
ments OF the government troops
at Camp Scott, On this trip
we met The peace commissioners,
Messrs. Powell and Mccullough, and
received from them copies of President
pardon to the Mormons.
We also met Mr., Morrell the first non
Mormon appointee as postmaster OF
Salt Lake City, and were Hospitality en-
tertained by him, When Johnston's |
army. under the terms Of arbitration |
agreed upon by Governor Young and |
the peace commissioners passed through |
salt Lake City, | was among those |
who had been left TO guard the all but |
deserted town. | afterwards Joined |
my brothers and sisters at Provo, from |
which place. IN July Of that year the |
war then being over we returned with |
the general community TO our homes.
My next mission, (taken after |
! became married mani was |
TO England. for which coun"
try started in the spring of the
year 1850 crossing the plains In COM |
pany with two Of the Twelve Apostles, |
Amasa NJ. Lyman and Charles c. Rich, |
who were going TO Europe to preside |
Elder Francis Nj, Lyman, now an Apos-
tie presiding over the same mission |
was also I'm the company. as was wal
ter NJ Gibson, an Elder OF the Church |
whom | next met as an apostate IN the
Sandwich Islands He went with us
rs far as the States A twenty-dollar |
gold piece given me by President Brig
ham Young Just before my departure,
was all the money | had. and we who
were hound for Liverpool were forced
10 borrow money IN the East In order
10 reach our destination. ! prize very
highly my many pleasant "reminiscences
Df the Saints in the European mission
where lahored successfully as n
travelling Elder in the Leeds
conference. as president OF the
Sheffield conference and as pas
Tor Of the Sheffield district, compris-
nr the Sheffield. Leeds, Hull and Lin
ronshIre conferences Towards the
latter part Of nv mission, while Apos-
he George @. Cannon was presiding In
that land. / accompanied him. by his
Invitation, on n tour through the Scan
conferences; a very pleasant
hin laeting about siX weeks,
Sailing for America In the summer