{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_45049/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_45049","id":"gutenberg_45049","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45049","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Latter Day Saint churches","Latter Day Saints","Missions -- Hawaii"],"text":"My First Mission\n\nThe First Book of the Faith-Promoting Series\n\nBy George Q. Cannon\n\nDesigned for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day\nSaints.\n\nSecond Edition\n\nJuvenile Instructor Office, Salt Lake City, 1882\n\n\n\n_My First Mission_ entered, according to act of Congress, in the year\n1879, by Geo. Q. Cannon, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at\nWashington.\n\nElectronic edition produced by the Mormon Texts Project.\n\nVolunteers who helped with this book: Meridith Crowder, Ben Crowder,\nTod Robbins, Matt Barron.\n\nVersion 1.0\n\n\n\nPreface to the First Edition\n\nThe first chapter of this little work I wrote as a sketch for the\nperusal of the youthful readers of the _Juvenile Instructor_. It was\nwritten hastily--as were those which followed it--and without any\nauthor's name, or any intention, at the time, of adding any more to\nit. Afterwards, I concluded to write a series of missionary sketches;\nbut when these were written I did not have any intention of publishing\nthem in their present form. They were penned in a plain, familiar and\npersonal style, for the purpose of securing the interest of young\npeople.\n\nWhen a youth, it was my good fortune to live in the family of President\nJohn Taylor. It was my chief delight in those days, to listen to\nhim and other Elders relate their experience as missionaries. Such\nconversations were very fascinating to me. They made a deep impression\nupon me. The days of which they spoke, were the days of poverty, when\nElders traveled without purse and scrip, among strange people who\nwere ignorant of our principles, and too many of whom were ready to\nmob and persecute. They traveled by faith, and were pioneers for the\nLord in strange lands, and He was their only reliance. Their missions\nwere rich in instances of His power exhibited in their behalf. What\nI heard strengthened my faith and increased the desire in my heart\nto be a missionary. No calling was so noble in my eyes as that of a\nstandard-bearer of the gospel.\n\nThe thought which prompts me to publish _My First Mission_ is that\nperhaps it may have the effect upon some of the youth of Zion that the\nrecitals of faithful Elders had upon me. I hope that this will soon be\nfollowed by other little volumes of this, the _Faith-Promoting Series_.\nI have thought that the missionary spirit did not burn as brightly in\nsome of our young men as it should--that they did not understand the\nvalue of human souls in the sight of the Lord and the precious rewards\nwhich He bestows upon those who seek, in the proper way, to save them.\nAnd yet there never was greater need of faithful men as missionaries\nthan there is to-day. \"The field is white already to harvest,\" and\nthere is no limit in the field to the opportunities of those who desire\nto labor.\n\nIf this little work shall have the effect to awaken and strengthen the\nmissionary spirit, if the remembrance of its incidents, shall comfort\nthe hearts and promote the faith of any when they go upon missions, the\nutmost desire will be gratified of\n\nThe Author\n\nSeptember 1879\n\n\n\nPreface to the Second Edition\n\nTwo-and-a-half years have elapsed since the first edition of _My First\nMission_ was published. It was the first work of the kind issued,\nand the success of the venture, financially, was by no means certain\nat that time. It is not too much to say now, that our most sanguine\nexpectations in commencing the publication of the _Faith-Promoting\nSeries_ have been more than realized. _My First Mission_ soon became\npopular; the 6,000 copies of the first edition are all disposed of,\nand there is a demand for more. Four other volumes of the same series\nhave also been issued, and received with equal favor; indeed, it seems\nthat each volume issued creates a taste for another. We expect very\nsoon to issue the sixth volume of the series and that will be followed\nby others as fast as our circumstances will permit. The good that has\nalready been accomplished by these books, if we may accept the numerous\ntestimonies we are constantly receiving, cannot be estimated; and\nyet we feel that the work in this direction has only just commenced.\nThat it may continue until such works will abound in the midst of the\nSaints, and until the youth will be influenced by them to live lives of\npurity and perform deeds of righteousness, is the earnest desire of\n\nThe Publisher\n\nMarch 1882\n\n\n\nTable of Contents\n\nChapter 1\n\nTimidity When Attempting to Speak in Public--Determination to\nPersevere, Relying Upon God--Assuring Manifestation of the Presence of\nthe Spirit of God\n\nChapter 2\n\nFrom San Francisco to Honolulu--Storm and Sea-sickness\n\nChapter 3\n\nHonolulu, Its Location and Harbor--Prayer to the Almighty--The Elders\nSeparate, and Commence Labor on the Four Principal Islands\n\nChapter 4\n\nOur House on Maui--Interviews With the Consul and Governor--Our First\nPublic Preaching--We Determine to Learn the Language and Proclaim the\nGospel to the Natives\n\nChapter 5\n\nKindness of Na-Lima-Nui--To Honolulu--Some of the Elders Decide to\nReturn Home\n\nChapter 6\n\nI Return to Maui--We Are Visited by the President of the Mission, Who\nDetermines to Go to the Marqueses Islands--Are Not Led to Go With\nHim--\"Poi,\" Its Preparation and Peculiarities\n\nChapter 7\n\nStart on a Tour Around the Island--Arrive at Wailuku--In a Remarkable\nManner Become Acquainted With J. H. Napela\n\nChapter 8\n\nA Missionary's Craft in Danger--He Preaches Against Us and Our\nDoctrines, and Abuses Our Friends--His Remarks, However, Are Overruled\nfor Our Good--The Lord's Promise Fulfilled--I Go to Kula\n\nChapter 9\n\nAnother Attack from a Missionary--Courage in Defending the Truth Always\nAdmired--Poverty of the People\n\nChapter 10\n\nSuccessful Meetings--Our Principles Receiving Great Notice--Elder\nKeeler and Myself Go to Keanae and Have Remarkable Success in Adding\nMembers to the Church\n\nChapter 11\n\nArrival of New Elders--The Adversary Busy Among Our Newly Converted\nFriends--A Fishing Scene\n\nChapter 12\n\nInterview With the Dignitaries of the Kingdom--Return to Napela's House\nat Wailuku--Hundreds of People Baptized--Elders Become Famous All Over\nthe Group--A Remarkable Peculiarity\n\nChapter 13\n\nMissionaries from Home--Good Results of Their Presence and\nLabors--Voyage in the Canoe of the Islanders--Tradition of the\nNatives--A Visit to the Volcano\n\nChapter 14\n\nA Hawaiian Feast--Amusing Joke Played Upon White Men\n\nChapter 15\n\nAnswers to Prayer, and the Bestowal of the Gifts upon the Elders and\nPeople--Elders Sent to Teach Not to Be Taught--Blessings Will Rest Upon\nThose Who Labor Among the Red Men for Their Salvation\n\nChapter 16\n\nConsolation Drawn from the Book of Mormon--Its Translation into the\nHawaiian Language--Great Joy in the Labor--A Committee to Raise Funds\nto Purchase a Press, Type, etc.--Press, etc., Ordered, and Then Sent to\nCalifornia--The Book of Mormon Printed--The First Translation into the\nLanguage of a Nation of Red Men--Kindred Languages Spoken Through the\nPolynesian Islands--The \"Western Standard\"\n\nChapter 17\n\nTime of Departure--Funds Provided--Sorrow at Separating--Contrast\nBetween Our Landing and Our Departure--Souls for Our Hire--An\nExceedingly Happy Mission\n\n\n\nChapter 1\n\nTimidity When Attempting to Speak in Public--Determination to\nPersevere, Relying Upon God--Assuring Manifestation of the Presence of\nthe Spirit of God\n\nThe writer will probably never forget his first attempts at speaking in\npublic. While yet a youth he was ordained one of the Seventy Elders.\nThe quorum of which he became a member was organized the day he was\nordained, and he was chosen to be its clerk. At the meetings of the\nquorum it was the custom of those of the Presidents who were present to\nmake a few remarks, and then the members were called upon to speak.\n\nOn such occasions he would get so nervous that he would have to stop\nwriting some time before it came his turn to speak; and then, when he\ndid get up, he scarcely knew what he said, his fright was so great.\n\nHe constantly suffered from this feeling of fear whenever he attempted\nto speak at quorum meetings, or testimony meetings, and in fact, for\nsome time after starting on a preaching mission.\n\nThere was one resolve that he made in the beginning, which he always\nkept, and which he desires to impress upon every boy and girl in Zion.\n\nHe made up his mind that, whenever called upon, he would, with the help\nof the Lord, always ask a blessing, or pray, or speak, and not try to\nexcuse himself.\n\nNo matter how many have been present, nor how awkward and frightened he\nhas felt, he has always done what was requested of him. But how many\ntimes he has seen young men and women decline to speak and to pray when\ncalled upon! He has both pitied and felt ashamed for them.\n\nSuch persons acquire a habit of _balking_, and _balky_ men and women\nare as bad in their places as balky horses are in theirs.\n\nMany persons think that because they are bashful, and are not in the\nhabit of asking a blessing or praying aloud that, therefore, they can\nexcuse themselves when called upon to do so. But right-feeling people\nadmire boys and girls, young men and young women, who have the courage\nand good manners to comply with a request of this kind, even if they\nshould make awkward blunders, far more than they would if they refused\nto do so.\n\nWhat is called bashfulness is frequently nothing more than pride. Those\nwho are troubled with it are generally anxious to appear to advantage;\nthey desire the approbation of their fellows; and the fear that they\nwill say or do something that will not come up to the standard,\noppresses them and makes them nervous.\n\nThe first time the writer was called upon to speak to a mixed\ncongregation of Saints and inquirers he was in the company of nine\nElders. There were only two or three of them who had ever spoken in\npublic; but as he was the youngest of the party, and felt that he was\nbut a boy, he thought they would all be called upon before him. To his\nsurprise, however, the Elder who was presiding called first upon him.\n\nTrue to his resolve, he arose and commenced. For two or three, or\nprobably five minutes, he did pretty well. Then he got confused, his\nideas were in a jumble, and he forgot all he ever knew. If the bottom\nhad dropped out of his memory, it could not have been worse. He sat\ndown, feeling a little ashamed; but not discouraged. He was on a\nmission, and he was determined not to back down and fail. But it is\nvery mortifying to get up to speak and then break down.\n\nAfter this, he took a three weeks' voyage to the country to which he\nwas appointed on a mission. After landing, he attended a public meeting\nof strangers who had never heard the gospel. It was held in a Seamen's\nBethel, the minister having kindly offered it to the Elders for their\nmeeting. One of the Elders spoke on the first principles; the writer\nfollowed him and bore testimony and made some other remarks. He was\nmuch frightened and embarrassed; but he spoke at greater length than he\ndid before.\n\nAfter this, circumstances required him to go out among the people\nalone. In that country, where they had no bells to ring, they called\nthe people together by blowing a conch shell. When skillfully blown,\none of these can be heard at a long distance. As the hour approached\nfor meeting, it was customary to commence blowing the shell, and then\nour young missionary would be seized with trembling. The feeling of\ndread was terrible. He had been in places of peril where life was in\ndanger; but he never felt as he did about preaching. He was alone and\na stranger, and among a strange people. But he would not shrink. He\nknew that the gospel was true, that he had the authority to preach it,\nthat the people had to be warned, and, therefore, with all his fear, he\ncould not hold his tongue. He felt like Paul did when he said to the\nCorinthians: \"Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.\"\n\nAbout six weeks after he commenced his ministry alone two messengers\narrived from a distant town to invite him to come there and preach.\nThey had heard about the doctrine he taught, and the people he had\nbaptized, and they wanted to learn more about the principles. He\nreturned with the messengers. A large meeting house was obtained in\nwhich to preach. It was crowded, for the people had never before had\nthe privilege of hearing a sermon delivered by a Latter-day Saint. You\ncan imagine how he felt. Here was a people anxious to hear, and yet how\nweak he was, and how full of fear and trembling! When he arose to give\nout the hymn the sound of his voice in that large building scared him.\nThen he prayed, and afterwards gave out another hymn. He had called\nmightily upon God for help. When he commenced to speak the Spirit of\nthe Lord rested upon him as it never had done before. The people had\nfaith, and their hearts were prepared to receive the truth. For upwards\nof an hour he spoke, and he was so carried away in the Spirit, that he\nwas like a man in a trance. Joy filled his heart and the hearts of the\npeople. They wept like children, and that day was the beginning of a\ngood work in that place.\n\nI shall not attempt to describe to you the gladness that our young\nmissionary felt. He had been a slave; but now he was free. God had\nbroken the bands of fear, and he felt to glorify Him for His goodness.\nFrom that day to this he has never suffered from those dreadful\nfeelings which oppressed him. Still, there are but few public speakers,\nespecially in this Church, who do not have a nervous feeling when they\nfirst arise to speak; and it is frequently the case that when they feel\nthe most nervous they are enabled to speak with the greatest power.\nThey feel their own weakness, and they seek unto God for help.\n\nMany of the readers of this may yet be sent on missions, and a\nrecollection of this sketch may help them to persevere. Never decline\nto ask a blessing, to pray or to speak when called upon, and God will\nhelp you to overcome all feelings of fear.\n\n\n\nChapter 2\n\nFrom San Francisco to Honolulu--Storm and Sea-sickness\n\nIn early days in California everything was valued at a high price.\nThere were ten of us, Elders, who wanted to get passage from San\nFrancisco to Honolulu, the principal town on the Sandwich Islands.\nAfter trying for some days we succeeded in obtaining a passage between\ndecks on the good ship _Imaum of Muscat_, Captain Ritches, commander.\nWe had to find our own bedding; but the captain agreed to furnish us\nfood, which we were told was to be the same as they had in the cabin.\n\nEither this part of the contract was not fulfilled, or they lived\npoorly in the cabin; for our fare was not very inviting. But we thought\nwe were fortunate in not having to pay more than $40 in gold for the\npassage and these privileges.\n\nI have seen places that were more comfortable than our quarters between\ndecks. I have been on the sea many times since, and I believe, if I\nhad my choice, I would take a trip as a cabin passenger on a Cunard\nsteamship in preference to a voyage on the _Imaum of Muscat_, with its\ncabin fare and the privilege of sleeping in my own blankets.\n\nThe _Imaum_ was low between decks, and then it was so dark there, that\nfor a few minutes after descending, we could see nothing. We had had\nsome rough experience, however, since leaving our homes, and we were\nnot disposed to find fault with our ship or her accommodations.\n\nFor one week after embarking we lay in the bay of San Francisco, head\nwinds preventing our sailing. This was tiresome to us, and did not\nsuit the captain, for he had to feed us, at least a part of the time.\nProbably this week's delay helped him to conclude that cabin fare was\ntoo good for us. As soon as the wind became at all favorable, the pilot\nthought it best to get ready for sea, and when the tide turned to go\nout, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we hoisted sail and started.\n\nMy recollections of passing out of the Golden Gate, as the mouth of\nSan Francisco harbor is called, are not very pleasant. We had to beat\nout, that is, tack from side to side, and the swell came in from the\nocean in large, heavy, rolling waves. On each side we could see a long\nline of breakers running seaward, the foam looking in the distance like\nlarge banks of snow.\n\nWe had not passed through the Gate when we began to be sea-sick. Those\nocean swells will produce sea-sickness very quickly. There was no place\non deck to be sick without being in the way, so we ran below. I vomited\nfreely and felt relieved, and then went on deck again. The sun was\ndeclining in the west, and the sky was angry-looking and threatening,\ngiving every indication of a storm. We were outside the heads, and\nbefore us stretched the great Pacific; but there were islands around,\nof which the captain knew but little. He did not like the idea of the\npilot leaving him in such a position with darkness approaching and\nevery prospect of a storm.\n\nIf the captain was anxious to have the pilot remain, the latter was\nequally desirous of getting away from the ship before nightfall. He\nhad no wish to remain through the storm and to run the risk of being\ncarried out to sea; so when a pilot boat hove in sight, he hailed it,\nand descended into the little yawl which came from it for him in such\nhaste that he forgot his water-proof coat.\n\nIt was very natural, I suppose, for him after piloting the ship out of\nthe harbor, to be eager to get back before the storm broke upon us; but\nI believe we all should have felt better if he had remained with us.\n\nThe captain, especially, felt the responsibility of his position. Here\nhe was outside of a strange harbor, on a dangerous coast, with a strong\nwind blowing directly on shore, and darkness upon him and he ignorant\nof his surroundings!\n\nWe had no time to indulge in many reflections upon the subject. Our\ntime was occupied in another direction, for we were all suffering\nseverely from the effects of sea-sickness; and notwithstanding the\ndangers of our situation, the sense of the ridiculous, in my case--only\none bucket among us for every purpose--overcame fear, and I could not\nhelp laughing.\n\nMany of our Elders and foreign settlers have been in a similar\nposition, and all such can imagine our feelings better than I can\ndescribe them. My levity, however, under circumstances so inconvenient\nand perplexing, offended one of the Elders so much that he reprimanded\nme for it.\n\nWhile we were thus engaged, the noise on deck was very great. The\ncaptain had as first mate a half-caste East Indian, and the most of\nhis hands were Malays. His orders to the mate, and the latter's cries\nto the hands, and their chattering to one another, made a clamor that\nsounded loud above the noise of the storm.\n\nRight in the midst of our sickness we heard the startling cry from the\nmate of \"breakers ahead,\" and that we were close upon them. At any\nother time this would have excited us; but we were so sick we did not\nmind it.\n\nShortly after this, we felt the vessel strike something solid, and she\ntrembled from stem to stem; this was directly followed by a grating\nsound and a thumping at the stern. The first thought was that she had\nstruck a reef; but as we felt her settle in the trough of the sea, we\nknew that if she had struck, she had passed over it.\n\nThe shock that we felt was caused by a heavy breaker striking us; it\nhad broken the wheel ropes, and the grating noise that we heard was the\nthumping of the helm. Had the breaker gone over us it would have swept\nthe decks clean, or, had the wheel ropes broken a short time before, it\nis probable the vessel would have been lost.\n\nIn considering our narrow escape, afterwards, we felt to give the glory\nof our deliverance to God. We were His servants, and on His business,\nand He had preserved us.\n\nThat night was one of great anxiety to the captain, officers and crew.\nNotwithstanding our sickness, we also realized that we were in a\ncritical position, and exerted all the faith we could.\n\nThe captain had his wife with him, and so little hope did he have\nat one time of saving the vessel, that he told her to prepare for\neternity, for he did not think we would ever see daylight in this world\nagain.\n\nAt last the morning dawned, the storm died away, and we were enabled to\ntake our course.\n\nOh, the blessed daylight! How joyfully it was hailed on board that\nvessel! It did not relieve us from our sea-sickness, but it did from\nour peril.\n\nSeveral days elapsed before the captain recovered from his fatigue and\nhoarseness, caused by shouting his orders that night.\n\nThe _Imaum of Muscat_ was bound for the East Indies, but was to touch\nat the Sandwich Islands. We were glad that we had to go no farther, so\nit was with positive delight that we learned after being nearly four\nweeks on board, that we would soon be at the end of our voyage.\n\nThe sight of land is most welcome to those who have been weeks at\nsea, especially if they have suffered from sea-sickness. To our eyes,\ntherefore, the rough, mountainous isles of the Hawaiian group were very\nbeautiful. We longed to tread upon them.\n\nFor myself, I was scarcely intended for a sailor. I am very easily made\nsick by the motion of a vessel on the water, and no amount of going\nto sea prevents this. Some years since, while crossing the Atlantic,\nI lay sea-sick in my berth, and to divert my mind, I tried to recall\nthe number of different times I had been in that condition. I counted\nupwards of fifty distinct occasions that I had suffered from this\nsensation, and I have been sea-sick a number of times since.\n\nDuring the night we passed the island of Hawaii, the largest of the\ngroup, and the one on which Captain Cook, the first white man (so far\nas known) who discovered these islands, was killed.\n\nThe next morning the island of Maui was seen in the distance. Then\nMolokai and Lanai; and the morning following, when we arose, we were\nsailing alongside of Oahu, the island on which the town of Honolulu,\nthe capital of the kingdom, is situated.\n\n\n\nChapter 3\n\nHonolulu, Its Location and Harbor--Prayer to the Almighty--The Elders\nSeparate, and Commence Labor on the Four Principal Islands\n\nHonolulu is built on an extensive flat, of great fertility. The town\nis pretty, and wears a tropical look; but, since the time of which\nI write, its buildings and surroundings have been greatly improved.\nGroves of cocoa-nut trees, with their long feathery leaves, and tall\ngraceful trunks, were growing here and there in the vicinity of the\ntown, and trees of other kinds were also abundant in and around it.\nBehind Honolulu stretches what is called the Nuuanu valley, a beautiful\ncountry, which, even when we first visited it, was selected as a proper\nlocality for the villas and country residences and gardens of the\nofficers of the government, the missionaries and merchants.\n\nOn the right of the harbor of Honolulu is \"Punch Bowl Hill,\" a large\nhill where once a volcano burned, but which is now extinct. The name is\nvery suitable, for the volcano has left it more in the shape of a punch\nbowl than anything else.\n\nWhile yet some miles from the mouth of the harbor we met several\ncanoes, containing natives of the islands, who were out fishing. These\ncanoes were merely logs hollowed out; but they were easily managed,\nand, with the aid of sails, their progress through the water was very\nrapid. To prevent their turning over, they had outriggers fastened to\ntheir sides.\n\nA coral reef, over which the sea breaks with a tremendous roar, even\nin calm weather, extends nearly around the harbor of Honolulu. The\nentrance is very narrow, and seemed difficult of access, and as we\nentered, guided by a skillful pilot, a man was kept busy throwing the\nlead to learn the depth of the water. On the reef were the wrecks of\nseveral vessels. The water was beautifully clear, and it was easy to\ndistinguish the bottom as we sailed along.\n\nNo sooner was the anchor dropped than the decks were crowded with\nnatives; some trying to sell bananas, oranges, cocoanuts, melons and\nother fruits (this was in the month of December), and others anxious\nto take us ashore. The monotonous character of their language, their\nrapid utterance, their numerous gestures, caused us to watch them with\ninterest. We thought them a strange people. I little thought at that\ntime that I would ever learn their language, or become as familiar\nwith their customs as I afterwards did; for, though we had been sent\non missions to the Islands, we supposed our time would be occupied in\npreaching to the whites.\n\nOur first duty, after securing lodgings, was to repair to a convenient\nmountain, on the top of which we found a steep knob that rose suddenly\nand formed a table of thirty or thirty-five feet in width.\n\nOn the way up we picked up a rock apiece, with which we formed a rude\naltar. We then sang a hymn, and each one, in his turn, expressed his\ndesires. The oldest, who was also the president, was selected to be\nmouth in prayer. He embodied our desires in his prayer. They were that\nthe Lord would make speedy work on those islands, open an effectual\ndoor for the preaching of the gospel, confound all opposers, help us to\ngather out the honest-in-heart, and spare our lives to return home in\nsafety.\n\nHaving thus dedicated the land and ourselves to the Lord, one of the\nElders spoke in tongues and uttered many comforting promises, and\nanother interpreted. The spirit of the Lord rested powerfully upon us,\nand we were filled with exceeding great joy. I had the satisfaction,\nafterwards of witnessing the fulfillment of the promise made on that\noccasion.\n\nThe sun was sinking low in the heavens when we got through. Our descent\nwas quickly made, for we felt joyful, and when men are joyful and the\nSpirit of God rests upon them, they feel lithe and active. We had been\nin the presence of the Lord, and had felt His power, and why should we\nnot be happy?\n\nThe president of the mission had chosen as his companion the next\noldest man. The most suitable place for them to remain, we all felt,\nwas at Honolulu. But what must the rest do? Scatter among the other\nislands, or remain on that island--Oahu--until they learned more of the\ncondition of affairs? It was decided that to go to the various islands\nwould be the wiser plan.\n\nThere were four islands of importance yet to be occupied, and there\nwere eight of us remaining. But who were to be partners, and how should\nwe decide which island each couple should go to? The president did not\nlike to pair us off, nor to say which of the islands we should go to;\nbut he consented, with his partner, to select four out of the eight to\npreside, one on each of the islands.\n\nWe withdrew while they discussed this matter, and made their selection.\nTo my great surprise, when we returned, I found that I was chosen as\none of the four. Never in my life did I feel my weakness more sensibly\nthan on that occasion. I was the youngest of the party, and felt that I\nwas the least able of all to perform the duties assigned me.\n\nThe next thing was to select partners and islands; and how do you think\nwe did this? You read in the Bible about casting lots. We cast lots.\nFour pieces of paper were marked: _one_, _two_, _three_ and _four_.\nThe one who drew _one_ had the first choice of partners; so with the\nsecond, third and fourth numbers. Then the islands were marked on slips\nof paper in the same manner, and we drew for them. Number one fell to\nmy lot. I had the first choice.\n\nMy mind had not rested on any one as my choice for partner, and I was\nat a loss for a few moments whom to select. Then the spirit of the Lord\nplainly told me to choose Brother James Keeler. I did so.\n\nI was both surprised and pleased at the manner in which he received my\nchoice; for I, being so young, and he so much my senior, had thought\nthat he would prefer a partner of more mature years and experience.\n\nHe afterwards told me that when the four were chosen, and he found\nthat I was one of them, he had slipped out and prayed to the Lord that\nI might be led to select him to go with me. His prayer was heard and\nanswered, and we both were gratified.\n\nIn casting lots for islands, Maui fell to us. When we were sailing past\nit my feelings were drawn towards that island, and I felt that I would\nlike that to be my field of labor. I knew not why this should have\nbeen so, except that the Lord gave me the feeling, for I knew nothing\nconcerning it that would make it a desirable place in my eyes.\n\nMy joy was very great that evening, because of these precious\nmanifestations of God's goodness. I felt that he was near at hand to\nhear and answer prayer, and to grant the righteous desires of our\nhearts; and how could we doubt His providence for and care over us in\nthe future?\n\nChildren, I know of no feeling that can fill the human breast with such\nunspeakable happiness, joy and confidence as faith in God. If God be\nwith us who can be against us?\n\nAs I have already mentioned, there were eight of us Elders, besides\nthe two who were to remain at Honolulu. Their names were Hiram Clark,\nthe president, and his fellow-laborer, Thomas Whittle. The island on\nwhich we first landed was to be their field. The four who were chosen\nto preside on the other islands were: Henry W. Bigler, whose partner\nwas Thomas Morris, and to whom the island of Molokai fell by lot; John\nDixon, whose partner was William Farrer, and whose field was the island\nof Kauai; James Hawkins, who chose Hiram Blackwell as his companion,\nand to whom the island of Hawaii fell as a field of labor; and George\nQ. Cannon, whose fellow-laborer was James Keeler, and their field the\nisland of Maui.\n\nAs the president counseled Brother Morris to go to work at Honolulu,\nand Brother Bigler was, therefore, alone, and his island lay convenient\nto Maui, he concluded to accompany the two last-named Elders to Maui.\n\nThe thought of parting from his companions in a foreign land produces\nlonely feelings in the breast of an Elder, but particularly if he be\nyoung and inexperienced. Our consolation on this occasion was that we\nwere taking the plan whereby we might reap more abundant joy.\n\n\n\nChapter 4\n\nOur House on Maui--Interviews With the Consul and Governor--Our First\nPublic Preaching--We Determine to Learn the Language and Proclaim the\nGospel to the Natives\n\nLahaina is the principal town on Maui. It has no harbor, but vessels\nanchor in what is called the roadstead. Looking from the sea at the\ntown, it is not very imposing. It lies on a level strip of land, and\nis stretched along the beach, and the houses are almost hidden by the\nfoliage. Groves of cocoa-nut trees are to be seen, which give the place\na tropical look.\n\nWe had considerable difficulty in procuring a suitable place to stop.\nThere was a hotel and some boarding houses; but we could not live at\nany of them very long, for our funds were low. We secured a native\nhouse of one room, at a rent of four dollars per week.\n\nThese native houses are built by putting posts in the ground, on which\na board is laid as a plate for the rafters to rest upon. When the frame\nof posts and rafters is built, poles, about the size of hoop-poles,\nare lashed horizontally, about six inches apart, on to the posts and\nrafters. The house is then thatched by fastening a durable grass, which\nthey have in that country, on to the poles. When finished, a house\nlooks, in shape and size, like a well built hay stack.\n\nSuch houses are only suited to a warm country where they never have\nfrost. Inside the house they have no board floors. The ground is\ncovered with grass, on which mats are laid. The making of these mats\nconstitutes one of the chief employments of the women, and a good\nhousewife in that country is known by the quantity and fineness of\nthe mats in her home. Such a woman is very particular to have no dirt\nbrought into her house; for the mats answer the purpose of beds, tables\nand chairs. They sit upon them; when they eat, their food, is placed\nupon them, and they form their bed, though in many houses they have the\nplace of sleeping raised above the ordinary floor; but even then, they\nhave mats spread out, upon which to sleep.\n\nIn consideration of our being white men, the man of whom we rented the\nhouse procured a table and three chairs for us. We employed him to cook\nour food, which consisted principally of sweet potatoes and fish, or\nmeat, with occasionally a little bread, bought at a bakery in town.\nIn those days no native thought of using bread as an article of diet.\nTheir food I shall describe more fully to you in a future chapter.\n\nWe had an interview with the American consul, Mr. Bunker, and solicited\nthrough him an introduction to the governor of the Island. He readily\ncomplied with our request, and in our intercourse with Mr. Bunker he\ntreated us very kindly.\n\nOur mission we felt to be of such importance that we wished to\nintroduce it to the highest authority we could find. I made it a rule\non those islands never to go into a place without waiting upon the\nleading and prominent men, stating my business, testifying to the\nwork which God had commenced and asking their aid to enable me to lay\nthe proclamation of which I was the bearer before the people. In this\nway I had interviews with princes, nobles, governors, officers of the\ngovernment, missionaries and the leading men in every locality where I\nvisited.\n\nThis course might not be a wise one in every nation and under all\ncircumstances; but I was led to take it there, and the effects were\ngood. I had a fearlessness and a strength given me which I would not\nhave had if I had kept myself in a corner, and acted as though I\nwas ashamed of my mission. I gained influence also with the people,\nand they learned to respect me; for, however much men may differ in\ntheir views about religion and other matters, they generally respect\nsincerity and courage.\n\nThe governor was named James Young. He was a half-white, his father\nbeing a friend of Kamehameha the First, and one of the first white men\nwho settled among the Hawaiians. We requested the use of the palace,\nwhich was not then occupied by the royal family, to preach in. He\npromised to write to his brother, the minister of the interior, about\nit. We called a number of times afterwards to see him; but could get no\ndefinite answer. It was very evident to us that he dare not grant us\nany favors.\n\nRev. Mr. Taylor was the chaplain of the Bethel Chapel at Lahaina, where\nseamen and most of the white residents went to worship. We introduced\nourselves to him, told him where we were from and our business, and\nasked the privilege of holding meeting in his chapel. He held meetings\nin the morning and evening. He consented, and gave out notice to the\npeople in the morning that we would hold meeting in the afternoon.\nElder Henry W. Bigler delivered the discourse, and Brother Keeler and I\nbore testimony. We soon became satisfied that if we confined our labors\nto the whites, our mission to those islands would be a short one.\n\nThe white people were not numerous at Lahaina, and there were but very\nfew at any other place on the island of Maui. Preaching to them with\nthe hope of convincing them of the truth seemed a hopeless labor. The\nquestion arose directly, \"Shall we confine our labors to the white\npeople?\" It is true that we had not been particularly told to preach\nto the natives of the islands, but we were in their midst, had full\nauthority to declare unto them the message of salvation, and if we did\nnot declare it unto them, some other Elders would have to come and do\nso, in order to fulfill the command of God to his servants.\n\nFor my part I felt it to be clearly my duty to warn all men, white\nand red; and no sooner did I learn the condition of the population\nthan I made up my mind to acquire the language, preach the gospel to\nthe natives and to the whites whenever I could obtain an opportunity,\nand thus fill my mission. I felt resolved to stay there, master the\nlanguage and warn the people of those islands, if I had to do it alone;\nfor I felt that I could not do otherwise and be free from condemnation;\nthe spirit of it was upon me. Elders Bigler and Keeler felt the same.\n\nI mention this, because it was a point upon which a difference of\nopinion afterwards arose, some of the Elders being of the opinion that\nour mission was to the whites, and that when we had warned them, we\nwere at liberty to return. How do you think such differences of views\nand opinions can be settled? Had the president of the mission exercised\nthe authority to dictate, he could have decided between these views;\nbut he would not. He left each one to act for himself. We were in a\nforeign land, far distant from the Apostles and First Presidency, and,\ntherefore, could not appeal to them. Our only resource was to obtain\nrevelation from the Lord for ourselves. This is the privilege of every\nman arid woman in the Church. If Latter-day Saints will seek for\nknowledge, God will give it to them to guide them in all the details of\nlife, subject, of course, to the presiding authority and its teachings\nand counsels. By this means we were able, on the Sandwich Islands, to\nknow what course to take.\n\nWhite men who go to the Sandwich Islands do not always behave\nthemselves as they should. We saw some who acted most disgracefully.\nThey seemed to think that, because they were among the natives, they\ncould abandon all decency. The natives are very close observers. They\nsoon saw that we were not like many of the whites whom they had seen,\nand they began to take an interest in us. They readily helped us to\npronounce and read their language. The want of books was a great\ndrawback at first; but we sent to Honolulu for them.\n\nMy desire to learn to speak was very strong; it was present with me\nnight and day, and I never permitted an opportunity of talking with the\nnatives to pass without improving it. I also tried to exercise faith\nbefore the Lord to obtain the gift of talking and understanding the\nlanguage. One evening, while sitting on the mats conversing with some\nneighbors who had dropped in, I felt an uncommonly great desire to\nunderstand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in\nmy ears; I jumped to my feet, with my hands at the sides of my head,\nand exclaimed to Elders Bigler and Keeler who sat at the table, that I\nbelieved I had received the gift of interpretation! And it was so.\n\nFrom that time forward I had but little, if any, difficulty in\nunderstanding what the people said. I might not be able at once to\nseparate every word which they spoke from every other word in the\nsentence; but I could tell the general meaning of the whole. This was\na great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very\nthankful for this gift from the Lord.\n\nI mention this that my readers may know how willing God is to bestow\ngifts upon his children. If they should be called to go as missionaries\nto a foreign nation, whose language they do not understand, it is their\nprivilege to exercise faith for the gifts of speaking and interpreting\nthat language, and also for every other gift which they may need.\n\n\n\nChapter 5\n\nKindness of Na-Lima-Nui--To Honolulu--Some of the Elders Decide to\nReturn Home\n\nA little more than three weeks had passed when our money was paid out\nexcept a very little. Much as we disliked the idea, it seemed necessary\nfor us to separate and seek places to live where we could find them\namong the natives. We cast lots to learn which direction we should\ntake. Elder Henry W. Bigler drew south; Elder James Keeler, east; and\nI, north.\n\nI had explained our position to the man of whom we rented the house. Of\ncourse my explanations were not perfect, for three weeks' residence had\nnot made us masters of the language; but he comprehended the situation\nexactly. He went to a neighboring house, where the family lived who had\ndone our washing, and who had been very friendly and kind, and told the\nlady how matters stood with us. She came in; but we were so busy making\nour arrangements to start out that we did not converse with her, and\nshe went away again.\n\nBrother Bigler started off in the direction which had fallen to him,\nwith a piece of paper in his hand, on which sentences in native,\nsuch as he would be likely to need, were written, with their meaning\nin English. Brother Keeler and myself were preparing to go in the\ndirections which had fallen to us, when Brother Keeler suggested that\nwe call upon Na-lima-nui, the old lady of whom I have spoken. Our\nobject was to learn from her, if we could, who there was that would be\nlikely to entertain strangers.\n\n\"Na-lima-nui\" means in the language of the Sandwich Islands \"big\nhands.\" _Lima_ is the noun _hand_, _nui_ is the adjective _large_ or\n_big_, and _na_ is the sign of the plural. You see it is a differently\nconstructed language to ours. The sign of the plural precedes the noun,\nand the qualifying adjective follows it, as \"hands large or big.\"\n\nNa-lima-nui did not know where we could find a man who could entertain\nus; but she said we were welcome to come and live in her house. We had\na long talk with her, and I endeavored to explain our position and what\nour business was in coming to the Islands. We had no money, I said,\nbut anything that we did have, we should be glad to give her. We felt\nhumble, and would have been pleased to obtain a corner on the floor\nto sleep in, so that we could live, learn the language and fill our\nmission.\n\nThe kindness of this old lady touched me, and I could not refrain from\nweeping. Never before in my life did I feel so thankful as I did for\nthe shelter she offered. I praised the Lord therefor; it was He who\ntouched the heart of herself and family.\n\nThe thought that we would not have to separate added to our joy, and\nyou can probably imagine with what delight we went to find Brother\nBigler. He had succeeded in finding a native who was willing to give\nhim food and a lodging place, if he would milk his cow and do other\nchores. He was as much rejoiced as we to learn that we could live\ntogether.\n\nWe did not expect to get any more accommodations than a place to\nstretch ourselves at night in our blankets; but Na-lima-nui's daughter,\nwho was married to a Spaniard, lived adjoining; and she had arranged\nfor her mother to live in her rooms, and the old lady's room had been\nprepared for us. They had fixed up the room as well as they could.\n\nSuch a profound feeling of thankfulness as I had on our obtaining a\nshelter in this poor, native woman's hut I never experienced before.\n\nIt has been my fortune, since those early days of my life, to travel\nconsiderably, and to mingle with our missionaries in many lands. I have\nseen Elders who were willing to endure everything for the gospel's\nsake; their hearts were filled with joy and a burning desire to magnify\ntheir Priesthood and to fill their missions. What they ate or drank,\nwhere they lodged or how they were clothed, were matters of little or\nno thought to them, so long as they had the Spirit of the Lord and\nwere in the line of duty. Others, I have seen, who felt every little\nprivation to be a dreadful hardship; who thought, if everything did\nnot go smoothly with them, they had to suffer more than was necessary,\nand who were ready to desert their fields of labor and run home at the\nfirst opportunity.\n\nI scarcely need say that men of this latter class are rarely, if ever,\nsuccessful missionaries. They think too much of their own ease and\ncomfort, and their thoughts are too much upon themselves, to labor\nunder any circumstances of difficulty for the salvation of others. When\nan Elder has the spirit of his mission, self-comfort is forgotten.\nHe is perfectly happy in declaring the gospel and laboring for the\nsalvation of others, and he gives but little thought to the kind of\nfood he eats, or how he fares in other respects. His bodily wants are\nswallowed up in his joy in Christ.\n\nThese were our feelings at the time of which I write. We were willing\nto live on any food that would sustain our bodies, however common or\neven disagreeable it might be; we were glad to get a shelter, however\nhumble, to lie under; our desire was to fill our mission: and because\nwe felt thus, the Lord made up for any lack of comfort by giving us His\nHoly Spirit.\n\nI had never been so happy in my life before as I was then. When I\nprayed I could go unto God in faith; He listened to my prayers; He\ngave me great comfort and joy; He revealed Himself to me as He never\nhad done before, and told me that if I would persevere, I should be\nblessed, be the means of bringing many to the knowledge of the truth,\nand be spared to return home after having done a good work.\n\nMany things were revealed to me, during those days, when He was the\nonly Friend we had to lean upon, which were afterwards fulfilled. A\nfriendship was there established between our Father and myself, which,\nI trust, will never be broken nor diminished, and which I hope has\ncontinued to grow stronger from those days to these.\n\nIt is not my custom to write thus freely about myself; but I am writing\nfor children to read, upon whom I would like my experience to make an\nimpression. I desire that they should make God their friend, and seek\nunto Him with faith for that joy, peace and perfect love which He alone\ncan give.\n\nShortly after we moved into the house of Na-lima-nui, I was called\nby letter to go up to Honolulu. The partner of the president of the\nmission had concluded to return home, and I was requested to remove to\nHonolulu to act in his place.\n\nThis was unexpected news to me, and my parting from my companions was\nnearly as painful as leaving home had been. Besides the Elder of whose\nproposed departure I had heard, I found there two others--to whom the\nisland of Kauai had fallen as a field of labor--ready to return home.\n\nThere were but few whites on that island, and to them they had\npreached, but had received no encouragement. They had written to the\npresident of the mission, describing the situation of affairs, and he\nhad counseled them to come to Honolulu.\n\nThe idea of leaving the islands, because there were not enough white\nmen to preach the gospel to, was so foreign to the minds of my\ncompanions on Maui, and to myself, that when I heard these Elders were\nthere with the intention of returning home, I was surprised.\n\nI did not conceal my feelings from them; I told them that I could not\ngo home under existing circumstances, without feeling condemned. The\nLord, in my opinion, I said, would hold me accountable for not doing my\nduty to that people, if I were to leave them; and the people might rise\nup in judgment against me at some future day, for not having given them\nthe privilege of hearing the truth. My prayer was that the time might\nspeedily come when all should know the Lord, and when His knowledge\nwould cover the earth as the waters covered the deep; and I believed\nin uniting works and faith. It would sound badly for ten Elders to be\nsent out to the islands by Elder Charles C. Rich, one of the Twelve\nApostles, to preach and to act as the Spirit and circumstances might\ndictate, and when we found there were not whites that would receive\nus, turn around and go home, and leave a whole nation to welter in\nignorance, because he did not happen to tell us that we were to preach\nto them in their own tongue. Much more in this strain I was led to say,\nwhich it is not necessary to repeat here.\n\nBrother Whittle had been told by Elder Rich that he could return home\nafter filling a short mission. The president of the mission had done\nall the preaching at the meetings they had held, and had not even\ngiven him an opportunity to bear his testimony. His position had been,\nand still was unpleasant; and he saw no way to remedy it. If he could\ndo any good, he was willing to stay; but he thought that, under his\ncircumstances, it was useless.\n\nBrother Willam Farrer, one of the Elders who had been laboring on\nKauai, made up his mind that he would not return home, but stop and\ndevote himself to acquiring the language. His partner, however, would\nnot stop. He was bent upon returning. Being an intimate acquaintance,\nI talked freely with him upon the subject. He would go home, he said,\nand gladly take a mission to Europe, if he should be appointed; but\nto labor there he could not with any pleasure. Besides, he was an old\nbachelor, he added, and he ought to be married, and so he would return\nhome and take him a wife. He did return home; but, poor fellow, he\nnever obtained a wife. Some time after his return, he, with some other\nbrethren, left the city to go to Parley's Park for lumber. On their\nreturn they were ambushed by Indians, and he was killed.\n\nI often asked myself, after hearing of his death, would it not have\nbeen better for him if he had remained? For if he had, I believe he\nwould have still been living.\n\n\n\nChapter 6\n\nI Return to Maui--We Are Visited by the President of the Mission, Who\nDetermines to Go to the Marqueses Islands--Are Not Led to Go With\nHim--\"Poi,\" Its Preparation and Peculiarities\n\nThe progress I had made in learning the language surprised the Elders\nat Honolulu. I was able to converse tolerably well with the natives,\nand understand what they said. When they learned how the Lord had\nopened our way and aided us in acquiring the language, they felt that\nit might be wisdom for me to continue my labors there, instead of\nremoving to Honolulu. This, after counseling together, was the decision\nof the president.\n\nI was much gratified at the privilege of returning to Maui; for, to my\nview, prospects for accomplishing any great amount of good were not\nvery bright then at Honolulu.\n\nElder William Farrer sailed with me to Maui, to be a partner to Henry\nW. Bigler.\n\nWe had scarcely reached Lahaina, when Elder Hiram Blackwell called\nupon us from the Island of Hawaii, where he had been with Elder James\nHawkins. He was on his way to Honolulu, and expected, if it was not\ncontrary to counsel, to return home. He was discouraged in trying to\nlearn the language and preach to the natives. He reached Honolulu in\ntime to return with the other Elders.\n\nAt this point I may anticipate the order of my narrative by stating\nthat Elder James Hawkins, Brother Blackwell's partner, remained on\nHawaii for some time, striving to acquire the language, and to proclaim\nthe gospel to the people. He afterwards came up to Maui and labored\nthere, and filled a good mission before he returned home.\n\nAbout three weeks after my return from Honolulu, we were surprised at\nreceiving a visit from the president of the mission. He had concluded\nto leave the Sandwich Islands and go to the Marquesas Islands; for he\nthought there was a better field there.\n\nThese latter islands, 30\u00b0 south of where we were then, are inhabited\nby a race of people whose language is very similar to that spoken by\nthe natives of the Sandwich Islands. They are probably descendants of\none common stock. But they are naturally more fierce and savage than\nthe Sandwich Islanders. It is said of some of them, that when they are\nengaged in war, they have no objections to eating a piece of a roasted\nman; indeed, they rather relish such a meal at such times, as they\nthink it makes them brave.\n\nOur president's principal motive in coming to see us was to have us go\nwith him. If prospects were no better on Maui than on the island he had\nbeen on, he thought we should accompany him. It was not from any fear\nthat the people of the Marquesas group would eat us, that we did not\nfall in with his proposal; but because we could not see the propriety\nof it.\n\nOur position, just then, was a peculiar one. Here was our president,\nthe man who had been appointed to counsel and guide us, proposing to\nus to leave the field to which we had been appointed, and to take a\njourney of several hundred miles to another land to labor. What were\nwe to do? How far did the obedience which we owed to him require us to\ngo? This was an important question. To disobey a man in the rightful\nexercise of authority, was an act from which we naturally recoiled; and\nan act, too, of which we were not in the least disposed to be guilty.\nBut we felt that it would not be right for us to leave that island then.\n\nWe had done but little at warning the people, or accomplishing our\nmission, and why leave them then, any more than on the first day that\nwe landed? We had not been appointed by the authority, which called him\nand us, to go to the Marquesas Islands; we knew of no opening there, or\nof any reason why we should go there in preference to any other place\non the earth. If we followed our president there, because he told us to\ncome with him, and we should find no opening to preach the gospel, why\nnot follow him to some other country if he should so require us?\n\nFortunately we were relieved from the necessity of refusing to comply\nwith his counsel. He felt plainly enough that his proposal did not\nstrike us favorably. He had not been many hours with us until he found\nthis out; and he told us that probably it would be better for us to\nremain where we were until we gave the people a fair trial; and then,\nif we could not do anything, we could follow him, as he intended to\nwrite to us respecting his success. The first we heard from him, he\nhad drifted down to Tahiti, on the Society Islands, where some of our\nElders were then laboring. His mission, however, was of no profit to\nhimself.\n\nWhen an Elder has the spirit of his mission, he cannot rest contented\nunless he is proclaiming to the people the message with which he is\nentrusted. Surround him with every comfort his heart can desire, and\nif he has that spirit, he will still be anxious to go forth among the\npeople, even if he knows he will meet with privations and persecution.\nThis was my feeling before the visit of the president of the mission,\nand after he left, my anxiety increased, and I told the brethren that I\nmust push out among the natives; and commence preaching to them as well\nas I could. I had made very good progress in the language, and felt\nable to explain in part the first principles of the gospel.\n\nAbout a week after the president's visit I started off, intending,\nif I did not get an opening, to go around the island. But the Lord\nhad revealed to me that I would find a people prepared to receive the\ntruth; and I started as a man would who was going to meet his friends.\nThough I had never seen them in the flesh, I knew that when I met them\nthey would not be strangers unto me.\n\nBorrowing Brother Bigler's valise, one which he had carried many a day\nhimself while on a mission in the States, I started, feeling as proud\nof the privilege of swinging it across my shoulder as any knight ever\nwas at wearing, for the first time, his gold spurs.\n\nThe great desire of my heart from my early boyhood had been to have the\nPriesthood and the privilege of preaching the gospel. This desire was\nnow about to be gratified, and though I was timid and very bashful, I\nfelt that God would carry me safely through.\n\nThe brethren accompanied me about four miles on my way. We were far\nfrom all our friends, and were strangers in a strange land; our\nparting, therefore, as might be expected, was painful. They remained to\ncontinue their study of the language.\n\nIt was plain to me that the angel of the Lord was with me; for at\nwhatever place I stopped, I was received most kindly, and the best the\npeople had was at my service.\n\nThe principal food of the natives of the Sandwich Islands is called\n_poi_. This is made out of a root which they call _kalo_. \"Kalo\"\npatches are so made that they can be flooded with water; and the ground\nis never allowed to be uncovered. In planting this root they do not\nuse seed. When a native gathers the \"kalo,\" he carries it to his home,\nwhere he cuts off the tops. These are carefully saved, tied up in a\nbundle, and carried back to the patch. These tops he sticks in the mud\nat the proper distances apart, and at the end of about eleven months\nhe has another crop of \"kalo.\" This is the process of gathering and\nplanting.\n\nThe \"kalo\" bears some resemblance in its leaves and taste to the wild\nIndian turnips, but its root is much larger; not quite the shape of a\ntame turnip, but as large as a moderate sized one. There is a variety\ncalled the \"dry land kalo.\" It is not so extensively cultivated as the\nother kind, and is not considered so good eating.\n\nNear every house there is a circular hole. When \"kalo\" is to be cooked,\na fire is built in this, and a quantity of small volcanic rocks are\npiled on top of it. As the fire burns out these sink to the bottom, and\nthey are spread over the bottom and around the sides of the pit. The\n\"kalo\" roots are then laid in, mats are spread over them, then soil,\nuntil they are completely covered, excepting a small hole at the top,\ninto which water is poured. That hole is then stopped, and the cooking\ncommences.\n\n\"But how do they cook?\" you may ask.\n\nWhen the water is poured in, the rocks, being hot, speedily convert it\ninto steam, and, as it cannot escape, it cooks the roots.\n\nI have seen large hogs cooked in this way, and meat is sweeter cooked\nin this fashion than by any other method I know anything about. The\nnative men on the Islands do all the cooking.\n\nWhen the \"kalo\" has been in long enough to cook, it is uncovered;\nthe skin is washed off, and it is pounded with a stone pestle, on a\nlarge flat slab of wood, until it is like a mass of dough. Then it is\nput into a calabash, or gourd, and by the next day fermentation has\ncommenced; or, as we would say if it were bread, it has \"raised.\" Water\nis then added to it, and it is mixed until it is a little thinner than\nwe usually make mush. There is a little sour taste about it the first\nday. But it is never eaten at that time by the natives, unless they\nhave no other food. They like it best when it is quite sour. This is\nwhat they call \"poi,\" and there is no other food that they think can\nequal it.\n\nTheir usual method of eating is worthy of notice. A large calabash of\n\"poi\" is placed on the mats; around this the family seat themselves.\n\nIn families where they make any pretensions to cleanliness, a small\ncalabash of water is passed around, and each one rinses his or her\nfingers before commencing to eat.\n\nTo keep off the flies, a boy or a girl stands waving a _kahili_, which\nis made by fastening feathers to a long, slender stick.\n\nIn eating, they dip their first two fingers into the calabash, load\nthem with the \"poi,\" and pass them into their mouths. The sucking\nof the fingers, the gusto with which they eat, and the incessant\nconversation mingled with laughter which they keep up, would lead a\nbystander to conclude that they enjoy their food. And they do. If\nthe \"poi\" be good, and they have plenty of fish or meat to eat with\nit, they have great pleasure in eating. They think white men who eat\ntogether without conversing very unsocial beings. They have an idea\nthat it contributes to health, and to the enjoyment of the food to have\npleasant and lively conversation while eating.\n\nBefore leaving Lahaina, I had tasted a teaspoonful of \"poi;\" but the\nsmell of it and the calabash in which it was contained was so much like\nthat of a book-binder's old, sour, paste-pot that when I put it to my\nmouth I gagged at it, and would have vomited had I swallowed it. But in\ntraveling among the people I soon learned that if I did not eat \"poi\"\nI would put them to great inconvenience; for they would have to cook\nseparate food for me every meal. This would make me burdensome to them,\nand might interfere with my success. I, therefore, determined to learn\nto live on their food, and, that I might do so, I asked the Lord to\nmake it sweet to me. My prayer was heard and answered; the next time I\ntasted it, I ate a bowlful, and I positively liked it. It was my food,\nwhenever I could get it from that time as long as I remained on the\nislands.\n\nIt may sound strange, yet it is true, that I have sat down to a table\non which bread was placed, and though I had not tasted the latter for\nmonths, I took the \"poi\" in preference to the bread; it was sweeter to\nme than any food I had ever eaten.\n\n\n\nChapter 7\n\nStart on a Tour Around the Island--Arrive at Wailuku--In a Remarkable\nManner Become Acquainted With J. H. Napela\n\nIt was during a very wet season that I told the people I was going\naround the island. They thought it a great undertaking, and tried\nto persuade me not to go. I evidently had their sympathies; I was\nboyish-looking, and they called me a _keiki_, which in their language\nliterally means \"a child.\"\n\nMany times as I traveled along they would take my valise from me and\ncarry it; and when I came to a stream of water, they would pack me\nacross it.\n\nI passed through a number of villages, over a very rough, hilly\ncountry, and late one night reached the town of Wailuku.\n\nUp to this time, though I had been treated very kindly, I had not met\nwith the persons whom I had been led to expect, by the manifestations\nof the Spirit, would receive my testimony.\n\nThe main part of the town of Wailuku was on the other side of a stream,\nin attempting to cross which I got wet.\n\nThere were some missionaries living here, and as I passed through the\ntown, I hoped that I should get an opportunity of being introduced to\nthem; for I had made it a rule, thus far, not to pass a missionary\nwithout bearing testimony to him respecting my mission. But I was dusty\nand toil-worn, and felt some diffidence about introducing myself.\n\nBy this time I had partly come to the conclusion that, as the weather\nwas so unfavorable I would return to Lahaina; and in passing through\nWailuku I took a road which I thought led in that direction. I had\nscarcely got out of the town when I felt impressed to return, the\nSpirit telling me that if I would do so I should get an opportunity of\nbeing introduced to the missionary who resided there.\n\nAs I passed the churchyard two half-white women emerged from a house\nnear by, and when they saw me they called to some men who were in the\nhouse _\"E ka haole!\"_ which means, \"Oh, the white man!\" This they\nrepeated two or three times, calling at the same time one of the men by\nname.\n\nAs I walked along towards the picket fence, three men came out of the\nhouse, and stepped up towards the gate. When I got opposite to them I\nsaluted them, being greeted by them in return.\n\nI had passed but a few feet when the leader of the men inquired of me\nwhere I was going. I told them I thought of returning to Lahaina, on\naccount of the weather. He said that as this was Saturday, I had better\nstop until Monday with him.\n\nHe inquired of me who and what I was, and upon my informing him, his\ndesire to have me stay was increased. I went into the house with\nhim, and, after some little conversation, and an invitation to eat\nfood, which he offered. He proposed that we should go up and see the\nmissionary.\n\nThis was what I wanted, and I embraced his proposal gladly.\n\nThe missionary's name was Conde; he was a native of Connecticut, and\nhad been sent out by the American Board of Foreign Missions.\n\nWe had a very pleasant conversation, during which he made many\ninquiries respecting Utah, my object in coming to the islands, and our\nbelief. He said he could not believe anything in modern revelation; but\nexpressed a wish to read some of our works.\n\nI lent him the _Voice of Warning_, though I had little hope of it\nhaving any effect on him, as he had condemned the doctrines before he\nhad heard or read them.\n\nThe moment I entered into the house of this native and saw him and his\ntwo friends, I felt convinced that I had met the men for whom I had\nbeen looking.\n\nThe man who owned the house was a judge, and a leading man in that\nsection. His name was Jonatana H. Napela. It was he who visited\nSalt Lake City in 1866, in company with Elder George Nebeker. His\ncompanions' names were Uaua and Kaleohano. They were all three\nafterwards baptized and ordained to be Elders, Napela has since died in\nthe faith, and the others are still members of the Church.\n\nThey were graduates of the high school in the country, fine speakers\nand reasoners, and were men of standing and influence in the community.\n\nNapela was every anxious to know my belief, and wherein our doctrines\ndiffered from those taught by the missionaries in their midst. I\nexplained to him, as well as I could, our principles, with which he\nseemed very well satisfied. But next day after the service in their\nchurch, Mr. Conde called Napela and a number of the leading men\ntogether, and endeavored to poison their minds against our doctrines,\nby telling all kinds of lies about the Prophet Joseph and the people of\nUtah.\n\nI learned this at supper by the inquiries which Napela and a number of\nhis friends who were present, made of me. Their questions were of such\na nature as to prove to me that somebody had been telling them lies. I\nafterwards learned that it was the missionary's work.\n\nThe Spirit rested powerfully upon me and I told them I had the truth,\nand besought them, as they valued their souls, not to reject it until\nthey could understand it for themselves; that I should soon be able to\nexplain it fully unto them; that the principles were contained in the\nBible, and were eternal truth. They were melted to tears, and promised\nme that they would not decide that our principles were false until they\nhad a full opportunity of judging for themselves; which promise, I am\nhappy to say, most of them kept, and I had the pleasure of baptizing\nthem into the Church.\n\nI am particular in mentioning this circumstance to show the boys who\nmay read this work that, when they go on missions, and they are in the\nline of their duty, it is their privilege to have revelations from the\nLord to guide them in all their steps. I was led to expect, before I\nleft Lahaina, that I would find those who would receive me. Up to the\ntime I reached Wailuku, I had not found them, and then when I thought\nit best to go back by another road, and through other villages, to\nLahaina, I was told if I would return into Wailuku that I should obtain\nmy desire in getting an interview with the missionary.\n\nThe half-white women who saw me were Napela's wife and her sister.\nThere was something very remarkable in their crying out as they did to\nhim and his companions in the house when they saw me. They met whites\nvery frequently, and it was nothing strange for them to pass as I did.\nThis was often alluded to in conversations which we had afterwards,\nand they wondered why they should have done so. I know that it was the\nLord's doings; for if they had not called out, I should have passed\nunnoticed and missed them. To my sight, the Lord's hand was plainly\nvisible in it all, and I thanked Him for His mercy and goodness.\n\n\n\nChapter 8\n\nA Missionary's Craft in Danger--He Preaches Against Us and Our\nDoctrines, and Abuses Our Friends--His Remarks, However, Are Overruled\nfor Our Good--The Lord's Promise Fulfilled--I Go to Kula\n\nOn the Monday morning I returned to Lahaina, and received a warm\nwelcome from the brethren. They were much interested in the recital\nof the incidents of my trip. From that time, however, I stayed but\nlittle there. Much as I liked the society of the Elders, I could not be\ncontent there, for I felt that I ought to be among the natives, trying\nto teach them the principles of the gospel, and there seemed to be a\nbetter opening for this work in other places than at Lahaina.\n\nThere being none of the Elders on the Island of Oahu, it was decided\nthat Elders Bigler and Farrer should go there instead of to the island\nof Molokai. When they sailed for that island, which they did in a few\nweeks, Brother James Keeler was left alone with no one to converse\nwith in English, unless he occasionally met a white man. This gave him\na better opportunity of acquiring the language than he had when we\nwere all there. After some weeks he also was led to leave there and to\ntravel around the island until he found a people who were willing to\nreceive him and the principles which he taught.\n\nWhen the Presbyterian missionary at Wailuku saw that I had come back\nthere he was displeased. He used all his influence against me among\nhis congregation, and one Sunday he came out in public and delivered a\nmost abusive discourse against the Prophet Joseph and our principles,\nin which he gave an entirely false statement of the cause of his death,\nand also warned the people against me.\n\nI happened to be present when this sermon was delivered. While\nlistening to it a variety of emotions agitated me. My first impulse was\nto jump upon one of the seats as soon as he had got through, and tell\nthe people he had told them a pack of falsehoods. But this I thought\nwould produce confusion, and result in no good. When the services were\nover, I walked around to the pulpit where he stood. He knew how short\na time we had been on the islands, and, I believed, had no idea that I\ncould understand what he had said; when he saw me, therefore, his face\nturned pale, and to me he looked like a man who had been caught in a\nmean, low act.\n\nI told him I wanted to give him correct information respecting the\nthings he had told the people that morning, that he might remove the\neffect of the lies which he had repeated to them; for, I said, they\nwere base lies, and I was a living witness that they were.\n\nHe said he did not believe they were lies, and he should not tell the\npeople anything different to what he had said; he thought he had but\ndone his duty, and if the people had been warned against Mahomet in his\nday, he would not have got so many disciples.\n\nI bore him a solemn testimony respecting the prophet Joseph, and the\ntruth of the work, and said that I would stand as a witness against him\nat the judgment seat of God, for having told that people lies and for\nrefusing to tell them the truth when it had been shown to him.\n\nMuch more was said, for our conversation lasted about half an hour, and\nwhile we conversed many of the congregation, some of whom understood\nEnglish, crowded around.\n\nThis was the first occurrence of the kind in my experience in which I\nwas personally prominent, and it had an importance in my eyes which it\nwould scarcely have were it to happen to-day. One of those who listened\nto and understood this conversation was a brother-in-law of Napela's,\na half-white and a circuit judge, and a leading man on that island. He\ngave a report of the conversation which was very favorable to me, and\naltogether I think the missionary's sermon did good. He intended it for\nevil; but the Lord overruled it, as He does all the plots and acts of\nthe wicked, for the advancement of His purposes.\n\nThe Lord gave me favor in the sight of the natives, and I had their\nsympathy, though they dare not avow it, for fear of the consequences.\n\nAnother reason of the sermon not having so good an effect was the\npreacher's allusions to Napela. He had called him by name, as the\nman at whose house I stopped, and denounced him. This, of course,\nwas distasteful to Napela's relatives and friends, many of whom were\npresent. Thus this man, who fought in this manner against the work of\nGod, did not prosper as he expected, neither then nor afterwards.\n\nThe Lord has said in one of the revelations to His servants:\n\n    \"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, there is no weapon that is\n    formed against you shall prosper; and if any man shall lift his\n    voice against you, he shall be confounded in mine own due time.\"\n\nI have found every word of this to be true.\n\nNapela was not frightened by what the missionary had said. He was\nthreatened with removal from his judgeship and with being cut off from\ntheir church; but he manifested no disposition to have me leave his\nhouse.\n\nThe pressure, however, finally became so strong through the continued\nefforts of the preacher, that I thought it would be wiser for me to\nwithdraw from Wailuku for awhile. I felt for Napela, for he had a heavy\nopposition to contend with, and I thought that if I went elsewhere, the\npersecution would not be so severe.\n\nThere was a place called _Kula_, (which means a country near the\nbase of a mountain) where there were a few scattered villages, about\neighteen miles from Wailuku, to which I was led to go. It was rather an\nout-of-the-way place, though just before I went there, a brisk trade\nin Irish potatoes, which grew spontaneously in that region, had been\ncarried on; the people hauling them in carts, from there to a small\nport not far distant. These potatoes were carried in schooners to\nCalifornia to supply the gold diggers. But they were of a poor quality,\nand when the farmers of California began to raise them the trade\nceased. The business had begun to fall off when I went there.\n\nI stopped at the house of a man by the name of Pake, who had charge\nof Napela's affairs in Kula, and to whom he had given me a letter\nof introduction when he found that I had determined to go there. He\nreceived me very kindly, also a man by the name of Maiola, whom I had\nmet in Wailuku. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church.\n\n\n\nChapter 9\n\nAnother Attack from a Missionary--Courage in Defending the Truth Always\nAdmired--Poverty of the People\n\nKula, the district where I had gone to live, was visited about once in\nthree months by the Presbyterian missionary who had it in charge. The\nSunday after my arrival there was his day to make his quarterly visit,\nand I went down to the village where he was to hold his meeting. His\nname was Green, and he and I had met a few weeks previously, and had a\nconversation in which he grew very angry and said he would curse me.\n\nThere was a large attendance of natives at this meeting, and he took\nfor his text the 8th verse of the first chapter of Paul's epistle to\nthe Galatians:\n\n    \"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel\n    unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be\n    accursed.\"\n\nHis whole sermon, as well as his prayer previously, was directed\nagainst us, warning the natives about us; but the sermon was the\npoorest and most childish attempt to show what the gospel of Christ\nwas, that I ever listened to.\n\nAfter he had finished, I arose and told the people it was best to\nexamine the gospel well, and see what its nature and requirements were,\nand also for each to learn whether it was in his possession or not. I\nthen commenced to show them what the gospel was.\n\nUp to this time Mr. Green had sat amazed, as it appeared, at my\naudacity. Such a thing as a person arising in a meeting and questioning\nwhat he had said, or attempting to teach anything different, was new in\nhis experience, and he seemed so astonished that he could not speak.\nBut when he saw that I had the attention of the people and they were\nlistening to what I said, he aroused himself, opened a catechism which\nhe called _Aio ka la_, or \"Food of the day,\" and commenced asking the\npeople questions. He was determined to interrupt me, and to divert the\nminds of the people from what I said. Some of his deacons helped him;\nthey answered his questions in a loud voice, and confusion began to\nprevail.\n\nI saw that no further good could be done then, so I told the\ncongregation that I intended to hold meetings, and would have\nopportunities of more fully explaining to them the principles of the\ngospel, and I stopped.\n\nHe warned the people not to entertain me, nor to salute me; if they\ndid, they would be partakers in my evil deeds.\n\nTo this I made a suitable reply and withdrew.\n\nFrom this time I commenced to labor in a more public manner among the\npeople, speaking in their meeting houses as I could get opportunity,\nand doing all in my power to give them a knowledge of our principles.\n\nMy speaking before Mr. Green had a good effect; the people saw that I\npreached the doctrines of the Bible, and that I was not afraid to meet\nthe preachers; the moral effect of this boldness upon a simple people\nlike them, I found to be excellent.\n\nAnd here let me say that courage in advocating and defending the truth,\nwhen tempered with wisdom, is a quality men always admire. The fear of\nman, and the fear of telling that portion of the truth which he is sent\nto declare, are feelings that no Elder should ever indulge in. The man\nwho suffers this fear to prevail with him is never successful. The fear\nof God and the fear of doing wrong, is the only fear that a Latter-day\nSaint should ever feel.\n\nMy training during the first two years of our settlement of Salt Lake\nValley, when we were pinched for food, was of excellent service to me\nduring the days of which I write. I should have thought the meagre diet\nwe had in the valley, rich living if I had had it then.\n\nThe people were very poor, and I did not wish to be a burden to them\nin the least. I avoided eating anything, therefore, that I thought\nthey relished or that they had only occasionally. I have told you that\npotatoes grew spontaneously there; but the country was too warm for\nthem; this, together with the lack of cultivation, made them very poor.\nThe potato when good was not a vegetable I liked very much. But there\nI could get nothing else, excepting whortleberries, which grew wild,\nand which I frequently picked and ate, until one day they made me sick,\nafter which I could not eat them any more.\n\nI might have eaten the potatoes better if I could have had salt to eat\nwith them; but this article they were out of just then. The only thing\neatable besides the potatoes was molasses. I have never liked to eat\npotatoes and molasses together since then.\n\nI well recollect how I enjoyed a meal of \"poi\" on one occasion during\nthis time. The \"kalo\" out of which it was made, had been cooked and\npounded at some distance from there (\"kalo\" did not grow at that time\nat the part of the Kula where I was), and packed in the leaves of a\nshrub called _ki_; when thus packed it was called _pai kalo_. It had\nbeen warm when packed, which, with the heat of the weather had made it\nsour and maggoty. But the people had cooked it over again, and made it\ninto \"poi.\"\n\nMy potato and molasses diet had removed all my fastidiousness about\nwhat I ate, and I thought this \"poi\" the sweetest food I had ever\ntasted. Some people eat maggoty cheese because they like it; I ate this\n\"poi\" because it was the best and most palatable food I had tasted for\nweeks.\n\nBut what I lacked in food the Lord made up to me in the goodly degree\nof His Spirit which He bestowed upon me. What I had to eat was a\nmatter of indifference to me. I was happy, and I rejoiced as I never\nhad before. Dreams, visions and revelations were given to me, and the\ncommunion of the Spirit was most sweet and delicious.\n\nI learned a lesson then, which I trust will never be forgotten: that\nthere is a happiness which the servants and Saints of God can have\nthat is not of earth, and that is not in the least dependent for its\nexistence upon the possession of food, raiment or any earthly thing.\n\n\n\nChapter 10\n\nSuccessful Meetings--Our Principles Receiving Great Notice--Elder\nKeeler and Myself Go to Keanae and Have Remarkable Success in Adding\nMembers to the Church\n\nA new native house having been completed by Mr. Napela's men, it was\noffered to me as a meeting house. On Sunday the neighbors collected\ntogether, and we had two meetings, one in the forenoon and one in the\nafternoon, at which I spoke upon the principles of the gospel and their\nrestoration to man upon the earth, with the authority to teach them.\nMy testimony and words were favorably received by the people, and they\nwere desirous that I should continue to hold meetings.\n\nIt was a busy time, and I was only able to hold one meeting during the\nweek. But on the next Sunday I had a most excellent time. Five were\nbaptized and confirmed, and the spirit was powerfully poured out upon\nall present; many were stirred up to repentance, their hearts were\ntouched and the tears coursed down their cheeks. Brother James Keeler,\nwho had been stopping in Lahaina, was with me that day, he having\nreached there the previous day. Our joy was very great, and I thought\nit one of the best days in my life.\n\nWe held meetings during the week, and on Sunday I baptized and\nconfirmed six persons.\n\nIt was in much weakness that I labored in the ministry; but I began to\ntaste a joy that I had never before known, and my heart was filled with\npraise and gratitude to the Lord for deeming me worthy to receive the\nPriesthood, and to go forth on a mission.\n\nNineteen persons had joined the Church at Kula, and I felt impressed by\nthe Spirit to go elsewhere and open other places in which to minister\nthe word to the people.\n\nThe news of what was being done at Kula--the new religion as it was\ncalled--the new method of baptism--for up to that time the people had\nbeen sprinkled--and the doctrine, so strange to them, that God has\nspoken again to man, and sent His holy angels to minister unto him, was\nnoised about, and there began to be a great curiosity felt by many of\nthe people to hear.\n\nAlthough the natives of the Sandwich Islands had been taught to read,\nand the Bible had been placed in their hands, and they had been trained\nto look upon the sectarian missionaries as their spiritual teachers,\nyet the religion of these missionaries did not generally satisfy them.\nThere was not the power about the God which the missionaries worshiped\nthat they believed there was about the gods of their fathers. The\nmissionaries taught them that God no longer revealed Himself to men,\nthat prophecy, miracles and the gifts mentioned in the Bible, had\nceased.\n\nBut we taught the very opposite of all this. We told them God had not\nchanged. He was the same to-day that He was when the Bible was written.\nHis gifts and blessings were for men now, as much as they were eighteen\nhundred years ago. Man had lost faith, and he did not obey God's laws,\ntherefore, he had lost favor with the heavens, and the gifts and\nblessings were withheld.\n\nThe Bible upheld us in our teachings, and there was a consistency in\nour doctrines which pleased the honest.\n\nThe most of the natives of the islands supposed the Bible meant what\nit said; they had not learned to think that it meant one thing when it\nsaid another. But after our arrival the sectarian missionaries tried\nhard to teach them that the word of God had a hidden meaning, and that\nit was not like other language--a task, however, which, with a plain,\nsimple people like the natives, they found very difficult.\n\nThe missionaries had great influence with the chiefs and the\ngovernment. Their religion was, in fact, the State religion, though\nnot so declared by law; it was popular to be a member of their church,\nwhile it was unpopular not to be connected with it.\n\nIt looked like a formidable and hopeless task to attempt to preach the\ngospel to a people and in a government over whom sectarian priests had\nsuch complete control. But we knew God could break down every barrier,\nand remove every obstacle. We put our trust in Him, and we were not\ndisappointed.\n\nI was led, as I have said, to prepare to go to some other place to\nlabor, so as to extend the knowledge of the gospel. I had arranged\nto start on a certain day, but was detained. My detention was\nprovidential, for that day Brother James Keeler arrived, accompanied\nby a native, by the name of Namakaiona. Brother Keeler, after leaving\nKula, had traveled around the island until he reached a place called\nKeanae, where he stopped. He had read the scriptures to the people of\nthat place, and quite an interest had been awakened among them, many\nwere anxious to hear preaching, and to be baptized. He wished me to\ncome over there; they had furnished him with a horse to come over after\nme and bring me.\n\nThe road over which we traveled part of the distance to reach Keanae,\npassed through a most romantic country. The vegetation was of the most\nluxuriant description, the trees being of a kind new to me, and very\ngrand. Such a wealth of vegetation I had read of, but never before\nbeheld; and is not seen it any land outside of the tropics. The shrubs\nand ferns were in great variety, and grew in almost endless profusion.\nMany of the trees were masses of living green from the root upward,\nbeing covered with a multitude of vines and creepers of various kinds.\n\nThe road was impassable for carriages or wagons; in fact, horsemen had\nto dismount and lead their horses in many places up and down the hills,\nthey were so steep. Whatever the people who lived in the villages on\nthat side of the island needed, they either carried in, on their backs,\nor brought around in boats. To me the journey was most romantic, and I\nenjoyed it, the more so as I now understood the language, and was able\nto obtain many interesting items from the natives with whom we traveled\nand met, concerning the country, and their history and traditions.\n\nOur arrival at Keanae created great excitement. The people had been\nwatching for us, and seeing us approach from a long distance, had\ngathered to meet us. Had we been princes they could not have treated\nus with greater consideration and honor. We obtained the Calvinistic\nmeeting-house the afternoon of our arrival, and there was a large\nattendance to hear the preaching.\n\nThis was on Wednesday, and from that time until Monday we were\nconstantly speaking, baptizing, confirming and counseling the people.\nDuring that time there were upwards of one hundred and thirty baptized.\nThe Spirit of the Lord was powerfully poured out, and all rejoiced; I\nnever enjoyed myself so well before in my life.\n\nWhen I started back to Kula, which I did on Tuesday morning, I felt\nvery tired, with the amount of labor that I had performed. My object in\nreturning then, was to organize the Saints who had been baptized into a\nbranch, so that I could return again to Keanae.\n\nIn organizing the branch at Kula, I ordained two teachers whose names\nwere, Kaleohano and Maiola, and three deacons, Pake, Kahiki, and Mahoe.\n\nAfter two weeks' absence, I returned to Keanae, and we organized four\nbranches of the Church in that region. We only ordained teachers and\ndeacons as officers, thinking it better to let them gain experience in\nthe duties of these callings, before ordaining them to the Melchisedek\nPriesthood.\n\n\n\nChapter 11\n\nArrival of New Elders--The Adversary Busy Among Our Newly Converted\nFriends--A Fishing Scene\n\nWhile at Keanae, we were gladdened with the news of the arrival of\nmissionaries from Utah; and, after the conference, Brother Keeler and\nI repaired to Lahaina to meet them. They were Elders Philip B. Lewis,\nFrancis A. Hammond and John S. Woodbury; the two former had their\nwives with them; the latter, for want of means, had left his wife in\nCalifornia, and she came down shortly afterwards. Brother Lewis had\nbeen appointed by Elder Parley P. Pratt to preside over the islands.\n\nI had become so accustomed to talking in the Sandwich Island language\nthat it was hard for me to speak in my mother tongue. I well remember\nhow difficult it was for me to pray in English, when called upon to do\nso, in the family circle, the evening after I got to Lahaina.\n\nI had been so anxious to learn the language that I would not read any\nbook in English excepting the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and\nCovenants, and had even trained myself to think in that language. I did\nthis so that I might be thoroughly familiar with it, for I was anxious\nto preach the gospel in exceeding plainness unto the people.\n\nOf course, it required an effort on my part to thus train myself; but I\nwas paid for it all, in the fluency with which I used the language. I\nwas able to speak and write it with greater ease and correctness than\nmy mother tongue.\n\nThe adversary was not idle at Keanae. We had been very successful in\nbaptizing the people. The Spirit had been poured out, and much good has\nbeen accomplished; but, no sooner had we gone to Lahaina, to meet the\nnewly arrived Elders, than the enemy began his operations.\n\nAfter spending a few days in Lahaina, I returned to Kula and remained\na short time there. I felt impressed to go from there to Keanae. Some\nof the native brethren wished me to stop till the end of the week, and\nthey would accompany me; but I could not stop, I felt that I was needed\nfor some cause at Keanae.\n\nMy impressions were correct. The people of Keanae were in great\ntrouble. They had been assailed by enemies from every side, and those\nwho were weak in the faith were in perplexity. Some had turned away,\nnot being able to withstand the pressure. The Presbyterian missionary\nof that district had been there, and had done all in his power to\nblacken our characters, to deride our doctrines and to persuade the\npeople to forsake the Church. Two Frenchmen, Catholic priests, had also\nbeen there, and they had done all in their power to frighten the people\nfrom the truth. Another Presbyterian missionary had sent one of his\nnative preachers there for the same purpose.\n\nIt seemed as if the devil had set all his agencies into operation to\ndestroy the work of God, and they told all the lies that could be\nbrought to bear against us. The French priest had said that we ought to\nbe driven out of the place and off the island, and had circulated many\nfalse reports about us. The Presbyterian missionary had visited the\nhouses of the people, and had brought all his influence to bear upon\nthem.\n\nBrother Keeler had been there part of the time; but his want of the\nlanguage troubled him greatly, as he had not acquired it sufficiently\nat the time to enable him to counteract these lies or to make full\nexplanations concerning them.\n\nI learned that many of the Saints were doubting, and they had been\npraying to the Lord for me to return. This was the cause of my anxiety\nto get back. The Lord hears the prayers of those who pray to Him in\nfaith, and hundreds of instances like this have occurred within my\nknowledge.\n\nIt is frequently the case that when Elders have been successful in\nbaptizing the people, the devil exerts himself with increased power and\ncunning among them to destroy them. There are but few who have joined\nthe Church who have escaped temptations of this character; and no man\nknows the power of the devil as those do who have embraced the truth.\nIt seems that those who are ignorant of the gospel and the power of\nGod, never experience the opposite power like those do who have been\nblessed of the Lord. Still they should not yield to the temptations of\nSatan, nor be entrapped by his snares.\n\nThe people who had been baptized at Keanae had known but little about\nthe two influences of which we speak; but no sooner had they joined the\nChurch, than they were assailed and tempted in a way that they never\nhad been previously. As a consequence of this, some fell away from the\ntruth; but others became stronger in the faith, so long as I remained\non the island.\n\nWe had many excellent times at Keanae. While I was there, at the\ntime of which I write, I went with the natives, men and women, to a\ncreek about two miles distant, where fish were very plentiful. The\nfishers gathered a quantity of plants, a shrub which is called by them\n_auhuhu_, and made two piles of them in the bed of the creek. The men\nand women surrounded these piles, each of them having a stick about\nfive or six feet long. At a given signal from one of the party, they\ncommenced thrashing the brush. They were very dextrous in the use of\nthis flail, turning the piles over and over and pounding them well, and\nnever hitting each other. The pounding of the bush had the effect to\nstain the water all around, and to kill the fish, which soon floated on\nthe surface in great numbers.\n\nFish so caught are excellent eating. This shrub, though it kills the\nfish, is not injurious to man. It was one of the liveliest sights that\nI had ever seen, and was very picturesque. The women were adorned with\ngarlands of green leaves, and had flowers entwined in their hair and\naround their bodies. Many of the men were stripped to the waist and\nalso had garlands entwined around them. The swimming and diving of some\nof the women, surprised me; they appeared to be almost amphibious.\n\n\n\nChapter 12\n\nInterview With the Dignitaries of the Kingdom--Return to Napela's House\nat Wailuku--Hundreds of People Baptized--Elders Become Famous All Over\nthe Group--A Remarkable Peculiarity\n\nNot satisfied with bringing religious influences to bear against\nus, the missionaries (of whom mention was made in the last chapter)\nstirred up the owners of the land and the officer having it in charge\nto stop the meetings and to threaten the people with punishment if\nthey persisted in holding them. This officer assembled the people, and\ncalled them out individually, and tried to make them promise that they\nwould not attend any of our meetings again. To accomplish his design,\nhe used both persuasion and threats; he said that if they met again,\nhe would have them bound and either carried to the capital of that\nisland--Lahaina--or to the seat of government--Honolulu.\n\nIn consequence of these interruptions and persecutions, of which Elder\nKeeler brought me word, at Kula, where I then was, it was deemed best\nfor me to go to Honolulu, and, if possible, see the king, or some\nofficers of the government.\n\nElder Philip B. Lewis, who was then living at Honolulu, and was\npresident of the mission, and I saw several of the king's ministers.\nThe American Commissioner espoused our cause very warmly, and demanded\nof the government all the rights for us which were extended to any\npreachers. We did not see the king, his health being very poor; but\nafterwards, at Lahaina, I had an interview with the two princes, who\nhave since been kings, and from them received assurances of protection.\nThe visit, altogether, was satisfactory and resulted in good.\n\nI have found that nothing is ever lost by Elders standing up for\ntheir rights. People respect others who are spirited in claiming the\nprivileges which belong to them; and no Elder should ever forget that\nhe is the ambassador of the King of heaven, and that he should maintain\nhis calling. If he be firm and respectful, he will be respected.\n\nWe succeeded in building a fine meeting-house at Keanae, and in all\nthat region faithfully preached to the people.\n\nI told you in a previous chapter about the manner in which I had been\ntreated by the missionary at Wailuku, the place where Napela lived. His\npersecution had been so strong that I thought it wise to withdraw from\nthat place for awhile; but the time had now come for me to return; I\nfelt impressed to do so; and, in company with Elder Francis A. Hammond,\nI reached there one evening. We did not know where to go to obtain\nquarters for the night; for the missionary who lived there had used\nevery means in his power to frighten the people against entertaining\nus. Even Napela, who had previously afforded me a home, was under\nheavy condemnation for his kindness towards me. I felt delicate about\ngoing to his house again, thinking, probably, he might be reluctant to\nentertain us in view of the opposition which would be sure to follow.\n\nWhen we got to the edge of the town in the hills, one of us went and\nprayed for the Lord to open our way and raise us up friends, while the\nother watched to prevent interruption. We felt led to go to Napela's\nhouse, thinking that if he received us kindly we would stop with\nhim, but if he appeared cold and distant, we would go elsewhere. We\nfound him in conversation with four or five intelligent natives; most\nof whom had been classmates of his in the high-school. One of them,\nKamakau, which translated means the _fish-hook_, was a preacher, a\nvery well-educated man, and said to be the best native orator in their\nchurch. They were questioning Napela about our principles, arguing with\nhim upon them, he defending them to the best of his ability.\n\nOur arrival seemed most opportune; he was glad to see us, gave us a\nwarm welcome, and soon transferred the conversation to us. At this\ntime, Brother Hammond's knowledge of the language was very limited, so\nI found myself the principal spokesman. We sat up until the roosters\ncrowed in the morning, conversing upon our principles and reasoning\nfrom the Bible. For some time they were disposed to combat our views,\nbut finally were silenced and sat and listened to what I said,\noccasionally asking questions.\n\nThis was the commencement of a great work in that region. The preaching\nof the gospel created a great excitement; the people flew by hundreds\nto hear the testimony, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the\nmissionary who had treated me so badly and who had so bitterly opposed\nand lied about the work, almost deserted by his congregation; they\nhaving left his church to hear us preach, and see us baptize.\n\nI confess that to see him thus treated pleased me; I did not wish him\nto receive any bodily injury, but I had hoped and prayed the day would\ncome when he would see his followers desert his church, embrace the\ntruth and leave him to himself.\n\nWe baptized a large number of people at Wailuku and the adjacent towns,\nerected a large meeting-house at that place and smaller ones at the\nother villages, and organized large and flourishing branches of the\nChurch.\n\nWhen Elder Hammond and his wife came to the island they had one child.\nSeveral children were born to them on the mission before they returned.\nAfter we had been successful in organizing branches at Wailuku, Waiehu\nand other places around there, Elder Hammond brought his family from\nLahaina, where they had been living, to Waiehu. There they lived for\nsome time. Afterwards, through his labors, a branch was raised up in\nLahaina, and they moved there. All the Elders who labored in that field\nhave reason to remember their kindness to them. Under their roof we\nalways found a warm welcome, and it was home--a home which men who\nwere constantly speaking the native language, living in the native\nhouses and having to conform, to some extent at least, to their modes\nof eating, could appreciate. Sister Hammond's unvarying kindness, her\npatience and cheerfulness in the midst of privation, and her unsparing\nlabors in our behalf, to sew and do other work for us, which, among\nsuch a people we had need to have done, as well as his constant efforts\nfor our comfort, will never be forgotten by those who enjoyed their\nhospitality.\n\nThe contrast between my position then and what it had been when\nformerly at Wailuku, was to me a constant cause of gratitude to the\nLord. He had revealed unto me that it was my duty to remain on the\nislands, acquire the language and bear testimony of His great work\nto the people. He had given me many promises connected therewith.\nAnd now I began to feel how true His words had been. Many and many a\ntime, when I sat in the meetings and heard the people speak in the\ndemonstration of the Spirit of the Lord, filled with its power and\nits holy influence, bearing testimony to the truth of the gospel, to\nits restoration and to the gifts which had been bestowed, my joy was\nso great that I could scarcely contain myself. I felt that, however\ndevotedly I might labor, I could not show the gratitude to the Lord\nwhich I felt, at being permitted to receive the Priesthood and to\nexercise it for the salvation of the children of men. Surely, never\nwere men happier than we who labored in the ministry among that people\nin those days; we had a fullness of joy, and it seemed as if there were\nno room for more.\n\nThe people, too, with all their faults and weaknesses, were greatly\nblessed. The power of God rested mightily upon them, and many a time\ntheir faces would glisten and appear almost white under the influence\nof the Spirit. They knew that Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior\nof the world, and that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were Prophets and\nservants of God. This knowledge had come to them through obedience to\nthe commandments.\n\nThe report of what was being done went through all the islands.\nThe natives frequently went from one island to another. They are a\ntalkative, gossipy people, and exceedingly fond of telling news, which\nnever loses anything after its first recital. I afterwards traveled\nall over the group, and I found myself well known by name to all the\npeople. This was frequently embarrassing to me, because I felt that I\ncould not meet the expectations which had been created respecting my\nskill in the language, etc., etc.\n\nThe king and his nobles all heard of us, and of what we were doing, and\nthough we were often misrepresented, we could not blame the Hawaiians\nfor much of this. If left to themselves, they had but little of the\nspirit of slander and persecution so common to the white race. They\nwere naturally kind and hospitable. Had there been no priestcraft\namong them, misleading them and poisoning their minds against the\ntruth, and tempting them with worldly advantages and popularity, the\nentire nation, I am convinced, could have been readily brought to\nreceive and believe in the principles of the gospel. But everything\nwas done to have them shun us, to inspire them with suspicion, to make\nus unpopular. These influences with those vicious and destructive\npractices which are fast hurrying the nation to extinction, were\nagainst us. But for all this, we had wonderful success among them.\n\nLike our Indian race, the Sandwich Islander is being destroyed and\nblotted from the face of the earth, by too much of what is called in\nBabylon, civilization.\n\nThere is one remarkable feature of the Hawaiian character which I will\nhere note. Among all the races of white men of which I have yet heard\nwhere the gospel is preached, the practice of sin, and especially with\nthe other sex, is attended with the loss of the Spirit; and unless\nthere is deep and heartfelt repentance, such sinners are apt to become\nenemies of the truth, and are frequently bitter in their opposition to\nthe work of God and His servants. Not so with the Hawaiians, so far\nas my observation extended. It is true that by indulging in sin they\nwould lose the Spirit; that could be plainly seen; but I never saw that\nbitter apostate feeling among them which is so common among white men\nwho apostatize. They were not given over to the spirit of unbelief as\nother races are.\n\nThis difference struck me, and I account for it in two ways; first,\nbecause of their ignorance the Lord does not hold them to so strict\nan accountability as He does us; and second, they are of the seed of\nIsrael, and to them peculiar promises have been made. I believe the\nsame characteristics will be found among the Lamanites; but that can be\nbetter told by those who have experience in laboring among them.\n\n\n\nChapter 13\n\nMissionaries from Home--Good Results of Their Presence and\nLabors--Voyage in the Canoe of the Islanders--Tradition of the\nNatives--A Visit to the Volcano\n\nAt the Fall Conference, 1852, held at Salt Lake City, nine Elders\nwere appointed on missions to the islands. They reached Honolulu in\nthe month of February, 1853. Their names were, Benjamin F. Johnson,\nWilliam McBride, Nathan Tanner, Reddin A. Allred, Redick N. Allred,\nThomas Karren, Ephraim Green, James Lawson and Egerton Snider. These\nElders were a great help to the mission. Nearly all of them were men\nof experience. Their presence brought additional life and energy, the\neffect of which soon became visible everywhere. The most of them took\nhold of the work with zeal.\n\nThey brought with them the copy of the revelation on celestial\nmarriage, which was first published at the conference at which they\nwere called to go to the islands. They also brought the spirit of the\nconference with them, and we all felt the benefit of it.\n\nAfter their arrival, the work received a great impulse on the Island\nof Oahu, and especially in Honolulu. That town was made alive with\nexcitement, and large numbers were baptized. A branch of the white\nmembers was organized, over which Elder B. F. Johnson was appointed to\npreside. Elders Tanner and Karren were chosen as counselors to Elder\nPhilip B. Lewis, the president of the mission. Upon the Islands of\nHawaii and Kauai, also, the work made great strides, and hundreds were\nadded to the Church.\n\nI omitted to mention that Elder William Perkins, who had been appointed\non a mission to the islands, reached there, accompanied by his wife\nand Sister John S. Woodbury, about the last of November, 1851. They\nremained for some time, laboring to the best of their ability. Brother\nPerkins was released to return home because of his wife's failing\nhealth.\n\nFor the purpose of visiting the Saints and people on the Island of\nHawaii (the Owyhee of Captain Cook), I had occasion to sail to that\nisland in April, 1854.\n\nIn those days, money was very scarce with the Elders, and we had not\nthe means to transport us from island to island on the regular vessels\nwhich sailed in those seas. I, therefore, in company with several of\nthe brethren, traveled, preaching by the way, through the hilly and\nrough country that lay between Lahaina and Kawaipapa on eastern Maui, a\npoint considered the best to embark at to cross the channel to Hawaii.\n\nOur company consisted of Elder R. N. Allred, who was at that time\npresident on the Island of Maui; Elder J. H. Napela, and four native\nElders belonging to Maui, who had been appointed to labor in the\nministry on the Island of Hawaii. Their names were Kaelepulu, Kapono,\nHoopiiaina and Peleleu.\n\nThe channel which we had to cross was at times very rough and\ndangerous, and many lives had been lost in it; but we had faith to\nbelieve that the Lord would preserve us in crossing, although our\nvessel was one that very few white men would care to venture out to\nsea in. It was a canoe hollowed out of a tree. Both ends of the canoe\nhad boards fitted in as a sort of a deck, which was covered with mats.\nThese mats were lashed to the canoe and made the top of the deck as\nround as a log and perfectly water-tight. You would think this deck a\ncurious place to go to sea on, yet the native islanders were perched\non both ends of the canoe on this deck with their paddles to row the\ncanoe when the wind did not blow. In the center of the canoe a certain\nspace was left for us to sit in, and sides were formed by lashing mats\nto some poles that were raised above the edge of the canoe. In this\nplace the natives had fixed plenty of mats, so that we could sit or\nrecline, as suited us, very comfortably. Lashed across the canoe, were\ntwo poles, each a little distance from the end of the canoe. These\npoles extended six or eight feet into the water, and fastened to their\nends was a board, which ran parallel with the canoe. This we call\nan outrigger; it was for the purpose of keeping the canoe balanced\nwhen the sail was hoisted. On these poles, when the wind commenced\nto blow the islanders sat, easing up and bearing down, according to\nthe strength of the wind, so as to keep the canoe from capsizing. The\ngreater part of the time some portion of their bodies was in the water.\nBut the sea has no terrors for the Sandwich Islanders. They can swim in\nthe water for hours without being at all fatigued.\n\nWhen I looked at these men perched on the deck of the canoe, it looked\nlike going to sea on a log; and had I not been familiar with the skill\nof the natives in managing their canoe, and had some confidence in my\nown powers as a swimmer, with them to aid me in the water, I should\nscarcely have ventured in such a craft as this was.\n\nWe prayed to the Lord, before we started, to give us a pleasant and\nfavorable voyage, and the natives said they had never had a more\nfavorable time.\n\nWe reached Upolu on the island of Hawaii between three and four\no'clock, having started from Maui about eight o'clock in the morning.\n\nWhile upon this subject I may say that we returned to Upolu after our\nvisit had ended, and again crossed the channel, back to Maui, but this\ntime we did not have a single canoe. One of the native Saints and his\nson had procured two new canoes and had lashed them together as was the\nfashion in former days, for their chiefs, by fastening pieces of timber\nacross both canoes, the latter being from four to six feet apart. This\nwas called in their language _kaulua_.\n\nOur place to sit or recline was arranged between the canoes, by laying\ndown boards and covering them with mats, making quite a comfortable\nfloor for us to sit upon, and in the centre of this the mast was raised\nand fastened.\n\nAs in the case of the single canoe, boards were fastened at the ends,\nwith mats lying over them to keep out the water, making a deck to the\ncanoe, while a small place was left in the centre of both canoes for\nsome of the natives to sit, and, if necessary, bail out water.\n\nWe left the four native Elders on the island, and brought away one with\nus, who was released from his mission to return to Maui. His name was\nKailihune.\n\nOur return passage was rough a good part of the distance, as we had a\ngood stiff breeze about two-thirds of the way across. Then the wind\ndied out; but we prayed to the Lord for more wind, and our prayers were\nanswered. We were between six and seven hours in making the passage.\n\nWe traveled around the island, and visited the famous volcano, the\nlargest in the world. Its name is Kilauea.\n\nOur party had swelled, including whites and natives, to about twenty in\nnumber. In addition to Brother Allred, there were of our party Elder\nThomas Karren, who lived at Lehi, Utah Co., but who is now deceased;\nElder James Keeler, who has lately returned from another mission to the\nislands, and who now resides on the Sevier; and Elder Egerton Snider,\nwho has since died.\n\nBrother James Lawson, of this city, was also with our party, but having\nseen the volcano, he did not ascend with us. We had to go on foot, as\nwe had no money to hire animals.\n\nThe Sandwich Islanders entertained a singular idea about the manner\nin which their islands came into being. Their belief was that the\nislands were brought forth, and that Papa, a woman whom they worshiped\nas a goddess, was the mother of them. The first-born, they think, was\nHawaii, the nearest island to this continent, and the last born Kauai\nand Niihau. This Papa had a sister, they say, whose name was Pele. They\nworshiped her as a goddess, and even when we were there many still\nbelieved in her. They say she first lived at Kauai and from there\nremoved from one island to another until she took up her residence at\nHawaii. They believed that her place of residence was the pit of the\nactive volcano, and that there, all the spirits of good chiefs and men\nwent to dwell. The bad ones went, they believed, to a place of darkness\nin the centre of the earth, over which a god called Milu reigned.\n\nIn former days the people threw the bones of some of their dead\nrelatives into the volcano. They had the idea that if Pele was pleased\nwith the sacrifice, she would consume the bones, and the spirit of the\ndead person would be permitted to return and be a familiar spirit to\nthem, and be as one of the family. If the sacrifice was not acceptable,\nthe bones were thrown out of the volcano.\n\nThe pit of the volcano is probably three miles across. There have been\ntimes when the whole bottom of the pit was one mass of lurid, seething\nfire. This must have been an awfully grand sight, but when we visited\nit, we found an immense field of lava which extended all around the\npit, and which resembled, in many respects, the sea in its wave-like\nappearance. It might also have been compared to a field of shore-ice,\nfrom which the water had receded, leaving it shattered and cracked; in\nfact, it looked like a frozen sea, except that it was black as coal. In\ncooling it had cracked, leaving large seams, from which steam and heat\nissued.\n\nWe found the pit in which the fire was raging to be about fifty or\nsixty feet deep; it was nearly round, and about one hundred yards\nacross. The sides were perpendicular; the strongest heat seemed to be\naround the sides. On one side there were two large holes very close\ntogether, which looked more like the mouths of two very large furnaces\nthan anything else I ever saw. Here the melted lava was in constant\nmotion, surging and heaving like the waves of the sea. The sound which\nit made was somewhat similar to the paddles of a steam vessel in the\nocean, only it was far greater. We heard this sound before we reached\nthe mouth of the volcano, and it resembled, to our ears, the booming of\nheavy artillery at a distance.\n\nThe lava kept flowing in the direction of these two holes of which\nI spoke, and rocks thrown down upon the surface of the lava would\nmelt when near these holes like sealing wax held in a candle. It was\nsurprising to see with what ease the fire would melt this stony mass\nof lava, which in some parts of the pit would cool on the surface, and\nconvert it again into a fluid.\n\nSometimes showers of hot lava would be thrown up in the air, and\ndescend on the edges of the pit where we stood. When this occurred\nthe bystanders would have to scamper off as fast as they could, or be\nseverely burned.\n\nThe sight of this pit surpassed in sublimity and grandeur anything I\nhad ever witnessed or imagined. It far exceeded what I had read in\nwritten descriptions, or even what I expected to see. Language fails to\nconvey to the mind a correct idea of its appearance.\n\nWe were told that a party of natives had just been there, throwing the\nbones of one of their relatives into the volcano with hogs, fowls,\netc., sacrifices with which to gain the favor of Madame Pele, the\ngoddess.\n\nFor some years there had not been any eruptions from this crater which\nwe visited; but others had broken out in the same neighborhood, the\nfire and smoke of which had been seen for a long distance, and ashes\nfrom which, it is said, had fallen on the decks of vessels hundreds of\nmiles at sea. From these eruptions the lava had run down to the sea,\nsweeping everything before it, and heating the sea for several miles in\nsuch a manner as to kill large quantities of fish.\n\nThe island of Hawaii is very frequently shaken by earthquakes, the\neffects of the hidden fires.\n\n\n\nChapter 14\n\nA Hawaiian Feast--Amusing Joke Played Upon White Men\n\nReturning from the volcano towards Upolu, we had a meeting house to\ndedicate at a place called Pololu, and the Saints there had prepared a\nfeast on the occasion.\n\nAn account of a Hawaiian feast may be interesting to my readers and I\nwill describe this one. The vegetable portion of the feast consisted of\n_poi_. This I have before described to you. It is not kept in dishes of\nearthenware but in calabashes, some of which are very large and will\nhold several gallons of the food. On this occasion the people sat on\nthe ground on mats. For tablecloths there were large green leaves of\nthe plant called _ki_. On these were placed packages of beef, pork,\nfowl, dog, and goat, done up in the leaves in which they had been\ncooked. Fish also was served up in this manner.\n\nAs soon as the blessing was asked, every one dipped his or her\nforefingers into the \"_poi_,\" and lifting as much as the fingers would\nhold, they passed them into their mouths, throwing their heads back as\nthey did so, to get a good mouthful. The hogs, chickens and little dogs\nwere speedily dissected, the fingers being the only knives, forks and\nspoons used among them. The scene was one of true enjoyment.\n\nThe Sandwich Islander is never so happy, so musical, so full of\npleasant talk, as when seated at a good meal; and the quantity one eats\non such occasions would astonish an American who had never seen them.\nUsually they are particular about having their hands clean, and eating\nwith due respect to each other's rights. One waits for the other to put\nhis fingers in the _poi_ and their ideas of decorum and manners, such\nas they are, are as strict as ours.\n\nWe Elders who ate with them were also seated on mats and ate the same\nkind of food that they did, only in place of using our fingers we\neither used spoons or small paddles which we whittled out of wood, to\nconvey the food to our mouths, thinking it would be better to set them\nan example in this respect.\n\nI scarcely think, though, that any of our party would prefer dog meat\nto beef, goat or chicken, though I must say that if it were not for\nprejudice, I think the dog meat as wholesome and as clean as the pork;\nfor the dogs which they eat in that country are a peculiar breed, the\nflesh of which is very sweet and tender. They are very particular\nin feeding them; they keep them cleaner and do not give them such\ndisagreeable food as they do to their hogs. But there is something\nrepugnant to people raised as we have been, in the idea of eating dog\nmeat.\n\nA story was told me by Brother Napela of a trick which he and some\nother natives played off on some white men at a feast which they\npartook of at a place called Waikapu on the island of Maui. The white\nmen were merchants from Lahaina, and had been invited over to this\nfeast. They had meats and fish of every kind nearly, and among the\nrest had a number of roasted pigs and roasted dogs. One of the natives\nsuggested, as a good trick to play on the white men, that they sever\nthe heads of the pigs, and put them with the dogs, and take the dogs'\nheads and put them with the pigs. They did so. Of course the merchants\ndid not want to eat dog meat, and would not touch any of the meat where\nthe dogs' heads were, but ate heartily of what they supposed were pigs.\nThe natives tried to persuade them to eat the other meat. \"Oh no,\" they\nsaid, \"these delicious pigs are good enough for us,\" and they would not\ntouch the other.\n\nI may say here that the native method of cooking meat is superior to\nours. They contrive to preserve all the juices of the meat in it while\nit is being cooked.\n\nNothing was said to the merchants about the trick that had been played\nupon them until the feast was ended, and they could not be persuaded\nthat they had eaten dogs, until the bones were shown to them, which\nthey knew to be not those of pigs. They tried hard to be sick at the\nthought of having eaten dog meat, but had to confess that it was as\ngood meat as they ever ate.\n\nAn unsuspecting person, if served with dog meat, would never dream that\nit was anything but sucking pig.\n\n\n\nChapter 15\n\nAnswers to Prayer, and the Bestowal of the Gifts upon the Elders and\nPeople--Elders Sent to Teach Not to Be Taught--Blessings Will Rest Upon\nThose Who Labor Among the Red Men for Their Salvation\n\nOne incident, I will relate, which occurred a few months after we went\nto Wailuku, to show how the Lord hears and answers prayer.\n\nWe were very much in need of some means to buy stuff for garments, etc.\nThe natives were very poor, and we felt delicate about asking them for\nanything; but we knew that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers;\nso we prayed to Him. Brother Hammond had brought his wife and child\nover from Lahaina, and they were living, as I have told you, in the\nvillage close to Wailuku. He and I had to make a visit to a town about\ntwelve or fifteen miles distant, and before starting, we had prayed to\nthe Lord to open the way so that we might obtain what we wanted.\n\nWe had traveled from the house about three miles, when in passing some\nhouses which were on the beach, we met a man by the name of Freeman, an\nAmerican, who accosted us and inquired if we had authority to marry.\nUpon our informing him that we had, he asked us if we could spare the\ntime to stop at his house and marry him. We told him as it was on\nour way we would stop. I performed the ceremony, and at his request\naddressed the people who had assembled at the house. He gave us a five\ndollar gold piece.\n\nWe had married many before that, but this was the first money which had\never been given to us. His five-dollars supplied our necessities, for\nin those days we were content with very little.\n\nI have always looked upon this as a direct answer to our prayers, for\nwhen we met the man he was evidently on his way to Wailuku, with his\nintended wife, to be married by the missionary there. The missionary\nmissed the fee, but as he knew nothing respecting it, he was no poorer.\nI do not suppose he needed it as badly as we did.\n\nIt is always more pleasant for an Elder, when he is in need of\nanything, on a mission, to apply to the Lord for it than to ask the\npeople; at least, I have always found it so.\n\nThe Lord blessed the natives who joined the Church in many ways,\nand they rejoiced exceedingly in the gifts of the Spirit. One day a\nyoung man made application to be baptized who had been so sick that\nhe was not expected to live. His elder brother was in the Church, and\nthe evening previous to his baptism the Elders had been called to\nadminister to him. He was so much restored by morning that he was able\nto arise and afterwards attend the meeting, and was baptized.\n\nThe same day Brother Napela and some of the other native Saints had\nvisited a woman who believed in the gospel, who wished to be baptized;\nshe had been unable to walk upright for five years, but she was anxious\nfor them to administer to her, that she might be restored. They laid\ntheir hands upon her and commanded her in the name of the Lord Jesus\nChrist, to arise and walk. She immediately stood up and walked, and\nwent and was baptized.\n\nThis created quite an excitement in the neighborhood, for she was well\nknown, and the people were much astonished at her restoration. The\nattention of numbers were turned to the gospel by this occurrence.\n\nAnother instance which happened about the same time was that of a woman\nwho was a member of the Presbyterian church. She was afflicted with\ndropsy, or something very like that disease. She had tried various\nremedies, but obtained no relief. She had heard about the gifts in the\nChurch, and she called upon Brothers Napela and Uaua to administer to\nher, saying she was willing to covenant and forsake her sins. They\nadministered to her and she was healed; all the swelling left her and\nshe was baptized. On Sunday she attended meeting, and afterwards made\nsome remarks derogatory to the work, indulging in a spirit of apostasy;\nher disease returned immediately, and she was as bad as ever.\n\nAnother instance was that of a woman, one of whose limbs was withered,\nand who was afflicted with palsy. She was baptized, and was speedily\nrestored to health.\n\nA niece of hers was afterwards afflicted similarly; she requested us to\nadminister to her, and when we did so, she was restored to health.\n\nThe same day that this latter person had hands laid upon her, we had\na meeting at a place called Waiehu. After the meeting was over, three\npersons requested to be administered to, one of whom was a blind man.\nHe had been blind for upwards of thirty years, but his sight was\nrestored to him. He began to amend from the time hands were laid upon\nhim, and the next morning, he was able to see. He was afterwards able\nto go about without any guide; and I have frequently seen him come into\nmeeting, winding his way among the people, without any aid, to a seat\nwhich he was accustomed to occupy near the speaker. His restoration\ncaused a great stir in the neighborhood, for his blindness was well\nknown. He had a son, a mature man, who could barely recollect when his\nfather was able to see and go about without aid.\n\nI will relate another instance of which I was not an eye witness;\nbut which I have every reason to believe occurred as I will relate\nit. I have mentioned an Elder whose name was Uaua. He was a man of\nconsiderable faith. His wife had been stricken down in his absence and\nhad been, to all appearance, dead for some three hours before he had\narrived at his house.\n\nIn that country when a person dies, the friends and relatives of the\nfamily assemble together and manifest their grief by wailing. They were\nindulging in these lamentations and outcries when he returned, every\none supposing that she was dead. He was, of course, very much shocked;\nbut the first thing he did was to anoint her and lay hands upon her;\nand, to the astonishment of all who had assembled, she instantly\nrecovered.\n\nI might multiply instances of this kind without number; but I write\nthese, to show you that the same works and power of God, which were\nmanifested anciently through the faith of the servants and Saints of\nGod have been shown forth in our day and under the administration of\nthe people of God, who now live.\n\nThe natives of the Sandwich Islands had great faith to lay hands on\nthe sick, and also to have hands laid upon them when they were sick.\nIt was not contrary to their traditions for them to believe in this\nordinance, for their old native priests, before the missionaries came,\nhad considerable power which they exercised, and in which the people\nhad confidence.\n\nMany Elders desire, when they are called as missionaries, to go to\nenlightened and cultivated nations. They think their experience among\nsuch people would be profitable to them, and that they would became\npolished and learn many things which they could not obtain among a\npeople, for instance, like the Sandwich Islanders or the Lamanites.\nSuch Elders forget that the Lord sends His Elders out to teach and not\nto be taught. Missionaries should not have the idea of self-comfort and\nself-indulgence in their minds; but the salvation of souls.\n\nThe man who goes out expecting the people to whom he is sent, to\nteach, enlighten and benefit him commits a great blunder. He does not\nunderstand the nature of his Priesthood and calling.\n\nI shall probably never forget the feelings expressed to me by John\nHyde, Jr., on this point. He had been called, at a Conference (April,\n1856) at Salt Lake City, to go on a mission to the Sandwich Islands. He\ncame to San Francisco on his way. I was then publishing the _Western\nStandard_ and presiding over the California mission. It was with a\nfeeling akin to disgust that he spoke to me about his mission. If he\nhad only been called to go to France, to England, or to any of the\nso-called enlightened nations, he said he would have gone willingly;\nbut to go to a degraded, heathenish people was entirely beneath him. A\nman with his talent and acquirements would be thrown away upon them.\n\nHe apostatized while on the voyage to Honolulu; or, to state it\nmore properly, he made up his mind while on the sea to dissolve his\nconnection with the Church. He was an apostate in his heart and\nfeelings before he left San Francisco. But can any one, who understands\nthis work, wonder that a man who felt thus should lose the Spirit and\napostatize? It would be a wonder if he did not.\n\nThe experience of the Elders who have been on missions to the Sandwich\nIslands is encouraging to all who are called to go on missions to\nthe Lamanites. They may have privations to endure, but they will be\nswallowed up in the joy of the Lord. I am sure the Lord makes up for\nany lack of temporal comforts by an additional outpouring of His Spirit.\n\nThe soul of a Sandwich Islander or a Lamanite is as precious in the\nsight of the Lord as the soul of a white man, whether born in America\nor Europe. Jesus died for one as much as the other, and to the men of\nred skins the Lord's promises are very great and precious. Those who\nadminister ordinances of salvation to them will have fully as great\njoy over them in the day of the Lord Jesus as if they had been more\nenlightened.\n\nBlessed shall be the faithful men who have labored, who now labor, and\nwho many hereafter labor among the Lamanites for their salvation. In\nsuch labor the Elders will enjoy the power of the Priesthood, the gifts\nof the Spirit, and pure, heavenly happiness to their hearts' content,\nand that is all they could enjoy among the races which they may think\nmore favored.\n\nI say this because my own experience has proved it to be true, and\nbecause of the great blessings and promises which are made to those who\nshall labor for the salvation of the seed of Israel and the covenant\npeople of the Lord.\n\nIn what position could the sons of King Mosiah have learned as much\nconcerning the power of God as they did during their missions among the\nLamanites? Among what people could they have saved more souls? And will\nthey not have joy with them in the kingdom of the Father.\n\nThousands of Elders will yet have to labor among the red men for their\nsalvation. They should not look upon this as a hardship, but as a great\nand inestimable privilege--a work in which angels delight to engage.\n\n\n\nChapter 16\n\nConsolation Drawn from the Book of Mormon--Its Translation into the\nHawaiian Language--Great Joy in the Labor--A Committee to Raise Funds\nto Purchase a Press, Type, etc.--Press, etc., Ordered, and Then Sent to\nCalifornia--The Book of Mormon Printed--The First Translation into the\nLanguage of a Nation of Red Men--Kindred Languages Spoken Through the\nPolynesian Islands--The \"Western Standard\"\n\nSome of my readers may be placed in circumstances similar to those\nwhich surrounded me a part of the time on the Sandwich Islands; and\nit may be profitable to tell them how I kept from losing courage and\nbecoming home-sick. My love for home is naturally very strong. For the\nfirst year after I left home I could scarcely think about it without my\nfeelings getting the better of me. But here I was in a distant land,\namong a people whose language and habits were strange to me. Their\nvery food was foreign to me, and unlike anything I had ever before\nseen or tasted. I was much of the time separated from my companions,\nthe Elders. Until I mastered the language and commenced preaching and\nbaptizing the people, I was indeed a stranger among them.\n\nBefore I commenced holding regular meetings, I had plenty of time for\nmeditation, and to review all the events of my short life, and to think\nof the beloved home from which I was so far separated. It was then that\nI found the value of the Book of Mormon. It was a book which I always\nloved. But I learned there to appreciate it as I had never done before.\nIf I felt inclined to be lonely, to be low spirited, or home-sick.\nI had only to turn to its sacred pages to receive consolation, new\nstrength and a rich outpouring of the Spirit. Scarcely a page that did\nnot contain encouragement for such as I was. The salvation of man was\nthe great theme upon which its writers dwelt, and for this they were\nwilling to undergo every privation and make every sacrifice.\n\nWhat were my petty difficulties compared with those afflictions which\nthey had to endure? If I expected to share the glory for which they\ncontended, I could see that I must labor in the same Spirit. If the\nsons of King Mosiah could relinquish their high estate, and go forth\namong the degraded Lamanites to labor as they did, should not I labor\nwith patience and devoted zeal for the salvation of these poor red men,\nheirs of the same promise?\n\nLet me, recommend this book, therefore, to young and old, if they need\ncomfort and encouragement. Especially can I recommend it to those who\nare away from home on missions. No man can read it, partake of its\nspirit and obey its teachings, without being filled with a deep love\nfor the souls of men and a burning zeal to do all in his power to save\nthem. Every Latter-day Saint should read it, as well as the other\nrecords which the Lord has given to us.\n\nThe conversations which I had with the natives concerning the Book of\nMormon and the origin of the red men, made them anxious to see it.\nAfter branches had been built up at Wailuku, at Waiehu and other places\naround, by Elder F. A. Hammond and myself, I was led to commence the\ntranslation of the Book of Mormon into the language of the Islands--the\nHawaiian language, as it is called.\n\nMy place of residence was at Brother J. H. Napela's, Wailuku. He was\nan educated, intelligent Hawaiian, who thoroughly understood his own\nlanguage, and could give me the exact meaning of words. The meaning\nattached to many words depended upon the context. It was important,\ntherefore, in translating, to know that the words used conveyed the\ncorrect idea. Unless the language used carried to the Hawaiian mind the\nsame meaning precisely which the words in our translation gave to us,\nit would not be correct.\n\nProbably but few in the nation were as well qualified as Brother\nNapela, to help me in this respect. He was a descendant of the old\nchiefs of the Island of Maui, in whose families the language was\npreserved and spoken in the greatest purity, and he had advantages\nwhich no other equally well educated man, at that time, possessed. He\nhad studied the principles of the gospel very thoroughly, he had a\ncomprehensive mind to grasp the truth, and he had been greatly favored\nby the Spirit. As I progressed with the translation, his comprehension\nof the work increased. He got the spirit of the book, and was able to\nseize the points presented to him very quickly.\n\nIn the last days of the month of January, 1851, I commenced the work\nof translation. My fellow-laborers, the Elders, encouraged me, and\nfrom the First Presidency at home--Presidents Young, Kimball and\nRichards--came words of cheer, approving of what I was doing, and\ncounseling me to persevere.\n\nThe labor of preaching, baptizing, confirming, organizing branches,\nadministering to the sick and traveling around visiting branches, and\nover other islands, pressed upon me and claimed the greater portion\nof my time. Those were busy seasons for all who would labor, and they\nwere exceedingly delightful. The Lord seemed very near to us upon those\nislands in those days.\n\nThe time occupied by me in translation, were the days and hours which\nwere not claimed by other duties. In the beginning my method was to\ntranslate a few pages, and then, when opportunity offered, explain to\nBrother Napela the ideas, whether historical or doctrinal, in great\nfullness. By this means he would, get a pretty thorough comprehension\nof the part I was translating. I would then read the translation to\nhim, going carefully over every word and sentence, and learning from\nhim the impression the language used conveyed to his mind. In this way\nI was able to correct any obscure expression which might be used, and\nsecure the Hawaiian idiom.\n\nThe Spirit of translation rested upon me, it even became a very easy\nlabor for me. I obtained great facility of expression in the language,\nand before I got through with the book, I had a range of words at my\ncommand, superior to the great bulk of the people.\n\nThis was a very natural result. Doctrines, principles and ideas were\nin the Book of Mormon which were outside the ordinary thoughts of the\npeople. The translation of these, called forth the full powers of the\nlanguage, and really required--that which I felt I had while engaged in\nthis work--the assistance of the Spirit of inspiration.\n\nAt some times in revising the translation, I had other intelligent men\npresent with Brother Napela.\n\nIn this way I went through the whole book, carefully reading and\nexplaining every word and sentence to him and to them; and if there was\nan obscure expression, not leaving it till it was made plain. When it\nhad been thus revised I copied it into a book. The copying, however,\ninto the book, for the want of time, was never quite finished. But,\nexcepting that it was written in very fine writing, because of the\nscarcity of paper, it really did not need copying.\n\nThe translation was finished on July the 22nd, 1853--about two years\nand a half from the time I commenced it. But it was not until the 27th\nof the succeeding September that we completed the revision.\n\nMy labors in the ministry have always been to me exceedingly joyful;\nbut no part of them ever furnished me such pleasure as did my work\nat translating that precious record. After I commenced it, I had, in\npreaching, an increased flow of the Spirit, in testimony I had greater\npower, and in the administration of all the ordinances of the gospel\nI felt that I had greater faith. I felt very happy. In truth, my\nhappiness was beyond description. Thankfulness constantly filled my\nheart, because of my being permitted to do this work.\n\nIn December, 1853, I visited Kauai, the extreme westerly island,\nwhich is inhabited, of the group. I had a double purpose in visiting\nthis island--to visit the Saints and bear testimony to all the people\nconcerning the work, and to again revise the translation of the Book of\nMormon. There was a native Elder laboring in the ministry with Elder\nWilliam Farrer at that time on the island, by the name of Kauwahi,\na man of acute intellect and talent and good education, and who was\ncalled the most eloquent and best reasoner in the Hawaiian nation. I\nwas desirous to have him and Brother Farrer go through the translation\nwith me, to see that no word had been omitted, and to correct any\ninaccuracies which might have escaped my previous reading.\n\nWe commenced this revision at the town of Waimea, the farthest\ninhabited point west on the Sandwich Islands, on the 24th of December,\n1853, and finished it on the last day of January, 1854.\n\nWhile attending to this we did not neglect our other duties among\nthe Saints and people. During this revision, I read the book through\ntwice, with the exception of a few pages: once to Brother Farrer, who\nlooked at the English version, to see there were no words or sentences\nomitted; afterwards to Brother Kauwahi, who also looked at the English\nbook, he being a little acquainted with English, to correct any\ninaccuracies in the translation or the idiom.\n\nWhere there was an expression that was not very plain, or that was\nout of the ordinary line of the Hawaiian thought--and there were many\nsuch--I took pains to explain it fully to Brother Kauwahi, as I had\ndone before to Brother Napela, so as to be sure that I had used the\nmost simple and clear language to convey the idea.\n\nIn my journal I find that I say it was more free from mistakes than I\ncould expect it to be under the circumstances in which I was placed\nat the time of translating--there were calls to preach, frequent\ninterruptions to go and administer to the sick, and often conversations\nwhich distracted my attention; but in the midst of which I had to\ntranslate and copy.\n\nAt a conference of the Elders, held at Wailuku, October 6th, 1853,\nthe question was discussed, whether it would be better to employ some\nprinting firm to print the Book of Mormon, or to purchase a press and\nprinting materials for the mission, with which to print that and other\nworks necessary for the instruction of the Saints. It was decided\nthat the better course would be to buy a press, etc. A committee of\nthree--Elders Philip B. Lewis, Benjamin F. Johnson and myself--was\nselected to take such measures as might be necessary to raise the funds.\n\nAt that conference I was released from the charge of the Island of\nMaui, and appointed to travel all through the islands, to collect means\nfor the publication of the Book of Mormon. And here it may be proper to\nsay that those who subscribed for one copy or more of the work, were\nafterwards furnished therewith when it was published.\n\nBrother Edward Dennis, a white man who had been baptized at Honolulu,\nloaned the committee, on their note, one thousand dollars towards\nthe purchase of the press, type, paper, etc. These funds we sent to\nBrother John M. Horner, California, for him to use for the purchase of\nwhat we wanted. The Press, type and paper were purchased in New York,\nwere shipped around Cape Horn to Honolulu, and, as I had returned\nhome to Salt Lake Valley, they were sent to Elder Parley P. Pratt, by\nhis request, at San Francisco, California. He thought at that time of\npublishing a paper there, and wrote to the First Presidency for me to\nbe appointed a mission to assist him.\n\nI had barely reached home after an absence of five years. I remained\nthere about five months and a half. At the April Conference, 1855,\nI was called to go on a mission to California, to publish the Book\nof Mormon in the Hawaiian language, and to assist Elder Pratt in the\npublication of a paper. Elders Joseph Bull and Matthew F. Wilkie\nwere selected to go with me. When we reached San Francisco, Elder\nPratt had started for home. I succeeded in reaching him at Brother\nJohn C. Naile's ranch, where he was completing his preparations for\nthe journey. He set me apart to preside, in his place, over northern\nCalifornia and Oregon, and we separated, he to go home, and I to return\nto San Francisco.\n\nOur first business was to secure a suitable office, set up the press,\nand go to work. Brothers Bull and Wilkie knew nothing about the\nHawaiian language; but the copy, to begin with, was good, and they soon\nbecame so familiar with the words that they could set it in type nearly\nas well as they could English, and made but very few mistakes.\n\nPresident Young counseled me to take my wife with me upon this mission.\nMy method of reading the proof was to get her to read the English book\nwhile I looked at the proofs of the translation. By this means I was\nable to detect any omission of words or sentences. After going through\nthe proofs in this way, I read them again, to see if any errors in\nspelling, etc., had escaped me. This was my only way of reading by\ncopy; for I had no one with me who could read the Hawaiian. When we had\nthe edition struck off and bound, they were sent to the Elders upon the\nislands.\n\nThus was the Book of Mormon first translated and published in the\nlanguage of a race of red men--a part of the race for whom its promises\nare most abundant. The Elders who have since labored upon those\nislands, know the good the book has accomplished. Its circulation can\nnever fail to benefit all who will read it.\n\nThe language of the Sandwich Islanders is a dialect of the Polynesian\nlanguage, spoken by the Islanders with red skins all through the\nPacific. Should the day ever come, as I trust it will, when the\nnatives of other groups shall be visited and brought to the knowledge\nof the gospel, it will take but little trouble to adapt the Hawaiian\ntranslation to their language. But whether or not, the book has been\npublished to the Hawaiian nation. The Lord plainly manifested that it\nwas His will that this work should be done, and for its accomplishment,\nHe opened the way most marvelously.\n\nThe publication of the book was not a part of my first mission; but\nas the sketch of the translation would not be complete without the\naddition of these few particulars respecting its publication, I insert\nthem. In addition, I may also say that, after the publication of the\nBook of Mormon, the press and type were used for the publication of the\n_Western Standard_, a paper which many of my adult readers may remember.\n\n\n\nChapter 17\n\nTime of Departure--Funds Provided--Sorrow at Separating--Contrast\nBetween Our Landing and Our Departure--Souls for Our Hire--An\nExceedingly Happy Mission\n\nThe time had arrived for the five Elders, who had remained out of the\nfirst ten who were sent to the islands--to return home. It had been a\nmatter of some thought how we would be able to obtain means to return.\nThe islanders had but little money. A dollar with them was a very large\nsum; a ten cent piece was a much larger sum with them generally, and\nmore difficult to procure, than a dollar was to Americans. But when\nthey learned we were soon to be released, they manifested a very kind\nand liberal spirit. Still, with all they had done, when our passages\nwere engaged, we did not have near enough money to pay for them. But we\nhad faith that the necessary means would come from some quarter. And it\ndid. Through the kindness of Elders Lewis, Johnson and Hammond and some\nwhite brethren whom we had baptized, we had enough, and some money to\ntake with us, to help us when we reached San Francisco.\n\nThe Lord knew our wants and he supplied them. And thus He always does\nwith His servants and those who put their trust in him.\n\nElder James Keeler, one of the five, failed to reach Honolulu in time\nto sail on the vessel on which we had engaged our passages. This was a\ngreat disappointment to us.\n\nElders Henry W. Bigler, James Hawkins, William Farrer and myself bade\nfarewell to the Elders and Saints at Honolulu on Saturday, July 29th,\n1854, and sailed for San Francisco, homeward bound. The wharf at\nHonolulu was crowded with native Saints and others, to see us embark.\nWe had quite an ovation. There also were the Elders from home and\nSister Hammond--Sister Lewis was not able to be out--to bid us farewell.\n\nWhen the signal was made for all to go on board, we had considerable\ndifficulty in making our way to the vessel, through the throng\nof people who crowded around to shake hands. My feelings were\nindescribable. My dear white friends I had been associated with on\nterms of the closest intimacy for several years. Ties of blood could\nnot, it seemed to me, have caused us to be more attached to each other\nthan we were. We had endured privation and toil together; we had\ncounseled and prayed together; we had had seasons of joy and happiness\ntogether, such as those only know who have been engaged in similar\nlabors.\n\nMy feelings were so acute at the thought of parting with these beloved\ncompanions and Saints, that, long as the years had been during which I\nhad been absent from home, and much as I had yearned for that home and\nits loved associations, I could not control my emotions.\n\nHow great the contrast between our landing and our departure! We had\nlanded there friendless and unknown--so far as man was concerned. Now\nthere were thousands who loved us, who rejoiced in the truth of the\ngospel and in the testimony of Jesus. On that wharf that day was an\nillustration of the wonderful power of the gospel in creating love\nin the hearts of the children of men. We had gone forth weeping and\nbearing precious seed. The Lord had given us souls for our hire. Many\nwho were baptized there have gone hence, who I firmly believe will be\nnumbered among the redeemed and sanctified. Others, doubtless, will\nprove faithful, and receive an inheritance in the kingdom of our Father.\n\nMore than twenty-five years have elapsed since my departure from the\nSandwich Islands. During that period my life has been a happy one.\nI have filled many missions, have seen great varieties of life, and\nhave had exceedingly agreeable and delightful associations; but, after\nmaking allowance for growth and increased capacity to enjoy, I can\ntruthfully say that, destitute as we were of many things which people\nbrought up as we are think necessary to comfort, at no time or under no\ncircumstances have I enjoyed more sweet, pure and soul-filling joy than\nI did on MY FIRST MISSION.","title":"My First Mission","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":26738}