{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48668/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48668","id":"gutenberg_48668","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48668","summary":null,"tags":["Autobiographies","Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History","Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Missions -- Norway -- History","Latter Day Saint pioneers","Norway -- History -- 1814-1905","Skanchy, Anthon L. (Anthon Lornsen), 1839-1914","Utah -- History -- 19th century"],"text":"ANTHON L. SKANCHY\n\nA BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL\nSKETCH of the MISSIONARY\nLABORS of a VALIANT\nSOLDIER FOR CHRIST\n\n\n\nTRANSLATED AND EDITED BY\nJOHN A. WIDTSOE\n1915\n\n\n\n[Image captioned \"BISHOP ANTHON L. SKANCHY.\nBorn, Trondhjem, Norway, Sept. 17, 1839; died Logan, Utah,\nApril 19, 1914.\"]\n\n\n\nAnthon L. Skanchy\n\nA Brief Autobiographical Sketch of\nthe Missionary Labors of a\nValiant Soldier for\nChrist\n\n\n\nTranslated and Edited\nby\nJOHN A. WIDTSOE\n1915\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nI. Early Years\n\nII. I Accept the Gospel\n\nIII. I Go on My First Mission\n\nIV. Missionary Labors in Nordland and Finmarken\n\nV. Again Before the Courts\n\nVI. How I Spent the Winter in Nordland\n\nVII. The Lord Sends Me Money and More Friends\n\nVIII. I Am Released from My First Mission\n\nIX. I Labor in Aalesund\n\nX. I Preside in Christiania\n\nXI. The Land of Zion\n\nXII. My Third Mission\n\nXIII. My Fourth Mission\n\nXIV. Quiet Years of Home Service\n\nXV. My Fifth Mission\n\nXVI. The Last Word\n\nXVII. The Sixth Mission\n\nXVIII. The End of the Journey\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nThe missionary labors of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of\nLatter-day Saints would form a most interesting chapter in the history\nof human endeavor. Every experience seems to have fallen to the lot of\n\"Mormon\" missionaries, who have labored under every clime and among\nall classes and races of people. Taken, by a sudden call, from the\nhome, workshop, field, store or office, they have gone out at their own\nexpense, with no special training in speaking or argument, to teach to\nall the world a system of eternal truth, against which mighty forces\nhave ever been arrayed. The third generation of this volunteer army is\nnow carrying the gospel over the face of the earth, and the vigor of\nthe work is unabated.\n\nThe plain, unstudied sketch herewith presented of a few of the\nmissionary experiences of an elder who spent a third of his long,\nmature life in foreign missionary service can be duplicated by hundreds\nof the missionaries of the Church. Simple and straightforward these\nsketches are; yet, between the lines, may be read every human emotion,\nfrom the highest exaltation of spirit to the darkest despair. It would\nbe well if many such missionary lives could be published for the\nencouragement of all who desire to battle fearlessly for righteousness.\n\nBishop Anthon L. Skanchy died on April 19, 1914, after a lingering\nillness of several years. In the midst of the pain of this sickness\nhe wrote these sketches, chiefly of his early mission when he had the\nprivilege of opening the gospel door in the beautifully majestic land\nof the midnight sun, and of bringing hundreds into the Church. He wrote\nin his mother tongue, which he loved so well. The eloquent directness,\nas well as the severe repression of feeling, characteristic of the\nnorthern people, are on every page.\n\nA few weeks before his death. Bishop Skanchy entrusted his manuscript\nto me, to do with it as I might see fit. He hoped that, somehow, his\nexperiences might strengthen the testimonies of others. The missionary\ninstinct was strong within him. I have rendered it freely into English,\nand, while in so doing it has lost its peculiarly eloquent flavor, I\nhope it has not wholly lost its power for good. I should greatly love\nto fulfil the wish of the noble author of these sketches, who was the\ninstrument in the hands of God of bringing to the family to which I\nbelong, and to me, the priceless gift of an understanding of the gospel.\n\nThat thousands of such strong men as was Anthon L. Skanchy could and\ndo find a life's satisfaction in the gospel, in spite of the hardships\nand contempt they must endure, is a strong testimony of the inherent\nvitality of the message of the Prophet Joseph Smith.\n\nLOGAN, UTAH\n\n\n\nAnthon L. Skanchy\n\nA Brief Autobiographical Sketch of the Missionary Labors of a Valiant\nSoldier for Christ\n\nTRANSLATED AND EDITED BY JOHN A. WIDTSOE.\n\nIf any of my friends should interest themselves in reading parts of\nmy life's history, of my missions especially in the northern parts of\nNorway, they may do so in this short report, and they may depend upon\nit that what is here written is the truth.\n\n\n\nI. EARLY YEARS.\n\nI, Anthon L. Skanchy was born in Trondhjem, Norway, September 17, 1839,\nthe seventh child of Elling Lornsen Skanchy and Mina Ansjon. My father\nwas a sea-faring man, well known, and much sought after as a pilot in\nnorthern Norway. He, as many other sea-faring men of that day, became\naddicted to strong drink, and consequently, though he earned well,\nthere was poverty in the home. My dear mother was compelled to work\nboth day and night to keep the children, who numbered seven in all.\n\nFrom the time I was eight years old, I had to work and earn something\nfor the family. My boyhood was spent by the water, where the great\nfjord comes in from the ocean. The shore was low and level, and great\nsand-spits ran out into the water. There the water ebbed and flowed\nevery six and one half hours, through a distance of eight or ten feet.\nWhen the water was low, we could go out to the sand-spits into the\nfjord, and there I used to fish with one hundred hooks on my line,\nbaited with sand worms. The line was left on the sand, with the end\nsecured, and after fifteen hours, the water again was low and the lines\nlay in the dry sand with the fish that had been caught by the hooks.\nThe fish thus caught furnished some means to the support of the family.\nAs I grew a little older I was employed by a fisherman, who owned his\nown boat, and with him learned how to fish. I also worked between times\nin the rope factory, where I later became apprenticed and learned the\ntrade well.\n\nThe school naturally was neglected, and I was there only once in a\nwhile. When I was thirteen years old I began, however, to see the\nnecessity of taking proper hold of my schooling, and determined to use\nmy whole time in the attempt to win back what I had lost. My mother\ncould not earn all the necessaries of life for me and herself, and\nduring this period I learned to know the gnawings of hunger and the\neffects of hunger upon my system. A young school boy as I was could not\ngrow and develop without proper and sufficient food. Those days I can\nnever forget. My mother had a little house of three rooms, built on\nrented ground. In a little garden around the house she raised potatoes\nwith which to pay the larger part of the rent on the land. Because of\nbroken health and the weakness of my aged father, he had been compelled\nto quit the sea-faring life, and had journeyed to his oldest son who\nlived far up in Nordland. There my father resided until his death.\n\nI gave all my time to schooling during three years. I was determined to\nwin back what I had lost, and my interest was centered on the school,\nand as a result I made good progress. Among other things I was taught\nthe Lutheran religion, and we had regular lessons in the history of\nthe Bible, and explanations of the events and doctrines found in both\nthe Old and the New Testaments. These books on Bible history we were\nobliged to learn by heart, and I learned my lessons well. This became\na good foundation for me in the practice and preaching of my dear\nreligion of the future and, through this knowledge of the Bible, I\nlearned to understand a little of the Lord's dealings with the children\nof men, which became a great blessing and relief to me in the mission\nfield and at home.\n\nAfter three years of school work I was confirmed, with a very good\ngrade, in the Lutheran church. I had worked now and then in the\nrope walks and had become greatly interested in this work. I then\napprenticed myself to a rope factory, the owner of which was T. H.\nBerg. I was permitted to remain at home with my mother, and received\nabout $1.12 a week for my support in return for my service. This\nwas pretty good, and occasionally I earned something extra between\ntimes. As I remained at home it was possible for me to have a little\nmore liberty than I would have had, had I remained with the other\napprentices in the household of the master.\n\nSince I had now left the school, in which I had been so intensely\ninterested, I became possessed of a kind of melancholy which led me\nto seek the Lord and to study religion more closely. I went for help\nto the Lutheran priest who had confirmed me, and he loaned me several\nbooks on religion and other books containing much useful information,\nin which I interested myself for some time. Nevertheless, I found no\nsatisfaction as a result of my reading; in fact, I hardly knew what I\nwas reading.\n\nOne Sunday, in the summer of 1860, I went to the church located a short\ndistance beyond the city. A little valley lies by the side of the main\nroad. I went into this valley, under some trees, and bent upon my knees\nand prayed to the Lord with a loud voice. Immediately came a moment of\ngreat exaltation, but followed quickly by a voice which spoke to me in\na contemptuous tone:\n\n\"What is wrong with you? What do you want? You come here and bend upon\nyour knees as a child; you, who have learned your profession so well;\nyou, who have so many friends, and have so much honor and respect! Are\nyou not ashamed?\"\n\nUnder the influence of this voice I began to feel almost ashamed of\nmyself, and of what I was doing. Presently, however, I broke through\nthe mist, and was given power to rebuke the evil spirits and to compel\nthem to draw back. Then a great joy rested upon my soul. I prayed for\nlight. From that time on, I felt as free as a bird in the air.\n\nIn the fall of 1860, I finished my apprenticeship. In accordance\nwith the contract, I received my last year's pay, $14; a suit of new\nblack clothes; new shoes; a silk velvet hat of the best kind, and, in\nthe evening, a splendid dinner. It was customary at the end of the\napprenticeship to do a piece of work as a proof that the business had\nbeen thoroughly learned. I was required to make a long rope, used by\nships in measuring the number of knots traveled per hour. I made such a\nrope, and it was accepted as very good by the shipping committee. After\nmy apprenticeship was over I was offered work in the same factory, but\nwith the difference that I was to receive the pay of a master workman.\nIn those days there was great traffic in rope, because wire cables had\nnot yet been introduced, and there was much building and travel of\nships in the city of Trondhjem.\n\n\n\nII. I ACCEPT THE GOSPEL.\n\nMy uncle Cornelius and his wife, who owned a house in the city, a\nshort time before had been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ\nof Latter-day Saints, by the brothers Dorius, who were the first\nmissionaries in the northern part of Norway. I visited this aunt and\npresented her with a clothes line which I had made. My aunt was a well\nspoken lady, very fervent in her faith, and she immediately began to\nbombard me with \"Mormonism.\" In fact, she lent me a lot of tracts\nand Scandinavian _Stars_ for me to read. These I began to read, and\ncompared what I read with the Bible.\n\nI had my own room in our home and spent all my spare time in the study\nof the Bible and the \"Mormon\" books. I soon borrowed more gospel\nliterature and studied it, with the Bible, both day and night, and\nprayed to God for aid and guidance in the investigation. The testimony\nthat I had the truth came to me more strongly, until, as it were, I\nbecame transformed both in body and spirit through the saving message\nof the gospel.\n\nIn those days, many kinds of spirits made themselves known, but this\nhad no influence upon me, for I had seen even the evil one in the days\nthat I attended school. This may sound peculiar, but I have, in truth,\nseen with my material, eyes, evil spirits in different appearances, and\nunder such varying conditions that I am absolutely convinced of their\nexistence among us. Both good and evil spirits are among us even here\nin the valleys of the mountains. I am ever grateful to the Lord that\nhe has permitted me to see and hear such things, as they have been of\ngreat use to me in my life's journey. When I investigated the gospel\nI established an unspeakable faith in the apostle's counsel that the\nSaints should seek after spiritual gifts. I have the same faith and\nconviction today.\n\nI reflected much upon the message that had come to me, without saying\nmuch to any one. There was a missionary in Trondhjem, Thomasen, by\nname, from Christiania, a well informed and talented man; also another\nnamed John Dahle, from Bergen. These missionaries conducted meetings\namong the Saints, but I did not visit their meetings, for I was very\nretiring in my disposition. Meanwhile my oldest sister, Mrs. Martha\nHagen, had investigated the gospel and was baptized. Shortly afterward\nI also became so strongly convinced of the truth of \"Mormonism\" that\nI went to Elder Thomasen and asked to be baptized. In the evening of\nthe 16th of January, 1861, I was baptized at Trondhjem, under a most\npleasant influence.\n\nAfter my baptism, I presented myself at one of the meetings of the\nSaints. It was the first time that I had attended. Some of the faithful\nold sisters doubted my sincerity, since I had not before attended\ntheir meetings; moreover, it was looked upon as a wonder that a young\nman, like myself, could face the persecution sure to follow the\nacceptance of a religion so despised as was \"Mormonism.\" At that time\nthere were few young men in the Church. It was soon proposed that I be\nordained an elder. I felt, however, that I was not possessed of the\npower and information to receive so high a calling, and I asked that\nthe ordination be postponed for some time. In a later meeting it was\nsuggested again that I should be ordained to the priesthood, and I was\nthen ordained an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints. Immediately afterwards I was called to assist the missionaries.\n\nTrondhjem, at that time, was notoriously the headquarters of \"Mormon\"\npersecution. The authorities had gone to the extreme. They had arrested\nand severely punished some of our sisters because they had left the\nlegal church of the land and had accepted \"Mormonism,\" and had been\nbaptized into this new Church. Among the sisters so punished were Marit\nGreslie and Mrs. Olsen, two sisters who later came to Logan and were\nmarried to respectable men; also Lena Christensen who later came to\nSalt Lake City. These sisters were imprisoned and sentenced to five\ndays' imprisonment with a diet of only bread and water. I was also\ncalled to the court house at the trial and had to answer many questions\nput to me by the chief of police. Several of the questions were of such\na nature that I did not feel under any obligation to answer them, which\ndid not bring the chief into the best of humor. As a result, the police\nchief promised me that he should not forget me. He was very bitter in\nhis feelings towards the Saints.\n\n\"Mormonism\" from that time on, became my guiding star. With great\ninterest I accepted the call to help in bearing testimony of the\ntruthfulness of the gospel, and in visiting the Saints in the city\nand its surroundings. All this time I continued my work in the rope\nfactory, owned by Mr. Berg, under whom I served my apprenticeship. He\nwas a religious man, a dissenter who had some time before left the\nLutheran church and now belonged to a local sect. While my master and\nI walked up and down the rope walk together spinning hemp, \"Mormonism\"\nbecame the theme of the day, during weeks and months. By this time I\nhad acquired many of the principles of the gospel as taught in the\ntracts of Orson Pratt and Parley P. Pratt, and I was enabled thereby to\ncontinue day after day our interesting discussion.\n\nAfter I had joined the Church, since it was very difficult to rent\na house where meetings could be held, the missionaries secured the\nlargest room in my mother's house. The missionaries lived there, and\nconducted their meetings there for several years. Many times the house\nwas bombarded by mobs, and my mother had to go and talk to the people\nin order to disperse them. After a year or so, the persecution quieted\nsomewhat and life became more peaceful. The missionaries had, as it\nwere, a home with my mother, and many enjoyable meetings were held in\nmy mother's house.\n\nAfter a time my mother also made herself acquainted with the gospel,\nand developed a faith in it, but was not baptized. On many occasions,\nduring the persecutions, she went out in her garden and preached\n\"Mormonism\" to the restless crowd of people standing in the street and\naround the house. She was well acquainted with the Bible, and at once,\nwhen an editor was present in the crowd, he wrote down the principles\nthat she declared to the crowd, and printed them in his paper as the\nremarkable speech of an old woman. She had a good singing voice and\nwent often to the houses of our neighbors where she sang songs from our\nhymn book. The missionaries remained in my mother's house, and loved\nher, during many years, even after I returned from my first mission to\nNordland and Finmarken in the northern part of Norway.\n\nSeveral were baptized at Trondhjem. Several changes occurred among the\nmissionaries, and at one time we were in charge of a local elder, who\ngave us good counsel and guidance. Later we received as our missionary,\nHans A. Hansen from Christiansand, who was sent to Trondhjem to care\nfor the new branch there. This man later became my counselor in the\nbishopric of the sixth ward of Logan.\n\nI secured frequently at this time leave of absence from the factory\nfor a week or two at a time, in order to accompany the missionaries on\ntheir visits to the surrounding districts, such as Stordalen, Indhered,\nSeldo, Borseskogen. In this manner I learned to know something of\nthe different conditions that a \"Mormon\" elder has to meet. Often,\nthough he had money, we could not secure the privilege of buying\nfood, or a place in which to sleep, simply because we were \"Mormons.\"\nNevertheless, we were of good faith, though we were many times utterly\nexhausted by the long distances that we had to cover on foot, without\nproper food. These experiences were of a kind to give us greater\npreparation for our important work as messengers carrying the glad\ntidings of the gospel to the people. We felt much interested in our\nlabors, especially since we had the joy of seeing some of the fruits of\nthem. Thus passed the first two years of my membership in the Church.\n\n\n\nIII. I GO ON MY FIRST MISSION.\n\nEarly in the spring of 1863 I was called to be present at the\nconference to be held in Christiania. I resigned, immediately, my\nplace in the rope factory. According to law, six weeks' notice had to\nbe given when a person resigned from steady employment; but if I was\nto reach the conference on time, I had to leave at once, for at that\ntime there was no railroad between Christiania and Trondhjem. I was,\ntherefore, obliged to tell the owner of the factory that I had to leave\nin one week. This was a hard nut for him to crack, especially since he\nhad the law on his side. I told him that I was going to the conference,\nlaw or no law, and that I was going to be there on time. He finally\ngave in to my request, and even offered to meet me in the morning of\nmy departure to bid me goodbye, and promised to send an apprentice to\ncarry my satchel to the city limits.\n\nOn the morning of my departure, the master came, according to his\nagreement, and brought with him an old school teacher, connected with\nthe church, as I supposed for the purpose of driving \"Mormonism\" out\nof me. Their plan did not materialize; our discussions were carried on\nin a friendly way, and at last they bade me goodbye, and gave me their\nbest wishes for my future. The apprentice came and carried my satchel\nthrough the city. Thus I left my native city, to begin the many years\nof missionary service.\n\nA Swedish rope-maker was also on his way to Christiania, and we,\ntherefore, traveled together. We traveled on foot, along the country\nroads, the 350 miles that separate Trondhjem from Christiania. This\nwas early in the month of March. The roads were difficult to travel\nfor there was much snow. Moreover, neither of us knew the conditions\nand short cuts of the roads. We had snow shoes along with us, which\nmade our journey more rapid in places where they could be used. On we\ntraveled, day after day; along the valleys, over the hills, now in\nheavy drifted snow, now where the road was bare from the heavy winds.\n\nIn the course of our journey, we finally had to climb Dovre mountain,\nthe highest divide in Norway. The mountain side was covered with\ndrifted snow, and it was exceedingly difficult to walk there. One\nevening we reached the station known as Grievestuen, the first station\nnorth of Dovre mountain, and spent the night there on nearly the\nhighest point of the mountain. This is far above the tree line, and\nno dwelling houses are found so far up on the mountain. The next day\nwe crossed the mountain, for the first time for me, though it was not\nto be my last. That day we undertook, as usual, almost too much of a\nday's journey, for we traveled almost fourteen miles through the heavy\ndrifted snow, to the second station from the one in which we had spent\nthe night. Darkness overtook us. The road was filled with drifted\nsnow, and in our worn-out condition we were in danger of giving up and\nremaining in the snow throughout the night. I had in my pocket a small\nbottle of camphor drops of which we took a drop now and then. This\nseemed to help us, and at length, we reached the station.\n\nThe next morning we walked ten or twelve miles downward into the\nbeautiful and well-known Guldbrands Valley. Some days later we reached\nthe beautiful city of Lillehammer, which lies at the end of the great\nlake of Mjosen. Ships here take passengers to Eidsvold; but, when we\narrived, the lake was still covered with ice and we had to continue\nour foot journey twenty-eight miles farther. At last we reached the\ntown of Gjevig, where we journeyed by ship to Eidsvold, the railroad\nterminus, where we boarded the train immediately, and found ourselves\nin Christiania the same day. The long walk was ended.\n\nOn the evening of my arrival, the conference began, in the large hall\nin Storgaden. Elder Rasmus Johansen was president, and the brothers\nDorius were also there. I felt like one who has just escaped from a\nprison--glad and happy. We had a good time together. Nearly all of the\nmissionaries and our local elders were there. During this conference I\nwas called to go to Nordland on a mission, and I received my commission\nfrom President Rasmus Johansen. I suppose few of those present knew\nanything about Nordland at that time.\n\nSoon after the conference, I began, alone, my long tramp of 350 miles,\nnorthward, to my native city of Trondhjem. On the return journey,\nhowever, I took a somewhat different route, through Osterdalen. On\nthis trip, also, I had to walk across a great mountain and as I was\nnot acquainted with the conditions, it was night before I came down\nfrom the mountain, into the nearest village. The people had all gone to\nbed. I knocked on the door of one of the houses. \"Who is there?\" asked\nsomeone. \"A stranger who has come over the mountain,\" said I. \"No, he\ncan get no entertainment here,\" said a woman, briskly. \"Hold on,\" said\na man. \"A man who has walked over the mountain alone at this time of\nnight needs rest. I have been out myself and know what it means.\" He\ndressed himself, opened the door, put good food on the table, made my\nbed, and said, \"Help yourself.\" This man was one of the many who has\nsecured, for himself, a reward.\n\n[Image captioned \"MISSIONARY CERTIFICATE OF BISHOP ANTHONY L. SKANCHY.\nThis certificate, issued in 1863, bears the endorsement of different\npolice officers, under date of Nov. 2, 1863; June 10, 1864; and May 24,\n1865.\"]\n\nI came finally to the city of Roros, where many of my family lived,\nand to whom I bore my testimony. At last I reached Trondhjem where I\nsecured work again in the rope factory, and where I worked during two\nweeks, in order to earn enough to buy a steamer ticket to the place\nassigned to me for my missionary labors. At that time, the missionaries\nwere sent out without purse or scrip, and depended entirely upon the\npromises of the Lord.\n\n\n\nIV. MISSIONARY LABORS IN NORDLAND AND FINMARKEN.\n\nThe 27th of May, 1863, I took passage with the steamship _Prince\nGustaf_, and with God's mercy of eternal salvation before me, I bade\nmy dear mother goodbye. With joy in my heart I went out to carry the\nmessage of the everlasting covenant, to preach the gospel and to battle\nfor the cause of truth.\n\nThe first island I visited was Degoe. It lies off Helgeland. There\nI bore my testimony to the people, and distributed books and tracts\nwherever I went. I then traveled to Harstad, from there to Qvarfjorden\nwhere there was a family who belonged to the Church, and then along\nKadsfjorden where there also was a family belonging to the Church.\n\nThen came numerous long visits among the many deep fjords and sounds\nof which Nordland mainly consists, and upon the islands, most of which\nare thickly peopled. I traveled by boat, sailship or steamship, as\nopportunity offered. I tramped from island to island, over mountains\nand valleys, visited houses and fishing districts, and had opportunity\nto bear my testimony before many people. I visited nearly all of the\ninhabited islands, fjords and sounds in Nordland. There I met many\nkinds of people,--priests and school teachers, and many people well\nversed in the Bible. The people in Nordland seemed to me to be better\nposted on the Bible than in any other place in Norway. The few Saints\nwhom I found scattered on the different islands were visited, but,\nsoon after I reached there, two families who belonged to the Church\nemigrated to Zion, namely Pollov Israelsen, and Peter Hartvigsen. My\ngreatest interest and joy was my mission work; this I can truthfully\nsay.\n\nNordland begins several miles north of Trondhjem, where the Atlantic\nocean crowds in and follows the Norwegian coastline northward and\nwashes the old steep rocks of the shore, until the famous North Cape is\nreached, a few miles from the widely known city of Hammerfest. Hundreds\nof tourists from various nations visit this place every summer. Here\nthey may see the midnight sun circle around the horizon, through two\nlong months of summer. After we leave North Cape the coast line draws\nnorth-east and east to south, until the great Atlantic ocean surrounds\nNorway's northern, barren and fjord-furrowed coast. This part of Norway\nis called Finmarken. The country is here very barren. No vegetation,\nexcepting grass, is found, and the population, chiefly Finns and Lapps,\nlive on the mountains and care for their great herds of reindeer, or,\nthey live on the islands and fish from season to season. Fishing, as is\nwell known, is the life-blood of Norway's industrial existence. I give\nthese facts because this great mission field is little known, even now,\nin our Church history.\n\nI was called to go on a mission to Nordland, which includes many cities\nsuch as Namsos, Bodo, Harstad, and Tromso. The last mentioned city\nlies 875 miles north of Trondhjem, and Vardo, the most distant of the\ncities lies 1,400 miles north of Trondhjem. This vast territory was,\ntherefore, my mission field. In this field only ten souls belonged to\nthe Church at the time I came there. These few had been baptized by\nElder Ola Orstend who was the captain of a trading ship, and who later\nbecame postmaster in Cottonwood, Utah.\n\nThe people in that part of the land did not always deem it proper\nfor me to preach \"Mormonism\" and to administer the ordinances of\nthe Church. Consequently, during the time I spent in that country,\nI was arrested seven times, carried over land and sea in boats and\nsteamers as a prisoner, tried in various places, and was sentenced\nto imprisonment six times. The first time I was given six days\nimprisonment with only bread and water for food. This was in the city\nof Tromso. In the prison I had to mingle with thieves and murderers.\nI was assigned a little room in the attic with a tiny window in the\neast, and a hard bed hanging by hinges on the wall so that it might be\ndropped down when it was to be used and lifted again when not in use,\nso that there would be some room for me in which to move about. A tiny\ntable and a tiny bench constituted the furniture. I had a small piece\nof sour, coarse bread, and all the water I desired, every twenty-four\nhours. The cause of my sentence was illegal religious activity.\n\nWhen I had earned my freedom, and was let out of the prison, I began\nagain to bear my testimony among the people and to distribute books and\nto hold meetings, and to baptize those who were converted to the saving\nmessage.\n\nThe tracts that I distributed found their way to many of the honest in\nheart. I heard at one time of a man far away in Finmarken who desired\nmuch to see and speak with an elder. He had read something in some of\nour books that had reached him. I had then just come out of the prison\nin Tromso. I bought a ticket on a steamer to a station known as Hasvig,\non the east side of the great island of Soro. He who desired to meet\nan elder of the Church lived in Ofjorden, west of the island, nearly\nthirty-five miles away, over great mountains and morasses. Since I had\nnever been in this place, I wondered if I could find my way to it. The\nonly road was that made by the goats as they traveled back and forth\nbetween the watering and feeding places. The steamship was to arrive in\nHasvig at two o'clock in the morning. It was the 16th day of September.\nI was the only deck passenger on the ship. As the night went on I\nbecame very anxious about the manner of my reaching my destination,\nand when all was quiet on board I went forward on the ship, bowed\nbefore the Lord and prayed to him, in whose service I was traveling,\nto guide my footsteps and to care for me on this particular task. I\nbecame surrounded by a great light and a voice said to me, \"Be of good\ncourage. You are not alone. Whatever is necessary will be given you.\" I\ncannot describe how happy I felt.\n\nAt two o'clock in the morning the steamboat whistled and we stopped at\nthe station of Hasvig. There was no landing place there at that time,\nso the postmaster came out with a boat to deliver and receive the mail.\nI was the only passenger he brought away. He asked me where I came from\nand where I was going. I told him and he invited me immediately to go\nwith him to his office. He said, \"My housekeeper has always a cup of\ncoffee ready for me when I am up at night to get the mail.\" Afterwards\nhe went down with me to the shore and took me to a freight boat which\nwas about to travel up the fjord the way I was going. The postmaster\nasked those in the boat to take me with them as far as they went, and\ntold me it was best for me to begin my foot journey at the place the\nboat would stop. I continued with the boat to Sorvar, which we reached\nat ten o'clock the next forenoon. Great fishing districts are located\nthere. I had been up all night, and I was very tired. A fisherman whom\nI met asked me to go with him to his place and he would make some\ncoffee for me, for he understood that I was tired.\n\nAs my strength returned to me I began to bear my testimony to them.\nAfter an hour's time, one of the many who had gathered to listen to\nme, invited me to go with him to his house for dinner, after which he\ntook a boat and rowed me across the sound. On this journey our time\nwas occupied in explaining questions which he directed to me. He was\nvery much interested. After we crossed the sound he hired a boat and we\nrowed up to the head of the fjord. Here we found shelter for the night\nwith a family of Laps. When they heard where I was going, one of the\nLap women said she knew the road well and offered to go with me and to\nshow me the road over the mountains, about seven miles.\n\nWe reached Ofjorden, my destination, early in the afternoon and was\nwelcomed by the man who had desired to see a \"Mormon\" elder. This man,\nfor some time, had held a position similar to that of probate judge,\nbut had resigned his position and was now living quietly and was being\ncared for by a housekeeper. It was peculiar that the man who had heard\nme speak on the island, and who had rowed me across the sound, had\nfollowed me the whole distance. I held a meeting with them and spoke\nto them the whole day of my arrival and the day after. My friend the\nfisherman returned, at last. The day afterward I baptized the old\nprobate judge; later his housekeeper was baptized, and at last the Lap\nwoman who had acted as my guide over the mountain was baptized. When\nthis had been accomplished the Lap woman guided me back straight over\nthe mountain, to Hasvig where I had left the steamship early in the\nnight just a week previously. The vision that I had had on the deck of\nthe ship that night had been literally fulfilled. Everything that was\nnecessary had been given me. I felt very grateful to the Lord for his\nfatherly care and guidance during the week.\n\nAfterward I visited the huts of the Laps on the shore and slept one\nnight with them. They received me with much kindness, invited me to eat\nwith them and desired much to listen to what I had to tell them. I held\na meeting with them and sang for them. They all felt well, as did I\nalso.\n\n\n\nV. AGAIN BEFORE THE COURTS.\n\nI had a sister five years older than myself who was not in the Church,\nbut was a private teacher in the family of Mr. Miller, a merchant in\nKovaaen, about one hundred seventy-five miles south of Tromso. Mrs.\nMiller was slightly related to the Skanchys. At one time I had been\nkept in prison in Tromso during twenty-one days, waiting for a session\nof the court at which I could be tried. At last I was sent by steamship\nto Kovaaen, where a court was to be held.\n\nWe left Tromso about ten o'clock in the evening. There were many\npassengers on board, especially on the deck. It was one of the mild,\nbeautiful summer nights of Nordland. The steward who had my ticket and\nwas supposed to take care of me desired to have a little fun with the\n\"Mormon\" preacher, but apparently he made a wrong calculation, for when\nhe attacked me with improper words, I talked back to him so loudly that\nthe captain on the bridge came running down to the steward and took\nhim by the coat collar and put him under arrest, saying that he had no\nright to make life disagreeable for a prisoner. The steward remained\nunder deck as a prisoner during the whole day.\n\nAt once, as a result of this episode, I was surrounded by all the\npassengers on the deck, and as I stood on one side of the deck the\nlittle ship began to tip. The captain very politely asked me to stand\nin the middle of the deck. I felt then that I had a good opportunity\nto preach and to answer the questions that might be put to me. The\npeople again gathered about me, and I stood there and defended the\ncause of truth from twelve o'clock at night until five o'clock in the\nmorning. At that time a lady of the first class came to me and offered\nme something to eat. This food strengthened my body. Thus, in my life's\nexperience, I have been occupied a whole night in battling for the\ncause of truth. On this occasion I felt that I was not alone, but that\nI was powerfully supported by the Lord and his influence.\n\nAt seven o'clock in the morning we reached our destination, and two of\nthe civil authorities came on board. They both greeted me, as I had\nlong been acquainted with them. At eight o'clock we reached the place\nwhere the court was to be held. The courthouse was on a little hill\nrising abruptly from the fjord. Mr. Nordrum, the court clerk, and his\ndeputy went at once into the house which was occupied as a dwelling\nhouse, and where the family were eating breakfast. Mr. Nordrum was a\nliberal-minded man and he said to Mrs. Miller, \"Have you a comfortable\nroom that we can have, as we have a prisoner along with us?\"\n\n\"What?\" said the lady, \"a nice room for a prisoner?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" he answered. \"It is no ordinary prisoner. It is the 'Mormon'\npreacher, Skanchy.\"\n\nMy sister, who was standing by the table, heard this and almost\nfainted. She left the table and went weeping down to the shore where I\nwas standing, threw her arms about my neck, kissed me, and cried again.\nAll this was done to the great surprise of my fellow passenger, the\nlady who so kindly gave me a bite to eat earlier in the morning. This\nlady soon heard that I was her brother. This also brought tears from\nthe lady, who said, \"I would give a great deal if I had such a brother,\nfor he has been on the battlefield all night and has won a victory.\"\n\nAll this occurred on Sunday morning. I was given a good breakfast in a\nlarge, well-furnished room in the building. The court clerk came to my\nroom, greeted me in a friendly way, and told me that my hearing should\nbe the first one so that I could be released early.\n\nAt eight o'clock Monday morning, I was called into the court room\nwhere I was examined concerning my great crime against the Norwegian\nlaw, namely, that I had freely preached the doctrines of the Bible and\nperformed the ordinances of the gospel which should be done only by\nthe Lutheran priests who were paid for so doing. The court clerk, Mr.\nNordrum, of whom I have spoken, felt well towards the \"Mormons\" and\ntreated them with much respect, but he was obliged, of course, to do\nhis work in accordance with the laws of the land. The only judges who\nwere after us were those who wanted to make a reputation for themselves\nby persecuting the \"Mormons.\"\n\nThis bitter trial was similar to the many others to which I had been\nsubjected. Upon the request of the court, I bore a long testimony to\nthe truthfulness of \"Mormonism,\" all of which was written down in the\nrecords of the court. All of it was read to me again, so that I might\ncorrect it, if I so desired, before it became a permanent part of the\ncourt records. I thought this was not so bad, as my testimony had been\nwritten into the official records each time that I had been before the\ncourts. As a result a great deal of \"Mormonism\" stands recorded in the\nofficial records of northern Norway, as a testimony against the unjust\npersecutions to which the servants of the Lord have been subjected.\n\nMy case now went to a superior officer for his consideration, and I was\nset free until such time as he might pronounce judgment upon me. The\nday after, the clerk of the court, Mr. Nordrum, offered to take me on\nmy journey with him, in a large row boat which belonged to the city.\nIt would be at least a week before the steamer arrived. The boat had\nfour men as rowers. The clerk and I sat at the back of the boat on a\ncomfortable bench, and during the eight hours of the trip discussed\nthe gospel. We came during the day to a large island which was densely\npopulated and there, in accordance with my wishes, I was set on land.\nOn this island I took up my work with much satisfaction, and continued\nit from island to island.\n\nI will say here again that my mission work was of greatest interest\nand joy to me. When I saw the fruits of my work, as I took the honest\nin heart to the water's edge and there baptized them, I felt that it\nwas the most glorious work any mortal could perform. No sacrifice\nseemed too great, for I felt as if my whole system was swallowed up in\n\"Mormonism.\"\n\nThe experiences which I won by my work in Nordland, the long journeys\nby land and water, the sacrifices and the suffering I had to endure,\nsuch as hunger and loss of sleep, will always remain in my memory,\nand they were no doubt for my good. I learned on this mission great\nlessons, and the Lord be praised therefor.\n\n\n\nVI. HOW I SPENT THE WINTER IN NORDLAND.\n\nI continued my work until late into the fall and early winter, as\nlong as I could find the people at home. When winter opened, most of\nthe able-bodied men voyaged to the fishing districts and worked there\nthroughout the winter. Especially did the fishermen gather in the\nfamous fisheries of Lofoten, where thousands of men and boats assembled\neach winter while the women, children and the aged remained home on the\nislands. At that season so much snow falls that it is almost impossible\nto travel from place to place.\n\nI was in considerable distress, for I hardly knew what a poor\nmissionary could do during the winter to perform his duties and to\nmeasure up to the responsibilities that had been placed upon him and be\ntrue to his call. This great problem filled my thoughts. I presented\nthe matter to Him in whose service I had been called. The result was\nthat I obtained the testimony that I should go wherever I could find\npeople and work with them just as far as I could. Consequently, I\nstarted out for the fisheries where the men gathered for the winter.\n\nFirst I went to the island of Hatsel, and from there to a place near\nLofoten, in the midst of the wild ocean, and hired out to one of the\nfishermen, the owner of a large boat. There were six of us in the boat,\nand during the winter we fished with all our strength in the great\nAtlantic Ocean. An old house stood on the shore, at a point known as\nQualnes, in which the fishermen lived during the fishing season. Twelve\nmen, six from our boat and six from another, lived in the large, one\nroom of the cabin. Here we cooked and slept; but it went pretty well.\n\nAs I was quick, strong, and endured the sea without becoming sick, I\nfelt that I never needed to take a place inferior to any of the other\nmen. My associates were raw, uncultured seamen. I thought to myself,\n\"Here is something for me to do.\" I went out among the great rocks\nthat littered the coast and had my prayers and communions with the\nLord. Soon I acquired influence over the men and began to teach them to\nrefrain from their fearful swearing and cursing, which they continued\nfrom morning until evening. They all knew that I was a \"Mormon\"\npreacher. Our captain was the first to stop swearing; then the others,\nand finally they developed a very great respect for me. Whatever I\nsaid, they accepted as being right. In the end they developed such a\nlove for me that when the fishing season was ended, and I bade them\nfarewell, tears came into their eyes. This was the first winter of my\nfirst mission, and the first winter that I spent as a fisherman on the\nwild ocean.\n\nFrom the fisheries I sailed to the island of Hatsel where my winter's\ncaptain lived, and visited for a short time with him and his family. I\nreceived my $34 for the winter's work, and went joyfully on my way, to\ncontinue my mission over the country.\n\n\n\nVII. THE LORD SENDS ME MONEY AND MORE FRIENDS.\n\nThe second summer of my mission was used chiefly in preaching to the\nfishermen. I traveled from island to island, from shore to shore, over\nmountains and valleys, and I won numerous friends. Many were baptized\nand more were left with a testimony. I was arrested, of course, and on\none occasion was given eight days' solitary confinement with only bread\nand water to eat. In the fall my means had all been consumed, and the\nsnow water ran in and out of my boots. I succeeded in borrowing about\nfive dollars from a friend, who was not in the Church, and that put me\nin tip-top shape again. On my journey I secured many subscribers for\nthe _Scandinavian Star_, which also helped to spread the gospel.\n\nThe second winter came, and I received a letter from Captain Christian\nHansen, with whom I had labored the preceding winter, asking me to\nreport at his home the first of January, 1865. It was about the middle\nof December that one of the brethren who took a boat and rowed me\ninto Gosfjorden, whence I could walk over a mountain, about fourteen\nmiles, until I would be opposite the island which was my destination.\nThe country here was very wild and open, and had great chasms running\nthrough it. It was very easy for a person to become hopelessly lost in\na maze of wonderful natural phenomena. I bade my good brother goodbye\nby the ocean side; he gave me explicit instructions for my guidance.\nI was to go in a straight line southward, and I would reach my\ndestination. As much snow lay on the ground, I took a pair of skis and\ncarried my clothes and books in a satchel on my back.\n\nWithin five minutes after starting, the air became filled with snow,\nso that I could not discover which was south or north. To go back was\nimpossible, for no one lived by the fjord; the boat had gone back,\nand I stood alone in the solitary, mountainous wilderness. However,\nthis did not frighten me, for I felt that I was directed by the Lord.\nI turned about to get the direction I had taken in the beginning, and\nthen sighted ahead, as best I could, in the same direction to some bush\nor other natural object. This I repeated, over and over again, and in\nthat fashion I traveled the whole fourteen miles in the midst of a\nterrific snow-storm. The snow was so soft that my skis sank down in it\nuntil I was in the snow almost up to my knees, and I could hardly see\nthe end of my skis, as I brought them out of the snow. Naturally, my\nprogress was slow.\n\nNight came and darkness overtook me, but for me there was light,\nnevertheless. At nine o'clock that night I reached the shore. It was\njoy to take the skis from my feet and walk on the sand among the great\nrocks. I saw a house on the shore about a mile away. I went in there\nand asked for lodging. I was so overcome by weakness from the hard\njourney of the day that I could scarcely speak. The man in the house,\nhowever, understood what troubled me, and placed me in a chair by the\nwarm stove; then he took my boots from off my feet, and brought me from\nthe cellar a bowl of home-made malt beer. After I had become warmed, he\nasked me to sit up to the table and eat. I did this in a great hurry.\n\nThis poor fisherman's home was the only house on this side of the\nisland. After I had eaten, the wife made the beds. She put clean sheets\nand pillow slips over a good straw mattress covered with an old boat\nsail in the corner of the one room in the house. After prayers, it\nseemed that they knew who I was. I was then made to sleep in their own\nbed, while they slept on the straw bed made in the corner.\n\nThe next morning we had a modest breakfast, and the man rowed me across\nthe sound to the next island, and would not take the slightest pay\nfor what he had done. I then walked across this island and found a\nman to ferry me across the next sound. For this service the ferryman\ndemanded twenty-five cents. This was the last money that I had. I gave\nhim the money and he set me ashore on a sand ridge that jutted out\nfrom the island into the water. He immediately rowed back to his own\nisland. There I stood, alone, penniless and in a strange place. With\na heavy heart I gathered up my satchel and my coat and looked around\nfor my directions. There, as I looked, by my side and on the sand, lay\na little pile of money in silver and copper coins, totaling nearly a\ndollar. I was so affected by this unexpected relief that I sat down on\na stone and wept for gratitude.\n\nI wondered how this money had been left, and came to the conclusion\nthat some fishermen had probably been selling fish among the\nneighboring islands and had placed the money that they received, as is\nvery common, in the bailing dipper of the boat; on their way back they\nhad forgotten that the money was in the bailing dipper, and in bailing\nout the boat had thrown the money accidentally on the sand-ridge on\nwhich I had landed. However, it had happened. It was another testimony\nto me that there is One high above us, who sees and knows all things.\nHe knew, no doubt, that I had paid out my last money, and therefore\nguided my boat so that I landed where this money had been lost. I was\ngrateful to the Lord.\n\nI continued my journey from island to island, and at last reached the\nisland of Hasel, where I was received warmly by Captain Christian\nHansen and his wife. This time he offered me a much better position in\nthe fishery than I had the previous winter. I was to be with him during\nJanuary, February and March. He was to furnish the fishing apparatus\nand my provisions, and we were to divide equally the products of my\nlabor. I agreed to this and we sailed away.\n\nWe lived this winter also in the old log house, and all went fairly\nwell. When the fishing season was ended, and the account was to be\nsettled, I found that my share was about fifty dollars. I paid my debts\nand continued my journeys again.\n\n\n\nVIII. I AM RELEASED FROM MY FIRST MISSION.\n\nAt last I came to the town Vardo in Finmarken, the most distant city in\nmy field, where I remained a few weeks. While there I went out on the\nocean and fished. Instead of nets, hooks and lines were used. The whole\nocean was so filled with fish that it seemed as if it were a great pot\nin which fish were boiled. It was a common experience that heavily\nweighted fish lines could not get past the mass of fish.\n\nOn this trip I was arrested for preaching the gospel of Christ and\nbrought by steamer to the city of Hammerfest, where sentence was\npronounced on me; and from there, in another steamer to Tromso where I\nspent ten days in prison on a diet of bread and water. I learned many\nthings from these seasons of imprisonment. I was a young man, healthy\nand strong, accustomed to moving quickly in my work, and I found that\nthis diet of bread and water did not agree with me; especially as I\nwas given a tiny piece of sour, heavy, dry, coarse bread, about the\nsize of half of my hand, every twenty-four hours. As the days went by\nin prison, I must confess that I became very hungry and that it caused\nsleeplessness. I was able to sleep about two hours each night, and\nwould awake weak and tired. I dreamed usually that I was feasting on\nan abundance of things to eat and drink and then would suddenly awake\nhungry and weak, dizziness and headache overmastering me. I lay on my\nhard bed hoping for the arrival of day because I could then divert\nmy thoughts a little better. These seasons of imprisonment tired me\nseverely. None can fully understand it unless he has experienced it\nhimself. It brought to my mind the words of the Prophet Isaiah, \"It\nshall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but\nhe waketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth,\nand behold, he drinketh, but he waketh, and, behold, he is faint, and\nhis soul has appetite: So shall the multitude of the nations be that\nfight against Mount Zion.\" I thought to myself that he who spoke those\nwords had undoubtedly had experience in it.\n\nDuring the month of July, in 1865, the third summer of my labors in\nNordland, I received my release from this mission, from Elder George\nM. Brown, who then presided over the Norway conference. I wrote to\nall the Saints in Nordland's branch to meet in the historical place\nBjarkoe at a stated time. All of the Saints came to the meeting, as\nalso strangers. My sister in the flesh, Amelia, came there, also, and\nwas baptized. We partook of the sacrament together, and for three or\nfour days we had a most enjoyable time. At last, then, I bade farewell\nto my brethren, sisters and friends, and to Nordland with its many\nislands, fjords and great and beautiful mountains, forming a landscape\nso brilliantly equipped that it does not stand second to any that I\nhave seen. The impressions which became stamped upon my mind during\nmy mission up among the people of northern Norway, in the days of my\nyouth, will never, I believe, leave me, for one might learn more up\nthere than can be learned in a university.\n\nBefore I leave this extensive and valuable mission field, I will add my\nmodest judgment of this great and beautiful country, with fjords and\nsounds, islands and high mountains covered with leafy trees, reaching\ndown to the shore, with the background of high cliffs and barren\nmountains, covered with patches of trees and moss, where the Laps watch\ntheir great herds grazing in the small mountain valleys. All about,\nare every kind of feathered life, representing the birds of the ocean,\namong which the eider duck is a prominent feature. It seems as if\nNature has here made attempt after attempt to invite wealth and beauty\nto the children of men. Three months throughout the year the midnight\nsun shines; the great ocean teems with measureless wealth of food for\nman. Wherever one turns there is something attractive to behold. Not\nonly is the eye pleased, but the spiritual intelligence is touched\nas well. To me it was as if, in this rugged nature, a new world of\ninspiration and introspection came from God, who from the beginning had\norganized the whole land. No wonder that thousands visit summer after\nsummer this land of the midnight sun, this wonderland.\n\nI took passage homeward in a steamer under Capt. J. S. Green, a friend\nof mine, and a member of the Church. I was very grateful to the Lord\nfor his fatherly care and protection over me during my honest labors\nboth on land and sea; and though I felt myself a very humble and\nimperfect messenger of the great and noble work, I also felt that the\nLord was satisfied with my work, and that the honor belonged to him. At\nlast I reached Trondhjem and had the joy to greet my dear mother again,\ntogether with my brethren, sisters and friends. I remained a few days\nwith the missionaries, who still roomed in my mother's house, and held\nseveral meetings. Then I bade my mother farewell again, and began my\nlong walk to Christiania, and again had the opportunity of walking over\nthe Dovre mountain alone. I reached Christiania in due season, about\ntwo and a half years after I set out on my mission.\n\n[Image captioned \"LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MISSION HOUSE, CHRISTIANA,\nNORWAY.\"]\n\n\n\nIX. I LABOR IN AALESUND.\n\nI was retained as a missionary, but was now at liberty to go wherever\nI wanted. I said goodbye, and journeyed on to Guldbrands valley where\nI thought there would be a good field for work, as the whole valley is\nthickly populated. From there I went to Roms valley and at last reached\nAalesund. In this city I found a sister whom I had baptized in Nordland\nand who was now married to Mr. Myre, a bookkeeper. As I was the first\nelder who had visited this town, I was greatly persecuted by the\nminister, Mr. Buck, and by the police who were on my track every day.\nNevertheless, I won friends there and after a time baptized Mr. Myre.\n\nJust at this time Elder Christian Folkman, and the Saints who were in\nTrondhjem, invited me to spend the Christmas season there, and sent me\ntraveling money so that I could buy my steamship ticket. I was in my\nnative city by Christmas and had a most interesting time.\n\nEarly in January, I returned by steamer to Aalesund, to continue my\nwork. When I arrived I had only twelve cents, which was just enough\nto pay the man who rowed me from the steamship and placed me on land\nin the city. I secured lodgings in the house of a master shoemaker,\nNielsen, who owned a large three-story house. The police chief soon\ncame and ordered me to leave the city, but when I told him I was paying\nfor my support, and that I knew something about the Norwegian law and\nhis authority, and that it did not extend so far as to drive me out\nof the city, he left me alone, but commanded his force to keep a very\nclose watch over me.\n\n[Image captioned \"INTERIOR OF THE ASSEMBLY HALL, LATTER-DAY SAINTS'\nMISSION HOUSE, CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY.\"]\n\nThen came the priest of the city, the Mr. Buck formerly mentioned, in\ncompany with one of the local merchants, and gave me considerable more\nsuch information, that if I conducted any meetings, the doors of the\nprison were ready to close behind me. A few days afterward I went to\ncall on the priest, but he saw me come and instructed his housekeeper\nto tell me that he was not at home. When I asked if the pastor was at\nhome, she said, \"No, he is away.\" As I knew that he was at home at\nthat time, I warned the lady she should not tell an untruth to one of\nthe Lord's servants. She took my words to heart and told her folks\nwhat had happened. It so happened that this lady was of very prominent\nparents, and they immediately took their daughter home. Two days later,\none of the merchants greeted me, and told me that this story of the\npastor's untruthfulness had spread over the city to the shame of the\npastor himself. Sometime after I had left Aalesund, I heard that this\nminister, Mr. Buck, had hung himself, for what reason I did not learn.\n\nThen came the superior priest of the district and pressed upon my\nlandlord that he must drive me out of the house, and not give home or\nhabitation to false prophets. Mr. Nielsen, who had learned something\nof the gospel, bore testimony in my behalf, and then everything went\nwrong. I was not present, but the two must have had a serious time\ntogether.\n\nIn a few days came a letter from the superior priest to Mr. Nielsen\ninsisting that as Nielsen was a respected man in the community, in\norder to maintain his good name he must not any longer give me lodging.\nMr. Nielsen was now in a tight place, and he presented the matter to\nme. He did not want to turn me out, yet he desired to favor the chief\npriest of the district. In fact, so overcome was he that he cried. An\nevening or two later he received another letter from the pastor which\nwas even more insistent.\n\nThe morning after the receipt of the second letter, I placed the whole\nmatter before the Lord, and received my inspiration that if I would\ncall on the priest he would acknowledge the correctness of every\nprinciple that I might present to him. Filled with joy, I walked to\nhis home some two miles beyond the edge of the city. I was courteously\ninvited into the office of the great man. We had first a conversation\nconcerning the Bible: then, concerning the relation of \"Mormonism\" to\nBiblical doctrines. Questions were directed to me, and I replied in the\nspirit of truth that was present; and he acknowledged the correctness\nof every principle that I advocated. For two hours we were together in\nfriendly conversation. The battle was won; and from that time on he\nwas especially kind and helpful to our missionaries who followed me.\nThe same day Mr. Nielsen was informed by letter from the priest that\nhe could give me lodging as long as he liked, and the priest further\nstated that he had had a conversation with Mr. Skanchy which convinced\nhim that he had been mistaken in his opposition, but excused himself\nby saying that it was the duty of his profession to oppose those who\nbelieved in any other religion than that supported by the state.\n\nEven after this, I had a pretty hard time in Aalesund; but after\nseveral members had been brought into the Church the work became\nsomewhat easier. Among others who were baptized at this time was Mrs.\nSoneva Torgesen, the wife of a friendly ship captain. This woman was a\ntrue daughter of Israel, and did much good. She had two small children\nwhom I blessed. The boy was instructed by his mother and is a faithful\nelder in the Church today.\n\nIn the spring of 1867, at a conference held in Christiania, C. C. A.\nChristensen, who had arrived from Utah, was assigned to preside in\nNorway. I bade farewell to Aalesund and began my journey up the valley\nof the Roms, over Dovre mountain again, and then down Guldbrands valley\nuntil I reached the little town of Lillehammer, where we had a sister\nin the gospel, Ellen Buckwald, who was employed in the household of\na Mr. Revers, a friend of our people. To this house the elders were\ninvited whenever they came to the city, and were treated there in the\nvery best manner. I had many conversations concerning the gospel with\nthis educated man. The family did not want to part with Ellen, for she\ntaught the children of the household \"Mormonism,\" and used to pray,\neven, for Brigham Young as a leader of Israel.\n\nI finally again came to Christiania, and in the conference then held\nwas released from my second mission by the outgoing president.\n\n\n\nX. I PRESIDE IN CHRISTIANIA.\n\nElder C. C. A. Christensen then took over the guidance of the Saints in\nNorway. I was called to act as the president of the Christiania branch\nwhich at that time had about 600 members. Upon the receipt of this\ncall I felt my unworthiness in a very great degree. There were many in\nthe congregation who had accepted the gospel long before I had, many\nof them older and more intelligent men and women, but I prayed to my\nGod for wisdom and intelligence to be able to guide this great body\nof people. These prayers were heard and the Lord blessed me mightily.\nI gained the love and respect of the Saints and with the fatherly\nguidance of our respected President, C. C. A. Christensen, I got along\nvery well. Many persons were converted and baptized into the Church\nboth in Christiania and throughout the branches in the country as a\nresult of the visits of President Christensen to the different branches\nand the meetings he held everywhere with the people.\n\nAs the children of the Saints in Christiania were often persecuted in\nschool by the other children, because their parents were \"Mormons,\" I\ndecided to try to stop this unnecessary and improper persecution. I\nwent to the chief of police, one of our friends, and counseled with\nhim as to what we would best do. He advised us to petition the school\nboard, the chairman of which was Bishop Arup, for the privilege of\nestablishing a school of our own, and he suggested further that we\nsecure a number of well known names to this petition and offered to be\nthe first to sign it. We delivered this petition to the bishop who was\na very courteous man. After a couple of weeks the petition was granted,\non the condition that an officer of the school board should inspect\nthe school once a year to make sure that we were giving the right\ntraining and maintaining proper discipline. Moreover, in our school,\nthe children should not be obliged to study the state religion or the\nhistory of the Bible. We thought this a very great concession.\n\nI was then appointed to take charge of this school, with Sister\nChristina Osterbeck as assistant. The children were each to pay a\nlittle, as they could obtain the means, for the expense of books,\nand other supplies. This was a fairly successful experiment. The\nofficers of the school board also seemed satisfied with our work. I\nwas permitted occasionally to make mission journeys into the district\nsurrounding Christiania. Some of these journeys, taken in the winter,\nwere very difficult.\n\nIn the summer of 1867, I was sent to visit the town of Kongsberg and\nNumme valley, where I had been before. From the city of Drammen, the\nroad leads through a great forest, and then over a high mountain.\nWhen I reached the top of the mountain the sun was setting in the\nwest behind me, and the shadow of the mountain was thrown miles and\nmiles over the forest below the mountain and covered the whole city of\nKongsberg. The magnificent beauty and vastness of this sunset from the\nmountain top worked upon my feelings and I sought a place under a small\nhill where, with enthusiasm in my heart, I kneeled before the Lord\nand opened my heart to him. I prayed especially that he would lead my\nfootsteps, guide me on my way, and help me find a place to stay that\nnight, for I had only a few cents left. At the close of my prayers, it\nseemed to me that I was surrounded by a holy influence.\n\nI then began my descent of the mountain. It was already dark when I\ncrossed the bridge over the river that flows near the city. Where was I\nto go? The houses of the city are built very near to each other. When\nI reached the first block, I turned to the right and walked around\nit. Then I crossed the street and began on the next block. At last,\nI thought, \"Here is the place where I would better go in and knock.\"\nBut the answer of the Spirit was immediately \"No.\" I continued to\nwalk to the right around the blocks and after a while I thought, \"Now\nI will knock on the next door.\" But again the voice whispered, \"No.\"\nI continued circling the blocks until I reached the eighth block. As\nI approached the middle of this block a voice whispered to me, \"Here\nyou are to enter.\" I knocked on the door, and a hearty, \"Come in\" was\nthe answer. I stepped into the room and saw a man and his wife sitting\nby a table, playing dominos. I noticed that they looked at each other\nand smiled. \"Can I obtain lodging here tonight?\" I said. \"Yes,\" said\nthe man and pointed to a door that led into a little bedroom, in which\nwere a table, a candlestick ready to be lighted, a bed, a wash bowl and\nother furniture. The lady came in and lighted the candle and asked me\nif I did not want something to eat. I was very hungry and could have\neaten a good hearty supper, but I told her, if she pleased, a little\nbowl of bread and milk would be sufficient.\n\nNext morning at six o'clock, I heard the man move about in the house.\nAs I learned later, he worked in the national rifle factory, and had\nto be at work quite early in the morning. After he had gone, the lady\ncame into my room, placed a chair in front of the bed, and placed\nupon it a tray with food. When she left, I got up and ate this light\nbreakfast with great appetite. At eight o'clock the man came back for\nhis breakfast, and I was called in and placed at the table. There was\na little pause. They looked at each other, and I asked if they would\npermit me to bless the food. The man said, \"That is what we are waiting\nfor.\" I blessed the food, and we began to eat. Then a very peculiar\nconversation ensued. \"You have not been here before?\" \"No.\" \"Who\nbrought you here last night?\" \"No one.\" \"Are you not a 'Mormon' elder?\"\n\"Yes.\" \"Did you notice anything when you came in here last night?\"\n\"Yes.\" \"What was it you noticed?\" \"I noticed that you looked at your\nwife and smiled and she smiled back.\"\n\nHe then told me the story. Just before I knocked on the door, they\nboth heard distinctly a voice which said, \"Here comes a servant of the\nLord, who desires lodging for the night. Take good care of him.\" He\ncontinued, \"The bed in which you slept last night has not been used\nduring the last six years. The last person before you who slept there\nwas a 'Mormon' elder to whom the room was rented out for a year. When\nhe left, most of the people he had baptized sold out and went to Utah.\nNo 'Mormon' has been here since.\"\n\nI said to him, \"I suppose then you know very well the teachings of\n'Mormonism.'\"\n\nHe said, \"Yes; I believe that what is called 'Mormonism' is the message\nfrom God above. I am not baptized, and if I should go with you alone\nthis evening to be baptized it would be known in the factory tomorrow,\nfor those in charge there call upon their god from morning till\nevening, and he can reveal to those who pray to him just as our God\nrevealed to us who would knock on our door last night. Then I would\nreceive my 'walking papers' at once. Should I be baptized, and then\nlose my position, my savings would possibly take me and my family to\nZion, but I have here at home an old father and mother who cannot help\nthemselves and I have not means enough to take them with me. Perhaps\nmy faith is not strong enough, or I should leave them in the hands of\nthe Lord, for he provides for us all, but I cannot bear the thought of\nbidding them farewell and leaving them alone.\" These were his words.\n\nI had a splendid mission journey through the Numme valley. I met many\ngood and honest people. As far as I know, no missionary has been there\nsince that day.\n\n[Image captioned \"MISSION HOUSE OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS, AT\nCOPENHAGEN, DENMARK.\"]\n\n\n\nXI. THE LAND OF ZION.\n\nIn the spring of 1868, through the help of President C. C. A.\nChristensen, I succeeded in borrowing enough means to emigrate to Zion.\nI had then been in the Church a little more than seven years, the first\ntwo of which had been devoted in part, and the last five wholly, to\nmissionary service. I married at this time, Anna Christina Krogero, an\nassistant in the mission office, who was a widow with four children.\nAfter bidding farewell to the many Saints in Christiania, we traveled\nto Copenhagen and thence to Liverpool, where we boarded the sailship,\n_John Bright_, which has carried many of our people across the ocean.\nAfter a voyage of six weeks, mostly in the face of a strong headwind,\nwe reached New York on the 15th of July, 1868, during a spell of very\nwarm weather. There were over 700 immigrants in our company.\n\nWe spent a few days in New York and were then sent westward by railway.\nThe terminus of the railway was Laramie, which left about 600 miles to\nSalt Lake City. At Laramie there was a company from Utah with horses\nand mules to conduct the immigrants onward. We were organized into\ncompanies, with Hector C. Haight as captain, and we began our journey\nover the plains along the banks of the Sweetwater.\n\nWe reached Salt Lake City the first week in September, 1868, after a\nsix weeks' march from Laramie over the dry and warm plains, immersed\nin a cloud of dust from morning until night. The children and the weak\nmothers were allowed to ride in the wagons; while all the men were\nobliged to walk the whole distance in dust by day, and keep watch\nagainst the Indians at night. We were pretty well supplied with meat,\nflour, fruit and other food for our journey over the plains. When we\ncamped in the evening, we cooked our food, and made our bread. All went\nfairly well.\n\nAt last we came to Emigration canyon, and had our first glimpse of\nSalt Lake City. We were glad and grateful to our heavenly Father for\nhis fatherly care of us during our journey. On arriving at the Tithing\nyard, in Salt Lake City, our captain was released. I pitched our little\ntent and remained there during eleven days awaiting an opportunity to\ngo to Cache Valley where I had some Norwegian friends of earlier days.\n\nThat fall, the grasshoppers visited Cache Valley, and all the crops\nwere destroyed, so that there was not enough food to supply the needs\nof the people. As I was responsible for a family I took my blanket on\nmy shoulder and walked over the mountains to Salt Lake Valley in search\nof work that would bring me a little money with which to buy bread\nstuff,--the greatest need of my family at the time. There was just then\na call for \"Mormon\" boys to go out and do section work on the Union\nPacific Railway. I worked at this until the October Conference at Salt\nLake City, which I felt I must attend. I was given free fare to Salt\nLake City, upon my promise to return, as the railroad company wanted\nthe \"Mormons\" to continue the work on the road. When the railroad was\nlaid to Corinne, Box Elder Co., we were laid off, and I went home to\nLogan the following night.\n\nI rented a small log house, in the Logan Fifth ward, and began to work\nat once in the canyon, cutting timber. In this work I continued for\nfive years. I took out logs for the house of Apostle Ezra T. Benson, in\nexchange for which I obtained the city lot on which I later built my\nresidence. I filled a contract to deliver to the Utah Northern Railroad\ntwo thousand ties. Then I contracted to deliver to Brother Micklesen\nthe timber for the grist mill in Logan, now known as the Central Mills.\nFor this last contract I received six hundred pounds of flour. I also\ncontracted with Alexander Allen of Newton and received as pay twenty\ngallons of molasses. I was now well off. I could have bread, with\nmolasses, and this, indeed, was my steady diet while I worked in the\nmountains. Nevertheless, this work was very hard. Between times, I\nhelped in the hay harvest, and thus earned some wheat and, in fact, I\ntook hold of whatever work offered itself.\n\nIn the fall of 1873, we began to build the Logan tabernacle. Brother\nCharles O. Card was called to act as the superintendent and he called\nme to assist him. It was my special work to keep accounts and to\ncollect donations with which to pay the workmen. I measured and weighed\nrocks, sand, and other materials of construction, brought in for the\nbuilding, and paid the workers in beef, vegetables, and the variety of\nthings donated. Many beeves were brought in as donations, so we tanned\nthe hides, and began to manufacture shoes. Thus came the Tabernacle\nShoe Shop and Meat Shop in one building, which we called, Our Meat\nMarket and Our Shoe Shop. I labored nearly six years in this capacity.\nIn 1879, I was ordained a High Priest and set apart as a member of the\nCache stake High Council.\n\n\n\nXII. MY THIRD MISSION.\n\nIn 1879, when the Logan tabernacle was completed, and we were at\nwork on the Logan temple, I was called, at the October conference,\nto go on a mission to Scandinavia. I left Logan in November, 1879,\nand reached Liverpool, December 12. We had a rough voyage across the\nocean. I was sent to Frederickstad, for a short time, then to my native\ncity, Trondhjem, in Norway. Elder Ellingsen, of Lehi, was there when\nI arrived, but in a couple of months he was released to return to\nhis home. I then remained there alone to represent the gospel of the\neverlasting covenant, but I harbored only gratitude to my heavenly\nFather. I organized a choir, held meetings and preached the gospel with\nall my might. Many were won to the truth. Those who did not enter the\nChurch, through baptism, are good friends to our people, and respect\n\"Mormonism\" with its doctrines and principles of salvation. Among many\nothers, I had the honor to baptize, as a member of the Church, Anna\nC. Widtsoe. Her son, John, I had the joy to baptize after the family\narrived in Utah. Our meeting place, at that time, was on what was known\nas Mollenberg, in a house belonging to Johnson who later settled in\nLogan.\n\nThe branch over which I presided extended far into Northern Norway. I\nwent frequently to the northern city of Namsos, where I rented a hall\nand had large meetings. Many were also brought into the Church in that\nplace. I made many friends in Namsos, and among the more influential,\na Mr. Salvesen. He belonged to the aristocracy of the city, but became\nfriendly to me and the cause I represented, until he even offered me\none of his large halls for our gatherings, in case the priest should\nattempt to banish me. Mr. Salvesen, with his two sons, came to our\nmeetings. Once when the hall was crammed full, he stood up before the\ncongregation and testified to the truth of what I had said. So much to\nhis honor!\n\nI went from house to house and offered books and writings. I did not\nfind much to eat, but I was well satisfied and when I sold a few books\nI could buy myself a little bread before I returned to my little room.\nAnd a little bread with fresh water tasted really good!\n\nBy the early spring, I had baptized, in Namsos, among others, Brother\nHassing and his family, who are yet living in Salt Lake City. Before\nI left Namsos, I organized a Relief Society so that the good sisters\ncould conduct meetings when I left.\n\nIn the spring of 1880, I was called to attend the conference in\nChristiania. After the conference, I tried to find some of the brethren\nand sisters of Christiania whom I knew so well in earlier days. Some\nI found, and many had moved away to the distant valleys of Norway. I\ndecided to find, if I could, the family of Gunder Johnson. To do this,\nI was obliged, again, to walk the full length of southern Norway, over\nthe Dovre mountain and down Guldbrands valley and up and down other\nvalleys. I found at last Gunder Johnson with his family. I found that\nthey had had no opportunities for schooling, nor for meetings, for\nseveral years, but they had our books and the _Scandinavian Star_,\nwhich had been read and reread until the books were almost worn out.\nThey lived as the gospel demanded. I remained with these friends about\ntwo weeks, held meetings, and baptized all who would embrace the\ndoctrines taught by me.\n\nDuring this visit, in Guldbrands valley, I had very great success. The\nwhole community took sides with me, until the priest came and broke up\nmy crowded meetings, and warned the people against following teachers\nof false doctrines! This priest, Mr. Halling, was well respected and\nbeloved of the people. He edited a magazine called _Rich and Poor_. He\nwas good to the poor. He lived only four miles from where I held my\nmeetings, and I stayed with a friend near his home.\n\nOne day I called on this minister to discuss things with him, but his\nfeelings were so bitter that he showed me the door several times, and\nat last took my hat and cane and threw them out. As I left the house,\nhe spoke bitter, hard words to me. Half a year later I came there\nagain. The priest had then become the chairman of the county court. One\nof his duties was to keep the country roads in good condition. This\nbrought him in quite close contact with the people who all worked on\nthe roads. I was told that on one occasion when he was supervising a\nbody of road workers, while they were all at lunch, one of the men,\na friend of mine, curious to know what the priest would say, said,\n\"I should like to know what became of that tramp 'Mormon' preacher\nthat we had here a half year ago.\" The priest immediately took up the\nconversation and said, \"That man was no tramp. We were both angry when\nwe left each other, but I would give much now if I could have that man\nin conversation again.\" This was his testimony that day, before a large\ngathering of people. I have now performed the endowment ordinances for\nhim in the temple, and I look upon him as a good man, although he did\nall he could to work against me and my beloved religion.\n\nWhen I had been in the mission field something over three years, I was\nreleased. I reached my home in Logan late in the year, 1881.\n\n[Image captioned \"SIXTH WARD MEETINGHOUSE, LOGAN.\"]\n\nUpon my return from my third mission, I was called, in 1882, to take\ncharge of a district of the Logan First ward, as Presiding priest.\nAfter the Logan temple was dedicated, this district was made a ward,\nand I was ordained to be bishop of the Logan Sixth ward, on June 6,\n1884. The many duties pertaining to this calling occupied my time very\ncompletely for several years.\n\n\n\nXIII. MY FOURTH MISSION.\n\nOn October 11, 1886, I left Logan for another mission to Scandinavia.\nUpon my arrival in Copenhagen I was assigned to labor in Norway. I\nacted first as a traveling elder, and in that capacity visited nearly\nthe whole of Norway. Later I presided, again, at Christiania. My\nmission was filled with active labors, and I believe much good was\naccomplished.\n\nIn the year, 1888, while I presided over the Christiania Conference,\nmany were baptized into the Church. Among them was Brother Koldstad\nwho afterwards became superintendent of the Christiania Sunday school.\nHis wife seemed to be against the gospel, but the Lord, who knows the\nhearts of the children of men, made manifest to her when she humbled\nherself in prayer, that \"Mormonism\" is a saving message sent by God\nfrom the heavens. It came about in this manner.\n\n[Image captioned \"INTERIOR SIXTH WARD MEETINGHOUSE, LOGAN.\"]\n\nMy mission was nearly ended. I had been away more than three years, and\nhad been released to return home. I spent the last days before leaving\nChristiania in bidding goodbye to the Saints. One evening I took the\ntrain from the little village of Lien, where I had been visiting. That\nevening there was to be an important council meeting in Christiania,\nat which I was to transfer the presidency of the conference to Elder\nO. H. Berg, of Provo, now bishop of the Provo Fourth ward. While the\ncars were rapidly moving towards Christiania, I sat in one of the\ncompartments thinking of the business of the evening. Suddenly a voice\ncame to me, telling me to go out to Granlund, where Brother Koldstad\nresided, for a woman there had fasted and prayed to the Lord that\nElder Skanchy might visit her, and she desired to accept the gospel in\nwhich she had faith. In my simplicity, I believed the voice to be an\nimagination of my soul, and for about five minutes tried to convince\nmyself that such was the case. I had very little time, because I had\nto be in Christiania before our council meeting began, in order to get\nthings in order to deliver into new hands, and the place the voice\ntold me to go was in an opposite direction from the meetinghouse. I\nfelt that the Lord knew that my service was in his cause, and that the\ncouncil meeting was in his service. Soon, however, the message came\nagain, this time in a tremendous voice, that I must go to Koldstad's\nhome, for a woman there had fasted and prayed to the Lord that I might\ncome. The voice was so commanding that I arose to my feet, in the\ncar, and I threw my right arm into the air, and said, \"Yes, Lord, I\nwill go.\" As soon as I reached the Christiania station, I proceeded\nthere. With Brother Koldstad I found Sister Koldstad. I told her that\nI had received a message to meet there. I felt greatly touched by the\nSpirit. She told me that she had fasted and prayed that I would come\nto her home before I went away. She told me further that she believed\nall that I had taught, and if I thought her worthy, she would like\nto be baptized before I left Christiania. She was determined that I\nshould baptize her the day following. Thus the Lord dictates in his own\nway to his children. This revelation from our heavenly Father was a\nvery great testimony to me, and may be pleasing to all who believe in\nspiritual manifestations. Many years after, when we were all in Zion,\nI called on Sister Anna C. Widtsoe and her sister Lina Gaarden, and we\nvisited Sister Koldstad in her home, Salt Lake City, during one of the\nannual conferences. Sister Koldstad, then and there, explained to them\nthe manner of her conversion, and that I had come to her in answer to\nprayer.\n\n\n\nXIV. THE QUIET YEARS OF HOME SERVICE.\n\nFrom 1889, the time of his return from his fourth mission, to 1901,\nwhen he went on his fifth mission. Bishop Skanchy remained in Logan,\nUtah, in pursuit of his duties as Bishop of the Logan Sixth Ward. Under\nhis direction, the ward prospered; the poor were well cared for; and a\ngood spirit pervaded all the organizations of the ward.\n\nDuring this period, also, the longest in his life without foreign\nmissionary service, Bishop Skanchy built up his material interests.\nThe lumber business which he had organized, flourished under his\ncare. Though he had sacrificed many years in spiritual service, they\nwere fully made up to him in a material way, during the periods that\nhe could give himself to his business interests. He was always a\ngood provider for his families,--they had comfortable homes, and the\ncomforts of the day. His personal gifts and charities to people in Utah\nand in the old countries, have not been recorded, but they were large.\nBishop Skanchy loved the poor and afflicted, and to their relief he\ngave unstintingly of his time, means and sympathy.\n\n\n\nXV. MY FIFTH MISSION.\n\nIn 1901, I was called by Presidents Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, and\nJoseph F. Smith to take charge of the Scandinavian Mission, which then\nincluded Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. I was set apart in the Salt Lake\nTemple, April 2, by President C. D. Fjeldsted, and I was especially\ncommissioned to buy and erect for the Church, mission houses in these\nthree Scandinavian countries. I presented to the First Presidency\nthe necessity of having C. D. Fjeldsted accompany me as he was well\nacquainted with Denmark. This was permitted. We had a pleasant voyage\nacross the ocean.\n\nIn Copenhagen we bought the place where our mission house is now\nerected. President Fjeldsted was called home again and I remained to\narrange the matter. I laid the foundation of the Copenhagen mission\nhouse and dedicated the place together with the corner stone the 2nd of\nMarch, 1901. The house itself was dedicated on the fourth of July, 1901.\n\nThe next mission house was built the year afterwards on the same ground\nthat the old mission house had stood on in Christiania. The old house\nhad been built of poor materials and was in a dangerous condition.\nWe therefore took it down and sold the material by auction. I then\ncontracted with architects and builders and the house was erected and\nfinally dedicated the 24th of July, 1902, after a great celebration.\nThe dedicatory prayer was offered by President Francis M. Lyman.\n\nWhen these two countries had obtained their splendid houses, we\nturned our attention to Sweden. I went to Stockholm but found great\ndifficulties confronting me there, since the Swedish law does not\npermit strangers to buy building lots. We were obliged, therefore,\nto secure agents to act for us. We bought, at last, a building lot\nin a very public place, in an excellent district. There we built a\nlarge four-story building, so arranged as to make it a worthy and most\nbeautiful place for presenting the gospel. Several smaller rooms in\nthe building can be rented out, thus providing a small income. This\nmission house was dedicated the second of October, 1904, President\nHeber J. Grant offering the dedicatory prayer. Thus, my mission time\nwas lengthened out so that I could remain until this house had been\ndedicated.\n\nThat I had my hands full on this mission, I suppose everyone will\nunderstand. My work appeared to be satisfactory to the Presidency of\nthe Church, and as for myself, I trusted that I could complete this\nresponsible work with satisfaction to my own soul. For the success that\nwas achieved I will continue to give gratitude to my Father in heaven.\nI owe to him all the praise and honor.\n\n[Image captioned \"STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, MISSION HOUSE.\"]\n\nAt the time that we erected our mission houses in these countries,\nwe contracted with a stone cutter, by the name of Peterson, for an\nassembly room and a room for the elders, in a dwelling house which he\nwas erecting in Frederickshavn, Denmark. We also bought a house in\nBorups Street, in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, in which we constructed\na baptismal font. Elder Adam Peterson, who was on a mission at that\ntime, had great influence among the people of Aarhus, and won many\nfriends, which all helped.\n\n[Image captioned \"INTERIOR OF THE STOCKHOLM MISSION HOUSE, LOOKING FROM\nTHE GALLERY.\"]\n\nWhile I had charge of the Scandinavian Mission, Sister Anna C. Widtsoe\nand her sister Lina Gaarden, were called on a mission to Norway and\nremained there for about four years. These two sisters traveled over\nNorway, from the extreme north to the extreme south, and spared neither\ntime nor money in order to bring before the people the gospel. They won\nhonor and friends everywhere for the cause of truth. They bore a great\ntestimony to the world, which we hope will in time bear fruit.\n\n[Image captioned \"INTERIOR STOCKHOLM MISSION HOUSE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE\nGALLERY.\"]\n\nBrother H. J. Christiansen was also called on a mission again, at this\ntime, and was chosen president over the conference in Copenhagen. He\nwas born there, acquainted with the conditions, and had the language\nof Copenhagen under complete control. He gathered many friends for the\ngospel cause.\n\n\n\nXVI. THE LAST WORD.\n\nI do not care to write more, as most of my friends are acquainted with\nthe work that has been done in the mission field. What I have done here\nat home has gratified me; and the people here know my whole life. Now\nI am on the sick list. I have forgotten to take care of myself in my\ndesire to care for others. The Lord be honored and praised from now\nto eternity and forever. Amen. The Lord be merciful with us all and\nforgive our weaknesses and imperfections.\n\n\n\nXVII. THE SIXTH MISSION.\n\nAfter Bishop Skanchy had returned from his labors as President of the\nScandinavian mission, he entered again upon his duties in the bishopric\nof the Logan Sixth Ward. He rallied the people to his support, and he\nlaid the cornerstone of a new ward chapel, one of the handsomest in the\nChurch. This house is now completed.\n\nOn January 23, 1910, after twenty-five years of service, Bishop Skanchy\nwas honorably released from his position as bishop of the Logan Sixth\nward. A little later he closed out such of his business interests as\nrequired his daily active supervision.\n\nOn July 11, 1910, he went again to Norway, with his wife and younger\nchildren, to spend some time in gathering genealogical information for\nhis temple work. This may be called his sixth mission, for he went with\nthe authority of a missionary, and did much good while away.\n\nTrue to his love for the city of his birth, Trondhjem, he took with\nhim a large and expensive copy of Munkacsy's painting of Christ\nbefore Pilate, executed by Dan Weggeland, of Salt Lake City, which\nhe presented to the branch, and which now adorns the meeting hall in\nTrondhjem.\n\nHe returned to Zion, June 22, 1911; never again to leave it in the\nflesh.\n\n\n\nXVIII. THE END OF THE JOURNEY.\n\nSoon after Bishop Skanchy returned from his last trip to Norway, he\nwas seized with his last illness. The evil preyed steadily upon him,\nbut his strong body and iron constitution could not be broken at once.\nIt took years for the disease to undermine his strength and reach the\nvital processes of his system.\n\nDuring his long illness, he composed the sketch now presented. From\npage to page it bears the marks of the physical sufferings which he\nendured. Had he been in good health, he would have told more of the\nmarvelous experiences of his long missionary life. Perhaps, however, in\ngood health, he would not have undertaken the work at all.\n\nWhile withdrawn from active life by this lingering illness, he also\nreviewed his own poems, his favorite songs, and the word of God that he\nloved.\n\nBishop Skanchy, like all who live in close communion with spiritual\nthings, was much of a poet; a lover of the fine arts, painting and\nsculpture, and an ardent worshiper of all natural beauty. In his last\ndays, though filled with physical pain, he found the leisure for the\ncontemplation of the things of the spirit he loved so well, which he\nhad been denied in his active life.\n\nEver did his thoughts go back to the land of the midnight sun, in which\nhe was born; where the gospel message found him, and where, in the full\nstrength of his youth, he fought valiantly for the cause of truth, and\nwon hundreds, yea, thousands, to the cause of eternal truth.\n\nOn Sunday, April 19, 1914, in his 75th year, his spirit returned to\nthe God he had served so well. On the following Wednesday he was\nburied from the beautiful chapel he had built. Many wept at his grave,\nespecially those who were poor in spirit or worldly goods, and whom\nthis noble man had loved and helped and raised up, and brought into the\nglorious light of truth.\n\n(THE END)\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nThis edition was based off scans available at Archive.org\n(see https://archive.org/details/anthonlskanchybr00skan).\nThe Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University supplied\nthe scans to Archive.org; the original book was donated to the\nlibrary by Sidney Sperry; and it contained a dedication from\nJohn A. Widtsoe, reproduced above. Any minor typographical errors\nin the original have been silently corrected.","title":"Anthon L. Skanchy : $b  a brief autobiographical sketch of the missionary labors of a valiant soldier for Christ","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":16702}