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Show Church Deparfmni DECEMBER 7, 1935. Impressions ofJosephSmith Starting S Dmething New tits InM ioriary Activities James Leech, at one time a resident of Salt Lake City, left the of Joseph following ."Impression Smith: ' r "In the vear of 1841, my sister, from hey husband and myself came Nau-voo After arriving in Ragland. wet were five or six weeks looking for employ moot, Jiut failed te set any. One morning I said to mv- - brother-in-laLet us go and see the prophet. 1 feel that he will He conglvs us aSmoothing to do consentsidered short time, then ed to so. arriving at his house ws InquiredOn;for th prophet. Ws were told he was over the road. So we went over, and found pim In n little store selling n lady some goods, This was the first time I had had an opportunity to be near him and get a good look at him. I felt there was a suepriof spirit in him. HS was different to anyone ver met before: and I said I had in mv heart, he truly Is a prophet of the Most High God. As 1 was not at that tuna a member of the Church I wanted to ask him for my brother-in-lawork, but be did not do so. so I 1 had to, said: Mr, Smith, If you pleaso. have you any work you eould give both of us, so we can He viewed get Rome provisions us with la cheerful countenance, a and with such feeling of! kindness said, Wall, boys, what oaa you rtoT "We told him what our employ - ment was before we left Our Ian t. "Said he. Can you male a . ditch V , "I replied we would do the best we could at it " That s tighf bojs. and picking up a tape line, he said. Come aong with me "He took us a few rods from th store, gave me the ring to hold, and stretched all the tape from th reel and marked tine for us to work by. "Now, bojs.v said he. Can you make a ditch three feet wide and two and half feet deep along this liner "W said we would do our and he left UR. We went to best nad When ItwnS finished j work, went and told him It was done. many get out oh that day to well aJMissiou a possible. The ' hooka Moths left la the morning! V totting alt of th places of business where the traded and calling Oh many people from door to dope. Be, for evening sha had disposed of The effect of, It Books of Mormon. the whole drive was colossal. TH mission became Book of Mormon conscious and united by tho one ides, all worked to spread a knows 1 ldgs.of It among tho peoplp. Ocrtnaaji about with Traveling our lepttir. we had many inter.ekparlettee. general times esting w had 80 anile to travel In on a rn day. We would start after mornat night, or early in the ing: arrive in the city and help tore prepare everything and then la the evening. We slept in a different bed each night, jin the home of different families of members, who regarded it as aa honor to be aide to entertain us. orttiea of the Church In Europe I have met a number of the important men in the scholastic and poll, float field I have grown prouder of our leaders with every meeting, contact with them not fqr re, veals that they are men ofonly learning and understanding but also men Of character In whom the acof Christ influences alt of theirspirit tions and motif or Intimate eon-ta- ct with any of them leaves th signmeint To Go On Tour With Book Of M ormon Lecture As Means Of Spreading Gospel Message Cornea Now The - A Missionajys Odyssey ' ' By ARTHUR GAETH (Bmident Czechoslovak Minis ion) A , i Latter-da- y The Saiata. German-Auatr- if ' I ; Mion n decided to make of Re centennial celebration a apecial oncagion, an Incentive to thq propagation of the Book of Mormon, thaR great missionary of the Chuibshf ' The ,.centennial of ti e jelivee-tng of tht plates, from Whfich the Book of Mormon was fajislaled, by the Angel Moyoni to th4 young Prophet Joseph Smith wia to be-corpe an event in every branch of,1 the mission, to be commemorated by special meetings, by disposing of as many opirof Uie Book of Mormon as possible, bp tile of an illustrated lecture on modern 'evidences! of the Mor- of the Iocfc -- i authenticity; task in connection Celebration wa to preplan dal lecture. Slides ; riai- -, , pictures of excavations in Metla, Choiula. San. Juan, Tcplihuacen, sl Cx-m- ai, Paienque, Chlchen It ajnd of skeletons of horses dnd lphanta found la t be to Bw to actar pits, with explanaUnsi been njnt over company thorn, had Tree Blah- ,d tho to Germany by Office. fine in Lelpxi t WUhj another missions cut and held , atet. 1 net lecture Hr Lelpxlg. Th of the first attempt tnad mieeloii to attract people Other vropagattv. agen jHm. iraetitt r. visiting. preaching aervice t and at xiliariea Aa tie did not fully realise tho possibilities and the value! of Via- pal ednoatlon along with the at al, the added power gained by tract In f two senses Inst nad Of one, we did not .at flrpt, mak s use of all our opportunities 8a presenting Trading, vl jilting and meesaire. preaching had been our; old in vogue since the first world missionaries went Into the meanto pres ch the gospel, fn the time the camera had be robs common. t ve movie were pjpular, th nature of life was changing, Business houses were sending pay and men with handbills from, door to door to place their attractions be fore the people; theaters and ture shows were using, the Same method to announce their features. In the past, and Now In I le religious meetings of the post, t ,e arrival chmlartonarle toi ware specie convert attractions which drew crowds of to bear a anxious eager listeners, new message. But the world la Titer, growing more complicated. are now scores of almost dally, at'confsvta. karturaa, tractions, ture shows, theaters, political etc. The Invitation to all of these are attractively presen ted. , immune to al- people are becoming meet every form of invitation ex- -' cept those which are dtf t rent. Th propaganda using sLl, tha hks been Invented to hid in M hls'un W baa been attracting fewer , and fewer people for oin year. Aithouirh we had more ofotjktiri and O u r leaders a larger membership, fnew method knew ae must adopt the atdraw to create Interest and tention of the (people to bur mes-to sage. The traveling from place Illustrated lecture by placeofwlthfanmissionaries wa one the oneof- the first undertakings of this new trne of proselyting and we system to foltowd hr J j meut-lner- iii missionary, young man who had com Into the mission with a speech defect, but who had been blessed and partially helped to overcome it, disposed of it Books of Mormon la that on Amonth. line Rsampfe A local member, the enthusiastic branch president of the Foret branch in tho gpeedewald territory, disposed of IS Books of JVlor- -i snon during the month. He is one of the finest examples I hsve known of what living the gospel can do for a man. He accepted the Gospel In Chemnlts, Germany, after having ridiculed the missionaries and members whom it had been hi lot to meet living in th same house. But one (kind stater I who knew his worth prevailed on t him finally to attend a family group with mlsKionartei present. Tho religious discussion with this man, who had suffered th ravag-tng- s of the World war and had become bitter, lasted into the night. It wae the firei of many and unhla oonsoienoe gave him no leu, til he .entered the waters of bap- -i tiem. Later he moved from Chemnlts to Forat where there was no brfanch o the Church. He was called te do missionary work. He soon gathered a small group about him and began teaching them th gospel. This brought persecution, but hs was fearless, carried his fight on through the city council, won permission to use the schools. to hold meeting, and in the atmosphere of the small town his name soon became a byword. Today that branch ha several hundred member. It branch president has become district president of the whole section and la ealled in by the authorities when ever problems of social welfare arise which must fits, solved The man has be-- , come respected and a power for i good In the city. snon. My trust-worth- I ode. Beginning in Letpilg On Bept. 1 the two of us visited thirty branches 4a the next thirty day We traveled I.SSO mile, spoke before thirpeople. Wo ty audiences of 8 disposed of 108 Books of Mormon on the nights of the lectures, But the mtmionarios and the members sold books Into the thousands that month; In fact they sold the mis-- I sioa out of Books of Mormon and bad to order SOS copies from the other German speaking mission. The i ' meth-- , 2V 18?7l SEPTEMBER day in jihepiiatory Of the Church of Jegu CrUt of. - , and the introduction of many !), prise-winni- ng A Special Ivrtr A special Book of Mormon drive took place on Heptemher 32nd. the anniversary of the da on which the prophet received the plates Everyone had beea instructed to j i ! w lee-tu- lee-tu- To us1- - young missionaries, tbs high light of th trip was the lector in Dresden, which wa attended by the late Elder James E. Talmage. of the Council Of th 1 waive, then of th Europeah MU. Ions, After the lecture, Da Taint age spent aa hour with us dis cussing the work we were doing and offering suggestions which would improve our lecture He waa the first of the General Authorities I met In (conference and conversation HU simple manner, hi Keen m)nd. hi fund of knowledge and his personal tntereat In out pro- -blems on this trip made an itjnpres- aion which still carries with me. The Church lost one of Its great men when he was taken to labor In another sphere. later I was to meet moat of the residing Auth- - i He came and looked said, Boys, if I had (lone atltand It it eould not hnvebcen donemyself any bettor. Now come with m, He led the way back to hi store, and told he to pick out th best ham or piece of poi k fur ourselves Being rather bashful. wa would rather he would giveI said it to ua Mo he picked two of the largest and best pieces of meat and a aaek of flour for each of u, and asked u if that would do We told him we would! he willing to do more for It, hut he said, If you are satisfied, boys I am C. . Hansen young roan a unique Impression of unjMen power yblch be never forgets. Lillie VlahtMelng We had llttlel time for sightseeing on thbrarip We were ImpresHed with Breslau the capitol of Stltcla, with Its 70 OHO Inhabitant and 0 members of th Church, the rlty which Frederick the Greet had once honored with his presence when he humbled Marla Theresa and hor legion-- ! its Interesting old town hall, the Catholic Island, home of a Papal legate, with a fatnotie cathedral and priestly dwellings, th ipsrks and ptibha buildings attracted us, but we hail onty a fleeting glance. We enjoyed Btettin of the old Hanseatic league, located many miles from the Baltin Sea proper on a gulf which empties Into tho seg. There were narrow streets and old houses; there .was the fish market with Its old "salts' as one finds them In, the humor towns of Northern Get many, and there wa that Salty, fishy odor I always enjoyed the water front and would gladly spend hours anytime twatchmg life os tt moved in thin salted atmosphere It was a pleasure for lue to observe the many difbuntl types of smalt boats that crowded these Inner h ir'jot ; si ' Wide-awa- -- - , Tills ba blew ot the I nUervily "tor i 3 or Leipyiff, 'The eliy is one of the great commercial renters of Germany, And tho center or the German book trade. 5fajU,SaS8 I It J 3 |
