| Show D I 1 S C 0 ty E E mi BT RT ELDER JOHN MORGAN is rn ine ins lako eak lak city sunday afternoon mav may 1880 REPORTED BY RY I 1 am pleased to have once more the privilege of meeting with the latter day saints and I 1 trust that while I 1 shall endea endeavor vr to address you I 1 shall have an interest in your faith and prayers prayer that what I 1 may say may be in accordance with the mind and will of our father in heaven and for our mutual good and benefit to an elder returning home from missionary labors the privilege of meeting with the assemblies of the saints in their sabbath day meet ings is one that is very highly prized we feel to rejoice in the privilege leg e of returning to these peaceful valleys of the mountains and of listening to the voice of the servant ta of god teaching the principles of the k king in bg dom of god and explaining t the tho mind and will of our common father erand and god in the heavens heaven 3 I 1 have often thought and meditated in regard to this privilege when away from home traveil traveling nW in the midst of strangers that when here we scarcely prize and realize the value of it and doubtless this is true in regard to very many of the great and glorious principles of the gospel we must see the opposite come in in contact with the opposite we have to taste the bitter bedore before we can ean appreciate preci ate the sweet we have to see and experience the condition in which the world is today to day to appreciate preci ate the situation the latter day saints are in during the past year since last I 1 had the privilege of m meeting with you here 1 I have been engaged in rrt prine ne the tho principles of the gospel in the united states morenar more particularly ticul arly in the southern states our labors there have to a greater or less extent been crowned with success theford the lord nord has opened up our way we have been enabled to reach many of the honest in heart and the principles of the gospel have been spread by the preaching of the elders eiders and by the distribution of books and pamphlets until many thousands of people in that section of the country today to day are becoming acquainted with the principles of the gospel gospe 1 who twelve months ago although possibly aware that thit there was wag such a people as the latter day saints in the valleys of the mountains were ignorant in regard to the doctrine doctrines that they professed to believe in I 1 find that within the past nasr twelve months quite a change has taken plia piane plane ee in the sentiments and mind minds 0 of the people in the southern state states relative to the principles that we promulgate I 1 form my judgment in regard to this from their action and it is said they speak louder than words something like twelve months ago a spirit of or persecution and wa waa prevalent throughout a great portion of the south brought about to a great extent by inflammatory articles in the newspapers mig mic misrepresenting representing us and our objects and by the denunciations ciati ons hurled at us from the pulpit and from almost all directions which resulted in the mobbing of a number of the elders and the driving from their homes of quite a number of families who had bad embraced the gospel in their own native land in one particular instance an entire branch of the church was driven from their homes lot jort their property and their means and were forced to rely upon the generosity of the latter day saints already gathered to the valleys of the mountains here to enable them to emigrate to where they could live in peace and safety this thia character of opposition was very violent very unpleasant to meet with veny very unpleasant to have to deal with but by the blessing of god and the perseverance ot of the elders the obstacles were overcome our work was pushed forward and very many right thinking honorable men and women while not conceding with us in a religious sense came ou out t and refuse to endorse the action of men who were using violence came out in the pres press 3 in private conversation in public speech and stated that while the latter day saints might be wrong the course that wai was being taken was undoubtedly wrong that whatever the nature and character of their doctrines ml might ht be mob violence persecution an and d unauthorized illegal prosecution was not bot no p proper means of overcoming the difficulty even the editors editor of many of or the tile southern papers conceded that the course that was being pursued was most unwise and would have aten a tendency to bring dozens of converts cn verts to the mormon doctrines where there had been one before which proved roved true aa our labors flave have continually increased and grown our nu numbers tubers have been added to and the spirit of emigration to gather out to where they could he lie protected in their religious belief has grown stronger day by day until we scarcely need to preach in the southern state the principle of emigration ti on so anxious are the people to escape esti from thein their surroundings the elders who have been engaged in the southern stat stated mission have almost without exception proven themselves worthy of the trust that was reposed in them they have endeavored to perform the duties devolving upon them as men and as the serva berva servants ribs of go not counting ag privation nl Hl ander auder exposure contumely as anything in comparison to the great work in which they were engaged the southern peo ie le are naturally a kindhearted kind hearted hospitable nohle noble class of people with the finer instincts of nature more fully developed 0 ed than possibly po sibly among some ome other classes classes of people they recognize the labors of our E eiders elders ders and while they might not olt icide leide with our views yet they give e us credit for the determination with which wirich we press ress forward and theiarn sand azeal zeal displayed by our young elders in preaching the principles of the gos pel especially was this noteworthy in connection with the very many young elders eiders who had bad never been boen u upon n missions before youn men wr who had been tilled from the various matual mutual improvement atif associations unlearned in regard to tu the tiie condition of the world unacquainted with its cu custom mannera manners and hab its it especially with thi eja ela las was a deep impression made upon the minds mind of the people rha nha feeling of kindness which is of the people there seemed to lee leo eui eli et 1 after those boys beardale be ardle boysia boys is they cereas they stood up in thel ih el r places where they they could ob obtain taina a church or a school house bouse hou e to preach and where they bouli not obtain a place in the tiie open air air by bioc road side or wherever ihei tiet aund a man ready to stop and lien hen 0 o 0 1 vm tn in proclaiming proclaim ng the 0 t im n I 1 had bad been eni ent to 1 ro lin ulm tide side 1 le a deep imbres ion loti on e wn of 1 the tiie P people p and rud and aud in a mini nuin er of i ettin C ce while ta the e vio exen ehen lerit kg of men were raised aga nga h n t e t there were thoe thoe who su d IA W e n r boy bov of if our im s kye kie v ee e athe Q the place of tbt tate thie embed emred parati d irin from neit tl 0 air homes and their kindred oy hons hous and of or mile mlle and there vi were vere ere ero rhue thue seeking to do them viole vornce vo enee nee ence we would feel to tiles liles tile lile s the hand liand that protected them and a as a genera thing there came a division and the two contending parties were loft eft to get through the struggle as best beat tiles tiey bley could the rhe southern states mi mission slon sion at a the present time is divided into con ferencek feren ces with a prec prez predent ident over eael each conference and traveling elder elders i ai at appointed places laboring in the districts yet with all that we can do there are localities in the southern states today to day that have been asking for elders for some considerable length of time which we have not yet been able to supply owing to a deficiency de fucien cy in our n u m I 1 ens eng ers which wh ich is possibly ably all well enough as it ift i not best beyt t at times that the work should go too fast I 1 di discover cover in comin coming in contact with the people of the united 1 ted states that notwithstanding th the e nation nu numbers in hers bers forty millions of people a vart vast innumerable multitude almo almost 4 compared to the latter day saints who dwell in these distant valleys of the tiie mountains yet if a company of eight ten twelve or fifteen elders should happen to pass through any of the large cities en route to their fields of labor they are visited by reporters the they y are interviewed and the interview is published far and near causing considerable excitement in regard to this llis small company of elders going t to their fields of lawr in fact t two w 0 elders going into a locality where the he people are unacquainted with the he teachings C of the latter day saints and ing tl temi ves ees as mormon elder eider will e ireae create a real really more genuine sen se nation atlon than almot almost any other incident that could happen and it is doubtless q well that some of us its who are poal poci po lily illy a little more zealous than wise wio wie should be restrained in regard to our anxiety to 0 push the wor work k forward there is i however wever however lo I 1 an abundance of room for elders eiders to labor throughout the en tire southern states we scarcely ever preached reached in a place where we could not obtain a hearing we scarcely ever visited a neighborhood 1 I 1 do nob not et of any now in the southern states where I 1 Ile lle lie desired sired a hearing wt bit bih beh what I 1 could both obtain a place to preach in and in addition to that a good sized audience to hear what I 1 had bad to say many the leading men of the southern states having visited salt lake take city and been treated kindly by our people having observed the thrift enterprise and peacefulness of our homes extended to us many kindnesses ne neves ves oes and many courtesies notwithstanding that with the tiie ma of the people it t wa quite u unpopular to ito do so the governor of one of or the leading states of the south offered ered the ue of the senate chamber the r representative halls of his state to preach in if I 1 was waa prepared to use it extending any courte courtesy v I 1 desired their leading papers freely noticed our meetings and published thousands of handbills hand bills to be di distributed tributes among the people and refused any compea aulon alion whatever many of thee theae incidents that come to tomy momy m mind in regard to the courtesy ilu and yd of the people that we have been preaching the gospel to warms our hearts as elders of israel and we feel to do them good to biess bless bless biess them and benefit them all that we can during the pa past at year a little over saints have been gathered from mission mis ion lon rile file principal part of these have emigrated to the neighboring state of colorado in san luis valley 53 mile south south and anti a little to the west of nenver where the aint sain have amu ilund nd a good auby most excellent land and timber water grass and all that is necessary to en enable a ble bie th them e in to build up tip a settlement and locate themselves the melves I 1 had the privilege of visiting them in their homes a number of imes lines and while they have had bad the privations riva eions that are incident to the fp formation rma of a new settlement everywhere yet they have been blessed and prospered the people laople of the state of colorado have as a rule treated them kindly have havo welcom ed them to their borders have endeavored deavo red to benefit them thern and assisted them jn in forming their settlements all they could the railroad that has been in process of construction st ruction for the tile past two years runs down the centre of the valley within three to nive five of our aurline line of settlement so that we have eay ewy railroad communication muni cation our rate nate nor for emigration are exceedingly low rhe fhe railroad companies have extended to us many courtesies anti anil kindnesses and lave sought to do what they could apparently being moved upon by the right abts spirit ski spi t to enable us to gather torather thoe those who lo 10 were unable to gather themselves and to assist those that vere but little able to gather in the tile location of the settlement in the state of colorado there are now I 1 believe le lieve latter day saints from 4 lie southern state states which will fillpos pos sibly be augmented by more tili till se seison lson ison if deemed prudent to do so in the tiie first town that trat was located loca teJ all the tile lots have been taken up an other location of similar dimensions i being occupied led and still another will be occue occupied occue ed some few miles distant from the first two in the course of the next two or three months the health of the saints has not been as good as could have been desired principally owing to the fact that in emigrating from the southern lates fates a district to thole high dry altitudes the changes thus brought to bear upon them were calculated to produce sickness to a greater or less extent fhe scourge of mea meales measles les ies passed through the settlement in the tile month of april kome some ome cases our neighbors neigh norm hors ws at a railroad town near by where there were about an equal number of inhabitants ts that we had ag with all the appliances of physicians and drug stores lost quite a large percentage of their cases of sickness in the town of alamosa alamona some 20 miles distant from our set there were almost an equal number of cases casses there was quite a lare large percentage of deaths I 1 in it about 16 iga to 17 ca canes cases 4 es that occurred in our settlement I 1 think there were but three or four deaths from measles when I 1 was talking to the mayor of Alan alamosa alamona iosa lie called my attention to the disparity of deaths in that town in comparison with those that had occurred in our settlement and asked me if I 1 thought the tile location of the town of or alamosa alamona unhealthy I 1 replied I 1 thought not that it was equally healthy with our settlement he asked me to what I 1 at 11 uti the number of domi demi toothy T replied that I 1 bel bei believed level levei they were attributable to the tue number of drug stores and physicians they had in it that that was the cause as I 1 earnestly believed to a greater or less las extent of the disparity of the number of deaths with some inhabitants in our jett fett lemeut with quite a number of ca cases eases ses some bome someji of them very serious there has never neven been a called to prescribe one single prescription to any of these people and I 1 have an idea ideh jhb that t if we were werd to td look took bokat at them goday today to day daye we woula would nind find them equally healthy with those of the adjacent town where there are several physicians with two drug stores to draw their supplies from the people in the settlements are satisfied with their location I 1 heard but very little complaints and what complaints I 1 did here were I 1 though th ough t al mosten most en tiresy due to the inconvenience incident to emigration to breaking up their homes to disposing of their property to riding long jong distances upon railroads landing at thear their destination wearied to not being so carefully housed and protected for a limited length of time after their arrival and to their being unacquainted with the country I 1 believe however that out of the souls e emigrated in in ted there have been but four it turned urn back from the work and returned to their former homes I 1 heard no expression of a |
