| Show correspondence staten MISSION N 10 N conference hela held a nna ta reports of labors visit to 0 o C 1 I it in prison COUNCIL BLUFFS iowa october loth 1885 editor deseret on the and of september the elders of the AlInne minnesota sota conference met in a conference in minneapolis meetings s were held at the house of brothe brother charles rue fort avenue and also in a large hall on washington avenue which was rented for the purpose notwithstanding we had them theurl very extensively advertised through the leading journals of the city and by distributing about hand bills our audiences were only small yet a good spirit and good order prevailed throughout according to the reports of the elders meetings had been held since our last conference on the and of may daay also 46 persons had been added to the church by baptism and that 22 children haa bad been blessed president palmer being very sick and obliged to return home your humble servant was by him appointed to meet with the elders of the indiana conference on the and L of september which I 1 did and am pleased to be able to report that we had an excellent time at our meetings in about ten of the elders had congregated we held meetings on saturday and sunday at 10 a in and 3 and 7 pm a few strangers being bein present at every meeting lere here the reports of the elders showed meetings to have been 1 held and eleven persons to have been baptized since last conference which galch was held early in may lilay I 1 was greatly assisted in all my labors by our untiring friends brothers johnson and shelby whose houses have for so many years been homes for our elders the iatter latter latter iatter is still diligently engaged in laboring for the dorkof work of goytil god in his own way there are no doubt many of our brethren who will hold the names of johnson and shelby in grateful remembrance mem brance after this conference I 1 went to detroit and there had a short but pleasant interview with brother Q J kenipe kempe the only one kofl of the brethren imprisoned there whom I 1 was permitted to seeva seela brother kempe feels as well as can be expected under the circumstances although his health is beginning to fail a littie little his spirit is as bright as ever and his faith in the work of god is firm lie ile feels very thankful for all ail letters sent him by the tile saints and only regrets that the rules of the prison will not permit him to answer them the other two brethren feel about as he does and all feel that they are in need of the faith and prayers of the saints I 1 from detroit I 1 went to a place in southern illinois where the balance of the elders laboring in this conference were to meet an old building called liberty church in hamilton C county Illif illinois was placed at the service of the elders elbers elders eiders and on friday evening oct ad we held the first meeting then on saturday and sunday the ad and i ith we held meetings meeting at 10 a in and 3 i and 7 p ro in all of were well attended tended many diany came five or six miles to hear bear us and an excellent spirit spirl t prevailed there are no saints in thip this neg nex but we were all well taken care of by the people who as a rule ruie are poor their wheal wheat crop mis tats year was an entire failure and their corn crop partially so leaving them only their small smail tobacco crop to depend upon and unit that injured bv frost althis at this conference the elders reported 2 1132 1133 meetings held one person baptized and two children blessed making U grand krand rand total meetings held heid 58 baptisms and 24 children blessed in the northwestern states mission since last may islay uthe the elders feel excellent and arede cd to do their duty those who labored in Alich michigan izan lean and northeastern indiana were considerably persecuted but all the rest say that with the exception of being sometimes refused the necessaries of life they were treated pretty fairly 0 here in council bluffs we are entertained by our old and hospitable friends brother and sister mahood whose farm is situated about eight miles east from the city and where the saints had their winter quarters in 1816 1846 the old yet plainly visible A mormon lormon trail runs right richt through their farm and can be followed through a pasture for about a mile there are also about one mile northwest from herg here the graves of two children and brother solomon hancock who were buried burled there while the th saints were on their march Brot brother brothen herand and sistr slater r A mahood lahood are nirm firm in the lait tait iland hand like a father and mother to the wander wandering ing elders the saints in council bluffs feel well notwithstanding the efforts which are beins being 11 made by the josephite ministers to t turn urn them f from rom the faith the other day the resident bishop while endear oi 01 ing to show one of our brethren the error of his way was asked why the josephites did not preach the kayin laying on of hands for the conferring of the holy kly ghost his answer was that trat it was to evade the persecution which would follow the preaching of that doctrine this needs no comments he might have added as another and better reason it is because we have no authority to do it while walking upon ground SQ closely connected with the history of our church my mind wanders back to the days when the latter day saints hav having in fled from a bloodthirsty mob as exiles kiles occupied these lands and I 1 must acknowledge that our sufferings today to day are bothin nothing compared to what they endured lay may god the eternal father rive yive us st strength renAh to be as faithful as i they were A missionary |
