Show SAN ISLANDS CZ I 1 have often desired to write to you but my time has been so occupied since my arrival here and so BO little of interest has occurred on these dots in the pacific ocean beyond what has already been sent to you either in conference reports or in the correspondence of homespun 11 that I 1 have not until now availed myself of the pleasure realizing however that my mission here is drawl drawing i ng to a close I 1 have now determined to let you know that I 1 am still in the land of the living I 1 will first relate a little of my experience peri ence during an absence of nearly three years and a half por for the first two months after arriving here I 1 assisted in building a house to shelter our families from tile heat storms and winds of this laud land of perennial summer and in other labor at the plantation then for fifteen months I 1 labored in the ministry on the islands of kawal kawai and maui endeavoring at the same time to obtain a knowledge of the hawaiian Ha wailan language during this time I 1 had many interesting experiences and made a number or of baptisms it was however no easy task for me to learn the language on account of my age and english pronunciation I 1 did not expect to be bothered with the language as I 1 had learned to guard myself when speaking in my mother longue but the many vowels in the hawaiian language showed me that I 1 still had bad some of th country brogue clinging to me and it made such words as ha a ha all a humble hana bana anal ana doing working etc very difficult for me to utter correctly by diligent study though when opportunity afforded and by frequent fasting and earnest prayer I 1 had obtained a sufficient lelent knowledge of the language before the fifteen months had passed to take an active part in the work of preaching to and to teaching a ching the natives at times I 1 ha have ve so felt the good spirit glowing within me when preaching to the natives in their own tongue that with difficulty I 1 have kept back my tears and my heart has bag burned with love for the benighted people and for the work of god at such times one feels that to give his life for the cause of truth would woula indeed be but a small sacrifice about two years ago I 1 was called to fill the position which I 1 now occupy I 1 was at that period tra velling on the island of maui when president joseph P F smith and brother davis came over there to dedicate a new meeting house while they were there I 1 was questioned in re gard to my ability to fill the position of bookkeeper book keeper beeper and manager of the plantation store I 1 did not feel capable of undertaking it I 1 also stated that I 1 had only a theoretical knowledge of bookkeeping and not baving having had occasion so far to bring it into practice I 1 could not tell how much I 1 then Ithen knew I 1 further farther said that personally I 1 would prefer to be out in the ministry next term as I 1 was just far enough advanced in the native language to be enabled to travel alone and another term of six months would make me more fluent in using it I 1 desired however at least to try and do what those in authority thought best beat for me soon afterwards when president J F smith and brother davis had returned to lale I 1 received a letter from the president of the mission calling me to laie and at the general conference I 1 was regularly appointed bookkeeper and manager of the store I 1 found the store in a rather disordered condition and had quite a task to get the goods arranged in something like departments I 1 also found as I 1 feared that my theoretical knowledge of bookkeeping was not sufficient to save me from considerable trouble in understanding some of tile the more complicated brans transactions actions but by the blessing of the lord coupled with perseverance I 1 was enabled to overcome all obstacles and fill the post to the satisfaction of all here although I 1 would have preferred again to have gone out and labor in the ministry I 1 have been continued in the same position until now this being my fourth term of six months each soon after I 1 took charge of the store I 1 made the remark to some of the brethren that I 1 had sold a certain amount of goods that eve one of them remarked that is nothing to your credit as it only increases the indebtedness of the natives the less you can sell them the better I 1 I 1 have however been enabled edible to make a decided change in that regard during the past two years and now nine tenths of the natives working for us are out of debt and at the end of each month when I 1 settle with them they receive orders on the store for the balances due to them when the manner of our doing business the number of em aloyes from 80 to and the impunity with which most of th the e H ha a disregard their obligations are taken into consideration it will be seen that it was no easy task our employed emp loyes get from to a day they only work in flue fine weather and then only five days in the week we depay pay them or 1 a week cash they are however allowed to draw or purchase from the st oreon account what they need during the month I 1 incurred the displeasure of some of the natives at first by checking them from obtaining more than was their due and for striving to get them to leave some of their wages to pay off their old indebtedness but Foi by praising those who came out of debt ang and showing the others how much better their condition would be if they were free arve from that bondage I 1 have changed their idea in that regard and they now have a wholesome dread of going in debt if they do not have a balance coming to them at the end of the month they will say ja make hewa ka hana ke puk aole ole meaning it is ia useless to work unless they come out of debt we have this month 89 employed emp loyes layes and have issued to them 79 orders for amounts due to them when their accounts were balanced the total value of the orders issued this month was during my first year in the store the cash receipts and profits were more than doubled although we sold ghods at more reasonable prices our inventory of stock was only about yet by purchasing sale able goods and having quick returns the profits that year amounted to nearly 1700 this year it will not be much less notwithstanding 1119 there has not been so much work but we have had others to come and trade with us who used formerly to go elsewhere to the stores kept by Ul linamen who are the principal storekeepers outside of honolulu and even there they do a large share of the business we had one chinaman keeping a store here at laie but he had to sell out by auction and has gone back to chi china n a I 1 occasionally have a thirty two mile ride to honolulu to purchase goods for the store and instead of refusing to sell the natives what they need we now keep the store well supplied every time I 1 go into honolulu I 1 have many special orders from the natives for articles we do not r regularly ap keep in ili stock the natives now seem to appreciate my efforts and feel proud to be out of debt many of them have not been in this position since years ago they came here to live and when I 1 mention to them my probable return they tell m me t that h at they will not consent to it and that 1 t I must refi remain lain here until they are all gathered to utah I 1 reel feel therefore fore that the lord has blessed me in in my labors and although I 1 may may not have benefited the natives muen much in a spiritual capacity I 1 feel that I 1 have improved them temporally and bettered the financial condition of the mission as well although remaining here at the plantation we have ministerial duties As you are perhaps aware from articles sent to the NEWS I 1 am president ent of one half of the island of hawaii also counsellor to the president of this the headquarters of the mission branch clerk chairman of rammy committee in the hui opio Y M A Y L M I 1 A and teacher of a theological class in the sabbath school but what gives me more plea pleasure eure than all else is my preceptor class which I 1 formed some months ago I 1 have now twelve young hawaiians Hawa Hawaii lians ans in this class claas they call c all themselves the I 1 ka papa class or of elihu and andee we meet at pm on mondays I 1 allow each speaker fifteen minutes but so well do th they ey post themselves on their subjects that most of them can scarcely tell all that they have to say in that time the progress they have made in speaking and the knowledge they have obtained of the doctrines of the gospel have been very gratifying I 1 to me to themselves and the t 0 older 1 members of our community and to our president and the native mahalo nu nui I 1 nap nae thank or arrise pa greatly great lyme me for my labors among ahw young men As the mill was not running I 1 enabled to 1 last term was make a short abort visit to my conference on hawaii aud and while there I 1 visited that great phenomenon of nature the volcano I 1 felt well repaid for iw my day io urney you have of courts course reab read attempted descriptions of tho t volcano I 1 will not therefore weary you with with a simi similar ar impossible effo effort this term I 1 shall not be enabled to w visit my conference but will ba to rely on the three native aries who have been called to labor there when they return I 1 shall have to straighten out their aa 80 counts and prepare the reports we ve have now through a lack of mis n r fonaries sion jon aries from utah to leave toe the burden of traveling and proselyte ing with the native elders who do are as a rule very ou successful 1 making converts on the island landof w hawaii last term there were nearly baptisms and only re 80 bently a native elder made over baptisms in one week in only odly one dw adiv brict of honolulu he has haa had many other converts there during th jo term we find that the native DUS sion aries narles with very few exceptions are liable to err on points of doctrine and in their ambition to make con verts they are sometimes not r nicular whom they baptize TD and 0 often ate n ove overstep arste p their anstr instructions an authority they seem to make Mft keco con by verts more by persuasion and J getting the best of their opponents in argument than by con the sinner of the error error of his ways of X and teaching him the true through plan Is n jg salvation sa so th that a t h he e ml might abt throat his faith and true repentance ooch CO into tile the fold of christ the cobb quence is 19 that while the baat each term law last term ve are many 6 there were there is chugh no DO P cep tible increase in ili the in membership the seed siwu 80 shallow soil does not long encute endure quite a number however J dett president dw irest joined the church when geo Q cannon first came here of still alive and faithful members the race the church today to have greatly degenerated s then both physically a and nd b f rind and it is seemingly only a n nal atlef nfl a few years before th the hl choir will cease to exist as a nation death rate is large and their crease very small I 1 shall if the present intentions retura reia carried out get a release beleas e to home at our april conference saw fail 4 1 will take the first steamer ste Atner abill from here after that in all 00 ty ity ar arriving ri ving in 13 n salt lake labeon on d 0 of f A april ril brother J F god d and a id farni family fy brother F beez beekley aud family and brother M no noa family are ex expecting pee tin to be w t ute n at the same time a f of natives contemplate emler to utah when we return there E F B 14 LAIE LAIB oahu bahu Haw hawaiian alian feb 23 1889 |