| Show celebration AT EPHRAIM the third meeting was held on monday september the choir first sang Hv ormed er lam masts brud vel ilk etc prayer by knud huud H brunn the grot man ordained to the priesthood in denmark the choir sang 0 fader r ader lad mit faa 11 etc r elder C C A christensen one 9 of the first native elders who I 1 jaborek diligently in denmark and y norway rejoiced in contemplating the fruits that the preaching of the fc giobel in the north countries had f v botne borne he was baptized nearly orty forty years ago and had spent ten ye years ars of his life in the missionary held he had experienced the hand pf af the lord in miny many different ways and felt thankful that he possessed a strong testimony of the truth of the latter day work elder andrew jensen of salt i lake city spoke of the circum on surrounding brou adi ng th atie e C church h u ach I 1 iu u the de mountains in the fall of 1849 rhen ben erastus snow and fellow t were called to open fc the GOB gospel p al door in diffie different rent coun r tries 8 and how the hand of providence V ence in a most marvelous manner shielded fielded hi elded them from the winds and storms while crossing the mountains and plains almost in the dead of winter arriving in england the apostles and co laborers proceeded to t their respective fields of labor erastus snow going to a country then comparatively unknown to the elders but the lord opened up the way and prospered the labors of the elders in the north for of all the missions opened opened about the same time no one has furnished more material for the kingdom of god than he ahe scandinavian mission and no civilized country in the world has given up so large a percentage of its sons and daughters to the cause of christ as has denmark sweden and norway since the introduction of the falness of the gospel into scandinavia souls have been added to the church there by baptism of which number were in denmark in sweden and in norway out of the total number have emigrated to zion to which may be added about one third more by reckoning the children who have accompanied or been parts of the different emigrant com companies pinies thus making a grand total of nearly saints who have emigrated to utah from scandinavia from denmark from sweden and from norway this result is most gratifying indeed to all and especially to those who were the instruments st in the hands of the lord to lay the foundation of the work the attendance on the present occasion of so many veterans and faithful members of both sexes who have borne the burden of the day during the past forty years and their strong and powerful testimonies borne in these meetings ought to almost in and of itself convince every honest soul present of the divinity of the great work introduced by the prophet joseph smith in this last dispensation elder peter F madsen of brigham city who had labored as a missionary in denmark several years ago bore a faithful testimony to the truth of the latter day work and exhorted the saints to continue faithfulness and diligence elder fredrik Peth roen of salt lake city who emigrated to utah with the first company of scandinavian saints in 1852 bore testimony to the literal fulfillment fulfilment of a prediction made by apostle lund when the company left their native land it was to the effect that if they all woul dobey counsel and keep the commandments of god not one of them should lose his life on the jourvey journey although cholera raged terribly iu in the companies they traveled with and scores of other emigrants died jabot one of the little company consisting of 28 souls frona from denmark perished by the way elder H 0 magleby of monroe who at an early day labored as a missionary yn norway where he be was imprisoned several times for the gospels sake related some of his experience in an interesting and spirited manner he had suffered many hardships and pawed passed through considerable persecution but felt thankful that the lord had pr an served him in the faith through it all elder CA C A Carlquist of salt lake city who had spent some time in the ministry in sweden previous to emigrating expressed his bis desire to devoting the remainder of his life to doing gods service he bore testimony to the fresh impetus given gi ven to the work of god in sweden by the publishing of the book of mormon in the swedish langy language age several years ago elder martin christophersen Christop hersen of salt lake county related how the lord had blessed and preserved him while laboring as a missionary in ili norway when he through the mercy of god had initiated about one hundred persons into the church by baptism and spent many happy days I 1 in a spreading the gospel elder christian andersen of ogden lately returned from a mission to norway rejoiced in being one of the fruits of the gospel from that land and bore a powerful testimony to the truth Mormonism of of which he had embraced lauy years ago and ever since loved it with his whole heart A purse of means donated by the saints in different parts of the territory was then formally presented by president petersen to elder P 0 hansen who is poor and feeble in health elder hansen expressed his gratitude in an appropriate little speech the choir sang amen raabe aver en tunge etc eio benediction by jens Tho balle one of the first latter day saints in aaberg denmark FOURTH MEETING the spring city choir sang nu ephraime Ephr p raim aims s seg re py einger etc prayer myer by elder ider john larsen arson of oi spring city ithone one of the first members of the church in southern jutland denmark the spring city choir sang sang credens Fr edens nu fra zion lyder etc elder eider jens hansen Han seii of spanish pork fork who has been a member of the church since 1851 was the first speaker he embraced the gospel after serving in the danish army retie he was honored with the cross of Daue brog 11 he related an instance when he was miraculously healed under the hands of the elders and then told of the perse cautions he had suffered in endeavoring ord g to t 0 introduce the gospel on fye n his h ls native land since the time he first embraced the he has never for one moment doubted its divinity president knud petersen in his usual happy way delivered an interesting te discourse in which he narrated many important incidents connected with the first introduction of the gospel to the scandinavian race in la salle county illinois in 1842 the experience of the first elders in denmark and norway the latter being his native country and his own missionary labors at an early day he being among the first elders who followed erastus snow and co laborers laborera to scandinavia after the foundation of the work had been laid there he also dwelt on the diligence and zeal manifested by the people from the north in temple building bu alding commencing with the liberal donation of the la salle branch toward the erection of the nauvoo tern temple ale in 1843 and later in the erection of the four temples built in the rocky bocky mountains three of which are already finished the people of san sanpete pete county alone had contributed toward the erection of the manti temple where 70 baptisms for the dead have already been consummated the speaker also advanced an interesting theory in regard to how the descendants of Ephr ephraim aini were led to settle in the northern country in large numbers which undoubtedly accounted for the many who have embraced the gospel in these lands in referring to the late apostle erastus snow the a speaker eaker considered him the very eest best and most suitable man that the lord could have chosen to introduce the falness of the gospel to the scandinavian race as his personal perso appearance his plain unassuming wanner manner his open honest face and general deportment was calculated to captivate the people to which he had been sent and those who embraced his testimony soon saon learned to love and respect him as the man of god that lie he was the true born sons and daughters of zion from the north will always cherish the memory of that good and noble man whose spirit has been present with us during these meetings so much said in eulogy of apostle snow will not in the hast kasic degree detract from the merits of Elder Hansen us today nor elders forsgren and dykes who have gone to the spirit world the speaker hoped that that integrity and faithfulness which has characterized his people in the past would be exhibited even in a greater degree in the future sister ann snow widow of the he late apostle erastus snow and the first woman who was baptized by divine authority in denmark Den maik addressed the meeting for a few minutes bearing tet testimony of the truth of mormonism bishop lars S andersen of 0 ephraim in a spirited little speech bore a powerful testimony to the goodness and mercies of the lord toward his servants and people both at borne bome and abroad he bad been a member of the church since 1852 had spent many years as a missionary in denmark and norway had never feared the wrath or opposition of the wicked and rejoiced in the knowledge the lord had given him of the truth of the gospel president john B maiben of the sanpete stake presidency said that he had bad enjoyed the meetings exceedingly although unable to understand the language of the brethren who had bad spoken he bad felt and could bear testimony to the presence cresence of the spirit of god it ead had filled his heart with inexpressible tessible res sible joy and he was full of blessings Eles blessings sings and good feelings toward all present he happened to be in london england in 1850 when erastus snow and others of the twelve visited that city en route for their various fields of ia labor bor the speaker finished by reading an extract from the contributor showing how a large congregation in london england once was enar enwrap ap aured by listening to the voice e of jenny lind the noted swedish singer without understanding the WO corids ads used the same as he be had bad on this occasion been so highly edified by the spirit of the meetings without out understand understanding Dg the language used apostle anton H lund read an extract from pub dished by elder andrew jensen contris cont containing RiD ug an all account of the or alion of the first branch of the hurch church in denmark with fifty members on the fifteenth day of september 1850 just forty years ago he also related some interesting incidents connected with the introduction of the gospel in sweden where elder A W organized the first branch of the church april this was in in the province of seone scone and from that small beginning the truth had spread to all parts of svea 11 the speaker closed with an earnest exhortation to the saints to live their religion so as to merit the blessings of the lord in the future as well as in the past the mount pleasant choir and congregation sang et minde 11 etc benediction by patriarch 0 N liljenquist thus ended a serles series of the most interesting and spirited meetings ever held in ephraim ANDREW JENSEN MANTI sept |
