Show LETTER FROM SAMOA the following i extracted from a letter addressed to the thirty farst of seventies located at Grants grantsville ville the writer is elder H E booth jr and the communication is dated atS at samoa amox we are kindly permitted to use ude for publication the portions of the communications we present some time has elapsed since I 1 promised your worthy president that I 1 would write you from the distant land of samoa trusting you will pardon me for not doing so before ou on account of the steady and tedious work which has been anil and now is resting upon us nd iud the difficulty is this difficult language which occupies most of our time the first brat thing is to memorize the words worda the I 1 to get the con st ruction and again to bring the words forward in time lime of need dedd so 80 as not to make a blunder when attempting tempering at to speak before an assemblage of this people but it is only by hard and constant study that we master it it requires a year and a half among the people before a person can begin to preach to much utility and explain with clearness clearnt as ss the principles of the gospel of christ and it is necessary that a person should have his mind stored with useful knowledge in order that he can be able to answer the many questions which people of the world ask us on every hand band it is a true saying that the lord will help those who help themselves and it is difficult to sail a ship out of water and when in water it requires a rudder to guide it aright so we ought to have a little knowledge in store stare to draw from when in time of need the people ask some of the most unimportant questions of any people I 1 think there are on the face of the globe but one thing I 1 feel gratified over aud ald that is that we have the bible in the light and when we read it it presents to us the true incani meaning ng for we have the spirit of god to show us the things of god I 1 learned not long since that a native teacher cher told his nun or village not to go to our meetings nor have anything whatever to do with us but to drive us with haste from the villages when opportunity afforded they are nothing less than anti christ said he be and are here only to deceive the people we reminded the people however that christ said as they have hated me so will they hate you if ye wore were of the world the world would love ye but ye are not of the world therefore the world hate you we find it policy not to deride any other sect on account of its tenets or practices but to go forward in IB the line of our duty explaining the gospel in meekness from village to village the london missionary society has taken very firm root here it has also several large schools where young men are trained to be teachers when these have completed their course at school they seldom return to their own village the london missionary society began operations here in 1830 the catholics in 1840 the wesleyann wesleyans Wesle in 1836 and the latter day saints in the month of J june u ne 1888 so you see am there are only four religions hore at present the people say that it is difficult to know the true church then we explain to them ephesians Ephe 4 4 6 5 6 and matthews 12 2 6 5 the natives say that when the london missionary society first arrived here and for a long time thus after they prayed to the lord to keep all other churches from these islands but their orisons prisons have not fulfilled the desires of their hearts the people often ask why we do not go to some heathenish county where uld god is not known when we turn and put to them a few questions which they are unable to fl find nd an answer for in the bible they will say we do not understand the question and so try to escape from it but it is a great consolation 0 t us to know that we have the truth and cannot be overcome for we speak to the word of god it causes my heart to rejoice when I 1 think that there is a great ble blessing eIng in store etore for this people when they will obey the voice of god draw near to him with all their hearts and forsake the many sins to which they are sub eject I 1 think this people very much re i the indians indian a at home in many respects but their dikia Is io nut not so dark as that of the indians indiana or the inhabitants of the sandwich islands new zealand fiji or any of the other islands they are more of a copper color which renders them more beautiful bouti ful than these others Asa As a general rule how ever they resemble each other in laboring for they only get just enough land cleared off to raise a little kalo I ulu nuts cocoa cocoanuts nuts and a few fruits forming a sort of the staff of life they are early risers the first thing is to have a smoke then off to fish for an hour or more generally they return with only a few small flab fish and often without any at all last month on one fishing they caught so the people said mid average eighteen inches in length but these are by no means daily occur bences the place on the west end of this island to is a good country for for fefee ly or devil fish it is ia very difficult fur me to describe this fish but it after the snake species with at least seven or eight legs this the natives devour raw and with a relish just J as we would afat a fat chicken I 1 have eaten much of it when cooked but cannot say that I 1 fully enjoy it the food to is prepared and ready for eating about 11 a m the people then take down the table plates knives and forks fork which consist of a plated cocoa nut leaf about three feet long by one wide when the meal to is over the dishes are put in order in a few seconds and generally all the diners indulge in a siesta after this they have A long and then converse tor for an hour or more then eat at again afterwards do a little work in the vao va bush or go to the entre centre of the village where most of the time they are playing a native game the women help in nearly all kinds of work when the tide is out they all turn out and go inside the reef searching under rocks for fish and sea worms of various kinds A kind of 0 sickness prevails hero here which 14 not found in many other parts of the world this is the feebee Fe efee 11 or big log leg which some say is caused by lying continually on the damp ground others attribute it to the climate in conal concluding tiding my letter I 1 trust you are all well and enjoying the spirit of your calling as the missionaries are in samoa and other parts I 1 can bear testimony that a mission is the best beat school a young you ng man can have in this world and it would be the salvation of many of our young men at home it if they could s spend pond a few years in the work of god in the outside world true a person may gain experience at home in the work if zealous and full of the spirit but they will not obtain the experience peri ence that they would were they in the world for here we have to rely more fully upon our heavenly father I 1 can noni now see where I 1 squandered my golden moments while at home bome I 1 might have improved myself better for the ministry and I 1 look back upon those moments with regret I 1 would say bay to ray my young brethren take hold of the precious moments anti and let them not pass by unheeded or without your learning things that will be to your advantage hereafter in the kingdom of god there are great responsibilities bili bil ties ittes resting upon us as servants of god in this dispensation in searching out israel and warning the people of their sins and the wrath of god upon the wicked prepare yourselves while at home and do not wait for improvement until you get out in the field gras grasp every opportunity that affords atit we are all here at headquarters awaiting our mail and four missionaries from zion we are all enjoying good health and spirits |