| Show A conference IN HARMOR HARBOR samoa MP y itt 1111 1894 1994 on the of april she he baftir dwelling upon the island of tutu manned their boats and paddled toward aunuu ainuu as that had bad been dai beels noted as a the he place for holding oon conle liet once ence aunuu ainuu la Is a mail island about mile longani lon long gand and low lew than a mile gift alde with a population of lew 1040 than joaw conference would have been held am a the oth of april had it not been that b we were expecting a visit from dent K R M stevens stevene after confere aft on upolu for which we waited too mad later on that circumstances were gush that hat he could not possibly attends towards toward evening olt of the above draw date my companions COmPAni elder J B bar barton and myself wended our way to the beach where a boat bast lay dancing upon the waves waiting to beat bear the bacote ol of this village across the briny bri diepp that separates ep aratea tutuila from sunwu soon the natives native bat had aseem bied were and swimming out ie the boat while we were left standing on the shore for here we have BO 80 VON and unless one has baa friend frields near by upon such an occasion occa aion he be probably will be called upon to taj teal ab hl wading powers on this day however friends frienda were near bind soon floon we were being carried to the be bet on the backs of two trong strong necessarily trong strong for banania bananas and breadfruit have our weight considerable since ince we st a rived in samoa amons OUM our boat contained our school of t about twenty members we were as coq through the narrow opening in 0 o the ba roof reef of this laland island and anai ibs were keeping afine to a 0 song ong which all seemed familiar ww this thi singing was wa kept up during A fe whole of the journey and I 1 wm WH minded of the song elder eider dean me 00 eions having board beard here that was wa felly MV miles long it having been suna a journey of that length we vwe presently nearing the roof reef that ua rounds aunanu and upon reao blag lift the as shallow hallow opening the boat crew reetah upon their oars oan until a huge came rolling in whereupon mhd gow mand was given to pull for gag 1 once through the reer reef the gan jumping and diving into ingo the lbs water irom every ade side and we were weft again left alone our strong men had bad not forge forgotten their duty duly however and soon we newte won being carried easely to shore where we met with elders eldera B P E JD mond A W harding hardzog Hard log C A aue man and the sainta A happy meeting indeed and to add to our toy JOY elder dimond informed us that tho the mail had just arrived it if the ary delights in any one nm tabon abon another it Is the arrival of atae mail with good god news new from homow bonu IT an ae Solomon sayes aay As aa cold water ava afa thirsty soul so 0 o to is good news new from a far country 29 jy by the way in speaking peaking of swimming she abe people are almost natural water animals for it to is a rare thing with a native it if be does not bat ho h tory every day and at times two or three unies during the day everyone who h has passed the sandwich islands or samoa has no doubt gazed with wonder and admiration upon the ex put pen diving performed by boys boy who ome come swimming out to meet the ship and who dive into the depths depth of the ocean bringing forth coins that have been thrown from the dook deck by gota fn rarely barely indeed does one of the sinking inking coins swaps escape their gr glikel ikel and daring the ship ships Is short stay in admar that results from the natives who have gathered trying to sell all toe the fruit coral trinkets etc their crafts contain probably a shilling or a dime dropped by a passenger in exchange for a bunch of bananas has bas alleged the be natives and has been wallowed swallowed up by the ocean suddenly a native darts headlong into the depths beneath and a moment later rises to the surface and a coin within his mouth la in the late war that raged here bets several women finding themselves among the enemy on this island and with no means of navigation and fear ing insult of maltreatment if they to re boldly plunged into the tolling rolling deep and swam to the island of aunuu ainuu one and one olise half miles away this would be no cleat teak feet were it not for the fact that WAT waves are ever rolling roiling high on the angry sea which makes swimming awl aiming a difficult matter this ceases to be wonderful however when we are gravely told that to win a wager a certain native swam that distance holding his big gun above the water with wilb one hand bond and beating the waves with the other striving safely on the opposite shore having kept the gun pore per auy dry during the mile and a half bait journey Jo orney I 1 was told while on the steamer that natives often came on board of vessels that are pawing passing here and gazed about until the vessel wao wan two swo or three miles from the shore bore then adderly ad denly plunging off into the ocean foam the be last that was soon seea of them was as their heads beads occasionally bobbing above the waves no as they were on en their heir homeward journey it la that the latter two state would better be taken with a little salt but the former declaration re know to be correct cor saturday morning about 10 a in seat bear sixty natives had bad gathered in a large huge native house and meeting was waa called to order by robert E dimond presiding iding elder eider on tutuila during use the forenoon elder dimon A spoke u upon lp the apostasy in ancient days day a and use the restoration of the gospel through the instrumentality of joseph smith in these days at 12 o elock elders and saints sitting cross legged upon mats mate partook of a native feast consisting of taro bananas coco cocoanut anut fish palusami and aalt alt beef Flu fingers flukers gers proved good substitutes for knives and forks and banana leaves for plates and it was ra observed that at after ter dinner much lose less work remained for the women folks to perform than would have been the he case can after a meal of a similar nature reat at home bodei since ince there was no clearing of tables washing of dishes etc the whole clewing clearing act having baying been performed in hanging up of baskets of food that remained and carrying the refuse to the beach elder bider harding spoke poke during the afternoon upon the subject of repent anoe in the cool of the evening sports port of various kinds aoh such as aa braiding baskets racing etc ego were indulged in and about thirty prizes awarded Z to the winning parties it was noticed that female racers here have much the advantage of the gentler sex BOX at home in this particular line of sports since here they have dresses PA as a usual thing to biot act as hobbles and impede their progress therefore women and girls here are able to attain a speed hardly excelled by the men after opening exercises on sunday morning the first presidency and apostles B R M stevens president of this mission Irnis sion the tutuila elders and the names of individuals holding the priesthood here were presented and sustained elder barton then spoke upa toll godhead and elder eider barrus upon this the true rue name of christs church after a brief intermission sun sunday aay school was hold held and among other ox ex arc erol isee ses about fifty questions beating bearing upon the be restoration of the gospel with its various gilts blessings and ordinances were admirably answered by the children here I 1 will say that these samoan children have wonder jul ful memories almost surp surpassing using our white children in atals particular faculty in the afternoon the natives pros ent bearing the priesthood were called upon and responded as follows follow lem aft afa 8 manoa vials viala loans loane fiatele and too teo each one making interesting remarks upon the various principles of the gospel the persecution the stu true saints are called upon to endure etc in the evening a testimony meeting was hold held and about twenty persons arose and bore testimony quoting Pas passages of scripture su sustaining aWning our doctrines etc all present seemed to enjoy the gentle influence of the holy spirit indeed this was wail a characteristic feature of the whole proceedings throughout the two days of conference thus ended the sixth conference in f this branch of the church of jesus christ chilst of latter day saints we elders elder during conference stayed with 8 manoa who will be to re by many an aa hav ing been instrumental in the be establishment ot of this tb mission behaving he having been sent here bore from the islands over witty thirty years ago upon hi his arrival converts were made and the mission flouri flourished 19 bed for a a shore time but there being no tommu niza tion with the body of the charca churca this almost severed branch began to wither and continued so to do until a low few years ago when through the efforts of marion manoa communication was again established with the main part ot of the church whereupon elder dean and others were sent over here bore to effect a revival re baptisms and conversions followed until at the present time we have a membership of over and the mission seems to be in a prosperous condition OELLA |
