| Show THE NEW ZEALAND MISSION AUCKLAND now new zealand february 1895 the many readers of your valuable payer may be interested to bear a few lives hues from this far off land more than six elx months ago elders were called to reopen re open a gospel goepel field in the city of auckland for seven or eight years but incidental meetings mee tinga had been held there and they were never of a publio public character there was waa once a branch of the church there consisting of sixty or seventy presided ever by a local elder under the direct presidency of 0 a au elder from zion most moat of these saint nave have since emigrated to etab utah so ao that now there are but about twenty left who once belonged to the branch sod they are widely scattered the first labor of tue the elders eldera was to find these if possible in this they succeeded fairly well anti and now regular meetings are held with the saints and every sunday evening with the public though at first there wasa strong spirit of prejudice against the unpopular sect through we the blessings of jehovah much of this has been allayed and the brethren have many good friends tu in the city with their limited means they hey have rented cheap halle hall and seeking to be guided by divine inspiration they have taught those who would come to listen the dospel of the lord jesup jesue visiting Vi alting with the people and ing tracts have occupied much of their lime their labors have not been exclusively clu in auckland but am small towns in the country have also been visited and the plan of redemption taught to the people it has ban been a now bowing ing in a son on some isome of we the seed ad we trust hue bas as fallen to in productive oil the she harvest of which ore ere long we shall ball reap on the night of february 2 IBM after all nature was bushed in gh te silence of night four humble bumble eldera elder accompanied by one whose earnee earnett researches had bad resulted in IB a tb thorough orough 1 conviction of the truthfulness of alor monism wended bended their way i do tb the lonely ocean there they knelt upon the sand and implored the approval of jehovah on the sacred ordinance they were about to perform the writer then led the candidate into the briny jeep leeland and in the name of the fathers father son and holy ghost immersed him hica for we remission remie aloo of his bia sins gins what feel ings of joy filled their bosoms as aa the he baptized exclaimed thank gods it la Is dune dolue I 1 immediately a f tr the he baptism they all g leathered round their brother and prea ident dent gardner was wai mouth in oo confirm ing him a member of the church of jesus christ of latte rj saints an and scaling upon him the rift gift of the ghost cheat thus one oae of the noble bonn aon of god was added to the told fold of christ and they feel to thank god for tills manifestation of his approval ol of their labors it if they may be allowed t to I 1 fudge by the spirit manifested by some novae thuy have much cause to believe that ethers will soon follow I 1 the health of the brethren has hag generally been good sod and they naive have been n the perfect enjoyment of their labors god blesses those who are re diligent iss in his bis work and crowns thir their efforts witt with suco ees for the past few months they have bare been looking forward with pleasure able uble anticipations to the arrival of the time when the annual conference a ot th the noi northern thern vart uart of the would be beld at kawa kalabay kawa Kaw aBay bay of le delands lelands lands A hui in means much to go the elders connected with it are friendly meetings and cheerful greetings greetin greet inks hes oten 0 ten as strangers they meet but the spirit of brotherly love so prevalent amongst our brethren suon soon banishes every strange iselin feeling a aad ad a seeming long acquaintance 1 is soon formed what heartfelt hand ebalee how the countenance beams with joy when they clasp the hand of true friend friendship shil I 1 on the evening of feb 4 a company of six including president gardner boarded the wellington and nd at 1030 sailed baided for the rain was pouring down in torrents the sea was rolling high and matters generally put on a rather gloomy aspect none of the boys were expert sailors gallon and one after another could be heard anxiously calling for his bis tin this thia call was soon followed by piteous groans and sinking sighs sleep hau haa fled and throughout the long night could be heard beard we tue familiar sea song heaving jonah A sympathizing friend occasionally came aad asked the sick how they were feeling how hollow and utterly devoid of at con was such a question when boy could plainly hear bear that every traia would seem to be the last about 9 am 8 m they landed at the whangarei wharf where after waiting half an hour they boarded the train for hikurangi here they were met with two buggies by a brother Flu finlayson Finlay laybon aon who veYe A them to his ams a ata foe cancle of seven iven miles mil there they were eted a ted with motherly kindness kind new the lefe of seasickness sea aea sickness had bad prepared tm geem to relish the too theome dinner weib had been provided by the be good sister leter in the evening the he writer in company with other elders eldera went out eelig aspeling eel mg president gardner 1 a eminent as a fiaher bober and a hunter judging however by the number of eels lie be caught he bets i more successful ai a I than a peter 09 after three hours patient wiling waiting and an expectation their anxieties were gratified raUf lel by the hooking of two dirty muddy snakelike snake like eels with these thee brown abrown over their shoulders the they reluctantly wended bended their way home ward the nab fish adored the breakfast table on the following morning morn tag but ibey seemed more ornamental than useful for the elders would all rather oaten catch than eat them on a thursday evening feb eth oboy started with teams to make a drive of df thirty miles to the place of oot coi erenee ere nue after a pleasant journey they reached kawa kawa about 5 p m joany native saints saint and a few white had already gathered there the familiar friendly call of the tb aaris fell joyfully upon their earland eara eare and 9 few moments later they were passing round abe semicircle semi circle formed by the faints participating in the goodna goldna bared hodal 1 1 nose rut this was indeed a pleasure plea aure more especially to ox who met mel old time acquaintances equal made his labors in their it wao wall is a mutual happy mare fleeting eting ers ere long might have been beau aleon en small groups on every hand at i agod aged in cheerful conversations about ati past since ince last jut tuey bad met the welcome elcome call haere mal ki to te kal kai heeded with much alacrity tue long tables spread under a tent roof farly gr groaned osted under the weight oi 01 gloo things A peaceful spirit prevailed and each did his bis part admirably rell after supper all met in the aps olous maori oliu church rob and after sing ringing and nd prayer the visiting mav from the south and the Nga ul of akawa kawa and surrounding village vil lagee their speeches spee obee of welcome greeting this meeting lasted and antil nearly midnight after the usual evening prayers all retired to reet the general conference commenced oa friday morning february esth with rith a fair air attendance of saints ano and ou outsiders gelders A detailed account of till alie e im meeting will appear in the NEWS it lie worthy of mention that in addition 0 to o abe be maori gatherings two Euro european peau services fer vices were held both of which were very well attended much interest io terest was wao 4 manifested by all present and we si sincerely trust that the seeds of truth gown may germ germinate binate and produce fruit haldred told tola after the clo close cloe e of the last meeting RD an enthusiastic oli old gentleman had bad many quest questions lows to ask aak relative to what ba bad 3 been said he that jeu jesus christ was in of the father and that man was created in the exact image of god he did not believe that man bad ever everse been enor or conversed convers edwith with bod nor man has ham communion oom munion with the heavens in this age of the world he denied the existence of prophets prophet ani and A Jk postles in the latter days day the writer wic called epou to answer these ques bione tione he handed banded his opponent a bible and proceeded to show how from sari scripture iture that every proposition coula be proven and answered in the affirmative our christian friend soon oun became much enraged and springing from his bis seat handed banded back the bible bade all an angry good night and vanished thus thu truth aroith made another victory and we felt fell to thank the lord that he enabled his servants to defend the principles of life and salvation after the discussion an intelligent looking lady came forward requesting a copy of the references that had bad been used in defending the principles adv bated she wanted them for the benefit of her husband whose ideas ou on the godhead were erroneous on sunday night another successful conference closed new life bad been infused into many who were growing dilatory and lukewarm to in the performance of their religious duties A desire for investigation aroused in the hearts of some and two came forward and asked for baptism oa the banks bank of the kawa kawa river a large crowd had met t witness the performance of this most moat holy ordinance after a few appropriate remarks for the benefit of outsiders on the object mode and necessity of baptism prest gardner led the candidates into the stream and baptized them MOW it was an impressive ceremony on monday morning nil all separated it was with reluctance that we bade each other good bye the saints returned home and the elders to their respective fields of labor elders john johnson and jedediah goft bov however rever were called to visit visit Uhan Uban garu garn and hamo and hold european meetings there Announce were gotten out and in due time the appointments were filled good congregations turned nut ut and listened attentively to the elders elder they remained a week at brother percy goings going where they received the kindest of treatment where the spir spar t 0 ot I 1 the gospel reigna supreme during this time the writer spent many b happy appy hours visiting with brother going friends and relatives relative and had theca the et port unity of teaching them the principles ples pertaining to eternal life he was kindly treated by all with whom he came in contact elder bider Jede Jode dlab goff has been called to spend a mouth month in the gesto district visiting amongst the europ ean eaon teaching them the gospel when opportunity presents itself from thence he proceeds to tamaki to attend the theaphil April annual conie conier renoe euce elder joanson leaves for auckland his permanent field of la boron february anu and on march colb in company with president gardiner elders goft and bartlett will go south to attend the april conference the president e antin intends visiting eiting vi two branch confer conferences ekoes on the tour elder bider T 8 browning will continue the work in auckland holding meetings with the bait bail ts and the J bublic JOHN JOHNSON |
