Show australasian conference the annual conference of the australasian mission was held at tamaki hawkes bay new zealand on april ath ath ath and ath 1895 the following elders from zion were present elder william gardner president of the mission elders B goddard goddar E J palmer J E fisher C B bartlett 1 I W linford J S abbott G bowie boblee L bradford L G hoagland M C nielsen chris peterson charles peterson J M folkman J F button burton R L bird W F armstrong armstron H C joff jex ex T J morgan J bohnson loh J H W goff W bunot C H embley E 0 best W F T J obrien J barrow J C allen alen R E scott J C jorgensen J H ellis jedediah gott goft R A fenton G jarvis J N lambert W S dimond and anda J A M jacobson A large number of european saints and hundreds of maori members were also in attendance conference was called to order by president william gardner at io 10 a in april esth and opened with singing hymn 24 prayer by elder joseph C C jorgensen the congregation then sang hymn 64 president william gardner addressed va words of greeting to the both maoris laoris and europeans and earnestly desired to be guided by the spirit of god throughout the conference he reminded the congregation that the saints in zion were also assembled in conference as april ath was the anniversary of the church the saints assemble together to learn the things of god and not to search for the treasures of the worl dand he exhorted all present to center their minds on the worship of god he had pleasure in reporting that the work of the lora was prospering throughout the mission and a great labor was now being performed among the europeans reference was made to letters of greeting received from elder eider J G young ot of southland and elders ellis and pond tasmania who were unable to be present elder W F reported the condition of hawkes bay district he stated that a good feeling existed among the saints though a few were still weak and erring he felt to re boice when a repentant spirit was manifested and believed that the conference was now in a prosperous condition he desired to see all who had received the gospel walking in the light and not in darkness earnestly prayed that god would bless all his children with the spirit of f their callings without which no benefit could be derived from attending conference elder E J palmer president of wai kato conference briefly reported his district stating that most of the mem bers in waikato were true to the gospel and the good work was spreading spading lie he commented upon the divisions in i the christian church and the numerous faiths and creeds in the world notwithstanding that paul said there must be one with laith one lord one baptism he spoke upon the apostasy and the restoration of the gospel adducing numerous scriptural passages to sustain his position elder L G hoagland represented te mahia conference conle rence in which he stated were members fifty new members having been baptized during the past year most of the fenbers were firm in the faith though it had bad been necessary to excommunicate A few he had traveled considerably among outsiders and was hospitably el entertained uy by them some desired them to visit their kaaen gas villages continually as they knew mat the elders had the light ol of the gospel and could explain the principles clearly lie he spoke upon the necessity of searching ane scriptures continually and urged ail present to brive for the exaltation and eternal lite life reserved for the laith tui elder junn F burton president of queensland cun conference ference australia stated seated that his district was in in a prosperous condition the members enjoyed the spirit ut of the gospel without which they knew they could not serve god the records showed an increase of twenty five during the past year and all the members have great hopes lor for the fluture he prayed that the blessings of god might rest upon all who had taken upon them the name of christ hoera ie fe a native elder and president ol of Rangi toto branch also addressed the congregation on the first princ principles of the gospel meeting closed with singing hymn 96 prayer by the afternoon meeting was opened at p singing hymn 95 prayer by Kar aitiana elder C B bartlett was the first speaker and desired to speak such words as the lord inspired he stated that in the bay of islands conference many members were bringing forth good fruit while some were dead branches there were members in the district twelve new members had been baptized during the year and twenty six children blessed he spoke upon many of the erroneous teachings ot ol modern christendom showing also from the sacred volume of scripture the true principles ot of eternal life the organization ot of the church and prophetic teachings of holy writ were also spoken upon in an interesting manner te hora an eloquent and influential ial chief from poverty bay district also addressed the conference at some length the chief topics treated upon n were the book of mormon fulfillment fulfilment of prophecy punishment for disobedience as instanced in the case ot of adam and eve the antediluvians israel in the wilderness etc the founding of the true church by the prophet joseph smith and the necessity of being guided by revelation it was a powerful sermon attentively listened to by all present meeting closed with hymn prayer by hikoro the evening meeting was called to order at p m the congregation joined in singing hymn 6 prayer by te matiu hymn elder jos C jorgensen gave a satisfactory report of rejoiced in the principles that had called together so many latter day saints the members of the church have been called upon to sustain the work of the lord in the latter days and they therefore needed the power and influence ot the Melchi sedek priesthood he showed how Melchi sedek was chosen of god and commented upon the power of the priesthood as manifested mani tested by moses while leading israel through the wilderness all who had received that priesthood and fall away will assuredly lose the spirit of god and he therefore exhorted all to magnify their callings eider charles peterson expressed his joy at leing present and stated that he had labored principally among the europeans on the south islands many years ago the gospel was taken from the people there on account of persecution but now they are wilting to listen to he elders noi notwithstanding that the mormons cormons are an unpopular people this is an import ant age lor for great prophecies are being fulfilled as recorded by moses and the prophets matthew records the words ot of christ and indicates the troubles that will exist prior to his second coming and also that the gospel must be preached as a witness among all nations and then shall the end come the elders of israel israe are now performing this important work and all should be zealous in their labors he urged the saints to withstand all evil and thus obtain great and glorious blessings in the kingdom of god elder J H W goft goff president of whangarei conference reported that members had bad been baptized in his district and the majority were still firm and steadfast forty five persons had been baptized during the year and the people generally were very kind and hospitable to the elders he rejoiced to observe the growth of the churchard Chur chand earnestly exhorted all the members member sto to be steadfast and cling to the principles of eternal life he spoke upon the gifts and blessings of the gospel which can only be obtained by obedience to the laws of god and the laying on of hands by those possessing authority from heaven hobena Ho romona president of pori rua ma branch delivered a forcible address on the restoration of the gospel and the calling of the prophet joseph smith the subject of the book ot of mormon was also treated upon after two hours duration the meeting was closed with singing sing inc hymn 89 prayer by elder james C allen alien second day of conference meetings were resumed at io 10 arid opened with singing hymn 46 prayer by te haada hymn 26 elder joseph M folkman was the first speaker speaker and he reported haurani dietr district ct where here the majority ot of the members were magnifying their callings he impressed upon the people the necessity of obedience to all the laws of the gospel in order to obtain an exaltation in the kingdom of god the false doctrines taught in the world were condemned and the apostasy and restoration were commented upon in an interesting manner the interpretation ot of dream and its connection with the latter day work was clearly and convincingly shown to apply to thi the church founded by divine revelation by joseph smith the Prop Pro poet bet elder joseph W N Lin linford tord president of gaitan wairau conference briefly referred to the labors of the elders in that locality he stated that the members performed their church duties each day attending their karabias kara kias prayer meetings regularly there are lour four branches in the conference and a sunday school has been organized in connection with each A good labor has been performed among the outsiders and he believed that many would shortly join the church he bore an earnest testimony that god had restored his church in latter days and that joseph smith was a true prophet of god elder W F armstrong greeted all the assembled saints and expressed his great pleasure in being present he stated that he had labored in new south wales australia about ten months when the work commenced there great difficulty was experienced buts but after persistent visiting and delivering tracts irom from door to door many were desirous ot of investigating the gospel message he testified that this was the work of god and earnestly prayed that god would ever bless his saints elder chris peterson president ot of the district rejoiced to be present to listen to the word of the servants of god he appreciated his calling as a preacher of the gospel to a branch of tue the house ot of israel and desired to assist in the great latter day work like paul he could say 1 I am not ashamed of the gospel gos el of christ for it is the power of god M unto salvation he spoke upon the laws of god and urged obedience thereunto he stated that district was in a satisfactory condition there are members in the conference and felteen new members have been baptized during the year elder Eide eJ J E fisher reported poverty bay district in which were three branch of the church the presidents of these were exemplary men and the priesthood endeavored to magnify their callings As he had completed his labors among the maori farill people ae he urged the members to a faithful performance for mance of their duties that all might be permitted to meet again in the presence of god he quoted jobs testimony 1 I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth the remainder of the time was occupied by pilipi te maari a respected chief from Waira rapa district and ara pata of Wai pawa both of whom testified to the benefits derived by the maori people through the indefatigable labors of the elders of israel they also treated upon various principles of the gospel meeting was closed with singing hymn 22 prayer by wi beera the afternoon meeting was called to order by president gardn r the congregation gre gation sang hymn 33 prayer by erbiti Tai hymn 92 elder george bowles stated that many of the members in the Waira rapa district were exceedingly good and performed their duties faithfully in the church while others were somewhat dilatory during the t he year thirty one new members have been baptized for which he praised god through whose blessing they were con averted the elders have traveled considerably sider ider ably among outsiders and were invariably treated with much kindness and he had great hopes of a large increase in the near future he warned the saints of the prevalent evils among them especially that of witchcraft which enticed many of the maoris laoris from the pith path of righteousness false prophets had arisen among them and they needed therefore the brint of god continually he treated upon the principles of the gospel and referred to the great faith exercised in the ordinance lor for the healing of the sick elder james S abbott was called upon to represent conference stated that many of the members were very diligent while the waywardness of others caused great anxiety to the elders he stated that god had blessed his servants during their travels among the people and ana rejoiced in these evidences of divine favor he urged all the members to cease all their evil vil practices that their lives might be a living testimony to the truth of the gospel message elder eider jedediah goff expressed his pleasure at being privileged to partake of the good spirit manifested in the annual conference he referred to the early prophecies of joseph smith and oliver cowdery after afier their baptism that the church should be great and re to witness the result of a boys prayer he traced briefly the work of god from the commencement and the striking fulfilment fulfillment ot of prophecy te Awa puni president of tamaki branch and bakana an intelli intelligent young maori also addressed the people after which the congregation sang hymn 70 prayer by denare apa tarie tar the evening meeting was held at 7 p m opening with singing hymn 96 prayer by nichai te rangi hymn 52 elder R L bird being called upon expressed his pleasure at meeting with the saints in general con conference terence he had labored one year ahng the eu on the south island and lound found a good spirit existing among them some ome had been baptized recently and he thought others soon would be the servants of god had been sent forth to preach the gospel as a witness unto all nations and to combat error with eternal truth he compared the commission mi ision given by christ to chis his disciples with that possessed by the elders in these days commented also on the restoration of the gospel through the ministry of angels in fulfilment fulfillment ol of revelations xiv 6 it was a grand scene to him to witness so many saints anxious to bear their testimonies and he reminded them that it was only necessary to continue faithful to all their covenants to earn a great reward cl and finally be counted among those whom god will gather unto himself as his jewels i elder charles hardy president of auckland branch felt happy to witness the fruits of the labors of the servants of god who hav ha velett eleft all to preach the gospel unto the people he was pleased to see the light of the gospel spread abroad he perceived in the world a spirit of division nation against nation kingdom against kingdom lather against son mother against daughter and the signs of the times indicated clearly the of prophecy he warned the saints against apostasy for apos tates tate swill will go into great darkness and suffer much misery he bore borea a faithful testimony to the latter day work elder fohn johnson had listened with much interest to the instructions given in conference and he testified that hat the principles of the gospel as taught by the elders could be substantiated from holy writ for the past eight months he had labored in the city of of auckland and while some opposed the truth many kind friends had been baen found there the doctrines of the church may be unpopular but they nevertheless are true he commented on the relationship between mormonism and christianity and desired to bear his bis testimony that joseph smith was a true prophet of god and no man had ever instituted a better form of worship the power was received from god and the elders are now clothed with authority to preach these principles to the world elder T J morgan from the bay of islands district addressed a few words on the first principles of the gospel he testified that the words of the elders were true and that the true church of god had been |