Show conferences IN SAMOA the semiannual semi annual conference for the saints on the island of savair was held at saleaula october irth and irth 1895 the elders in attendance from diun were john W beck president of the samoan mission james B barton jos A lewis B buraham Bu Bur wm G sears jmes james C knudsen wm win P silver stephen MV alker Valker christian jensen jr wm A moody and george S burnham Burn tiam A few saints from Foga tuli avalu and were also present whose number in connection with the saleaula saints and nonmembers non members rendered the aggregate about ninety souls on the irth one meeting and a sab bath school review were held and a program consisting of instrumental music songs select readings and recitations was well carried out in the evening five meetings were held on the irth one of them being a missionary session where the elders received instruction and appointments from elder john W beck and also expressed their feelings regarding their labors brother lewis P burnham retains the position oi residing presiding elder on savaii to labor at Mel avalu with elder wm win A moody as assistant brother christian Christia ii jensen jr continues to be presiding elder kt at saleaula with elder jamas C knudsen as assistant elder wm win P silver will take charge ot of Foga tuli district and be assisted by y elder george S burnham while bile elder stephen M walker will labor at and endeavor to organize a branch opapo a native eider was appointed to labor under the supervision ot elder lewis P burnham who Is is s stationed tation ed near by at L iuiana bi a new district where a few have just received the gospel during conference the usual advice and encouragement were given to the people the names of general and local officers of the church presented and sustained without a dissenting vote the gospel explained and sincere testimonies borne by the elders nothing cis disturbed the peace and quietness of the occasion and ever everything thing passed oft off pleasingly eight ot of the saints we e ordained to different offices in the priesthood and on the morning of the irth of october seven others were baptized and confirmed members ot of the church the reports given of the different branches for the past six months showed that much preaching had bad been done with but lair success owing to the barriers of samoan laws and custom cust cm I A united appeal is constantly ascending I 1 that our heavenly father will speedily remove this obstacle and hasten the day when all the righteous may have the 0 opportunity P ort unity of embracing the falness of th the gospel that we are gaining prestige among this people was manifested on the afternoon of the 1410 when the people of saleaula Sa eaula belonging to the diffie different rent denominations brought us food in abundance our saints to ohad on the irth presented to us two hundred and thirty one talo eight pigs six chickens forty eight bunches of fish and twenty two bunches of bananas so we were well supplied with temporal temo oral as well as spiritual lood food following both the presentations the natives gave their dances which were gracefully executed early on the morning of october elders and saints separated and started for their several places of abode the semiannual semi annual conference for the upolu saints was appointed to be held at ai Salea aumua on oc october tober lath and aoth 1895 but with the exception of a few members irom from the lepa district none of the saints came the following elders from zion were in attendance john W beck president of the samoan mission i james B barton joseph A william G sears silas bilas hutchings alex A lemon jr duncan kippen jabez W Dangerfie dangerfield id william jeppson and joseph quinney jr A new bamboo meeting house eighteen by forty feet floored nicely plaint ed and covered with corrugated sheet iron roofing has just been erected mainly by elders james B barton alex A lemon jr silas hutchings william jeppson joseph quinney jr and br brother iloco it eclipses all our other houses bouses of worship here and reflects great credit upon the builders brother john H has also assisted liberally with his bis means and brother ifopo donated the land a beautiful spot on a prominent knoll between two large villages owing to the work on the building our first meeting was held on the morning of the he aoth when the house was dedicated to the lord by elder john W bechand Bec kand about sixty natives were instructed pertaining to life and salvation ilithe in the afternoon a like number assembled and at seven p m the house was packed to overflowing upwards of one hundred being unable to gain admittance another large meeting was held at 2 ap p m mi october 2 which brought the con ference to a close then the natives gave their dances while seated on mats outside and we carried out anim an im promos program with a select crowd indoors we formed a pleasing acquaintance with several half castes and natives of this part of the country which contributed tri buted largely in making our gathering an en enjoyable one this is a new field and bids fair to become one of the best in the mission elders alex A lemon and wm jeppson have been appointed to labor here and will soon commence school tor for which there has already been numerous applications the other appointments are elders silas hutchings and joseph quinney jr ir at lepa elders james B barton jabez W dangerfield Dangerfie id and salausa at elders joseph A and william W winegar Wine garat at calovi and elders john W beck duncan kippen and william G sears at Fag alii our advices advises from tutuila regarding their gathering have not yet reached us but we have reason to believe that elders orlando barrus barms charles A alleman alfred jensen henry L home foster cluff clan and abinadi olsen 7 met in conference on october and 2 70 wm with the saints of tut tutuila tida and avau annap at alap aladj tutuila elder john F conley who had recently joined us has received his appointment to labor on that island and has already departed fortiere for there during the time that elder andrew jenson was with us the islands were divided off afi into districts so that the I elders belders at the dif different lerent stations know just what villages they are expected to visit thus a more systematic method ot of has been inaugurated and will enable us to better accomplish our designs to preach the gospel to all that none may be left without excuse we believe as do our south sea co laborers regarding their flocks that so longas long as the saints are surrounded rounded ur with idleness and other grievous sins their progress wol will be greatly retarded we are pained to report that many who have embraced the truth in this land have again fallen into byways forbidden by the laws of heaven while others are luke warm in their fet feelings lings but hope points to us the alie near future when the splendid prom tees aises of ancient and modern prophets will be realized by this now benighted race the once happy lot of their pro belore before gods holy laws were violated by them compared with their now aw degraded state causes us to ex daia will not be mocked and should be an incentive to all who have entered into sacred agreements to faithfulness falness and unshaken integrity JOHN W president Pies ident WILLIAM G SEARS clerk of samoan mission 11 our oar voyages to a courtr nem atee abe trip from fagalii Fag alii upolu to saleaula savaii a distance of sevens five miles by the route taken was made by elders lohn josho tw beck james B barton joseph A william A moody and G sears in the mission boat faasauga Faa aUga were it not for or the fact that U has been dedicated to the lord that it may be a safe carrier of his servants r village to village and it if need be ironi from island to island it would not be looked upon as anything but a precarious conveyance lor for such a aa occasion sut but necessity required us to take it it ve se would be at conference as we had bad been disappointed at the eleventh hour in procuring a better one and he who rules above seemed to approve of it and smile graciously upon us we left headquarters one hour before noon on the morning of october loth and were wafted wafred by a breeze along the western coast of upolu rain too fell in torrents but there is litile preference fer lence 3 if any to a scorching s sun tin while voyaging on samoa we reached the island ot of manono in the evening having traveled about thirty five miles mostly inside the reef alter after a good nights rest we commenced pulling over to the western coast of savail savaii soon after starting a favorable wind came up andee and we were horne along over the deep blue blu esea sea at a lively rate we had hoped to find elders and saints at avalu whom we could accompany up to sile S de aufa but on 0 n our arrival at that place we lazed learned tb that at they had preceded us a lew few homs 5 sp alter after eating breakfast we iegan again set out thi the sun beat down upon ab quite bite heavily the dy being in striking ag Zori contrast with yesterday and during the en miles we used our oars perspiration lion floid ir breely y just before reaching the place where we must again go outside the reef a good wind commenced to blow but the sea presented an angry appearance however we were bound for saleaula that day so we secured the services of a native to lead us through the dangerous passage of Utu malama he went immediately before us in his canoe white while we did our best to boilow him when we had fairly got started through the opening the large breakers all around us gave him the impression that it would be impossible to get through but we could not now retreat to allow one of those mon monstrous Arous breakers to hit us broadside meant that we would be swamped as he was told to proceed vigorously we pulled and pulled our boat being tossed about a great deal and only fanning the air at some ome strokes but gradually we made some headway and alter a long suspense we were safely through the reef and out among the white caps we now partly hoisted sail and were blown along over the restless ocean our faith was centered above not upon our own expertness as seamen otherwise such a ride would have been a perilous one by degrees the wind subsided until we felt safe to travel under full sail and towards evening we were opposite our destination we had no difficulty in finding the passage which leads into quiet waters so we were soon at our journeys end being welcomed by savaii elders and saints who had already gathered from their several places ot 0 labor and abode and stood waiting on the beach to receive us on our return trip the crew coas consisted isted of elders beick beck barton and sears also fred and george kenison as far as Tua sivi savaii from mere on the elders continued alone we departed from saleaula at on the morning of october ISIH and upon getting outside the reef were helped along by a land breeze the ocean was calm much to our satisfaction and comfort these thes etwo two points in our favor made rowing crowing quite easy owing to this favorable condition the way through the dif different lerent passages was s found easily we had traveled about twenty five miles by 9 a m and now now rested about an hour with brother david ke kenison ui i jr r at Tua sivi then set sail for U upolu alu the wind blew us across the straits and by plying the oars along the upolu coast we managed to reach vaia lua a point twenty miles west of before the setting of the sun we rested in a house until two a in then as the tide was favorable we pulled for home being assisted by a land breeze which enabled us to reach our destination at 7 30 on the morning of october rath elders john W beck james barton joseph A jabez W dingerfield dangerfield duncan kippen and william G sears accompanied by one native lett left fagalii Fag alii in the mission boat faaaliga at on the evening of october isih and at once went outside the reel and rowed towards the east end of upolu the sea ea wa waa as calm as a millpond so no one had that fond desire to supply the fish with lcou which is so earnestly manifested on uther other occasions when the boat is tossed about by large waves we were assisted some by a light land breeze but the oars were kept in constant use all the distance thirty miles to Salea aumua and we arrived there at 3 a in on the isih of october we had but slight difficulty in the dark in in finding the opening into shallow water and again landed safely at ten p m october elders john W beck james B barton william G sears brothers iloco and tagaloa left Salea aumua for tutuila thirty five miles east in mr Fra erasers sers twenty five foot open boat it was equipped with three sails six oars and fifteen hundred pounds of sand for ballast we felt much safer in this than we could have done in the faaaliga as it is rather small and therefore more susceptible of being tossed about we had waited two days in hopes of getting a favorable wind and now concluded we must start if we would be at conference appointed to be held at alao at the east end of tutuila on october and the moon lit up the country until we had bad safely rowed rowed out of the passage then she sank and the starry heavens furnished us with light we now raised sails against the wind and hoped to make headway by tacking we elders slept while ifo sat at the rudder we were roused aroused at daylight by our helmsman with the joyful news that tutuila was in sight so imagine our disappointment to find when the clouds ot of nights darkness had entirely flown away that he had bad mistaken some of them for land and that we had been carried back fifteen miles down the northern coast of upolu a long distance out irom from land As the headwind head wind continued blowing it required all day to reach five miles beyond the starting point the sun was very hot and the pacific was anything but peaceful result food taken sparingly some of which was quickly ejected no explanation given other than conditions just mentioned during friday nights night october we made tair fair pro progress giess and saturday morning we were we re in plain ight of our proposed posed destination we tried rowing ind and cutting closer to the wind but did not advance much as we soon discontinued it was apparent that we would be unable to attend the first day of conference so our hopes were to reach there for the sabbath during morning hours we gradually gained and at two p m we were within eight miles of leone which is situated on the western coast of tutuila but a fierce north wind struck up and simultaneously the sea grew fearfully rough a characteristic of this particular wind A consultation was held which was necessarily brief and we decided it would be impossible to proceed larther farther we were anxious to be in attendance at conference but it was evident that we could not struggle against such a sea which at this time was very undeserving of its title owing to its commotion we experienced perien ced difficulty in turning the boat towards upolu but once in that position without the fore and jib sails up we went bounding over the waves figuratively speaking over mountain and vale at railroad speed all hell seemed conspired to destroy us for in addition to the dangers already described a heavy rain storm set in which obscured upolu irom our gaze we were obliged to steer our boat at random and after a momentous ride of twenty miles during which time the huge waves continually dashed over our boat thereby assisting the rain in keeping us drenched and helping raise the water mark in the boat we again caught sight of upolu through it all we felt secure but our samoan brethren doubted their safety As they were busy bailing and one of those monstrous waves would sweep over us they would timidly exclaim Oo one more emore wave like that and down we go before that one came however sufficient water had been bailed |