| Show australasian conference the conference was held at hamaki april 3rd ard ath ath and ath morning meeting first day io 10 a m the spacious meeting hou house se was filled to its utmost capacity and nearly every district in the mission was re represented presente d on the stand were the following elders from zion president william gardner john ohn johnson john G young bryant ashby ishby castleton E best joseph K derbidge joseph W linford R L bird hyrum arum cook george bowles leo bradford john clayson george jarvis john H ellis horace W barton heber t C jex william S dimond L J obrien david lindsay james C allen alien J N lambert charles H embley J J E R E scott 1 A M jacobson david packard joseph M folkman jens K nelson T S browning william goff hial hales thomas J morgan F W ellis L C pond robert bodily louise pond sister A E asper and walter bunot elder gardner called the attention of the vast audience and when the congregation had sung a hymn brother george bowles offered the opening prayer our esteemed president greeted those inose assembled in the love of the gospel he extended a hearty welcome to all visitors and trusted they would partake of the spirit of the meetings he then proceeded to give a general report of the australasian mission nearly every vart part had been visited and it it had been found that wherever the elders were laboring a the work was progressing thomas J brien president of the hawkes bay district then reported the condition ot of his conference the past year had been a most successful one many had been brought into the fold and the saints were setting the new members good examples by living their religion many who had fallen away had returned to the flock and were manifesting in their lives that they were desirous ot of repenting and doing right wi beera acting president of the porirua branch in the district was then called the branch over which he presided was in a fair condition te president of the tamaju b branch r anch was the next speaker it was he who had sent an invitation tion to all madrid 0 m to attend the conference he was th thankful that so many had responded and he felt that the spirit of god had actuated them to come his soul rejoiced that he was numbered witti with the latter day saints his experience ence in the church had taught him that it was profitable to be faithful faith lul that blessings buth both temporal and spiritual followed a conscientious obedience to the laws oi god alter after speaking for a short time m upon upon the subject of church organization and the spiritual gifts upon which he brought scriptural evidence to bear he closed by asking the blessings ol of god to i attend all Whak angaro president of the kopua kaopua ahara branch of the te mahia district was the last speaker in his characteristic lively style he greeted and welcomed ehe saints to hui he dwelt at some length on the restoration of the gospel after singing the benediction was pronounced by erimena of taha pau afternoon meeting 2 after the usual opening exercises consisting of ginging nang and prayer elder joseph M bolkman president of the haurani dis brict was called upon to speak he save fave a briet report of the condition of his conference the great majority of the saints were alive to their duties while a lew few were negligent and lukewarm some new members had been baptized some children blessed and a liew hew branch organized hoera te president of the Rangi ngi toto branch of the wairau kairau district spoke oke next in an able manner he por brayed ayed the teachings of the primitive apostles postles showing the harmony between them tem and the doctrines taught by the riders R iders of israel today james C allen alien president of the mahia district was also called he gave a oost most encouraging report of his bis con eren erencen ces his was the largest district III 10 the mission containing the most members though some were weak the great reat majority were faithful and strong ilk the truth james ames W linford presiding in the kairau wairau district gave an encouraging report of his conferences arapata arapatra A te Wi rihana ibana and te liante aate also testified to the truthfulness of the gospel and encouraged the saints to be faithful to the sacred cove ants they have made after singing the meeting was dismissed by tamati mete of te mahia mabia evening meeting mee 7 inasmuch much as there were so many elders and saints ya who could not understand the maori language it was decided that a meeting for them should be held in the fh ne new house which had been erected for r the elders brother browning was called ed to take charge the native meeting opened by sing ing prayer was offered by likera Sifi waging ging elders eider S 1 morgan was the first arst speaker he reported the condi on of the bay of islands district over which he presided though many were quite alive to their duties there were conae who ere spiritually dead and had lost ast the spirit of the gospel much of 0 the fhe time had been spent in preach preaching ing out outsiders siders who m in most instances has as treated the elders with civility and kindness luness t though hough manifesting much in relative to the principles of the gospel rumors about chirini whanga changa ad been circulated amongst them but silice ice the reception of letters from the laoris maoris a oris in in zion this evil had been much mitigated litigated the speaker then dwelt briefly defly up upon on the subject of divine au bority arity elder charles H embly pres ted bof ident of the poverty bay district u his c conference on ference it was generally speaking peaking in a flourishing condition i te kepa president resident of the muriwai branch an and d Tp te e auka of the Kati eki branch were also called and balse most interestingly on the ale ples of the gospel I 1 testifying to the di lyof of the missi mission n of the prophet jos smith closing prayer was offered by otene tonga after the evening meetings were over the elders and european saints met in the new house and car carried out the following pro gramme I 1 double quartette by the elders 2 indian club exercise T S browning 3 short lecture john johnson 4 instrumental music J ellis and company 5 song F W ellis 6 speech R L bird 7 song mr oaklay 8 song the elders 9 phonographic imitation david lindsay Lind sav io 10 recitation J N lambert music guitar and mandolin ellis and derbidge morning meeting second lay day the attention of the meeting was called by president gardner the congregation sang a hymn after which prayer was offered by brewi mohena singing As before the european saints and elders met by themselves one of the brethren brethren taking charge the people had continued to gather until now between and were present in the maori meeting elder willard goff was the first speaker he reported the condi ion of the Whang arii district of which he was president resident As a rule the saints were faithful faitE faithful ful and alive to their duties reha Ape rahama president of the te aroha branch of the hamaki district gave a powerful discourse upon the first principals of the gospel he related his bis experience in having to abandon the teachings of the first church to which he had belonged to embrace the principles of an unpopular gospel but he knew that though mormonism was much hated it represented the true gospel of christ and he was satisfied for that reason s oki at this juncture kepa te What amui an influential salvation army captain was permitted to speak he had been invited to attend the conference and thanked his friends for the honor they bad bestowed upon him he gave a brief sketch of his life as a sinner and how faith in christ had bad changed his bis heart he was pleased to meet with his people in conference though he differed from them in his bis religious opinions he closed his remarks with a somewhat lengthy prayer and a hearty amen kahana followed he commented upon the remarks of the previous speaker and portrayed clearly from holy writ that faith without words was dead the meeting was then closed by singing and benediction by kiwal afternoon meeting 2 after singing and prayer elder george bowles bowies president of the Waira rapa district was called upon to speak he commenced by giving a brief but concise re port of his conference con terence though not all were faithful the majority were living christian lives he e in high term sf all the branch presidents and weir counsellors coun they were watching with fatherly care over their flocks the fall of adam and the coming forth of the book of mormon were tonics topics u on which the speaker treated at some length producing abundance of scriptural evidence paul hofere bruha te maari and pita all able speakers also addressed the saints they dwelt principally on oa the fundamental principles of the gospel and bore strong testimony to the truthfulness of mormonism meeting dismissed by singing and prayer evening priesthood meeting according to announcement the members of the priesthood met in the new house to receive instructions pertaining to their calling and responsibilities after the opening exercises president gardner addressed the meeting there were present as follows elders 65 priests 9 teachers 12 and deacons 3 branch presidents 22 counsellors coun 18 A many any instructions were given which would have a tendency to encourage the natives in their duties and callings some remarks were made relative to the annual conference in 1897 and also regarding the establishment of day schools amongst the natives at the close many questions were asked all of which were satisfactorily answered by president gardner I 1 when the audience had sang lord I 1 dismiss us etc elder T J morgan pronounced the benediction an evening testimony meeting with elder embley presiding was held with the sisters and non members of the priesthood that all might be engaged and mil mg dually bene fitted thirty five testimonies were borne and the spirit of god burned in every soul to make the utmost of our surround ings a european meeting was hold held at Dani vicke at which a large number were in attendance A most appreciative audience was addressed by elders pond and bird thus three most successful meetings were held on one evening ni the second day of the general conference conference n feelings of gladness thrilled every heart for there was not a jar not a discord not a harsh word all was peace quiet and happiness sunday morning third day when the saints had all met for morning devotions vot ions elder godfread goff fread read a letter from ex president pres aident written to cabri saints in conference the natives were overjoyed to hear from their old time friends and brother they had not forgotten his fatherly counsels and his bis ip in te resting energy in teaching them the principles of the gospel was yet fresh in ill their memories the fast day was observed by all the elders and saints though the cooks were compelled to labor on account of the presence of so many visitors who did not understand tand the object the saints have in complying with this divine command the regular meeting commenced by sin singing g ung a hymn prayer was offered by toe to e singing elders jens K nelson david packard and john johnson presidents of the waikato Wai kato taura i 1 ga and auckland districts respect respectively iv f ly addressed the Ine meeting eting on gospel subjects and reported the condition of their various conferences native brethren paralene Pa tul tui carai tiana brewi kaaha and Hama iwaho ahsu als spoke testifying in power to the establishment of gods kingdom in the last days the congregation sanga sang a hymn and the meeting was dismissed by lienard afternoon meeting meetings 2 before the commencement of the services a number of the elders had gone to the river with six candidates for baptism president gardner officiated in the water this was a most p basant feature of the conference conle rence as it aroused in the minds ot of visitors a sense ot of responsibility and caused many of them to reflect seriously upon the position they occupied insomuch that some expressed their intention to follow the example of those who had just yielded obedience to the divine law after singing and prayer the newly baptized members were confirmed and lour four children were blessed the sacrament was administered by elders obrien folkman goal and embley 4 te pukeroa Puke roa the venerable chief of tamaki was the first speaker dressed in a long loose gown he presented an imposing appearance though feebly tee he spoke in a firm tone and testified with power to the establishment of the true church in this latter day dispensation and that zions elders were the authorized servants of god to carry the gospel to the nations of the earth president ol of the mah anga brauch branch ot of the mahia mabia district was then called he is the demosthenes of his fiery eloquence thrilled the audience and held them in close attention for more than an hour quoting daniel a 2 44 45 he portrayed cust forcibly the set setting iving up of the kingdom of god in this dispensation ane historical application of z carls dream was nicely traced and clearly demonstrated I 1 the establishment ot of the church in the days of christ and the restoration of the gospel in the fatter ater days were all dwelt upon at some length the speaker closed by bearing a 4 I 1 powerful testimony to the truth oi of mormonism Mot monism and the divine mission of joseph smith b the meeting closed by singing a hymn and prayer by pera evening meeting 7 singing player grader by hann hami rare carere singing elders bradford and eliis elds and native brethren te Rangi tere te athi Kai hote pera and were the speakers each spoke under the influence of the spirit ol of god and gave valuable instructions the elders from zion portrayed their falm labors in their respective fieldsend field sand gave A most interesting account ot of how god had bad blest and assisted them european meeting at Dane vicke nearly hearty all the elders and european saints went to town to attend the meeting 9 the Odd fellow hall was filled after ter singing and prayer elder johnson was called to ta address the audience on the subject of divine authority elder jex ex fo followed ed speaking briefly on the first t p principles ples ot of the gospel and at the close e elder browning bore a faithful and sd earnest testimony to what had been said after the close of the meeting questions were asked by ministers and others elder johnson answering them much interest was aroused and many expressed an anxious desire to bear more about mormonism and mormon doctrine accordingly another appointment was made tor for tuesday evening i april ath at the stated hour the hall was filled fo 0 its utmost capacity insomuch that many could not obtain seats the questioners questioners came marching in with their 1 bibles under their arms no doubt thinking to do up the mormons cormons Mor mons elder Cp carelton relton took his place at the piano and gr prother obrien led the singing singing in which ch the congregation heartily ja joined i lii ed altor after the opening exercises elder john son was called to speak this time he chose for his subject the apostasy apo stacy elder young followed on the restoration when the meeting was closed the queries commenced elders eders johnson and young answering each taking those which bordered on the subject he had treated it is needless to say there was excitement to state that the elders left a good impression on the minds of the Dane peoples peo pleis to tell the truth much prejudice was allayed and more interest aroused than is usually manifested by our outside Iri friends ends morning meeting fourth day prayer was offered by keriaki Teri aki singing elders scott bodily and Lamber native brothers aretini Tam Tami ibana hana were the speakers the elders reported reported the condition ot of their respective |
