Show TRAVELS LETTER NO on my arrival in auckland new zealand from tahiti april irth 1896 1 I found no elder to bid me welcome but on the following day elders william gardner john johnson wallace C castleton john G young J H willard goff thomas J morgan hial B hales edgar 0 best robert H bodily fred W ellis lysander C pond and wife sister louie K pond and their two children and albert E asper arrived from the hawkes bay district where they had attended the annual conference of the australasian misson they all came on the steamer Wai hora 1 I together with two families of saints and a sister who were emigrating to utah during the following week I 1 completed my historical labors in auckland and also visited brother charles hardy and family who lives in the horseshoe bush about twenty miles from auckland on monday april aoth I 1 boarded the steamer anglian and sailed for sydney australia together with the following kider Elder sand saints elders fred W ellis lysander C pond and sister louie K pond returning home from missions to tasmania elder edgar 0 best on his bis way home from a mission to new zealand and elder robert H bodily also homeward bound from a mission to queensland australia all these missionaries bad received an honorable release from their respective positions ions in the australasian missionary positions field eld at the late conference after long terms of faithful missionary labors their countenances beamed with that joy and happiness which is characteristic of the laborer in the vineyard who after making good records abroad begins to contemplate tho th reunion with dear ones left for the gospels sike sake in zion there were also brother robert menzies and wife old members of the church brother george wilson wife and six children and brother thomas finlayson wife and ten children emigrating to zion these together with the sister emigrating from tasmania and brother and sister ponds two little children both born in tasmania made a company of thirty souls bound tor for zion who went to australia on the anglian there to re embark for america our voyage of 1282 miles from auckland to sydney was somewhat unpleasant owin owing to the stormy weather which prevail prevailed part of the time and the unusual and unceasing rocking and rolling of the anglian I 1 lectured twice onboard inboard on board once in the second cabin and once on the quarter deck in the first cabin department part ment of the ship I 1 was listened to with good attention on both occasions occasion S but beyond that only a very little interest seemed to be manifested on the part of the listeners many ot of whom afterwards exhibited deep seated prejudice against our people and doctrines our meeting meeting in the second cabin when elder ellis a also so spoke was conducted in the usual way ot of holding latter day saint services while that on the first cabin deck was purely a lecture at which the captain of the vessel presided and introduced trod the speaker on saturday april we arrived at sydney where we were met by elders jedediah G goff 0 ff who has charge of the missionary work in new south wales and george W lewis who is returning home from a mission to the colony of victoria australia also the following named brethren who had arrived at sydney per steamer warrimoo moo a few days previously wednesday Wednes dayt april d as elders from zion called to labor in the australasian mission charles J peterson hans petersen Peters enand and alexat alexander der P hamilton of mill creek charles A orme of tooele thoele francis W kirkham of lehi and william harvey an and d edward A carr of salt lake city utah elder goff after securing quarters for the other elders and saints who had arrived on the anglian took me to bis missionary headquarters on jesson street alexandria one of the suburbs of sydney they consisted of a single room occupied by himself and elder william G park his missionary companion whom I 1 met in the evening the brethren pay a small rent for the use of the room and board themselves later in the evening I 1 had the pleasure of accompanying elders goff and park to a secluded spot where there was much water just outside of the suburbs of alexandria and witnessing the sacred ceremony of baptism ti sm administered by elder goff to eight persons who through the belabors labors ot of the missionaries had bad been converted to the truth of the everlasting gospels the evening was a most pleasant one the moon beamed beautifully upon us and seemed to confer additional enhancement han cement upon the mighty scene and give assent to the divine ordinance which was being performed in in strict harmony with the revealed plan ot of life and salvation alter after the baptism we all repaired to the home of sister alice andrews where we ht he ida id a confirmation meeting and in laying hands upon the new con verts for the reception of the holy ghost the influence of heaven rested upon us and we all rejoiced exceed angly in the lord and his bis mercies eider goff and his missionary companions have labored with great zeal and perseverance in S sidney adney and vicinity for quite a while and there baptisms together with about a dozen others previously performed bid fair to lay the foundation for a nourishing flourishing branch of the church in the metropolis oi of australia where the work of preaching the pure gospel has been neglected for many years though it was here that the elders of the true church of christ first commenced successful operations in australia it is generally known among the older members of the church that elders Elder john sjohn murdock and charles W wandell were the first latter day saint elders to preach the falness of the gospel to the inhabitants of eastern australia on october 30 these two elders landed as strangers in a strange land in the city of sydney and soon afterwards began their preaching in the public parks some of the incidents connected with the first move ments of these pioneer elders are narrated briefly in the periodical called zions watchman published in sydney australia in 1054 from which paper the following ia i culled alter after making the necessary arrangements arr ange ments lor for board and lodging elders murdock and wandell turned their attention to the task before them that ot of introducing the gospel to the inhabitants ot of sydney on sunday afternoon nov 2 1851 a after the dismissal of the primitive methodist out door meeting on the old race course at sydney elder john murdock with his bis hat in his hand band stepped forth and addressed the people in a man manner ner something like the following lowing tol gentlemen I 1 desire to say a few words to the people here assembled I 1 have been pleased with much that has been said on the present occasion and being a missionary sent to preach the gospel of jesus christ I 1 would like to have the ledge of speaking to the people he was then asked from whence he came and alter after telling that he hailed front from america some little feeling was manifested which however soon subsided having asked for a place to preach in the primitive Met hodits preacher mr moss enquired to what denomination he belonged and w was as answered the church of lesus jesus christ of latter day saints 0 a mormon eh was the response and the preacher looked rather aghast at the tact fact and r 0 raptly informed elder murdock that ne he could not let him have a place to preach in that he himself occupied the ground they were now standing on every sunday and that the place belonged to him for preaching purposes the preacher then hastened away ale the assembly now called for a declaration of principles when elder murdock briefly but very forcibly laid down the first principles of the gospel explaining also the orde the organization of the church of christ and the nature ol of the blessings blessing enjoyed by saints in ancient tunes times lie he was listened to with considerable attention with the exception of being asked once or twice as to whence he received his bis commission and authority among the assembly were several per pe r tons sons to whom the lord had intimated by vision or dream that something important was on hand one man had bad had a vision of the kingdom of god established in the centre ot of the world continuing to increase until it overcame the world and the spirit testified to him bun when elder nElder murdock was speak in ing that the cause he represented was the work of god john jones I 1 ones another of the assembly who afterwards be came a prominent elder in the mission received a similar manifestation and waa aa under the same influence at the close oi of the address several questions were asked such as do you profess to be able to perform miracles have you ever seen the sick healed etc mr jones asked does your church profess to receive revelations suited to the present condition and character of man elder murdock answered boldly we do 11 an appointment was then made for preaching on the race course the next sunday afternoon on sunday november ath elder murdock was on the ground at the time appointed and preached an excellent discourse upon the principles of the gospel and its restoration the millennial reign of christ on the earth with his saints etc elder wandell was with him and an appointment appoints ent was made to preach in the evening at the old assembly room when elder W wan andell delivered a discourse on the ministrations trat ions of angels to the prophet joseth joseph smith at the close of the meeting the proprietor said he should not let them nave the room again after this a house was rented on pitt street were services were held ever every y sunday morning and evening and public speaking on the race course every afternoon the meetings continued for some time to excite an increasing interest and hundreds as a rule attended the outdoor out door meetings the brethren also applied all the means they could muster for the printing of books and pamphlets thus two thousand copies of parley P Pratts Proclamation were published and two thousand copies of orson pratts remarkable visions soon afterwards five hundred hymn books and two thousand history of the persecution of the saints were published in the latter part of november elder murdock went to parramatta Par a town lying about twelve miles inland from sydney he went there by steamer and returned on toot foot down the road distributing such tracts as had already been published december 3rd ard 1851 the first person was baptized into the church an evening meeting attended only by a few was held and a goodly portion 0 of f the holy spirit was present elder mu murdock adock spoke with great force and power making plain the principles of truth 0 on the following day december ath elder murdock left sydney lor mel bourne in the colony 0 of victoria about six hundred miles south west of sydney but he found the people generally gone to the gold diggings and the whole country in perfect excitement the people were gathering in from the neighboring cities and isles to dig gold it being about the time that gold was first discovered in the colony of victoria elder murdock spent two days in the city of melbourne but could find no shelter lor for himself and what few articles he brought with him consequently after spending about ten days in melbourne and vicinity under extreme difficulty fi he found it advisable to leave that part of the country and return to sydney where he arrived january fth 1852 on sunday morning january fth 1852 the day before elder eider murdocks Murd ochs ledurn from melbourne the S sydney branch of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints was organized consisting of twelve members including two priests one teacher and one deacon who were ordained on the same occa sion these first members had all been baptized by elder wandell who had been very engaged in spreading the truth both by spreading the printed word and by preaching on M the race course and other places that could be obtained for the purpose both out and indoors in doors elder murdocks murdock health was poor and as his lungs were weak and his nerves trembling he found it very difficult to preach each out of doors the principal part 0 of PT his preaching W was as consequently done indoors in doors by th this is time the elders had come to the conclusion that the best way to plant the gospel in any city or part of australia was to procure a home for themselves and irom from there go out preaching whenever they could get an opportunity as a rule they could get no congregations on oil week days and only very few at nights one ot of the newly baptized families made a home for elder murdock in the beginning of 1852 places were obtained for preaching at chippendale Rush cutters bay and at kissing point but the labors of the elders at thes these places were not crowned with much success about the same time the old assembly rooms at sydney were rented again saturday march 1852 the first conference ot of the church in australia was commenced it was organ organized iced with elmerjohn elder Elde john rjohn murdock as president a and nd elders charles W wandell and john jones as counselors and it was adjourned from time to time until the ath of A april april following the strength of the church in australia at this time consisted of thirty six members including one high priest one seventy three priests one teacher and one deacon but during the conference two of the newly baptized brethren were ordained elders the next year 1853 other elders from zion arrived and from sydney the work spread into the surrounding cou country n as well as to melbourne and ad adelaide el and many other towns in the colonies ot of victoria and south australia ajjia from sydney also the first missionaries went to new zealand and in due oo 00 course urse of time a monthly paper called zions watchman was published in sydney in in the interest of the mission thus the work made good pro progress gressi regular an nual and quarterly conferences were held sevel several ral companies of saints emigrated to utah and everything looked quite quit promising in many parts of the mission mission for a rich harvest ot of souls when the elders were called home in 1857 and 1858 on account of the utah war from that time on the sydney branch and other branches of the church gradually died most of the members who did not emigrate to zion soon became lukewarm or lost the spirit of the gospel alto gether ether hence when the field in new auth wales was opened reopened re about three years ago the elders had to break up new ground and had a new generation to deal with v at present there are four elders from zion engaged in missionary labors in new south wales two of them elders baker and nelson are temporarily lo 10 caled at five a suburb of sydney sydne near the parramatta Par river ANDREW JENSON SYDNEY new south wales australia may 2nd and 1896 |