Show ARKANSAS TRAVELERS PIGGOTT arkansas january 18 irth th 1897 our arkansas conference closed last night it was held in headley school house in clay county we had a series of splendid meetings our principal priesthood meeting was held in the woods where we sat on the logs around a huge bonfire bon fire with exception of short intervals our meeting was almost continuous continuo is from ten a m until five p in during which time each of the sixteen elders present bore their testimonies the spirit was poured out so powerfully upon us that many were melted to tears and those experienced spoke by the power of the lord as if they had been in the field for months following this we had a series of priesthood meetings together using the noon hour between public gathering in in which we were spiritually fed most of the time in these meetings was occupied by our president elder andrew kim ball while each oi of us had sufficient opportunity port unity of speaking as we were led our public meetings commencing friday night and ending sunday night were well attended exceeding one hundred persons on an average saturday night by way of change the elders gave the people a free concert during our public meetings our young elders were brought to the front and handled the first principles of the gospel in their order elder james L nielson presides over this conference and has laboring under his direction eleven missionaries joseph A wright thomas H argyle george E brim thomas gleason joseph H peterson james P anderson joseph J larkin fredrick cleverly frank L copening david nelson and george N atkinson besides those and in company with president kimball we had a visit from secretary john M knight who was instrumental in the hands of the lord with his co laborers in opening w up this field from which he was called calia I 1 to st john kansas to operate as ses see detary and assistant president of th f indian terri territory tory mission to make it ft still more interesting elder lurin lorin C Q 1 woolley en route to his old field the i cherokee nation for a short mission r added his testimony and gave us m many valuable items of experience our st john sunday school superintendent and tenor singer elder kirk man with his guitar came along to lud aid in making it still more interesting so that our musical department was anew k no small interest to the people this is the second conference held ick this locality with increasing interest tt will be remembered that in this 1 lar jar neighborhood seven years ago el ela ders holt and shephard of 0 the southern states mission who came over 1 1 1 tennessee were mobbed but the of their labors are apparent today hk the many warmhearted warm h hearted e arted friends to oil elders some of those the two eld met during their short visit here following each meeting kind frie waited for us notwithstanding the fe that the people generally are poor jhb share their scanty lot and give us best they have special preparation was made of course for our ale pleasure and the mormon elders coming in I 1 frothi their various rounds know how to ay preci predate ate these go good things with the exception ol of a few boys who no doubt would make it utta A pleasant lor for us if not kept in restraint by better element the behavior ol of people towards us is worthy of special commendation our elders in comi alf in from their various fields report tt they traveled without purse or scrip have received the best of tr treaon ea elders brim and copening par ticul P Q reported that they had put up a at al best hotels in the cities and ate 1 christmas dinner at a railroad ei house getting at the latter turkey f fr oysters and a variety of tresh fresh fruits i while it seemed a hardship to start attl some months ago conditions haw havo changed so that our elders very much prefer the new method and indeed it would need a new dispensation of ia to get them to go back to tra eling as formerly with money with to pay their way the work is boft done systematically the state is ed into districts our elders ate are cumbered cambered cumb ered with trunks valises or extras while the work is yet new in this state under the present system oi of the rough canvassing and with the good lot ol of elders our president elder kimball has no fear as to the result in a good work to be accomplished during tw coming year FRANK L Cop immo secretary arkansas Confer conference tam |