Show missionary experiences SCIPIO january adyth 1897 dear sin please allow space in your valuable paper tor for publishing a few items of our missionary labors which perhaps will be interesting to those who are laboring for the advancement of truth and righteousness hereupon here upon the earth knowing the hundreds of elders and saints who have given us their faith in lasting and prayer during the severe illness of elder joseph A west wes president of the florida conference I 1 dees deem n it but a tribute due that I 1 give a short account of the same to our many friends in funke remembrance of all they have done ir for us badr west left salt lake city april irth 1895 1894 1 I on the of june 1895 in reel watt onse Jonse to a call from the first presidency ded of our church to labor as they had adone done and hundreds of others to ca carry glad tidings of great joy to the macii meek and the the lowly to warn the hoople of the judgments that will overtake the wicked we with the other boys placed ourselves under the directorship ot of our beloved president elias S kimball in ill november elder west was called to take charge of the florida conference ence the tune time previously being spent in Alib alabama Rma I 1 first labored in the south alabama cwerence conference and afterwards was assigned to labor in the florida conference While laboring here we witnessed much of the power of god our elders went forth in great humility without purse or sali clip at the beginning ot of december we ld had twenty six elders in the florida conference CWeren cei boys who are true whose parents and the church need to be proud of many have believed our humble testimony and we have blessed the nanie name of our god that we were counted worthy to go 90 forth as messengers of his divine word on the irth of september elder west was stricken down his voice and lungs had bad given way some time previously but now all the vital parts of his body gowned to fail him he would grow so weak that the elders who were with him and the friends whom god had raised up for us would almost think that he was gone gone forever then with the 0 xeal ot of paul the elders would anoint him ham with the holy oil and time and tune time again was he healed by the power of god the elders and saints throughout the southern states with parents and loved ones at home fasted and prayed for him and through the blessings ot of the god of israel those veils Is of great prostration began to grow yeat I 1 well remember on the ath of november last when our beloved president west was attacked by one of those bad spells his blood quit circulating his whole body grew and cold his jaws were own even locked together so that it was impossible to get et his mouth open he mild could not speak and we could scarcely tell whether there was a breath of life in him or not after administering to him the fourth time his bis jaws were loosed the breath of life freely and could talk to us once more wi we could ku only praise god for the priesthood we hea held and for his power being made manifest through his servants in behalf of ear bar dear president while he lay helpless upon his bed one day a dear heness little girl vir mamie hurst came running to tell us that such a lot of men on horse back ack were coming we knew it was a mob we in gibat haste had elder apsher clad in dis disguise gui s e and sent him off AS greater threats ha bad d been made against him than us 4 the mob for such it proved to beane hundred and fifty men armed to the teeth came up to the front gate the lady of the house bouse with little mamie stood at the gate and tried to reason with the men who were drunken with wrath against the mormon elders they told the mob they could not come in only over their dead bodies unless they would solemnly swear that they would not injure the sick man nor those who were nursing him they finally agreed that it if three of their leaders could come in and talk to them that they would not harm them at this time so J J R newlan thomas me mc clain and henry platt with the consent of the lady of the house came in we had previously in great humility kneeled by the bed side ot of our sick brother and prayed god to protect us and we dedicated ourselves the house bouse we were in the inmates thereof and all unto him they came in and were quite civil we told them of president bests long sickness the spirit ot of god rested upon us in mighty power we told them they had come to take our lives or drive us i irom from the country they said they had come to warn us to leave that our doctrines were making great disturbances turning father against son mother against daughter and neighbor against neighbor and they would have no more of it we bore to them a faithful testimony of the truth of the gospel and the divinity of joseph smiths mission and that we were sent to carry the glad tidings to all who would hear us we told them that they might commence at our finger ends and our whole bodies yet with our last breath our testimonies would be the same we w e warned them to cease their persecution against the work of god or the judgments judgment s ot of god would follow them they had come with the full intention of making us take an oath that we would leave the county but they seemed to forget all their mission and they solemnly vowed not to molest us while one of our number was sick thus our lives were spared from the grasp of an angry ignorant band of men who had lent themselves to the service of satan yet ot of a truth we only felt sorry that we had but one life to give for so great a cause W we e were afterwards informed by a gray ra haired veteran that not more than fifteen fifteen of the one hundred and fifty men could read and write during the next week president west was released and I 1 also to attend him as his nurse and see him safely in the care of loving parents and friends in snowflake arizona we enjoyed the trip quite well under the circumstances arriving at the place above mentioned december irth 1 returned via san francisco Pran ciSco after a sojourn of two weeks with elder west and friends friend in arizona which was spent very pleasantly among the saints we bear our testimony to all who read these wolds that god lives and that he hears our prayers and that his servants are protected by a divine power we would won id urge the young men of israel to awake and put on the armor of humility seek wisdom in prayer and thus prepare themselves to go forth as meteors of light not in word alone but that their very appearances will be a testimony ot of the truth they bear let us say to the fathers and mothers in zion hold on to your y our wild wayward boys as we have seen the power of god made manifest in healing the bodies of the elders abroad and have heard the thousand ot of testimonies of our parents and the saints at home so can the same power touch the hearts of these thoughtless boys and open their eyes that satan has blinded let lei our fathers work go on until it fills the whole earth until every son and daughter of adam shall have the brivil edge of hearing the true gospel gosiel of christ fot foi this gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the corli world io for r a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come in praise of the southern tates people will say for their kindness and hospitality pita lity their equal would be hard to find and in behalf of elder joseph A W west es I 1 feel to thank all who have aided him in any way during his long siege of sickness alter after one hundred and fifteen days illness he is now able to walk around the yard respectfully THOMAS F |