Show TRAVELS LETTER NO thursday december 1895 after breakfast we elders walked irom from grey town about two miles to the he vill vil gillise liSe e of t Pa situated near near the fuata anga river in the open WatTa iril village lage here w we were met by fr friends i en rapa S and con ducted to the largest dwelling dwelli dwelling house in in the village which was placed place nj almost I 1 most at our disposal during our sojourn there one of the best rooms wire were assigned to elder gader gardner and myself in which we could attend thour to our writing and other business without being disturbed much the lar large gie meeda 9 house in the village was also placed at our disposal for meeting and sleeping purposes and nearly all the native visitors slept there during the conference almost immediately alter after our arrival I 1 commenced my historical labors the records of the Waira rapa district and of its respective branches having being brought here f for or my perusal after attending an interesting prayer meeting with the natives in the large meeting house we retired and enjoyed a good nights rest fridae Decem december beT aoth the elders and native conference visitors began to arrive some drove up in in fine carriages others came on horse back and some on foot whenever a fresh visitor came in sight it was announced through the village by some woman calling out haere haer einai mai haere m mai ai etc et cat at thetos of her voice and immediately on their arrival they were shown theil quarters of the elders the following arrived james S abbott edgar 0 best beat and wallace C castleton by train horace W barton heber C jex john H ellis and H lee Bra bradford dfora on horse back and george jarvis and john clayson on foot this increased the number of elders at kapawai to fifteen I 1 spent the day culling historical matter assisted by elders eiders bowles and bird irl in the evening after prayer ta mahau Mahu the head chiefa chie the village who ranks as one of the het informed maori chiefs living macef A long speech of welcome it was repa with fine sentiments and express expression io a 0 of U 2 his great friendship to the elder tho he is not a member of the church balt an investigator of our principles wheal mormonism was first introduced in the tal Waira rapa village he was one ats i Y bitter opponents on one occasion jilla ads aji gathered all the sick and maimed of Ks village together and brought 1 to te creore where the elders 5 holding meetings and de demanded an them as a sign and a pr proof f 0 being sent of god to heal all 11 his when he was questioned in regard a rato fc k his laith and the nature of the p promise row ia these signs shall follow them th a it lieve etc was explained to hi hii nys V d returned rather crest fallen and aier that he commenced to grow lesil d less bitter until he finally became I 1 aa admirer of some of the grand taught by the elders A short time MW when a sort of testimony meeting 9 i held under the of thi the cb of england and a number of tl the e aji bers ot oi that church expressed their H lief in the principles advocated church mr got up anask dared blared that he would rot r ot say that ha did not feel so 0 o sure that the cheuu En england Lyland was the true church nar us its doctrines were correct for hews investigating mormonism whiting at ja him seemed more consistent with ith bible elder gardner responded W A chiefs speech in a manner that plea him and all present very muan lowed with a short speech transil elder gardner and finished up watt singing a danish song by speciale clale quest I 1 afterwards sang the Havi Juill aloha oi 11 assisted by some other elders splendid spirit S saturday dec aist in qa mia W with elder george bowles I 1 madej in in a buggy to Grey town where I 1 long conversation with the editor 1 Waira rapa standard afir re r ing to pa kapawai awai I 1 resumed m my hast j labors about noon noo n eldert elders rs wilf I 1 thomas J Ot ep an andl lindsey arrived by rail from the ka hy bay district accompanied by qi 1 number of natives from said d dai elder william L dimond also 91 during the day we were now ulu elders from zion at kapawai Pa more were expected for the coni T the h e day being warm warin nearly a elders myself included I 1 Ruama hanga river river and took a M ing bath and swim in its cooling loafer 8 sunday dec our three alws 4 conference con terence commenced in th lwft meeting house at Pap Pa awal besides a good representation of saints from froin 00 he din dif fernet ernet branches in the Waira rapa district there were quite a number so from the hawkes bay manoway Ma taid 4 bairan district mind and the bollom 14 lippian elders from rom zion grdner row president of the australasian lead and andrew jenson his bis trivoli traveling dal rl S corn panion george bowles president and ki lee bradford george jarv Jarview i I 1 ld I 1 john clayson Ci ayson traveling elders 1 w we 0 Waira rapa district james L ab president of and heber hebe r C jex wilyam L dimond john H ellis and andew fl HW W barton traveling elders ig m oke tf district wilford B president of and thomas J 0 brien and david lindsey traveling elders w a tbt akes kes bay district lewis G hoag president of the mahia district ph h W linford Lin lord president of and R bird traveling elder in the bairan ct and edgar 0 best and W al castleton missionaries in the bury district these well at ed and interesting meetings were i during the day commencing at io 10 a in and at 3 and 7 p george bowles andrew jenson ough lewis G hoagland as trans r and aporo adoro H kumeroa kumerow were the akers ers in the forenoon president ajam m gardner occupied all the time abe e afternoon and the speakers in evening were arapata arapatra lewis i hoagland cla land and andrew jenson with re bowles bowle s as translator after the ir r evening meeting the chief hau delivered another speech in he propounded a number ot of eions in regard to certain principles ie e gospel these were successfully ered by president resident gardner who in lining illing ba thea em spoke with tre freedom edom ease and abid seemed to give entire action to the chief and all who were jett ial some odthe of he native brethren woke spoke A good spirit prevailed in she e meetings and the general verdict i that we had had a most excellent e during the day and evening the was very warm the warmest day of season so far in new zealand on nolay day dec ayd we anniversary of the prophet ab smiths birthday in new zealand continuing our conference at kapawai holding three more well attended fines gs beera Te Kanae ali i turi horo boro also called john jury ury one of the assistant translators ae book of mormon into maori es L abbott wilford F joseph W linford were the speak in the forenoon t otene R i bird edgar 0 best and hoera ruru ku in the afternoon elder translating for elders birdland bird and ott tt and in the evening the speakers e paralene Pa tui denare ki si kaaea heber deberc C pe jex ex through W bowles and foi fe Huai Hua ahi tahi lent dent of te creore branch A was blessed in the afternoon meet ind and several sick persons were I 1 a Dist estered ered to during the day and even elder thomas J obrien left for ikes as bay to atten attend d to some marriage quinnie S in his district im ada Ses day y december A number r efe hawkes bay saints returned r ablie in in the morning for fear olover of over owl it ibe abe waa eo d wisdom to hold only an everia even f keeling cetih on this date some at the arton faints saints europeans visited wai 1110 and in the afternoon mr price alpher from masterton took a I 1 victure picture of kapawai meeting howe house conference visitors the elders irom J and the chief occupying A ral position in the same A negative was also taken of the carterton carverton Car U saadah dily school in the evening the finishing meeting of the conference was it was commenced at 7 aad continued for fully four hours and it UK or until 1130 P m following filhe names of the speakers andrew through president gardner a Kara Kar iliana aitiana rewa maka aft kabau pom are batinga autu diate 1 ili alto a sister Hak araia hemi aporo adoro IL xii Ku kumerow kumeroa meroa beera Ve Kanae at hana Te Kanae a sister Peni amine hamakawa Haw akawa james S abbott and william gardner these speeches were generally interesting lull of meaning and rich in sentiments much of what was said was an endorsement of the teachings given by the elders from zion during the conference some of the speakers also denounced the acts of the church of england missionaries who in many instances had defrauded the natives of their lands one case was referred to by catene hemi from the south island where the church mentioned had received a donation of acres of land in return lor for which the missionaries had only built one small meeting house lor for the natives several appropriate hymns were also sung during tile the session this was the largest meeting I 1 have ever attended in new zealand or anywhere else and toward the latter end of it it kept the deacons busy most of the time poking poking away at the sleepers with th their ei r long ong sticks whenever these officers ol of which there were quite a number in in active service saw anyone dozing off or eden even nodding they would step up close to the sleeper and if this was not sufficient to awaken him they would apply the point of the stick to the limbs body or head of the sleeper until an awaken ing necessarily was effected our deacons in zion might learn profitable lessons from their maori breth brethren ten as to how bow people can most successfully be kept awake when they are being addressed essed by tedious longwinded long winded speakers the Waira rapa district of the australasian mission may properly be termed the cradle of mormonism so far as is concerned as it was here that the first successful missionary work was done by latter day saint elders among the natives of new zealand A european branch of the church had existed at carverton carterton Car carte arton inthe in the Waira rapa valley for some years when elders alma greenwood and ira N hinckley junior in july 1883 began to preach the gospel to the maoris laoris they commenced to baptize july 21 1883 organized the first native branch of the church at kapawai august 26 1883 and the second at te ke orore december ilith following the branch was organized december ath 1886 and when this latter branch was divided in may 1887 that part of it which was made into a new branch was called the branch and the late chief pilipi set apart as its president these four branches to together gether with the european branck branch at carterton carverton Car constituted the Waira rapa district at the close of 1894 and represented at that time one h undrea hundred land and forty nine baptized members or including children two hundred souls belonging to the church but during the present resent year a new branch called kravako Para nako has been organized by elders george bowles and H lee bradford there are four elders laboring in the district at the present time of whom two watch over the maori part and the other two the european part of the district the branch consists of the saints residing in the native village of kapawai and the european burg of grey town the latter being the terminus of a branch railway fifty three miles northeast of wellington and six miles from Carter loo tov kapawai is two miles east of Grey town near the Ruama hanga river which is the principal stream of the Waira rapa valley the branch contains the saints residing in the lower or south end of the Waira rapa valley or in the villages of Kohun ui anui and the meetings and sunday schools are held at which is situated on the main road running south from Grey town and distant from that place about thirty miles the branch has recently been mated with the branch prior to that it consisted of the saints residing in the village of Wai tapu situated on east or 01 left bank of the Ruama hanga river in the Waira rapa valley about twenty five miles south of Grey town or twelve miles inland from the ocean the Para nako branch embraces the saints residing in the village of Para nako which stands on high ground three miles inland from the east coast or about fifty miles east southeast of Master masterton toti rhe fhe branch was organized july 28 1895 te creore branch consists of the maori saints living in the villages of te creore bione zion abura and manaia the greatest number in abura te creore lies three miles northeast of Mil masterton bione between te creore and Mas masterton tertOD which is a Europ european eam town of inhabitants situated on the railway sixty six bix miles northeast of wellington the elders laboring in the district have their headquarters at mas r and occupy a little house which the native saints have built for them at bione the creore branch has quite a history the carterton carverton Car branch presided over by swen august nilson embraces alt all the european saints living in a very scattered condition in the Waira rapa valley the branch was raised up by elder jens jensen who organized it ir february 20 1881 since which it has seen a great number of changes and both pleasant and unpleasant experiences wednesday december christmas day the village bell rang at the usual hour 5 p m and though most ol of us who dida did not sleep in the meeting the night before had by no means obtained sufficient sleep or rest we rose cheerful and happy and exchanged t the compliments of the season with one another it was the first time that many of us elders present spent a christmas in a southern zone in the middle of summer and hot weather the early morning hour found Ta mahau the village wet chief out greeting his visitors A committee consisting of both elders and maori bret brethren hrin had bad been apponi ted to arrange a program lor for christmas day and had been busily at work and according to their arrangement the people gathered in the meeting bouse at ia am a m to listen to the exercises the chief Ta mahau who had been appointed president ot of the day made an appropriate prop opening speech after which he be gave out aj an opening hymn and called d upon president william gardner who had been chosen vice president for the day to pray elder gardner offered up an inspired prayer which softened the heart of so much that he be shed tears of joy and then he continued his speech in which he ex expressed ress his great love for the elders ang and said that he believed the message they bore was true elder gardner responded in an appropriate and spirited speech which was well received by all present alter after this there was singing by missionaries and maori a recitation by elder lex jex mouth organ music music by elder best and other interesting numbers at noon persons sat down to eat christmas dinner the chief and his wife being given iven the seats of honor at the head of the missionaries table which had been moved down from the private dwelling when we had previously taken our meals to the centre of the meeting house the tables were spread with the best food the Waira rapa village afforded and the decorations with natural and artificial arti fical flowers were very fine four of the best looking maori girls giris all daughters of chiefs waited on the missionaries table while halt a dozen men did similar service at the larger table where the natives ate these waiters were all dressed for the occasion and decorated with tissue paper trimmings of many colors the chief seemed fully to enjoy the honor bestowed upon him as master of ceremonies it is worthy of note that while the mornin morning g exercises were got going ng on two special messengers were dispatched for him to come over to the meeting that was being held in the smaller meeting house where a church of england min ister was holding forth and was administering the sa crement of which they wanted the chief to partake but |