Show TRAVELING IN TEXAS HONEY GROVE texas april ath 1896 your ever welcome paper which comes twice a week is appreciated very much in this part it is like hearing from a dear friend at home and with your permission I 1 will drop you a few I 1 lines ines so that your readers may know how the lord is opening up the lone star state and preparing the hearts of the people to receive the precious truths of the everlasting gospel I 1 left my home january 1895 for a mission to texas and alter after into the missionary field for about three months with elder S H wells of st george I 1 was assigned to labor in fannin county texas on may elder S R and the writer started to their field of labor where we worked until july ath making friends and removing prejudice while th the e people were hospitable to us yet none were touched with the spirit of conviction al though they investigated our doctrine 1 and while aney could not deny any of it yet they would try to console themselves by trying to believe that part ot of it was done away there we met the other elders of texas at the grubbs school house in hopkins county with a hearty hand shake a loving spirit ot of unity and a welcome to those who had just come from zion owing to sickness elder kiln kiin ball could not be with us so our worthy ex president A S campbell took charge of our conference which was a source of great pleasure and enjoyment to all the elders who had never attended one before the rain had fallen in such torrents that some of the elders had to be ferried across the stream to bome come to conference after an assignment of new companions we parted with tears in our eyes and with a god bless you and success dear brother and started for our different fields of labor on july loth elder R H smith and your humble servant landed back in fannin county where we held several meetings and revisited friends as we were instructed then because of the hot weather and other reasons we were advised to find a place where we could stay for awhile as the chills and fever were raging very badly also other diseases common in texas during the summer season and the elders from the pure mountain valleys could not stand the summer heat in the south many ot of the elders were stricken down with ill health until it seemed as though satan was going to stop our progress in this part of the vineyard but of this noble little army there were nope but what held out to the very last not willing to give up although some of us had as many as thirty chills and some of us lay i as long as three weeks with the ma malarial laried 3 fever and one gave his life for the cause his faith never faltering talt ering A dark gloom was thrown over the poor weak elders of the lone star state but they were steadfast to duty at vansickle hunt co texas november 3rd ard fourteen humble elders were seated in a semicircle on some logs prepared for the occasion in thes the woods hard lb by the schoolhouse and in which conference was to be held to receive the much needed instructions from our worthy president E S kimball he showed us our weakness one being the money we were carrying instead of if going without purse or scrip and putting our faith in our heavenly father to raise up funds to take care of us I 1 will not say all were that way but for one I 1 was in that condition to some extent and instead of making converts we only made friends enough to take care of us our president elder kimball told us that if we would keep the word of wisdom and commandments of god and travel without purse or scrip then instead of going up to a man and fearing and tr trembling emblin to get to stay over night with him ane the spirit of god would tell us where to 0 go ana we would be bold and fearless of man s arm and we would have friends raised up to us in time of need and gouid make lots ol of converts elder campbell was taken to work in the office at chattanooga and A C dalby succeeded him as president of the texas conference the elders were all assigned their fields of labor but when it came to me I 1 was to go alone r for about ten days waiting for a new r companion from zion then I 1 realized arthe the real worth of a campanon com panon I 1 felt s like a stranger in a strange land with no friends and no home I 1 prayed god to ft send me a companion that would suit tty my condition and my prayer was ans in in the person oi of joseph C D who came on the ot of november we started out as instructed sent our h money to the office to pay for our tracts and books that we were to distribute among the people and like messengers of old went irom from place to ethe way being made open for us and many friends being raised up to give us the necessaries of lite life we had great power with the people and were led to those who were seeking for the truth by bv request we held seven meetings in a private house alter after which there were three persons applied for baptism we ap 1 pointed christmas day lor for the time to I 1 receive these honest souls into the church one ot of the grandest days of my aay lite wa was s spent in performing the ordinances as an in the hands of god it was my first exy penance ce alter after our days labor we I 1 broke our last fast by partaking of the F hospitality of some of our good friends the days rolled on and we were soon r among strangers leaving our saints behind when we returned another f honest hearted soul was ready to be baptised baptized sed so we broke the ice on the p pool caused by januarys Janu arys cold blast and I 1 surrounded by bv friends and enemies to s witness the proceeding we bore our I 1 testimonies and performed the ori finances din ances after another trip in new communities F we were to separate so we returned to I 1 our saints preparatory to meeting our L new companions at a station thirty P miles away we only had partly enough money to pay the fare for one of 4 us to go and the time was at hand morning came and our friend S L gregory took me to the station indis in his ri buggy and as we passed by a store he took me in and gave me a new hat and pair of shoes as mine were getting quite a 7 shabby As he paid the clerk he handed back a dollar in change which my friend told me to put into my pocket when I 1 went to buy my ticket he gave me two dollars more to use if necessity required so on we went with a thankful heart that god had led me to friends who would help me to in time of need but I 1 met another disappointment as companion did not come so I 1 re ME my turned saints and found four more ready for or baptism I 1 got back with one dollar in my pocket V k I 1 returned it to my friend as warned in a dream lie he bade me keep it but I 1 i told him no that in time of need money would come then as I 1 was sending in my report a few days later another friend charles bryant gave me enough money to get mea suit of clothes and said he if there is any over use to the best advantage lor for the spreading of the gospel our saints are very anxious for all to hear bear the gospel so they let us cpr preach ea h in their dwellings and do all in n t their he C r power to make us comfortable and assist in spreading the principle of salvation I 1 met my new companio companion rip elder D C hess hessian jan aith and introduced him in texas the same evening at a meeting held in the house of one of the saints the room was packed to olef over flowing and they listened with surprise to the doctrines and testimonies of the four humble elders who were present january after a few words of advice to each other joseph E D and elder fred smith bade us goodbye and started for their fields of labor in grayson county texas since then we have had varied experiences perien ces of which I 1 may write hereafter M 0 M |