Show HAWAIIAN MISSION LAIR LAIE oahu bahu H I 1 oct ath 1896 once more the boundless love and kindness of the lord has been extended generously in behalf of our little band ot of toilers boilers toi lers struggling to uphold the ensign of truth in a foreign land and the saints in general of these balmy isles tor for our general conference of three and a half days duration just closed here at laie was a success in every feature for which we feel to shout praises to the giver of all good regardless of the fact that the fall conference is always considered of less importance than the spring conference and is looked forward to with less an by the people our meetings were more numerously attended this time than they were last april ther the average attendance being the majority ot of whom were attentive listeners and and seemed to enjoy hugely the interesting and excellent exercises of the various organizations in connection with the encouraging and timely remarks imparted by the servants of god the greater portion of the above stated number in attendance were residents of laie honolulu and other branches of this island the representation of the adjacent islands of the group being comparatively ively limited owing to the announcement no in april last that district conferences would be held in the several fields for the various organizations and thus dispense with the expense and trouble of semiannual semi annual visits to headquarters for exhibition which plan was intended to benefit the people not only financially but spiritually as mellby thus making it possible for more to attend these conferences the primary conference of the laie and honolulu associations under ander the of sister ella birdno occupied the afternoon of saturday october 3rd ard which was the first meeting of our general conference here at headquarters an appropriate program of ordinary primary exercises replete with gospel precepts was creditably credit aply rendered by the little ones principally in the english language the whole re fleets much credit both upon them and their zealous teachers the general church conference convened at io 10 sunday morning october ath with president samuel E woolley in charge and the following elders and sisters from zion in attendance viz william A thompson john R jolley george H fisher william H mendenhall Mende henry moss wilder T hatch edwin C dibble george H birdno lewis R jenkins john D hooper oseph joseph H brinton george P garff william G farrell williamd Hi Hil HAlice lAlice R woolley laura L fisher ella C birdno and tryphena garff after the usual opening exercises the sacrament was vas administered by elders jolley and dibble and passed to the congregation by the native elders during which time the laie choir discoursed sweet strains of melodious song and the spirit of god cheered the hearts of all present president woolley delivered the opening address which occupied the greater portion ot of the remaining time of the morning services and after welcoming all expressed his gratitude to the lord for his tender mercies mercies in in preserving us in peace and plenty through the past term and permitting so many again to assemble under such favorable circum stances to feast at the fountain of life as it were and be taught of his ways that the faith of each might be strengthened and hope increased to the extent that the commandments of god be obeyed and his will be done he then dwelt at some length in demonstrating the blessings that we enjoy as latter day saints by making a comparison with the condition of the outside world in general impressed those bearing the priesthood with the importance ot of their calling and the various duties required of them and concluded by exhorting all to cease doing evil and continue in righteousness to the end the same congenial and enthusiastic spirit that characterized the above meeting of general church conference con linued in the remainder of the meetings which were held on the mo morning knitig afternoon and evening of tuesday october ath the time being devoted principally to the elders from zion who spoke with power from on high on the gospel principles imparted lauy valuable instructions and gave an abundance of much needed advice which if heeded will greatly benefit this portion of the house of israel and raise them to a higher standard of purity there were four zealous native missionaries who reported their labors and also spoke encouragingly cou ragingly e expressing cpr es 8 in g their appreciation in being ble blessed s sed of the lord and chosen by enose in in authority to render assistance to such a noble cause during the meetings the reports 0 the various branches were ien rendered dered by the respective representatives in attendance the number of branches reported being thirteen on Tiles tuesday day afternoon the labor report showing baptisms 1118 children blessed 35 re baptisms and 34 ordinations to priesthood and the general financial report both for the six months ending october ath were read by the clerland cler cle kand the general and island authorities were presented and unanimously sustained those for the latter being as follows samuel E woolley president of the hawaiian mission of the church with all the elders and sisters previously mentioned in their various capacities also edwin C dibble clerk of mission successor to the writer who is numbered among those to return home soon at the close of the meeting president woolley announced the release and the appointments for the en term which were ais as follows releases elders william H thomp son john R jolley and george H fisher and sister laura L fisher having fully completed their missions were honorably released to return to their mountain homes appointments temporal samuel E wooley as manager of the laie plantation with joseph H brinton as his assistant si stant george P garff as school teacher and bookkeeper book keeper tryphena garft garfi assistant school teacher alice R woolley superintendent domestic affairs with ella C U birdno and tryphena garff as her assistants laura L fisher has been storekeeper store keeper since july aota she returns home soon and at the present writing that vacancy has not been filled ecclesiastical samuel E woolley president of the laie branch with joseph H brinton and george P garff as his counselors william H mendenhall president of the honolulu branch john D hooper president of the south hawaii conference lewis R jenkins president of the maui conference with native amaka aimaka as assistant wilder T hatch and william D hill to the kauai conference E C dibble and william G farrel to the oahu bahu conference and henry moss and george H birdno to the north hawaii conference the general sunday school union occupied the afternoon and evening of sunday ath with E C dibble presiding the schools of laie honolulu and Kaluau ui oi of this island were the pr participants in the exercises the tend ants being respectively willi G parrel farel and the program consisting principally of spicy class exercises some dialogues essays recitations etc clearly demonstrated tasteful arrangement and careful consideration coupled with indefatigable efforts on the part of the teachers and was rendered in an admirable manner by the interested pupils all of which point directly to marked pro progress ress in the sunday school work on these baroff far off isles of sunny hawaii the morning services of monday october ath were devoted to the relief society conference which was called to order at ito 10 by president alice R woolley who alter after the ordinary open jug preliminaries assisted by sister fernandez as interpreter occupied some time in addressing the congregation la in S substance she said that she felt grateful to the lord tor for permitting her again to meet so many in in general conference and had derived much satisfaction in hearing the servants of god report how the good work was progressing and the gospel ol of truth spreading she instructed the sisters to be diligent in the cause of the relief society tot for it was a grand work nothing would give more joy and contentment of soul than to help others relieve the poor needy and nurse the sick etc she advised all to be humble observe the word of wisdom and teach their children good morals by example she bhe dwelt for some time on the proper mode of government in the societies and concluded by exhorting all to be united and attend meetings regularly sister laura laufa fisher said she derived much pleasure from meeting with the relief society and stated that the object for thus meeting was to listen to the reports worship the lord and be instructed as to our future welfare she said that we could not live by bread alone but by every word that edeth forth from rom the amouta mouta of god hence our assembling in general conference that we might be taught by his servants encouraged the sisters to continue to be diligent and faithful 10 ten branch representatives then reported the condition of the several societies from whence they came after which the congregation was edified for some time with brief remarks of coura gement by some of the native sisters the same being interspersed with a number of instructive essays and a few songs the after afternoon noon and evening of monday were devoted to the mutual improve ment conference with elder william H mendenhall presiding the associations of honolulu late laie and kaluanui kahuanui Kalu anui took part the former occupying a portion of the afternoon while the latter two occupied the evening the program consisted of gospel lectures lecture class exercises dialogues songs X etc appropriate for the education and in instruction cecii action of the rising generation all the participants did their parts well and justly merit praise the general and island authorities for this organization and others were presented in their respective meetings and unanimously sustained those for the mutual improvement association being william H mendenhall president wilder T hate i first and john D hooper second counselor joseph josefi H brinton secre secretary tary and S E woolley treasurer for the relief society alice R woolley president ella C birdno tryphena garff kekuewa makanoa and kapo counselors kekuewa secretary and tryphena garff treasurer for the sunday schools edwin C dibble president henry moss first and lewis R jenkins second counselor john D hooper secretary and S E woolley treasurer the evening services of tuesday the jtb ended me conference which was indeed interesting and we trust beneficial I 1 president woolley delivered the closing address he said he felt that all present had certainly partaken partaker par taken freely of the bread of life and he be was desirous that each one give to others as freely as they had received after thanking the people kindly lor for their generous treat ment of the elders during the past term and asking them to continue likewise in the future he closed his remarks by encouraging all to press boldly onward in toe the work of the lord he offered the benediction and adjourned conference domeet to meet at laie april ath 1897 in conclusion I 1 take pleasure in adding that a spit spirit it of love gladness and unity ty was prevalent in the conference from beginning to end the gospel of christ was preached in power and clearness not only by the eiders and sisters but by each one in in turn large and small who took part in the different eions for the exercises were replete with beautiful morals morais and precepts that tend to strengthen our faith in all that is good and were were sufficient to create within the breast of any wanderer a fond hope that would point him or her heir from of this worlds darkness to the light of heaven the people from the outside branches were well cared for by the residents of laie and dispersed with the best of feelings in general the future prospects of progress for the work of god in this lair fair land are indeed encouraging the process of sowing and reaping goes on continually many are being aroused from slumber and the increased interest taken in religious affairs is noticeable one ona marked feature is the improvement of the saints in coring cing for the elders Cod congeniality geniality is more precept ible of late as many are getting their eyes open at agist la stand and are arriving at a realization that the tha elders ot of zion have not been connected with the political strife that has been so prominent in hawaii of late years but have been laboring incessantly in the midst of the people lor for their benefit calling them to repentance and showing them the strait and narrow path that to life eternal the harvest is great and ers are lew few in this part of the vineyard our little band are all in good health and working zealously for the advance ment of truth and join with me in wishing your estimable paper success and prosperity and in supplicating 4 him who dwell eth on high to bless all who are seeking to learn of his ways and do his will on june ath elder joseph H brinton I 1 elder george P garal and sister tryphena garff arrived in honolulu irom from zion on july 18 elders will G farrell and william D hill arrived in the mission on june 26 elders melvin M harmon and walter scholes and sisters alice harmon and phoebe scholes having fully completed their missions were honorably released and on july ship warrimoo moo on august 19 thElder elder thomas Brimley who had labored three years in the mission was honorably released on account of the illness of his bis aged father and returned home a lew few days later GEORGE H FISHER clerk of mission |