Show LETTER FROM GERMANY CHAUX DK DE july 20 this part of the missionary field lies on the boundary of france and switzerland and in about the prettiest distinct in the world wora I 1 was assigned to labor in the jura conference november and 1896 and found upon arrival there the next day clay such elders as gotlieb fre haueter N bangerter Bau gerter and ed A de DC roche for my co a borers and was int immediately put to labor with the latter in the district of delemont on december I 1 was placed with brother bau gerter to go through the district of neu nen chatel and after a short period was left in biel alone to reorganize organize re a sunday school and labor among the saints and sinners in that city which I 1 accomplished until about january irth when brother was released and I 1 was assigned to labor singly in the district of neuchatel Neu chatel with my headquarters at chaux de douds this was rather a trial for me as 1 I was compelled to expound the gospel in german french and bern dutch and once in a while would find some one that spoke english but I 1 put myself in the lords hands and through lasting and prayer he aided me wad wonderfully deri der fully and I 1 was enabled to make some few converts to the gospel of christ since april ast elder nathan porter from logan was assigned to labor with me in this district he doing the french i part and I 1 am trying to do the other and as we are endeavoring to obey the commandments god has given us he has raised up unto us many friends we find some few honest souls who grasp at the gospel gladly some who seem to be indifferent and others 1 I am sorry to say want nothing to do with the mormon preachers as this name in this land seems to mean ever wicked still I 1 must say the is is diminishing somewhat since we aak rived here our greatest enemy is ott eh 4 pid paid or salaried pastor of all denominations principally the baptists and the cabbell ts the latter claim they have their missionaries cc caming ming from america also abo but up to date I 1 have not met any 7 yit some very amusing incidents occur at times as for instance in one case we were told we were spiritualists spi fists and had power to raise up the dead from their graves which we quickly disproved another 0 old lady was baptized thirteen years ago and anci is about sixty years of age e her husband is so afraid we her and marry her that he hu has forbidden us the house and all the ta talk wont alter his mind still another is that when once women are emigrated Q into utah correspondence with friends is entirely forbidden them these are only a lew few of the many absurdities that we are brought to bear against us behind our oar backs as the m aisters are the rulers of the people in this free country countr y and all sorts of threats are brought to bw bear against mormonism on sunday june at io 10 a in and and a 2 p in we held our sem semiannual semi annual conference of the west part of switzerland cafe des alps bern to an attendance of about perl persons ons at each meeting ng among those on the stand from zion were the fol following lowin beldt eldors rs president S wells an and F joseph mcmurrin of the european mission both from salt lake city president P loutensock Louten sok of the swiss and german mission from eureka FU reka and his secretary W F olsen am from coalville Co alville george C grahl brigham city H E bowman provo oscar C barton kaysville Kays ville G buhler midway w ay adolph cafin santa clara arthur p port t er logan N bangerter Bau gerter bountiful and philip maycock john F howard theodore W J I 1 heckman charles gerber conrad muller and ancl george J coulam jr iram salt lake city we also had the pleasure of having in in our ri midst elder george romney bishop x of the twentieth ward and his is wife vve and son who arrived in bern in in time to take part io in the least they being on a tour through europe the mornine session opened promptly at ten seats fairly well filled and after singing g b by a combined choir irom from berrie beme ana biel el branches in the german language and prayer being offered up we joce proceeded eded with our business and conference fite fice commenced brothers buhler olsen muller and heckman each discoursed on the m main ain principles of the gospel and the belief 0 of ft the he latter day saints and testified to the truth of the gospel as brought again on the earth through joseph smith the prophet revealed by an angel fi horn oni heaven elder Lauten sok then presented the authon althon ties of the church for consideration and UK were unanimously accept accepted td the report for five months was then read so showing howling the the following members thi including duang priesthood baptisms 39 houses visited 2467 invitations received gospel conversations 1965 tracts and books distributed meetings P stings held we then adio umed until 2 p in about sixty persons partook tax of the banquet in the dining room hall and a good time was indulged in fora for an hour and a half I 1 promptly at 2 all assembled again bain and the time was well occupied by presidents wells and loutensock Louten sok sak whose counsel and teachings were a benefit to ta fall pr present abent and aid were a rare treat to about 6 p m a great many left for their various homes so that the evening meeting which commenced at 7 p m had a light attendance elder mcmurrin and bishop romney spoke in the english language which was translated by our mission president and the remainder of the time was occupied by elders maycock bangerter Bau gerter and grahl t the he latter speaking in french und all others in german so our conference came to an end the spirit of god was with us throughout and the weather could not have been better such a brotherly and sisterly spirit prevailed feasting on the good things spiritually and bodily which our father in heaven provided the singing was rendered in magnificent style by the combined choirs under the leadership ot of brother leitstein stein of bern monday at 9 a m we met in priesthood meeting where reports were rendered from all and we had the pleasure of receiving some good counsel and fatherly advice from brothers wells mcmurrin ing romney and loutensock Louten sok and which I 1 pray god we may all live up to and we will succeed at 2 we adjourned for another six months and after getting photographed twenty elders present we each departed for our various fields again with renewed strength to labor in the vineyard of the lord our situation on the boundary makes it the most romantic and picturesque country in the world with its roman torture castles its eaves caves of retreat for the early christians its scene of the huguenot butchery and its batte grounds we need more laborers as we must work singly and being a country where two and three languages are necessary the demand upon us is sometimes greater than the supply we gladly look for the NEWS as our friends and families keep us well pied aed and through its medium we find many addresses WILLIAM J |