| Show INDIAN TERRITORY MISSION indian territory mission cherokee conference those interested in the spread of the gospel may be pleased with a brief account of the labors of the elders in this part of the lords vineyard and to know how they have through their union and faithfulness seen the fruits of their labors ripen into maturity we have truly been blessed of our heavenly father and our hearts have been turned tn in gratitude to him for th the e many manifestations we have bad ad 0 of f H hafl supreme power tn our hee behalf h alf e there is in no conference f nm a more united band of laborers than the elders of cherokee their only desire seems to be the preaching and I 1 publishing of the gospel the cherokee conference embraces the creek cherokee and choctaw nations but our work during the winter has been confined solely to the latter lattur in the hope ope that every family might see the elders and hear for themselves of our doctrine before summer comes comee and we are moved to the colder climate of the north the nine elders laboring in this field have enjoyed the best of health during the winter and have put their whole souls into their work of spreading gods word our labors have been crowned with success for we have had the privilege of leading nineteen honest souls down into the waters of baptism since the new year was ushered in and there are many warm friends and earnest investigators who are on the verge of taking upon themselves the name of our beloved lord and aad savior several applications for baptism are in which will be attended to as soon as a we can get around to the applicant in our travels and ministrations we see the power of our heavenly father made manifest in many ways oftentimes we would be confused or coo con founded were it not for the help we receive from him through the dictate dicta of his holy spirit the following incident will be of in terest to the latter day saints tor for tt it shows that the authority of god la is in the priesthood which we hold and that the devil himself is in subject to our command elder byron H allred jr samuel linton jr and your have been laboring here at coalgate Oo algate choctaw nation L T for some time past and have made a few converts we found one man named david lewis who had been baptized in wales years ago but did not know whether hei he tee longed to our faith or the reorganized church so said he to settle the tha question in my mind I 1 will be baptized again through our teaching we had converted his wife and three children but they were reluctant about receiving baptism our conference president elder joseph J richardson and his traveling companion elder james Ws wi anderson dame came to visit us february the five of us fasted the moa day and tuesday following and pray prayed that the lord might move upon them to receive the ordinance of baptism and that the power of the lord might be made manifest on that occasion TUO tuesday noon we went to brother lawle home bome and to our delight found them theft all ready for the water after the baptism we returned to the house to hold a confirmation meeting white ame we were singing the second brother lewis was seized by some soma tt uh seen power that shook mm violently and pulled his face into all aff sorts vf hideous shapes we recognized recognised I 1 in it the he presence of an evil spirit so anointed him with oil and rebuked the destroyer commanding it to depart it left lc ft but came back in a mom moment irit then we prayer room after which it was rebuked oude more and departed only to car come e back again and seize him with even more abile violence than before after the third rebuke we conformed him trtat taftt he might have the spirit of the lord to assist him in throwing off trie the evil one we had scarcely taken our hands ott oft him when it returned and tossed ta 1 ft I around op on the hla his mouth into all shapes wringing frota him the most agonizing groans mfg mag time we were pron prompted apted to comman fl it in the name of jesus christ to depart and return no more As it left IM the room it seemed as if a heavy caw were passing away for we could lt feel its dark influence nce amt plainly viv after this the spirit of the ws with us and although brother lewis lewie was vm very weak after his ordeal we had an aa enjoyable time together and all felt to thank the lord for his mercies notwithstanding the fact that a great deal of prejudice is held toward us we find a very hospitable class of people many of whom are anxiously seeking for the gospel light the names of the elders laboring in this conference at present are as follows joseph J richardson james W anderaon amderson daniel T hawkley edmund levell richard N lund charles anderson andersen byron H allred jr samuel banton jr and your correspondent WILLIAM R PALMER coalgate indian territory march 4 1898 |
