Show IN VIRGINIA sandy river pittsylvania Pitt sylvania co va may 20 1898 with pleasure pleasure I 1 submit for the perusal of the many readers of the news a brief account of a branch conference held at patterson wythe county va april 30 and may 1 1898 at which were present elder samuel E taylor E M wilkinson T C romney and a goodly number of at and friends the conference days rolled around bringing with them delightful weather tt it was neither too warm nor too cold just a happy medium the surface of the earth was covered with a beautiful carpet of dark green the monotony of which was broken here and there by its rich decorations of wild flowers of varied hues the odor of which was waa wafted wafred to and fro on the refreshing zephyrs as they played gaily oer hill and vale the birds sang sweet lays filling the air with varied melody as am they flitted flirted about in the tree tops in fact the whole scene was well calculated to draw ones mind from this corrupt and sin stained world allowing his thoughts and imaginations to fly back six thousand years to the ume time when man was residing lif in a well watered garden swaying his scepter over the entire universe one thing which wiloh added to the enchantment of the scene and which was not enjoyed in the days of eden was the orotund ot erf the darkey heard singing 0 de le ole time religion to Is good anuff to fo me our conference which begun began at 1080 saturday morning was waa held in ava a vacant building which was seated for the occasion elder samuel E taylor conducted the services the principal speakers eft at our conference were elders E taylor E M wilkinson Wll kineon and T C romney though strong testimonies onles were borne barne by the president of the branch brah and by C 0 richmond W D and W 0 Tom tomlinson lineon teachers of the branch and john roberts superintendent of the sabbath school the chief topics treal ted were faith a principle of power re pep bep tence the holy ghost revelation and the word of wisdom the spirit of the lord was richly poured out upon the speakers and the saints and friends listened with rapt attention and deep interest to the instructions as they fell from the lips of the servants of the lord laboring under that divine spirit three meetings were held the first lay day and two the tecona all of which were well attended the endeavor was made by the file elders to impress upon the minds of the saints the idea that though they bad bem been adopted citizens into the Clag dom of god their salvation was pot not obtained nor would it be till they fiad bad perfected their lives the attempt was made to impress cut il the manda of f our r frie friends the isley ansty of obeying I 1 the te plea tit ht by y the latter e r day saints to th that t ahey t b be e e exalted in the eternal worlds the words took effect the saints have made up their mind that they will live better lives in the future and five of our friends were baptized by us at the close of our excellent conference which raised the number belonging to the patterson Patte raon branch to thirty eight the first of which were baptized last august by elder H D smith and myself at the close of a two weeks meeting held in a church elder E M wilkinson who so ably assisted us at our c conference 0 was the first to enter the waters of baptism he was a methodist exhorter a leading medical doctor of wythe county and held a high county position last fall he was ordained an elder and set apart to fill a mission to the southern states by apostles lyman and cowley cawley who came down to pay us a visitant tand which visit was highly appreciated by all the elders of this conference my itinerary in the old dominion has been something over two and one half years duration having left my home in old mexico three years next september during which I 1 have met with a variety of experiences most of which has been very agreeable true it is a missionary for christ comes in contact with some contradictions but the joy which he encounters in the knowledge that he is doing the masters will fully compensates him tor for all inconveniences A great portion of my time has been spent in canvassing and holding meetings in the cities of richmond norfolk portsmouth and lynchburg where we saw the hand of sod god made manifest in our behalf upon many occasions our work was performed in the manner prescribed by those thode placed over us in the priesthood we traveling absolutely without purse purge or scrip and as a result of our obeal obedience unto counsel given we were greatly favored of the lord shoes clothing stationary stamps food and shelter were all provided in fact we lacked for nothing that would have been for our good in traveling among the elders in the irrespective fields of labor we find them all imbued with the proper spirit which should and always does actuate all successful messengers me of gods holy word they are accomplishing a noble work under their administrations the sick are healed the lame are made to walk and the eyes of the blind are 0 opened ever praying for the welfare of zion I 1 remain an elder in the cause or of truth THOMAS C ROMNEY |