Show IN FLORMA buffalo bluffs putnam co pla fla may 21 1898 I 1 have labored now some two months in company with elder samuel isom our field of labor being putnam county we have met with success almost on every hand of course we have some trials to overcome and encounter opposition at times but by the help of the lord we are never found wanting 06 if we would have salvation we nav moat ftp also have tribulation if our path won were one continual smooth course drewn with roses roe without any sij ling stones to cause us to keep our eyes open or any thorns to prick oui feet we may know assuredly that we are not living strictly to a line of duty for the decree has gone forth he that would live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution but the testimony of the elders who labored in the south prior to the dedication of the house of the lord in salt lake city relative to the way they were entertained by the people and the status of affairs at present shows that a remarkable change has taken place the people seem to be awakening from a deep sleep to a sense of duty prejudice and false reports which have heaped themselves up mountain high concerning our people and the tenets of our religion are fast being leveled down and seeds of truth and righteousness are being planted in the hearts which hitherto had been seared with the hot iron of prejudice scorched in by evil designing men for their own gain and selfish ends but all that men can say or do against the work of the lord is cleared away when the light of the gosi pel appears we have been laboring of late in crescent city and denver the battet place seems to be a hive of the Bees of deseret with a few wasps around but when we rid them of their venomous sting prejudice they are rendered perfectly harmless we expect to reap ap a bountiful harvest of sincere converts in the near future the weather here at present is very but we have a nice cool sea breeze moving all the time I 1 have enclosed a few clippings from the florida philosopher of different dates they will portray the other side of the question in regard to our work in crescent city and vicinity you may insert them isyou if you so desire your brother in the gospel DAVID H ELTON buffalo bluffs putnam co florida following are the clippings enclosed 1 in n elder elfons letter elder samuel isom and elder david H elton i atter batter day saints or mor mons from Utah held meetings on wednesday and thursday nights of last week at the schoolhouse as the use of the church was not proffered and V I 1 A hall could not be procured the schoolhouse not being centrally located the audiences were small but the second was larger than the first both elders who are comparatively young men are good speakers and gave able sermons they preach from the bible not from the book of mormon as aa some seem to think and their preaching to ie similar in that of other denominations they claim to preach the gos goa pel in its original purity and travel wit without boit purse or scrip they take up no collections at their meetings but do not refuse financial assistance from persons who voluntarily offer it they say that polygamy has been abandoned in utah in accordance with the law passed by congress much of the mormon doctrine asgood is good but like that of other denominations some of it is open to criticism and doubt for instance one of the elders expressed the belief that god is a being having flesh and bones like man because the bible says man was created in the image of god another interpretation of scripture set forth by one of the elders was that as in the garden of eden adam and eve were told that they should surely die in the day they partook of the he forbidden fruit and that as a thousand years were as one day with the lord our first parents did the die within the thousand years it was also assert ed that mankind in heaven have corporeal bodies of flesh and bones but without blood the spirit of god coursing through their veins one of the best beet impressions created upon the audience was as the assertion that the magnificent mormon temple at salt sa it leake lake city to la alaways open to other denominations who come along and have something to sty bay the mormons cormons are liberal enough to hear all sides and are open to conviction it ft there are others who can propound a better system of religion than their own the elders have wen been stopping with mr thurber and they have subsequent meetings at his house we understand the mormon elders have been holding a series of well attended meetings at denver embracing 2 sundays the lt let and esth and then baptised baptized sed converts in the lake they expect to hold meetings in como pomona and cisco and later in malotka Pa lotka where several persons are to be baptised baptized sed by them during their stay of two weeks in this community they have held meetings nearly every night we believe both preaching at each meeting it is the tabernacle in salt lake and not the temple that la in open to ministers of other denor pIna eions the temple Is a smaller building and is open only to members oc 0 the church DENVER NEWS ITEMS isom and elton eiton the mormon elders preached here last thursday evening and twice on sunday to large congregations they last week bap ban tided mr daniel turner and wife of georgetown late in logging business at west denver and on tuesday last they baptised baptized sed miss melissa hig there will probably be other elders arrive during the month whether we agree with their doctrine or not one cannot but admire the tireless zeal seal and ana energy they display in the dause cause they are advocating the two mormon elders D elton eiton and sam isom have raised a sort of religious fury in this vicinity they preached here three times last week and if they continue in this locality as an they say they intend doing they vill probably capture nearly the whole of the present church members and others they do not present to their hearers hearer the salient points of mormonism tout but confine themselves to expounding oft h regular version of the bible how their converts will take it when they find out they will have to believe in joe smith the book of mormon and other oddities od ditled of the creed remains to be seen been by request they will hold service here bero again on thursday evening it to 1 sara ada the clergy in places are getting much stirred up at the innovation then why who do not they organize lectures to ev en lighten the people in the real tenets teneta of the mormon faith j |