Show australasian MISSION annual annual Con conference terence of that important field interesting statements Statement 1 of the ine progress of the work MURIWAI march 15 INT 4 editor D deseret e seret news the rapid spread of the gospel gosp among the aborigines of new zealand zealan has of late claimed the abe attention of all interested in the progress of the great latter day work and we kuon know that many of our friends in zion are on the watch for any news from this field we are therefore pleased to be able to give b an encouraging account we have J JUM abt held our third annual conference which all except two of the elders laborin sin the australasian mission had t the acure of attends attending ing an occurrence whim hv has not been pre dented ee ce in the history of the mission at muriwai in the gisborne district ap an already building had abeen enlarged for the occasion an the natives gathered in great numbers from most parts of the island the number was estimated at one by one the utah elders arrived from their several districts and greeted each other with that cordiality so characteristic among them there were twenty five in number brother davis 19 laboring boring in the Waira Wair rapa araps and brother blithe in australia being unable to attend on friday march at 10 am conference wa opened providenz denz wm win presiding the eight districts were reporter rep by their respective spec tive presidents and showed the missi onto be in acost gratifying eon condition it is now about three and a half years since the gospel of christ began to spread among the Maori sand today toda to da day y our strength has reached 2292 this is an exceedingly high number when we consider the disadvantages under h the early elders had bad to labor they being few in number and unacquainted quain ted with the habith and language of the people the missionaries have many of them speak the maori langua language zell quite fluently the they are extremely zealous ous lit the cause or of truth and as a result of their labors souls have been added to fo our number in the past year the work is fast growing and the number of laborers is still insufficient the harvest is great and the laborers are few those who labored in the earlier part of the mission were valiant and courageous pressing on in ia their labors through sunshine and shower ex exposed to the elements and compelled to conform to the customs of a aiace buch things were hard bard to e and demanded men of sterling sterlin yet while many of these have been to an extent overcome others ad a ta continually arising ari siu the magnitude of which abich seems to far tur surpass pass all previous ones formerly there was but little persecution our Or number being considered so that it did not effect the majority nor endanger the ministry laier lacer it hechine afie subject et of petitions to the native minetry and by degiles dac es as our numbers increased it became a source of discomfiture to the hireling priests who with jealous eye saw their sheep one by one depart from their man made macef olds folds again the evil one who seemed as it wore werft to wink at the handful has apparently grown enraged at the increase and desires to assert his bis powers doubtless realizing that his bis time is short and unless he throttles the plan la in its infancy his dominion will te be gone forever if if then those who have labored in the past have experienced difficulties those who have yet to labor will require increased strength and a double portion of f wisdom judgment and the spirit of god we are pleased to notice that the reform worked among ake maoris laoris has had bad a tendency to open the eyes of some bome of the europeans and a spirit of inquiry is manifest in many places generally speaking they treat us with great kindness but the majority of them have evidently fallen into a lethargy and lost all interest with regard to aDY anything thing b bearing the semblance of religion pe on we have however succeeded in holding some few meetings among them and nd have arranged for a meeting in the town of gisborne to come off in a few days which promises to be well attended but to deturi return to our subject A most excellent spirit prevailed throughout the entire conference which lasted three days march alth and in which four fourteen teen sessions were held including priesthood and counsel meetings much uch valuable instruction was given by president wm and the elders many ot of the native breth brethren reh have proved ved themselves faithful in their no duties ales and magnified their callings with ability haying having the gospel at heart at a priesthood meeting president maxmen saw fit to present the subject of the translation of the book of mormon into the maori language several of odthe the leading men expressed a great hesire that it should be proceeded with at once offering to assist liberally by way of means the speakers apparently antly uttered the sentiments of all present for when a vote was called all voted in the affirmative accordingly brothers ezra F richards ond and sondra Sonic sanders were appointed to commence the work forthwith the remaining elders were appointed to labor as to fo aws waikato district william gard ner president H J manning heber J sears and ana H J bur gess traveling elders geo romney jr school teacher district james A slater president A W harper traveling elder wal wai apu district ephraem B haralm magleby frea efu den david haight traveling traveling ng elder J W platt school teacher poverty bay district district F H wright president mahla mahia district M X S marriott president B BW W young traveling elder hawkes bay district 1 W president Pre aident H 8 bishop Trave lift elder Waira WalTa rapa district george georg S 11 taylor president EL B L davis TraV 1 ling filing elder australia john B blythe president andrew corry traveling elder ellas johnson johnson was vas selected as interpreter for the president of the mission the following elders eldera were hodor i ably released to return to their tain taia home edward C cliff baw rdward rd newby amass aidrich all join ial beading boing poing best love to their relatives ki and meeds r hen s itt at home bever praying for the welfare of zion and the establishment of truth your brother in the go gospel ea H 7 J SEARS |