The Japanese Mission: First Converts and Sincerity

I am very much pleased indeed to be present at this conference. I have rejoiced beyond my power to tell in listening to the testimonies of those who have spoken thus far. I do not know whether I can occupy the balance of the time this afternoon or not. I find that I cannot take a long breath without its paining me in my lungs. Whether it is the change from the sea level to this high country I do not know. I am feeling very well indeed, and unless I try to take a long breath I am in no pain. I desire, however, to mingle my voice with the voices of my brethren, and to give you my testimony as to my knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. ¶

As I remarked last night at the Priesthood meeting, I hesitated for some little time, after the spirit came upon me to attend this conference, before writing for permission to do so. I thought my desires might be misconstrued, and that there would perhaps be a feeling that I was homesick and desired to shirk the responsibilities resting upon me in a far-off land; but after having once thought of the idea, of being with you and partaking of the spirit of this conference, I could not, hard as I tried, get rid of the desire to come. I finally wrote the letter, and when it reached here permission was given to me. Although I have had to travel a little over seven thousand miles to come to this conference, I am glad to be here, and I was happy when the word came that I was to have this privilege. Only those who have been in the habit of feasting on the teachings of the servants of God under the inspiration of the Spirit of God from their childhood up, and have ever been meeting-goers, can appreciate how hungry I became to listen to the servants of the Lord, when I tell you that for eight months I did not have this privilege, except in the little council meetings held with my associates upon our mission in Japan. ¶

Knowing that the people will be interested to hear from that country and from my associates, I desire to say that Elders Ke'sch, Ensign and Taylor are well, that they are faithful, diligent and true men, and that we have been exceedingly happy from the time we reached our field of labor— in fact, from the time we were called— until my departure from that land. I am pleased to tell you that I had letters from them yesterday, written ten days after my departure, and they are well. They tell me that the two men whom we baptized and ordained Elders are meeting with them constantly, studying very diligently, and making memoranda to assist them in defending the principles of the Gospel. In one of the letters, Brother Ensign refers to a man by the name of Gaburo Kikuchi, the second convert, and to his exclaiming in an impulsive manner every once in awhile, "That is true, the Bible says so," as he is reading and studying the principles of the Gospel; and Brother Ensign, after making this remark, says, "Can't you hear him?" and I can almost, because I know how he would explode, so to speak, all the time we were teaching him prior to his baptism. This man for a number of years has separated himself from the Christian sect to which he belonged, because, he said, they did not teach the Bible, and he has been teaching the people the truths of the Bible in the parks in the city of Tokio, having audiences of from 500 to 1,500 people. He seems to be a very sincere, determined man, and I have enjoyed my conversations with him. The day I baptized him, before attending to that ordinance, I told Brother Kelsch to try to discourage him from becoming a member of the Church, and that I would do the same, because I told him I desired him to study more and to comprehend more before he was baptized. But it seemed that with all the words of discouragement that Brother Kelsch and I could utter, he was determined to be baptized. He came to the hotel before I was out of bed in the morning and insisted upon baptism. When I told him that he had better study more and get a better comprehension of the Gospel, he said, "It is true, I believe it, I want to be baptized, and I can understand it better after I have been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church." I knew this was true; so I told him he would be persecuted, and he quoted the scripture, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake." Brother Kelsch and I went on in this line, trying to discourage this man. I referred to the drivings of our people, to the killing of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, and to the fact that many men had to give up their lives for the truth; and I wanted him to be thoroughly converted. He said, "It is true; and if I die and am the first martyr in Japan, it would be the best thing that could happen to Japan." "That's enough," I said, "I'll baptize you." ¶

I have the assurance in my soul that there is to be a wonderful work accomplished in Japan; that there will be many, yea, even thousands of that people that will receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have made no effort whatever to try and baptize people. Many have come and applied for baptism — ten young men at one time; many have written us letters and asked to be baptized into the Church; but we have realized that they did not understand the Gospel, and we had no desire to baptize and seal the Holy Ghost upon a person who would be likely to lose the Spirit and turn around and fight the Church. We have had no desire whatever to baptize people just to make a showing. We prayed earnestly every day for the guidance of the Spirit of God. We fasted and prayed often. We had a delightful time. Time passed very pleasantly and did not hang upon our hands. I never spent an hour in sightseeing. I did make one little trip through the country, on the cars, to get some knowledge of it; but I never went away for the sake of seeing the sights and enjoying myself in that city. I was busy all the time, talking with those that called upon me, answering letters, and in studying the language. The Lord granteth unto men according to their desires, whether it be for life or death, joy or remorse of conscience; and the only desire that I had was to fulfill my duty in that land from day to day, and if I should return after three or five years without converting or baptizing one soul I would be satisfied. However, I have been exceedingly grateful to my Heavenly Father that He saw fit to impress with His Spirit a couple of men who, I believe, are honest. They may not prove faithful, but I believe they are honest today. The other man was a Shinto priest, who could not speak a word of English, and we had to talk to him through an interpreter. This man was cast out from his congregation of 1,500 by his superiors, and told that he would be reinstated in his office, provided he quit calling upon the "Mormons." He said, "I believe that there is some truth with them; I am not yet convinced, but I will not stop calling on them." Finally he was cast out. He continued to call upon us, and was baptized. ¶

In that country it is very difficult for a' person to earn much money. It is incomprehensible to me how people -can live and clothe themselves and apparently be well and healthy, on the limited amount of money that they make. You can hire hundreds, and even thousands of men that are married and have children, for 15 yen a month, which is $7.50 in our money, .and they will live on that amount. You can hire a man to carry you around in one of their vehicles (jinrikishas, they call them), and that man will work for you, if you buy your own vehicle, for 15 yen a month. True, there are men that get 20 yen, because they are superior runners, and there are others that will get as high as 25, because they are very swift in running, but you can get a man that will trot along three or four hours at a stretch, for 15 or 20 yen a month! He must get enough food to eat, or I do not think he could stand it. It is remarkable to me the industry and the frugality of that people, and the way they get along. I saw perhaps half a dozen beggars all the time I was there. In the crowded city of Tokio I never saw but two beggars and they were afflicted with leprosy, lying on the ground by a bridge. It is a city of 2,000,000 of people, and I traveled around many, many hours, and they were the only beggars I saw. The people are almost like bees in a hive, and they all seem to be busy. They are a very remarkable people, and I feel to say to you that I believe and know that God will do a mighty work in that land. The Lord has raised up friends to us. Many influential men have called and visited with me. I am told that a certain man there by the name of Goro Takahashi is by far the strongest writer in defense of Christianity in the nation of Japan. This man, before I ever met him. wrote an article in one of the leading magazines of Japan in which he criticized the newspapers and the people of Japan, for opposing the "Mormon" religion. My interpreter interpreted this for me, and I afterwards read it to the man. He laughed, and said, "He has not interpreted my article." He said, "The very first line says, 'The people of Tokio welcome with loud Huzzahs Lamanism, which is polyandry, or a plurality of husbands,' and I did not say any such a thing. I said, 'The enlightened people of Tokio.' The whole sarcasm is lost by your interpreter. It was not the common people, it was not the laboring people, but it was the enlightened people of Tokio that was crying out against the 'Mormon' people." I asked him if he would not translate the first page for me himself. (I had about 10 pages of it.) He said he was very busy, but he would translate the first page, as near as I can remember, the first page was as follows: "The enlightened people of Tokio have recently welcomed a sect from Thibet that preaches Lamanism, polyandry, a plurality of husbands, and scarce have they welcomed them with extraordinary enthusiasm and the huzzahs died away before they are condemning, with absolute ignorance, the 'Mormon' religion! And these people who are condemning the 'Mormons' and polygamy are believers in concubinage! Can there be under the sun a greater inconsistency than this? We might say something about the emperor and his concubines, but perhaps it would be considered disloyal, and therefore we will keep quiet." ¶

This gives you a little idea of this man. I afterwards told my interpreter what he said. "Well, Mr. Grant," he said, "I told you that I could not interpret the article. I told you that it was like a rugged mountain. I told you it was so full of force and fire that I could not put it in the English language." The minute I read this article I sent the writer an invitation to come and dine with me at the hotel. He came there, and afterwards he wrote and said, if I would furnish him items of history regarding our people, he would gladly write a book in our defense. He said, "I feel that you are honest, I feel that you are misunderstood, I feel that the Spirit of the Lord has come upon me, and I want to defend you, and if you will give me the materials I will do it; for I feel that I am called to this work." I immediately told him that it would give me pleasure. I furnished him the History of Joseph Smith by Brother Cannon, the History of John Taylor by Brother Roberts, and A Brief History of the Church by Edward H. Anderson. The latter is published by the Juvenile Instructor, and does not give Brother Anderson the credit of being the author, but he is entitled to it; and if I had the ability to write such a work I would not let them publish it if they did not put my name upon it. I furnished him Mormon Doctrine by Brother Penrose, The New Witness for God and The Missouri Persecutions by Brother Roberts, and the Book of Mormon. He already had the Book of Mormon and was pretty well posted on it. I also furnished him, among other documents, a tract by Colonel Thomas, of London, that impressed him very much. He has written a book of some 200 or more pages, about the size of the Improvement Era. He has illustrated it with pictures from the little pamphlet entitled "In and Around Salt Lake City." There is a picture there of the five presidents of the Church, also of the Temple block, a view of Salt Lake City, of Saltair, of the Salt Palace, and of some Indians, with their children on their backs— exactly the same as the Japanese. And, by the way, there is a wonderful resemblance between the American Indian and many of the Japanese. The pictures of Prest. Smith, of my family, and of some others will be published in this book. He says that these pictures will dispel at a glance the popular idea that the "Mormons" are an ignorant and degraded people. He has put in a picture of the Lehi sugar factory, and he was wonderfully impressed with what our people had accomplished in a material way. He said, "I may, of course, make a mistake in some of your doctrinal items. I would not like to do that. I may make a mistake in some of your historical items. I would not like to do that, either; and I shall submit to you the doctrinal and historical items before I publish my book." I invited him to dinner regularly every Sunday for about two months, and afterwards he said he did not wish to show me anything in the book, because, he said, "people will say you told me what to write, and it will not do you the good I want it to do. I am writing in your favor, and I know you will be pleased with the book." He had read all Dr. Talmage's articles published in the Era on the "History and Philosophy of Mormonism," and he said that if he quoted the doctrinal and historical items from what I have given him he could not make any mistake, and that was what he had done. ¶

I am sorry I did not bring with me the contents of that book. It will contain 10 chapters, and the first is entitled "The Greatest Problem of the World." This will give you some idea of what the man thinks. In the article he wrote about the "Mormons" before I ever met him, he wound it up by saying, "I will ask some questions. Was Joseph Smith a deceitful hero, who deceived the world, and was punished by the Almighty for his wickedness? Or was he, like Jesus Christ, a martyr for the truths of heaven?" I believe that this man became convinced that Joseph Smith was a martyr. Here is a list of the headings of the ten chapters :' Chapter I. The Greatest Problem in the World. ¶

Chapterll. Mormonism — What is it? Early History of Joseph Smith. ¶

Chapter III. The Book of Mormon, and American Antiquities; Archaeology and Comparative Philology. ¶

Chapter IV. The Spaulding Story, and ether Stories. ¶

Chapter V. Exodus — Miracles— Chosen People. ¶

Chapter VI. Phoenix-like, risen out of the ashes. ¶

Chapter VII. Loyal or Disloyal. ¶

Chapter VIII. Polygamy. What is; it? ¶

Chapter IX. Social Conditions. Social Christianity without running into Communism. ¶

Chapter X. Success and Prosperity Religious and Commercial. Not one word that is in this book have I suggested; but I believe that I could not possibly pick out ten chapters and arranged them any better than this man has done. He is a highly educated man. He translated five-sevenths of the Bible into the Japanese language when it was done. He speaks the English language well; he speaks the Hebrew language, he understands some Egyptian, and he reads the French. He has a two-story fireproof building adjoining his dwelling, full of books, where he studies. I have always looked upon Orson Pratt as the great student of the Latter-day Saints, and I remarked to my brethren that Goro Takahashi was the Orson Pratt of the Japanese nation. I feel that God touched this man's heart, and made him friendly towards us; and he has written a book that I believe will do us a world of good. I remarked to him that I would like him to translate it into the English language and send it . to me, and I would publish it at home, with the same illustrations, so that the people could see what he had written; that I knew it would have a good sale at home, and it would give me delight to let him have any profits that there might be. I told him that I realized it would take him a long time to translate it into the English language, because he would not write as rapidly in our language as he could in his own. "You are very much mistaken," he said; it won't take me very long, because there are so many exact quotations from the pamphlets and books you gave me. I have translated them into the Japanese language verbatim; therefore it wont be difficult to put them back into English." I feel that this man was raised up of God to do this, and although he may have made some mistakes I believe his book will do us a great deal of good. ¶

I rejoice to be here. I rejoice in the testimony of the Gospbl of Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the increased testimony that my mission has given me. I never expected that it would be possible for a man of my temperament and disposition, who from a boy of 14 years of age has been actively engaged in business, to forget it, and that I could content myself in a foreign land studying a language that put me to sleep nearly every time I tried it, and yet be happy. But I was. There was the sweet Spirit of God with us, and many times in our little meetings we shed tears of joy, because of the outflow of the Spirit of God. If I had the privilege of picking the Church ever for three companions I could not be better satisfied than with those that I have. I had my choice, and I have not been disappointed. I say to you, my friends, that I am happy to be here. All of the officers that have been chosen during my absence, my head and my heart have been pleased and satisfied with. It is a sorrow to me to come home and not receive the handshake of my beloved President Snow, whom I loved as dearly as life itself; but I rejoice that the son of one of the two martyrs for the cause presides over the Church of Christ. I rejoice in the knowledge that the work of God is onward and upward, and that each and every one of us who are true and faithful will be saved. I rejoice that this Gospel is going to all the nations of the earth. I rejoice in being a messenger of the plan of life and salvation. God has blessed me with a knowledge. I know that He lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know that I shall live forever, and that if I am faithful I shall be exalted. I know that this same blessing will come to all of you, if you are faithful; and that you may be, and obtain the blessing, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶

Benediction by Elder Byron Sessions. OVERFLOW MEETING. April 6th, 10 a. m. ¶

ASSEMBLY HALL. ¶

The Tabernacle being inadequate to accommodate the immense concourse of pople in attendance, an overflow meeting was held, at which Elder Heber J. Grant presided. ¶

The Temple choir sang: ¶

Guide us, O Thou great Jehovah. ¶

Prayer by Elder John T. Caine. , Singing by the choir and congregation: ¶

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent word. ¶