Report on the California Mission and the Spirit of Zion

My very beloved brothers and sisters, when I heard the voice of the Prophet of God say that all is well in Zion, the words of one of the Prophets of old came to my mind: ¶

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringreth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" ¶

In the California Mission we are not always blessed by the presence of those who bring good tidings of good; we often hear the people of Zion villified and spoken of evilly. It fills my heart with joy to know that those whose interests are our interests, and who have done so much for our common weal in fostering our industries, can say that all is well, and they have no complaints in regard to the law of tithing and other matters relating to the Saints of God. ¶

In our mission we have the same spirit that characterizes the saints of God in all the world. The hearts of the Saints there turn to you in these valleys, and deep in their souls they have a desire to come to the Temple of the Lord and receive their blessings, and some few have been so privileged. They feel a pride in all your successes. When they hear of any great thing you do or any good thing that is said of you, they rejoice, and feel that they are entitled to do so, because they are of you, though not with you. When the Tabernacle choir visited us it feasted our souls. We sensed again that the prophecy was being fulfilled wherein it was said that in Zion there should be the voice of thanksgiving and melody. When we lifted up our voices together this morning and sang in unison, it brought to my mind this saying of old: ¶

"Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." ¶

The Saints of the California Mission have been valiant and earnest in the payment of their tithes. They feel that they are adding to the glory of Zion and to the wealth of their own souls by the practice of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice. Though we number but about six hundred souls, and quite a percentage of them, I am sorry to say, are not the most faithful, yet to date we have paid something over $3,000 in tithes, besides liberal offerings. The Elders are valiant, earnest, and God-fearing; many of them are boys, several being under twenty years of age. Among them are some most promising speakers, humble, childlike, feeling their dependence upon the Lord, and knowing that it is not sufficient to be able to quote scripture to substantiate our belief, but that they must live in accordance with the Spirit of the Lord to gain favor with the honorable of the world. I often tell them that it it not enough to be able to quote scripture; for many of the people of our cosmopolitan state know but little of the scriptures, and many of those who have a knowledge of them do not believe them, and they ask for more material results. "Show me," they say, "wherein the Gospel which you teach has benefited and helped you to do better. What has it done for your commonwealth? Show me the logic or the philosophy of the Gospel which you preach." How soul-satisfying it is to be enabled to say that it has made a peace-loving people, a patriotic people, a people that live in their own homes to a very great extent, a people that have not mortgaged themselves, a people that are tolerant, a people that have been gathered out from almost all lands and climes, with one purpose, one ambition, and have dropped their national antipathies and animosities, and in their children have become one. When I heard of the reply that Ambassador White had made to Count Tolstoi, that when the youth of Zion grew up and began to assert their individuality, then the fabric which had been woven and the building which had been constructed by Mormonism would fall to pieces, I thought how little he knows of us. I can remember when our fathers, who had been gathered from many lands, had differences with each other. Having been brought up under different environments and training, they had different methods of gaining a livelihood and varied ideas as to what should be accomplished, and sometimes they clashed one with another. But now we find that their sons have dropped the differences of nationality, and enjoying the same testimony that their fathers have borne in relation to the truth of the Gospel they are one in intent and purpose, and I trust are more fixed, if possible, upon the one object of upbuilding the kingdom of God than were their fathers and mothers. This to me is a testimony of the Gospel of Christ. ¶

Our Elders meet with the same experience that they do in other lands. During the last five months we have met with a great deal of opposition, especially on the streets. Some few men have apparently dedicated themselves to the purpose of driving us out of the state, exposing our fraud, as they term it, and the life of hypocrisy which they accuse us of leading. They have met us on every street corner and in every way imaginable. When they have learned that we had some friends, they have sent people to them to embitter their minds against us; and in one city they have gone so far as to print a little tract about us, signed by the ladies of three leading religious organizations. This tract has been distributed broadcast. They did not pass by the house of the Elders even, but left us a copy. We feel that this is in part due to the visit of the choir and to the attention it attracted toward us in that state, and to our renewed efforts to be heard and seen. I have found it necessary to call upon the mayor and the chief of police of some of the cities, and express to them the wish that they would see that we, as American citizens, should not be villified beyond endurance; and I am glad to state that they have accorded me a most kindly hearing and given me the protection asked for, so much so that some of the most pernicious speakers have been told that they could no longer speak upon the streets. By the way, one of them has since been welcomed into the pulpit of one of the leading churches and Is now preaching there. ¶

We have not had many baptisms so far this year. It has not been a season of harvesting. But our hearts have been filled with joy because of the thousands of strangers who have heard our testimonies. In that land of golden sunshine there are thousands of people from the east, who come there for the sake of - the climate. Many of them come to hear us, perhaps in many instances where they would have nothing to do with us at their homes, because of the same spirit that Nicodemus manifested when he came to the Savior by night. We have visited the homes of 3,000 strangers, and re-visited over 4,000, as well as holding the Saints together. We have distributed something like 38,000 tracts, besides loaning a number of books. "We do not have the success in selling our literature that some of the brethren report in other parts of the United States. The people do not seem to care to buy from us, or else we are not very good canvassers along that line. But we have given away a goodly number, and are trying to place the Book of Mormon, in particular, in a way that the people will take hold of it, because of the price that the book is now held at and the gracious donations given to us by the Presidency of the Church. ¶

I do not feel that it would be proper, my brethren and sisters, for me to take more of your time; for you have come to hear the words of the prophets of the living God; but my testimony is that God lives, that His work is advancing, that we are beginning to be known as His people, and that the people of the world sense the fact that there is something in the very genius of the Gospel we teach which has more to do with this life than any of their plans or schemes. They see, too, that it is beneficial, and they would rather have something that is practical, and that does not deal alone with the dead past. Many friends have been raised up unto us who have said that they knew we had more to offer than any other religious denomination, but that they cared nothing for any church. We have been fortunate in becoming acquainted with some of the leading citizens in the state, and among the medical fraternity we have friends who have cared for the Elders and do care for them without price, and who have told me to send the Elders to them if they ever needed any consultation. I think sometimes, because of the reputed good climate of California, that several Elders have been sent to me that were not the soundest in health. This season I have had six or eight who have had to be cared for nearly the whole season. ¶

May God bless and prosper you in your labors, increase your love for the Gospel, help you to subjugate your passions, wean yourselves of improper desires, correct your judgment, peace attend you in your homes and joy await you at your gates, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶