Report on the Northern States Mission

(President of the Northern States Mission.) My brethren and sisters, while standing before you upon this occasion I earnestly desire an interest in your faith and prayers,- that I may be clothed upon with the Spirit of the Lord, to enable me to report truthfully the conditions which prevail in the Northern States Mission. We have heard today reports from that portion of the country that is washed by the waters of the Pacific, and from portions washed by the Atlantic and the great Gulf as well as from the great interior country embraced within the Colorado Mission. It is my privilege to report that part of the country which may be called the district of the great lakes. Of late years the Northern States Mission has been shorn of some of the outlying States which were formerly part of it. The State of Missouri was given to the Southwestern States Mission, the States of Kansas and North and South Dakota were added to the Colorado Mission, and Ohio to the Southern States Mission. At the present time the Northern States Mission is very compact, the city of Chicago being almost centrally located, geographically. There are six states embraced in the mission, viz.: the state of Michigan (which in the early rise of the work furnished many splendid converts to the Church), the state of Indiana, the state of Illinois (whose soil drank in the blood of the Prophets that were slain for the testimony which they bore, and within whose borders are many points of historical interest connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the state of Iowa (into whose wilderness the band of pilgrims made their way when they commenced that great exodus in the summer of 1846), the state of Wisconsin (which furnished the "cedars of Lebanon" for the beautiful temple at Nauvoo), and the great and beautiful state of Minnesota, with its more than ten thousand lakes, including Itasca, which gives birth to the great Father of Waters— the Mississippi river. We have about 100 Elders laboring in that mission at the present time. ¶

Our work has been somewhat hampered the last few months, during which time it has been my privilege to preside over that part of the Lord's vineyard, owing to many of the Elders having to be released, and a large number of fresh ones sent into the field. I will say, however, that, notwithstanding the great majority of our force are young men, they are laboring assiduously, conscientiously and diligently to spread the work of the Lord in that part of the world, and their efforts are being met with reasonable success, though in point of baptisms the success is not as encouraging as we could wish. During the past eight months about 80,000 tracts have been distributed, and practically the same number of families have been visited, and 25,000 revisited; 2,500 meetings have been held, among this number being about 1,000 street meetings. I do not know that we can trace any conversions directly to our efforts upon the streets, but it has allayed a great deal of prejudice and has warned the people of the impending judgments which God designs to pour out upon the world. We have also seen this beneficial effect resulting from our street meetings: in districts where they have been held, the Elders have received a more cordial welcome at the homes of the people in their tracting. We have in the mission three Young Ladies' associations, one Young Men's association, and seven Sunday schools, all of which are doing effective work. Among those who have identified themselves with the work in these states we have some good, honest souls, who are thoroughly converted to all the principles of the Gospel promulgated by the Elders, and who have paid their tithes with care and precision. Many of our converts are employed in the factories and stores, and they will come religiously each Sabbath day and pay one-tenth of their earnings, thereby setting a commendable example to many of our people at home. ¶

The spirit of gathering seems to take possession of the people almost as soon as they embrace the Gospel, and it is hard to restrain them from carrying out their desires in this matter. This tendency weakens our branches to a great extent, and we try to discourage it as far as possible, advising the people, in preference to gathering and leaving employment which they have and going where they will perhaps find it difficult to get suitable employment, to make a brief trip to Zion and attend to their work in the Temple of the Lord, which is the great incentive for them to gather with the people. ¶

I believe that, aside from the work of the conversion of people in the world, one of the great features of missionary work is the conversion of the corps of Elders who are constantly traveling throughout the nations of the earth. Missionary work is one of the best educators that a young man could possibly have. It gives that practical education which fits them for the battle of life. It has been contended by people who are not of our faith that the young Latter-day Saints who show a disposition to follow in the footsteps of their fathers do so because they have inherited their prejudices. They look upon it as a case of the blind following the blind, and the ignorant following those who are still more ignorant. They say that the solution of this trouble is greater light, greater knowledge, and opportunity for the young men to come in contact with the purer (?) state of society which exists outside of Utah. That is largely the contention of the people who are opposed to our faith, notwithstanding the great amount of evidence which time is continually accumulating to show the plan to be a rank failure. The young men of our Church do go out Into the world, with very limited knowledge or experience, perhaps with no certain knowledge of the divinity of those principles which they have embraced, except that which comes through a consciousness of the honest, probity and truthfulness of their parents who believe in the Gospel. They go forth into the world, which has grown rank with conflicting notions and Ideas, and they are compelled to raise their hand against every creed, because every creed lifts its head against them. Surely this is a condition the most favorable that could be desired to eradicate from their young minds whatever respect they might have for the faith of their fathers, if anything could do so; and yet the leaders of the Church and the fathers and mothers of the young men all unite in urging them to take the very step which our enemies declare will be the means of eradicating from their minds whatever belief they have in the faith of their fathers. We see these young men by the hundreds taking the advice which comes from such opposite elements. They go out into the world, remaining there from 18 months to 3 years or more, and in 999 cases out of 1,000 they return with a firm conviction of the truth, the purity and the unsurpassing reasonableness of the Gospel. There might not be anything remarkable about an occasional conversion among these young men to a faith that had long been professed by them, though perhaps but little understood; but almost without exception these young men return with a strong personal testimony of the truth which their fathers have espoused. ¶

There are many ways in which missionary experience is of great value to those who engage in it. It gives them a breadth of charity and consideration for their fellow creatures which cannot be obtained in any other Way. It gives them an insight into the hopes, the aspirations and the conditions that exist in the world. It gives them a broader understanding of our Father's purposes in connection with the placing of His children here upon the earth. It also develops within them that quality which is declared by all people to be one of the cardinal virtues— unselfishness. The very fact of their being willing to sacrifice home, friends, and all that is near and dear to them, for a period, and go forth to suffer the scorn, the contumely, the hatred and the rebuffs of the world which they have to meet, is an evidence of their sincerity and their unselfishness. This gathering of people from all parts of the world, and this sending forth of our Elders to every nation under heaven, by which they become acquainted with the conditions that exist in the world, and then their returning home with the experience which they have acquired, is filling this state and surrounding states with men possessed of a knowledge of the world that cannot be found in any other community on the earth. I believe that this continued will be the means of establishing here the greatest, the purest and the most progressive people upon the face of the earth. ¶

My testimony is that this work is true, that Joseph Smith was a divine instrument in the hands of the Almighty of establishing His work in the last days upon the earth, and that he did his work nobly and well; that he was succeeded by spirits which had been held in reserve to come forth in this important dispensation, to continue the work and to build upon the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph; that a prophet of God still stands at the head of this Church, and that He will continue to place prophets at our head to receive His will and deliver it unto the people. I pray that God will help us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and to be true and loyal to the Priesthood, to God, to our friends and to ourselves, and to be counted worthy to be numbered among the jewels of our Father when He shall come to make them up. I ask these blessings in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. ¶