Report on the Hawaiian Mission

(President of Sandwich Islands Mission.) It gives me joy this morning to meet with so many Latter-day Saints. I have been absent from the bosom of the Church for over seven years, presiding over the Sandwich Islands Mission. I have had great joy in my labors with that people, and also with the Elders and sisters who have labored with me in trying to convert them. We have heard from Brother Ivins regarding the Lamanites. The people of the Sandwich Islands are of the same blood. They are of the seed of Israel and great promises have been made concerning them, if they will be faithful in the latter days. We have had success in our labors. There have been upwards of 2,000 converted and baptized into the Church during the last seven years. From last April conference to the end of August there were 300 new members added to the Church, 110 of which were baptized in the old district, where the Church was first established by President George Q. Cannon, and where President Smith labored in his youth. In the place where the Gospel was first established there are only three remaining outside the Church today. This has been a hard district for years, but the Lord has opened up the way, and the honest that have dwelt there so long have been converted, some of whom are over 80 years of age. The other part of the mission is also prosperous, and I feel that we are doing a great labor among that people. We have not enough Elders, however, to do the work that we would like to do. There are only 15 Elders remaining in the mission, and four sisters from Zion. But we are aided greatly by local Elders, who are very efficient in preaching the Gospel to their friends and kindred. We also have in that mission a sugar plantation, which makes the mission self-sustaining. That, too, is prospering, and we are building it up and making it a desirable home for the people who require labor. ¶

I rejoice this morning to meet with the Saints and to mingle my voice with my brethren in speaking to the people and in bearing testimony to the truth of this great work that we are engaged in. I know that the Lord lives, and that He has been with the Elders in our mission. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and that the Gospel is true. I know, as we all ought to know, that we are engaged in the work of the Lord; and if we will be faithful in keeping His laws and commandments we will receive exaltation in the presence of our Father in heaven. ¶

At the request of President Smith, Elder Woolley spoke a short time in the Hawaiian tongue, remarking before doing so that he had spoken exclusively in that language for the last seven years, and for five and a half years, previous to that, during which time he had labored at the Josepa colony, he had been under the necessity of using that language almost entirely. ¶