Report on the California Mission and the Prosperity of Zion

When I hear the reports of the Elders of Zion, indicating how she has prospered, how her borders have lengthened and been strengthened, I feel like exclaiming as did Balaam of old when he beheld the multitude of the children of Israel: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" To know that the wilderness has blossomed as the rose, that the desert has become as the garden of the Lord, and that joy, peace, thanksgiving and melody are found therein; is not this blessed? Should we not be grateful? I tell you, my brethren and sisters, we who have been away from you for some time, who have met with the sinister spirit of the world, are made to rejoice, and our souls are filled with joy. Our spirits are refreshed, and we are built up again in our faith upon hearing the testimonies of our brethren, and again looking into your faces and feeling the grasp of the hands of our brethren and sisters. ¶

The California mission comprises the states of Nevada and California and the western part of Oregon. The latter, however, has been added to the mission since my presence in Zion, making the mission over 1,700 miles in length. In California, particularly, we have but a few Saints. We can only make converts fast enough to replace those who come to Zion, in spite of the fact that we do not preach to them to gather. We would rather have them stay with us to strengthen the branches in that land; but, as President Rich has said, the spirit of gathering comes upon them when they have taken upon them the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has said that He would gather them from the east and from the west, that He would say to the north, give up, and to the south keep not back; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even so many as have taken upon them my name. ¶

The Californians, as the people of the west, are not a religious people. Our converts are made largely among the foreigners, and among people who have gone there from the eastern states. A few native Californians have come into the Church, whose fathers and mothers drifted away from the Church in early days, when this place was, as it now is, as a threshing floor, and the unfilled grains of wheat are blown away. Some of the sons and daughters have had the faith with them, and have heard the shepherd's voice and have come into the fold. ¶

Our efforts during the winter were largely hampered on account of sickness. Many of the Elders have had typhoid fever, or smallpox; but, thanks to God, in His mercy He has preserved us, and most all of the members of the Church as well as our Elders now have health and strength, and our prospects are again bright, and our souls have been made glad by a few coming into the fold. We were recently strengthened and encouraged by a visit of some 300 Utahns, including 80 or 90 members of the Tabernacle choir. With them, we had the privilege of meeting with about such a congregation as we have here today, in the Alhambra theater, San Francisco, two weeks ago tonight. Not many people get to hear of us this way, and the influence of our visitors does not extend as far as we would like. It is but as a drop in a bucket for fifteen or eighteen hundred persons in a city of 400,000 to hear the testimonies of the Elders. But we are bearing testimony daily on the streets and are distributing thousands of tracts, leaving the responsibility of a testimony of the restored Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ on thousands of people. In addition to doing this, we are making men of the boys who have gone into the field. They are receiving testimonies of the truth, and are contrasting and comparing the completeness of our Gospel with the man-made systems of the day, and noting how unsatisfactory the sectarian gospel is to those who have espoused it, who do not know the truthfulness of the saying of St. Paul, that "the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation." They make money their god, and pleasure its counterpart, not knowing the peace and joy that comes to those who are rich in a knowledge of heavenly things. I think the cause of the disregard for religion by the people of the state is largely their pleasant environments and the wealth of that land. Next to this is the individualism of the people, who interpret the Scriptures for themselves and care not for authority — for prophets or revelation. ¶

God bless you, my brethren and sisters; may peace be in your homes; may you cleave fast to the covenants you have made, and be true to yourselves, to your brethren and to your God, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶