Report on the Northern States Mission

My Brethren and Sisters: I am happy to have the privilege of attending this conference. I have enjoyed the good spirit that has prevailed and the reports that have been given, and I pray that God will bless me the few minutes I stand before you to report the condition of the Northern States mission. I am proud to have the privilege of laboring in the ministry with so many good brethren who have been called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the last seven weeks I have met with the seven conferences of the Northern States mission, and I have been led to think that our Elders are like some of the young men of the Scriptures, very youthful; but I can hear witness that God has been with them in their ministry, and magnified them before the people, and the honest in heart have been made to rejoice. Some who left you as boys have been moved upon by the Spirit of God to such a degree that their wisdom has made them mighty servants of the Lord. In listening to the little children sing this afternoon I was led to remember the time when Joseph Smith, as a boy, stood in the presence of our Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I thought of the Elders who have had the Spirit of the Lord poured out upon them in great power, and though their hearts are not moved to the same extent as was the Prophet Joseph's, yet they have been led to praise God for the degree of His Spirit that has rested upon them. I have contemplated much of late how Joseph Smith in his youthfulness must have been impressed by standing in the presence of the Father and the Son, and, after the lapse of three and one-half years, by the wonderful lessons he received from the Angel of God. He was then left again for a time, and later received wonderful lessons from on high, until, when he arrived at maturity, he was prepared to be an instrument in the hands of God. Through him our Father restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ — a Gospel of work, a Gospel which should prepare the earth for the coming of our Lord and Master to reign thereon among His children. He never taught a Gospel of idleness. He taught the Latter-day Saints that they must be industrious. ¶

In our ministry throughout the states of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, the Latter-day Saints are well known for their labors, their integrity, their faithfulness, their fidelity to God, and their fellow men. I am proud to have the privilege of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is a Church that teaches men, women and children to work to prepare themselves to enjoy the presence of our Father and His Son Jesus Christ, as well as associate with those men who have lived before us who, by their faith and good works, were prepared to enjoy the salvation which comes by the grace of God. ¶

The conditions of the Northern States mission we think were never brighter. Last October we reported to you a conference just held in Nauvoo, and, while we have not baptized any more people there, we have established a Sunday school, and I believe the average attendance has been 40. Our services are attended by from 100 to 300 people. They say their city is 60 years behind itself, and they welcome us back because our people do things. One man told me that it seems as though the ground in and around Nauvoo had been cursed, and that it would never amount to anything until the Latter-day Saints came back. We announced our desire to hold meetings there permanently, and the people helped us to obtain a suitable place for that purpose. We secured a corner lot on the block that President John Taylor used to live upon. The place was used for a store, but it has been fitted up as a meeting room, and one year's rent paid in advance by the people, because they desire us to continue preaching among them. The best people of the town are found in our congregations listening to the voices of the humble Elders who are sent to preach unto them. Our concerts and other amusements that we have given there have been well patronized. ¶

One year ago last winter our Elders were turned out at 11 o'clock at night from a public hotel in Zion City. Before then they had lived in a dozen homes there, but the edict went forth from "Elijah" Dowie, and they were turned out from the hotel and left the city, with snow about eight inches deep, and had to walk a number of miles to another town. But within the last few months our Elders have found much to do in and around Zion City. The people there have been taught that an Angel would come, and that a church would be established upon the earth with Apostles, Seventies, Elders, Priests, teachers, and Deacons, as they were originally in the church of Christ, and they have been looking for these to be appointed by the man whom they have thought to be Elijah II. The Elders are now declaring to them the Gospel message, and while we have not baptized any yet, numbers of the people welcome us to their homes, and we believe our Elders will have the privilege of baptizing some of them. ¶

In the city of Council Bluffs, where about three years ago the Elders were taken away after we had vainly tried for years to maintain a branch of the Church, the Elders are now laboring again, with good success. Since Christmas, we have baptized about a dozen, and there are more good honest souls prepared to accept the truth. We feel much encouraged in that city, as we are in other cities. We are thankful for the number of Elders who are being sent to that mission. The field is large, and many people are hunting for the truth; and they are beginning to think that it is wrong for congregations to pay ministers to study the word of God for them, instead of individuals drawing near to the Lord themselves. ¶

Our students in Chicago are a great help to the Elders there. We have taken most of the Elders out of Chicago and left the preaching to be done by our students. They are a faithful lot, almost to a man. They are found, in church at least once each Sunday, at Sunday school or Sacrament meeting showing considerable faith when you consider that they have gone there to gain an education along other lines. We are proud of our students, and the universities are proud of them. This year the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago were represented by two of our students in the Inter-state debate. ¶

My brethren and sisters, I am thankful for the privilege of bearing my testimony and reporting the condition of that mission. Some of the honest in heart are prepared to receive the truth. We have about all we can do ministering to those who desire to be taught the Gospel, and to be led in the straight and narrow way. I pray our Heavenly Father that His blessings will be upon the Elders there, and upon the honest in heart, also. We pray that our Father in heaven will help us to realize the great responsibility that rests upon us, that we will feel in part what the Prophet Joseph did after he received his great lessons from our Father in Heaven, and the holy angels that he had the privilege of being taught by. We pray that God will bless the leaders of Zion today, and the people also, that they may follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We pray for these blessings in the name of Jesus our Redeemer, Amen. ¶