Report on the Central States Mission

(President of Central States Mission.) My brethren and sisters, it affords me much pleasure to have the privilege of attending conference, and being able to meet you here in Salt Lake City this spring. I have listened with much interest to the remarks of Brother Pratt, knowing that he has spoken from experience and that he is interested in the work of our Father in his mission. ¶

We have a large number of the sons and daughters of Zion in the Central States mission, about a hundred and forty-five of them. I wish we had a hundred more to assist in the great work that is being done in that mission. In the state of Missouri alone, where there are perhaps two million people, we have only about twenty-four elders, and some of the counties of that state have never been canvassed by a Mormon missionary. We are receiving inquiries and invitations for us to send the elders to visit them, that the people might become acquainted with the principles and doctrines of Christ as they are set forth and taught by the Latter-day Saints. I am glad also to say that in that state, where they were so unfriendly to us once, there is now a feeling of friendliness toward us. In the city of Independence, where we have recently located our headquarters, the people generally are quite friendly. They meet us on the street and shake hands with us, as though they had met us before. Apparently they feel like we have resided with them always, and there is not the spirit of antagonism that there was once. I am very thankful to the Lord that this is the case, that we are living in peace with our neighbors, although it is a stronghold of the reorganized church. A number of the lay-members of that organization are attending the services that we hold. The second or third Sunday we were there we had to rent a hall in Independence in order to accommodate the people— people who had belonged to the Whitmerites and to various other off-shoots from the Mormon Church. They are attending our classes in the Sabbath Schools. Two old gentlemen told me, a few days before I left, "We are interested in your work; we love the Book of Mormon that you use as a text book in your Sabbath School." One of them said, "It sounds good to me; it is the first time I have been interested in it since my youth." They belonged to the Whitmerite church, but, they said, "We are going to investigate, we are going to stay with you and see what you have to teach us." ¶

The work of the Lord is growing in the Central States mission. Brother Duffin, who labored and presided there before I did, laid a good foundation, and we are getting along nicely, and enjoy our labors. The elders are honest and energetic ; I don't think we have a drone in the hive ; we distribute in the neighborhood of two thousand books each month. These elders are busy holding meetings, and find many inquirers, perhaps three to where we used to have one, and they are laboring zealously for the upbuilding of the Church and Kingdom of God. I want to tell you, brethren and sisters, that you should assist them here at home. Pray for the success of these elders, that they may not be led astray, but that they may remain faithful and patriotic in the great work that they have been sent forth to perform. And when you write to the missionaries, your sons and daughters, write letters that are encouraging, and don't write things that will make them homesick. That feeling does not come from our Father in heaven, and we should not be instruments in causing it to arise in the hearts of the elders. That has been one of the troubles we have had to contend with, people at home writing things that have a tendency to discourage the elders. The people at home should assist the elders in keeping the spirit of their mission and calling. ¶

I love the work of the Lord, the work in that mission, and every elder engaged in it ; they are united and willing. They are men of God, working for the building up of His Church and Kingdom, and they are not idlers. I don't know of one instance of an elder that is not doing his duty at the present time, to the best of his ability. They are trying to keep the commandments of the Lord, and laboring zealously. Ninety per cent of the elders in that mission travel without purse or scrip; today you could find about a hundred and twenty of these young men trudging through that country, from north to south, without money, preaching the Gospel, delivering tracts, holding meetings and disposing of books. The Lord is blessing them, and they seldom have to sleep out of doors. We have recently held four conferences, and I think that not more than three of our elders reported that they have laid out during the past six months. I tell you, the Lord will bless any man who goes out to preach His Gospel according to the method that He has commanded, that is without purse or scrip, especially where you can. We have some places, however, where our elders are not permitted to travel without purse or scrip, but in those cases the responsibility is not upon our shoulders. If we are faithful in our labors no one can arise and accuse us of neglect. After this life, when these elders meet any of the men or women to whom they have borne a faithful testimony, and have said to them, "I want you to read these books of ours, and place yourselves in a position to see whether we are right or wrong ; read the Book of Mormon and these pamphlets," if we do that, they can not rise up in the eternal world and accuse us of neglect of duty. Among the bright young men who have come out to help us in the last six months are some who have attended colleges, and had experience in various avocations in life, which makes them the more valuable. A man who has had a college education and a good practical experience in life, and in the Church of God at home, is invaluable. We have a few such, and it seems as if we cannot let them go. but soon, of course, we will have to. I trust we will get more, and that we will get enough elders to do the work we are trying to accomplish in that field. We have in our colony in the state of Texas about 500 people. There are bright, intelligent young persons among them, but we have not enough help to teach them, or to labor in their Sunday Schools. We have one elder there that is teaching school, and teaching music. If we could get at least two sisters, faithful and solid in the faith, who could go down there and teach some of those young ladies how to teach these young people in the Sabbath school and in the associations, it would be a great blessing. The elders who go to that mission who have been good men in the community here, and have attended to their meetings and duties at home, make the best missionaries. We have three elders from Canada, who have come into the mission field from active positions in life. They had attended Mutual Improvement Associations, and each one of them could answer questions intelligently and perform any missionary work that was required of them. That indicates that the people in Canada are zealous in the work of the Lord. ¶

May the blessings of the Lord rest upon this people and their leaders, and upon this conference, and the elders of Israel and His Saints everywhere, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶