Report on the Scandinavian Mission

(Late President of Scandinavian Mission.) My brethren and sisters, I feel very thankful for this privilege and opportunity of addressing this large assembly. I have rejoiced exceedingly in the various sessions of the conference, and in the spirit that has been made manifest in our gatherings. During the few moments that I shall stand before you, I desire that I may be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, that I may be able to say something that will be of benefit to you as well as myself. ¶

I have been away, laboring in the Scandinavian mission, for nearly three years, and I can assure you that I feel very happy to again assemble with the Saints of God. However, I must say that I have had a blessed time. The Lord has been with me; He has encouraged me in my labors, and I have rejoiced exceedingly in being a humble ambassador of Christ. ¶

I wish to say that the Scandinavian mission embraces, now, Denmark and Norway, there being three conferences in each of these countries. We have about 140 elders laboring there, and I may say, with Brother Baliff, that we could use more if we could get them. There is plenty of room, and we find that our elders are received very kindly on almost every hand. We are not persecuted as they are in some countries. The Scandinavian people are, as a rule, a good, hospitable, kind people. Our Elders are working hard in order to get the Gospel to the children of men. Our auxiliary organizations are in a very fair condition. We have twenty-two Sunday schools in the mission. We have eighteen Relief societies ; and the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations are also in very good condition. We have a little over one thousand enrolled in the Sunday schools, one-third of whom are outsiders. Nearly onefourth of those who attend the Mutual Improvement Associations are non-members of the Church. Besides those who are members, we have a considerable number who come to the meetings, who are also outsiders, and great interest is taken in these organizations. We have tried to encourage them along in these lines, having been so instructed by the general authorities of the Church, realizing that it is of great benefit unto the young people to get them started aright in their youth. I call to mind an instance which came under my observation while laboring in that mission. I had made the acquaintance of a young girl and her parents, who were not members of the Church. I labored with this family, along with other Elders, while on my former mission, and we encouraged the parents to send their little children to our Sunday school. When I now returned to the mission field and visited this family, they were still outside the Church. The girls are now young ladies. I saw them and talked with them, and one day when I was talking to one of them, I said, "Would you be kind enough to answer me one question?" She said, "Yes, indeed." "Then I want to ask you, is there not something within your heart that draws you back to our Sunday school and to our people? Answer me candidly." She said, "Yes, there is ! I do feel as though I want to mingle with you yet." She stayed away owing to the influence of her parents. Although they were friendly, they opposed her becoming a member of any of our organizations; otherwise we should have had her a member of our choir and, no doubt, other organizations. Thus I have observed, in many instances, that the good seed sown in the heart of the child and young people does not leave them, but, if they are honest with themselves, it will in time lead them back to the pale of the Church — at least, such is my opinion. ¶

Our treatment by the officials of those countries is splendid. They are kind to us ; and we have received no persecution. In the land of Norway we were able to hold funeral services in the chapels, just the same as their own members could do; for this we were thankful indeed. I may say that we had the Spirit of the Lord with us when we were congregated in these chapels; and more than once I have heard people exclaim that ours were the finest funeral services they had ever attended. As a rule, after we had held our little meeting or services at the chapel, we would congregate at the grave. We would dedicate the grave and sing one or two hymns. I may say that, as a rule, we had excellent singers; the Spirit of the Lord was with them, and they sang from the heart. The singing, and other parts of our services, seemed to have a good effect upon the people who witnessed the ceremonies. A short time before I was released, we had a funeral in our own hall in Copenhagen ; the president of the Relief society had passed away. There were in attendance many people who were not of our faith, people who were prominent in that city, and they told me that never in their lives had they witnessed a funeral that was so impressive. ¶

I have alluded to the free condition in Norway. I am very happy to state that the same condition exists in Denmark today. We are able to hold funeral services, to speak at funerals, to have singing, and to dedicate the graves. We are very glad for this privilege. I am also pleased to state that we have some influential people who are members of the Church. Perhaps there are many here who know Brother Samuelsen, who is a member of the Danish Riksdag. He has done his part in framing laws that have been passed. We have other prominent people in those lands who are members of the Church; and there are very many nice people who are investigating the Gospel. The elders, as a rule, are performing a noble work. Of course, it may be said that we are not able to accomplish as much as they are in some lands, for the reason that our people are more scattered. For example, in Norway there are hundreds of inhabited islands, so you can readily understand that it is impossible to reach all those islands. At our last fall conference, one pair of elders reported that they had visited forty islands, calling at every house, every family. Another pair reported that they had visited nineteen islands. There is great hardship attached to these visits, because many of the island boats make only one trip a week, so that when the elders go there they have to remain a week, whether there is much to do or not. As a result, we are not able to do quite as much as might be done if the people were closer together. I wish to say, however, that the elders are working very faithfully and zealously. I congratulate the parents and the wives of those noble men who are performing such excellent work. ¶

My brethren and sisters. I do not wish to occupy any more of your time. I rejoice in this treat and glorious work, and I hope I may be able to continue in the line of duty that will lead back to eternal life. I know for a surety that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world, and that Joseph Smith is indeed a prophet of the living God. I know that the authorities who lead this Church today have been called of God. My brethren and sisters, let us keep in line with the priesthood, and let us do our duty: let us be workers in very deed. The Lord bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶