Hawaiian Mission and the Temple at Laie

I rejoice in meeting with you this morning. And I bring greeting from the Saints in Hawaii to the Saints gathered here in conference. They are very much interested in the work here, as they are there. And they love to get the reports of conference and to know the mind and will of the Lord given out in these assemblies for our guide. They love to read the sermons when they are published, to keep in touch with the work as it progresses in the earth. I rejoice with them in having the privilege of meeting in this conference, and listening to the servants of the Lord, his anointed, give us that bread of life that all Latter-day Saints should hunger and thirst for. For we read in the scriptures that faith cometh through hearing the word of the Lord, and that is the object of our meeting together from time to time, that our faith may be renewed and strengthened. ¶

I have rejoiced from the beginning of this conference up to the present moment in the testimonies that have been borne. This to me has been a wonderful conference because of so many faithful, humble, honest testimonies borne. I believe that we need more testimony in the Church. I believe that our young people need the testimony of those who have had more experience. I have noticed in my experience for a number of years that when teaching classes, and we fail to get the attention of the class, if we will turn and bear testimony to that which we know, we get the attention of the class, because when we bear testimony, under the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, it enters into the hearts of the children of men. ¶

It has been my good fortune to labor most of my days among the Hawaiian people. I went to Hawaii in December, 1880, under the instruction and call of President John Taylor. I remember well President Joseph F. Smith set me apart to that mission, and among other things he promised me that I should learn the language, and that the food of our people in that land would be sweet to me. And should I tell you that when I went to Hawaii, just turned 21 years of age, ¶

I weighed 119 pounds, and now, nearly another hundred above that? The food of that land has been sweet to me, so you that have boys and girls, young men and young women called to that mission, do not worry about the food. It is good and wholesome. I wish we had some of it in this land. ¶

I have labored among the Hawaiians mostly since 1880. I have presided over the Hawaiian mission a little over twenty-two years, and I feel that I am in a position to speak of that nation or people. I know them and they know me, and I love them because of their integrity, their love for the truth, their honesty of purpose, their faith and devotion ; and oftentimes I envy some of our local elders in their prayers, both in the family prayer and in their devotional exercises, because I feel that they get near unto the Lord in prayer. They are a prayerful people; they worship the Lord. It is true that there are many who are weak, as we find in all other nations ; but as a nation they are a God-fearing people. And they believe in God ; they believe in prayer, and they are devotional in their natures, sweet and lovable, and I love them, too, because God loves them. ¶

We may go back to the history of that mission to when President Young sent a company of elders there, in 1850, only a short time after they came to the Valleys of the Mountains. Among them was George O. Cannon, the boy of the company. The Lord raised him up and made him mighty in that land, and the people of today speak of him as one of the mighty men, because of the work that he did in that land in that early day. The Lord through him gave that people ¶

the history of their forefathers, the Book of Mormon. We find among the different nations where the Lord has raised up men to translate the Book of Mormon, under the gift and power of God, while others have been allowed to translate the Bible. The Book of Mormon was brought forth through the power of God by Joseph Smith the Prophet, who when young was made equal to that task of translating and giving that book in English. The translation of the Book of Mormon from English to Hawaiian is almost as perfect. The translation is perfect, but there are a few typographical errors in part of it, but very, very few indeed, not nearly so many as we find in the Bible, showing the care taken in handing that book down through the different nations of people. It is wonderful to me how the Lord has raised up men to do this work. President Cannon received the language so that he could speak fluently to the people within three weeks or thereabouts after arriving. President Smith was able to talk Hawaiian, administer the sacrament, conduct meetings, baptize, confirm and ordain, and preach to the people within ninety days. And about two weeks out of that time he was sick in bed with a fever. Men in that nation as well as in other nations have been raised up to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

When President Cannon first went to Hawaii a dissatisfaction had arisen among most of the elders. They had thought that they were going to an English-speaking people, but they found so few foreigners the President of the mission decided to vacate and to go on to some other land, which he and other elders did. The president ¶

wrote to Elder Cannon, who was then upon Maui, one of the islands of the group. In going to those islands, in passing that island of Maui, he said in his heart, "I hope I am assigned to that island," and when they drew lots he drew Maui ; and upon that island, at the little village of Lahani, he received the letter of the president of the mission saying he might return. He went up into the woods back of the home where he was living, and he poured out his soul unto the Lord, to know what to do. He felt grieved in spirit to think of returning or leaving the land when the President of the Church had called him to go there. While thus praying the voice of the Lord came to him. and spoke to him as one man speaketh to another, and told him that if he would remain and be faithful the Lord would lead him to a people who would receive his testimony. The next day he went around on the west side of the island, a long journey on foot (there were no horses in those days upon the islands, or very few) and as he neared the town of Wailahu he fell into the stream. Those of you who knew President Cannon knew him as a bashful man, and I presume very bashful when a young man. And he felt so ashamed to think he was all wet that he decided to return to Lahani. and as he went out of the stream that same voice told him to keep on his journey, and not return, that the Lord would lead him to those who would receive his testimony. And he went, after drying his clothes in the sun : and as he came into the village of Wailahu a young lady was crossing the street, and she said in Hawaiian. "Here is a foreigner." or "Here comes a foreigner." It was no uncommon thing to see foreigners then because that was headquarters for the whalers of the north, where they put in for winter, and it was remarkable that she should single him out and call to her father, "Here comes a foreigner.'' And it brought the father, who was a high chief, and his two attendants out to the gateway. And when President Cannon saw those three men. he knew them ; they were the three men he had seen in vision, and who, the Lord had shown, would receive his testimony. And then began the work in the Hawaiian mission. President Cannon informed the president of the mission that he could return if he wished to, but he. President Cannon, would remain and do his duty, which he did. And at the home of this young man, Nefele, (who was the first Hawaiian that ever came to Utah and received the blessings in the Endowment House, went back and died there, a good, faithful Latter-day Saint), the work began in that land. The Lord opened the way, and the Lord was desirous that President Cannon, the youngest of the company, should be the instrument in his hands of opening the mission in that land in that early day. Since that time there have been converts made by the thousands and tens of thousands. President Smith, who has been interested in that mission always, went there when he was a young boy, and performed his first mission ; learned the language and earned the confidence, love and respect of the people. ¶

In the administration, too, of President Joseph F. Smith, the Lord moved upon him to build a temple in that land, as you have already heard. Now that temple is ¶

nearing completion, and I believe it is in fulfilment of the promise that the Lord made to Lehi who, as you will read in the Book of Mormon, in blessing his son Joseph, promised him that all of his seed would not be lost. I believe the Lord led a part of the Nephite people, or a colony of them, to those islands. When some of the Nephites were migrating to the north under Hagoth, the great Nephite ship-builder, some of their vessels were lost, he reported. They may have been swallowed up in the deep or they may have drifted out to other lands, but were never heard of since. Now I believe the Hawaiian people were a part of that colony of Nephites that were migrating to the north, and the vessels became disabled and the natural current of the ocean carried them to Hawaii. Then we have the tradition of the Samoans that they came from Hawaii to New Zealand. So I believe that the Lord hid them up there, and in his own due time he sent his servants there in an early day in our history, because he loved them, and to fulfil his promises, which he always does. ¶

We feel very grateful that the Lord has moved upon his servant, the President of the Church, to build a temple in that land, and that is a fulfilment of prophecy, because when that land was chosen and decided upon as a gathering place for that people of Hawaii there was a committee chosen consisting of President Joseph F. Smith, William W. Cluff and Alma Smith, and they reported favorably upon the island of Laie. However, as Brother Cluff was walking down the seashore early one morning; while upon that mission, the Prophet Brigham Young appeared to him and said to him, "This is the place, and upon this land we will build a temple unto our God." That was away back in 1864. I am thankful that that temple is now nearing completion. I am thankful that I have been called to labor there so long, and that through our carefulness we have been able to build that temple out of the funds that we have gathered from time to time. I want to say in favor of the good people of Hawaii that they have now raised over $30,000 toward the erection of that building; and at the headquarters at Laie — most of the people think it is a city, it is only a little village, about 450 all told — in that village alone the little Primary organization which numbers a little over 100 has raised over $1,000 toward the temple so far, and the Relief Society has raised over $1,250 — between that and $1,300. Organizations of the other branches have done well. The branch of Honolulu has raised perhaps between $4,000 and $5,000. Thus the spirit of this work is moving upon the people, and notwithstanding this large amount of money that they have collected for the building of the temple the tithing has increased about 30 per cent during the last nine months, and they have met every other obligation. And they dress just as well as you dress, and they appear just as well, and they are progressing. They love the truth, and I hope when that temple is finished and dedicated and accepted of the Lord that they will be prepared to go in and receive their blessings. We are trying to teach them along these lines, and they are growing in wisdom, in faith and in the knowledge of the truth, and therefore we love them for their integrity. ¶

Now I want to say to the fathers ¶

and mothers who have boys and girls there upon missions, Don't worry about them, they are in a good land and among a good people. Rumors get out sometimes of little isolated happenings, and the people imagine that they are a common thing, while they are not. You know some people like to publish things that are uncommon, and forget all about those things that are common. I was talking with Brother Jenson just before meeting about some of these things. If there is an accident we notice it; we never think of the tens of thousands of people who never have an accident. If we are sick a day, we ever remember it, but we forget those days in which we enjoy health and strength. These little things are impressed on our minds, and I can say that sometimes people in writing about those things that are not common occasion a wrong impression. Any way, the Hawaiian people are a hospitable people, and have given the elders the best they have, and they have a warm soul that makes you feel welcome. They are kind hearted in the extreme. Therefore your missionary boys and girls are all right, and their parents here do not need to worry about them. We are trying to take good care of them, and guard their health, and instruct them how to live so that they will be efficient and be able to accomplish their labors. ¶

I rejoice in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the testimony that I have. I am not tired of the work. I expect to go back to Hawaii, and continue there as long as the brethren want me. I started out that way when I was a little boy, and I hope I will have the integrity and faith to continue. It is the desire of my heart to keep the commandments of God. I know they are true. They came from God. They are for us or they never would have been revealed in this dispensation. It is for us to keep the commandments of God, to walk in the path of virtue and righteousness, and to uphold and sustain the principles of the gospel, because they are the power of God unto salvation. There is no other way, no other road, to eternal lives except the road that the Lord has marked out; and when he says, "Come, follow me," it means that you and I should follow him, not only in faith, not only in repentance or in baptism, but in all other things that we are called upon to do, even if we are called upon to lay down our lives. If we give our lives to the service of the Lord, we are following the Christ, the Lord. That is what I want to do. We should be faithful and true and honest before God that we can look one another in the face without being ashamed. ¶

I believe that we are gaining ground in Hawaii. We are gaining prestige as in every other part of the world. This work is going on; no power can stop it. It will continue to go on until it fills the whole earth, and we ought to be satisfied in our stations. If we are called to go to Hawaii, let us go and be faithful and true. Some say it is an awful sacrifice that we are making. I do not feel that way. I feel that it is a grand blessing. I appreciate it. I appreciate the confidence of those who have called me. I appreciate the support of President Smith, which he has always given me since he set me apart to that mission, and to every mission that I have been called to fill so far, I rejoice that I have tried ¶

to do my duty, and I rejoice that we are doing so well in Hawaii, and I hope that the Lord will continue his blessings with the people of Hawaii as well as all other peoples. The Lord is no respecter of persons. We have some Chinese who have joined the Church, who are good and faithful and true. They are just as lovable as any other people. We have a few Japanese also who have become members of the Church, and they are true and faithful. We have many half castes, half Chinese and half Hawaiian, who seem to be among our very best, faithful and true; and I feel that we are doing a good work. We have a number of Japanese employed upon the plantation at Laie, and their children are attending the Sunday school, the Primary and other organizations. Some of them have been baptized, and are true and faithful, and they weep to think that their fathers and mothers cannot see the truth; but there will come a time when these little children who have joined the Primary, and finally have coaxed their parents who were out of the Church to consent to their baptism ; and after a while they will bring their fathers and mothers to be baptized, fulfilling the scriptures that "a little child shall lead them." So we rejoice in getting the people's children into the organizations, because after a while their hearts will be converted. There was a time in Hawaii when the wealthier children, and those of the old "missionary" stock were very sarcastic, and they used to turn away from us ; they would hardly speak to me. These people take their hats off to me now, and say, "How is your work progressing? How is the temple getting along?" ¶

Wherever we have built a temple in the Church it has softened the hearts of the people, and it is so in Hawaii, and I look for an increase of conversions in the near future, because people are becoming more favorable, and they want to know, as they put it, "What do you, people believe in ?" We have gone along quietly. A few years ago we were building some permanent improvements. One prominent man, with whom I had done considerable business, came along and said : "Mr. Woolley, it looks like you are preparing to stay." I told him, "We will be here after you are all gone." He said, "It looks like it." It is true, the Church has come to stay. The Lord has promised it. It is his work, and it will go on forever and ever. ¶

I pray the Lord to bless you, and bless all, help us to be faithful and turn our hearts towards the truth, that we may all live the truth. I want to bear my testimony to you that the people of Hawaii are of the pure blood of Israel, and they are a good, faithful, pure people, and when you hear any other thing said of them, don't believe it. ¶

May the Lord help us to be faithful and true, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶