Last evening I had decided

Last evening I had decided that I ,would come to conference early this morning, that I might gain entrance to the Tabernacle and hear the keynote of this conference given by the President of the Church, when a party, casually, informed me that I was to be one of the speakers here this morning. I assure you, my brethren and sisters, that I desire an interest in your faith and prayers the few moments I may stand before you. I have stood before many large congregations, hut I have never stood before any that I did not feel reliance on the Spirit of the Lord to give me utterance. I have preached the gospel in the Hawaiian Islands, spending eight years of my life there. I have stood before thousands of tourists and aboard steamers, enroute to and from that land, the governor in his palace, and defended the word of the Lord before him. I have stood in large hotels before five hundred or more of their prominent citizens in a reception given to Prince Otoni, a Japanese who is the head of ten million Buddhists of Japan. I have stood in our conference assemblies in Honolulu, in our beautiful chapel there, where we have had a congregation as large, or nearly as large, as the congregation here today. I have also met with our Hawaiian people in a little grass hut, when only four or five of us would be gathered together, sitting on the mats and there preaching the gospel to one another. But, as I say, I never stand before a congregation of any size or kind but that I feel1 reliance on the holy Spirit to give me utterance. ¶

I was pleased this morning to hear this splendid choir of the Dutch people. Like Brother Kimball, I am a descendant of the Dutch people, my father being one of the Pennsylvania Dutch, who ¶

emigrated to Utah in 1847. I am thankful also that God has made as one all nations of men, that he has gathered us from the north and from the south, from the east and the west, from the isles of the sea, and that all over the world he has sent his messengers of salvation, and the people have come to Zion. I regret, however, that some of those who have mlade such sacrifices to come to Zion, who have made all but the supreme sacrifice to come to Zion, have come only to apostatize. I also know missionaries who have spent years in the mission field bringing salvation to the souls of people who sat in darkness, who have returned home and neglected the chance of salvation to their own souls. ¶

As I said before, I have spent eight years in the land of sunshine and flowers, in the land of fair Hawaii, the land said to be the only place under the sun — the only part of the garden that was not touched by the curse on man. Those little dots,, as they appear on our map, in the Pacific ocean, really seem to be a part of the paradise which has not received the measure of the curse which some of the other nations have received. The gospel has been firmly established there. We have there the third largest mission in the Church, with fourteen thousand members, with baptisms exceeding all except two others in the Church. ¶

It was partly through the instrumentality of George Q. Cannon, I believe, the father of Brother John Ql Cannon, who offered the opening prayer, that the work was established there. ¶

The Lord has always been mindful of the seed of Lehi, and as early as 1842, the Prophet Joseph, by revelation,, sent Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson on a mission to Missouri to bring the message of salvation to the seed of Lehi. While their mission was not altogether successful as far as conversion was concerned, yet it showed the deep interest which the prophet had in that chosen people, the seed of Lehi. ¶

Before the prophet's death he sent missionaries to the Society Islands, and they labored there and opened up that mission. ¶

Three years after the pioneers arrived here in Utah, in 1850, at the conference held in October of that year, Brigham Young called ten missionaries to go to Hawaii and open up the work there. Some people thought it was wrong to take the strength of their manhood out of the valleys at that time and send men to the nations abroad ; they needed them here ; they wanted to redeem this desert. Why should they go to Hawaii and other lands on missions, when it seemed that their services were most needed here in Utah, in redeeming the country from its barrenness ? ¶

In those days many missionaries went on foot over the plains third class on the boat, and second on the railroad— if there was any second. Things have changed since then, and today we go on beautiful, palatial ocean liners, with all the conveniences of the world, and we go first class. Not so with these first missionaries who went to Hawaii. They embarked on the voyage, and worked their way to the port of Honolulu, arriving there and wending their way up through the narrow streets to find lodging for the night, and the next day repairing to Punchbowl Hill, or, some say, Pacific Heights ; and there they knelt in prayer and dedicated the land of Hawaii and themselves to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was in 1850. Since that time there have been over eight hundred missionaries go to Hawaii. There have been many hundreds and thousands converted. Today we are reaching back and working for the forefathers of those people and are doing work for them, in the temple at Laie. Truly the gospel of Jesus Christ has reached out for the salvation and redemption of the Hawaiian people. ¶

Elder George Q. Cannon, who was the youngest of the first missionaries to go to Hawaii, went from Lahaina to Wailuku, going down the valley of Iao and to the city of Wailuku. As he crossed the Wailuku river, his foot slipped and he fell into the water. Discouraged he arose and intended to retrace his steps, but the Lord revealed to him that he was to go to the city of Wailuku and there the way would be opened up before him, so he continued on his way. Now it happened that a certain chief who lived in that city had a manifestation that a white man would come that day to him with the message of salvation. He related this to his little girl. As Brother Cannon came along, the girl saw him and ran to her father informing him that the white man had come. The chief went out and invited Brother Cannon into his home and Brother Cannon taught him the gospel. That was the means of opening up the work in that place. Brother Cannon learned the language and with the other elders went from city to city, and at Pulehu they performed the first baptisms. It was in this village that Elders David O. McKay, Hugh J. Cannon and E. Wesley Smith, in 1921, the latter then presiding in Hawaii, were visiting when they were led to pray. As they were praying under a beautiful pepper tree, one of the Hawaiian brethern had a manifestation. As they finished the payer, Elder McKay officiating, the native elder said to Brother E. Wesley Smith : "Did you see an arm extended while Brother McKay was praying?" Brother Smith answered that his eyes were closed and he did not. The other brethren seemed to sense an unusual feeling as if visitors from the unseen were present, and when they were leaving the place Elder McKay declared that the veil between them and the spirit world was very thin. Elder Cannon spoke up and said, "There was no veil." I believe that the spirit of his father was present upon that occasion, as he loved the people of those islands. I believe that he loves them today and that he is interested in them as much as he ever was. ¶

The first missionaries went from this section around to another little town on the east side of the island, and there they gathered in a grass hut one hundred people to hear the message of these strange white mem As they all sat around the mat and heard the voice of ¶

this missionary from Utah, they were transfigured before George Q. Cannon, and he saw ninety-seven of them become white, and three of them remained dark. He did not understand. He did not know why it was that three of them would remain dark and all the rest should become light. He received a partial answer to this manifestation when it was learned that ninety-seven of those people in meeting at this time joined the Church, became devout members, lived and died Latter-day Saints, while three of them never did. It is said that they will become a white and delightsome people. They are delightsome at present, and I believe they are going to become white. They are growing whiter from year to year. I have said to myself and to some of my intimate friends that I thought the Hawaiian people would become white and delightsome, through intermarriage. I do not know whether that is according to the doctrines of the Church or not, but they jhave married the oriental races and married white people on the islands to such an extent that today there are more half casts than there are pure Hawaiians. ¶

Possibly the natives appear light to us and dark to people who are not acquainted with them1. When we are laboring among them we do not notice their dark skin, we are one with them. We are not two nations but one nation in the work of the Lord. I remember that twenty-five years ago, on my first mission, when I first arrived in Honolulu, I saw the little ^Hawaiian boys diving for pennies dropped from the boat. I thought they were dark, but they do not look dark to me today. The Book of Mormon is the only record that reveals the origin of these people, although some people have endeavored to connect them with the negro, which cannot be done. ¶

During the time of the Johnston Army difficulty all the missionaries in the islands and in other lands were called home to Utah. Several thousand of the natives had joined the Church and for a while they were left without missionaries. The Church bought land at Lanai for the purpose of gathering the members of the Church there. Walter M. Gibson, an adventurer and an ambitious man, joined the Church and was sent to the islands as a missionary. He was to go to the Society Islands, but he landed in Honolulu and thought that place was good enough for him, so he stayed. He represented himself as an elder and had his certificate and other credentials to show and thus won the natives who believed him to be one of the leaders of the Church. He gathered the people together at Lanai and ruled over them with a high hand. He took advantage of their native simplicity and established himself among them with almost supreme power. A report reaching President Young of conditions, he sent Elders Ezra T. Benson and Lorenzo Snow, who were apostles,, and Elders Joseph F. Smith and William Cluff, down to the Hawaiian Islands to adjust the trouble there with Gibson. Elders Joseph F. Smith and William W. Cluff had been missionaries in the islands and were therefore acquainted with the people and their language, Elder Smith speaking it very fluently. When the brethren arrived they discovered that Walter M. Gibson had organized the members of the Church in various ranks, charging them for the Priesthood he conferred according to the importance of the office. He was also collecting their tithing and spending it as he pleased and thus he was becoming rich at their expense. The missionaries endeavored to get Gibson to repent, but he would not, and so they had to cut him off the Church. After laboring diligently and with much difficulty, they finally got the native Saints to understand that they had been deceived. The brethren predicted that Walter M. Gibson would lose his influence and power and would eventually die in the gutter if he did not repent. After this he rose in power on the islands for a while but eventually was forced to leave and went to San Francisco where the prophecy was literally fulfilled. Mr. Gibson -endeavored to convince the Saints that the missionaries were usurpers, and he said : "Hearken to them, if you will, but you know what I have done for you." Elder Joseph F. Smith who was spokesman for the brethren said in substance : "This man whom you uphold as a leader and a representative of the brethren in Salt Lake City is a usurper. He was not sent here. He has gathered you and has changed the ordinances and transgressed the laws of the Church," and finally the people were convinced. ¶

The people after they were convinced gathered again at Laie, where a gathering place was established and where the temple now stands. ¶

I rejoice in having had the privilege of laboring in Hawaii. These eight years have been the sweetest years of my life, and I long to see the interests of the Hawaiian people promoted. I want to see them grow, as I know they will grow under the able leadership of President William M. Waddoups. The work is growing there, and it is marvelous how many God has called together from that land. People today almost concede the Hawaiian people to the "Mormon" Church. I have never seen Chinese and Japanese — those who we claim are not susceptible to the truth- — intermarry with the Hawaiian race without their descendants becoming susceptible to the gospel, and we are bringing them now to a knowledge of the truth. ¶

I see my time is up. I pray that the Lord will bless the people through these sessions of conference, that we may be inspired of the Lord in gathering together to hear the word of the Lord. ¶

"Blessed is he who can play upon the harp of life the harmony of God, ¶

Who can see in lofty heights, and moonlit plains, ¶

And wooded dell, and flowing fields of grain, ¶

The love of his own Maker ; ¶

Who can hear in song of bird and buzz of bee, ¶

In rippling rills and mighty cataract's fall ¶

The voice of his own Creator; ¶

Who counts himself as one small part of God's great whole, ¶

Yet forms a golden link in life's unbroken chain. ¶

Who sees and knows and feels God's presence everywhere : ¶

He has learned the harmony of love and life, ¶

Of God and man." ¶

Amen. ¶