Watchmen, What of Your Charge?

WATCHMEN, WHAT OF YOUR CHARGE? BY ELDER HENRY W. NAISBITT. Scarcely a day passes on the thoroughfares of this city, but some salutation comes to me from one known in the missionary field; there is an inspiration in this warm greeting, this hearty recognition, this tender inquiry. Often the first query is, "Well, have you heard anything from your old field of labor? If so, how are they getting on?" Then comes, "How is Brother or Sister so and so? How that lovely family we met at such a place? What became of that young man you baptized in H ? of that young lady who, at great sacrifice, received the gospel and was hustled away from home as if she were a Magdalene? Do you remember that wonderful joy experienced when one of your converts applied for baptism? How many prayers did you offer up that they might speedily receive that assurance — that testimony you were so ready to promise?" When they first rose in meeting to give expression to their joy — their faith, let me ask, did you not drop a silent tear, did you not feel as if you were repaid for all of cost and travel and sacrifice if but one soul found under your ministry the way of peace? Have you forgotten the bliss of meeting, the expression of hope in parting? When partaking of their hospitality, when witnessing their confidence in you, their love for your society, their ready submission to your counsel, and the lavish expressions, both on your side and theirs, did you intimate that, on your re- turn, you would aid in their deliverance, that you would never for- get them, that you would write freely and often, and did you not believe that you would sacredly and honestly keep your word, and

WATCHMEN, WHAT OF YOUR CHARGE? 461 prove yourself to be a man of truth, a lover of righteousness, a servant of God? "Ah well," say you, "we were a long way from home, then; we were indebted for society, for hospitality, for association, then; but now, we are six thousand miles away, our personal interests require attention, I have broken up new ground, I have built a house, my family were rundown in my absence; my loss was great, and I have not yet begun to move towards recouping that loss, or getting straight with the world; besides, I have married since my return; some of my family have been sick; I have been put on the home mission; I was called to labor in the Sunday school or Mutual; any way, correspondence is not my forte; money is scarce, and stamps (five cents) are, after all, a good deal; but I will write, I know the folks in B , where I traveled, are anxious; they think they are forgotten, that my promises are no more reliable than were those of my predecessors." To be sure, if I have no time to write, I might send the Era, the News, after I had read it, the Juvenile, but — oh well, they have other elders there now, and they will build these old friends up in the faith." What faith? that of the gospel, or that in the Priesthood? which is inseparable. Besides, you say, quite a few of these are more in love with the elders than with the gospel. What then? Is not the sick man grateful to the physician who restored him to life, the blind man to the one who gave him sight, the ignorant to the one who gave him understanding? Is this not ordinary human nature, and is it not proverbial that ingratitude is one of the dead- ly sins? Does not the love of the convert become intensified as compared to the healer, the sight-bringer, the teacher, if inspired of God; and shall we judge the motive, seen with a critical or a jealous eye, the exuberance, the warmth, the devotion, the appre- ciation of a God-sent friend? God knoweth the heart, he looks at the motive, and the woman who broke over the Savior's head the alabaster box of ointment was neither rebuked nor misunderstood. Man may not discriminate correctly; men cannot comprehend each other, much less can they fathom the soul of woman; and, to divine that the affection heaped upon a devoted elder of Israel is simply passional, is a libel upon the purest and holiest of the at- tributes of man, woman, or God! The correspondence of the

462 IMPROVEMENT ERA. hundreds of elders who have visited the nations with a salvatory mission, ought to be a factor in the postal revenues of all nations, and it sounds anomalous for an elder to voluntarily give two or more years of toil in the mission field, and then quibble over the postage of a letter, or the trouble of writing to some good soul longing for sympathy, hoping for recognition, praying for a word of inquiry and cheer. It is to make comparisons which bridge be- tween the sublime in fact and the ridiculous in expression, which is as unworthy as it is cheap and contemptible before all men. It is a pleasure to note, however, that this indifference, carelessness, or thoughtlessness, is not quite universal; many there are wha write and more who receive; their mission is not ended when they hear at home, the "bleating of the sheep, or the lowing of the kine." These thinkers were the most valiant of missionaries, they felt responsibility; they loved their work; they were the best men; the most lovable and beloved — not fickle, not forgetful, not blinded by self or circumstances; saviors once, they are saviors still; teach- ers once, they are teaching yet; sacrificing yesterdays, they are sacrificing todays. They want — they live — to do good; their effort, if unappreciated, if bestowed or received unworthily, must yet find its assured reward in looking beyond the transient; their bread cast upon the waters will surely be seen after many days. Suffer, therefore, my brother missionaries, (known or unknown) the word of exhortation; drop a line or two, send a paper or serial, and encourage the worthy; comfort the aged; sooth the one who lingers long in Babylon. Look out for those who gather, so that new conditions do not gall them if they become downcast; give comfort and cheer; if disappointed for a time, have patience with the newcomer; think what you might do if transplanted into foreign soil, and planted among unusual surroundings; be gentle, considerate, actively soothing and blessing the stranger in a strange land. Education is not for today alone; and if you are ever so apt a pupil, there are those not so apt. Into that blending of hu- man action with divine philosophy which Paul comprehended when he "became all things to all men, if haply he might save some," so shall your ministrations and missions be sounded in the order of God, for "he that saveth a soul from death shall hide a multitude of sins."

WATCHMEN, WHAT OF YOUR CHARGE? 468 There are hosts of people who cannot tell whether Utah and Salt Lake are not synonymous. They know nothing of the eight- teen hundred miles from Canada to Mexico, and, on their arrival here, they stand on the railroad platform at times, looking for a welcoming hand or a momentary shelter. The elders they knew, reverenced, loved, are not there to meet or greet them; one lives in Arizona- -"where's that?" — another in Idaho, "where's that?" another close by, a few miles or blocks, perchance; but they are absorbed, employed, and did not know, anyway, that an anxious disciple, an enthusiastic convert had arrived, or was on the way. System is a wonderful thing, and these newcomers cost something! Did you ever consider how much that is? How they were shielded by loving attention and continuous watchcare in their native land, where everything was familiar, and that some have simply been here a couple of weeks, and you hear of them next in Pittsburg, California, or again in the factory-town of the mother country; they had no reception — no welcome — and so, heartsick, they found their way back home, to the discomfiture of the elders, the de- moralization of their old associations in the Church, and the sur- prise of real honest enquirers? This is not good; and, while some may think that this implies a lack of moral stamina, of individual- ity, of native force; and others may doubt whether such people ever had a testimony or not, it is assuredly true that a tithe of the attention given them at home would have saved them and theirs to the Church here, and the investment of sacrifice could have been compounded speedily with a little judicious and timely care. In child-life, some children are born puny; they do not ac- quire self-reliance at once, but no mother, father, or savior regards this, save to give extra attention, that the purpose of life's activ- ities may not be frustrated or overthrown. "Men are but children of a larger growth," said the sage, and he who would be "a savior upon Mount Zion" must be both mother and father to aver- age humanity, which is the key to redemption, as implied in the sanctified mission field!