--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Joseph J. Cannon collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 7 number: 1 published: 1903-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph J. Cannon, "President Lyman’s Travels and Ministry", *Improvement Era* 7, no. 1 (November 1903): 19–23.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0701unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0701unse start_page: 19 end_page: 23 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0701unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # President Lyman’s Travels and Ministry PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. BY JOSEPH J. CANNON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE "millennial STAR," LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND. II.— PRAYING IN ST. PETERSBURG FOR THE LAND OF RUSSIA. The Finns sing of their country as a land of poverty, and the ride from Abo to St. Petersburg does not convince the stranger that they are wrong. Few of "the thousand lakes" are seen, at least in the early part of the journey, but the deep drain ditches indicate that the soil is swampy. The forests are not nearly so large nor the trees so great as in northern Finland, but there are no in- dications of the famine that has lately afflicted that district.As twilight came on, the landscape became much more picturesque, lakes alternating with wooded hills. A change of cars and half an hour's wait were made at Riihimaki, and the platform of the station was very interesting to us. New types of men and women were to be seen. There happened to be a large number of Russian officers, and they looked very striking in their long gray cloaks with swords and in some cases pistol holsters exposed to view. Several wore flowing beards, an uncommon style for military men. Though late in the night, dozens of women and girls stood along the fence that divided the platform from the street, reaching over their various fruits and other eatables in the hopes of selling them. When the morning dawned we were in Russia, approaching its capital. After about seventeen hours riding we reached the city. Our first impression of St. Petersburg was not good. It was rain- ing, and the cobblestone pavements looked exceptionally bad. 20 IMPROVEMENT EH A, There were scores of cabs, but we were unable to get one to take us to our hotel. The drivers only shook their heads solemnly. Help came at length in the form of a young Englishman who knew Russian and the customs of the country. The streets of St. Peters- burg are paved with round stones, though the principal ones have a strip of wooden pavement on each side, and these help matters very much. In spite of the general roughness, the rubber tires of the vehicles make the travel tolerable. Though the streets them- selves are bad, there is at least one thing that adorns them; that is, the beautiful horses that are used there. In no other city of Europe can such animals be seen. Black and dappled gray are favorite colors. On the way to the hotel, we were surprised and interested by a custom that has since grown very familiar to us. Our cabman was evidently religious (though he did not scruple at demanding over twice the agreed and regular price at the end of the drive), and whenever he passed a church or shrine in the street, he took off his strange-looking hat with his left hand, and made the sign of the cross with the right by touching his forehead, lower part of chest and shoulders. The falling rain did not deter him. Naturally this is an awkward thing for drivers to do, and many times they drop their reins for the moment while they attend to their worship. A curious coincidence at the hotel was that President Lyman found, shortly after becoming located, that in the adjoining room on one side. Elder John P. Home was living, and on the other. Elder Kenneth Crismon had taken up his abode. These Elders from Ger- many had attended the didication services at Christiania, and later visited Stockholm, thence sailing to St. Petersburg. Religious conditions among the Russians are naturally the most interesting subject to us, and to learn these was one of the motives President Lyman had for making the journey. There are many and conflicting currents of religion here many that are deep ; and hidden, which are not learned or understood without intimate association with the people. Only in few places is it possible to see and at least partly understand the religion of the great majority. We went into the Kasan cathedral soon after arriving, and there saw a scene of most active worship. Russian churches have no seats, and there is room for the devotee to kneel or prostrate him- PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 21 self if he wishes. People of all classes were there. Beggars in their rags (their purpose being to obtain charity), the lame, the halt, the blind, laboring people, richly clad men and women, officers of the army, all kissed the same icons, made the cross and bowed their foreheads to the floor. One poor fellow, evidently with a heavy weight on his conscience, we noticed when we entered, making the cross, kneeling, bowing to the floor and rising again only to repeat the movements. During the whole time we were there he continued. The only thing to break the monotony of it was that sometimes he remained down for a few moments and smote his breast with his hand. The churches are open all day, and the people come in and usually go out after a few moments' worship. Later in the afternoon, the sun having begun to shine brightly, we visited the St. Isaac's cathedral. This is the greatest church in the city. The interior is highly decorated, but is dark and gloomy, the candles burning at the different shrines helping little to illu- minate the great cross-shaped structure. As a rule, we find the outside of Russian churches much more pleasant to us than the in- side. With St. Isaac's this was certainly the case. We were per- mitted to ascend to the top of the great dome, and there look over the city. The church is three hundred and seventeen feet high, but the view is worth many times the effort of the climb. The church is almost the center of St. Petersburg, and the top of the dome is its highest point. Below can be seen the Neva river, as it flows one united stream almost to the heart of the city, and then divides into five minor ones as it empties in the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic. The numerous deltas form part of the city. In all directions are gilded spires, domes and cupolas. The roofs of the buildings have bright tints of many colors, and their walls are clean. Parks and boulevards add to the beauty of the scene. St, Petersburg is a new city. Two hundred years ago last month, Peter the Great, its founder, laid the first stone, within the Fortress, of the Peter-Paul cathedral, whose gilded spire rises before us. This is considered the birthday of the great capital. The streets are laid symmetrically, and are wide and straight. Canals, on which float great barges loaded with wood, the fuel of the country, tra- verse the city and connect with the Neva. It may not be generally known that there are Saints in St. 22 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Petersburg. One faithful family lives there, and they are probably the only ones in all Russia. Brother Johan M. Lindelof, who with his wife originally came from Finland, accepted the Gospel in St. Petersburg, where he and his helpmeet were converted by the Spirit of the Lord; years before, he had heard the Gospel at his home in Finland. The family all speak Russian, and would be con- siderable help if missionary work were prosecuted there. They would be glad indeed for elders to come, for now they are shut off from communion with the Saints, except when an elder visits St. Petersburg, and that is seldom. Brother Lindelof be- lieves that profitable work could be done, though he assured us that the difficulties would also be very great. He is doing what he can among his fellow- workmen and friends, and with his wife is rearing his children in the fear of the Lord. The Russians are differentin many respects from other peo- ples. An interesting and somewhat confusing point of difference is in the reckoning of time. We entered Russia on the fifth of August, but the Russians called it the twenty-third of July. The cause of this is that while most western nations accept the Greg- orian calendar, the Russians follow the Julian, and are now thir- teen days behind us in their reckoning. It happened, therefore, that though President L3nnan offered the prayer of dedication in the chapel house at Christiania, Norway, July 24, 1903, he was also able, according to Russian time, to offer on July 24, 1903, at St. Petersburg, Russia, the prayer of dedication of this great land for the preaching of the Gospel. On the afternoon of that date, which was according to our time the 6th of August, accompanied by Elders Crismon and Home, we went to the beautiful Summer Garden, on the left bank of the Neva, just beyond the Field of Mars, and finding a secluded spot President Ljmian offered prayer. It was a fervent petition for the Lord to open this great land that his servants may preach the Gospel here. He dedicated it for this purpose, and turned the key that salvation and truth might be brought in. He prayed that religious liberty might be given that all might worship unhindered and without persecution. He besought the Lord that the remnant of Judah in this land might be preserved and relieved of the ter- rible suffering imposed on them from time to time. He prayed PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 23 that the Jews may learn and acknowledge that they have all these long years rejected their Redeemer and Lord, that they might be converted to the Gospel and go back to Palestine to dwell, that Jerusalem might again become a sacred city, and that Palestine might become a fertile land. He prayed that the other peoples of this country, in whose veins the blood of Israel flows generously, might also accept the truth, that Ephraim and Judah might thus become reconciled. He besought the Lord to touch the hearts of the Gentiles that they might be grafted into the true olive tree, that their branches might become fruitful. He called upon the Lord to bless this great empire, in many respects the greatest in the world, and endow its rulers with wisdom and virtue, that there may be peace and progress here, that darkness may flee and the voices of his servants may sound the glad tidings to the uttermost parts of this great land. He prayed for the great work of the missionaries in eveVy nation, that Elders of Israel abroad may not diminish in numbers, but that every people may hear their mes- sage. He petitioned the Lord to bless his servants with his Spirit that the cause of Zion may grow steadily in the earth, that the center stake may be redeemed, and the great Temple built. The peaceful garden was a fitting place for prayer, and the stately trees, through whose foliage could be seen the blue heaven, formed for us, as for the first of our race, a place for the worship of the Lord. Millennial Star. Moscow, Russia.