--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Apperley, William H. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 13 number: 2 published: 1909-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'William H. Apperley, "To the Prophet Joseph," *Improvement Era* 13, no. 2 (December 1909): 131.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1302unse 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: improvementera1302unse start_page: 131 end_page: 131 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1909-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1302unse publication_year: 1909 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 1909, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # To the Prophet Joseph ISLANDS IN THE BLUE PACIFIC. 131 The government owns the land and measures to each family sufficient for its needs; and compels the people, by law, to plant a part of their land to cocoanuts. That statute has been the means of bringing about much prosperity to the nation. The pic- ture herewith presented is a typical scene at almost every Tongan home. The drying and selling of cocoanuts constitute almost a perpetual harvest. The industry enables the people to build com- fortable lumber houses which are usually provided with liberal yards decorated with groups of trees and shrubs of variegated col- ors. A glance at the picture herewith presented will give the reader- an idea of the Tongan dress, except as to the ministerial garb. Imagine a big, brown man, dressed in a Prince Albert suit, bare-headed, his hair combed upwards from all sides and glisten- ing with oil, bare-footed, his Bible under his arm, and you have a native Tongan minister, as I saw him. Long before daybreak, on Sunday morning, one may hear the church bells ringing, for the people assemble for the first meeting of the Sabbath, a little before five o'clock a. m. Apia, Samoa. To the Prophet Joseph. prophet of Zion, our joy is in thee, The hero of ages, so wise and so free, We welcome the message you gave unto men We welcome the light that is shining again. All nations will honor and men will revere Our prophet and martyr, the Saint and the Seer: soul of the west, a bright crown you have won, bearer of light from the Father and Son The moan of the ocean, the song of the rill, The vine in the meadow, the pin3 on the hill, The rose in the garden, the moss on the shrine, All image the glories that symbolize thine. Sweet prophet of Zion, so tender yet bold, Now mingles thy voice with the sages of old. In love and devotion we live for the right, We turn unto thee and we follow the light! Logan, Utah. William H. Apperley.