--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 18 number: 7 published: 1915-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "Editors’ Table—Conference Topics," *Improvement Era* 18, no. 7 (May 1915): 636–648.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1807unse 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: improvementera1807unse start_page: 636 end_page: 648 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1915-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1807unse publication_year: 1915 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 1915, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editors’ Table—Conference Topics Editors' Table General Condition of the Church At the opening session of the 85th Annual General conference, April 4, 1915, President Joseph F. Smith expressed himself as follows in regard to the general condition of the Church "There never has been a time, at least within my remem- brance, when the Church was in a better condition, spiritually and temporally, than it is today. I do not believe that there has ever been a time when the organizations of the various quorums of the priest- hood were more nearly perfect or more diligent than they are at present or when the stakes of Zion were more properly guarded, ; and their interests watched, by those who are presiding over them, than they are today. I believe that our general and auxiliary organizations of the Church, also the standard organizations of the priesthood, are performing their duty quite as well now, and I think somewhat better, than at any previous period of the Church's history. Why should it not be so ? We are not 'ever learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth.' On the contrary, we are ever learning and we are ever drawing nearer to a proper com- prehension of the truth, the duty and the responsibility, that devolve upon members of the Church who are called to responsible posi- tions in it. Not only does this apply to those members who are called to act in responsible positions, but it applies to those who may be termed 'lay members ;' if we may use such a term with reference to members of the Church of Testis Christ of Latter-dav Saints." Duty of Parents to Children, and Officers to Members One of the important instructions given by President Joseph F. Smith at the late annual conference related to the duty of parents to teach their children the principles of the gospel. Some of the stakes have adopted a home evening for this purpose, upon which the children are gathered together once each week to spend the evening with their parents, at which time the parents take special delight in teaching them, among other things, the principles of the gospel. Here is what President Smith stated upon the subject: "A great and important duty devolving upon this people is to teach their children, from their cradle until they become men and women, every principle of the gospel and to endeavor, as far as ; ; EDITORS' TABLE 637 it lies in the power of the parents, to instil into their hearts a love for God, the truth, virtue, honesty, honor and integrity to every thing" that is good. That is important for all men and women who stand at the head of a family in the household of faith. Teach your children the love of God. Teach them to love the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Teach them to love their fellowmen, and especially to love their fellow members in the Church, that they may be true to their fellowship with the people of God. Teach them to honor the priesthood, to honor the authority that God has bestowed upon his Church for the proper government of his Church. The house of God is a house of order, and not a house of confusion and it could not be thus, if there were not those who ; had authority to preside, to direct, to counsel, to lead in the affairs of the Church. No house would be a house of order if it were not properly organized, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints is organized. Take away the organization of the Church.and its power would cease. Every part of its organization is necessary and essential to its perfect existence. Disregard, ignore, or omit any part, and you start imperfection in the Church and if we should continue in that way, we would find ourselves like those of old, being led by error, superstition, ignorance-, and by the cunning and craftiness' of men. We would soon leave out here a little and there a little, here a line and there a precept, until we would become like the rest of the world,— divided, disorgan- ized, confused, and without knowledge, without revelation or in- spiration, and without divine authority or power. Of course, it is very necessary that those who preside in the Church should learn thoroughly their duties. There is not a man holding any position authority in the Church who can perform his duty as he should of in any other spirit than in the spirit of fatherhood and brotherhood toward those over whom he presides. Those who have authority arbitrary should not be rulers, nor dictators they should not be : ; confidence and the love of those they should gain the hearts, the and love unfeigned by gen- over whom they preside, by kindness tleness of spirit, by persuasion, by an example that is above re- above the reach of unjust criticism In this way in proach and in their love for their people, they the kindness of their hearts, righteousness, and teach them the wax lead them in the path of saving to them, both by precept and example: of salvation, by of the v orld. his Follow me, as I follow our head, the Redeemer I The duty of the high councils is the duty -of those who preside. of the Church, when they are called to act upon questions involv- the members of the C nurcn is ing the membership or standing of the facts, and then judge according to the to find out the truth, their unders tan ding always ; truth and the facts that are brought to and kindness and with the spirit in tempered with mercy, love and cast out. Our mission their souls to save and not to destroy is to save, not destroy; our aim should be to build up, and not to tear down. Our calling is to convey the spirit of love, truth, peace and good will to mankind throughout all the world that war may ; cease that strife may come to an end, and that peace may prevail." ; Our Thankfulness for Peace President Joseph F. Smith expressed himself as follows upon this subject: "I thank God, my heavenly Father, as you do, every one of you present here today, and as do all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that our land is at peace, as much as it is. I am sorry that there should be any internal dis- ruptions, divisions, or contentions existing at all, among the vari- ous organizations of the people of our land. I am sorry that there should be strife. If they had the true spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ they would not have strife they would cease to harbor ; feelings of contention and strife if trouble came they would meet ; together and deliberate in the spirit of wisdom, meekness and humility, invoking the blessing and spirit of Almighty God upon their deliberations and counsels, and calmly decide together upon that which would be for the common good, and then go as one man to do that which is necessary to build up the nation and the country in which we dwell. I am glad that we have kept out of war so far, and I hope and pray that we may not be under the necessity of sending our sons to war, or experience as a nation the distress, the anguish and sorrow that come from a condition such as exists upon the old continent. Oh God, have mercy upon the poor children in Europe, and throughout the world, who are brought under the awful conditions that exist there because of the ambition and pride of men who claim the right and power to dictate, even to life or death, the conduct of the people over whom they rule. "My brethren and sisters, God is with you the Lord is with ; this people; and if we will be his children, in very deed, as he is in very deed our Father, I tell you that God will temper the ele- ments for your good he will bless you with health he will bless ; ; vou with abundance he will bless the earth and make it fruitful. ; Those who reap their harvests by the toil and sweat of their brows, from mother earth, will have bounteous harvests, if they will only serve God in their hearts and in their outward life. I feel just as sure of this as I do that I am standing before you here." The Tithing of the Latter-day Saints and its Expenditure President Joseph F. Smith in his opening address at the April conference called attention to the fact that the Presidency have not the means to provide as amply as they would like for the necessities of the poor. He called attention to the tithing record EDITORS' TABLE 639 containing the names of the members of the Church who do not pay their tithing, and told the people that they need not wonder why the Church has not more means to provide for the poor, when so many were upon the delinquent tithing record. He stated that the Presidency were doing the best they could with the means they have on hand, and then he read the following statement, with comments, of what the Presidency are doing with the means that the people have consecrated to the Lord for the upbuilding of Zion : "The general Church Auditing Committee has examined the receipts and disbursements of the tithes of the stakes of Zion and missions, also the accounts of the Presiding Bishop's Office, and the accounts in the office of the Trustee-in-Trust. Their report will be rendered before the close of the conference, I suppose. The following report will show how the tithing of the Church, for the year 1914, has been disbursed. Now I am taking a liberty that has not been indulged in very much but there have been so ; many false charges made against me, and against my brethren, by ignorant and evilly disposed people, that I propose to make a true statement which will, I believe, at least have a tendency to con- vince you that we are trying to do our duty the best we know how : "Means expended for the erection and maintenance of stake tabernacles, ward meeting houses, amusement halls, and other stake and ward expenses for 1914 $730,960 "For the maintenance of the Church Schools during the same year 330,984 "For the maintenance of our temples, four, from St. George to Logan . . 64,508 . . . . "Disbursements in the missions, for the erection of mission houses, general mission activities, and for return fares of mis- sionaries, during 1914 227,900 "For the maintenance of Church buildings and Church in- stitutions, including the Temple Block and the Presiding Bishop's Office 99,293 "For the completion and maintenance of the Latter-day- Saints' Hospital, during that year 136,727 "To explain why this happens to be so much, I may say that we have built a very beautiful and convenient addition to the hospital, which has made this expense much greater. One who knows, who has had experience and seen, says that the William H. Groves' Latter-day Saints Hospital is one that would be a credit to any country in the world. "For the erection of the Cardston Temple, Canada 52,647 "For the erection of the new Church office building, which course of erection, already ...... is in J28,663 "Paid to the worthy poor out of the general tithing funds. 116,^6 . "This amount out of the tithing; there are other funds be- sides it that have been used for the poor. "These appropriations and application of the tithing ot the $1,85/ ,y-u Latter-day Saints, for the year 1914, amount to "Now some people have reported that the tithes of the Church abso- amount to millions every year, and Joseph F. Smith has the ; lute control of all these millions,and never gives any account of them to the world, nor to anybody else. Now we are not giving this to the world we are giving it to the Latter-day Saints. These ; amounts which I have read, I think it may be proper to state here, cover the entire tithing of the Church in all the world, for the year 1914. Now when you come to talk about the millions and millions of dollars in tithing paid by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, it is simmered down to $1,887,920, for the year 1914, and that was an average year. I may be pardoned, perhaps, if I say here, for the benefit of any who do not know the facts, that the law of tithing is a voluntary law that is, it imposes only a ; voluntary duty upon the people. No person's standing as a mem- ber in the Church, is jeopardized because he doesn't pay his tithing. There are a good many of us who don't observe all the laws, and it is a good thing that the Lord does not execute justice and judg- ment upon a great many of us because of it. "The expense of the general authorities and the maintenance of the First Presidency are paid out of the revenues derived from investments, and not out of the tithes of the Church. These invest- ments, as a rule, consist of contributions of stocks of various kinds to the Church on tithing, which have been held by the Church and ; the dividends that we derive from these stocks and investments are for the benefit of the people in every instance, for the Church has never made an investment that had not for its object the bene- fiting of the whole people, as far as possible, -fostering industries, and the colonization of our country. It has been done for aiding the settlers of our country, our state and adjoining states, as far as possible, by assisting them with means, to help them lay the foundations of prosperity for themselves. "In addition to the amount paid out of the tithes to the poor, $116,238, "There has been collected and expended to the poor by the Relief Society, $74,290 "By the bishops, from the fast offerings and other ward char- ities and funds, $76,000, "Making a total paid to the poor, for 1914, of $266,528. It just occurs to me that we are talking to you on the Sabbath day, and some people, perhaps may feel that it is somewhat out of place for us to talk about money and temporalities, about tithing, or the expenditure of means and the uses made of it, on the Sab- bath day, but the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. God made or designated the Sabbath day for a day of rest, a day of worship, a day of goodly deeds, and for humility and penitence, and the worship of the Amighty in spirit and in truth. "There has been collected for the war sufferers, which is being expended under the direction of President Hyrum M. Smith, of the European Mission, $33,000. This was done on one day, prac- : — : EDITORS' TABLE 641 tically, a clay setapart for general contributions for the benefit of the sufferers in consequence of the war. I have a list of the names of the stakes of Zion and the wards which contributed these all means, and it was all contributed and handled and sent to the sufferers to be distributed equally and impartially, — to Latter-day Saints, mind you, first I want to tell you that, we will be honest ; with you we feel that it is the first duty of Latter-day Saints to ; take care of themselves, and of their poor; and then, if we can extend it to others, and as wide and as far as we can extend charity and assistance to others that are not members of the Church, 'we feel that it is our duty to do it. But first to look after the members of our own household. The man who will not pro- vide for his own house, as one of old has said, is worse than an infidel. So we make no apologies for saying that we have col- lected these means for the suffering Latter-day Saints that are afflicted because of the war, in Germany, in Austria, in Italy, in Switzerland, Holland and in England and' anywhere else where they are suffering in consequence of it. It cost the fund not one penny, not even a postage stamp, for collection. May be you would like to know that there were no paid agencies, no paid col- ; lectors. No one received a nickel from the funds contributed for the assistance of the afflicted and the suffering. It was done through the channels of the holy priesthood, through the organiza- tion of the Church, in the regular way, and it has cost nobody any- thing. The First Presidency received the following cable message from the President of the Swiss and German Mission "Two thousand dollar relief fund thankfully received. Express gratitude to God's people. Conditions satisfactory. Valentine, Pres- ident Swiss and German Mission. "We have received also a number of returns from President Hyrum M. Smith, but in volume, and these returns have not been condensed, so that they can be presented here." Interesting Statistics and Advice Among other statistical statements made by President Joseph F. Smith at the April general conference, the following show the birth and death rate, marriages, and other important items relating to the Latter-day Saints. He made comments thereon as they appear below "Now, we have a few more statements that I desire to read : Our records show that 73% of all the Latter-day Saint families, I am residing in all the stakes of Zion, own their own homes. sorry that this figure is not as large as it has been in the past, bitt we have become more numerous than we were when 95$ orf the people of the Church owned their own little homes and owed noth ing to anybody for them. Let me inject here, once more, my standing admonition to the Latter-day Saints. My brethren, see to it that you do not put a mortgage upon the roof that covers the heads of your wives and your children. Don't do it. Don't plaster your farms with mortgages, because it is from your farms that you reap your food, and the means to provide your raiment and your other necessaries of life. Keep your possessions free from debt. Get out of debt as fast as you can, and keep out of debt, for that is the way in which the promise of God will be ful- filled to the people of his Church that they shall become the : richest of all people in the world. But this will not happen while you mortgage your homes and your farms, or run into debt beyond your ability to meet your obligations, and thus, perhaps, your name and credit be dishonored because you over-reached yourselves. 'Never reach farther than you can gather,' is a good motto. "The birth rate of the Church, for the year 1914, is 39.5 to the thousand. "The death rate is 8.3 to the thousand. The marriage rate is 17 to the thousand. "During the year there were 14,717 children blessed in the Church. "There are 1,316 elders and 115 women laboring, in the mis- sions, as missionaries. Of the membership of the Church, residing in the stakes of Zion, 319,000 were born in the United States. "There has been a net increase in the membership of the Church, in the stakes of Zion, from the year 1901 to the year 1914, of 129,493 souls. "There are now 739 organized wards, and 33 independent branches. There are 68 organized stakes of Zion, and 21 missions. During the year 1914, twenty-one new wards were organized and two stakes of Zion. From each of the newly organized wards we have received calls to assist to help build new meeting houses and ; so the work goes on. I have read the figures of the hundreds of thousands that we are appropriating for the assistance in the erec- tion of meeting houses, tabernacles and amusement places for the ; youth of Zion, to keep them under proper restraint and control. "The work in the temples has been the largest on record. There have been performed in the temples, during the past year, — 166,909 baptisms for the dead, an indication that we are increas- ing the membership of the Church very, very much faster, in the spirit world than we are on earth. Endowments for the living and the dead, 72,952. Altogether 326,264 ordinances have been performed in the four temples. This is a very considerable in- crease over any previous year. "The ward teaching has been given considerable attention by the stake and ward officers, with the result that in some of the stakes of Zion the work has been so well developed that 96% of : : EDITORS' TABLE 643 all the families in the stakes are visited by the ward teacher each month." The Spirit of Missionary Work During- the 85th annual conference, in April, a number of the speakers called attention to the change in the missionary personnel. It is decided that a greater number of older members of the Church shall be called as ministers abroad. To this end, a large number of Seventies have been and are being called to the various mission fields in the world. Whereas, it has been the recent custom to have nearly all young men in the field, boys in some instances, it is now decided desirable that at least two elderly people to one young man shall be called to the work. In the closing remarks of Presi- dent Joseph F. Smith, he also referred to this subject, and par- ticularly dwelt upon the spirit of the missionary. He said "I want to read a passage of the scripture which will apply not only to the Seventies but to all the Saints Wherefore, honest men, and wise men should be sought for dili- gently, and good men and wise men, ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil. And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God; For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith; And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it again, even life eternal; Therefore be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy; For if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me. "I think that this passage of scripture opens to us a vast field and subject for thought and reflection, for research, and careful attention! I believe in all the words that have been spoken by the dispensation of the fulness of times holy prophets concerning the and the establishment of the kingdom of God in the earth. I be- lieve it is good to seek knowledge out of the best books, to learn the histories of nations, to be able to comprehend the purposes of God with reference to the nations of the earth and I believe that ; one of the most important things, and perhaps more important to study and us than studying the history of the world, is that we gospel become thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the our hearts and souls, above all that they mav' be 'established in preach and other things "to qualify us to go out into the world to teach them We may know all about the philosophy of the ages and the history of the nations of the earth; we may study the that wisdom and knowledge of man, and get all the information : 644 IMPROVEMENT EKA we can acquire in a lifetime of research and study, but all of it put together will never qualify anyone to become a minister of the gospel, unless he has the knowledge and spirit of the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. — "Another thing one of the indispensable qualifications of the elders who go out into the world to preach is humility, meekness, and love unfeigned for the well-being and the salvation of the human family, and the desire to establish peace and righteousness in the earth among men. We can not preach the gospel of Christ without this spirit of humility, meekness, faith in God, and reliance upon his promises and word to us. You may learn all the wisdom of men, but that will not qualify you to do these things, like the humble, guiding influence of the Spirit of God will. 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.' It is nec- essary for the elders who go out into the world to preach to study the spirit of the gospel, which is the spirit of humility, the spirit of meekness and of true devotion to whatever purpose you set your hand or your mind to do. If it is to preach the gospel, we should devote ourselves to the duties of that ministry, and we ought to strive, with the utmost of our ability, to qualify ourselves to per- form thai specific labor. And the way to do it is to live so that the Spirit of God will have communion and be present with us to direct us in every moment and hour of our ministry, night and day." Temperance and Prohibition A the Priesthood meeting, on Monday evening at the April i conference, President Joseph F. Smith expressed himself in regard to his stand upon the subject of temperance and prohibition. It appears that some of the brethren who were present were doubtful as to his position. Consequently, at the closing session of the gen- eral conference, he expressed himself clearly upon this subject as follows — "There is a disposition I feel almost indignant to refer to it at all. hul I am led to believe that there is a feeling and a disposi- tion on the part of some of our brethren to misconstrue my posi- tion, my feeling, and my desire, with reference to the temperance question: I thought I expressed myself here last night as plainly as man could do it, and yet the very remarks that I made here last evening, before the priesthood meeting, have been, I am told, so misinterpreted and misconstrued that I am beset to know what I meant, and as Brother Golden -said, 'I am going to tell you some- thing.' I started out in this ministry in 1854, a boy fifteen years of age. From that hour until now, I have never relented nor re- laxed one moment, in my advocacy of abstinence from strong drink, and my advocacy of temperance and prohibition, wherever prohibition can be effected. I believe in it. I believe that the — EDITORS' TABLE 645 time will come and that it is close by, when the people of this state will have to join in the procession of other states and adopt a law of state-wide prohibition I believe the time will come when ; they will be forced to do it, to keep in line with the other states in the Union. "I am delighted with the effort that is being put forth in Great Britain, — the motherland and fatherland of many of the Latter-day Saints, and one of the most fruitful nurseries of the Church, where people have been let loose to indulge in drunkenness, to wallow in the debasing evils of the 'public house,' the 'beer shop,' and. to indulge in every species of licentiousness which leads to degradation and poverty. Many of the mayors of the great bur- roughs and cities are principal owners of the ale houses, and dis- pensaries of intoxicating drinks. Now the authorities of that great nation, the leaders of the people, are waking up to these monstrous evils, and are setting to work with a will and a deter- mination to establish temperance in that land. It will be the salva- tion of our mother country, if they will only do it as Russia has done it. I propose to continue to preach abstinence and to advo- cate the cause of temperance; I not only believe in temperance, as applied to the using of strong drinks, but I believe in temperance in all things. I not only believe in and will advocate this, but I will also advocate and strive to the best of my ability to use every _ opportunity or power within my reach for prohibition, in wisdom, and not in unwisdom if I go to any extreme at all, in any matter, ; T hope it will be in the cause of justice, truth, temperance, right- eousness and honestv of life and purpose. I may get extreme in matters of that kind", but I may not be so extreme as some people are in questions of policy." Gone to her Reward F. Sarah Ellen Richards Smith, wife of President Joseph where she was Smith, died, in Salt Lake City, March 22, 1915, only about three born \uo-ust 25 1850. She came into the world late President and a half years prior to the death of her father, the of the I ropnet Willard Richards, beloved and trusted companion tragic hour of his martyrdom in Toseph, who stood bv him in the a teacher in Carthage Illinois. Sister Smith was for many years ward, also in organizing and the Relief Society of the Seventeenth of the Pioneers, and in recent years she directing the Daughters took great interest in temple work, laboring m the Salt Lake 1 em- dead. She was married to President ple in behalf of her kindred and accompanied him on his third mis- Smith on March 1, 1868, of 1877. She was a faithful sion to Great Britain in the spring — wife, a devoted mother, a valiant friend, and an inspiring teacher. She was a cherished wife and a wise, careful and loving mother. Six children survive her, as follows Joseph R. Smith, Minerva : Smith Miller, Willard R., Franklin R., Jeanetta and Asenath Smith, all of Salt Lake. Five are dead Mrs. Lenora Nelson, : Alice, Heber, Rhoda and Ellen Smith. Sister Smith was extremely devoted to her home and chil- dren, and all who knew her loved her modest and kindly ways and her sweet spirit. The love and respect which she inspired in people is shown in the following tribute paid to her some years ago: "Sarah Ellen Richards Smith was a beautiful, faithful and noble girl, is a most beloved and cherished wife, a wise, careful, loving mother, a genuine homemaker, and the mother of eleven children in who"! no parents on earth are more blessed or more happy. For more than forty-three years she has shed forth ever-increasing joy and hap- piness upon the. life of her husband, her home and family; and her chil- dren and children's children, to the latest time will joyfully call her blessed." The Era Story Contest The winner in the March $25-prize story contest was Elsie Chamberlain Carroll. The title of her story is "Jim's Oration." It has a local western setting and application that will grip both young and old. The judges were Elizabeth Cannon Porter, Hugo B. Anderson, Thomas Hull and Edward H. Anderson. The stories for May should be in hand by May 5. The winner for April will be named in the June Era. Messages from the Missions [The Era solicits short, pertinent messages of important happen- ings, and faith-promoting incidents in the experiences of the elders; portraits of persons and places connected with such experiences, and illustrating the text, will be acceptable, especially if the pictures are — out of the ordinary illustrations of action. Groups, with names alone, can be used only to a very limited extent. Editors.] MISSIONARIES WHO DIED IN THE HARNESS Benjamin Everet Wilhelmsen contracted pneumonia while on a mission in Louisville. Kentucky, and died on March 27, 1915. The funeral was held on the 3rd of April in Salt Lake City in the Third ward chapel. Elder Wilhelmsen made a good record as a missionary, and his associates deeply regretted his death. When called on a mis- sion a year ago, he was a third year student at the Latter-day Saints University in excellent standing and with many friends. EDITORS' TABLE 647 Ernest M. Ernstsen, thirty-nine years old, died April 9, 1915, in Racine, Wisconsin, where he was laboring as a missionary. He was born in Aarhns, Denmark, January 23, 1876. The body was sent to the home of his parents in Loa, Wayne county, for funeral services and burial, and President Joseph Eckersley, of Wayne stake, accompanied the body from Salt Lake to Loa. President German E. Ellsworth in a letter to the First Presidency, paid an impressive tribute to his char- acter and missionary labors. Elder Ernstsen was set apart March 8, 1914, to fill a mission in Norway, and was transferred last October to the Northern States mission, being appointed to labor in the Wisconsin conference. He was of a hopeful and cheerful disposition, with un- doubting faith in the gospel, desiring to fill his mission to the last moment. Soon after arriving in Scandinavia, he related a dream or an impression, which he had to the effect that he would not finish his mission in Scandinavia, and after landing in Wisconsin, he told some of the elders that he still felt that he would not finish his mission there. EXPECT A CHAPEL OF THEIR OWN Elder Hugh A. Wright, president of the Rhode Island conference, reports that in that part of the world people are rather indifferent toward religion, despite the fact that the cities are full of churches. forward to several Notwithstanding that fact, the elders are looking attended a spring. "Recently the elders of Providence baptisms this sort, the churches-one of the old-fashioned revival service in one of Testimonies were called for at the close of. the -ratfie -bombastic. elders received meeting After many others had spoken, one of the errSon to bear his testimony. As a result one of the members of all the 'Mormons' leave the he congregation present demanded that The act created church The demand was complied with immediately. church the anti- in the sympathy in favor of the missionaries, and even brought censure upon the perpetrator. An investigator ChTSian deed Fn New Haven has Offered us a choice of five building lots for a spot to erect a church upon, and the Saints of New Haven are looking forward to the time that they will have a chapel of their own. The Era, like a true friend, arrives every month, with good instruction, advice and encouragement, and is appreciated by the elders and the Saints as well as by our friends. The Era is not only a friend, but succeeds in making more friends. The elders laboring in this district are: Standing, back row: Lancelott Bills, Riverton; D. Hutchinson Eccles, Ogden; Janett McNeil, Logan; Alta Johnson, Richfield; Louise Thomas, Lehi, Utah; Jesse M. Smith, Snowflake, Arizona; Her- man Hatch, Hatch, Idaho; sitting: Ralph M. Aldous, Salt Lake City, Utah; Hugh A. Wright, conference president, Rexburg, Idaho; Mar- shal H. Flake, Snowflake, Arizona; Mission President Walter P. Mon- son; Charles O. Jackson, Venice, Utah; W. N. Delaware, New Plaven, Conn.; Jas. H. Parker, Murray, Utah; front row: Asael C. Tanner, Clover, Utah; Arthur W. Fletcher, Magrath, Canada. WAR SPIRIT RUNNNING HIGH IN PORTSMOUTH Elder E. M. Greenwood, Elsinore, and Elder O. C. Anderson, Annabella, write from Portsmouth, England, February 26: "We have been laboring in Portsmouth, one of England's naval sea-ports, 85 miles south of London. The city has a population of about 250,000. The war spirit is running high, and perhaps seventy-five per cent of the men one meets on the streets are in uniforms. The parade grounds are full of sol- diers from morning till night, drilling for active service. Large companies of soldiers march through the streets accompanied by the music of brass bands, harps, bugles, and bagpipes, on their way to the front. They whistle and sing, and are ap- parently happy in the thought of .serving their king and country. Many wounded sol- diers and starving Belgians ar- rive here, and the civilians are doing all they can to relieve their sufferings. We have a little branch of over fifty souls, and these scenes aid them in fully realizing that the proph- ecies of holy scripture are being fulfilled. It causes them to be more diligent in serving the Lord. . We have a thriving branch, fine Sunday school and Mutual, and the sacrament meetings are well attended.