The Church in Vienna, Austria

The Church in Vienna, Austria By Walter U. Fuhriman, President of the Vienna Conference, Swiss-German Mission Comparatively few Utah people have a correct conception of this beautiful center of culture and art. Vienna contains more than two and a half million inhabitants, and is noted the world over for its schools of medicine, music and art. Its arts are not only of excellent quality, but are varied, containing the ideas and tastes of several distinct peoples. They combine the German's patriotism, the Gypsy's love of nature, the Slav's passion, the Pole's simplicity, with the Orient's beauty and grace. The German, the Bohemian, the Hungarian, the Slavon- ian, the Pole, and the Jew each claim a part of the former Aus- tria-Hungarian monarchy. Vienna was beautified with many magnificent buildings, palaces, and monuments, and it still retains to a great extent its pre-war splendor. In religious matters the Viennese, as an average, take most things for granted, as he was taught in the common school or as his pastor explains them to him. He thinks little about reli- gion, being contented in believing that his duties extend no further than the observation of a few routine religious practices. Vienna is often called "Mariastadt," because the favorite saint and object of reverence of her people is the Virgin Mary. Very few of her people have ever seen a Bible; many, not even know- ing what the Bible really is, believe it to be the catechism they studied in the grade schools. The Catholic church held almost complete sway over the religious thought before the war. I am informed that before the war only one protestant house of worship existed in Vienna. The city is filled with Catholic cathedrals and churches. Our Church did some missionary work here before the out- break of 1914, and a branch was organized under the name of Christian Society. Services were held like the meeting of a club or society, because regular church worship was allowed only by those commissioned or authorized by the government. In the early part of 1914, the society was dissolved by the gov- ernment and the property confiscated. The branch, however, did not cease to exist for the testimony of the truth had found its way into the hearts of a few good Christians. Meetings were held at the homes of the Saints, one time here, another time

704 IMPROVEMENT ERA there. At the outbreak of the war the missionaries who had thus far been fortunate enough to escape banishment, were com- pelled to leave. Still the Saints held together, and even during those long, dark years of carnage and misery, the women folks left entirely alone, held meetings in which they drew solace and comfort from the never-failing Source. For months and months these Saints with their feminine preachers and choir, in which only alto and soprano were sung, held their religious services, keeping the spark of love and hope ever bright. At the close of the war, the treaty of peace guaranteed reli- gious freedom to all. As a result we have now oar branches in Austria well organized, and are holding regular religious ser- vices in Vienna, Linz, Salzburg and Haag. The spirit of intol- erance still manifests itself. A few months ago the missionaries in Haag were threatened with violence, and some of the stores refused to sell goods to those who attended our meetings, and the artisans refused to mend their shoes, etc. Two days ago I received a letter from the elders in Salzburg, saying that the clergy there were holding lectures about the "Mormons" to which only men and grown boys were admitted; the nature of the meetings is self evident. In Vienna our Bible classes were disturbed by crowds of young rowdies until it was necessary to ask for the protection of the police. At our recent conference here, this spirit was also manifest. We had engaged a hall for a large conference and had adver- tised on the bill boards of the city that Elder David O. McKay would be present. The clergy of the other Christian denomina- tions felt that it was dangerous to their creeds if the people should hear the testimony of a living apostle of Christ, so they combined, and by means of threats and protests induced the renter of the hall to refuse us the use of it, twenty-four hours before the meeting was to take place. The spirit of intolerance is not against us alone. Several other religious meetings and lectures have recently been broken up or hindered by the hos- tility of their opponents. Such was not our case, however, for through earnest effort and sincere prayer of the entire branch, we were enabled to find another place to hold our conference, and a wonderful conference we had! The branch here consists of only seventy- one members, but we had more than twice that number of friends present. No one caused the least disturbance, all drink- ing in the revealed truths of the restored gospel as they fell from the inspired lips of the servants of the Lord. I believe I have never attended a public service that caused more real joy and satisfaction than this meeting, held in the rear dining room of a Vienna restaurant.

THE CHURCH IN VIENNA 705 Perhaps a little definite information concerning the Vienna branch might be of interest. At present we have sixty-two bap- tized member and nine blessed children. One family of these live in Prague in Czecho-Slovakia and another in Poland. We hold regularly Sunday school, afternoon meeting, priesthood meeting, Bible class, Book of Mormon class, choir practice and Relief Society meetings. Last quarter this branch alone paid at total of 4,301,400 kronen tithing, and 575,606 as fast offering, We are well pleased with this amount as it is two and one half times as much as our branch expenses. When we consider that a year ago the conference was not self sustaining, we feel proud of our progress. From seven to ten per cent of the tithing is being paid by friends who are investigating the gospel and prov- ing it by means of the test given by Christ himself as recorded in John 7:17. And this test has demonstrated that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-dav Saints is true, for even though helpless, poverty stricken Austria has been repeatedly spoiled by unscrupulous profiteers, so that thousands have suffered and are still suffering from want of life's necessities, no Latter-day Saint in this land, who pays his tithing fully and honestly, lacks these necessities. Since the war our Church has helped the poor here to a great extent, but very little of this aid was needed by the Saints who are strong in the faith. It has been my pleasure and privilege to distribute the relief funds given by the German organization in Utah and by the Mrs. Eccles and Scowcroft, of Ogden, Utah, for the poor children of Austria. The greater part has been given to the friends of our Church who are in need. We have many friends who are investigating the gospel. The children especially show a keen interest in our Sunday school work. Last month's report shows an average of eighty- two present, fifty-nine per cent of whom were friends. Our kindergarten class had an average attendance of twenty-four pupils, ninety per cent of whom were friends. In Austria, last year, we baptized twenty-one persons which increased our number by eleven per cent. From present indications the per cent will be considerably greater this year, as the work is now well established in Austria. I am sending you herewith enclosed a photo of the elders and visitors present at our recent conference. As far as I am informed Elder McKay is the first apostle who has held a con- ference in Austria. He and President Ballif expressed them- selves as being well pleased with the progress of the work here. The party remained for a short time after the conference, in order to see some of the many interesting features of Vienna. They attended the famous opera here and saw the noted

ro6 IMPROVEMENT ERA Vienna composer, Richard Strauss direct his own opera entitled, Ariande auj Naxos. Standing, left to right: bourne, Salt Lake City ; Jack R. Kent, Lewiston, Utah; Evelyn Utah; Mrs. David O. McKay; N. Anderson, Provo ; Willard S Franz Rimmasch, Konigsberg, berg, Germany; Earl R. Snell, Rallif, president Swiss-German European mission; Walter U. Stuart Ragley, Murray; Harry C. Lam- Wright, Thair C.Rich, Ogden; Melvin Lloyd Ballif, Melvin P. Pickering, Centerville, Jewel Marcus Peterson, Fairview; Robert . Miller; George O. Larsen, Salt Lake City; Germany. Sitting: Heinrich Sinsel, Nurn- secretary Swiss-German mission; Serge F. mission; Elder David O. McKay, President Fuhriman, Providence, Utah. The president's short visit here was an inspiration to the Saints and elders, and all determined to carry our work on to success through earnest effort and exemplary living. We read the Era with the greatest delight. We often loan out copies to the friends who can read English, and they usually ask if they might borrow another copy. It seems to carry the pure and noble spirit of "Mprmonism" to the depths of their souls. Accept our best greetings and sincere desire for the suc- cess of the Era. Vienna, Austria, March, 1923. Fear Thou Not "Thou art my servant. I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded."

fearts andffolfyhocks c/7 Story of Love, Struggle and Society HuthMoenchBel' Chapter X The Sheriff arrn ed with John and Edna. Judith knew they had come. She could tell by the deepening line between Phil's eyes and the sullen set of his jaws. She knew, too, from the same tokens, that her pleadings and her ruse had been futile. She could see that Phil was troubled but not softened. And she realized how useless it would be to try to soften him when she overheard, from his library, a conversation he had with some of his men. One of the men in the mills had met with an accident that might cost his life. Several of his workmen had come with the foreman to see what could be done by way of compensation. To keep the case out of court, Ph'l was willing to offer a small sum which he hoped would be considered sufficient. But the misery of the men's faces when he had made his small offer, had so jerked at his heart that in exasperation, he retorted to the men's grumbling about short wages and long hours: "You ought to be thankful for work and wages," he ripped out, "instead of com- plaining. Many's the day I put in twelve hours and then carry the burden to bed with me to thresh it out. And what do I get out of it? I furnish employment for hundreds of men. And what do I get? — something to eat, something to wear, a pillow for my head, that throbs so wearily from the burden of it all that many a night a stone wall would do as well. You clamor for higher wages, shorter hours, division of profits. How many of you Work without your eyes on the clock or your ears listening for the whistle? How many of you make my interests your interests? How many of you would do an honest day's work even, without a foreman over you? You envy my wealth, which of you would carry the load, the anxiety, the care, the thought that great wealth implies?" Even after the workmen had gone, Judith could see that Phil was troubled and her sympathy went out to him;but he ex- cluded her so persistently, as if her mere presence were an in- trusion, that she dared not offer a caress or loving word. Before the day wore away, she caught sight of Edna. She had remained at home to make sure she should not see her; but fate had decreed otherwise. Edna passed the house and Judith was at the window. Edna did not look to the right or to the left,

708 IMPROVEMENT ERA but straight ahead, too absorbed to be aware, in the least, of her surroundings. But oh, the hunted, hurt look in her eyes! Judith turned from the window with a moan. Never in her life had she seen anything so desolate, so completely hopeless as that look. She wanted to run out and clasp Edna in her arms and beg her to come in. But how could Edna feel friendly to her while Phil was prosecuting poor John. Again Judith tossed sleeplessly till morning. There was an unpleasant quality in the sizzling of women's voices, like the fermenting of bottled fruit, when Judith came into the club-room and took her place, as president, in the chair reserved for her. An instantaneous hush fell over the company, prompted largely by the jaded appearance of their president. Judith was the central figure in the drama about to be staged. They were somewhat in doubt as to how she meant to take it. As they looked at her more closely, however, they noticed something about her that awakened a feeling of another sort. Judith was obviously suffering keenly some spiritual an- guish. Even breathing was suspended, it seemed, while they awaited her words. When they came they were so low that a breath might have made them inaudible. "I wish to resign as your president," she observed. There was a murmur of protest which she did not heed. "I have thought it all over in the night," she resumed, "with only the stars and my conscience to question." She paused a moment, fingering absently her removed glove. "Justice, our clumsy .justice, is a peculiar thing," she continued. "It still adds to God's punishment a physical torture inconsistent, illogical, and we in our clumsy Way smugly pre- scribe this, not realizing that God's process has already begun and no technicality can set it aside." She spoke so evenly, so dispassionately that the very souls of the women were hushed in wonder. "Even that would not be so pitifully ludicrous if we did not so often select for our chas- tisement, the apparent, not the real sinner. In the instance that fills our minds today, I am the person; though the law can not take note of me. "John loved Edna, as few men can love: as few women are ever loved. That she might not be outclassed in dress and social affairs, he speculated with the firm's money. It was stealing, of course, but he did it all that she might keep the pace, the pace that I had set. I can remember riow, my first pretentious party, it cost three hundred dollars. We could afford it. Edna follow- ed with a party that cost five hundred dollars. She could not afford it. We all wondered, at the time, for John was only on salary. Seal-skin coats, tailor-made gowns, automobiles came

HEARTS AND HOLLYHOCKS 709 along, and still Edna held her own with her girlhood friend, her more than sister. Then came the crash. John's speculations failed, the shortage was disovered. He fled, and she followed." Judith's lip quivered as she contiuned: "I saw Edna yester- day, at a distance. I shall never forget her face. The hunted look in her eyes is heart-breaking. And she is thin, so pitifully thin. * * * I can not make restitution, that is the terrible part. I can do a little towards making amends. I have deeded to her if she will accept it, the house next to ours, her former home. But I can not erase from her mind the memory of those two fearful years. The hunted, hurt look must stay — unless we all help." Only impetuous Kate Blakeston could have spoken out of the hush that was over them. She not only spoke, but she addressed the chair in anything but conventional terms. "Why, Judy," she exploded, "you're surely not going to take her up again after all that has happened?" Judith sighed wearily: "No, I'm not going to take her up. I am not worthy to take her up. I might sit at her feet and learn if she would let me. Her patience and good cheer, her self-sacrifice, her motherly, wifely devotion to her husband fill me with awe. When she went to him in the bitterest, winter weather, and we all know what New York is at such times, he was without overcoat, underwear or socks, sick, hungry and des- pairing, hounded by detectives. Four dollars a week was the most he had been able to earn. He had saved to make her more comfortable when she came. For months they have lived on that amount, suffering in silence, cheering each other. They were doing better when he answered the decoy advertisement and was caught. I can't help thinking Christ would say: 'Go and sin no more.' We are women, some of us, mothers. Must it always be said that women are so hard on one another? I am pleading for Edna. Can't we take her to our hearts and warm her? Can't we reach her soul with our love, till the hunted look leaves her dear eyes?" There were tears in many^eyes as Judith finished her appeal. Kate got to her feet. "We'll do anything you say, Judith, any- thing." "Thank you," Judith replied gratefully, "then come to my house tonight, in simple clothes, and we will give Edna the kind of welcome we used to give her. We'll play the old games that make us laugh in spite of ourselves. We'll dance the old dances. Bring the men, and we will cheer her up if we can. It is daring, I know. My husband is against him, and I cannot tell what he will say. I am risking all for Edna."

710 IMPROVEMENT ERA What Phil Curwood said when he returned home and found an old-fashioned, merry-making party in progress, was heard by none. What he thought was another matter. His wife's conversa- tion about John and Edna had disturbed him, though he had giv- en no sign. The newspaper account of their wanderings, which he read after his wife had left it near him, added to his discomfort. He had gone through a hard day, besides. There had been an in- terview with his men, and their stricken faces over the accident to one of their number. If the accident had happened to himself, would they have been so concerned, or — he dared not think of that — would they have secretly rejoiced? Added to this, the little daughter of the workman, a slip of a child with wan, sad face had pleaded with him to save her papa's life. He wanted to be alone to think, and now his house was filled with merry-maker.". He had burst in among them unexpectedly and, indignant towards his wife, was about to rush off to his club, when Kate Blakeston caught him by the arm. And in another minute he was in the midst of a Virginia reel, dancing as he had not danced for years. He had forgotten everything for the moment, and was feeling light-hearted and gav when he caught sight of Edna. She was not looking at him, but she was there in his house and the center of sympathetic attentions. He meant to give her a cold stare, and he did send a look of fury toward his wife. Edna turned to the door to slip out and he saw that there were tears in her eyes, her lip was quivering and she was looking wistfully toward the entrance as if she longed for a half expected some one. She was so thin and looked so pitiful that Phil was touched in spite of himself. She was not happy, he could see that. They were trying to cheer her up and had failed, as his wife might have foreseen. That one glimpse of Edna's face had told him why she was not happy, why nothing they could do would make her happy. John was not there to share it with her. A woman whose thoughts for two years had brooded over one creature, and only one inter- est, could not be expected to be happy when separated from that creature and his misery. An unreasoning anger possessed Phil. He detested failure. It was that more than the financial loss that had angered him against John when he threw them into a receiver's hands and absconded. Judith had staged a smaller failure, but it was a failure nevertheless. He preferred that even a social affair in his home should not fail. Judith caught his eye. She threw him an appealing look, the sort of glance she used to give him in the old days when they

HEARTS AND HOLLYHOCKS 711 would entertain together and things were going badly, and she wanted him to throw himself into the spirit of things and help out. Phil's success in everything had always been his instant in- sight. He could always size up a situation swiftly, strip it of its external aspects, penetrate to its essentials, grasp his opportunity and have his dividends maturing, so to speak, before his opponents had realized that an opportunity was before them. Now he was angry and perplexed and sped out into the arbor to think it out. Once outside, he sat down to consider. But he couldn't think. He was feeling instead. Feeling was novel sensation to this young master of finance. A man can't think with his feeling and amass a fortune. He must work things out to a cool, logical conclusion. Feelings are a disturbing element. They are liable to reverse conclusions that have been reached at the end of a chain of faultless logic. Still a cement wall would have throbbed with pity at the sight of Edna's face. Somewhere under Phil's reserve he be- came aware of something alive and vital, something capable of dissolving the stoniest reserve. What memories was it she stir- red in him? Why was it her face should bring sharply before him the puzzled, pleading face of that child of his employee, the face of the little girl who had pleaded with him to save her papa's life? Why should he see again the wretched home, the despairing wife, the little girl, aged beyond her years? Why should the scene with his workmen in the afternoon and his irrefutable arguments come up again to harass him? What was it he saw in Edna's eyes? Was it that love and longing which every man, though few perhaps would admit it, craves to read in some woman's eyes toward himself. A love that even wealth could not chill! A something that carried in it a hint of infinity ! A something that he had reached out for once in his life and fumbled and missed! A something so potent that compassion for the woman who felt it, respect for the man who inspired it, came over Phil! Somehow, Edna's face brought up another scene before him. He had once seen a widow tottering down the aisle after the casket of her husband. Once she swayed as if she would fall. Then her limbs seemed to fail her altogether. Her head jerked forward with a spent sob that shook her body, as if it had been a rag powerless to resist. No man in the house ever forgot the sight. All the chivalry in every man was stirred. All the tenderness of every man went out to her ! Perhaps ev ery man there saw himself in the place of the man

712 IMPROVEMENT ERA in the casket; saw his wife following behind. Did he mean so much to his wife that his passing would grieve her so? And yet, to leave her behind so alone, so shaken and not able to comfort her! But John was not dead! Edna was not a widow! Well, not exactly! And yet, were her feelings so different ( And John, how was he bearing it, shut away from her as if in a casket, and she alone to buffet with a world unkind? Phil strode toward the house to get away from his thoughts and memories. Judith should have consulted him. She should not have forced his hand. She should not have shamed him before the town by setting him so apparently in the wrong. Resentment and anger restored his balance. He returned to the house and entered the reception hall. (To be concluded in the July number) Be Consistent By Prof. Clawson Y. Cannon, Brigham Yoiaig University A student was working in the chemistry laboratory on an experiment. Spread out on his desk before him were a number of pieces of apparatus. After working for some time with his solutions he was seen to go to his laboratory guide, a book in which were written the instructions that he was following for further information in making his experiment. He finally progressed to a point where he had two salts in the same solu- tion. These he wished to separate. His instructions told him that by heating this solution to a certain point, one of the salts would precipitate out so that he could filter the solution and extract this salt. The other one he could obtain by evaporation. This student had learned through previous experience that the instructions for the experiment must be followed very min- utely or the desired results would not be obtained. He had once before attempted to separate these two salts by this method and had failed. When he saw that he had failed, he examined very carefully his instructions, and compared what he had done with them. In making this examination, he did not once ques- tion the correctness of the method given in his laboratory guide, but he did question his own exactness in following these in- structions. The faith of the student in his instructions was

BE CONSISTENT 713 4 vindicated on his second trial, when he fulfilled thoroughly the requirements given and successfully separated these two salts. "Naaman, captain of the hosts of the King of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. "And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. . "And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. "And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel." (II Kings 5:24.) "So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. "And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. "But Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. "And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? "Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, accord- ing to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (II Kings 5:9-14.) If one will scrutinize the attitude of the student in his ex- periment in which he did not once question the correctness of his instructions, but blamed his own carelessness in fulfiling them for his failure, and compare it with the attitude of Naaman when he first received instructions from Elisha, he will have typified the attitudes a person is apt to take, on the one hand, toward physical experiments and, on the other, toward things religious. It seems strange that we are willing to follow in- structions implicitly to test out scientific problems and yet when instructions come to us from the servants of the Lord, we are apt to judge them by our own preconceived notions. This often influences us to ignore the things that will lead us into eternal happiness. If we would always keep the true scientific attitude when dealing with the theological side of our lives, and follow in- structions minutely as was done finally by both the student and Naaman, we would reap the results promised. Provo, Utah