--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 30 number: 3 published: 1927-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, “Messages from the Missions,” *Improvement Era* 30, no. 3 (January 1927): 278–282." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3003unse 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: improvementera3003unse start_page: 278 end_page: 282 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1927-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3003unse publication_year: 1927 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 1927, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Messages from the Missions MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS Behold. I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and ihey shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain. ,ind from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. — Jer. 16:16. Conference and Outing The San Diego semi-annual missionary conference, for October, was held on the 29th and 30th. with President Joseph W. McMurrin and President L. R. Wright in attendance. Priesthood meeting was held Saturday morning, with all the missionaries in attendance. In the afternoon a most delightful banquet was served by the San Diego Relief Society. A program was cleverly worked out and presented by the missionaries to the conference, with Sister May I. Hansen acting as master of ceremonies. On Saturday XsLL£J&l£ a t ft^r* *jm > MISSIONARIES AND MEMBERS OF THE SAN DIEGO CONFERENCE Front row, left to right: Sister T. W. Duke, member; Sister Mary I. Hansen. L. R. Wright, conference president; Mission President Joseph \V. McMurrin; Sister L. N. Oakley, member; Sister Alta C. Oakley; Brother Milligair. Back row: L. L. Taggart; Ethel K. Williams, member: D. K. Warner: A. G. Willie; Rachel Larson; E. S. Willardson; Sister Phoebe Snyder, member; Sister J. W. Lund, member- Donhea Oakley; Milton P. Ashton, visitor from the Mexican mission. evening a session of the Relief Society was held, Sister Margaret K. Miller presiding. Good reports were rendered, and timely instructions were given by Sisters Miller and Stahr. On Sunday three general sessions were held, at which all the missionaries, including some visitors, delivered excellent dis- courses on truths of the restored gospel, and bore testimonies of the goodness of God to his people. The conference was the largest ever held in this section, and many heard the word of the Lord for the first time. Monday evening, November l, all the missionaries and some of the Saints and friends enjoyed an outing up the Pacific coast about thirty-five miles, at which a delightful time was experienced, a fitting climax to our wonderful con- ference.— L. R. Wright. President San Diego conference. MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS 2 79 The Work Helped Onward by a Chevrolet Elders Var O. Buchanan, Blackfoot, Idaho, and R. Claude Boyce, of Murray, Utah, laboring in Clarksdale, Arizona, have been successful in tracting arid re-tracting that city. They have found many friends and quite a large number of investigators, and have been able to hold a number of cottage meetings. When they finished tracting the town, they began country work among the scattered ranches of Arizona; so scattered, in fact, that it is almost impossible to visit all of them in the usual missionary way — walking — so one of the Saints offered them his car. After using the car for a week, they had been successful in visiting all the branches within a radius of a hundred miles of Clarksdale. They had wonderful success in reaching many people who had never been visited by "Mormon" elders before, "and they seemed over- joyed to see us," they write. They continue, "The people of the country are surely hospitable. We were able to hold cottage meetings in their homes and dispose of several copies of the Book of Mormon. By modern ways of travel, the gospel is being taken to many who are honest in heart, and who would perhaps not hear it without." Eleven Baptisms in Aarhus, Denmark At a conference held on the 17th and 18 th of October in Aarhus, and preceding the regular conference meetings, a fine and well attended concert was given, under the auspices of the local L. D. S. choir, led by Elder Eugene F. Erickson, with Sister Frida Jensen as organist. The choir was aided by the missionaries. On Sunday evening the hall was crowded to capacity, 144 being present. Nearly half of this number were strangers and ELDERS OF AARHUS, DENMARK left to right: Frank Van Cott, Chas. A. Larsen, Karl M. J. Thomscn, Hansen, Heber J. Christensen, Alfred L. Sorcnsen. Middle row: Wm. Eugene F. Ericksen, J. Howard Fjeldsted, Richard T. Andersen, Holger P. Peterson, Clifton E. Henrichsen, Hugo D. Jorgensen. Front row: Hans Andersen: Niels J. Larsen, president Copenhagen conference; Rasmus Michelsen, president Aarhus conference; Joseph L. Peterson, mission president; P. S. Christiansen, editor Shand. Star; Egbert M. Larsen, president Aalborg conference; Neils Peter Rasmussen. Back row, Searen W. Georgeson, 2&0 IMPROVEMENT ERA investigators. Four missionaries were called to go to Sleswig to open up new branches there. There were, Charles A. Larsen and Alfred L. Sorenson to Sonderborg, and Wm. Georgeson and Searen W. Hansen to Haderslev. Sleswig, formerly belonging to Germany, is practically new and virgin territory for our missionaries. The results of their labors will be awaited with keen interest. We have had eleven baptisms in Aarhus since the last conference. A splendid spirit prevailed and we were favored with excellent talks by Joseph L. Peterson, president of the mission, and E. S. Christiansen, editor of the Scandinavian Star. — Rasmus Michelsen, conference president. Journeyed Seven Hundred Miles Lyman C. Pedersen, president of the West Virginia conference south, reports that four elders traveled seven hundred miles, from Charleston, West Virginia, by way of Huntington, West Va., Columbus, Ohio, Wheeling, West Va., Pittsburg, Pa., Gettysburg, Pa., and Philadelphia, meeting the elders in the various cities enroute and holding meetings with them. The four elders composed a quartette, and with their singing at the various places they were able to attract much attention, especially at street meetings. The unique feature of the trip was that they took the highway all the way to Philadelphia, obtaining rides here and there in automobiles. "The people," says President Pedersen, "with whom we rode frequently commented on our appearance and honesty. We had many wonderful conversations, many of them being on Utah and especially Salt Lake City. The opportunity afforded us a chance to explain the doctrines of 'Mormonism' to them, and correct some of their erroneous ideas concerning the 'Mormons'. The route we took was over the old Zane Pike, which is commonly called the 'Main Street of America,' the old stage and pony express having traversed this trail in early years. Many historical places were visited, such as, Gettysburg, York, and while in Philadelphia we visited the Sesqui-centennial, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Carpenter's Hall, and other historic places. We con- sider that our visit and trip resulted in much good. The elders who traveled seven hundred miles were President Lyman C. Pedersen, Logan, Utah; Lewis T. Ellsworth, Salt Lake City; Lowell R. Berry, Salt Lake City; Nile G. Matthews, Oakley, Idaho. — Lyman C. Pedersen, President West Virginia Conference South. Pre-Existence and Purposes of Earth Life The above was the topic of President B. H. Roberts, who was in attendance at the semi-annual conference of Rochester, Eastern States mission, October 23 and 24, 1926. Many friends and investigators present were impressed with the spirit of the occasion. Conference President A. S. Millward and Elder C. R. Bradford were released to return to their homes. The elders and missionaries in this conference are striving to maintain a high standard in their work, and we are being helped in this direction by the inspiration and blessings of our heavenly Father, for which we are thank- ful.— O. D. Jones, conference president. Many People Hear the Gospel in Wales Owing to the present coal strike in Great Britain, thousands of mei are thrown out of work and have thus been given an opportunity and time to hear the gospel message. Every effort has been made by the missionaries in the Welsh district to take advantage of this opportunity. Street meetings have been held, attended by hundreds of attentive and interested listeners, with no disturbance to mar the joy that comes from teaching- the gospel. Lengthy and beneficial conversations were held with interested parties after the MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS 281 meetings, to which also crowds of bystanders have listened. We changed our meeting place of the last two district conferences from the larger cities to the small mining town of Varteg, with the result that we have had a marked increase in attendance and interest. During the Sunday school session of the conference held on Sunday, October 31, 1926, a splendid program was developed, comprising scripture citation, the reading of essays and poems, short addresses, chosen hymns, all devoted to the theme of "Prayer." Elder James E. Talmage, president of the European mission, was the principal speaker at each of the three sessions. More than 250 persons were present at the evening meeting, two-thirds of whom were non-members. Favorable accounts of the meetings were given in the. leading newspapers of South Wales. — Thomas Biggs. f « | f Jte> ^*% ELDERS OF THE WELSH CONFERENCE Back row, left to right: Godfrey Holmes, Alberta, Canada; Ezra M. Parry, Ogden; William Paxman, Nephi; Daniel W. Jones, Samaria, Idaho; Jay M. Booth, Nephi. Front row: Thomas Biggs, Winter Quarters, Utah, conference president; James E. Talmage, mission president; Ariel G. Evans, Logan, conference clerk. President Grant at Sheridan, Wyoming The Black Hills conference was held recently at Sheridan, Wyoming. All the elders, except four, were present, and they were at Hot Springs. South Dakota, where they held a funeral over the remains of Sister Anna Straton. This is the fourth funeral which the elders have attended in the Black Hills conference this year, and held for members and non-members. Two baptisms were held at Sheridan during the conference, in which six persons entered into the fold of Christ, which makes about sixty so far this year who have been baptized. An elder and also ;wo deacons were ordained. It was intended that the new chapel should be dedicated during the conference, but arrangements had been made with President Grant, through President Knight, that President Grant would come out some time later to dedicate the building. In the meantime, the elders were permitted to remain in Sheridan until President Grant should come. During this wait we held a series of meetings, which created a great deal of interest, and we received considerable favorable publication through the Sheridan papers, whose editors gave us free notices and also sent their reporters to our con- ference, and they gave excellent reports of our services. On October 29 the chapel at Sheridan was dedicated, President Grant and company being pres- ent.— Elder Lewis R. Bird, conference president, Rapid City, South Dakota. 282 IMPROVEMENT ERA MISSIONARIES OF THE BLACK HILLS CONFERENCE Front row, left to right: Glen Williamson, Salt Lake City; Joseph H. Lym, Salt Lake City; Sister Grant, Salt Lake City; Sister Knight, Denver, Colorado; Archie Sant, Grace, Idaho; Hilbert Smith, Sugar City, Idaho; Wm. R. Winmill, Sugar City, Idaho. Second row: Arthur F. Bliss, Sunnyside, Utah; Alvin L. Jackson. Fountain Green, Utah; H. Karl Harrison, New Castle. Utah; John M. Knight, Denver, president of the Western States mission; Joseph Ariderson, Salt Lake City; President Heber J. Grant of the L. D. S. Church. Back row: Elijah James, Fayett, Utah- Lewis R. Bird, president Black Hills conference, Rigby, Idaho. Great Success in New Fields From Rochester, in the Eastern States mission, Elder O. D. Jones writes, under date of November 12: "During four weeks in the country traveling in a Ford car. we missionaries enjoyed success by getting into new fields, where elders had not been for years. We also traveled intq the Indian district and made many friends. During these four weeks they were able to dispose of 102 Books of Mormon. 3,820 pamphlets. 26,600 tracts. 104 other books, and held 80 open-air meetings. The names of the elders making the trips are: C. R. Bradford, Franklin. Idaho; President Oren D. Jones. Lovell, Wyoming; J. W. Dunkley, Whitney, Idaho; J. H. Shawcroft, LaJara, Colorado."