Faithful Unto Death

Improvement Era t-AJ^-CXTl- Vol. XXXII JANUARY, 1929 Faithful Unto Death No. 3 By Elder David O. McKay, of the Council of the Twelve IN THE bright sunshine of a January forenoon in the year 1924, at a customs house, on the coast of old Tyre and Sidon, I last shook hands with my be- loved brother and esteemed friend, President Joseph Wilford Booth, of the Armenian mission. Little did I realize then, as we bade each other goodbye, that we should never in this life see each other again! That that was our final earthly parting, however, is at- tested by the recent cablegram from President John A. Widtsoe, announcing the sudden and wholly unexpected death of Elder Booth on December 5. At that farewell, just before I entered the auto bus that was to take me to Haifa, my friend and I embraced each other, and ex- changed a mutual "God bless you!" "I'm sorry to have you leave me, Brother McKay," said he, as his eyes became tear-dim- med, and his countenance became saddened by a shadow of sorrow. That sentence was the nearest to a complaint that I ever heard El- der Booth utter. Through that remark, however, and the look that accompanied it, I caught a glimpse of a noble heart longing President Joseph wilford booth After a total of eighteen years of service in the Turkish and Armenian mission. President Booth has been given his final release from his earthly labors. Needless to say. it was a highly honorable one, for every day of all those years was filled with earnest, conscientious effort. A few days prior to his death the Era received a letter from President Booth in which he outlined his program of travel for the ensuing months. His plan was to visit Church members in Beirut. Damascus and Aleppo. On December 5. he died in the latter city and was buried there. President Booth was born August 14. 1866. in Alpine. Utah County, Utah, and was set apart for his last mission Sept. 14. 1921, and left for his field of labor on the same day. He is the fifth missionary to die in the Armenian mission. Elder Ralph V. Chisholm was sent by Pres- ident John A. Widtsoe to accompany Sister Booth home.

180 IMPROVEMENT ERA for companionship — the companionship and strength of a fellow- missionary who could help solve perplexing questions, and share the heavy burdens incident) and peculiar to that far-off mission. A few minutes, thereafter, I was speeding on my return journey to- ward England to rejoin the five hundred other elders then laboring in the seven missions of Europe. Brother Booth returned to Aleppo alone, for Elder Earl B. Snell, his only missionary companion, had been honorably released to return home, and no other mis- sionaries had as yet been called to the Armenian mission. For- tunately, President Booth's wife had joined him just ten days be- fore. Back to Sister Booth and to the Saints he loved, he wended his solitary way, to work out alone, under God's guidance, the destiny of the mission over which he had been called to preside. More than two years be- fore this parting, President Hugh J. Cannon and I had miraculously met Brother Booth at Haifa, when we were all three on our way to gather and to succor the scattered Armenian Saints. That memorable meet- ing was about 2 p. m., Novem- ber 4, 1921. Brother Booth's first desire, following greetings and explanations, was to take us to visit the graves of Elders Adolph Haag and John A. Clark, who sleep in what is known as the German cemetery, just outside Haifa. Later, in Aleppo, we visited the grave of Elder Emil J. Huber, who laid down his life there. Elder Edgar A. Simmons lies buried in Aintab, but we had no opportunity of visiting his resting place. None of us imagined then that President Booth, himself, would also end his earthly labors in that far-away land. ELDER EDGAR DILWORTH SIMMONS The first elder to die in the Turkish (now the Armenian) mission was Elder Edgar Dilworth Sim- mons, who arrived in the field July 9, 1889. After studying the language with his companion for a few weeks in Aintab. Syria, he was left alone, and in January. 1890. was taken down with smallpox, and after fourteen days, with only native friends to care for him as best they could, he died, on February 4, 1890. He was buried by a kind Protestant minister, known as Budville Krihor. A suitable monument has been placed over his grave. Elder Simmons was 2 6 years old at the time of his death.

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 181 In Vol. 12 of the Improvement Era, under the title "Four Heroes Far Away," Brother Booth has written an account of these brethren and their heroic deaths. He himself now brings the num- ber to five. The three of us left Haifa for Beirut, a few hours later, where we stayed that night. At 2:30 p. m., November 8, 1921, we reached Aintab. The alacrity with which the Saints, who, like hunted hares, were living in caves and ruined houses, became informed of our coming, is still ■an unexplained mystery to me; but at 5 p. m. seventy-four grate- ful people, including some who were not yet Church members, as- sembled in a fairly commodious place to greet us. Only those who beheld the heartfelt welcome which that people gave President Booth can realize what his return to them meant. One kind wom- an, whose countenance reflected deep and sincere appreciation, ex- pressed the feeling of all when she said: "For seven years we've been in hell, but today we are in heaven." That evening it was decided that the members of the Church and their near associates should leave Aintab at the first oppor- tunity. They would have started that night, if possible. Upon Brother Booth's return to Aleppo, he took up his abode among the refugees, and began to make preparations for the exodus from Aintab, eighty miles distant. What difficulties he encoun- tered in accomplishing this duty, perhaps no one can now realize. There were carts and horses, and other transportation facilities to secure. There was permission of a not too-favorable government to obtain. There were winter rains and cold weather to endure, and muddy roads to traverse. How he was impressed to seek the aid of General De La Mathe, ELDER ADOLPH HAAG This brother was the second missionary of our Church to lay down his life in the Armenian mis- sion. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany. Febru- ary 19, 1865, and, because of his knowledge of the German language, was appointed to labor among the people of that race in Haifa. Palestine. After two years of earnest work, he was stricken with typhus, from which he died October 3. 1892. Elder Don Carlos Musscr. then president of the mission, attended to his burial. An appropriate monument marks his resting place.

182 IMPROVEMENT ERA of the French army, who issued an order for passports for fifty-three "Mormons" to come out of Aintab; how Lieutenant A. P. Guitton conveyed President Booth from Aleppo to Aintab, furnishing food, bedding and protection free of charge; how the little colony packed household furniture and personal belongings on the mule-drawn vehicles that made up the train that started from Aintab to Aleppo on a wet December day; how much of the poor but treasured house- hold articles were abandoned by the roadside to lighten the mud- bedraggled wagons; how the Saints endured the exposure in comparative cheerfulness be- cause they were going to safety; the difficulties of housing them after their arrival in Aleppo; all these experiences though un- pleasant and full of anxiety were cherished memories, during his lifetime, in the man's mind who alone carried the worry and responsibility of it all! They constitute also a bit of Church history that merits proper recognition, and which reflects the great outstanding fact that the intrepid, unselfish missionary, Joseph Wilford Booth, literally gave himself to relieve, comfort and cheer a peo- ple whom he loved. From November, 1921, Elder Booth labored constantly for the alleviation and better- ment of the members of the mis- sion over which he presided. For over a year he labored alone. April, 1923, Elder Earl B. Snell joined him, and together they worked diligently in securing more commodious quarters for the colony, in teaching and in making more effective for good the organizations in the Aleppo branch. In the renovating and the remodeling of the large house rented, these two dauntless mis- Elder John a. Clark Not far from the grave of Elder Haag. one comes to the stone which informs the visitor that there lies the body of Elder John A. Clark, born February 2 8, 1871. at Farmington, Utah. He, too. died at Haifa, Palestine, under the shadow of Mt. Carmel and overlooking the Mediterranean, the date of his demise being February 8, 1895. This elder died of smallpox, and from the fact that he paid ten francs tithing on January 18. and that his name appears again on the tithing record on January 26. it would seem that his illness was not of long duration.

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 185 sionaries not only directed the efforts of carpenters, masons and plasterers, and cement mixers, but became themselves workers in these trades. But the greatest results of this devoted service are seen not in material things, but in the development of the members of the branch. To one who saw them in their discouragement and distress in 1921, the change wrought is wonderful. It is true that from a financial standpoint many are still dependent, and are yet longing for the day or opportunity to come when they can earn their own livelihood and become perma- nently assured of being placed beyond the reach of dire want; but in the joy of association in surroundings of safety, in the assurance of proper care and skill in times of sickness; in op- portunity for mutual helpful- ness, and for spiritual growth and enlightenment, the change which was brought about by their mission president is little short of a transformation. No wonder the people loved him, for he loved them and had demonstrated that love throughout eleven years of faithful service, to which he has since added over seven years more — faithful and ever solic- itous, even unto death! No man in the Church could have been truer to his trust; no one less complaining; no one more hopeful; no one more self-denying; no one more willing to sacrifice personal com- forts and convenience to give aid to the poor and unfortunate; no one more ready to give his life for his friends and in the service of his God, than was President Joseph Wilford Booth. I know what fond wishes and fervent prayers he had in his heart as he left me, at the coast of ELDER EMIL J. HUBER The fourth missionary to pass away in the Armenian mission was Emil J. Hubcr, who sleeps under a stately monument in Aleppo, Syria, at which place he died of typhus on May 16, 1908. He was of Swiss parentage, but was torn in Paris, France. March 7. 1885. He had labored diligently for less than a year when death overtook him. During the last Sunday services which he attended, Elder Huber, bis voice trembling under the influence of the Holy Spirit, bore his testimony, and among other things said: "I know the Gospel is true, and you cannot deny it, having heard it preached by a humble servant of the Lord."

184 IMPROVEMENT ERA Tyre and Sidon, to return to the little branch at Aleppo. During the nearly five intervening years, he and his faithful wife, Sister Mary R. Booth, have labored unceasingly and uncomplainingly to make real their cherished hopes and desires for the Armenian mission. Every day, this faithful, intrepid missionary, following in the footsteps of his Master, "went about doing good." His noble soul was actuated by this high motive even when death called. It was truly with an upright heart that President Booth met this relentless visitor, whose final summons he would answer as he had answered every other worthy call to responsibility, by saying cheerfully and resolutely: "I am ready." With the passing of President Booth, closes another important and tragic episode in the history of the Church. My wish for my esteemed friend's last hours and my present feeling are best expressed by Byrant: "Death should come Gently to one of gentle mould, like thee, As light winds, wandering through groves of bloom. Detach the delicate blossoms from the tree, Close thy sweet eyes calmly, and without pain. And we will trust in God to see thee yet again." Sunshine and Shadow In the dark days through which we all must pass, there is, though hidden for the time, a shaft of golden sunshine. For as under the sodden, wind-swept furrows of the fields in early springtime the fruits of the harvest are hlossoming into life, so beneath the shadows of life God is ripening for us, by the sunshine of his love, his harvest of nobler purposes, higher hopes and purer desires. Then when the sun shines out from a rift in the dark cloud, and we have yielded our souls to the Heavenly Husbandman, we notice a richer glow in the things which our faith has ripened in the experience of the Almighty love, to which we crept for shelter from the shadows that weighed us down. Not always for us are the days when we call ourselves happy the most happy, for when enjoyment is our special concern, there seems to be drifting through it the shadow of discontent. The higher conscience finds its full content only when we are quietly filling our place and doing our duty — when "each morning sees some task begun, each evening sees it close." So, rhrough sunshine and shadow, our steps, if we will it so with faithful diligence, may tend ever heavenward. Betvidere, 111. A. HENDERSON