FRIENDS RAISED UP.
It is remarkable how the Lord raises up friends to His servants while
they are engaged in the ministry. In whatever part of the world they
may labor, the Latter-day Saint missionaries meet with those who
befriend them in a most unexpected manner. People that become thus
friendly are sometimes those who are earnestly seeking the truth and
are interested in the Gospel message, at other times they do not accept
the Gospel, but continue to remain friendly with the Elders, and go
to considerable trouble and expense, and at times even risk their
lives, to assist and defend them. To do this it often requires not
only considerable physical courage but moral courage as well, owing
to the unpopularity of the "Mormon" missionaries and their doctrines.
The only way to account for the friendship shown by such persons is to
acknowledge that the Lord has wrought upon their hearts to assist His
servants who are dependent upon Him for support.
Upon one occasion when the Prophet Joseph Smith was arrested upon a
trumped-up charge, a lawyer was influenced to defend him in court
through hearing a mysterious, audible voice command him to do so.
The writer remembers meeting a gentleman in England who had made it a
practice of defending the doctrines taught by the Latter-day Saints and
of assisting the Elders whenever he met them. He carried a well-worn
"Ready Reference" with him, and was well posted on our doctrines. His
business took him to various parts of the country and in his travels
he would occasionally meet our missionaries, attend their services and
sometimes hire meeting halls for them.
Many times have missionaries received contributions of money from
persons who have attended their meetings, and that too without the
slightest hint that they were in need of means. Frequently the
Elders have also been encouraged and defended by unknown persons
upon occasions where men have sought to oppose them or disturb their
meetings. The writer recalls two instances that came under his
observation where such was the case. At one time after holding a
conference an individual arose at the close of the meeting and tried
to get the attention of the people while he denounced the utterances
of the speakers as false doctrine. He only said a few words when a
stranger to the missionaries spoke up and defended their teachings,
and at once silenced their opposer, who thereupon left the building.
At another time an out-door meeting was being held. A fairly large
crowd of people were listening very attentively and appeared to be
much interested; but when the speaker was about to close, and made
mention of the name of the Prophet Joseph Smith, there were some slight
interruptions; but the meeting was dismissed without any serious
disturbances, although it appeared that some of the men present were
anxious to refute some of the statements made regarding the restoration
of the Gospel through the latter-day Prophet. However, immediately upon
the dismissal of the meeting and before the gathered throng had time
to disperse, a gentleman stepped forward to the center of the group
where the other speakers had taken their stand, and bore testimony to
the truths proclaimed at that meeting and to the truths of "Mormonism"
generally. The stranger whose identity was never learned, was a
forcible speaker and held the audience for a considerable length of
time although most of those present had been standing there nearly an
hour before he began to speak.
Missionaries have often been entertained and fed by strangers who
have befriended them. In nearly every community where missionaries
have taken up their labors they find those who will entertain them,
and who seem to take great pleasure in doing so. In cases where the
missionaries have been in need of means these friends have often been
led to supply them without any request for such assistance being made.
The following narrative written by Elder W. W. Cluff, and published in
the Improvement Era, describes an instance of this character:
"In the year 1866, Elders Joseph F. Smith, Franklin W. Young and myself
had been traveling as missionaries on the island of Hawaii laboring
about ten months in the Helo and Koohala Conferences, on the north and
east side of the island. A conference of all the Elders laboring in
that mission was called to meet on the island of Lanai. It required
five dollars each to pay our fare from our field of labor to the place
of conference. In starting from Helo and traveling by land to Upolu,
a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles, we would visit about
ten branches of the Church. At each of these we held meetings and
reminded the Saints that we were on our way to conference, and that we
required so much money to pay our passage across the channel to Lanai.
Money among the natives was scarce and difficult to get. When we left
Waipio, the last and largest branch on the way, we had only received
seventy-five cents in money and five or six goat-skins, worth twelve
and a half cents each. While it looked very discouraging, we had faith
that by doing all we could the Lord would open the way for us to attend
the conference with our brethren.
"On leaving Wimea, fifty miles from Upolu, where we would embark on
the vessel, the road forked, one going north and one going west. About
three miles west on the road, a family of Saints lived; with this
family we had left some of our books and clothes, and to go that way
would take us three miles out of our way. I being considered the best
walker, it was decided that I should go that way and the brethren
continue on the direct route.
"I had not proceeded more than a mile when I found a man's coat lying
in the middle of the road; picking it up I found a money purse in one
of the pockets, containing some papers and three five dollar gold
pieces. Being just the amount we needed and finding them as I did,
the first impression was that it was a Godsend. There being no one in
sight, I started across the country to intersect the brethren, thinking
I would bury the coat with all it contained except the money, in a
deep ravine, and cover it over with lava rock. I had not gone fifty
yards when another thought suggested itself, and I asked myself the
questions: Do you really think the finding of the coat was a Godsend?
Could it not be a temptation? It certainly belonged to some person to
whom the papers might be valuable. With these thoughts and reflections,
and that the Lord would not bestow a blessing at the expense of another
of His children, my conscience smote me, and, still seeing no one in
sight, I turned back to the road and proceeded to the house where our
things were left. Only the woman was at home; to her I related the
finding of the coat, and, taking out the pocket book, showed her the
money and papers which proved to be of great value to the owner, a
white man who lived about fifty miles east, and of whose hospitality we
had a number of times partaken. As a guard against the woman keeping
the money, I let her see me take a memorandum of the money and papers,
and also told her I would write to the owner. On overtaking the
brethren, I told them about finding the coat and the fifteen dollars we
needed to pay our passage, and asked them if they did not think it a
Godsend; they replied that it really looked like it.
"'I thought so, too, at first, but on second thought I feared it might
be a temptation, in our straitened circumstances,' I replied.
"On explaining what I did with the coat and contents, they expressed
great pleasure and satisfaction, approving heartily my actions. That
night we stopped with a white man by the name of Lincoln who had
married a native woman who was a member of our Church. We had stopped
there a number of times before. Mr. Lincoln had always made us welcome.
"The next morning we bade the family good-by, and started on our
journey, our host following us out of the house, saying: 'If you are
going to your conference, on Lanai, you will want money to pay your
fares, here is five dollars for each of you, if you will accept it.'
We did accept it with heartfelt thanks both to Mr. Lincoln and to our
Father in Heaven, believing He had put it into his heart to give us
just the amount of money we required. In proceeding on our way, we all
felt and acknowledged that this really was a Godsend, as Mr. Lincoln
and his family had never before given us money, and during our stay
this time not a word had been said about our needing money to pay our
passage to Lanai. We recognized that the Lord had really heard and
answered our prayers."