Our House on Maui--Interviews With the Consul and Governor--Our First
Public Preaching--We Determine to Learn the Language and Proclaim the
Gospel to the Natives
Lahaina is the principal town on Maui. It has no harbor, but vessels
anchor in what is called the roadstead. Looking from the sea at the
town, it is not very imposing. It lies on a level strip of land, and
is stretched along the beach, and the houses are almost hidden by the
foliage. Groves of cocoa-nut trees are to be seen, which give the place
a tropical look.
We had considerable difficulty in procuring a suitable place to stop.
There was a hotel and some boarding houses; but we could not live at
any of them very long, for our funds were low. We secured a native
house of one room, at a rent of four dollars per week.
These native houses are built by putting posts in the ground, on which
a board is laid as a plate for the rafters to rest upon. When the frame
of posts and rafters is built, poles, about the size of hoop-poles,
are lashed horizontally, about six inches apart, on to the posts and
rafters. The house is then thatched by fastening a durable grass, which
they have in that country, on to the poles. When finished, a house
looks, in shape and size, like a well built hay stack.
Such houses are only suited to a warm country where they never have
frost. Inside the house they have no board floors. The ground is
covered with grass, on which mats are laid. The making of these mats
constitutes one of the chief employments of the women, and a good
housewife in that country is known by the quantity and fineness of
the mats in her home. Such a woman is very particular to have no dirt
brought into her house; for the mats answer the purpose of beds, tables
and chairs. They sit upon them; when they eat, their food, is placed
upon them, and they form their bed, though in many houses they have the
place of sleeping raised above the ordinary floor; but even then, they
have mats spread out, upon which to sleep.
In consideration of our being white men, the man of whom we rented the
house procured a table and three chairs for us. We employed him to cook
our food, which consisted principally of sweet potatoes and fish, or
meat, with occasionally a little bread, bought at a bakery in town.
In those days no native thought of using bread as an article of diet.
Their food I shall describe more fully to you in a future chapter.
We had an interview with the American consul, Mr. Bunker, and solicited
through him an introduction to the governor of the Island. He readily
complied with our request, and in our intercourse with Mr. Bunker he
treated us very kindly.
Our mission we felt to be of such importance that we wished to
introduce it to the highest authority we could find. I made it a rule
on those islands never to go into a place without waiting upon the
leading and prominent men, stating my business, testifying to the
work which God had commenced and asking their aid to enable me to lay
the proclamation of which I was the bearer before the people. In this
way I had interviews with princes, nobles, governors, officers of the
government, missionaries and the leading men in every locality where I
visited.
This course might not be a wise one in every nation and under all
circumstances; but I was led to take it there, and the effects were
good. I had a fearlessness and a strength given me which I would not
have had if I had kept myself in a corner, and acted as though I
was ashamed of my mission. I gained influence also with the people,
and they learned to respect me; for, however much men may differ in
their views about religion and other matters, they generally respect
sincerity and courage.
The governor was named James Young. He was a half-white, his father
being a friend of Kamehameha the First, and one of the first white men
who settled among the Hawaiians. We requested the use of the palace,
which was not then occupied by the royal family, to preach in. He
promised to write to his brother, the minister of the interior, about
it. We called a number of times afterwards to see him; but could get no
definite answer. It was very evident to us that he dare not grant us
any favors.
Rev. Mr. Taylor was the chaplain of the Bethel Chapel at Lahaina, where
seamen and most of the white residents went to worship. We introduced
ourselves to him, told him where we were from and our business, and
asked the privilege of holding meeting in his chapel. He held meetings
in the morning and evening. He consented, and gave out notice to the
people in the morning that we would hold meeting in the afternoon.
Elder Henry W. Bigler delivered the discourse, and Brother Keeler and I
bore testimony. We soon became satisfied that if we confined our labors
to the whites, our mission to those islands would be a short one.
The white people were not numerous at Lahaina, and there were but very
few at any other place on the island of Maui. Preaching to them with
the hope of convincing them of the truth seemed a hopeless labor. The
question arose directly, "Shall we confine our labors to the white
people?" It is true that we had not been particularly told to preach
to the natives of the islands, but we were in their midst, had full
authority to declare unto them the message of salvation, and if we did
not declare it unto them, some other Elders would have to come and do
so, in order to fulfill the command of God to his servants.
For my part I felt it to be clearly my duty to warn all men, white
and red; and no sooner did I learn the condition of the population
than I made up my mind to acquire the language, preach the gospel to
the natives and to the whites whenever I could obtain an opportunity,
and thus fill my mission. I felt resolved to stay there, master the
language and warn the people of those islands, if I had to do it alone;
for I felt that I could not do otherwise and be free from condemnation;
the spirit of it was upon me. Elders Bigler and Keeler felt the same.
I mention this, because it was a point upon which a difference of
opinion afterwards arose, some of the Elders being of the opinion that
our mission was to the whites, and that when we had warned them, we
were at liberty to return. How do you think such differences of views
and opinions can be settled? Had the president of the mission exercised
the authority to dictate, he could have decided between these views;
but he would not. He left each one to act for himself. We were in a
foreign land, far distant from the Apostles and First Presidency, and,
therefore, could not appeal to them. Our only resource was to obtain
revelation from the Lord for ourselves. This is the privilege of every
man arid woman in the Church. If Latter-day Saints will seek for
knowledge, God will give it to them to guide them in all the details of
life, subject, of course, to the presiding authority and its teachings
and counsels. By this means we were able, on the Sandwich Islands, to
know what course to take.
White men who go to the Sandwich Islands do not always behave
themselves as they should. We saw some who acted most disgracefully.
They seemed to think that, because they were among the natives, they
could abandon all decency. The natives are very close observers. They
soon saw that we were not like many of the whites whom they had seen,
and they began to take an interest in us. They readily helped us to
pronounce and read their language. The want of books was a great
drawback at first; but we sent to Honolulu for them.
My desire to learn to speak was very strong; it was present with me
night and day, and I never permitted an opportunity of talking with the
natives to pass without improving it. I also tried to exercise faith
before the Lord to obtain the gift of talking and understanding the
language. One evening, while sitting on the mats conversing with some
neighbors who had dropped in, I felt an uncommonly great desire to
understand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in
my ears; I jumped to my feet, with my hands at the sides of my head,
and exclaimed to Elders Bigler and Keeler who sat at the table, that I
believed I had received the gift of interpretation! And it was so.
From that time forward I had but little, if any, difficulty in
understanding what the people said. I might not be able at once to
separate every word which they spoke from every other word in the
sentence; but I could tell the general meaning of the whole. This was
a great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very
thankful for this gift from the Lord.
I mention this that my readers may know how willing God is to bestow
gifts upon his children. If they should be called to go as missionaries
to a foreign nation, whose language they do not understand, it is their
privilege to exercise faith for the gifts of speaking and interpreting
that language, and also for every other gift which they may need.