Successful Meetings--Our Principles Receiving Great Notice--Elder
Keeler and Myself Go to Keanae and Have Remarkable Success in Adding
Members to the Church
A new native house having been completed by Mr. Napela's men, it was
offered to me as a meeting house. On Sunday the neighbors collected
together, and we had two meetings, one in the forenoon and one in the
afternoon, at which I spoke upon the principles of the gospel and their
restoration to man upon the earth, with the authority to teach them.
My testimony and words were favorably received by the people, and they
were desirous that I should continue to hold meetings.
It was a busy time, and I was only able to hold one meeting during the
week. But on the next Sunday I had a most excellent time. Five were
baptized and confirmed, and the spirit was powerfully poured out upon
all present; many were stirred up to repentance, their hearts were
touched and the tears coursed down their cheeks. Brother James Keeler,
who had been stopping in Lahaina, was with me that day, he having
reached there the previous day. Our joy was very great, and I thought
it one of the best days in my life.
We held meetings during the week, and on Sunday I baptized and
confirmed six persons.
It was in much weakness that I labored in the ministry; but I began to
taste a joy that I had never before known, and my heart was filled with
praise and gratitude to the Lord for deeming me worthy to receive the
Priesthood, and to go forth on a mission.
Nineteen persons had joined the Church at Kula, and I felt impressed by
the Spirit to go elsewhere and open other places in which to minister
the word to the people.
The news of what was being done at Kula--the new religion as it was
called--the new method of baptism--for up to that time the people had
been sprinkled--and the doctrine, so strange to them, that God has
spoken again to man, and sent His holy angels to minister unto him, was
noised about, and there began to be a great curiosity felt by many of
the people to hear.
Although the natives of the Sandwich Islands had been taught to read,
and the Bible had been placed in their hands, and they had been trained
to look upon the sectarian missionaries as their spiritual teachers,
yet the religion of these missionaries did not generally satisfy them.
There was not the power about the God which the missionaries worshiped
that they believed there was about the gods of their fathers. The
missionaries taught them that God no longer revealed Himself to men,
that prophecy, miracles and the gifts mentioned in the Bible, had
ceased.
But we taught the very opposite of all this. We told them God had not
changed. He was the same to-day that He was when the Bible was written.
His gifts and blessings were for men now, as much as they were eighteen
hundred years ago. Man had lost faith, and he did not obey God's laws,
therefore, he had lost favor with the heavens, and the gifts and
blessings were withheld.
The Bible upheld us in our teachings, and there was a consistency in
our doctrines which pleased the honest.
The most of the natives of the islands supposed the Bible meant what
it said; they had not learned to think that it meant one thing when it
said another. But after our arrival the sectarian missionaries tried
hard to teach them that the word of God had a hidden meaning, and that
it was not like other language--a task, however, which, with a plain,
simple people like the natives, they found very difficult.
The missionaries had great influence with the chiefs and the
government. Their religion was, in fact, the State religion, though
not so declared by law; it was popular to be a member of their church,
while it was unpopular not to be connected with it.
It looked like a formidable and hopeless task to attempt to preach the
gospel to a people and in a government over whom sectarian priests had
such complete control. But we knew God could break down every barrier,
and remove every obstacle. We put our trust in Him, and we were not
disappointed.
I was led, as I have said, to prepare to go to some other place to
labor, so as to extend the knowledge of the gospel. I had arranged
to start on a certain day, but was detained. My detention was
providential, for that day Brother James Keeler arrived, accompanied
by a native, by the name of Namakaiona. Brother Keeler, after leaving
Kula, had traveled around the island until he reached a place called
Keanae, where he stopped. He had read the scriptures to the people of
that place, and quite an interest had been awakened among them, many
were anxious to hear preaching, and to be baptized. He wished me to
come over there; they had furnished him with a horse to come over after
me and bring me.
The road over which we traveled part of the distance to reach Keanae,
passed through a most romantic country. The vegetation was of the most
luxuriant description, the trees being of a kind new to me, and very
grand. Such a wealth of vegetation I had read of, but never before
beheld; and is not seen it any land outside of the tropics. The shrubs
and ferns were in great variety, and grew in almost endless profusion.
Many of the trees were masses of living green from the root upward,
being covered with a multitude of vines and creepers of various kinds.
The road was impassable for carriages or wagons; in fact, horsemen had
to dismount and lead their horses in many places up and down the hills,
they were so steep. Whatever the people who lived in the villages on
that side of the island needed, they either carried in, on their backs,
or brought around in boats. To me the journey was most romantic, and I
enjoyed it, the more so as I now understood the language, and was able
to obtain many interesting items from the natives with whom we traveled
and met, concerning the country, and their history and traditions.
Our arrival at Keanae created great excitement. The people had been
watching for us, and seeing us approach from a long distance, had
gathered to meet us. Had we been princes they could not have treated
us with greater consideration and honor. We obtained the Calvinistic
meeting-house the afternoon of our arrival, and there was a large
attendance to hear the preaching.
This was on Wednesday, and from that time until Monday we were
constantly speaking, baptizing, confirming and counseling the people.
During that time there were upwards of one hundred and thirty baptized.
The Spirit of the Lord was powerfully poured out, and all rejoiced; I
never enjoyed myself so well before in my life.
When I started back to Kula, which I did on Tuesday morning, I felt
very tired, with the amount of labor that I had performed. My object in
returning then, was to organize the Saints who had been baptized into a
branch, so that I could return again to Keanae.
In organizing the branch at Kula, I ordained two teachers whose names
were, Kaleohano and Maiola, and three deacons, Pake, Kahiki, and Mahoe.
After two weeks' absence, I returned to Keanae, and we organized four
branches of the Church in that region. We only ordained teachers and
deacons as officers, thinking it better to let them gain experience in
the duties of these callings, before ordaining them to the Melchisedek
Priesthood.