Arrival of New Elders--The Adversary Busy Among Our Newly Converted
Friends--A Fishing Scene
While at Keanae, we were gladdened with the news of the arrival of
missionaries from Utah; and, after the conference, Brother Keeler and
I repaired to Lahaina to meet them. They were Elders Philip B. Lewis,
Francis A. Hammond and John S. Woodbury; the two former had their
wives with them; the latter, for want of means, had left his wife in
California, and she came down shortly afterwards. Brother Lewis had
been appointed by Elder Parley P. Pratt to preside over the islands.
I had become so accustomed to talking in the Sandwich Island language
that it was hard for me to speak in my mother tongue. I well remember
how difficult it was for me to pray in English, when called upon to do
so, in the family circle, the evening after I got to Lahaina.
I had been so anxious to learn the language that I would not read any
book in English excepting the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and
Covenants, and had even trained myself to think in that language. I did
this so that I might be thoroughly familiar with it, for I was anxious
to preach the gospel in exceeding plainness unto the people.
Of course, it required an effort on my part to thus train myself; but I
was paid for it all, in the fluency with which I used the language. I
was able to speak and write it with greater ease and correctness than
my mother tongue.
The adversary was not idle at Keanae. We had been very successful in
baptizing the people. The Spirit had been poured out, and much good has
been accomplished; but, no sooner had we gone to Lahaina, to meet the
newly arrived Elders, than the enemy began his operations.
After spending a few days in Lahaina, I returned to Kula and remained
a short time there. I felt impressed to go from there to Keanae. Some
of the native brethren wished me to stop till the end of the week, and
they would accompany me; but I could not stop, I felt that I was needed
for some cause at Keanae.
My impressions were correct. The people of Keanae were in great
trouble. They had been assailed by enemies from every side, and those
who were weak in the faith were in perplexity. Some had turned away,
not being able to withstand the pressure. The Presbyterian missionary
of that district had been there, and had done all in his power to
blacken our characters, to deride our doctrines and to persuade the
people to forsake the Church. Two Frenchmen, Catholic priests, had also
been there, and they had done all in their power to frighten the people
from the truth. Another Presbyterian missionary had sent one of his
native preachers there for the same purpose.
It seemed as if the devil had set all his agencies into operation to
destroy the work of God, and they told all the lies that could be
brought to bear against us. The French priest had said that we ought to
be driven out of the place and off the island, and had circulated many
false reports about us. The Presbyterian missionary had visited the
houses of the people, and had brought all his influence to bear upon
them.
Brother Keeler had been there part of the time; but his want of the
language troubled him greatly, as he had not acquired it sufficiently
at the time to enable him to counteract these lies or to make full
explanations concerning them.
I learned that many of the Saints were doubting, and they had been
praying to the Lord for me to return. This was the cause of my anxiety
to get back. The Lord hears the prayers of those who pray to Him in
faith, and hundreds of instances like this have occurred within my
knowledge.
It is frequently the case that when Elders have been successful in
baptizing the people, the devil exerts himself with increased power and
cunning among them to destroy them. There are but few who have joined
the Church who have escaped temptations of this character; and no man
knows the power of the devil as those do who have embraced the truth.
It seems that those who are ignorant of the gospel and the power of
God, never experience the opposite power like those do who have been
blessed of the Lord. Still they should not yield to the temptations of
Satan, nor be entrapped by his snares.
The people who had been baptized at Keanae had known but little about
the two influences of which we speak; but no sooner had they joined the
Church, than they were assailed and tempted in a way that they never
had been previously. As a consequence of this, some fell away from the
truth; but others became stronger in the faith, so long as I remained
on the island.
We had many excellent times at Keanae. While I was there, at the
time of which I write, I went with the natives, men and women, to a
creek about two miles distant, where fish were very plentiful. The
fishers gathered a quantity of plants, a shrub which is called by them
_auhuhu_, and made two piles of them in the bed of the creek. The men
and women surrounded these piles, each of them having a stick about
five or six feet long. At a given signal from one of the party, they
commenced thrashing the brush. They were very dextrous in the use of
this flail, turning the piles over and over and pounding them well, and
never hitting each other. The pounding of the bush had the effect to
stain the water all around, and to kill the fish, which soon floated on
the surface in great numbers.
Fish so caught are excellent eating. This shrub, though it kills the
fish, is not injurious to man. It was one of the liveliest sights that
I had ever seen, and was very picturesque. The women were adorned with
garlands of green leaves, and had flowers entwined in their hair and
around their bodies. Many of the men were stripped to the waist and
also had garlands entwined around them. The swimming and diving of some
of the women, surprised me; they appeared to be almost amphibious.