Chapter 6
The progress I had made in learning the language surprised the Elders at Honolulu. I was able to converse tolerably well with the natives, and understand what they said. When they learned how the Lord had opened our way and aided us in acquiring the language, they felt that it might be wisdom for me to continue my labors there, instead of removing to Honolulu. This, after counseling together, was the decision of the president.
I was much gratified at the privilege of returning to Maui; for, to my view, prospects for accomplishing any great amount of good were not very bright then at Honolulu.
Elder William Farrer sailed with me to Maui, to be a partner to Henry W. Bigler.
We had scarcely reached Lahaina, when Elder Hiram Blackwell called upon us from the Island of Hawaii, where he had been with Elder James Hawkins. He was on his way to Honolulu, and expected, if it was not contrary to counsel, to return home. He was discouraged in trying to learn the language and preach to the natives. He reached Honolulu in time to return with the other Elders.
At this point I may anticipate the order of my narrative by stating that Elder James Hawkins, Brother Blackwell’s partner, remained on Hawaii for some time, striving to acquire the language, and to proclaim the gospel to the people. He afterwards came up to Maui and labored there, and filled a good mission before he returned home.
About three weeks after my return from Honolulu, we were surprised at receiving a visit from the president of the mission. He had concluded to leave the Sandwich Islands and go to the Marquesas Islands; for he thought there was a better field there.
These latter islands, 30° south of where we were then, are inhabited by a race of people whose language is very similar to that spoken by the natives of the Sandwich Islands. They are probably descendants of one common stock. But they are naturally more fierce and savage than the Sandwich Islanders. It is said of some of them, that when they are engaged in war, they have no objections to eating a piece of a roasted man; indeed, they rather relish such a meal at such times, as they think it makes them brave.
Our president’s principal motive in coming to see us was to have us go with him. If prospects were no better on Maui than on the island he had been on, he thought we should accompany him. It was not from any fear that the people of the Marquesas group would eat us, that we did not fall in with his proposal; but because we could not see the propriety of it.
Our position, just then, was a peculiar one. Here was our president, the man who had been appointed to counsel and guide us, proposing to us to leave the field to which we had been appointed, and to take a journey of several hundred miles to another land to labor. What were we to do? How far did the obedience which we owed to him require us to go? This was an important question. To disobey a man in the rightful exercise of authority, was an act from which we naturally recoiled; and an act, too, of which we were not in the least disposed to be guilty. But we felt that it would not be right for us to leave that island then.
We had done but little at warning the people, or accomplishing our mission, and why leave them then, any more than on the first day that we landed? We had not been appointed by the authority, which called him and us, to go to the Marquesas Islands; we knew of no opening there, or of any reason why we should go there in preference to any other place on the earth. If we followed our president there, because he told us to come with him, and we should find no opening to preach the gospel, why not follow him to some other country if he should so require us?
Fortunately we were relieved from the necessity of refusing to comply with his counsel. He felt plainly enough that his proposal did not strike us favorably. He had not been many hours with us until he found this out; and he told us that probably it would be better for us to remain where we were until we gave the people a fair trial; and then, if we could not do anything, we could follow him, as he intended to write to us respecting his success. The first we heard from him, he had drifted down to Tahiti, on the Society Islands, where some of our Elders were then laboring. His mission, however, was of no profit to himself.
When an Elder has the spirit of his mission, he cannot rest contented unless he is proclaiming to the people the message with which he is entrusted. Surround him with every comfort his heart can desire, and if he has that spirit, he will still be anxious to go forth among the people, even if he knows he will meet with privations and persecution. This was my feeling before the visit of the president of the mission, and after he left, my anxiety increased, and I told the brethren that I must push out among the natives; and commence preaching to them as well as I could. I had made very good progress in the language, and felt able to explain in part the first principles of the gospel.
About a week after the president’s visit I started off, intending, if I did not get an opening, to go around the island. But the Lord had revealed to me that I would find a people prepared to receive the truth; and I started as a man would who was going to meet his friends. Though I had never seen them in the flesh, I knew that when I met them they would not be strangers unto me.
Borrowing Brother Bigler’s valise, one which he had carried many a day himself while on a mission in the States, I started, feeling as proud of the privilege of swinging it across my shoulder as any knight ever was at wearing, for the first time, his gold spurs.
The great desire of my heart from my early boyhood had been to have the Priesthood and the privilege of preaching the gospel. This desire was now about to be gratified, and though I was timid and very bashful, I felt that God would carry me safely through.
The brethren accompanied me about four miles on my way. We were far from all our friends, and were strangers in a strange land; our parting, therefore, as might be expected, was painful. They remained to continue their study of the language.
It was plain to me that the angel of the Lord was with me; for at whatever place I stopped, I was received most kindly, and the best the people had was at my service.
The principal food of the natives of the Sandwich Islands is called poi. This is made out of a root which they call kalo. “Kalo” patches are so made that they can be flooded with water; and the ground is never allowed to be uncovered. In planting this root they do not use seed. When a native gathers the “kalo,” he carries it to his home, where he cuts off the tops. These are carefully saved, tied up in a bundle, and carried back to the patch. These tops he sticks in the mud at the proper distances apart, and at the end of about eleven months he has another crop of “kalo.” This is the process of gathering and planting.
The “kalo” bears some resemblance in its leaves and taste to the wild Indian turnips, but its root is much larger; not quite the shape of a tame turnip, but as large as a moderate sized one. There is a variety called the “dry land kalo.” It is not so extensively cultivated as the other kind, and is not considered so good eating.
Near every house there is a circular hole. When “kalo” is to be cooked, a fire is built in this, and a quantity of small volcanic rocks are piled on top of it. As the fire burns out these sink to the bottom, and they are spread over the bottom and around the sides of the pit. The “kalo” roots are then laid in, mats are spread over them, then soil, until they are completely covered, excepting a small hole at the top, into which water is poured. That hole is then stopped, and the cooking commences.
“But how do they cook?” you may ask.
When the water is poured in, the rocks, being hot, speedily convert it into steam, and, as it cannot escape, it cooks the roots.
I have seen large hogs cooked in this way, and meat is sweeter cooked in this fashion than by any other method I know anything about. The native men on the Islands do all the cooking.
When the “kalo” has been in long enough to cook, it is uncovered; the skin is washed off, and it is pounded with a stone pestle, on a large flat slab of wood, until it is like a mass of dough. Then it is put into a calabash, or gourd, and by the next day fermentation has commenced; or, as we would say if it were bread, it has “raised.” Water is then added to it, and it is mixed until it is a little thinner than we usually make mush. There is a little sour taste about it the first day. But it is never eaten at that time by the natives, unless they have no other food. They like it best when it is quite sour. This is what they call “poi,” and there is no other food that they think can equal it.
Their usual method of eating is worthy of notice. A large calabash of “poi” is placed on the mats; around this the family seat themselves.
In families where they make any pretensions to cleanliness, a small calabash of water is passed around, and each one rinses his or her fingers before commencing to eat.
To keep off the flies, a boy or a girl stands waving a kahili, which is made by fastening feathers to a long, slender stick.
In eating, they dip their first two fingers into the calabash, load them with the “poi,” and pass them into their mouths. The sucking of the fingers, the gusto with which they eat, and the incessant conversation mingled with laughter which they keep up, would lead a bystander to conclude that they enjoy their food. And they do. If the “poi” be good, and they have plenty of fish or meat to eat with it, they have great pleasure in eating. They think white men who eat together without conversing very unsocial beings. They have an idea that it contributes to health, and to the enjoyment of the food to have pleasant and lively conversation while eating.
Before leaving Lahaina, I had tasted a teaspoonful of “poi;” but the smell of it and the calabash in which it was contained was so much like that of a book-binder’s old, sour, paste-pot that when I put it to my mouth I gagged at it, and would have vomited had I swallowed it. But in traveling among the people I soon learned that if I did not eat “poi” I would put them to great inconvenience; for they would have to cook separate food for me every meal. This would make me burdensome to them, and might interfere with my success. I, therefore, determined to learn to live on their food, and, that I might do so, I asked the Lord to make it sweet to me. My prayer was heard and answered; the next time I tasted it, I ate a bowlful, and I positively liked it. It was my food, whenever I could get it from that time as long as I remained on the islands.
It may sound strange, yet it is true, that I have sat down to a table on which bread was placed, and though I had not tasted the latter for months, I took the “poi” in preference to the bread; it was sweeter to me than any food I had ever eaten.
Chapter 7
It was during a very wet season that I told the people I was going around the island. They thought it a great undertaking, and tried to persuade me not to go. I evidently had their sympathies; I was boyish-looking, and they called me a keiki, which in their language literally means “a child.”
Many times as I traveled along they would take my valise from me and carry it; and when I came to a stream of water, they would pack me across it.
I passed through a number of villages, over a very rough, hilly country, and late one night reached the town of Wailuku.
Up to this time, though I had been treated very kindly, I had not met with the persons whom I had been led to expect, by the manifestations of the Spirit, would receive my testimony.
The main part of the town of Wailuku was on the other side of a stream, in attempting to cross which I got wet.
There were some missionaries living here, and as I passed through the town, I hoped that I should get an opportunity of being introduced to them; for I had made it a rule, thus far, not to pass a missionary without bearing testimony to him respecting my mission. But I was dusty and toil-worn, and felt some diffidence about introducing myself.
By this time I had partly come to the conclusion that, as the weather was so unfavorable I would return to Lahaina; and in passing through Wailuku I took a road which I thought led in that direction. I had scarcely got out of the town when I felt impressed to return, the Spirit telling me that if I would do so I should get an opportunity of being introduced to the missionary who resided there.
As I passed the churchyard two half-white women emerged from a house near by, and when they saw me they called to some men who were in the house “E ka haole!” which means, “Oh, the white man!” This they repeated two or three times, calling at the same time one of the men by name.
As I walked along towards the picket fence, three men came out of the house, and stepped up towards the gate. When I got opposite to them I saluted them, being greeted by them in return.
I had passed but a few feet when the leader of the men inquired of me where I was going. I told them I thought of returning to Lahaina, on account of the weather. He said that as this was Saturday, I had better stop until Monday with him.
He inquired of me who and what I was, and upon my informing him, his desire to have me stay was increased. I went into the house with him, and, after some little conversation, and an invitation to eat food, which he offered. He proposed that we should go up and see the missionary.
This was what I wanted, and I embraced his proposal gladly.
The missionary’s name was Conde; he was a native of Connecticut, and had been sent out by the American Board of Foreign Missions.
We had a very pleasant conversation, during which he made many inquiries respecting Utah, my object in coming to the islands, and our belief. He said he could not believe anything in modern revelation; but expressed a wish to read some of our works.
I lent him the Voice of Warning, though I had little hope of it having any effect on him, as he had condemned the doctrines before he had heard or read them.
The moment I entered into the house of this native and saw him and his two friends, I felt convinced that I had met the men for whom I had been looking.
The man who owned the house was a judge, and a leading man in that section. His name was Jonatana H. Napela. It was he who visited Salt Lake City in 1866, in company with Elder George Nebeker. His companions’ names were Uaua and Kaleohano. They were all three afterwards baptized and ordained to be Elders, Napela has since died in the faith, and the others are still members of the Church.
They were graduates of the high school in the country, fine speakers and reasoners, and were men of standing and influence in the community.
Napela was every anxious to know my belief, and wherein our doctrines differed from those taught by the missionaries in their midst. I explained to him, as well as I could, our principles, with which he seemed very well satisfied. But next day after the service in their church, Mr. Conde called Napela and a number of the leading men together, and endeavored to poison their minds against our doctrines, by telling all kinds of lies about the Prophet Joseph and the people of Utah.
I learned this at supper by the inquiries which Napela and a number of his friends who were present, made of me. Their questions were of such a nature as to prove to me that somebody had been telling them lies. I afterwards learned that it was the missionary’s work.
The Spirit rested powerfully upon me and I told them I had the truth, and besought them, as they valued their souls, not to reject it until they could understand it for themselves; that I should soon be able to explain it fully unto them; that the principles were contained in the Bible, and were eternal truth. They were melted to tears, and promised me that they would not decide that our principles were false until they had a full opportunity of judging for themselves; which promise, I am happy to say, most of them kept, and I had the pleasure of baptizing them into the Church.
I am particular in mentioning this circumstance to show the boys who may read this work that, when they go on missions, and they are in the line of their duty, it is their privilege to have revelations from the Lord to guide them in all their steps. I was led to expect, before I left Lahaina, that I would find those who would receive me. Up to the time I reached Wailuku, I had not found them, and then when I thought it best to go back by another road, and through other villages, to Lahaina, I was told if I would return into Wailuku that I should obtain my desire in getting an interview with the missionary.
The half-white women who saw me were Napela’s wife and her sister. There was something very remarkable in their crying out as they did to him and his companions in the house when they saw me. They met whites very frequently, and it was nothing strange for them to pass as I did. This was often alluded to in conversations which we had afterwards, and they wondered why they should have done so. I know that it was the Lord’s doings; for if they had not called out, I should have passed unnoticed and missed them. To my sight, the Lord’s hand was plainly visible in it all, and I thanked Him for His mercy and goodness.
Chapter 8
On the Monday morning I returned to Lahaina, and received a warm welcome from the brethren. They were much interested in the recital of the incidents of my trip. From that time, however, I stayed but little there. Much as I liked the society of the Elders, I could not be content there, for I felt that I ought to be among the natives, trying to teach them the principles of the gospel, and there seemed to be a better opening for this work in other places than at Lahaina.
There being none of the Elders on the Island of Oahu, it was decided that Elders Bigler and Farrer should go there instead of to the island of Molokai. When they sailed for that island, which they did in a few weeks, Brother James Keeler was left alone with no one to converse with in English, unless he occasionally met a white man. This gave him a better opportunity of acquiring the language than he had when we were all there. After some weeks he also was led to leave there and to travel around the island until he found a people who were willing to receive him and the principles which he taught.
When the Presbyterian missionary at Wailuku saw that I had come back there he was displeased. He used all his influence against me among his congregation, and one Sunday he came out in public and delivered a most abusive discourse against the Prophet Joseph and our principles, in which he gave an entirely false statement of the cause of his death, and also warned the people against me.
I happened to be present when this sermon was delivered. While listening to it a variety of emotions agitated me. My first impulse was to jump upon one of the seats as soon as he had got through, and tell the people he had told them a pack of falsehoods. But this I thought would produce confusion, and result in no good. When the services were over, I walked around to the pulpit where he stood. He knew how short a time we had been on the islands, and, I believed, had no idea that I could understand what he had said; when he saw me, therefore, his face turned pale, and to me he looked like a man who had been caught in a mean, low act.
I told him I wanted to give him correct information respecting the things he had told the people that morning, that he might remove the effect of the lies which he had repeated to them; for, I said, they were base lies, and I was a living witness that they were.
He said he did not believe they were lies, and he should not tell the people anything different to what he had said; he thought he had but done his duty, and if the people had been warned against Mahomet in his day, he would not have got so many disciples.
I bore him a solemn testimony respecting the prophet Joseph, and the truth of the work, and said that I would stand as a witness against him at the judgment seat of God, for having told that people lies and for refusing to tell them the truth when it had been shown to him.
Much more was said, for our conversation lasted about half an hour, and while we conversed many of the congregation, some of whom understood English, crowded around.
This was the first occurrence of the kind in my experience in which I was personally prominent, and it had an importance in my eyes which it would scarcely have were it to happen to-day. One of those who listened to and understood this conversation was a brother-in-law of Napela’s, a half-white and a circuit judge, and a leading man on that island. He gave a report of the conversation which was very favorable to me, and altogether I think the missionary’s sermon did good. He intended it for evil; but the Lord overruled it, as He does all the plots and acts of the wicked, for the advancement of His purposes.
The Lord gave me favor in the sight of the natives, and I had their sympathy, though they dare not avow it, for fear of the consequences.
Another reason of the sermon not having so good an effect was the preacher’s allusions to Napela. He had called him by name, as the man at whose house I stopped, and denounced him. This, of course, was distasteful to Napela’s relatives and friends, many of whom were present. Thus this man, who fought in this manner against the work of God, did not prosper as he expected, neither then nor afterwards.
The Lord has said in one of the revelations to His servants:
“Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and if any man shall lift his voice against you, he shall be confounded in mine own due time.”
I have found every word of this to be true.
Napela was not frightened by what the missionary had said. He was threatened with removal from his judgeship and with being cut off from their church; but he manifested no disposition to have me leave his house.
The pressure, however, finally became so strong through the continued efforts of the preacher, that I thought it would be wiser for me to withdraw from Wailuku for awhile. I felt for Napela, for he had a heavy opposition to contend with, and I thought that if I went elsewhere, the persecution would not be so severe.
There was a place called Kula, (which means a country near the base of a mountain) where there were a few scattered villages, about eighteen miles from Wailuku, to which I was led to go. It was rather an out-of-the-way place, though just before I went there, a brisk trade in Irish potatoes, which grew spontaneously in that region, had been carried on; the people hauling them in carts, from there to a small port not far distant. These potatoes were carried in schooners to California to supply the gold diggers. But they were of a poor quality, and when the farmers of California began to raise them the trade ceased. The business had begun to fall off when I went there.
I stopped at the house of a man by the name of Pake, who had charge of Napela’s affairs in Kula, and to whom he had given me a letter of introduction when he found that I had determined to go there. He received me very kindly, also a man by the name of Maiola, whom I had met in Wailuku. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church.
Chapter 9
Kula, the district where I had gone to live, was visited about once in three months by the Presbyterian missionary who had it in charge. The Sunday after my arrival there was his day to make his quarterly visit, and I went down to the village where he was to hold his meeting. His name was Green, and he and I had met a few weeks previously, and had a conversation in which he grew very angry and said he would curse me.
There was a large attendance of natives at this meeting, and he took for his text the 8th verse of the first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
His whole sermon, as well as his prayer previously, was directed against us, warning the natives about us; but the sermon was the poorest and most childish attempt to show what the gospel of Christ was, that I ever listened to.
After he had finished, I arose and told the people it was best to examine the gospel well, and see what its nature and requirements were, and also for each to learn whether it was in his possession or not. I then commenced to show them what the gospel was.
Up to this time Mr. Green had sat amazed, as it appeared, at my audacity. Such a thing as a person arising in a meeting and questioning what he had said, or attempting to teach anything different, was new in his experience, and he seemed so astonished that he could not speak. But when he saw that I had the attention of the people and they were listening to what I said, he aroused himself, opened a catechism which he called Aio ka la, or “Food of the day,” and commenced asking the people questions. He was determined to interrupt me, and to divert the minds of the people from what I said. Some of his deacons helped him; they answered his questions in a loud voice, and confusion began to prevail.
I saw that no further good could be done then, so I told the congregation that I intended to hold meetings, and would have opportunities of more fully explaining to them the principles of the gospel, and I stopped.
He warned the people not to entertain me, nor to salute me; if they did, they would be partakers in my evil deeds.
To this I made a suitable reply and withdrew.
From this time I commenced to labor in a more public manner among the people, speaking in their meeting houses as I could get opportunity, and doing all in my power to give them a knowledge of our principles.
My speaking before Mr. Green had a good effect; the people saw that I preached the doctrines of the Bible, and that I was not afraid to meet the preachers; the moral effect of this boldness upon a simple people like them, I found to be excellent.
And here let me say that courage in advocating and defending the truth, when tempered with wisdom, is a quality men always admire. The fear of man, and the fear of telling that portion of the truth which he is sent to declare, are feelings that no Elder should ever indulge in. The man who suffers this fear to prevail with him is never successful. The fear of God and the fear of doing wrong, is the only fear that a Latter-day Saint should ever feel.
My training during the first two years of our settlement of Salt Lake Valley, when we were pinched for food, was of excellent service to me during the days of which I write. I should have thought the meagre diet we had in the valley, rich living if I had had it then.
The people were very poor, and I did not wish to be a burden to them in the least. I avoided eating anything, therefore, that I thought they relished or that they had only occasionally. I have told you that potatoes grew spontaneously there; but the country was too warm for them; this, together with the lack of cultivation, made them very poor. The potato when good was not a vegetable I liked very much. But there I could get nothing else, excepting whortleberries, which grew wild, and which I frequently picked and ate, until one day they made me sick, after which I could not eat them any more.
I might have eaten the potatoes better if I could have had salt to eat with them; but this article they were out of just then. The only thing eatable besides the potatoes was molasses. I have never liked to eat potatoes and molasses together since then.
I well recollect how I enjoyed a meal of “poi” on one occasion during this time. The “kalo” out of which it was made, had been cooked and pounded at some distance from there (“kalo” did not grow at that time at the part of the Kula where I was), and packed in the leaves of a shrub called ki; when thus packed it was called pai kalo. It had been warm when packed, which, with the heat of the weather had made it sour and maggoty. But the people had cooked it over again, and made it into “poi.”
My potato and molasses diet had removed all my fastidiousness about what I ate, and I thought this “poi” the sweetest food I had ever tasted. Some people eat maggoty cheese because they like it; I ate this “poi” because it was the best and most palatable food I had tasted for weeks.
But what I lacked in food the Lord made up to me in the goodly degree of His Spirit which He bestowed upon me. What I had to eat was a matter of indifference to me. I was happy, and I rejoiced as I never had before. Dreams, visions and revelations were given to me, and the communion of the Spirit was most sweet and delicious.
I learned a lesson then, which I trust will never be forgotten: that there is a happiness which the servants and Saints of God can have that is not of earth, and that is not in the least dependent for its existence upon the possession of food, raiment or any earthly thing.
Chapter 10
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.
Chapter 11
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.
Chapter 12
Not satisfied with bringing religious influences to bear against us, the missionaries (of whom mention was made in the last chapter) stirred up the owners of the land and the officer having it in charge to stop the meetings and to threaten the people with punishment if they persisted in holding them. This officer assembled the people, and called them out individually, and tried to make them promise that they would not attend any of our meetings again. To accomplish his design, he used both persuasion and threats; he said that if they met again, he would have them bound and either carried to the capital of that island—Lahaina—or to the seat of government—Honolulu.
In consequence of these interruptions and persecutions, of which Elder Keeler brought me word, at Kula, where I then was, it was deemed best for me to go to Honolulu, and, if possible, see the king, or some officers of the government.
Elder Philip B. Lewis, who was then living at Honolulu, and was president of the mission, and I saw several of the king’s ministers. The American Commissioner espoused our cause very warmly, and demanded of the government all the rights for us which were extended to any preachers. We did not see the king, his health being very poor; but afterwards, at Lahaina, I had an interview with the two princes, who have since been kings, and from them received assurances of protection. The visit, altogether, was satisfactory and resulted in good.
I have found that nothing is ever lost by Elders standing up for their rights. People respect others who are spirited in claiming the privileges which belong to them; and no Elder should ever forget that he is the ambassador of the King of heaven, and that he should maintain his calling. If he be firm and respectful, he will be respected.
We succeeded in building a fine meeting-house at Keanae, and in all that region faithfully preached to the people.
I told you in a previous chapter about the manner in which I had been treated by the missionary at Wailuku, the place where Napela lived. His persecution had been so strong that I thought it wise to withdraw from that place for awhile; but the time had now come for me to return; I felt impressed to do so; and, in company with Elder Francis A. Hammond, I reached there one evening. We did not know where to go to obtain quarters for the night; for the missionary who lived there had used every means in his power to frighten the people against entertaining us. Even Napela, who had previously afforded me a home, was under heavy condemnation for his kindness towards me. I felt delicate about going to his house again, thinking, probably, he might be reluctant to entertain us in view of the opposition which would be sure to follow.
When we got to the edge of the town in the hills, one of us went and prayed for the Lord to open our way and raise us up friends, while the other watched to prevent interruption. We felt led to go to Napela’s house, thinking that if he received us kindly we would stop with him, but if he appeared cold and distant, we would go elsewhere. We found him in conversation with four or five intelligent natives; most of whom had been classmates of his in the high-school. One of them, Kamakau, which translated means the fish-hook, was a preacher, a very well-educated man, and said to be the best native orator in their church. They were questioning Napela about our principles, arguing with him upon them, he defending them to the best of his ability.
Our arrival seemed most opportune; he was glad to see us, gave us a warm welcome, and soon transferred the conversation to us. At this time, Brother Hammond’s knowledge of the language was very limited, so I found myself the principal spokesman. We sat up until the roosters crowed in the morning, conversing upon our principles and reasoning from the Bible. For some time they were disposed to combat our views, but finally were silenced and sat and listened to what I said, occasionally asking questions.
This was the commencement of a great work in that region. The preaching of the gospel created a great excitement; the people flew by hundreds to hear the testimony, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the missionary who had treated me so badly and who had so bitterly opposed and lied about the work, almost deserted by his congregation; they having left his church to hear us preach, and see us baptize.
I confess that to see him thus treated pleased me; I did not wish him to receive any bodily injury, but I had hoped and prayed the day would come when he would see his followers desert his church, embrace the truth and leave him to himself.
We baptized a large number of people at Wailuku and the adjacent towns, erected a large meeting-house at that place and smaller ones at the other villages, and organized large and flourishing branches of the Church.
When Elder Hammond and his wife came to the island they had one child. Several children were born to them on the mission before they returned. After we had been successful in organizing branches at Wailuku, Waiehu and other places around there, Elder Hammond brought his family from Lahaina, where they had been living, to Waiehu. There they lived for some time. Afterwards, through his labors, a branch was raised up in Lahaina, and they moved there. All the Elders who labored in that field have reason to remember their kindness to them. Under their roof we always found a warm welcome, and it was home—a home which men who were constantly speaking the native language, living in the native houses and having to conform, to some extent at least, to their modes of eating, could appreciate. Sister Hammond’s unvarying kindness, her patience and cheerfulness in the midst of privation, and her unsparing labors in our behalf, to sew and do other work for us, which, among such a people we had need to have done, as well as his constant efforts for our comfort, will never be forgotten by those who enjoyed their hospitality.
The contrast between my position then and what it had been when formerly at Wailuku, was to me a constant cause of gratitude to the Lord. He had revealed unto me that it was my duty to remain on the islands, acquire the language and bear testimony of His great work to the people. He had given me many promises connected therewith. And now I began to feel how true His words had been. Many and many a time, when I sat in the meetings and heard the people speak in the demonstration of the Spirit of the Lord, filled with its power and its holy influence, bearing testimony to the truth of the gospel, to its restoration and to the gifts which had been bestowed, my joy was so great that I could scarcely contain myself. I felt that, however devotedly I might labor, I could not show the gratitude to the Lord which I felt, at being permitted to receive the Priesthood and to exercise it for the salvation of the children of men. Surely, never were men happier than we who labored in the ministry among that people in those days; we had a fullness of joy, and it seemed as if there were no room for more.
The people, too, with all their faults and weaknesses, were greatly blessed. The power of God rested mightily upon them, and many a time their faces would glisten and appear almost white under the influence of the Spirit. They knew that Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were Prophets and servants of God. This knowledge had come to them through obedience to the commandments.
The report of what was being done went through all the islands. The natives frequently went from one island to another. They are a talkative, gossipy people, and exceedingly fond of telling news, which never loses anything after its first recital. I afterwards traveled all over the group, and I found myself well known by name to all the people. This was frequently embarrassing to me, because I felt that I could not meet the expectations which had been created respecting my skill in the language, etc., etc.
The king and his nobles all heard of us, and of what we were doing, and though we were often misrepresented, we could not blame the Hawaiians for much of this. If left to themselves, they had but little of the spirit of slander and persecution so common to the white race. They were naturally kind and hospitable. Had there been no priestcraft among them, misleading them and poisoning their minds against the truth, and tempting them with worldly advantages and popularity, the entire nation, I am convinced, could have been readily brought to receive and believe in the principles of the gospel. But everything was done to have them shun us, to inspire them with suspicion, to make us unpopular. These influences with those vicious and destructive practices which are fast hurrying the nation to extinction, were against us. But for all this, we had wonderful success among them.
Like our Indian race, the Sandwich Islander is being destroyed and blotted from the face of the earth, by too much of what is called in Babylon, civilization.
There is one remarkable feature of the Hawaiian character which I will here note. Among all the races of white men of which I have yet heard where the gospel is preached, the practice of sin, and especially with the other sex, is attended with the loss of the Spirit; and unless there is deep and heartfelt repentance, such sinners are apt to become enemies of the truth, and are frequently bitter in their opposition to the work of God and His servants. Not so with the Hawaiians, so far as my observation extended. It is true that by indulging in sin they would lose the Spirit; that could be plainly seen; but I never saw that bitter apostate feeling among them which is so common among white men who apostatize. They were not given over to the spirit of unbelief as other races are.
This difference struck me, and I account for it in two ways; first, because of their ignorance the Lord does not hold them to so strict an accountability as He does us; and second, they are of the seed of Israel, and to them peculiar promises have been made. I believe the same characteristics will be found among the Lamanites; but that can be better told by those who have experience in laboring among them.