miraculous healing—meet and confound the josephites—further missionary success—meet a native who was present when i was sentenced to be burned—elder john layton's grave—arrange to return to tahiti—disappointed—preach a funeral sermon—forbidden to hold public meetings—blind woman one hundred and twenty years old—her testimony—administer to her for her eyesight, and she is enabled to see a little—she praises the lord—preaching and baptizing—sail for papeete—an odd cargo—hard voyage—held by a calm—land on tahiti—sail for avaroa—on a well-ordered schooner—call at various islands—lance a carbuncle—christmas day at sea—watermelons—a beautiful residence and cordial welcome—perform three marriage ceremonies—conference of saints in the tuamotu islands—meet a native chilean—visit various places—public welcome—fishing—on the island of anaa—visit where i was imprisoned—graves of those concerned in the trouble then—warrant served on me—summoned to the government house—warned against creating a disturbance.
it was on october 6, 1892, that the first case of miraculous healing after our arrival occurred. we were becoming recipients of greater kindness from the natives, and that day roai, the oldest man on the island, was brought to us, shaking violently with a chill. he appeared to be dying. some cocoanut oil was brought—no other was obtainable—and we blessed it and anointed and blessed him, when the chill immediately left him. he rested well, and next morning was in his usual good health.
on the 7th there was quite an argument among the people as to whether the josephites or the mormons should have the meeting house. the decision was in our favor, and we were also offered a house in the village of taahuaia. the josephite preacher, tapuni, wanted to hold joint meetings with us, as we both followed the same form of baptism; but we refused, as we could not make any alliance with him. we represented the true church of jesus christ, while his organization was by persons who had been excommunicated, and had not divine authority.
when sunday came we held three meetings, blessed fourteen children, and took dinner with the policeman. next day, the 10th, we ordained ote an elder, and added nine persons to the church by baptism. on the 11th we met a man—the fourth on the island—who was on the island of raivavai when the natives had built a fire to burn me, and when i was delivered by the power of god. they claimed to have been present when i was sentenced, but denied taking any part in the proceedings.
friday, october 14th, we bade the saints of mahu farewell (having, the day previous, ordained two elders, two priests, one teacher and one deacon) and went to taahuaia, where the people were quite indifferent to us. from time to time, however, we were able to converse with some of them, and baptized several. on the 23rd, the governor gave us permission to hold meetings, and we began doing so. i visited the grave of elder john layton on the 24th, and on the 25th arranged to leave on a schooner for tahiti. my health had been quite poor for some time. i did not go on the boat, however, for it was so heavily laden that there was no room, so it sailed on the 27th without me. monday, october 31st, i preached the funeral sermon of a little girl.
on the 5th of november, the josephite preacher and his wife called on me. in the evening a special meeting of the people was held, the purpose of which was kept secret from us. that night i dreamed i was on trial and the judge said he knew i was not guilty, but because of the demand of the people he would have to give judgment against me and assess a fine of twenty dollars, which the court would pay. i awoke and told elder seegmiller the natives had made a decision against us, as we learned the next day, when the governor withdrew from us the privilege of holding meetings.
we went to mataura on november 7th, to see a man possessed of a devil. the evil spirit was dumb, and for three years the man had not spoken to anyone, but sat or laid around. we also visited the school where there were about thirty students, and the teacher called one pupil to the blackboard, where the exercise in writing required of her was well done. then we called on tetuatehiapa, the oldest woman on the island. she was one hundred and twenty years of age, and had been blind for eight years. the people said she had insisted that she would live till the servants of god came from salt lake city. when told who we were she rejoiced greatly, and exclaimed, "i always said you would come again! the lord has brought you, and has prolonged my life till you came. i rejoice exceedingly at the mercies of the lord!" on november 8th, we baptized her with seven others, and on the 10th administered to her for her blindness by laying hands on her head and blessing her. when we had attended to the ordinance she stated that she could see a little, which was more than she had done for eight years. "god be praised for his mercies," she said.
sunday, november 13th, i preached twice to large congregations at mahu, where we arrived on the 11th. we also had a number of applicants for baptism, and on the 14th eight members were added to the church by the ordinance, and we blessed two children. a catholic priest called on us, and i had a pointed discussion with him on authority in the church, and the true gospel. we parted good friends, he promising to come again next day, but he did not do so; although he passed by the house, but never looked towards us. on the 16th we added five more souls to the church by baptism.
our missionary labors continued in different villages, and on november 23 elder seegmiller baptized the school teacher at mataura, also two of the governor's daughters. on the 21st the captain of a schooner that had called at the island told us we could go to tahiti on his vessel, starting on the 24th. elder seegmiller aided me in preparing for the voyage, and i bade farewell to the people, who were very much attached to us. i shook hands with the governor, when his eyes filled with tears, he kissed me, and was so full of emotion that it was difficult for him to speak. in due time the vessel sailed, elder seegmiller going on it to mataura, three miles down the coast, where he went ashore, as we had agreed, and i was alone so far as a missionary companion was concerned.
at mataura the french police justice and his wife, a marquesas woman, came aboard, and at 6 p.m. we weighed anchor. the schooner was very much crowded, the cargo including four women, two children, fourteen men, three horses, twenty hogs, one goat, one dog, about one hundred chickens, eight or ten turkeys, eleven thousand cocoanuts, and a lot of other things. the most comfortable place i could find was on the companion-way, where i sat, as i was not able to use my crutches on the vessel. the first night out i found i could not sleep in my berth, as it was too cramped and the tobacco smoke and foul air were too much for me, so i camped on the companion-way with my blanket, and was very seasick. the next night i fared about the same, and it was pretty hard on me; but the third night, saturday, i went below before the others did, and obtained a fairly good night's rest.
sunday, november 27, we sighted tahiti, but a heavy rain and calm held us back over monday, tuesday and wednesday. on the last-named day the crew caught a shark, and we had some of it boiled for supper. thursday, december 1st, we landed at papeete in a heavy rainstorm, and quite exhausted. i was met by my son elando, and once on shore i was refreshed with palatable food and good news from my family. we spent our time the next fourteen days in missionary labors in papeete, to the best advantage, and on the sixth baptized eight persons into the church. my health was decidedly poor at this time.
we had arranged with mr. henry marvin for passage on the schooner avaroa to the tuamotu islands, sailing on december 15th. we left on the date named and though we had some headwinds and calms, we had a good voyage; for the captain (a hawaiian) and crew were agreeable, the vessel was kept clean and in perfect order, and the table was well supplied with a good variety of food. we sighted several islands, and on the 20th stopped at niau, which has a population of one hundred, all members of the josephite church. their presiding officer and a number of his people came on board and gave us six chickens and six baskets of cocoanuts as a token of friendship. i talked to them on the gospel message i had to deliver as a missionary.
we went ashore on the island of apatai on the 23rd, as mr. marvin had some business there. the people were rather indifferent to us as missionaries. i visited the governor, who said he had been my servant on the island of anaa when i was there forty years before. he was very much afflicted with a carbuncle on the back of his head and neck, and could move about only by crawling on his hands and knees. i lanced his carbuncle, and he recovered.
christmas day, 1892, was spent on the schooner avaroa, and we sought the coolest place we could find and ate watermelons, thinking of our mountain home and the loved ones in utah. next day we sailed into port at taroa, and were met by elder joseph w. damron and some native saints. i was welcomed to the home of mr. mapuhi, a seven-roomed frame house, built on pillars of coral stone and beautifully furnished in american fashion. the place seemed perfectly lovely, and a surprise for us in the way of a spring mattress to sleep on was doubly welcome. the following day was the 27th, and i had the privilege of preaching to a good audience.
the 28th of december was wednesday, and the morning was marked by the receipt of an invitation to a triple wedding and feast to be held that afternoon at the government building. i attended and by request performed the marriage ceremony for the three couples. i also availed myself of the opportunity to address the assemblage briefly on the subjects of marriage and baptism for the dead. this day i had the unusual experience of standing in the door of the house where we were lodging and viewing a large school of whales pass by.
new year's day, 1893, was the time for a conference of the saints to be held on the island of faiti, so preparations were made on december 29th for us to leave taroa. on this date i met a native chilean, who said he came from san antonio, about thirty miles south of valparaiso. when i heard this, it called to my mind a statement of dr. j. m. bernhisel, that he had learned from the prophet joseph smith that that was near the place where lehi and his colony, told of in the book of mormon, landed in america, on their journey from jerusalem. in the afternoon we started, on mapuhi's schooner, for faiti, six boatloads of the saints going along. our vessel had twenty persons aboard. the wind was fair, and on saturday, december 31st, we reached faiti, landing about 9:30 a.m. our reception was rather cool, as we were ushered into a large room, almost bare save a long table and a few chairs, and were left alone much of the time. however, we had good beds at night. in the morning, sunday, january 1st, we held meeting, and i called for those who had known me on my former mission to stand up. seventeen persons arose to their feet, and stated that they remembered and recognized me. our meetings at conference were well attended. the presiding officer of the church in the tuamotu islands was a blind man, and he asked me a number of questions to satisfy himself that i was the same one who had been there forty years before with elders pratt and grouard. i baptized him at that time. when he was fully convinced he remarked that if i had not come he would not have received the young missionaries, referring to elders damron, jones, and my son elando.
it was january 4th before the people gave us the public reception that was customary. at the ceremony an aged man related how they had prayed that i might come back to them again, to teach them the true gospel. that day the french gen d' armes made some charges of irregularity against the owner of our boat, saying the captain had not the proper papers. it was generally understood, however, that the trouble originated with the catholic priest. matters were finally settled. next morning i went fishing with our landlord and caught six nice rock cod, where the sea was ten fathoms deep. the water was so clear that through a glass we could see the bottom, with the myriad beauties and great variety of fish at that place. the anchor of the canoe got fast in a coral reef, and our host dived down and released it.
we continued to hold meetings all the week to give the people a correct understanding of our mission; then, on january 9th, my son elando and i sailed for the island of anaa, arriving there at noon that day, and being warmly welcomed by the people of tuuhora, where we landed.
on the 11th, i walked over the ground where i had been held a prisoner by the french government, and visited the cemetery where was the grave of the policeman who had been killed in an affray subsequent to my departure. on the afternoon of the 13th, i visited the graves of those who were hanged by the french government for their part in the tragedy. upon my return from the cemetery, a warrant was served on me by a policeman. it was in both french and english, the english translation reading as follows:
"monsieur jacob, ministre mormon:
"the gen d' arme chief of port at anaa invites mr. jacob (james), mormon minister at tuuhora, to come to the government house at tuuhora (fare hau), to listen to a communication which he desires him to hear.
"cy. cours,
"the gen d' arme chief of post.
"tuuhora, 13th january, 1893."
of course i responded to this invitation from the chief of police, so with my son elando reported as requested, to listen to an order made by the governor of the tuamotu group of islands. the chief of police warned us particularly that if we caused the slightest disturbance among the people over the meeting house, or otherwise, it might result seriously to me. this was repeated six times, in an emphatic tone of voice. the officer refused utterly to hear anything from us, saying, "i follow out my instructions. you must not step your foot inside of the meeting house at temeraia, nor the house here."
finding it was useless for us to say anything, we bade the chief of police and the interpreter (mr. burns, an englishman) good-bye, and left them to their stench of strong drink.
