[MUSIC PLAYING]

Welcome to the Church History Library's Men and Women of Faith Lecture Series. Tonight's lecture is titled "The Lord Has Opened Our Way-- George Q. Cannon and the Beginnings of the Hawaiian Mission." Our presenter is Chad M. Orton, a historian working for the Church History Department. I am Debra Xavier, and I work for marketing and communications in the department. Chad Orton is a Church History specialist in the Church History Department currently working in the Historic Sites Division. He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in history from Brigham Young University. As part of his work in the Church History Department, he edited the recently published Journals of George Q. Cannon-- Hawaiian Mission, 1850-1854. Prior to working on George's Hawaiian mission journals, Chad's knowledge of Hawaii was pretty much limited to what he had gleaned from Hawaii Five-O. [LAUGHTER] Initially, he was quite surprised to find that George never used the phrase "Book 'em, Danno." In spite of this disappointment, Chad still believes that George's mission journal is among the finest in the Church. Chad's previous publications include Joseph Smith's America-- His Life and Times and 40 Ways to Look at Brigham Young-- A New Approach to a Remarkable Man. Welcome, Chad Orton. [APPLAUSE]

Thank you, Deb. It is good to be with you today. Brothers and sisters, aloha. Aloha. That was really good. Thank you. That makes me feel a little at home. On September 24, 1850, 23-year-old George Q. Cannon accepted a call as one of the first 10 missionaries to serve in the Sandwich, or Hawaiian, Islands. For nearly four years, George was at the center of one of the most inspiring and successful 19th century LDS missions. During this time, he began to develop the traits that would lead to him becoming one of the great Latter-day Saints of the 19th century, including service as a counselor to four mission presidents. For the last several years, I've had the privilege of studying his journal and seeing him grow before my eyes through his written words and through the writings of those who knew him at the time. George's Hawaiian mission, in many regards, is the epitome of D&C 4. He approached it with faith, hope, charity, and love, and with an eye single to the glory of God. Throughout his mission, he also manifested virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, and diligence. As a result, God gave him power to do the work that he was called to do, and the power of God subsequently became manifest in an individual who put his faith in God and earnestly worked to become a man of God. Because the work exceeded George's natural reach, the beginnings of the Hawaiian mission is a story of faith, obedience, sacrifice, and a love of God and of mankind. George's mission, however, almost didn't happen. There are many points along the way that the mission and George's growth could have been sidetracked. While "unique" is an often overused word and every mission has elements unique to itself, I don't know of another mission that shared specific elements similar to the beginnings of the Hawaiian mission. From the moment the calls were issued, and for some time afterward, the mission seemingly alternated between ill-fated and inspired, and the work was often on the verge of imploding. Because George and others called to the work in the Islands chose to serve God with all their heart, might, mind, and strength, they were both able to overcome these obstacles they faced and to grow from them. The Hawaiian mission technically had its beginnings in the goldfields of California. For George, however, the story began a year earlier in the fall of 1849. When Church leaders asked him to go to California to work in the mines, regarding the assignment, he later wrote, "My instructions were to go to California and be guided by the counsels of Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, two of the Twelve Apostles." Nearly a year later, Elder Rich issued calls to George and other Latter-day Saints in September 1850 to serve missions in Hawaii. At the time, George was to reside at Slapjack Bar, a mining camp located on the Middle Fork in the American River high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Like George, most of those called to Hawaii had spent an unpleasant and unfruitful year away from home. Of their shared experience, Henry Bigler wrote, and these are sentiments I think George could relate to, "I am thankful that I am well and that the Lord has preserved my life thus far. I have exposed myself much, both to Indians and weather, more than I ever want to again, living out in storms, and snow, and rain, without shelter. Some of my brethren have died. Most all of my brethren have been sick, having been much exposed working in the water up to their arms and necks building dams to get a little gold. I am tired of mining and long to be home among the Saints." Prior to George officially receiving his call, Elder Rich had hinted that he would have to go to the Sandwich Islands for the winter, as well as some of the other brethren. I don't know if you noticed that, but the word was "have" to go. In issuing the call, Rich asked George if he had any objections, to which George responded that he was on hand to do whatever Rich thought was best as Brigham Young had counseled him prior to leaving Utah that if he obeyed Rich's counsel, quote, "He should be blessed."

On the surface, expediency as much as inspiration, seemed to be behind Rich extending these mission calls. He believed it would be as cheap for these gold miners to winter in Hawaii and preach the gospel as to remain in California. During the winter months where they might fall prey to gambling and drinking, which was widely associated with an idle miner's life, as Henry Bigler put it, it would be like killing two birds with one stone. Although Rich only talked about these missionaries spending the winter in Hawaii, he did tell them this, that, "When we arrived at the Islands to act as the Spirit dictated in regard to our duties saying that we would know better what to do or what course to pursue better than he could tell us." While the inspiration behind the call was good, in many regards, the timing of this mission call couldn't have been worse. And I don't know in the history of the Church whether there have been a few groups that were less prepared to serve a mission.

They didn't have proper missionary clothes because they had been living in the mines. And their mining experience had been a financial disaster, thus they didn't have money to purchase clothing. They also didn't have money to pay their way to Hawaii. Many, like George, didn't even have a Book of Mormon with them, nor had they publicly spoke in a Church setting more than five minutes. That was George's experience. All the groups seemed to know about the place where they were called was that it was in the opposite direction of where they really wanted to go, and that was home to Utah. To make matters worse, on the day that Rich arrived at Slapjack Bar, these missionaries had suffered a serious setback, and the prospects of finding gold to obtain needed money--

finding gold to obtain needed items had taken a major hit. On the screen is a picture of miners working to create a dam on a river. A flood caused by an unseasonable heavy rainstorm had destroyed the wing dam that they had spent so long building, just as they were getting ready to work their claim. Regarding this event, the local newspaper reported, "the water had just fallen sufficiently to test the beds of the streams, the dams all along had been more or less injured, whilst a number had been entirely swept away, thus destroying every prospect and blasting every hope so far as riverbed diggings are concerned." While others along the river immediately left the mines, these Hawaii-bound missionaries, needing a miracle, chose to rebuild their dam and work their claim, and their efforts paid off-- they struck gold. When the gold gave out two weeks later, Henry Bigler decried their change in fortune. "The gold has failed. Oh, what a pity." Reflecting upon this event after a half century of experiences, including his labors as one of the first 10 missionaries to Hawaii, Bigler added this note to his journal entry. "Yet, no doubt it is all right for our eyes might have been so filled with gold dust that we might not have been able to see." The blessing of perspective. The goldstrike provided these missionaries enough money to pay their debts, outfit themselves for their mission, pay their way to the Islands, and they still had a little left over. This experience obtaining money just when it was needed had an immediate effect upon George. A few days later, he told a fellow Latter-day Saint who wanted money to emigrate to Utah, "I told her their way would be opened for them. related how dark ours had been until the last, when we had been blessed to exceed our expectations." By mid-November 1850, these goldminers-turned-missionaries were finally ready to sail from San Francisco Harbor. On November 15, they boarded the Imaum of Muscat, expecting to sail without delay, but almost immediately, they encountered a more severe obstacle than a lack of money. A storm struck the area and trapped the ship in the harbor for a week. The storm's strong winds toppled buildings on land, blew vessels into each other, and generally made life miserable for those stuck on board. This was especially true for George, who was very prone to seasickness. While trapped in the San Francisco Bay under these unpleasant circumstances, George had a dream that would have a great influence on his life and the course of the Hawaiian mission. Quote, "I dreamed that I was onboard a vessel and that some of the brethren and myself were heaving with the windlass"-- and a windlass is used to raise the anchor--

"that was fast in the mud and it did not seem to be of much use." As these missionaries were laboring to free the vessel, George noticed the Prophet Joseph Smith on the deck of the ship. Leaving his fellow missionaries, he seeks out the Prophet, who subsequently prays, quote, "a few minutes aloud that the anchor might be loosened." After the Prophet Joseph finishes his prayer, one or two of the brethren took hold of the rope and pulled it up with the greatest of ease. When George tells Joseph that he wished, quote, "that [he] was in possession of such Faith," the Prophet told him, "that it was my privilege and that I ought to have it." Of this experience George wrote in his journal, "I thought it was given to me as a warning, that Faith and prayer was of more effect than the windlass." Soon, George would find himself needing to put Joseph's word to the test. On November 22, the winds died down and the decision was made to make for open sea. Regarding what transpired next, George later wrote, with some understatement, "My recollections of passing out of the Golden Gate are not very pleasant." While the winds had died down, they had not ceased and the Imaum had a difficult time tacking from side to side through the narrow passage containing hidden rocks and other obstacles which it had to avoid. During the five-mile journey, the vessel encountered large, heavy, rolling waves that increased the further west they went. And by the time they finally reached the mouth, which is pictured here, after several hours of travel, nightfall was upon them. Up ahead could be seen a long line of breakers running seaward, with foam looking in the distance like large banks of snow. Above them, the sky was angry-looking and threatening, giving every indication of a storm. The captain of the vessel had hired a harbor pilot to help them negotiate this passage. And at this critical point, when the pilot was needed the most, he took the first opportunity to leave the ship. George recalled, quote, "The captain did not like the idea of the pilot leaving him in such a position, with darkness approaching and every prospect of a storm." If the captain was anxious to have the pilot remain, the latter was equally desirous of getting away from the ship before nightfall. He had no wish to remain through the storm. In his haste to leave the vessel, he forgot his waterproof coat. That's George's take. But in my mind, this is what the pilot was hoping to avoid. In my mind, I can see the captain physically trying to keep George on board-- I mean, this pilot on board. And this pilot being so concerned about the future that he was willing to-- he was trying to get off any way he could, even if it meant leaving his raincoat in the captain's hands. George noted that, "while the pilot's desire to leave the ship before the storm broke upon us was very natural, I believe we all should have felt better if he had remained with us." The Imaum was now outside of a "strange harbor," George's words, sailing near, quote, "a dangerous coast full of hidden rocks and shoals with the strong wind blowing directly on the shore and the captain ignorant of his surroundings." On top of that, it was so dark that nothing could be seen any distance ahead. It was clear to all those on board that the fate of the ship and its passengers hung in the balance. The crew worked desperately to save the vessel. George, who was below deck at this time in his dark cramped quarters dealing with the effects of seasickness, could hear the anxiety and reported that the noise on deck was very great, even so much that the excited chatter of the crew could be heard above the noise of the storm. As the ship continued to be battered by incoming waves, George specifically heard the mate shout to the captain that there were breakers ahead and the ship was close on to them. At that very moment, the ship struck something pretty solid, which made her tremble from stem to stern, and one of those on board believed that the ship would capsize. Almost immediately, they heard another noise and would soon learn that it was the tiller rope, which connects the helm to the rudder, and it had broken, which meant that there was now no way to steer the ship. The situation had become so desperate George later wrote that the captain, quote, "had so little hope of saving the vessel that he told his wife to prepare for eternity for he did not think that they would ever see the daylight again." Naturally, the night was, quote, "one of great anxiety to the captain, officers, and crew as they tried to save the ship in the face of this ferocious storm." It was also one of great anxiety for the passengers on the deck below, who, although horribly seasick, quote, "extended all the faith they could." At long last, the morning dawned. George recalled, "Oh the blessed daylight! How joyfully it was hailed onboard the vessel!

We failed to give the glory of our deliverance to God." He further noted, "if the wheel ropes had broke almost anywhere but where we were, as likely as not, the vessel would have been lost." But "The Lord ordered all things for the best; I could not help thinking of my dream and Joseph's words in regard to Faith." Years later, in recounting this story, he told the group of Latter-day Saints, quote, "The impression it made upon my mind has been a lasting one, and I would like to impress this upon the minds of this congregation if they choose to take it. Great is the power of prayer when properly offered to the Lord. Whatever success I've had upon my missions has been due to faith and prayers. I have remembered this always. I am endeavored to exercise faith in God through prayer, which has been heard by the Almighty. My brothers and sisters, remember this lesson, cultivate the Spirit of God. Keep it with you. Remember always, there is power in prayer greater than anything man can do. There is no power in monarchs, nor is there power in armies, there is no power in legislation, nor in anybody nor anything else upon this earth that equals the power of God in prayer."

On December 12, 1850, nearly three months after receiving their call and after having endured two real challenges, George and his fellow missionaries finally reached Honolulu. And I somewhat wasn't kidding when I said I didn't know anything about Hawaii when I started researching this. I didn't even know what the islands were, or where they were. The missionaries were bound for Oahu.

George later noted of his experiences sailing into Honolulu Harbor. "We landed upon these shores complete strangers, totally ignorant of the language, customs, and prejudices of the people among whom we landed." Regarding the native Hawaiians, George recalled the monotonous character of their language, their rapid utterance, their numerous gestures caused us to watch them with interest. "We thought them a strange people. I little thought at the time that I would ever learn their language or become as familiar with their customs as I afterwards did. For though we had been sent on the missions to the Islands, we supposed our time would be occupied in preaching to the whites." One of the first things the missionaries did was to go up the Nuuanu Valley and dedicate themselves and the country. Afterward, the missionaries were appointed to their various fields. While sailing past the island of Maui, Cannon had the impression that that was to be his field of labor, and in fact, when lots were drawn as to which island they would labor upon, Maui fell to George. When asked to choose a companion, George selected James Keeler, who subsequently told George that he had been praying that they would labor together. George wrote of these experiences, "My joy was very great that evening, because of these precious manifestations of God's goodness." Prior to sailing for Maui, one of the missionaries dropped out of the mission and George and James were joined by Henry Bigler.

So you know where Maui is on the map. While there were some question in the minds of the missionaries as to how long their mission was to be, as previously noted, there was no question in any of their minds that they had only been called to labor among the English-speaking portion of the population. Once in Lahaina, the principal town on Maui, these missionaries faced a new challenge, a turning point. As George noted, "there were but few whites here, not as many as we had been led to expect. It was a lonely, desolate feeling." They put the number of whites, including the sailors in port, between 30 and 40 individuals. George observed that, quote, "While it was true that we had not been particularly told to preach to the natives of the islands, we were in their midst. 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 the opportunity, and thus fill my mission." This situation was the same on all the other islands where the other missionaries also turned their attention to learning Hawaiian. Within a week of reaching Lahaina, the missionaries on Maui were busily engaged in studying all day. "The natives were very kind in rendering all the assistance they could to us," George noted. Although the family from whom the missionaries rented a house was helping them, the task was made harder by the fact that Hawaiian dictionaries were, quote, "scarce." However, the Maui missionaries experienced a miracle when they went and visited Mary Ann Alexander, the wife of the Reverend William Alexander, one of the Congregationalist missionaries in Lahaina, whether she could help them obtain a dictionary. And she gave these grateful missionaries a dictionary as a gift, a tender mercy that the other LDS missionaries on the other islands did not enjoy. Within a fortnight of determining to learn the language, the Maui missionaries found themselves facing a new challenge. By the middle of January 1851, they had run out of money. The three missionaries concluded that they needed to split up, and after praying for assistance, they drew lots to determine which way they would go, and George drew north. Then, they had someone write out notes in Hawaiian explaining who they are and their situation. As they were making preparations to leave Lahaina, George thought that he would go and see the old lady who lived next door to them by the name of Nalimanui and ask her where they might, quote, "find a man who would entertain strangers." To his surprise, she offered to move in with her daughter and allow the missionaries to stay in her house. George noted, "My heart swelled within me, and I could scarcely refrain from weeping, and I blessed her." And he gave her his only possession, and that was a blanket. The grateful missionaries recognized this as both an answer to prayer and a confirmation of their decision to learn the Hawaiian language. While living at Nalimanui's, George received an even stronger confirmation of his decision to work with the native Hawaiians. Facing an unknown situation, new foods, new culture, and experiencing feelings of loneliness, he frequently sought the Lord in secret prayer. Of these experiences he wrote, "I could go unto God in prayer; He listened to my prayers; He gave me great comfort and joy; He revealed Himself to me as He had never done before. Many things were revealed to me, during those days, when He was the only friend we had to lean upon, which were afterwards fulfilled." He further noted, "I heard His voice more than once as one man speaks to another, encouraging me and showing me the work which should be done among this people if I would follow the dictates of His Spirit." The testimony George received at this time would help him through the next series of challenges the mission faced just a few days later. While George was having experiences that convinced him to stay, by the end of January, 5 of the original 10 missionaries, individuals who admittedly were having different experiences than George, had left the mission or were in the process of doing so. These individuals either understood their mission to be short term, or had concluded that it would be of no good to learn the language because the natives were, as one missionary put it, "debased." George, emboldened by what he was experiencing, could not conceal his feelings. He told them that it would sound bad for elders commissioned by a member of the Twelve, quote, "who were commissioned by a member of the Twelve to preach and to act as the Spirit and circumstances dictate, and then finding that there were not whites that would receive them, to turn around and go home, and thus leave a whole nation to wither in ignorance, because he did not happen to tell us that we were to preach to them in their own native tongue," end of quote. George further declared that, "The whisperings of the Spirit to me were that I should persevere and get the language and preach the gospel and I should be blessed. And as evidence of this I had been blessed in learning the language and the way it opened before us to subsist, and I had for myself more of the Spirit of the Lord than I had ever enjoyed. This left me in this situation either to stay here and be blessed or go home under condemnation." While George was able to persuade William Farrer to stay, after six weeks in Hawaii, only 6 of the original 10 missionaries remained in the Islands. The following month, the Hawaiian mission faced yet another major crisis. On February 20, 1851, Hiram Clark, president of the mission, visited Lahaina. The Maui missionaries' excitement at seeing their president quickly subsided when they learned that he wanted to close the mission. He believed that they had accomplished all they could, and up to this point, one convert had been made, and that was made by Clark. And instead, he wanted them to go with him to the Marqueses Islands. George concluded "Brother Clark had fasted and prayed and told the Lord the kind of testimony he wanted, and the Lord had given him just what he had asked for." Too often I think I find myself in that position. George later explained the dilemma the missionaries faced. "Our position just then was a peculiar one. Here was our president proposing us to leave the field to which we had been appointed." Now, that is peculiar because I--

you know, my mission president was pretty gung-ho. I don't know about you who served missions. But I think most of them, that tends to be the case. As they talked, it became evident to Clark that the missionaries on Maui did not share his view. George later wrote, "Fortunately, we were relieved from the necessity of refusing to comply with his counsel. He told us that probably it would be better for us to remain where we were until we gave the people a fair trial." With the departure of Clark, the five missionaries who stayed had weathered the last of the unique challenges. While George has received much of the credit for what has happened in the Hawaiian mission and became the leading light, he didn't do it himself. Among my heroes are the Forgotten Four, I call them-- James Keeler, Henry Bigler, William Farrer, and James Hawkins, individuals who likewise determined to remain in the islands and preach the gospel in Hawaiian, and who made a great impact upon the ultimate success of the mission. For what it's worth, Keeler found the first large group of Saints that were baptized in Hawaii. And if anybody ever finds a picture of James Hawkins, I wish they'd let me know, because I'd love to see that. While each of these four missionaries learned the language to some degree, George was blessed with language ability long before any of them. George noted, "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 to the natives to pass without improving upon 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 a peculiar sensation in my ears. I jumped to my feet, and with my hands on the side of my head, I exclaimed that I believed I had received the gift of interpretation! This was a great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very thankful for the gift from God." By early March 1851, two weeks after Clark visited Maui, George set forth to preach the gospel. He had felt prompted to start around the island before Clark's visit, but that feeling had grown stronger as a result of the visit. "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." Following the route that he had earlier intended to travel in looking for a place to live, George started north from Lahaina.

Following this route.

He later noted, "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 had met them they would not be strangers unto me." It took several days later and a wrong turn, but George, indeed, found those friends. On the morning of the fifth day, George had reached the town of Wailuku. The enthusiasm with which he had started the journey had diminished somewhat. He wrote, "By this time I had partially come to the conclusion that, as the weather was so unfavorable I should return to Lahaina; and in passing through Wailuku I took a road which I thought led in that direction." He took the road that was leading up the valley there.

"I had scarcely got out of the town when I felt impressed to return." As he walked back through town, two women emerged from the house, and upon seeing George, they called out to some men inside, "oh, here's a white man." Upon hearing this, three men came out and exchanged greetings with George. After almost giving up, George had met the men the Lord had promised that he would find. He later noted that, "There was something very remarkable in these women's crying out as they did. It was nothing strange for haoles 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 knew that it was the Lord's doing." These three men with whom he met that day, Jonathan Napela, William Uaua, and HK Kaleohano, would, in fact, become stalwarts in the Church. And here's a valuable lesson. Although George had met the individuals the Lord had prepared, it still took months of patience and long suffering on George's part before they joined the Church. More than three months would pass before Kaleohano was baptized in July 1851. And again, I wish we had a picture. And more than 10 months would pass before Uaua and Napela were baptized. And that occurred in January 1852. One of the women who called out that day was Napela's wife Kiti, and there is no record that she ever joined the Church during Cannon's mission. It was not until June 1851, more than three months after George had set out to preach the gospel, that he actually gave his first public sermon in the Islands. Preaching the gospel during this time was primarily done in public settings. When the gospel was first preached at Lahaina in December 1850, Henry Bigler had done the preaching. Bigler explained why. "The brethren said as I was the oldest that I must lead out and speak. Nobody else wanted to do it." Now, six months later, it was George's turn. The thought of public speaking caused him a great deal of concern. He wrote sentiments in his journal that many of us can relate to. "No prisoner under sentence of death dreaded the approach of the hour of execution more than I did the approach of the hour of this meeting." [LAUGHTER] "I, who had never attempted to speak before an assembly in my own mother tongue but few times in my life, and now to preach in a foreign tongue, it made me nervous to think about it, and I almost felt to shrink from it, but I felt to cry unto God to assist me in this my time of need." When George first arose to begin the meeting, he reported that he startled himself because his voice sounded differently in that large building, as opposed to where he had been practicing speaking. In his journal, he noted that, quote, "The Lord did assist me. I'd done a great deal better than I could have expected, although it was weak." His prayer was, quote, "that the Lord will take away this dread from me, as it is a very disagreeable feeling and one I want to overcome." Eventually, through perseverance and the Lord's help, he grew into a gifted orator. One of the great things about his journal is seeing him grow as a speaker. As I have gone through George's journal, I have been impressed by his self-reflection, which is truly a mark of humility. As he began his mission, he wrote, quote, "I used to wish that I might have the privilege of preaching the gospel. This used to be then my highest ambition. My feelings have not changed much in this respect, only now I find it quite a cross to bear. I feel my weaknesses and unworthiness, and it may be this is for the best that I may rely upon the Spirit of the Lord." Following one sermon, he wrote, "I had desired to give them a good preach and teach them principle, but the Lord saw fit to humble me and I felt to be chastened under his hand for I felt and realized that if I should be blessed and obtain everything that I wanted that I should be lifted up and it would probably be the cause of my destruction. By being left to myself occasionally I realized the source from which all my strength proceeded."

While the Lord had made great promises to George, it was not until July 1851, six months after he arrived in the Islands, that he actually made his first converts. In spite of not seeing success weeks prior to these baptisms, he optimistically wrote, "That the work among this people will be a great one I cannot but for one moment doubt, I feel, then, like saying: 'Brethren, be of good cheer, the Lord is on our side and who can be against us.'" In addition to the challenges mentioned, Hawaii of 1850 was not the resort paradise of today, and the Latter-day Saint missionaries also faced situations that we'd typically associate now with third-world countries. George wrote, quote, "that it was a great trial and cross to go to a foreign nation and preach the gospel." Thomas Karren, a Latter-day Saint missionary who would serve in Hawaii at the same time as George, put it this way, "It is not going to Heaven in Golden Slippers preaching the Gospel on these Islands."

An underdeveloped infrastructure frequently made traveling difficult. Recurrent rain often turned dusty roads into muddy quagmires. The many streams that nourished the land frequently swelled with the rain, adding the challenges of getting across them. The hot sun and humidity could be stifling, often forcing the missionaries to travel through the night. There were high and steep mountains that needed to be negotiated. When they traveled between islands, rough water regularly produced seasickness. Additionally, they were exposed to tropical diseases such as malaria. Because these missionaries traveled without purse or scrip, they were required to live with the locals and experience their culture firsthand. Food was different from what they were used to. George initially likened the Hawaiian staple poi to eating bookbinders' paste. And remember, he had been a printer. Not only was the food different, but they had to live in conditions that were different from those at home. And I think in this regard, living in the goldfields helped them to appreciate these primitive conditions. There was also opposition from the leaders of other religious groups, and also from local civic leaders. George, on more than one occasion desiring that the Latter-day Saints had their rights, went and visited with government leaders to ensure that this would happen. While the lot of the missionaries was not always easy, the circumstances of the Hawaiian convert could also be difficult. Members of the Church experienced various degrees of persecution. Meetings were disrupted. Members and missionaries were physically attacked. Some members had their homes and possessions destroyed. Others were jailed, fined, or threatened with the loss of their property. Some lost their means of employment and standing in the community, and at least one meeting house was destroyed.

George is frequently associated with his work of translating the Book of Mormon. And this is the title page of the Book of Mormon. And he did so, in part, because of his challenges. His desire to share it with native Hawaiians grew in part out of his experiences with this book of scripture during his early days in Hawaii. Quote, "here I was in a distant land, among a people whose language and habits were strange to me. Their very food was foreign to me, and unlike anything I'd ever before seen or tasted. Until I mastered the language and commenced preaching and baptizing the people, I was indeed a stranger among them. Before I commenced holding regular meetings, I had plenty of time for meditation. It was then that I found the value of the Book of Mormon. I had only to turn to its sacred pages to receive consolation, new strength and a rich outpouring of the Spirit. The salvation of man was the great theme upon which its writers dwelt, and for this, they were willing to undergo every privation and make every sacrifice. What were my petty difficulties compared with the afflictions of which they had to endure? If I expected to share the glory for which they contended, I could see that I must labor in the same Spirit."

Early in his mission, George developed a symbiotic relationship with the natives. He brought them the fullness of the gospel, and they taught him valuable lessons that strengthened the faith that he had brought to the Islands. Prior to the first conference in Hawaii, it looked much like rain, and the previous night, the missionaries prayed to the Lord that he would give them good weather. But, quote, "As it was likely to be wet and disagreeable outside, they concluded to move the meeting indoors." At this point, Jonathan Napela shows up. And he asked if they were going in the house to meet after asking the Lord to bless them with fine weather. "He said it did not manifest faith; he appeared much surprised-- and we"-- this is Cannon writing-- "felt to be rebuked for our lack of faith." The meeting was held outdoors in a grove of trees, and there's no mention of the weather. When a similar situation arose the following month, George told the Saints to exercise faith and then prayed to the Lord to bless them with good weather.

He noted, "I arose from my knees with the feeling and conviction that if the people would believe we should have a fine day, we would have one. They held their meeting under a kukui tree and had a beautiful day, although it rained on all sides of us." Prior to these meetings, the horse George was going to use to take him to a distant appointment had gotten free and George had had a difficult time catching him. Following these meetings, George's horse, again, had gotten free. He started to chase it, but soon stopped, and quote, "I prayed to the Lord to enable me to catch her if that was His will that I should go, and she stopped running and stood stock still while I went up and caught her. I felt very much pleased and thankful to the Lord for this goodness in harkening unto my prayer." George discerned that the natives of the Sandwich Islands also had great faith to lay hands on the sick and also had faith to have hands laid upon them. One night, Uaua sent for George and other missionaries after the doctor who was assisting Uaua's wife in childbirth declared that the child was dead and that the mother would also die unless something was immediately done. George wrote, "I felt much concerned and anxious to see her safely delivered, and I prayed in my heart for her. Brother Uaua called on me to pray with them, which I did. I, afterwards, went out and plead with the Lord to save both the mother and the child. It was a business of which we are all ignorant and I felt a desire Him in his infinite goodness and mercy to extend his power in his behalf." Following this prayer, the missionaries, quote, "directed the mother what to do." Soon, the mother was delivered of a fine girl. One of those present wrote, "They all ascribed it to the Lord the right source, except for the Doctor, and I do not know what he thought of the Mormon Elders being Midwives, nor do I care." [CHUCKLES] The following month, George wrote in his journal, which is one of my favorite entries, "I forgot to mention that the old man on whom I had laid hands on Thursday last for his blindness had begun to get his sight and was able to see the next morning after being administered to although he had been blind upwards of 30 years." I love the fact that he had forgot to mention his involvement with this miracle. As a result of these experiences, George encouraged the Hawaiians to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. He would also tell them, "you must not allow the devil to put the thoughts or words "cannot" into your hearts or mouths. There is no such word in the language of the Saints. We can do everything through the power of God assisting us." Not surprisingly, as he reflected upon his mission and the promises he had been given, George would also write at this time, "Glory be to his great and holy name for causing me to stop upon these lands for I would rather have these feelings than all the world with its contents, I pray that it may ever be so." Among those with whom George developed a close relationship was Jonathan Napela. When Napela first met George, he was over $2,000 in debt, a substantial amount of money for the time, and he was about to lose his home. He would testify that George had promised him, if he lived the gospel, he would be blessed, and as a result, Napela testified that the Lord providentially opened the way for him to pay off his debt while at the same time keeping the servants of the Lord. After watching the missionaries struggle to learn the language, Napela also had an idea to have the newly-arrived missionaries come live with him for two months, during which they could devote their entire time to studying the language. He thought that they would learn it faster that way than if they were in the field. For unspecified reasons, the school Napela started ceased operations after only a couple of weeks, and the missionaries dispersed to their various fields of labor. More than 100 years has passed, but the Church adopted Napela's idea when they created the MTC. While it was a common practice during the time for converts to gather to Utah, the missionaries recognized that native Hawaiians were different from most Latter-day Saints who came from Europe. In October 1852, as they were discussing whether to gather the Hawaiians to Utah, one of the missionaries spoke in tongues and another one gave the interpretation, which in part states, "The Lord was well pleased with us, this people were a remnant of Israel, that all opposition should be overcome, that temples should be built in these lands and that this people should be redeemed, and the Elders were sent to these Islands through the prayers of their fathers who have gone to the world of the spirits." It's a remarkable prophecy. I'll just focus on one part. At the time, only two temples had been built in the Church, Kirtland and Nauvoo, and it was about six months before they had begun the work on the temple in Salt Lake. And yet, here is a prophecy that at least that number would be built in the Islands. In November 1919, the first Latter-day Saint temple in Hawaii was dedicated at La'ie on the island of Oahu. And in January 2000, the prophecy was fulfilled when a second temple was dedicated at Kona on the big island of Hawaii. Interestingly, as a side note, Sarah Jane Jenne Cannon, George's second wife, spoke at the November 1919 dedication of the La'ie Temple, becoming the first woman to speak at a temple dedication. Regarding the Lord's promises, George wrote on January 1, 1852, a year after arriving in the Islands, "The new year opens different in most respects to the past. It was an experiment, at that time, to be tried in regard to preaching the gospel among these people. When I take a retrospective view of the past I can see that the overruling finger of providence has been exerted in behalf of the work upon these lands and everything has been ordered for good." A year and a half later, he wrote, "The Lord has caused the work to roll in a manner to exceed my expectations. I have now the proof of the truth of the voice of His Spirit." Finally, in July 1854, George's Hawaiian mission came to an end. He recorded his feelings as he prepared to leave. "The thoughts of leaving those with whom I had been associated in all circumstances for years on the closest terms of brotherly intimacy, deprived me of all relish for food, and I sat busily engaged in reviewing the past, finding ample food for reflection; my feelings were poignant, and the pangs of parting deprived me of all feelings of joy at the prospect that was opening before me, of seeing my mountain home with all its loved associations." The Lord was with George and the other missionaries to the end. George noted that when they had booked passage, they didn't have enough money to pay for it, but, quote, "The Lord has opened our way to the astonishment of all." And they were able to obtain the money they needed. When George and the other former goldminers-turned-missionaries sailed for home after three and a half years in the islands and nearly five years away from home, more than 4,000 individuals had been baptized, which was more than 5% of the island's population. Hundreds came out to bid them goodbye, a sharp contrast from years earlier when George had found himself in a distant land among a people whose language and habits "were strange to me" and he a stranger among them. It was prophesied while he was a missionary that George's name, quote, "would be held in honorable remembrance among the people throughout all future generations as one who had opened the dispensation of the gospel to them." Today, Latter-day Saints continue to honor George and claim him as one of their own because he had become a man of faith who was willing to undergo every privation and every sacrifice to bring them, his dear friends, salvation. Thank you. [APPLAUSE]

The announcement was the first, but I guess we need to have microphones come around. We would answer questions. Are the photographs in your-- are the drawings in your presentation part of his journal? No. OK. He's not Wilford Woodruff in that he writes things in that. These were gathered from us from various archives throughout both here and in Hawaii. And how many journals were there? George recorded his Hawaiian experiences in three journals. He wrote nearly every single day.

He was quite a prolific and very wonderful writer in that regard. There was a question up here. I'm just curious-- I think I can speak loud enough-- Joseph F. Smith, did he arrive before George Q. Cannon left? OK. The question was did Joseph F. Smith arrive before George Q. Cannon? Did I get that right? Before he left, yes. Actually, George Q. Cannon passed Joseph F. Smith in San Francisco. Joseph F. was part of the group going to Hawaii in 1854 at the time George was going home. It's really an interesting question. I probably should have included the slide, but one of my favorite slides is a picture we have of John Taylor, who is George's uncle. And his two counselors were, of course, George and Joseph F. Smith, two Hawaiian missionaries. And I just think that's kind of a wonderful image. Any other questions? Years ago, I saw a history book written by a grandson of George Q. Cannon, William Cannon. I think at the time he was a president of the Hawaiian mission. Have you seen it? I haven't seen it since maybe the late '80s. I confess I'm not familiar with it. I would have loved to have seen that. Cannon did put together-- wrote a book about his experiences years ago called My First Mission.

Questions?

We have visited a chapel on Maui that has George Q. Cannon's picture in it, and we were informed that he had helped build that chapel. I didn't hear anything in your presentation tonight about that. Is that not accurate, or was it not worth mentioning? Well, there are a couple of things. You know, we had to limit what we said, but George did help build a chapel in the Kula. That chapel that you visited there was built some time after George's mission. It wasn't built until after 1900 I believe. See, somebody's shaking their head that I may have those facts wrong. But it was built after his mission. The chapels that the Latter-day Saints tended to build at the time were not unlike the grass huts that I showed you a picture of.

Was he ever able to return to the Hawaiian Islands after his mission? That's a good question. Yes, George went back for the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Hawaiian mission. He took the opportunity to visit some of his old spots that he had visited. He went to try to find the location of where the missionaries had dedicated the country, but noted it had changed dramatically. He went to find where Nalimanui had lived. Also could not find it. He was able to locate Napela's house, just because it was close to the Protestant-- the Congregationalist missionaries chapel there. But he went back, and it's a great story of his going back. And interestingly, he-- I'm trying to think of the word I'm looking for. He added some details about his experiences at that time that he didn't record in his journal or include in My First Mission.

Sorry, I was writing. And how many people did you say had been baptized when he left? More than 4,000. And then, are the journals available for anyone to read? For the last several years in the department, we have been working to publish Cannon's Hawaiian mission journal, George's journals. And I got a headshake that we can say this, so--

and just last week, they were published. Now, I just want it to be clear that this is not a-- we're not using this as an opportunity to make money. I get no royalties from this. I just want everyone to know that. I will repeat that several times if I need to. But his journals are now available. For years, they were not. They now can be purchased at Deseret Books. And we thank Deseret Books for publishing these. That's really quite an amazing thing.

Now, you said most of the missionaries stayed on Maui. Was most of this work done on Maui, or had it spread out? And those 4,000 members, were they over all the islands? It spread out. There were the initial five missionaries, and four of them were on Maui. Maui was where most of the converts were, but when additional missionaries came-- and George was-- they were joined by a number of other missionaries, and they went through the various islands. But Maui was, during that time, really the heart of the Hawaiian mission. It was when I was on my mission there too. Oh, was it? Lahaina. [CHUCKLES] Yeah. Lahaina was the one area where they had a little more problems than the rest of it, but Kula was really an area-- where that chapel was that you mentioned-- where so many of their converts were made. Quick question. In the beginning, you were saying that Charles Rich called him to the mission. Is this the same Charles Rich of Bear Lake fame? It is the same Charles Rich. Yes, it is. Yes? Could you elaborate at all on the conception and the understanding in the Church of the early 1850s about Polynesian people as descendants of Book of Mormon people? Was that taught or explained at all in any kind of common, widespread way? It was something that was mentioned. When Cannon had his experiences where he first went to-- before he began preaching the gospel, while he was at Nalimanui's speaking to the Lord, he noted that the Lord told him that the Hawaiians were descendents of Israel. And Cannon always sought to study things out, and he went and visited the leading Hawaiian authority at the time named David Malo, who shared with him some of the things that they thought were why these individuals had things in common, the Hawaiians and those from the Israelites. They found certain things. In fact, Cannon, in a letter to one of the other missionaries, it says, if you want to learn to pray like a Hawaiian, read the Psalms. There are things that he found the same. And although Cannon is credited with developing this idea among the Latter-day Saints, many in the Church had this before he came to Hawaii, including Parley P. Pratt. Cannon, he didn't come to understand this until he was in the islands. What is really quite interesting about this concept is that many others outside the Church in Hawaii also had that same idea, particularly among the Congregationalist missionaries. I think that was part of the reason Cannon felt such a strong desire to work with the people and to bless their lives, was their understanding that they were Book-- and to make sure that they had the Book of Mormon, that this was a record of their people.

Any other? Yes. Hi. Oh! Hello. You mentioned George Q. Cannon working on translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian. Were there portions of that being published while he was on his mission? At what point was that available to the people? It was actually not published until he served a subsequent mission to San Francisco. They wanted to publish it there. George spent the last year of his mission trying to raise money so that they could get the Book of Mormon published, but they weren't able to come up with the funds at that time. It would have been a blessing to the Saints to have had it, but it wasn't published until much later. Good question.

Will the rest of the journals be published at some time? That is what the department is working for.

But I'm not an expert on that. I can tell you somebody you probably need to talk to about that.

It is our hope that they will be available, because they're really quite an amazing-- they're amazing journals. Just a simple question. You didn't mention any spouse in your presentation. Was he single at this time? That's an excellent question.

Cannon left a girl behind who waited for him for five years.

Her name was Elizabeth Hoagland, and within a few days of returning to Salt Lake, they were married. Probably one of my favorite stories from the Cannon Hawaiian mission is that on his way back to Salt Lake, George spends the night with William Farrer's brother down in Provo. And William Farrer writes to his brother and talks about how nervous George was after all these years to finally be able to see this-- he calls her "this patient girl," and wondering whether there would still be that spark that was there when they had left all those years before. But like typical missionaries, George does pine when he doesn't get letters from her and rejoices when he does. That's something I think a lot can relate to. Yes. Hi, Brother Orton. My name's Gale Sears, and I actually wrote a book about all of this called Belonging to Heaven, and you helped me with some of the research on that. I think one of the things is that when the Book of Mormon was translated into Hawaiian, Jonathan Napela was alii, which was a royalty. He was of the royal Maui family. And so he was able to help George in the translation of the Book of Mormon because he spoke and wrote such beautiful Hawaiian, being an alii. Yeah. He was part of the educated class. And after George went through this with Napela, just to make certain, he subsequently went through the volume with both William Farrer and one of the local natives to make certain that they were getting it right, because it was that important. More of a comment than a question. I was just wondering, I'm actually named after Elizabeth Hoagland, and I'm his great-great-granddaughter. I was just wondering if there's any other Cannons that are here. Oh, that's a great question. Do we have any Cannons with us tonight? Stand up. [CHUCKLES] [APPLAUSE] Awesome.

I meant to do that earlier, so thank you for doing that. Well, thank you for your participation this evening. [APPLAUSE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]