1908-10—Improvement Era—Editor's Table

Latest revision as of 01:35, 15 November 2024

[edit] Editor's Table

Improvement Era, v11 n12, pp. 962-963

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In June, 1908, it was ten years since Elder Ben E. Rich was called to preside over the Southern States mission. On August 28, he published his farewell to the Saints and missionaries of that mission, having been appointed to succeed Elder J. G. McQuarrie as president of the Eastern States mission, with headquarters in New York. Elder Charles A. Callis, formerly superintendent Y. M. M. I. A. of Summit stake, later president of the Florida Conference, and recently of the South Carolina Conference, has been called to succeed Elder Rich, and has published his greeting under date of August 28. In it he says, concerning the labors of President Rich:

During his administration 25,000 Books of Mormon have been sold; 15,000 Orson Pratt's works; 160,000 Voices of Warning; 150,000 Durants; 25,000 song books; and 40,000 miscellaneous books bearing on the gospel; 3,500,000 gospel tracts have been distributed. All of the above, excepting the Books of Mormon, have been published and distributed in the mission. There have been upwards of 6,800 baptisms; added to the foregoing, the hundreds of thousands of gospel conversations the elders have held with friends and investigators and one gets an idea of the magnitude of the missionary work in the south.

During President Rich's ministry, the work of the Lord has made substantial progress in the great cities of the south. The beautiful chapel in Jacksonville; the neat and inviting Church in Atlanta, the "queen city of the south;" the pretty country chapels with which the country is dotted are some of the monuments to the zeal and untiring industry of this devoted servant of God. And the large and elegant mission house in Chattanooga is evidence of his wisdom in the management of the temporal affairs of the mission.

Last year there were 843 baptisms in the mission, and it is expected that this year the number will reach 1,000. Between sixteen and seventeen hundred missionaries have labored under President Rich, and he declares that the success of the mission is due to their faithful efforts. They have been obedient, clean and faithful in every circumstance — traveled through sunshine, rain and sleet, suffering many privations, and often sleeping in the woods in carrying the gospel message to their brethren and sisters of the world. They have sought entertainment among strangers, taught the gospel at their firesides, and held public meetings in halls, in the woods and upon street corners. "It has been an army of men," says Elder' Rich, "that I have been most proud to be associated with, and to enjoy the confidence and respect of such an army of workers has been worth more to me and has brought me more happiness than any other that could have been bestowed by the combined armies of the greatest earthly powers in existence. The hour of parting of necessity brings with it sadness, and to say goodby to my brethren, to the Saints and to our dear mission home, touches the tenderest strings of my heart."

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