Personal History of Simeon Ralph Sterrett, part 3

            Simeon kept a journal while on his mission and in the following paragraphs much of this journal will be quoted.

            While traveling through Kansas he says he had the privilege of seeing the sun rise on the Kansas plains.  He said it was a grand sight, it was a little cloudy and the sun looked like a ball of fire coming out of the ground.  When he arrived at the mission headquarters all the Elders were gathering in to attend conference, which was held every six months.  The Elders were always called in to attend conference.  The next morning, March 15, Elder Gilbert Thatcher and three other Elders came in from the south.  Elder Sterrett was very glad to see Gilbert as he was from Thatcher also, and they had known each other most all their lives.  Brother James G Duffin was President of the South Western States Mission and was a very worth man.  Conference was held in Independence and while there, Elder Sterrett and Elder Thatcher visited the temple block.  Elder Sterrett in his journal says, “It filled my heart with joy to stand on the ground that had been dedicated so long for the building of the Lord’s House.”

When they returned to Kansas City on the 17^th they visited some places of interest there.  The Elders were also entertained at an oyster dinner given by President Duffin and attended an evening’s entertainment given by the Relief Society.  The entire mission was divided into three conferences: 1) Texas and Oklahoma, 2) Louisiana and Arkansas, 3) Missouri and Kansas.  The latter was called the Missouri Conference, with Brother Hamilton as conference President.  Elder Sterrett was assigned to labor in the Missouri Conference and his first companion was Elder William Adams from Old Mexico.  Their first field of labor was in Barry County, Missouri.

            They left Kansas City on the 19^th, went as far as Carthage on the train and the next day started to walk thirty miles to Barry Co.  The Elders traveled without purse or script, seeking shelter and food from the people among whom they labored.  They walked hundreds of miles, averaging from ten to seventeen miles a day.  Sometimes they slept in the woods and sometimes slept in the schoolhouses on benches, where they had held meetings.  They were also taken in and given food and entertainment by all classes of people.  Here in Barry Co they tracted and preached and held meetings when they could get schoolhouses or churches to hold them in.  It rained a great deal of the time and they walked many miles through mud and rain.

            On March 31 they held a meeting in a schoolhouse and I will quote a few lines from the journal.  “I took charge, my companion only spoke a short time, about twenty minutes and then I arose and talked on the life of Joseph Smith and the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me in great abundance.  I spoke with great power and in looking up scripture to prove a point all I had to do was to open my bible and there it was before me.  I occupied 30 or 40 minutes and this was my second time before the public out in the world preaching the gospel.  I acknowledge the hand of the Lord, for I realize I could not have done what was done through me by the Lord.”

            On April 4 they went to the town of Monett to labor and asked the mayor for the privilege of holding street meetings but were refused.  He said he would not tolerate it at all; he didn’t believe in their doctrine or polygamy.  They told him that they were not teaching that principle now, as it was forbidden by the laws of the land, so he told them that if they could get a church to preach in he had no objections.  While in Monett they rented a room and boarded themselves.  It took them three weeks to canvas the city of Monett.  Some days they had good success, had several gospel conversations and distributed many tracts.  On other days they would meet with much opposition.  One day on April 7, they went to the new part of the city to see the Directors of the School board to get permission to hold meetings in the schoolhouse, but their request was not granted.  I quote from the journal, “He was bitter and accused us of everything mean.  It was pretty hard to take, but one has a different spirit out here than he has at home.  He wouldn’t talk on the gospel, said the gospel we preached was alright but the other things was all wrong.  We tried to get him to tell us where we were wrong but he would do nothing but accuse us of all manner of crime and finally told us never to come in his house, so we left our testimony with him.  If it won’t do him any good now, it might meet him some other day in a *** he does not like.  We continued on all the rest of the day, had a pretty hard argument with two Baptists.  They would first deny one thing and then affirm it when it suited their purpose.  This was the hardest day for me so far.”

            On the 13^th they asked a preacher for permission to hold meetings in his church, the ME Church, but he refused.  The journal says, “He said he didn’t want to enter into a discussion tonight, said he knew all about Smith and the Mormons and the Mountain Meadow Massacre and Roberts.  Brother Adams told him that he guessed he had read lots of vile reports about the Mormons and in regards to the Mountain Meadow Massacre, that the Mormons had nothing to do with it and told him who Lee was.  I told him he should not judge the Church by the actions of an individual.  Elder Adams told him that Roberts was a man of God and all who done anything against him, would have it to meet as sure as there is a God in Heaven.  He bore his testimony to him and I gave him one of my cards with the Articles of Faith on and then we left him and come home.”

            On the 17^th the journal says, “Had a hot time with a Southern Methodist.  Brother Adams and he did most of the talking and when the preacher got too abusive and accused the Mormons of being connected with the Mountain Meadow Massacre, Elder Adams told him that was the blackest lie ever told, at which the preacher took offense and said he didn’t want us to ever approach him again, so we left him and com home.  They won’t any of them meet you on a scriptural argument for just as soon as you commence to clinch them on a point they will commence to abuse you and say all manner of evil against the Church.  I don’t believe its worth while contesting with them, it just causes strife and contention.

            On the 20^th they attended a beautiful Catholic service which they enjoyed very much.  He said the priest said that the different churches didn’t have any more faith than the Mormons out in Salt Lake.  On the 24^th the journal says, “We met a man this afternoon who thinks the negros are not human beings but beasts and he puts up quite an argument from the scriptures.  A man has got to be a walking encyclopedia to meet all the ideas that men can produce, but we don’t let on but make them think we know a little of everything.”

            They finished laboring in Monett on April 25^th and went again into the rural districts.  I quote from the journal, “Sat. April 26, 1902.  We shouldered our grips and went east on the road between Barry and Laurence Counties and began to enquire for the school directors.  After walking four miles, found them and got the Pluentdale Schoolhouse to hold meetings in.  We then started visiting the people and notifying them that we would hold a meeting in the schoolhouse Sunday evening at eight o’clock.  We visited the district and notified all the people and then at six o’clock we began to hunt lodging for the night.  Got refused seven times and by that time were getting pretty tired, having walked seventeen miles and hadn’t had anything to eat since morning, except some wild parsnips we had pulled and ate.  It was after ten and we went in the edge of the woods and built a fire under a big oak tree and we hadn’t been there long when six or eight of the settlers came and sat there till eleven o’clock and then they got up and bid us goodnight and went to their homes.  We got some dry leaves and made us each a bed, but the wind began to blow and it got so cold we could not sleep so at two o’clock we started for the schoolhouse and after walking three miles we got there at three o’clock and bu8ilt a fire in the stove and stretched ourselves out for a nap, after walking twenty miles on an empty stomach, but such is life in Southwestern Missouri, laboring as an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”