Udgorn Seion, 1853 (Vol. 6):16-19
TO THE MINISTERS OF THE BAPTISTS.
BELOVED,—After my postponement for a
lengthy season, here I am again humbly summoning back your attention to the
cause of my departure from your association; I sent secretly to some of you,
with a request to stir up one of the Reverends in Glamorgan,
to publish the things that occasioned
my departure, and my becoming a so-called “Saint.” If you are afraid to admit
the truth for the sake of others’ benefit, and so that all concerned may see
and know the doctrine preached by me previous to my affiliation with the
“Latter-day Saints,” put your fear aside, and I
[p. 17]
will show this through the TRUMPET,
if I am not able for the last time, to ask this kindness of you, of making that
known through the “Baptist,” or the “Star;” if at all possible, put a brief
article in one of those, or in the “Zion’s
Trumpet” of the Saints. For this is what many of the Baptists, all over the
country, towns, and villages as well, ask me, saying with the following words
and the like, “Dewi, Dewi!
O! Jones, Jones! how about that; well, well; good heavens, dear me, what has bewitched you, indeed despite that, to leave your
dear old religion, the religion that as a young lad you professed zealously and
diligently, and join with those weak-minded creatures, the old Latter-day
Saints; Come back, come back again, to your dear old friends, so that we can
see you again, and hear you too, preaching in a fine chapel, from a beautiful
pulpit; which is far more appropriate for you, than preaching out-of-doors,
here and there throughout the land, and in the midst of persecution, and
disrespect, from place to place; in sufferings, and frequently in need. There
is no reason for religious men nowadays to go about like that, for, mercifully,
our land is a free land; there is no need to lift up the cross in these summery
days, for blessed Jesus, and his dear disciples, suffered sufficiently from
that; they labored hard, yes, yes, with their great Leader, He who had no place to lay down his head:
‘Our Lord had,
Neither field, nor
house, nor town;
Nor grave, when he died,
Rather he was loaned
one.’
That is how it was with the early
Saints, but there is no reason to be in that condition now; for the law of our
country grants freedom to all to be able to worship their God, as they will,
and when they will; and it is nothing but foolishness, truly, for you to give
yourself to be hated by everyone, because of the name of the Saints. Leave
them from now on; and stop, for goodness’ sake, stop exposing so glaringly our practices,
and portraying so shamelessly our way of practicing religion, and saying that
everyone has freedom of religion
except for the ‘Saints.’ You fervently desired to be with us from your boyhood
on, and you have hundreds of bosom friends with us now; come back, come back
again, and leave your Zion, and the City of your
Salt Lake behind, and cease to think about
them. What
[p. 18]
need do you
have to flee there to hide? hiding to have many wives
is your intent, the majority of you. For, what sign do you see that the
destruction of the ungodly is nigh? Do you see the marrying, the planting, and
the building that men of all levels are engaged in everywhere? this is an indication that things will improve as each day
passes. And what wrath, for heaven’s sake, are men saying that God will pour
out upon us, and upon our good country, the land of the gospel of light, which
is preached practically night and day? Better times are coming, and things are
now improving every month, the rewards are increasing continually,—times are
improving very fast, and certainly
great peace is nigh,—splendid men are lecturing about peace practically
everywhere.” I doubt not, say I, that you believe
completely in what you say. But this is what the Lord says,—“When they shall
say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,” &c.
Therefore, do not be deceived any longer about your wounds, and your bruises;
for though they tell you are healed, know perfectly well that there is no
healing or health for you: the voice of your conscience will cry out
constantly, that you are in fright, fear, captivity, horror, and terror, and
there is not in you any “peace toward God;” for you are not on the path of
truth; and you “trust in lying words, that cannot profit.” I know that peace
and safety will be proclaimed to you, and in doing so “they are not at all
ashamed, neither can they blush;” “Therefore they shall fall among them that
fall, at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.” Therefore, believe this gospel which was
restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the gospel that is
preached by the Latter-day Saints; and flee from the wrath that shall be, yes,
that is at the door. For God will pour out his anger, and soon, upon man, and
upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
It will be poured out also, “upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of
young men together, for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged
with him that is full of days; for I will stretch out my hand upon the
inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.” Therefore,
dear old brothers, repent, and turn to the way of the “Saints,” and “be
baptized” again, “in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;” for
[p. 19]
this gift is by way of promise to the sincere
person who obeys. Give obedience quickly to this gospel, so
that you will be found worthy of “escaping from the wrath that is to come,” so
that you will have part of the inheritance of the “Saints in the light.”
“Ah,”
say the honest in heart in your midst at times, “you yourselves do not believe
what you say; perhaps things like that will take place at some time, within
about a thousand years yet, at some place toward the end of the world. And I
also know what got you to leave the Baptists; I heard the minister comment
quietly about that; and he said for us to spread that across the country on the
sly to this one and that one. And I
myself also believe that those Saints are bad men, and that they deceive people
to get them to “Great Salt Lake City,” so they will become strong people, and possess
America, and the whole world in the end; but you’ll never get me, ever,
to be the same thing as you.” Is that so, truly, say I, and you are a bit stupid also; you’re not alone, either;
there are many of the same opinion as you about us, the Saints; and they more
than half believe things like this, and that causes them great fright; if that
is true, all the sooner the better you join with the Saints. Since when are you
a prophet, might I ask? do you believe that all you
have said is true? “Ha, hoo,” says he, “well, hey,
hum; well, well, I don’t want to talk with you any longer, for you talk more
strangely than the other denominations; I don’t want to talk with you any
longer.” All right, say I, tell your minister to make public the matter of my
departure from you in some of the monthly publications, so that all may come to
know about it; then fair space will be available to pass judgment about the
strength of the truthfulness of the Saints;
Don’t take
offense with angry look,
But keep a fair
and cheerful mien,
And don’t run
off in fear and fright,
But take your
leave by shaking hands.
That
is how it often happens between me and many people; I obtain great amusement
from those, and feel sorry for others. If no attention is paid to my request, I
shall put it in the TRUMPET for the sake of justice, and I shall count them as “six
times worse than beneath attention.” Yours, &c., DEWI
ELFED JONES.
