Discourse 1895-02-24
Wilford Woodruff, president of the
church, took the stand and stated he,
too, in former years, had had consider-
able experience as a missionary laborer
in the Southern States. He had met
with considerable opposition in those
days, not only on account of his being
a hated "Yankee," but also on account
of his efforts to baptise slaves. On all
occasions he considered it his duty,
when endeavoring to convert these
slaves, to consult their masters, and
the labor was sometimes not very en-
couraging, and when the consent of
the masters was obtained it was often
without the least consideration on the
part of the slave master as to the wel-
fare of his servant, the response of one
of these masters being characteristic
in this respect: "I don't care," he
said, "what in hell you do with him,
so long as you don't stop him hoeing
corn."
To-day, happily, the eyes of the
world are being opened, and thousands
are learning to know Zion, and the peo-
ple of God who inhabit it.
