Monday, August 15, 1864. I had the pleasure of accompanying President Smith on a visit to Elder George Raymond at Waihu. After dinner, we rode up to the mountain, following a deep canyon, until we came to a beautiful orange grove, the property of George Raymond. The native brethren asked President Smith to rebaptize them. The request was granted, and I went into the water, a pure mountain stream, and baptized Kanahunahupu, George Raymond, and Kapule, three intelligent and staunch defenders of the Gospel. We next confirmed and blessed them.
On the 25th, I accompanied President Smith to Lahaina and visited His Excellency, Governor Kauwahi. He was once an active elder in the Church, and aided President George Q. Cannon in translating the Book of Mormon. On the 26th President Smith sailed for Honolulu. Alma L. Smith went to East Maui, while I labored in the vicinity of Lahaina. On Saturday, Sister Mary Kou, my makau honi, (adopted mother) was thrown from a horse and seriously injured. I administered to her, and she was instantly healed.
On Sunday, September 4, 1864, I received a letter from my brother Franklin W., enclosing a twenty dollar greenback, for which I was very thankful. Brother Alma L. Smith returned from East Maui. We labored together, visiting the Saints, earnestly desiring their welfare. We were diligent, holding many meetings, bearing testimonies, and administering to the sick.
By letter from President Smith, we were instructed to arrange our labors so as to visit Honolulu about the 25th of this month. Friday, September 23rd, we sailed for that city on the steamer Kilauea, deck passage, reaching there on the 24th. We were kindly, received by President Joseph F. Smith and William W. Cluff.
September 30th we held a council meeting. A letter from President Young was read, suggesting that Elders Joseph F. Smith, William W. Cluff, and Alma L. Smith return home, and that John R. Young preside over the mission, assisted by Benjamin Cluff.
At this time my family was residing at St. George, and their destitute condition preyed upon my mind.
In associating with the brethren, I had read my home letters to them. The spirit of these letters, cheerful and self-sacrificing under severe trials, enlisted the sympathy of the brethren; and it was decided in council that I should return home. Therefore, on Wednesday, October 12, 1864, in company with Joseph F. Smith, William W. Cluff, and Sister Albion Burnham and three children, I sailed on the bark Onward for San Francisco.
Sister Burnham was the widow of George Albion Burnham, who had received the Gospel during the opening of the mission by President George Q. Cannon and his co-laborers. Brother Burnham had been valiant in defense of the Elders. At a period of cruel persecution in Honolulu; and his manly battle in rescuing Phillip B. Lewis and William Farrar from the hands of a drunken mob, endeared him and his family to the Elders of the Hawaiian mission. On our second mission we found the widow in the depths of poverty, and resolved, on our release, to take the family home with us. To this end, President Smith gave me fifty dollars from the Salt Lake mission fund to aid in gathering Sister Burnham.
On Saturday, October 15th we were still in sight of land, about eighty miles north of Oahu: no wind, a calm sea, and a full moon making a beautiful evening. At ten p.m., I was sitting on deck talking with the mate, Mr. Ferrier, when I noticed that the man on the forward watch acted strangely. I said to the mate, "That man wants to jump overboard."
In a few minutes I went to my room, and had just taken off my shoes when I heard the mate call, "A man overboard!" I ran on deck, seized a rope, and threw it to the man, striking him on the head. He looked at me, and swam from the ship. I ran up the rigging, and watched him until a boat was lowered. Then I gave directions to the captain, and he with a speaking trumpet, directed the crew, until they picked him up. The man's name was Barstowe. The next morning Mr. Ferrier harpooned two sharks, one of them over eleven feet long—not a very pleasant prospect for a would-be suicide.