Often I would sit alone and think—think of the past, and all my early day-dreams of love, and hope, and bliss; think of my husband in a far-off land devoting his life and all his energies to the preaching of the latter-day glory; think of those whisperings of that accursed doctrine which has since brought desolation and anguish to the hearts of so many weary women; think of my future life, dark as its promise even then appeared.
Sometimes I heard from Italy—heard how my husband was progressing with his work, and with wifely love I sympathized with him in all his difficulties, for he told me how arduous the task was in which he was engaged.
It was not the expectation of the Mormon Apostles that the missionaries would do much in Catholic Italy. The same causes were in operation there as affected the work in France. Few, if any, really good Roman Catholics have ever joined the Saints. The Irish mission was never successful, and the same may be said of the French and Italian missions. In France and Italy by far the greater part of the people might be classed under two heads—Roman Catholics, and infidels. The first had already an infallible guide in which they trusted; and as for the infidels, they ridiculed the idea of any guide at all. Both classes were utterly devoid of that acquaintance with Scripture of which the Mormon missionaries understood so well how to take advantage, and which rendered those so susceptible to religious influences who took the Bible as their basis. The missionaries in Italy soon experienced the difficulties presented by these facts.
After their arrival in Genoa, Mr. Stenhouse was directed to carry the gospel to the Waldenses—those brave old Protestants of the dark ages, who so manfully suffered, even unto death, for conscience sake; and some time after he had begun his labours among them, the Apostle Snow joined him.
Whatever they might believe or teach theoretically, there can be no doubt that the American Apostles were largely endowed with the “organ” of caution. Preaching without purse or scrip among people who either detest you as a heretic or else regard you with profound indifference is not a pleasant task, and the Mormon Apostles very prudently “took up” liberal collections in England before they started. Had it not been for this common-sense proceeding, I am at a loss to say what would have become of the missionaries in Italy; and as it was, their lot was not a very enviable one.
Besides the scarcity of money, the other great difficulty experienced by the missionaries was learning the language of their destined converts. For many years it was supposed among the Saints that the “gift of tongues” would be all-sufficient for this purpose. The two distinguished Apostles, Orson and Parley P. Pratt, whose writings did so much for Mormonism, had both of them eloquently discussed the subject in print; but the missionaries soon discovered that for practical purposes the “gift” was not of much service; and the two Pratts themselves afterwards experienced—the one in South America and the other in Austria—the fallacy of their theories. Without the “gift” in any shape the work in Italy was necessarily very slow, and an Elder who could speak a little French was sent out from London to assist them. They had at last come to the conclusion that if the Lord would not bestow the “gift” upon them, they must try to acquire it themselves.
The Apostle Snow now thought of sending the Gospel to the Swiss, and Mr. Stenhouse was selected for the work. But before he went it was determined that the Church in Italy should be “organized,” and about a week later, I received a long account of how this was done. I heard how, one pleasant November morning, the Apostle Snow, Elders Stenhouse and Woodward, together with several Waldenses whom they had converted, ascended the mountain side contiguous to La Tour, and overlooking the fertile valley of Pinerello. There they sang praises and prayed. They christened the place “Mount Brigham;” and the stone upon which the three elders stood and offered up a written prayer, they named “The Rock of Prophecy;” and there they organized the church, dedicating the soil of Italy to the Lord. Moreover, then and there my husband was solemnly consecrated a “High-Priest after the Order of the Son of God.”
All this I heard, and much more; and in confiding faith that this was indeed a great and glorious work, I rejoiced that I had been accounted worthy to suffer patiently at home, if only my husband might successfully fulfil his task abroad.
After that I heard that he had left Italy, and had arrived in Geneva, believing that he would be more successful among the Swiss than the Italians.