A young girl who happened to be in the shoe-shop where they called and who overheard the conversation, afterwards had occasion to call at Jones' store, and repeated it to the proprietor's daughter. The sympathy of the girls was aroused at the thoughts of the two young and strange preachers seeking lodgings and food that cold night, and when Miss Jones retired to bed she found it impossible to go to sleep. Her teeth rattled and she shook and chilled all over although she was in a comfortable bed and in a warm house. Nor could the family prevent her from chilling although they did all they could to warm her. In the midst of her shivering she kept bewailing the fate of the two young preachers, whom she felt sure would suffer that cold night, and finally she prevailed upon her brother to go in search of them and bring them back to their house, that they might have some supper and a comfortable bed to sleep in.
As soon as her brother had started on his errand of mercy the girl ceased to chill and, in fact, got up, dressed herself and helped at preparing supper for the brethren before they arrived. It was not until the next morning that they learned the secret of the kindness shown them and saw in what a curious manner the Lord had operated in preserving them from possible death by freezing and providing them with the food which they needed so badly.
It was quite a common thing in early days in the Welsh mission for the power of the devil to be manifested in what were called the Saints' meetings—that is, testimony or sacramental meetings. The evil one seemed to be always on the alert to operate through some one, and the power of the Priesthood invariably had to be exerted to banish the evil influences from the meeting. Although not apparent at the time, experience generally proved that the persons through whom the evil one operated were not serving God as they should do—they were either doubting the divinity of the principles which they had embraced or they had broken the sacred covenants which they had made with the Almighty and gone into transgression. Very frequently, after being relieved of the evil spirits which possessed them such persons would, in a spirit of penitence and humility, acknowledge their faults and ask forgiveness, but occasionally persons would be found who were not willing to do this, but continued in sin and were a source of trouble and disturbance to the Saints whenever they happened to be present at their meetings; and it sometimes occurred that the spirits which possessed them were so stubborn and determined not to yield that the brethren really found it difficult to cope with them.
In the latter part of the year 1848, the Elders laboring in the Merthyr Tydvil branch had a great deal of trouble with two young women of that branch who very frequently were possessed of evil spirits. They were such a source of annoyance in the meetings that, on the day of a general conference which was to be held about the close of the year, they were cautioned, by Elder Dan Jones who then presided there, against attending the meeting. To this, however, they paid no attention, and when the meeting was opened, it was only too apparent that they were there. In a short time the meeting was in such an uproar, through the raving and shrieking of those girls, that the speaker could not be heard. Some of the Elders were immediately sent to cast the evil spirits out of them, but they failed to do so, and with difficulty the girls were carried into an adjoining room.
When a presiding Elder has the spirit of his office upon him it is his privilege to know the proper course to take in any emergency. It is his privilege to enjoy communion with the Holy Spirit and have the Lord dictate through him that which will be for the best good of the members over whom he is set to preside. It is also his privilege to discern by what spirit the people with whom he is brought in contact are actuated.
It would seem that Elder Dan Jones had the spirit of discernment on that occasion and was inspired to take the wisest course in dealing with the girls and the stubborn spirits by which they were possessed. He was satisfied that they were wilfully sinful, or the spirit of God would not be withdrawn from them and the devil suffered to exercise such power over them. He therefore proposed that they be cut off from the Church on account of their transgressions, and the Saints assembled voted unanimously to that effect. No sooner had they done so than the evil spirits left the girls and they became rational. When they were no longer members of the Church, the devil had no further need to try to annoy the Saints through them. The result was that the girls afterwards saw what their sin had brought them to, repented of it and made public acknowledgement before the Saints, after which they were re-baptized and were no more troubled by evil spirits.
CHAPTER V.
JUDGMENT UPON OPPOSERS—TWO MEN KILLED BY THEIR HORSES—HORRIBLE DEATH OF ANOTHER—EIGHT PREACHERS GO DOWN AFTER OPPOSING ELDER EVANS—A MAN SAVED FROM BLEEDING TO DEATH BY THE PRAYER OF FAITH—A SISTER HEALED—WOMAN CURED OF A BLOODY ISSUE ON BEING BAPTIZED—ESCAPE THE FURY OF A MOB BY THE SPIRIT'S WARNING—A WARNING THROUGH THE GIFT OF TONGUES.
In numbers of instances in Brother John T. Evans' experience he had evidence of the judgments of the Almighty being visited upon those who opposed him.