Sunday, June 14, 2015

1917 Mar 12 - Everyone is Washing

Mar 12 1917 Mon

Today is another beautiful day. The sun shines bright and I think perhaps some of the snow will melt off, which fell yesterday. This forenoon I stayed in my room and studied as Mon is a bad day to go out tracting, that is, in the forenoon, as it seems everyone is washing, and of course is too busy to stop and talk to us, so after dinner we went out tracting again, met with fairly good success. Every home I visited were Catholic and, believe me, they are a hard class to deal with. One woman wanted me to go over to the Priest and have my sins forgiven and then join his church Catholicism.

After tracting we came where we received my literature from New York. After supper I wrote to each of our missionary girls Lois and LaRue.

1917 Mar 11 - Church Twice

Mar 11 1917 Sun

This morning I looked out of the window and there is about six inches of snow. Fell last night and it seems like we are never going to have spring. So we laid in bed until eight o'clock, when we got up, had a shave, cleaned up, and we went out to go to some church. So we attended the Methodist Episcopal Church. The minister spoke very well, but oh the form they do go through, it almost gives one a pain to watch them and that how true the prophecy is said (they have a form of Godliness, they draw near to me with their mouths but their hearts are far from me, teaching for their doctrine the precepts of man, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

After church, of course the minister came down by the door to shake hands with everyone and when he shook hands with us he wanted to know who we were and where we came from, so we told him we were Mormons and came from the West. And Greats you should have seen his eyes, all he would say is, I see, I see, and his face was as red as a beet. So we left him and said goodbye. It was sure funny he didn't want to know anything about us after he heard who we were.

We then went down the hotel for dinner and I can't help but laugh every time we go down there, for there is a young married lady, a daughter of the hotel keeper, who helps wait on the tables and she has a little girl who is about 2 yrs old that just thinks the world of me and she calls me the big boy. She would sooner be with me that her mother and so the little girl, whose name is June, and I have made quite a hit with each other. Until now I don't know which is trying to make the bigger hit with me, the girl or her mother, from he way the lady acts every time I go there of late. She is not bad looking at all, but gee, a person has sure got to be very careful what he does and says, for here in the East, if fellow would give them a finger, they would take a whole hand if they had the chance. I never saw so many fool girls as there are here. If I ever look at them they will give you a smile and a wink. My companion says he will have to put a veil over my head so they can't see what I look like, but I got so now I dare not look at them so I just turn my head or look at the ground. Some of the girls will even go so far as to speak to us, as we go along on the street. But thank goodness all the girls are not like that in this world. I wish they were all like our Mormon girls are at home and this world would be a whole lot better off. One can hardly blame the men or boys from falling when then the girls act like they do here in Ogdensburg.

In the afternoon we attended another church a the mission house, but it was only another Methodist service, the kind of people who believe that they are saved, all they think they have to do is to confess Christ and then we are saved. Gee.

After supper we stayed in our room and studied. I also wrote a card to Claudia Blair and Eunice Willitte at Burlington who treated me very nice while I was there and when I left I promised I would drop them a card when I got to my new home and so I did.

1917 Mar 10 - Two Books of Mormon

Mar 10 1917 Sat

We only went out tracting this forenoon, for the people are not home in the afternoon on Saturdays as the most of them are out shopping, but this morning I did quite well. I got two orders for Books of Mormon to be delivered next week. I also met a lady who had had a talk with President Joseph F. Smith some years ago. She treated me very nice and she also ordered a Book.M.

This afternoon I've been studying most of the time and tonight I wrote a letter to LaVern, took a bath and beat it to bed.