While at Keanae, we were gladdened with the news of the arrival of missionaries from Utah; and, after the conference, Brother Keeler and I repaired to Lahaina to meet them. They were Elders Philip B. Lewis, Francis A. Hammond and John S. Woodbury; the two former had their wives with them; the latter, for want of means, had left his wife in California, and she came down shortly afterwards. Brother Lewis had been appointed by Elder Parley P. Pratt to preside over the islands.

I had become so accustomed to talking in the Sandwich Island language that it was hard for me to speak in my mother tongue. I well remember how difficult it was for me to pray in English, when called upon to do so, in the family circle, the evening after I got to Lahaina.

I had been so anxious to learn the language that I would not read any book in English excepting the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, and had even trained myself to think in that language. I did this so that I might be thoroughly familiar with it, for I was anxious to preach the gospel in exceeding plainness unto the people.

Of course, it required an effort on my part to thus train myself; but I was paid for it all, in the fluency with which I used the language. I was able to speak and write it with greater ease and correctness than my mother tongue.

The adversary was not idle at Keanae. We had been very successful in baptizing the people. The Spirit had been poured out, and much good has been accomplished; but, no sooner had we gone to Lahaina, to meet the newly arrived Elders, than the enemy began his operations.

After spending a few days in Lahaina, I returned to Kula and remained a short time there. I felt impressed to go from there to Keanae. Some of the native brethren wished me to stop till the end of the week, and they would accompany me; but I could not stop, I felt that I was needed for some cause at Keanae.

My impressions were correct. The people of Keanae were in great trouble. They had been assailed by enemies from every side, and those who were weak in the faith were in perplexity. Some had turned away, not being able to withstand the pressure. The Presbyterian missionary of that district had been there, and had done all in his power to blacken our characters, to deride our doctrines and to persuade the people to forsake the Church. Two Frenchmen, Catholic priests, had also been there, and they had done all in their power to frighten the people from the truth. Another Presbyterian missionary had sent one of his native preachers there for the same purpose.

It seemed as if the devil had set all his agencies into operation to destroy the work of God, and they told all the lies that could be brought to bear against us. The French priest had said that we ought to be driven out of the place and off the island, and had circulated many false reports about us. The Presbyterian missionary had visited the houses of the people, and had brought all his influence to bear upon them.

Brother Keeler had been there part of the time; but his want of the language troubled him greatly, as he had not acquired it sufficiently at the time to enable him to counteract these lies or to make full explanations concerning them.

I learned that many of the Saints were doubting, and they had been praying to the Lord for me to return. This was the cause of my anxiety to get back. The Lord hears the prayers of those who pray to Him in faith, and hundreds of instances like this have occurred within my knowledge.

It is frequently the case that when Elders have been successful in baptizing the people, the devil exerts himself with increased power and cunning among them to destroy them. There are but few who have joined the Church who have escaped temptations of this character; and no man knows the power of the devil as those do who have embraced the truth. It seems that those who are ignorant of the gospel and the power of God, never experience the opposite power like those do who have been blessed of the Lord. Still they should not yield to the temptations of Satan, nor be entrapped by his snares.

The people who had been baptized at Keanae had known but little about the two influences of which we speak; but no sooner had they joined the Church, than they were assailed and tempted in a way that they never had been previously. As a consequence of this, some fell away from the truth; but others became stronger in the faith, so long as I remained on the island.

We had many excellent times at Keanae. While I was there, at the time of which I write, I went with the natives, men and women, to a creek about two miles distant, where fish were very plentiful. The fishers gathered a quantity of plants, a shrub which is called by them auhuhu, and made two piles of them in the bed of the creek. The men and women surrounded these piles, each of them having a stick about five or six feet long. At a given signal from one of the party, they commenced thrashing the brush. They were very dextrous in the use of this flail, turning the piles over and over and pounding them well, and never hitting each other. The pounding of the bush had the effect to stain the water all around, and to kill the fish, which soon floated on the surface in great numbers.

Fish so caught are excellent eating. This shrub, though it kills the fish, is not injurious to man. It was one of the liveliest sights that I had ever seen, and was very picturesque. The women were adorned with garlands of green leaves, and had flowers entwined in their hair and around their bodies. Many of the men were stripped to the waist and also had garlands entwined around them. The swimming and diving of some of the women, surprised me; they appeared to be almost amphibious.