the gospel I established an unspeakable faith in the apostle's counsel that the Saints should seek after spiritual gifts. I have the same faith and conviction today.

I reflected much upon the message that had come to me, without saying much to any one. There was a missionary in Trondhjem, Thomasen, by name, from Christiania, a well informed and talented man; also another named John Dahle, from Bergen. These missionaries conducted meetings among the Saints, but I did not visit their meetings, for I was very retiring in my disposition. Meanwhile my oldest sister, Mrs. Martha Hagen, had investigated the gospel and was baptized. Shortly afterward I also became so strongly convinced of the truth of "Mormonism" that I went to Elder Thomasen and asked to be baptized. In the evening of the 16th of January, 1861, I was baptized at Trondhjem, under a most pleasant influence.

After my baptism, I presented myself at one of the meetings of the Saints. It was the first time that I had attended. Some of the faithful old sisters doubted my sincerity, since I had not before attended their meetings; moreover, it was looked upon as a wonder that a young man, like myself, could face the persecution sure to follow the acceptance of a religion so despised as was "Mormonism." At that time there were few young men in the Church. It was soon proposed that I be ordained an elder. I felt, however, that I was not possessed of the power and information to receive so high a calling, and I asked that the ordination be postponed for some time. In a later meeting it was suggested again that I should be ordained to the priesthood, and I was then ordained an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Immediately afterwards I was called to assist the missionaries.

Trondhjem, at that time, was notoriously the headquarters of "Mormon" persecution. The authorities had gone to the extreme. They had arrested and severely punished some of our sisters because they had left the legal church of the land and had accepted "Mormonism," and had been baptized into this new Church. Among the sisters so punished were Marit Greslie and Mrs. Olsen, two sisters who later came to Logan and were married to respectable men; also Lena Christensen who later came to Salt Lake City. These sisters were imprisoned and sentenced to five days' imprisonment with a diet of only bread and water. I was also called to the court house at the trial and had to answer many questions put to me by the chief of police. Several of the questions were of such a nature that I did not feel under any obligation to answer them, which did not bring the chief into the best of humor. As a result, the police chief promised me that he should not forget me. He was very bitter in his feelings towards the Saints.

"Mormonism" from that time on, became my guiding star. With great interest I accepted the call to help in bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, and in visiting the Saints in the city and its surroundings. All this time I continued my work in the rope factory, owned by Mr. Berg, under whom I served my apprenticeship. He was a religious man, a dissenter who had some time before left the Lutheran church and now belonged to a local sect. While my master and I walked up and down the rope walk together spinning hemp, "Mormonism" became the theme of the day, during weeks and months. By this time I had acquired many of the principles of the gospel as taught in the tracts of Orson Pratt and Parley P. Pratt, and I was enabled thereby to continue day after day our interesting discussion.

After I had joined the Church, since it was very difficult to rent a house where meetings could be held, the missionaries secured the largest room in my mother's house. The missionaries lived there, and conducted their meetings there for several years. Many times the house was bombarded by mobs, and my mother had to go and talk to the people in order to disperse them. After a year or so, the persecution quieted somewhat and life became more peaceful. The missionaries had, as it were, a home with my mother, and many enjoyable meetings were held in my mother's house.

After a time my mother also made herself acquainted with the gospel, and developed a faith in it, but was not baptized. On many occasions, during the persecutions, she went out in her garden and preached "Mormonism" to the restless crowd of people standing in the street and around the house. She was well acquainted with the Bible, and at once, when an editor was present in the crowd, he wrote down the principles that she declared to the crowd, and printed them in his paper as the remarkable speech of an old woman. She had a good singing voice and went often to the houses of our neighbors where she sang songs from our hymn book. The missionaries remained in my mother's house, and loved her, during many years, even after I returned from my first mission to Nordland and Finmarken in the northern part of Norway.

Several were baptized at Trondhjem. Several changes occurred among the missionaries, and at one time we were in charge of a local elder, who gave us good counsel and guidance. Later we received as our missionary, Hans A. Hansen from Christiansand, who was sent to Trondhjem to care for the new branch there. This man later became my counselor in the bishopric of the sixth ward of Logan.

I secured frequently at this time leave of absence from the factory for a week or two at a time, in order to accompany the missionaries on their visits to the surrounding districts, such as Stordalen, Indhered, Seldo, Borseskogen. In this manner I learned to know something of the different conditions that a "Mormon" elder has to meet. Often, though he had money, we could not secure the privilege of buying food, or a place in which to sleep, simply because we were "Mormons." Nevertheless, we were of good faith, though we were many times utterly exhausted by the long distances that we had to cover on foot, without proper food. These experiences were of a kind to give us greater preparation for our important work as messengers carrying the glad tidings of the gospel to the people. We felt much interested in our labors, especially since we had the joy of seeing some of the fruits of them. Thus passed the first two years of my membership in the Church.

III. I GO ON MY FIRST MISSION.

Early in the spring of 1863 I was called to be present at the conference to be held in Christiania. I resigned, immediately, my place in the rope factory. According to law, six weeks' notice had to be given when a person resigned from steady employment; but if I was to reach the conference on time, I had to leave at once, for at that time there was no railroad between Christiania and Trondhjem. I was, therefore, obliged to tell the owner of the factory that I had to leave in one week. This was a hard nut for him to crack, especially since he had the law on his side. I told him that I was going to the conference, law or no law, and that I was going to be there on time. He finally gave in to my request, and even offered to meet me in the morning of my departure to bid me goodbye, and promised to send an apprentice to carry my satchel to the city limits.

On the morning of my departure, the master came, according to his agreement, and brought with him an old school teacher, connected with the church, as I supposed for the purpose of driving "Mormonism" out of me. Their plan did not materialize; our discussions were carried on in a friendly way, and at last they bade me goodbye, and gave me their best wishes for my future. The apprentice came and carried my satchel through the city. Thus I left my native city, to begin the many years of missionary service.

A Swedish rope-maker was also on his way to Christiania, and we, therefore, traveled together. We traveled on foot, along the country roads, the 350 miles that separate Trondhjem from Christiania. This was early in the month of March. The roads were difficult to travel for there was much snow. Moreover,