Chapter VII: The Lord Sends Me Money and More Friends

The second summer of my mission was used chiefly in preaching to the fishermen. I traveled from island to island, from shore to shore, over mountains and valleys, and I won numerous friends. Many were baptized and more were left with a testimony. I was arrested, of course, and on one occasion was given eight days' solitary confinement with only bread and water to eat. In the fall my means had all been consumed, and the snow water ran in and out of my boots. I succeeded in borrowing about five dollars from a friend, who was not in the Church, and that put me in tip-top shape again. On my journey I secured many subscribers for the _Scandinavian Star_, which also helped to spread the gospel.

The second winter came, and I received a letter from Captain Christian Hansen, with whom I had labored the preceding winter, asking me to report at his home the first of January, 1865. It was about the middle of December that one of the brethren who took a boat and rowed me into Gosfjorden, whence I could walk over a mountain, about fourteen miles, until I would be opposite the island which was my destination. The country here was very wild and open, and had great chasms running through it. It was very easy for a person to become hopelessly lost in a maze of wonderful natural phenomena. I bade my good brother goodbye by the ocean side; he gave me explicit instructions for my guidance. I was to go in a straight line southward, and I would reach my destination. As much snow lay on the ground, I took a pair of skis and carried my clothes and books in a satchel on my back.

Within five minutes after starting, the air became filled with snow, so that I could not discover which was south or north. To go back was impossible, for no one lived by the fjord; the boat had gone back, and I stood alone in the solitary, mountainous wilderness. However, this did not frighten me, for I felt that I was directed by the Lord. I turned about to get the direction I had taken in the beginning, and then sighted ahead, as best I could, in the same direction to some bush or other natural object. This I repeated, over and over again, and in that fashion I traveled the whole fourteen miles in the midst of a terrific snow-storm. The snow was so soft that my skis sank down in it until I was in the snow almost up to my knees, and I could hardly see the end of my skis, as I brought them out of the snow. Naturally, my progress was slow.

Night came and darkness overtook me, but for me there was light, nevertheless. At nine o'clock that night I reached the shore. It was joy to take the skis from my feet and walk on the sand among the great rocks. I saw a house on the shore about a mile away. I went in there and asked for lodging. I was so overcome by weakness from the hard journey of the day that I could scarcely speak. The man in the house, however, understood what troubled me, and placed me in a chair by the warm stove; then he took my boots from off my feet, and brought me from the cellar a bowl of home-made malt beer. After I had become warmed, he asked me to sit up to the table and eat. I did this in a great hurry.

This poor fisherman's home was the only house on this side of the island. After I had eaten, the wife made the beds. She put clean sheets and pillow slips over a good straw mattress covered with an old boat sail in the corner of the one room in the house. After prayers, it seemed that they knew who I was. I was then made to sleep in their own bed, while they slept on the straw bed made in the corner.

The next morning we had a modest breakfast, and the man rowed me across the sound to the next island, and would not take the slightest pay for what he had done. I then walked across this island and found a man to ferry me across the next sound. For this service the ferryman demanded twenty-five cents. This was the last money that I had. I gave him the money and he set me ashore on a sand ridge that jutted out from the island into the water. He immediately rowed back to his own island. There I stood, alone, penniless and in a strange place. With a heavy heart I gathered up my satchel and my coat and looked around for my directions. There, as I looked, by my side and on the sand, lay a little pile of money in silver and copper coins, totaling nearly a dollar. I was so affected by this unexpected relief that I sat down on a stone and wept for gratitude.

I wondered how this money had been left, and came to the conclusion that some fishermen had probably been selling fish among the neighboring islands and had placed the money that they received, as is very common, in the bailing dipper of the boat; on their way back they had forgotten that the money was in the bailing dipper, and in bailing out the boat had thrown the money accidentally on the sand-ridge on which I had landed. However, it had happened. It was another testimony to me that there is One high above us, who sees and knows all things. He knew, no doubt, that I had paid out my last money, and therefore guided my boat so that I landed where this money had been lost. I was grateful to the Lord.

I continued my journey from island to island, and at last reached the island of Hasel, where I was received warmly by Captain Christian Hansen and his wife. This time he offered me a much better position in the fishery than I had the previous winter. I was to be with him during January, February and March. He was to furnish the fishing apparatus and my provisions, and we were to divide equally the products of my labor. I agreed to this and we sailed away.

We lived this winter also in the old log house, and all went fairly well. When the fishing season was ended, and the account was to be settled, I found that my share was about fifty dollars. I paid my debts and continued my journeys again.