INVESTS IN REAL ESTATE—ACQUIRES A HOME—VICARIOUS WORK IN LOGAN TEMPLE—CONSEQUENT ELATION—PROMISE TO A DYING FRIEND—GRATUITOUS FULFILLMENT IN MANTI TEMPLE.
In the course of a few years he found an opportunity of buying a small city lot north west of the capital grounds, with a rather old house upon it, for the modest sum which his capital represented, and he actually became a landlord. He rented part of it to the former owner, who had lost the property through mortgaging it and being unable to meet the payments when his notes fell due. His income from the rental was only $5.00 per month, and it required half of that to pay the taxes upon the property; but he had a shelter for himself as well—not very comfortable it was true, but much more so than some of the houses he had occupied—and it was his own. It was all the more appreciated when he thought of the improbability of his ever owning a home of any kind had he remained in his native land. He could now look forward with more hope to his declining years, when age would naturally add to his decrepitude.
When Niels accepted of the Gospel in his native land, no feature of it was more attractive to him than the promise of salvation for the dead contained therein. He found comfort in the assurance he obtained of personal salvation through compliance with the Gospel principles, and he was anxious to do something if possible that his ancestors and friends who had died without a knowledge of the Gospel should share in the Gospel privileges. When the Temple in Logan was completed and opened for ordinance work, he joyfully journeyed thither and spent eight weeks in receiving ordinances for the benefit of dead relatives. He felt that he was coming into his own, that he was accomplishing something that made life desirable. There was something exalting about the thought that he, deformed and weak and frail though he was, could do all for the salvation of his dead kindred and friends that the most able-bodied man in the community could do. He had long admired the missionaries who left their homes in Utah and the surrounding states, and, at infinite sacrifice, went forth into the
various nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel message, without hope of earthly reward. The sole reason for their doing so was that they had been called by those whom they regarded as the Lord's earthly representatives to so labor, and because they regarded the Gospel as so priceless that they were anxious to have its benefits extended to all humanity. He, too, appreciated the Gospel, and his love for his fellows would have enabled him to find joy in laboring as a missionary, but, alas! he could never hope to engage in that labor because of his physical disabilities. But here was a labor which had for its object the same purpose, in which in point of ability he measured up to the full stature of the best of his fellows; and who should say that the work done in behalf of the dead is not just as important as that done for the living? He had never engaged in anything that so increased his self respect and made him feel that he was of some consequence in the world as this work in the Temple, and he regretted when necessity compelled him to abandon this labor which had such a savor of heaven about it and "come down to earth," figuratively speaking, by seeking such employment as he could engage in to earn the meagre necessaries of his subsistence.
Plate as described below
Niels and his home
A considerable period passed afterward with little to relieve the monotony of his existence, during which, however, he again succeeded in accumulating something. In the meantime the Temple at Manti had been completed and ordinance work was being performed therein.
It happened that an old gentleman named Nielsen with whom Niels had years before, (while he was a resident of Salt Lake City,) been somewhat acquainted, had located at Manti while the Temple was in course of construction, and indulged in the hope of spending his declining years in laboring therein for the benefit of his dead kindred. Before being able or ready so to do, however, he had been stricken with sickness, and, at the solicitation of a daughter who was living in Salt Lake City, and who was the wife of a Catholic, had come up to reside with her and be nursed back to health. Instead of recovering, however, he continued to grow worse until his life was despaired of. During his illness he worried constantly over the fact that the work in the Temple which his heart had been so set upon performing for his dead kindred had never been done, and there now seemed no hope of his doing it, for he felt that he must soon die. In his emergency he thought about Niels as a friend whose services he might enlist, and induced his daughter to send for him to come and listen to her father's dying request. Niels came, and found his old friend almost in the throes of death. Being asked if he would do the work in the Temple which his friend had neglected, he consented without hesitancy, to pacify the dying man, and wrote down at his dictation the names of about seventy of his dead relatives, in whose behalf he wished the work performed. He was told that a certain sister living in Manti had promised to perform the work for the females, and could be relied upon to do so, and that it would only be necessary for him to see that she did it, and to do himself the work for the males.
After receiving the promise from Niels that he would attend to the matter, the old gentleman seemed satisfied, and soon died in peace. Niels then realized, as he had not done before, the responsibility that rested upon him, in consequence of his promise. He had never made a promise even to a person who was well without faithfully fulfilling it, and his promise made to a dying man seemed doubly binding. He must fulfill that if he never lived to do anything else. With this impressed upon his mind he soon journeyed to Manti and called upon the sister who had promised his dead friend to serve in the Temple for the female relatives. He found her so ill that there was little hope of her ever being able to keep her promise, and so he conscientiously applied himself to the task of fulfilling completely the commission assigned him. He hired sisters to do the work for the female dead, and he spent ten weeks in the Manti Temple, in constant labor for the male dead kindred of his friend Nielsen, and felt satisfaction in having done all that duty and honor could require of him in the matter.
COMPLETION OF SALT LAKE TEMPLE—HIS WORK THEREIN—SISTER CORRADI INSPIRED TO APPLY TO HIM—DEVOTED WORK FOR HER KINDRED—HIS SEVERE AFFLICTIONS—SAVING WORK FOR 2200—GRACEFUL OLD AGE.
Niels looked forward with fond anticipation to the completion of the Salt Lake Temple. He felt that now, that he had found his true vocation, he would like to devote all the time to Temple work that his health and means would permit, and he could do this to much better advantage in his home city than if he had to travel a long distance to reach a Temple, and then make special arrangements for his board and lodging. He commenced his labors three weeks after the Temple opened for ordinance work. He not only found great comfort and satisfaction in the work, (which he scrupulously devoted his time to whenever able to do so,) but, through the acquaintances he formed there, he obtained a considerable amount of employment in the sewing line, especially in the making of temple clothing, at which he became quite an expert. He was not able to work continuously; indeed, he had many spells of illness that confined him to the house and occasionally to his bed for days and weeks at a time, but he has long been known as one of the most earnest and devoted workers in the Temple. When he had officiated for all his dead kindred and friends concerning whom he had sufficiently definite information, he found others who were anxious to have him officiate for their dead kindred on the usual terms when men are so employed, (seventy-five cents per day,) and he so labored whenever able to do so. He has, however, officiated gratuitously for hundreds of people at the instance of friends or relatives who were unable to pay therefor. A case in point was that of a poor Scandinavian sister who died a few years since in this city. She left a list of fifty dead relatives for whom she had been unable to officiate, and he took up the work for the males and hunted up women acquaintances who were willing to officiate for the females.
A few years since he was called upon by a Sister Corradi, whom he only knew by sight, who desired to employ him to officiate for her male kindred dead, saying the Spirit had manifested to her that he was the person to whom she should apply. He consented, and has worked almost exclusively for her list since, and has enough names left to keep him occupied for about another year. Having a spell of illness some time since, he told Sister Corradi she had better find some one else to finish her work, as he feared he might not be able to do so. She, however, refused to believe that he was going to die soon, or fail to finish her work, and said she knew he was going to live to do it. She may be right. Now that he has lived so long (he was seventy-eight years old in May) there is reason to hope that he has several years yet to remain in mortality. It will soon be forty-eight years since he arrived in Utah, notwithstanding the predictions that he would not live to make the journey. It is nearly sixty-eight years since he met with the accident that left him deformed and crippled for life, and during that time he has never been free from pain, though it has varied in degree, being much more intense at some times than others. For many years hernia was added to his other afflictions, but he was healed of that in answer to prayer. About four years ago he lost the use of his voice, and has not since been able to speak above a whisper. In spite, however, of all these handicaps he has accomplished a work of self-sacrifice for the salvation of others that any able-bodied man of his age, desiring the welfare of his fellows, might well be proud of. He has officiated for fully twenty-two hundred persons in all the temple ordinances necessary to place them on a par with the living who have received these ordinances in their own behalf. All this in addition to the work he has had done in behalf of numerous female dead. Truly he has earned for himself the distinction of being a "Savior upon Mount Zion." The crucible of suffering to which he has been so long subjected has had a sanctifying and exalting effect upon him, and eliminated from his character all semblance of sordidness. His struggle for existence has developed the strong traits of his character that otherwise might have remained dormant, and his beneficent concern for others has helped him to bear with equanimity, if not to forget his own troubles. Even age seems to sit lightly upon him. Few who see him ever suspect his advanced age. The peevish, crabbed disposition that so frequently characterizes old age is never manifested by him. Instead, he wears the patient, serene expression of one who lives for a noble purpose, and indulges only in clean and wholesome thoughts.
A MODERN STOIC—HIS MODEST OBSCURITY—WHAT RELIGION HAS DONE FOR NIELS—PHILOSOPHIC WAY IN WHICH HE VIEWS DEATH.
Of the many who have witnessed Niels pursuing his toilsome way between his home and the Temple—a distance of about a mile—leaning upon his crutch and moving along at a slow but steady gait, perhaps not one has had a definite idea of what a heroic effort it has required for him to walk at all, and how his constant pain has been increased thereby.
Perhaps none of his fellow workers in the temple, who are in the daily habit of gazing upon his sphinx-like countenance as he silently passes among them, ever even dream that he is the best modern example of the stoic that this region has ever known, the physical agony that he suffers being never betrayed by word or facial expression.
Though casually known to many, he has scarcely been intimate with any. Even the facts pertaining to his life that are herein divulged, had to be fairly pried out of him by degrees, and they will doubtless be a revelation to many of his acquaintances when they read this recital. If his real condition had been generally known in the past, his every want would have been anticipated and supplied by his kind-hearted neighbors or the relief society. The chivalrous boy scouts might have adopted him as their protege, and done what they could to make his home cheerful, or otherwise lighten his burdens, and dyspeptics and other victims of luxurious living might have been making pilgrimages to his house to learn the secret of his long and useful life under such unfavorable conditions.
Possibly it is as well that he has been allowed to make his own way in the world. If he had been petted and pampered, and not had the incentive of want to spur him to exertion, he probably would never have accomplished anything worth mentioning, or that would have distinguished him from the great number of unfortunates that only excite our pity.
Niels acknowledges his indebtedness to the Gospel for all the comfort he has experienced in life. Indeed, without its sustaining power, it is doubtful whether he could have lived as long as he has, or retained his reason, if he had so lived. Without it, he could have had no desire to live; and, failing to find relief in death, his bodily suffering would probably have made of him a raving maniac or a driveling imbecile. As already mentioned, he was converted to the Gospel some time before he was baptized. He has never since entertained a doubt as to its truth. One might as well try to convince him that the sun does not shine, as that the Gospel is not true. Since his baptism he has been unwavering in his devotion to his religion. He has doubtless got more out of his religion than most adherents do. It has been the controlling inspiration of his life. He has been zealous, without being fanatical; devout, without outward expression. He has been a regular attendant at meetings (until he became in recent years too deaf to hear the preaching,) but never ambitious to take part therein. He feels amply repaid in the joy and satisfaction that have come to him for all the labors he has performed, and all the sufferings he has endured. He has no fear of death, but does not court it. He is content to live as long as the Lord is willing to have him do so[1]. He seeks no notoriety. He is the very personification of modesty. He is willing to be regarded as a grain of dust, an insignificant atom, and plod on in obscurity during the remainder of his mortal existence, as he has done in the past, without attracting any attention.
The author of this sketch has known Niels casually for years, but never discovered his real character until quite recently. For aught he knows, he may be the original discoverer. He regards as a very great compliment from Niels, the statement that he understood his character and motives as no one else had done before. He sought the acquaintance and confidence of Niels—was not sought by him. He it was, and not Niels, who conceived the idea of reducing to writing some of the incidents of his eventful life, and who surprised him later with a proposition to publish the same. The author is responsible for all deductions expressed herein, the facts alone having been somewhat reluctantly mentioned by Niels, but he has perused the story and endorsed it as correct, with some evident misgiving as to the possible resultant notoriety.
Plate as described below
His Tombstone
If benefits to the many constitute the true standard by which success should be gauged, the life of Niels has certainly been a successful one; and the record herein set forth of the adverse conditions which have surrounded him, and his wonderful accomplishments in view thereof, should be an inspiration to every person who feels that his life's burden is heavy, and who is privileged to read this simple recital.
If the unselfish work to which Niels has devoted such a large part of his life had no other beneficial effect than to sweeten the lives and render lovable the characters of those who engage therein; to develop in them genuine love for their fellows and true charity—a willingness to benefit others without hope of reward therefor—and to make them cheerful, and hopeful and buoyant when otherwise they might be despondent and gloomy, surely that work is not in vain. Indeed it would even then compare favorably with almost any other that claims the attention of mankind.
If the "Mormon" theory be correct, the Gospel ordinances absolutely essential to the salvation and exaltation of mankind may be received by the living vicariously for the benefit of the dead. The dead, too, through an intelligent acceptance in the spirit world of the conditions of salvation, including the vicarious work voluntarily undertaken in their behalf on earth, may enjoy all the Gospel privileges.
Assuming that this theory is correct, what more important labor could a person engage in than that performed in the Temples? Is there any work on earth more free from the taint of selfishness? Is there anything a person could engage in that savors more of true Christian charity? Is not the satisfaction experienced by such earnest, sincere, conscientious people as Niels a strong evidence of the truth and efficacy of the work? Is not the assurance that Niels and thousands of others have received through the testimony of the Spirit, as to the work being acceptable to the dead in whose behalf it is done, and agreeable to the will of the Almighty, worthy of consideration?
The work done in the temple in behalf of the dead differs in this respect from other forms of charity—there is no danger of it making the one who performs it vainglorious. He is not open to the suspicion that the Pharisees of old were, in their giving of alms—a desire for applause, or "to be seen of men." Niels has not become puffed up because of what he has accomplished. He does not pose as anybody's benefactor. He assumes no heroic airs. There is no halo surrounding him such as "limners give to be the beloved disciple." He is just a modest, humble, obscure cripple, known to his neighbors, who are sufficiently acquainted with him to call him by name as Niels Larsen[2]; who is content to live and die without attaining to any distinction, who is advertised for the first time in this recital, and this without any desire or request on his part. He was the most insignificant and unpromising (not to say despised) of all his kindred, the tag end, as it were, of the aristocratic and once powerful families from which he had descended. He is the only one of a numerous kindred (so far as known) who has accepted of the Gospel. Possibly others of them, as well as the brother and sister-in-law already mentioned, have rejected the Gospel because of their shame of him.
Is it not possible that this stone which these builders of the family's reputation rejected may yet become the chief corner? That this despised of all his race may yet become the head of it? In view of the vast work that he has accomplished in behalf of his progenitors, may we not anticipate the grateful homage that he will receive from them in the next world, when he, as a resurrected being, will stand in their midst—not as a cripple, deformed, and dwarfed, and weak, and racked with pain, as he has been during most of his mortal career, but resplendent in all the glory of a perfected manhood, his physical body conforming in stature and appearance to his spiritual body, a very king among his fellows! Imagine, too, the joyful acclaim with which he will then be greeted by the numerous host who are not of his immediate kindred, for whose salvation he has unselfishly labored in mortality. Then will the pain and suffering and fatigue and humiliation which he endured in this life seem as nothing compared with the treasures in heaven which he will receive, and the limits and besetments of mortality be forgotten and swallowed up in its fruition—the joys and glories of an endless immortality.
Footnotes:
1.
Niels has a very confident feeling that he will live to be 82 years of age, but whether the call comes to quit this mortal life sooner or later he intends to be prepared for it, and the completeness of his arrangements for his burial and for perpetuating a knowledge of his burial place indicates the complacency with which he regards death. Some time since he purchased a quarter of a lot in the cemetery, and had a very substantial granite monument made to his order and erected thereon. An inscription upon it gives his name, date and place of his birth, his parentage, and Salt Lake City as the place of his death, with blank space below upon which to chisel in the date of his passing away. He also keeps his burial clothes, made by himself, all nicely laundried, in readiness to place upon his body when death shall overtake him. This too is another illustration of his independence, and disposition to do things himself rather than trust to others.
Since the erection of his tombstone, a lady who was somewhat acquainted with him happened to be in the cemetery and saw it. She read the inscription with surprise and sorrow. She failed to notice that the date of his death was lacking, and very naturally concluded that he had died and been buried, and was surprised that it could have happened without the news of it having reached her. She mourned to think she would never see him again, and that she had not even attended his funeral and manifested the respect she had for one whose suffering and inoffensiveness had so strongly appealed to her. In a pensive mood she returned home and told her friends how shocked and sorrow stricken she was at learning for the first time on seeing his monument of the death of her friend.
A few days later she was tripping across Main Street without any thought of death in her mind, when she suddenly beheld his familiar figure slowly moving down the side walk. She was so startled at sight of what she thought must be an apparition that she stood transfixed until she was aroused by the hoot of an approaching automobile, and narrowly escaped being knocked down and run over.
2.
A custom prevails very generally among the peasantry throughout Scandinavia of changing the surname from generation to generation, while among the aristocracy the rule is to maintain the same surname in a family as one generation succeeds another. An exception to this latter rule sometimes occurs when a branch of an aristocratic family does not inherit wealth, or through some misfortune becomes financially reduced, and has to take rank per force with the peasantry. Then, notwithstanding the aristocratic lineage, the peasant method of changing the surname of the progeny from father to son is followed.
As already mentioned in this narrative, Niels was of aristocratic lineage on both his father's and mother's side. They were, however, of minor branches that did not inherit much wealth. The father, though given in infancy the family surname of Eskildz, was known more generally throughout his lifetime by his given name of Lars Nielsen, and called Eskildz more as a nickname than otherwise, or as a means of distinguishing him from others having the name of Lars Nielsen. When Niels was born he was named Niels Larsen, in accordance with the peasant custom, and it was not until he commenced his work in the house of the Lord that he assumed his rightful ancestral name, and is even now scarcely known outside of the Temple by the name of Eskildz.
Niels' father and mother were second cousins. His mother's maiden name was Marie Olesen Myre. As may be inferred from the relationship existing between them before marriage, theirs was not the first marriage between the Eskildz and Myre families. Some branches of these two families were very wealthy and influential when Niels was a boy, which fact, however, was of no advantage to their poorer relatives, among whom were Niels and his parents.
PURPOSE ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS—BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF CAROLINA CORRADI—HER MOTHER'S PRESCIENCE—PREPARATION FOR FUTURE CAREER—DEVOTED WORK IN BEHALF OF DEAD KINDRED.
Few people have accomplished anything in this life worth mentioning who have not had a definite purpose in view, to which every faculty of their mind and body is made to bend. People without a purpose abound on every hand, with nothing in appearance to distinguish them from their fellows except a kind of mental or physical inertia or a fickleness of disposition, causing them to flit about from one pursuit to another, as a butterfly does from flower to flower. Their personal lack of purpose may not be apparent to the casual observer, especially if they be sufficiently under the influence of strong-minded, decisive friends, who furnish the purpose for them, and manipulate them as if they were human automatons.
Some people seem to be born with a purpose, or—more properly speaking—with a disposition to form a purpose, and adhere to it. They are not only possessed of energy, but of the power of concentration, the ability to apply themselves to the one particular purpose before them until they succeed.
Lacking a purpose—either innate or acquired—people are apt to drift aimlessly through life, like an abandoned boat upon the ocean, subject to every wind that blows and every current that flows. With conditions favorable, they may float on indefinitely, even as derelicts at sea have been known to do for years without meeting with any serious obstruction. Their course may be so serene, and so attended with good fortune, that observers may be almost forced to the conclusion that they have a charmed existence. The real test of their constancy and endurance comes to the mechanical derelicts when storms beset them and breakers loom up before them, and to their human prototypes when obstacles are encountered that only a strong mind can cope with, and when no friendly support is at hand, to lean upon. The weak and vacillating then flounder in uncertainty, so lacking in self-confidence as to be absolutely unable to formulate and execute any purposeful plan, while the strong-minded, resolute, self-reliant people carefully lay their plans, and then proceed to fulfill them.
Of course the majority of human derelicts are unwilling to admit that their failure to succeed is due to any fault of theirs. They prefer to believe that they are the victims of chance, or ill-luck, or lack of opportunity. Many of them have no desire to work, and others, if not really lazy, have no pride or interest in the work they do, and are therefore very indifferent workmen, and seldom retain a job long after getting it.
Occasionally a person is found who has sufficient mental grasp to devise, and executive ability to carry out a number of purposes simultaneously, and those who are specially successful in material affairs are sometimes called "Napoleons of finance." More frequently, however, the diffusion of energy due to following too many purposes results in failure. Many of the more conspicuous financial failures are made by persons who fairly bristle with purposes. They are like the ambitious but unwise blacksmith who had so many irons in the fire at once that he either had to slight his work on all or allow some to become overheated and spoiled.
It is infinitely more creditable to have one purpose, and accomplish it successfully, than a number and succeed only indifferently.
The story of which the foregoing is a prelude is not that of a "Napoleon of finance" or even of a Hetty Green in success in material matters, but of that of a very humble, but altogether worthy woman, whose aspirations are spiritual rather than material.
Examples from the ranks of the humble are more apt to be helpful to the great mass of the people than those taken from other classes, as what the wealthy and highly educated classes accomplish is apt to be attributed to their more favored station in life, and therefore not to be emulated by the poor, illiterate and obscure.
It will be observed that the example which follows is one that may be profitably emulated by any, regardless of rank in life.
Carolina Corradi was born September 1, 1856, in Mastetlen, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland. She was the youngest but one of eleven children, born of parents who were only in moderate circumstances, and therefore the help of all the children able to work was required to maintain the reputation for thrift which the family had always enjoyed.
The parents were honest, industrious, intelligent, but not specially pious people. Her father, Johannes Corradi, was a rather ingenious man, able to turn his hand to almost any kind of work, and as kind-hearted and self-sacrificing a man as could be found anywhere, and generous almost to a fault. He was greatly beloved by all who knew him, and especially by his children. The mother was an exceptionally good housekeeper, and possessed rare tact as a manager, and developed into quite a business woman, especially after her husband's death, when it became her duty to manage the material affairs of the family. She was also known by her intimates to possess a gift of prescience, or the ability to see things before they actually transpired. By this gift she evidently foresaw something of the future of her daughter Carolina while she was yet a young child, and insisted that she learn the French laundry business, as the time would come when she would find it an advantage to work at it. Carolina was the only child concerning whom the mother had this impression, although the other daughters were apparently as well adapted for that kind of work as she was, and there was nothing about her to indicate that she, any more than the others, would ever need to work at it. Like many other branches of knowledge or craft, the secrets of French laundry work were only to be obtained by sacrifice, and so the parents of Carolina paid a considerable sum of money for the privilege, and bound her to serve without pay for a certain period to have her learn from those who were skilled in that line.
She was apt at learning, became a very proficient hand, and followed that line of employment for about three years while her mother still lived, (her father having died when she was fourteen years of age.) The mother died in 1883, leaving the children, who, however, were all grown to maturity by that time, to shift for themselves. Her last words to Carolina were that she must not mourn or despair because of her death, as there was something great prepared for her, of which she was then in ignorance, but of which she would learn in due time. She said nothing of the kind about the other children, and the family talked about the fact after the mother's death and decided among themselves that it meant that Carolina was somehow going to become possessed of wealth. They had faith in their mother's ability to see things that were coming to pass, and they couldn't think of anything quite so desirable in their estimation as wealth.
Carolina went out to service, and was mostly engaged in general housework. While the parents lived the family never learned of the Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints, but some years later it was brought directly to the attention of some of the surviving members of the family, and Carolina alone of all of them was attracted by it. She joined the Church in the year 1889, and was so impressed with the doctrine of salvation for the dead, that she soon afterwards wrote a letter to the clerk of the parish in which her parents were born, to obtain information in regard to their ancestors. This was done in the hope that she might, at some time in the future, be able to have a vicarious work done in their behalf. To her gratification, the parish officer proved to be a distant relative, by the name of Corradi, and he supplied her with the names of her ancestors for a few generations—thirty-five or thirty-six names in all. They were all she was able to obtain, or knew where to obtain, before she migrated to Utah (which she did in the year 1891,) and she came here with a strong desire that they should have all the privileges of the Gospel that they might have enjoyed had they accepted of it in mortality.
She inherited enough from her parents' estate to pay for her emigration to Utah and leave $35.00 in her pocket when she landed here. That was the amount of her capital at the inception of her career here in Utah, less than twenty-three years ago. She had no relatives, and few acquaintances, in this land, and was unfamiliar with the language of the country.
She obtained work in a laundry at the lowest price paid to inexperienced hands, and was glad to get it. She was devoted to her religion, was faithful in attending meetings, paying her tithes and fast offerings, and never lost sight of the duty that she so early felt to be resting upon her, to do all that was in her power for the salvation of her dead kindred. In the meantime she had been acquiring a knowledge of the English language, but it was six years after she arrived in Utah before she began her vicarious work in the Temple. She was not able to follow this work up continuously—only to spend a day at a time, but the spirit of the work grew upon her. She was able to officiate for the females of her kindred, but she was in doubt as to how to proceed to get the work done for her male kindred. While in this state of anxiety the Spirit prompted her to apply to Niels P.L. Eskildz, with the assurance that he would faithfully serve, and be of great assistance to her. She accordingly applied to him, and, as already related, obtained his consent. When all those whose names she had were officiated for, she was favored with an open vision, in which a person appeared to her and told her that she had a great work yet to perform in behalf of her dead kindred—that she would do the work for more than a thousand.
At that time she did not know where she could get another name, and earned so little by her work (she never was paid more than $1.10 per day at the laundry, and much of the time only received $1.00 per day) that she couldn't foresee how she could ever afford to pay for having her genealogy traced up and obtain more names. She had recently been trying to obtain laundry work (ironing) in private families, with a view to earning more than she had been able to at the laundries, but had not yet succeeded to any great extent. She felt, however, that the Lord had inspired the promise made to her, and that He could and would provide a way for its fulfillment, but how she could not forsee.
Soon afterwards she obtained work in her line in a private wealthy family, where she was able to earn $2.00 per day, and also learned of a man who was engaged in the business of tracing up genealogies, whom she employed to obtain the names of her ancestors. She has since obtained several extensive lists of names, including several lines of her ancestors, and has now had Brother Eskildz regularly employed for several years, whenever he has been able to do so, officiating for her dead male kindred, while she has employed women, and occasionally spends a day in the Temple herself, laboring for her female kindred. She has thus done herself, or hired others to do the work, for almost 1800, and by the time she completes the work for all the names she has, the number will be increased to fully 1900.
She has done this as a labor of love, and found great joy and satisfaction in so doing—in fact, feeling repaid as she has proceeded by the enjoyment the work has afforded her, for all the labor and sacrifice it has involved. While her earnings have never been munificent, she has maintained a decent, respectable appearance, keeping house in from one to three rented rooms, and honestly paid her way and done her duty as a church member—all from her own earnings.
She feels that the Lord has been specially kind to her, in providing a way for the gratification of her earnest desire in behalf of her dead kindred. She expresses also her gratitude to Brother Eskildz, to whom great credit is due for classifying the names and providing for the orderly and complete performance of the work, so that no names have been duplicated, and none omitted. She says she doesn't know how she could have accomplished what she has without his help. Her genealogical records are in fine shape, and are a credit to her.
When asked how much money she had spent for genealogical research, for books in which to keep a record of the work done and for the payment of people she had hired to officiate for her kindred, she replied she did not know, and she did not care to know. She was content to know that it had been spent in a worthy cause, gave the Lord the credit for it and did not even seek any personal recognition.
She has felt sure since embracing the Gospel that her mother must have had a foreknowledge that she would labor in this cause, and she has had many assurances since she first engaged in the Temple work that her parents are aware of the vicarious work she has done or caused to be done in behalf of the dead, and heartily approve of the same.
She has sought no notoriety in what she has done; in fact, was rather reluctant about admitting it or giving any information concerning it, but the consciousness of it affords her a great deal of satisfaction—infinitely more, she says that the possession of a million dollars could.
Some women have doubtless done more than she in laboring for the salvation of the dead, numbers considered, but her record offers a specially fine example of a holy purpose faithfully pursued, and Carolina Corradi will doubtless stand throughout eternity as the personification of self-sacrifice and filial devotion.
A RICH MAN'S HANDICAP—WEALTH NOT ESSENTIALLY BAD—BUT QUALITIES ITS POSSESSION DEVELOPS A BAR TO SALVATION—TYPICAL CASE OF A MAN REARED IN AFFLUENCE—UNPROMISING START IN MARRIED LIFE—HOW HE BECAME INTERESTED IN TEMPLE WORK—WORTHY EXAMPLE IN RECENT YEARS.
It is not an uncommon thing for a poor person to look with envy upon the possessions of the wealthy, and remark how easy it would be for him to be generous, and make sacrifices for a righteous cause, if he were only wealthy. It is hard—perhaps impossible—for such a person to realize it (never having been possessed of wealth,) but wealth is more frequently a bar to the service of the Lord than a help therein. We are informed in the gospel according to Matthew that the Savior said "a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven;" and again, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Whether we understand from this that the Savior was indulging in hyperbole—the grossest kind of exaggeration, or that the eye of the needle referred to was a specially low gateway in the wall of Jerusalem, through which camels could only pass by crouching down, we must conclude that the rich are less susceptible to the saving influence of the Gospel than the poor. This is confirmed by the declaration that "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and numerous passages about the deceitfulness of riches, and of "the love of money," being "the root of all evil."
When we come to analyze the question, it is not the wealth itself that is evil, but the avarice and arrogance that its possession is apt to develop, for the more one has the more he is apt to want. The person who in his youth is eager to acquire wealth is apt to grow intensely avaricious if not miserly in his old age. The person who manifests pride and slight regard for others' rights in youth is apt to become unbearably arrogant as he grows older.
Humility is a pre-requisite to the acceptance and practice of those principles upon which salvation depends, and humility is the very opposite of arrogance. Treasures in heaven are apt to look most attractive to the person whose view thereof is not obstructed by treasures upon earth; for "where the treasure is, there will the heart be also." A poor person, seeking salvation, is not so apt to have his attention distracted therefrom, as is one who is full of care concerning his earthly possessions.
Inasmuch as the work done in the Temple is clearly in the nature of seeking treasures in heaven, it is really refreshing to find a wealthy person, and especially one who has been reared in affluence, manifesting much devotion in that line.
One of the most striking examples of this kind noticeable in the Salt Lake Temple in recent years is that of Brother P . . .
His parents were descended from aristocratic families of Old Virginia. His father was the owner of two large mercantile establishments and other valuable property in his native town before the war, but the war broke him up, and left him comparatively poor. However, he was of that class who cannot be kept down. He was ambitious and enterprising, and soon began to accumulate. Coming to Utah in the year 1864, he engaged in school teaching, farming, ran a threshing machine, clerked in, managed and then owned a store, engaged in banking, etc., wringing success out of everything he turned his hand to. By the time the subject if this sketch (who was born in Utah,) was old enough to receive impressions, his was regarded as among the most wealthy, influential and aggressive families in the state.
None of the sons (of whom there were several in the family) ever served as a missionary, until recently, when one of the younger sons filled a creditable mission to Germany. This fact is mentioned because the calling of one son from a household to fill a mission frequently arouses more or less zeal in the whole family.
Nor were they conspicuous workers in the quorum and auxiliary organizations in the church. This fact is mentioned for the same reason. When young people take an active part in these organizations they frequently develop into enthusiastic church members, and occasionally arouse an interest in spiritual matters throughout the whole family.
The eldest son was a successful mining broker, and prominent in political and business affairs, and the second, (the subject of this sketch) studied law, with the intention of becoming a practicing attorney. These facts are mentioned also for the reason that they are generally understood to tend from rather than towards religious devotion.
Another circumstance that would rather indicate backsliding than a growing zeal, was his disregard for the scriptural injunction: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." He married a girl who was not a member of the Church.
In extenuation, it may be said that he indulged in the hope of converting her; in fact, during the days of their courtship they read and discussed "Mormon" literature together, and she manifested an interest therein; but she hadn't faith enough to join the Church before her marriage; nor, indeed, for four years afterwards, the fact of her parents and most of her relatives being non-"Mormons" possibly accounting for her hesitancy.
With this introduction the story may now be given as told by Brother P..., of how he became interested in Temple work:
"On July 20, 1908, Miss H . . . and I were married by an Elder of the Church. Four years later my wife was stricken with hemorrhage of the brain, and her life was despaired of. She was healed in answer to prayer, and the faith exercised by herself and others, and gladly joined the Church soon afterwards. Later on, she was dying of organic Brights disease, and the physician in attendance said there was no possibility of her living. However, after an administration of the Elders, she improved immediately, and lived in peace for four years longer. On April 27, 1908, she died.
"We had not been to the Temple to receive our endowments, and to have the important ceremony performed whereby we could be united for time and all eternity.
"About one month after my wife's death I was impressed to go to the 20th Ward sacrament service; although I did not live in that ward, and it was my first attendance at a meeting there. Brother Samuel W. Jenkinson, a blind man, who was a Temple worker, was the speaker. Twelve years prior to that time Brother Jenkinson had done endowment work in the Temple for some of my wife's relatives, but he and I were not acquainted. I was so much impressed with his remarks, that I inquired and learned his name, and the following morning wrote a letter to this blind brother, telling him how pleased I was with his testimony.
"On receiving the letter, Brother Jenkinson telephoned to me a request to come up and see him. My telephone number was 5279.
"A month passed. One afternoon, on the very day the Temple closed for the summer vacation, as I was sitting at my desk, the telephone rang. Taking down the receiver, I heard the voice of Samuel W. Jenkinson, saying `Your telephone number has been coming to me for a week, especially while I was in the Temple. I did not call you up, as I did not wish to disturb you; but today the number '5279, 5279' came to me so many times that, on leaving the Temple, I have come to a phone. Now I do not know what to say to you.'
"That evening I called at the home of the blind brother, and talked to him awhile, mainly in regard to my departed wife.
"Six weeks passed. Three days before the Temple opened, after the vacation, Brother Jenkinson telephoned to me, saying: 'I am impressed that your wife wants her Temple work done.'
"'All right,' I replied, 'I will see to it.'
"I called upon President Winder, the presiding officer of the Temple, and told him what had occurred. He advised that I wait until a year had passed after the death of my wife. This agreed with my feelings exactly, and I remarked, `I think so too, President Winder. Besides, I would rather take the rest of the year to prepare to enter the Temple.'
"Three days later President Winder sent for me, and, when I responded to the call, said: `I have taken that matter up with President Smith, and we have made an exception in your case; and you can now do the work for your wife any time.'
"I thanked President Winder, but added that I thought there was no hurry, and preferred to wait for awhile.
"However, my wife knew the great importance of attending to this most sacred work without delay. In her life her rule was, not to procrastinate. She used to say, 'Tomorrow has enough duties of its own to attend to. So don't crowd the duties of today on tomorrow.' Besides, being in the spirit world, she had a livelier appreciation of Temple work than I had, with my earthly environment. She knew there was great danger in delaying to do the vicarious work—a fact that all Latter-day Saints should understand who are familiar with the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith upon the subject. He impressed upon the Saints in the strongest terms that there was none too much time left in which to do the work for the dead; and one of the strongest desires that he manifested during the last few weeks of his life was, that the Saints should proceed to get their genealogies and perform the sacred ordinances in behalf of their dead kindred without delay. Delays are dangerous, and the adversary will always give us abundant reasons for procrastination if we are willing to listen to such counsel.
"Ten days more passed. I was sitting at my desk when the telephone rang. Samuel W. Jenkinson's voice sounded in my ear; `You have let ten days go by, and haven't done that work for your wife yet.'
"My answer was: `No, I thought I would wait awhile; but I have permission from the First Presidency to do the work any time now.'
"Then came a short and vigorous sermon from the blind Temple worker, that has since proven to be the moving cause in my life in the matter of Temple work. Brother Jenkinson in plainness and earnestness said: 'I am impressed with the feeling that your wife wants her Temple work done, and I always act on my impressions. If her Temple work is done she will have more happiness and greater freedom, can progress faster and further, and can accomplish much more for herself and for others, and for you right here on earth. But you can do what you want. I hereby clear myself from all responsibility, and leave it wholly to you.'
"'I am convinced, Brother Jenkinson, and will see to it at once.' I answered, and took the next train for Ogden, where I saw my sister and asked her to be proxy for my wife.
"On seeing me, she exclaimed: 'I have been wanting to see you, and was going to write to you. I had a wonderful dream about your wife this morning.' She then proceeded to relate the dream, which was in line with my wife's wish, as expressed by Brother Jenkinson, that her Temple work should be done.
"Two days thereafter the Temple work was done, and it was the most glorious day of my life. No joy that I had previously felt could compare with the heavenly happiness that I experienced. Tears came to my eyes, and I rejoiced in a spirit of thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father for being permitted to enter His holy house and partake of the blessings therein bestowed.
"Since then I have felt that my main mission on earth is to have Temple work done for as many spirits as possible; thereby aiding in the release of those departed spirits from their prison houses. I have also taken the opportunity to encourage others to search out their genealogies and do Temple work for their kindred dead."
That is his story, briefly told. Others can testify to the fidelity with which he has fulfilled what he conceived to be his mission. He frequently goes to the Temple himself and receives ordinances in behalf of his dead kindred, and he is constantly employing others to do likewise, so that the work for his kindred dead goes on apace. Being asked how many he had now had the work done for, he replied that he did not know—he had not taken time to count—but some thousands.
In addition to all this, he has for the past five years been a worker on the Temple Block in connection with the Bureau of Information, spending much of his time there, and with good effect if the volunteered opinion of hundreds who have listened to him are a fair criterion by which to judge. Though he never filled a foreign mission, he has enjoyed privileges that seldom come to foreign missionaries. He has explained "Mormon" history and doctrine and borne his testimony to thousands who, as strangers thereto, were seeking the information he had to offer (and many of them willing listeners,) and who could never afterwards deny having heard the truth.
It may be inferred from this that he is working under high pressure, to spare so much time from his own absorbing affairs to devote to this charitable work, as well as to be under the financial tribute that he is in this connection, and indeed he is. He probably inherits from his father (who was a man of unusual energy, mental and physical,) his capacity for work. There is no doubt about his feeling better for the strenuous life that he is leading, and especially for his gratuitous work. He has been heard to remark that he has found no good and safe place to stop at, as any lessening of his efforts in the voluntary work for the good of others that he has undertaken, results in a perceptible diminution in the good spirit that he has enjoyed in recent years, and in his growing worldly-minded in a corresponding degree. His is a nature that is not satisfied with anything mediocre. He craves the best, and is naturally thorough and whole-hearted in that which he does, and has a keen sense of both enjoyment and suffering.
He has learned what many others fail to learn: that happiness depends less upon what we receive than what we give, less upon what we have than upon what we do; less upon what others do for us than upon what we do for them; and that we can adopt no more certain means of securing happiness for ourselves than that of seeking to make others happy. Life never was so full and rich and satisfying to him before as it has been in recent years, for he never did so much for others, and never before exhibited so much unselfishness.
He objects to being classed as a rich man, because, notwithstanding his interests are rather extensive, he has invested a large amount of borrowed money in an industry which involves a good deal of risk, and yet, with good fortune in his favor, may yield a handsome profit.
Well, if he is not rich he is certainly enterprising, and deserves to be rich, and never was in less danger from being rich.
Wealth is a comparative term, anyhow. If he is not rich compared with some who are very wealthy, he is compared with those who have little or none of this world's goods.
If, with the risk he is taking, he still finds time to devote so much unselfish attention to others, dead and living, how much more creditable than if he labored for selfish ends! And how much more of a sacrifice he is making than if he had converted all his surplus property into government bonds, the income from which would insure him a living without care on his part, and then only gave his time to the cause of humanity.
He has again married—this time in God's own appointed way, to one who is full of faith—and two lovely children have come to grace his home—the first living children he has had. He takes an optimistic view of life, and never felt that he had so much to live for.
It may be appropriately mentioned here that six years before his former wife died (a. already related,) she wrote a letter to her husband, with a request that it be opened and read after her death. His present wife chanced to read that letter some time after her marriage, and learned from it that the expressed desire of the deceased wife was that her husband should marry again, and that some time there would be a little Luacine (that being the first wife's name.) The first child was a boy. The second was a girl, and the mother, on her own volition, chose for her the name of Luacine.
Consider this case from whatever angle we may, Brother P . . . is an exception in his class, and a most praiseworthy exception, whose example in recent years is well worthy of emulation.