| 59 doors of superstition and vice and folly, down in Kentucky, and will soon reap if they do not slacken their energies.
And so it is, and will be, everywhere.
What we now advise is, that the elders go two by two, and labor together. Find, or make an open door, seeking direction of our Father, and then begin in mildness, firmness, and amiability to tell the story of Jesus and him crucified, together with the things of the kingdom of God; and continue the effort, unless warned by the Spirit to go hence, until the harvest and the gathering appear. Concentrate your energies; make your labors effective. Boast not nor talk of mighty faith; but tell the people the Son of God will come.
As much as possible avoid going from branch to branch; but leaving the branches in the care of the proper custodians of their weal, strike out into the wide-spread harvest-field, where earnest souls are waiting to be garnered into God's great church.
It is, in our opinion, a good policy to hold several successive meetings in the same place; giving a fair opportunity for all who may become interested to investigate.
Try it, brethren, and report progress.-The Saints' Herald vol. 21, pp. 80, 81.
On February 3, Elder J. Avondet wrote from Geneva, Switzerland, stating that he had returned there from Italy and was busy in his ministry. He asked to be released.
The following items are from the Herald for February 15:
Bro. Jason W. Briggs delivered three lectures in the Union Hall, at Sandwich, Illinois, February 2, 3, and 4,1874, at the solicitation of Elders Blair, Rogers, and Banta in defense of Christianity, in reply to lectures delivered in the same hall, upon the "Origin, Evidences, and Absurdities of Christianity." What the result may be we can not yet say.
Bro. Blair left for Mission on the 7th inst.
Bro. J. J. Cramer was at Viola, Mercer County, Illinois, on the 5th, speaking to good houses.-The Saints' Herald vol. 21, p. 113.
February 15, Elders Bear and Avondet wrote the following letter from Geneva, Switzerland, which portrays the difficulties and discouragements met with in those fields:
Bro. Avondet and myself are in Geneva at present, a long time since we desired to meet. A few days ago Bro. Avondet returned from Italy to Geneva, and sent me word that I could come there to see him; both of us rejoiced to see one another, as brothers in Christ Jesus, working for our Master. His mission is just as hard as mine, and both of us are almost at the last extremity in our temporal wants; the rich do not want the gospel, only the poor, and they can hardly sustain themselves, and are therefore
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