LDS General Conference is being held today and tomorrow. The First Presdency did not ask me to speak this time, so I guess they are modern day "wise men".

One of the speakers at todays LDS conference referenced how many Mormon missionaries are in the world today, which was a lot. So how many missionaries were there 120 years ago!  I can't give the answer, but know there was a Juab County farmer who was serving in England during 1895. I thought it may be appropriate to share some of his journal entries for those of you who are inclined to give ear to the writings of Wm. Jones of Nortonville, Utah. It appears from the various entries, he and other missionaries went all over England and Wales, and relied on contacting relatives who remained in England when early pioneers came to Nephi. Because of the age of the diary, I am  reluctant to bend it for scanning, so it may not read well, but gives some indication in the routine of missionaries way back when. It had to be a little painful to get a letter from Wm. Fisher Tolley, who wrote the wife of Will Jones-Lizzie, was not feeling very good. She did get better however, about the same day he took his missionary collar in to the cleaners for a good starching. Such a collar can be seen in the attached photo of missionary Wm. Jones. When he departed Nortonville, LDS officials told him to seek out his pioneer family members that remained in the British Isles, as they went with "no purse or script".  In these entries, it looks like he found cousin's Alice Clark, Margaret Dison and Lizzie Slaterray who fed him dinner or what the bloaks call "Tea". At the time of these entries  he was living in Oldham, which was near Manchester, England. On another day, we will show you where he traveled to London, to visit Buckingham Palace. Hey, do you think he tried to convert Queen Victoria. Stay tuned.