South Wales, May 19, 1886President Daniel H. Wells.

Dear Brother,--During the last twenty-six months I have been engaged here, as you know, in the active duties of the ministry; and as those labors are now approaching a close, so far as this land is concerned, I feel constrained to send you a line or two by way of giving a brief account of myself, and taking a farewell leave of my co-laborers and of the associations of missionary life.

At the annual conference of 1884 I was called by the Church authorities in Zion to perform missionary work in foreign lands. Our company consisted of forty-two missionaries and two sisters. After a pleasant and uneventful voyage across the mighty deep, we arrived in safety on British soil. I was assigned by President John Henry Smith to the Welsh Conference as a sphere of action, and the "Hills of the Cymry" - the land of my ancestors - have ever since been the principal scene of my ministerial labors. In the beginning of my experience and during the first year, I enjoyed active life in the field. In the second I passed a short time on the continent, and soon after my return I was appointed to the presidency of this conference. After this change which came over the spirit of my work, my health though unimpaired, was less vigorous than before. The elders with whom I have co-labored have been humble, active and efficient. The local priesthood, too, have been mindful of the admonition, "Let him that is warned warn his neighbor." Many of the local Saints, being well grounded in the doctrine have observed this injunction with energy and ability. Much proselyting work has been done. The written word has been liberally distributed, and the gospel message proclaimed from the street corners as with a trumpet sound. Many have been re-warned, and a few have been gathered into the fold.

But the great day of conversions has passed by in Wales. The substantial honest were gathered from this principality thirty years ago. Men [p.349] are not caring for the pure principles of the restored gospel now as they did then. At one time there were three thousand Saints in Merthyr Tydvil and its environs alone. Today, it numbers but a few families. The same decline has marked the condition of trade which was then in its glory, and Wales enjoyed a period of unparalleled prosperity. But what a change appears today! Dead iron works and deserted coaleries disfigure the surface of the country on every hand. Trade is depressed or wholly suspended, and cases of distress are announced almost daily. Aside from the inscrutable question of cause and effect, this fact appears evident, that old Wales in this day, like Antioch and Thessalonica anciently, has had its gospel blaze. Even the gleaning season is gradually declining, and will, perhaps, at no distant day be brought to a final close.

Nevertheless the elders have labored with diligence and zeal, feeling determined to leave the people without excuse. The indifference manifested toward the "word" has been great, but the active hostility proportionately small. Cases of the elders meeting with resistance or violence have been extremely rare. And in this regard the people here are the very antipodes of their neighbors across the channel. We have spoken on the street corners, personally, some eighty times without molestation, except in a few cases where our zeal outran our judgment in endeavoring to pitch in the heart of a city, and the officers interfered because the gather crowd threatened the obstruction of the thoroughfare.

Perhaps the most agreeable feature in my experience as a missionary has been the baptizing, at different times, of some nineteen souls. During the last few months I discovered by the merest chance, many relatives of whom I had not before learned. They received me kindly, and I left my humble testimony with them, and did considerable genealogical work among them. I feel grateful to God for life and health, and that I have been permitted to finish my mission. My heart is full and my joy is great at the thought of returning again after so long an absence to the land of my birth. My emotions can be better imagined than expressed. Yet my joy has in it a burden of regret at parting from so many friends and Saints, whom the associations of two years have tended to endear to me. It is written somewhere that "attachments formed in the midst of strangers and adversity are of an enduring character." The associations of my traveling companions I have enjoyed, and the hospitality of the Saints I have appreciated. I wish to avail myself of this opportunity of returning my heartfelt thanks for their many kindnesses so cheerfully bestowed. I feel that Wales has some worthy Saints, and the spirit constrains me to bless them, and admonish them to abide in the covenant they have made, keep the commandments of God, and continue true and faithful in all things.

Wishing all a fond farewell, I remain faithfully yours,

Ricy H. Jones [p.350]

BIB: Jones, Ricy H. [Letter] Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 48:22 (May 31, 1886) pp. 349- 50. (CHL)
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