Dearest Mother:
The day is slipping by and I should like to write you a worthwhile letter before the opportunity is gone altogether. I have spent one hour before I have to begin preparing for sacrament meeting. That should give me a start anyway, and maybe this evening will afford the necessary time for me to complete the letter.
In checking over some of your letters to me I see that you have asked me to retell the story of Yellowface that we heard from Pres. Card the night of conference at Cardston. My memory isn't very good, and I always have difficulty in repeating a story, but I took a few notes and perhaps from them you can reconstruct the salient points.
"YELLOWFACE"
The story is about a tribe of Cree Indians. Yellowface being their Chief. They were an independent tribe and had refused to take a reservation from the government (because they said you took the land from us, it is ours). There were perhaps less than 100 persons in the tribe, but they wandered through Saskatchewan not having any permanent home.
About 25 or 30 years ago a messenger came to Yellowface from the "unseen world" and told him to take the tribe and travel west until he came to a people who had a record of their forefathers. Yellowface was informed of five signs by which he could distinguish this people who were in possession of the book of his ancestors.
The messenger departed (can't recall if Pres. Card inferred that he might have been one of the Three Nephites or not), and Yellowface and his tribe set out west. Finally they landed on the Church ranch. Brother Caldwell was the foreman at the time, and he went down to greet them. Brother Caldwell said, "You are on our land, but you are welcome; stay as long as you want; fish in our streams; graze your cattle on our land; our cowboys will be passing through here often but in your camps they will act as gentlemen."
Pres. Card pointed out that to have 100 people suddenly park on your land would be very exasperating for most ranchers and the possibility is that others would have driven them off since such procedures would be most conducive to the rancher's economic welfare, or so they would suppose.
Well Yellowface was pleased at the reception given his tribe for more reasons than one. The signs that the messenger had given him were in the process of fulfillment, for these are the five ways he was to know the people who had the history of his forefathers: 1 = they will let you camp on their lands and they won't drive you off; 2 = their men will go through your camp and not molest your women; 3 = they will trade with you and not cheat you; 4 = they will invite you to their church; 5 = they will invite you into their homes and feed you.
It wasn't long until there was a ward reunion in Cardston. Bishop Parker went over to Yellowface and said, "We're having a banquet at the church and would like you to come over." Afterwards Yellowface was invited into their home and given food. The signs were complete. For once the Indians had been dealt with honestly, the Mormons had not sought advantage over the Redman, being honest and virtuous in all their relations together.
It wasn't long afterward that Yellowface invited Bishop Parker over to his lodge and asked him to talk. Yellowface listened to hear something of "his" book, for surely these were the people the messenger had told him to find, but Bishop Parker didn't mention the Book of Mormon at all. Sometime later Yellowface asked him back to talk some more. This time as Bishop Parker was leaving his home he picked up the Book of Mormon. He told Yellowface of the contents of the book, the thing which the Chief had been awaiting. He took the book from the bishop and put it inside his robe, saying "My book."
The Chief had some of the young braves read the Book of Mormon to him. (I don't know what affect the Book of Mormon had on the Chief, but he certainly had learned to respect the Mormon people.)
Some 20 to 25 years later Yellowface and his tribe were being put over on a little tract of land west of Calgary. The government officials gave them the right to choose their own school system, or in other other words, the church which they wanted to administer their secular affairs. The established churches, Roman Catholic and Anglican, were suggested but Yellowface would have none but the Mormons.
(The rest of the story is rather uncertain on my notes, but I think V. Wood, brother to Pres. Wood, was a member of parliament at the time, and he was put in charge of their schools.) Anyway, the news soon reached other members of the Church, and there were many volunteers to teach at the Indians' school. One who went was an Elder Kimball. It seems that Elder Kimball was the lad who had given a copy of the Book of Mormon to the Pope while in the service overseas. George Spencer of Leavitt also taught on this Indian reserve.
Well, Mother, that is about all that I can give you on "Yellowface." Perhaps you can fill in where the story isn't complete. It is now Monday morning and time for us to start tracting. Sorry that I didn't finish this yesterday when I could have written something other than the Indian story. I'll send this anyway hoping that even such as it is will be better than nothing.
The missionary work is coming along alright. We have another good contact, a lady who just seemed to be awaiting the message of the gospel. Perhaps I have mentioned her before. We received her name through the Eastern Canadian missionaries from one of their contacts. Her name is Mrs. Miles. We haven't spent many visits with her but last Wednesday when we called she practically bore her testimony to us. She wondered how it was that the other churches couldn't see that there was more to the Plan of Salvation than they were teaching. She is a lovely lady and has two of the nicest children I have seen anywhere; they are well-mannered, polite, and clean. Mrs. Miles is an avid reader and is hungry for a knowledge of the gospel. It is a pleasure to work with her.
I just received a letter from Joseph F. Smith, the former Patriarch. He is at Banff teaching for a few weeks this summer. He wrote to me from Hawaii before he left, thinking I was in Alberta and that we could probably arrange a meeting before he left the Province.
Well, I guess this will have to be 30 for now I have to get going. Thanks for all the encouragement. I don't know what I would have done without you and my sisters.
All my love and may the Lord bless you, always = Marvin
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