Conversion Stories 92

12 Peter Anderson Lofgreen and Zipporah Elizabeth Nielsen "I took a journey to Salt Lake City to inform President Taylor of my circumstances, when I arrived there I did not see President Taylor, but apostle Franklin D. Richards was at the office, I laid my case before him, and at the close of my recital he simply asked me, "Are you willing to go on this mission?" My answer was yes. Then he said "The way shall be open for you to go and you will be blessed". "I then removed my family back to Huntsville and prepared myself to go. Through the efforts of Bishop F. A. Hammond I obtained means for my journey. "I bid adieu to my family on April 26th 1880. I arrived at the city of New York on May 2nd. I left by K.S. Nevad on May 4th at 1:30 o'clock." During this mission he was able to see his Sister Kjersti, who had been left with her grandmother when the family left for America. He had not seen her for 18 years. In this history he writes, "On August 17th 1880 I received the sad news that my dear wife Johanna had died on the 23rd of July. The cause of her death was lung fever. I felt the blow very keenly but by the aid of the Spirit of God I continued my labors in the missionary field". He summed up this mission, "While on a mission I baptized or assisted in baptizing 39 persons and held 368 meetings. 136 were held with strangers and 158 at regular places of meeting and 74 were held at the private houses of the saints." After returning home to Huntsville he assisted Charles Wright in teaching school during the school term.

92

The Church called several families to take their families and settle St. David Arizona. "On the 6th day of November 1883 my brother Benjamin L. Lofgreen, my son Louis and I started for Arizona by team." He tells about his decision to move; "I was very much impressed by the Spirit to take this journey and St. David, Cochise County, Arizona was my destination. We had many inducements to stop and locate elsewhere, but our determination was to keep on to the end." On the 7th day of July 1884 Peter was ordained a High Priest and was set apart as 2nd counselor to Bishop William D. Johnson at the same time. Then in 1885 President John Taylor visited St. David and he was set apart as first counselor to Bishop Matt Merrill. Zipporah and family had remained in Huntsville until Peter could get settled. On the 6th day of April 1885 Zipporah arrived with the balance of the family. They came on train by way of California. On the 3rd day of May 1887 a severe earth quake shook this part of the country. Many houses cracked and some were damaged to such an extent that they were unsafe to live in. In the book "Mormon Pioneers in the San Pedro Valley" it says, "St. David was a swampy place and infested with mosquitoes, which caused much discomfort and disease." Apostle Erastus Snow visited St. David and learned that the Saints who had settled there wanted to return to Utah because the swampy land and mosquitoes. He counseled them that if they would remain faithful to their mission calls, the Lord would make their part of