Mission of Elder Hanmer Emmanuel Peterson

abridged from his journal Hanmer E. Peterson left Richfield, Utah for the Salt Lake mission home on Sunday, March 15, 1914. Two days later, Heber J. Grant, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve set him apart as a missionary. He left for Winnipeg, Canada in the Northern States Mission on March 18 on the Union Pacific Railroad, stopping in Chicago for seven days, then arriving in Winnipeg on the 28th. When Hanmer first got to Winnipeg, the realities of missionary life hit him hard, and he met with some discouragement. The missionaries stayed in the basement of the hall at 932 Sherbrook, "a very miserable place to live, cement floor and not much convenience." Also, he described the Canadian winter as miserably cold, and the Canadian people as strange. Walking was the only form of transportation, and after his first experience tracting with Elder Jorgensen, Hanmer felt discouraged and tired. Soon he tried tracting alone, which was permissible then and described how he felt like he could better rely on himself and the Lord without having to rely on another companion. The average day for a missionary began very early with studying, cleaning and washing. Occasionally they would attend bible class at around nine in the morning. Then in the "forenoon" and afternoon they would tract, almost always with other Elders. In the evenings, they would have supper with members and investigators, and at night priesthood meeting, choir practice, etc. were held at the hall. Weekly, he spent an average of about 11 hours traveling to and from missionary work, 4 hours tracting, 7 hours visiting saints, 9 hours attending meetings, 18 hours studying the Gospel, 5 hours visiting investigators, and 8.2 hours having Gospel Conversations. He generally worked 62 total hours per week, or roughly nine hours daily, spending an average of $2.55 weekly. There were usually about four elders and two sisters working in Winnipeg. Sisters Greene and Smith were the only "lady missionaries" there, and Elders Nielson, Jorgensen, Cook, Cahoon, Lindholm, Heaton, Wood, Christensen, and Burke were there while he was there.

In the early twentieth century, many common mission rules that exist today were not in place. For example, he went swimming, ice-skating, to shows, photodramas, football (probably soccer) games, and parades. Also, the missionaries did rather different work much of the time. They helped members remodel, harvest, shovel snow, move pianos, purchase livestock, cut hair, etc. Also, they did a considerable amount of work on the construction of the New Chapel in Winnipeg building fences, installing doors and windows, painting and cutting sod. Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Church on Sunday Aug. 30, 1914. After that, the Elders lived in the church. Missionaries were much older in general back then. When Hanmer left, he was almost twenty-three years old. Elder Jorgensen, his first companion was twenty seven and had left his wife behind. Elder Heaton also left a family. Hanmer kept in close touch with his family, writing his "Pa", Mary, Elsie, Harmel and Jerda often. His father sent large sums of money to support him, sometimes up to fifty dollars, which was a considerable amount in 1914. Some of it was borrowed. Hanmer and the other missionaries would frequently visit the religious services of other faiths. At first, he described them as ridiculous, but later, he learned to tolerate their differences. Toward the end of his mission, he would have lengthy discussions with ministers and pastors of other faiths. Canada declared war on Germany on Aug. 4, 1914. Of this, Hanmer replied that "The belief is generally that the war won't last more than 6 months, and Germany will be conquered." Soldiers paraded through the streets and many men voluntarily enlisted. John DeWinter and Jack Simpkin, a fifteen-year-old boy, were among the members who went to France to fight in the trenches. Mrs. Simpkin worried so much over her son that she became physically ill. Jack later received an injury to his head. Winters in Winnipeg were unbearably cold with temperatures as cold as minus forty degrees Fahrenheit. Snows began as early as September or October and lasted into May. On one very cold day, Hanmer's collar was wet and when he went outside it froze to his ear leaving it sore for some time. Living in the church, the Elders maintained the furnace, which required a lot of work. They had to clean, repair, and buy ton after ton of coal and coke. On Christmas Day of 1914, the members met in the church in the evening for a social, when the furnace leaked into the firebox. Brother Brewster sounded the alarm and everybody had to go out into the unbelievable cold. Later that winter, He left the church and resigned from his callings because the building was too cold. Incidentally, he asked for forgiveness and fellowship the next July.

One morning, while Hanmer and Elder Jorgensen were out tracting, they called at the home of a Mrs. Mortensen. "Mrs. Mortensen was scrubbing the floor when we first called on her, she was out of sorts, and called come in and when we got in she told us to get out and threw the floor rag against the wall. I was ready to go, but Elder Jorgensen talked her out of it, and we had a pretty good talk with her." One November night "Sister Blossom Huntley came in the church at night at 7 o'clock with a Mr. Harry Evanson and wanted to be married. I acted as best man and Sister Smith as best lady, Pres. Christensen performing the ceremony. Sister Huntley wanted it to be kept quiet." Hanmer left Winnipeg on March 1, 1916 "with the best of feelings between [himself] and the saints". He was sorry to leave the other Elders and Sisters. They "had seen some discouraging times together, but had got along well and [weren't] any worse for [their] experience". He was also glad to return to his home in Richfield. However, the missionary spirit stayed with him for the rest of his life. He always described a visit to the barber as a good opportunity to share the Gospel. Later in life, he shared fond memories of his mission with his children and visited his old companions often. He went on to be a bishop and a high councilman. Truly, sharing the Gospel was his lifetime ambition.