"He never spoke a word to me when we went there nor when we left"
Albredt and Ellen Rask's experiences with Latter-day Saint missionaries in South Africa
Missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints typically have close relationships founded on respect, trust, and love. There are times, however, when those relationships can break down, frustrations can creep in, and resentment takes over. The following is a story about one such case.
For many years, Albredt and Ellen Rask were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Kimberly, South Africa. Some of Albredt’s relatives, including his father, had been baptised in Denmark during the 1870s. At age seventeen he followed suit and was baptised in March 1880. A year later his father, Edvard, was sustained as superintendent of a Sunday School in Frederikshavn.1 Over time, some of Albredt’s family emigrated to North America and made their way to Utah. The records are currently unclear as to when, but at some point, Albredt emigrated to South Africa where he met and entered into a relationship with Ellen Cook.
Ellen was born in Durban, South Africa, to Samuel and Charlotte Cook in 1874. Her racial identity is unclear and somewhat disputed. Scholar Jeffrey Cannon has pointed out that one mission president described her as ‘Indian.’2 The lack of household returns from the South African censuses complicates efforts to confirm her self-recorded family details and trace her ancestry. With no known birth, death, marriage, or baptismal information outside of what she supplied to the Church it has proven difficult to verify any other information about her. Ellen stated she was from Durban which would support a description of ‘Indian’ heritage considering the Natal region generally and Durban specifically had large concentrations of Indian immigrants and residents. It is possible, however, that she might be of mixed ethnicity herself.
Controversially, Albredt and Ellen were not legally married. It would seem that they had entered into a common law marriage wherein they were committed to each other as husband and wife but it was not formally recognised through a marriage ceremony or with the South African government. In one government record, Ellen notes that they were unmarried but that she lived with him as his ‘reported wife.’ Such a relationship was presumingly unknown to Church officials and there was likely an assumption they were formally and legally married. This arrangement does not appear to have caused any problems caused them any difficulties. But why were they not legally married? Was it due to miscegenation laws designed to prevent mixed-race marriages?3
In 1903 the South African Mission was re-opened after almost forty years.4 A congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organised in Kimberley soon after in 1906.5 A Sunday school was formed in March 1908.6 At some point between 1880 and 1908, Albredt might have lost contact with the Church. After the Kimberley branch was organised Albredt reconnected to the Church and appears to have introduced Ellen to it. Albredt was rebaptised and Ellen was baptised for the first time on 4 July 1908 in Kimberley along with two other people.7
About a year later, in June 1909, Albredt was ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.8 Former mission president Evan Wright knew the Rasks and described them in his history of the South African Mission:
Brother Rask was a Danish seaman and had served as the captain of a freighter. He weighed in excess of two hundred and fifty pounds; his wife, who was an Asiatic Indian, weighed about seventy-five pounds. They were faithful Latter-day Saints, and their house had ten dogs, five cats, numerous parrots and other birds. Parakeets would sit on the table and eat from their plates.9
In late 1912, Elder June B. Sharp arrived in Kimberley as a full-time missionary. The Utah native was a fourth-generation Latter-day Saint and was one of thirteen children born to John and Rebecca Sharp. June was an ardent journal keeper and photographer who left a detailed record of his missionary service in South Africa which spanned from 1912-1915. He served a second mission in South Africa as mission president from 1944-1948. For various reasons, however, the relationship between Elder Sharp and Brother Rask soured over the course of approximately fourteen months.
Elder Sharp was an orthodox and faithful missionary. His journal attests to a commitment to the work of proclaiming the gospel. He appears, however, to have had little patience for divergent thoughts or unorthodox beliefs. Albredt, according to a few missionaries, had some alternative views on tertiary doctrinal matters. “Got a few new ideas from Bro. Rask at class pertaining to the crosses of animals,” wrote one missionary a few years later.10
Elder Sharp’s initial entry about Albredt was rather positive. He was in Johannesburg looking for some canvas material to send to Brother Rask.11 Albredt worked as an insurance salesman, but he was a former sailor and appears to have been capable in several trades. He would make canvas bags for missionaries to use to carry their missionary materials around. A week later, however, Albredt began having problems with another missionary serving in Kimberley - Elder David Shurtliff. Elder Shurtliff was a seasoned missionary from America and another of the four missionaries stationed in Kimberley. The argument centred on, of all things, where Paul the Apostle was chosen.12 Apparently there was a difference in opinion.
Missionaries, including Elder Sharp, would visit the Rasks on a weekly or sometimes almost daily basis. Meals were freely provided and they enjoyed a good social time. On 7 February 1913, John Hunter, a full-time missionary, asked Brother Rask to take charge of the meetings while they were away at a conference. Elder Hunter gave him the keys to the hall.13 At other times the Rasks had missionaries stay at their home. They were generous and sociable Latter-day Saints.14 The Rasks also lived near Big Hole, also known as Kimberley Hole, which was a mammoth open-pit diamond mine that had started to be excavated in 1871.15
Yet tensions between Albredt and some of the missionaries continued. In April 1913 Elder Sharp recorded the following:
In meeting Bro Rask put up some strange doctrine so that meant a heated discussion. I went to bed rather early because of a head ache.16
Despite the heated discussion the Rasks continued to feed the missionaries. He also actively participated in classes and spoke in meetings.17
A couple of months later the relationship between Albredt and Elder Sharp deteriorated further. On the 20 June 1913, Elder Sharp recorded:
In the afternoon we called on Bro Rask and talked to him about an interpretation he had put on the second chapter of Habakkuk.
A couple of days later the situation was still deteriorating:
…at 7:30 we held a Priesthood meeting Bro. Rask would not show up because of our visit in the fore noon.
The next day Albredt did not attend Church meetings. At the time he was serving as superintendent of the branch Sunday School but appears to have been frustrated with missionaries correcting or reproving him. The next day was a Monday and Elder Sharp visited the Rasks but found that Albrdt still harboured hard feelings. Yet the next day they went back to the Rasks for a meal.
At Church the following Sunday the Rasks were in attendance. At the meeting, Albredt offered a prayer but Elder Sharp was not impressed. Of the experience, he wrote:
Bro Rask came and opened the meeting and of all the prayers I have ever heard that was the worst.18
There were clearly tensions between the missionary and the member. Yet, Brother Rask continued to interact with Elder Sharp. In July 1913 Albredt made a canvas bag for Elder Sharp to carry his missionary tracts in.19
Over the summer, other local priesthood holders began to become outspoken about the missionaries. Albredt and a Brother Boyd were displeased with the missionaries who had instructed them to show more order during the passing of the sacrament. A couple of days later Elder Sharp dealt with Albredt directly. After spending time talking about their issues the two men appear to have made peace.
The following Sunday, however, unravelled everything. It was the first Sunday School meeting that Albredt had attended for some time. He was given a chance to speak during which he remarked that unless he could run the Sunda School as he pleased then he did not care to act. The missionaries, likely incensed, released Albredt and Elder Sharp was appointed superintendent. Brothers Rask and Boyd refused to sustain Elder Sharp and the tension had deepened.
As September came around the discord had only grown, despite the fact that the Rasks continued to feed the missionaries and attend some meetings. At one Sunday School meeting Brother Rask apparently “looked seven daggers” at Elder Sharp. In his journal later that month he recorded that he received “the usual cold reception” at the Rasks. Elder Sharp records attempting to help Albredt move on past his frustrations but to no avail.
The continued interactions appear to have provoked Albredt. In October 1913 he wrote a letter to a missionary in which he levelled many accusations at Elder Sharp. The elder who received the letter had formerly served in Kimberley and shared it with Elder Sharp who was incensed by it:
I never read a letter containing more lies than that did. he wrote that it was surprising how the devil could work in Mormon Elders when they would let him.20
A few days later things had not improved.
…we went up to Bro Rasks for awhile. I never saw a man of his age act so foolish as he did.
By January 1914 the relationship had completely broken down and Albredt refused to attend meetings where Elder Sharp was in attendance. He also claimed that Elder Sharp had “sown discontent ever since I landed” he ruefully noted in his journal.
One of Elder Sharp’s final visits to Albredt and Ellen took place in February 1914 where he called on them shortly before being transferred elsewhere. “She treated me O.K.,” he noted in his journal, “but he never spoke a word to me when we went there nor when we left,” he concluded.21
From other missionary journals, we know that Albredt and later missionaries got along just fine. In August 1916 Elder Malcolm Robinson recorded having a “jolly time” with the Rasks.22 He would go on, like others, to enjoy almost weekly meals with the Rasks. But others had difficult interactions with him and contested some of the doctrines that he held. In 1922 Elder Kenneth Bailey had to spend time with him covering the doctrines of the gospel. In his journal, he recorded:
Talked on many different subjects. May the Lord bless us that we can get Bro Rack to see the right side.22
Years later June Sharp shared a memory about Albredt with Evan Wright who compiled a multi-volume history of the South African Mission:
President June B. Sharp remembers an experience he had together with his companion, Elder Hunter, in 1914. They had prepared long and hard to give Sunday night talks at Brother Rask’s Home. President Sharp said he had done more studying than praying and had a lot of material to deliver, but after about four minutes or so became so confused he had to sit down. Brother Rask said to Elder Hunter, “Take that fool out; teach him something if he thinks he can preach the gospel.”23
How does the story end?
In 1926 the missionaries faced considerable hardships in Kimberley and tracting was proving unproductive. The mission history notes that “the friends of the Elders feared association.”24 Despite the opposition, missionaries persisted.
In May 1928, Albredt became ill and was taken to a hospital.25 Elder George Maw and his companion visited Albredt in the hospital to see how he was and found him resting. They spent time with Sister Rask for the rest of the evening, presumably to lift her spirits. The next day the missionaries visited Albredt again and spoke with him. After about ten days Albredt was released from the hospital but he continued to struggle with his health. Almost a year later on 6 April 1929, Albredt died. He was reported as dying from heart trouble and dropsy and was buried the next day.
A couple of weeks after Albredt’s death Ellen packed up her belongings and left Kimberley. She moved to Grahamstown to ‘make her home’ which might have included being closer to her family.26 Ellen appears in the 1925, 1930, and 1935 censuses of Church members, but after that, she disappears. Presumably, she passed away in the 1930s, but perhaps she was one of the founding members of the Grahamstown branch.
Although Albredt sometimes clashed with missionaries and was perhaps doctrinally unorthodox, he remained close to the Church until his death albeit with some periods of less frequent Church attendance. It is easy to apportion blame to someone for why a relationship turns bad, but Albredt had an affinity for the gospel and the Church despite his occasional clashes. The Church is a social organisation with the full spectrum of personality dynamics at play; both good and bad. Although it can be uncomfortable and frustrating at times, being around others who are so different can help Latter-day Saints who are working to become more like Jesus Christ.
Andrew Jenson, ‘Some of our Sunday Schools,’ Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 38, No. 13 (1903), pp. 404-406.
See Jeffrey G. Cannon, ‘Visually Documenting the Mormon Experience in South Africa: The Mission Photographs of June Bennion Sharp, 1912 – 1915,’ unpublished conference paper (2014).
Pierre L. Van Den Berghe, ‘Miscegenation in South Africa,’ Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 1, No. 4 (1960), pp. 68-74.
Farrell Ray Monson, ‘History of the South African Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1853-1970,’ masters thesis, Brigham Young University (1971), p. 50.
‘Conference Meetings in South Africa,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 72, No. 6 (1910), pp. 91-94.
Evan P. Wright, A History of the South African Mission, Period II: 1903-1944 (n.p.), p. 60.
Record of Members in the South African Mission in Record of Members Collection, CR 375 8, bx. 6498, fd. 1, CHL.
Record of Ordinations in Record of Members Collection, CR 375 8, bx. 6498, fd. 1, CHL.
Wright, A History of the South African Mission, p. 104.
Malcolm L. Robinson, journal transcript, 24 September 1916, p. 19, MS 32022, bx. 1, fd. 4, CHL.
Diary of Elder J. Bennion Sharp, Book 1, 2 January 1913.
Walter H. Matthews, journal, 19 January 1913, MS 33673, bx. 1, fd. 1, CHL.
John E. Hunter, journal, 7 February 1913, MS 17186, bx. 1, fd. 2, CHL.
Diary of Elder J. Bennion Sharp, Book 1, 19 March 1913.
Ibid, 1 April 1913
Ibid, 19 April 1913.
Ibid, 28 May 1913.
Ibid, 29 June 1913.
Ibid, 23 July 1913.
Ibid, 18 October 1913
Diary of Elder J. Bennion Sharp, Book 2
Kenneth C. Bailey, journal, 10 June 1922, MS 32009, bx. 1, fd. 1, CHL.
Wright, A History of the South African Mission, p. 105.
South Africa Mission manuscript history, Volume 2, pt. 2, 30 June 1926, LR 8452 2, bx. 1, fd. 4, CHL.
George C. Maw, ‘Mission News,’ Cumorah Monthly Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 6 (1928), p. 79.
George C. Maw, ‘Mission News,’ Cumorah Monthly Messenger, Vol. 3, No. 5 (1929), pp. 58-59.