Remember Laura Rees Merrill? She was the widow in Logan, Utah, who wrote letters to the families of dozens of men, soldiers returning from the Korean War, who were killed when their airplane went down in the mountains above Logan. We noticed in that post that she served two missions in the 1940s.

In 2009, when that post was published, Keepa’ninny Mark B. noted that Sister Merrill had served one of her missions in the same time and place (1946-48, Canadian Mission) as his own father, and he called his father to ask if by any chance he remembered Sister Merrill.

I just spoke to my father, who remembers Sister Merrill very well.

He said that the most memorable thing about her was that she worked, very, very hard–whether in the heat and humidity of a Toronto summer, or in the bitter cold of the winter.

She and her companions worked like lions “who were hungry.”

He also said that the mission president was careful to assign her companions (who would have been nearly 50 years her junior) who were vigorous and healthy, so they’d be able to keep up with her.

Altogether a remarkable woman.

And now – in illustration of my “new rule” that there are myriads of unexpected ties between people and events in history – I’ve just come across an unforeseen link between Laura Rees Merrill and an author whose papers I have been reading recently. And just for fun, that tie tells us something about Sister Merrill’s first mission, the one she served in the Eastern States Mission in 1941-43.

My author (who must remain unnamed for the time being) sent a copy of one of his books to Franklin West, Jr., of Logan, who was then serving as a missionary in Rochester, New York, part of the Eastern States Mission … Sister Merrill’s mission. Elder West’s letter of thanks preserves this glimpse of Sister Merrill, then 66 years old:

Do you remember Sister Laura R. Merrill from Logan? I am quite sure you know her son Milton who is at the USAC. She is out here on a mission to the Eastern States and is laboring in this district at Palmyra, New York. She is here in my room with me now waiting until a little later this afternoon when we are going to call on some names that have been given here of people who live in Rochester, and she would like me to tell you Hello. She certainly is doing a fine job with her missionary work.

A couple of days after she had been assigned to Palmyra I went over to see how she was making out. At that time she did not have any companion and the temperature was down around zero, and when I found her she was out starting her tracting by herself in spite of the fact that she had practically been in bed the day before with a bad cold. Up to now she has still been without a companion and yet she does her tracting every day and is really getting a big “bang” out of it. Another lady missionary was assigned to be with her the other day and will arrive next Monday.

I don’t know about you, but I love running into old friends in new records this way.

UPDATE: Mark B. sends in this picture of the Canadian Mission, 1949.  Sister Merrill is in the third row, just right of center (immediately to the right of the woman in the flowery blouse. Thanks, Mark!

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